“Nadia,” Mateo hollers, “Holy shit, girl. I thought you fled the country by now. Yet, here you are.”
Pinching my eyes shut, I take yet another deep breath, then spin on my heels. “Hey, Mateo. How’s it going?”
“Better now,” Mateo’s says as his eyes skim my entire body, stopping at my cleavage. “I’ve missed you, girl.”
Swatting his arm away that reaches for me, I snarl. “Wish I could say the same.”
“Oh, come on, how about a hug for old times’ sake?” He slithers up to me, his chest pressed against mine. His warm breath hits the lobe of my ear as he whispers, “Or maybe more. I’ll let you ride me. Heard you like to take control.” I give him a shove backwards, but he doesn’t budge. It seems to only arouse him further as he grabs me by the wrist and pins both of my hands over my head on the wall beside the bathroom door.
“Fuck off,” I hiss. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth.”
“Can’t say that’s a huge disappointment. Sluts usually have loose pussys, anyways. And that’s what you are, isn’t it? A slut?”
My stomach twists and I suddenly feel nauseous. Trying to break his hold on me, I try to pull away, but he tightens his grip. His free hand begins smoothing over the skin of my stomach that’s exposed. “Get your dirty hands off me!” I screech.
Just as his fingers trail farther up my shirt, I catch the shadow of someone coming up behind him. There’s a thud as the guy’s knuckles meet the back of Mateo’s skull. Shrieking, he grabs the back of his head. His hold on me drops as he swings around to face his assailant. “You’re fucking dead,” Mateo snaps at…Zack?
They both begin rolling around on the floor, fists flying everywhere. “Stop!” I shout. “Someone, please help.”
Once Zack gets the upper hand, Mateo tries to push him off, but before he can, Zack begins pounding into the flesh of his face. Blood trickles from his nose and his eyes begin to swell immediately.
“Don’t you ever fucking touch her again,” Zack shouts.
I watch as Mateo cocks his arm back, and before I can even react, he swings right across Zack’s jaw. Blood flies from Zack’s mouth and he spits out what’s left. He drops back onto his ass.
“Oh my god, Zack,” I cry out, “Are you ok?” I lean down and touch my hand to the side of his face.
He shrieks at my touch, just as an entire crowd of people come hurrying down the hall. Lacey is the first one at his side as she begins her hysterics. I drop back on my ass, with my back pressed against the wall, and watch as everything unfolds around me.
Puzzled, I just sit here until everyone is restrained.
“This is all your fault!” Lacey scoffs at me. “You just had to come to our school and ruin things, didn’t you?”
I can feel my eyes fill to the brim with tears. “I didn’t…I didn’t—” I don’t even know what I plan to say. I didn’t know? I didn’t mean to? But, what did I not mean to do?
Mateo’s arms are locked behind him by Nash—a student at East Pointe Academy, and one of my old friends. Mateo looks directly at me as he talks to Lacey, “Don’t waste your breath on her. She fucks everything up. That’s what whores do.”
Zack lifts his head and looks at me. Tears slide down my cheek as he watches them fall. He doesn’t come to my defense this time. He doesn’t even look like he’s affected by the words being thrown at me. And why would he be? Why should anyone care? Even my date stands there idly watching and waiting for something to happen.
So, I give them what they want. I push myself off the ground and walk away. Down the hall, through the noise, out the door, and once it’s finally quiet and my feet are carrying me down the sidewalk, I breakdown. But, I don’t stop walking. I’m not even sure where I’m going, but I go.
I half-expected Jonas to come after me. I mean, I rode here with him and don’t have a way home, but I shouldn’t expect anything from that guy. It’s obvious he’s only into himself and just brought me here tonight to piss off Zack. Even though I'm not sure why it did. Zack was telling Mateo to never touch me again. He told every guy at CCH to stay away from me; yet, he seems like he can’t even stand sharing the same air in a room with me.
Hugging my chest tightly, I turn left when I reach the end of the block. I don’t come downtown often, but I do know my way around—after all, I’ve lived here my entire life.
The sun is beginning to set, so I pull my phone out of my pocket to call Amanda and see if she’ll come pick me up. Just as I hit her name and the phone starts ringing, a car pulls up beside me. It moves at slow speed, keeping up with my steps as I continue walking. I look to my right to see who it is, then do a double take. Zack?
He sure does like to pop out of nowhere lately. I end the call, momentarily, and stick my phone in the back pocket of my shorts when his window rolls down.
I tip my chin up with a scowl on my face. “What do you want?”
“Get in.” He gestures toward the passenger seat.
“Not a chance.” I keep walking, and he begins creeping beside me again. Trolling at about five miles per hour.
“You’re just gonna walk home. It’s like five miles.”
Stopping, I turn to face him. “How do you know where I live?”
“It’s Cutler Creek—population nine-hundred. I know where everyone lives. Now get in before it gets dark and someone kidnaps your ass.”
“Like you care.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Besides, they’d probably kick you out after five minutes of hearing you run your mouth. But, no one else cares either and I’m your only chance of getting home safely. Seems you’ve got a lot of enemies in this town.”
“And you’ve recently become one of them, so keep driving, Zack. I don’t need your sympathy.” I sweep the air with my hands and pick up my pace, keeping on down the alley I’ve somehow stumbled upon.
Of course, Zack turns the corner and he’s back at my side again. Out of the corner of my eye, I look at him. His forearm dangling over the steering wheel and his other arm resting on the windowsill. Taking a deep breath, I spin around and shout, “Why are you still here?”
He laughs. He actually fucking laughs.
“Why are you so stubborn, Blue Jay? Just get in the damn car before I scoop you up and toss you in.”
“And that would be kidnapping. Thought we were trying to avoid that.”
“It would only be kidnapping if you fought me off. Something tells me you’d enjoy it.”
“You’re delusional.”
“And you’re stubborn. Now get it.”
Since I’m getting little choice in the matter and I don’t doubt that he’d force me in the car, I cave. “Fine, but you’re taking me straight home and then I want you to stay far away from me.”
He pops the locks up and I round the car to the passenger side. Once I’m in, I arch my back and pull my phone out of my back pocket while he responds to a comment about staying away from me. “Kinda hard when you’re my tutor. Not to mention, we have plans tomorrow night. Party, remember?”