Broken Hill Halo (Broken Hill High #2)

by Sheridan Anne

  I’ve gotten used to this over the past month but I have to admit, it’s weird. I used to be able to walk into a party with my friends and have a few guys ogle our bodies and give us creepy bedroom eyes before leaving us alone to enjoy our night, now everything is different. The title of Nate’s girlfriend comes with a shitload of baggage, though people are quickly realizing that I’m not as easily swayed as they had hoped.

  I constantly have a string of girls wanting to be my friend but it’s clear it’s to get closer to Jesse and Nate. On top of that, I get the guys trying to move in and give me extra special attention, hoping they appear as being nice but all that does is piss off the boys and start a shitload of fights, though, Jesse absolutely loves it. Any excuse to swing a fist and he’ll take it.

  We walk deeper into the party with our friends on our heels as Nate leads me towards the drinks table. I’m still working on the drink that Brooke had given me earlier so I decline when Nate tries to hand me another. He shrugs and helps himself to a beer just as the rest of the guys do.

  Brooke and I escape the boys’ clutches and search out our best friends, Courtney and Bec, and naturally, we find them plastered up against a few guys who neither of us recognize. We dive in and pull them away before they squeal in excitement that we’re finally here.

  The party gets ridiculously busy. Every corner of the massive house is packed inside and out, and when there’s literally no more room on the dance floor so, the four of us make our way outside.

  I spot the boys sitting around a bonfire, each with a cold beer in their hands and a few empties at their feet. I laugh to myself before grabbing another drink of my own. As if sensing my eyes on him, Nate turns around and focuses those dark eyes on me. The second they connect with mine, I feel a jolt fly through me, pulling me to him. It's almost like an invisible hand is reaching out and dragging me towards to him.

  I step in his direction when a large body walks past and shoulder charges me. Pain shoots through my shoulder and I stumble back into Brooke who reaches out to steady me.

  I look up, trying to find the idiot who couldn’t possibly take a second to look where he was going before taking a step, only to find a smirking Josh Henderson looking down at me as he tries to shoulder his way through the throng of people.

  Fear and rage rocks through me. I haven’t seen Josh since he attacked me in a broom closet and recorded it a few weeks ago before being expelled from Broken Hill High. The head cheerleader at the time, Elle, had put him up to it, but backed off once Jesse threatened to ruin her. Though, after Josh still went through with the plan, so did Jesse.

  I never knew what happened to him after Nate beat the living shit out of him, but he clearly still holds a grudge, and honestly, so do I. I’d give anything to be able to get revenge on him but that’s not me.

  Rumor has it that he enrolled at the public school but he hasn’t been in touch with any of the people he used to hang out with, so no one really knows what happened. Though, all I know right now is that he’s standing right before me, or at least, he was a moment ago.

  Within the blink of an eye, Nate has the back of his shirt in his fist and is ripping him back away from me before pushing himself between us. Nate is practically shaking with rage and I put my hand on his back, instantly settling him.

  The smug smirk vanishes from Josh’s face as he goes to step into Nate, only he backs right off when Max, Jesse, Ty, and Parker surround him, along with everyone else at the party.

  Nate steps into the center of their circle and gets right in Josh’s face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”

  Josh doesn’t respond, only flicks his eyes around the circle, trying to find an escape, but he should know better. There’s no escape from these guys. Once they have their target in sight, they always go for the kill. That’s what makes them so feared around here, even feared by Josh.

  He had always been scared of standing up to Nate, even when he destroyed his parent’s backyard. That all changed the second I shot him down. He suddenly didn’t care about what Nate would do to him. He had me set in his sights and Nate wasn’t going to stop him. Only, he didn’t bet on me fighting back.

  Josh focuses his gaze on Nate and it almost seems harder, like the past few weeks have changed him. He used to be carefree. He was the quarterback of our football team and well, now he’s nothing. He has nothing to lose.

  “That’s none of your goddamn business,” he grunts as he raises his chin, meeting Nate’s challenge and refusing to back down.

  It’s then I notice that every single body around us has come to a stop and every eye is on us, while people from inside are glued up against the windows, trying to get a glimpse of a fight.

  Shit. This isn’t good.

  “You made it my business when you touched my girl,” Nate growls low in his throat, making everyone lean in so they can hear what’s going on.

  “Oh. So, that whore is officially your girl?” he laughs. “Good luck with that one. The bitch doesn’t put out.”

  I see Nate’s fist clenching at his side and I see red. I storm through the boys' circle and break my way in, ready and prepared to teach this fucker a lesson. Only, Nate has another idea as his arm shoots out across my chest like a steel rod, blocking me from putting him down, all without removing his eyes from Josh.

  “You owe Tora an apology,” Nate says with venom, though I’ve seen enough of these fights over the years. This is Nate giving him one last chance to make it right and back down.

  “Yeah,” Josh laughs. “That’s never going to happen.”

  His eyes flick down to me before they travel the length of my body which is Nate’s breaking point. “Hey,” he calls as he removes his arm from across my chest.

  Nate rears back as Josh lifts his eyes from me.

  Crack.

  Nate’s fist slams into Josh’s jaw, sending him flying back towards a wall of muscle known as Tyson and Parker. Only he doesn’t crash into them, they simply step away, letting him fall to his ass as he latches onto his throbbing jaw while Nate casually stands there, watching the scene play out before him with a cold as stone look across his handsome face.

  Josh looks up at Nate and his jaw clenches as rage pours out of his eyes. Nate feints forward and I watch in amusement as Josh’s eyes widen in fear and he scrambles to his feet before pushing his way through the circle of muscle and disappearing.

  There’s a mixed reaction from the onlookers, some laughing, some booing for the missed fight while others take the opportunity to try to gain the boys' attention while they’re amongst the rest of the world rather than holed up by the bonfire.

  As usual, Nate tunes them all out and turns to me. His hand comes up and grazes over the shoulder which Josh had barged into you. “Are you alright?” he murmurs as his hand on my shoulder comes up and runs down the side of my face.

  “Yeah,” I tell him. “I’m fine, though I’m kind of pissed I didn’t get to hit him.”

  “That’s not you, babe,” he says. “You’re not a violent person.”

  “Who knows?” I grin. “Maybe your wicked ways are starting to rub off on me.”

  A heavy arm is thrown over my shoulder. “Babe,” Jesse laughs. “If you wanted something to rub off on you, you should have told me.”

  “Dude,” Nate grunts as he slams his palm into Jesse’s shoulder, knocking his arm off of mine. “That’s my fucking girlfriend you’re talking to.”

  “I know,” he laughs. “It makes messing with you so much better.”

  People start grunting and groaning and I look across to find Phoenix barging her way through the crowded people in her hurry to get to us. “What the hell is going on?” she demands before she backtracks when she sees who she’s talking to. “Oh, um. Shit,” she cringes. “What’s going on over here? Someone said there was a fight.”

  Nate narrows his eyes on her and steps forward. “You let Josh into your party,” he states, demanding answers and needing someone to place the blame
on.

  “Josh?” she gasps as her eyes flick to mine. I mean, it’s no secret what he did to me a few weeks ago. It was the biggest news to hit the school in ages. “I didn’t know he was here. I swear. If I knew, I would have gotten rid of him.”

  “Well, it looks like I’ve done that for you,” he says with a stone cold attitude that, if he wasn’t Nate Ryder, would have the head cheerleader losing her shit.

  Her eyes harden and narrow on his for a split second before she reminds herself who she’s talking to. She plasters on her fake smile and turns to me. “Are you ok?” she asks as she reaches out and strokes her hand down my arm. “That would have been hard. I’m sure you’d need a drink after that.”

  I resist cringing at her fake bullshit and pull my arm back from her. This whole being the most powerful girl in school shit is getting old and I’m getting sick of fake bitches like this always trying to creep up my ass. I mean, is it that hard for people to be real? I’d respect them a lot more if they were just honest and stated what they want rather than trying to be my friend when a few weeks ago, they wouldn’t go out of their way to say boo.

  Phoenix must be one of the fakest girls in school. Only a few weeks ago, Elle was her best friend, until Jesse exposed her dirty threesome secret and she dumped Elle like she was yesterday’s business. Elle hasn’t been seen out in public since. In fact, I was surprised she had the balls to show her face at school after that. Though, the world she once knew is now completely different. She doesn’t talk to anyone, or maybe no one talks to her, terrified that Phoenix will shun them if they do. She now sits at a table by herself at lunch. It’s kind of sad really.

  I let out a huff and decide I’ve had enough. “I’m fine,” I tell her before testing the waters and stepping up into her. “This party is getting boring. We’re out.”

  Her eyes widen a fraction before she schools her features and slaps on a scowl. I turn on my heel and stalk past her. I don’t need to turn around to know that Nate and Jesse are right behind me with the rest of our group following.

  We’re just about at the front door when Jesse calls out. “Party at my place.” Nate and I groan, but either way, it’s the perfect punishment for Phoenix for being such a poor party host.

  Shit. Maybe Nate and Jesse are rubbing off on me a bit.

  Two seconds later, Phoenix’s party is non-existent.

  Jesse laughs the whole way out the door as Phoenix rushes around, trying to convince all the party goers to stay, but when a Ryder brother declares a party at their home, you know that’s where you want to be. Though, I kind of wished he hadn’t. It’s Jesse’s birthday next weekend and I know there’s going to be another party then, and no doubt, it’s going to be huge.

  Nate and I get into his car and not a moment later, he’s flying down the street and pulling into their long driveway. He opens the big garage and pulls in before looking around to make sure his parents aren’t home as I’m sure their idea of a Friday night isn’t having hundreds of teenagers destroying their home.

  Jesse pulls into the garage beside him and brings his car to a stop before Nate hits the button to close it.

  With the cars safely tucked away, we all head on into the house. Jesse walks to the front door and opens it wide for all the people making their way down the driveway while Maxen works on cranking the music. Parker and Nate pull a keg from somewhere, while Brooke and I work on ordering a shitload of pizzas.

  Twenty minutes later, the party is going nuts and I’m curled up on the couch with the girls in the den, all of us with a glass of champagne in our hands as we laugh about the way Courtney had missed the edge of the couch and landed flat on her ass, tipping her drink right down her dress. I didn’t even groan knowing I’ll be the one mopping up the sticky floor in the morning.

  Our laughter only gets worse when Phoenix walks past the opening of the den, acting as though she’s having the time of her life at the party that should have been hers.

  It’s after two in the morning when Courtney and Bec disappear and Brooke falls into Maxen’s Lap. I’m far too tired to get up off the couch and am quickly falling asleep, though, I don’t want to sleep on the couch during the middle of a party. That’s just asking for trouble.

  Nate appears in the opening of the den and pulls me up into his arms. “You look tired,” he tells me.

  I smile up at him as I rest my head against his chest. “Exactly what a girl wants to hear.”

  “Shut up,” he chuckles as he reaches the stairs. “You’re fucking beautiful and you know it.”

  I roll my eyes as a yawn rips through me. If I had my way, I would have been in bed hours ago, but I didn’t want to be a party pooper. Nate opens the door of my bedroom and flicks the light before we both look straight towards the bed, making sure it’s not being used by anyone. He closes the door behind us and locks it before dropping me down onto my bed.

  I grab the hem of my shirt and pull it up over my head before slipping my jeans down my legs. I mean, there’s nothing worse than sleeping in skin-tight jeans. A moment later, my head goes crashing down on my pillow and I moan out in relief as I close my eyes.

  I open them back up to watch Nate shrug out of his shirt in that weird way boys do when they throw a hand over the back of their heads and pull it off. His eyes smolder as he watches me, while he works his belt buckle and pops the button of his jeans, allowing them to fall down with the belt buckle clattering to the ground.

  He slips into bed beside me and reaches out to pull me back into him, the same way he has done every other night for the past month. I melt into his body as he curls around me.

  Another yawn rips out of me before I close my eyes and snuggle in deeper. “Where do your parents go every weekend?” I ask as I enjoy the darkness of the room while tuning out the bass thumping up through the floor from the party below.

  I feel Nate shrug at my back. He goes quiet for a moment and I wonder if he’s fallen asleep or if he’s thinking it over. “I don’t know,” he finally says. “I’ve always assumed it was a date night kind of thing.”

  “I thought date night was Monday nights?”

  “Fucked if I know,” he grunts before pulling me in a little tighter and running his fingers through my hair, knowing it helps me to sleep. “Every night seems to be date night with them lately.”

  “Does it bother you?” I ask. “You know, that they’re not here much.”

  “Not really,” he says. “I think it bugs Jesse though.”

  I nod my head. I can understand that. While Jesse has a tough exterior, he’s like a marshmallow on the inside. He doesn’t like to let it show and tends to cover it with his bad boy persona and humor, but once you get to know him, it’s as obvious as the sky is blue. He loves fiercely and he hurts deeply. Nate though, he’s similar but much more of a closed book, he also loves fiercely and he while he has the ability to hurt deeply, he prefers to get even.

  “Why do you ask?” he murmurs into the dark room. “Are you missing your parents?”

  “I’m always missing my parents,” I tell him, hating that they’re so far away in Australia caring for my sick Nanna. “But that’s not what made me ask. I was a little more curious about how you guys are always getting away with having parties? I mean, you guys never get caught.”

  “Oh,” he says. “I was wondering where you were going with this, but believe me, we’re not always that lucky.”

  “Really?” I giggle. “You guys get in trouble? Does daddy bend you over his knee and spank you or do mommy’s precious little boys get a stern talking to? Lose your allowance? Go to bed without dinner?”

  “Shut up,” he laughs. “But if you must know, mommy’s precious little boys get the ‘I’m very disappointed in you’ speech.”

  “Oh, no,” I laugh as I turn in his arms to look up at him. “That must be horrible.”

  “Yeah, it’s a real killer,” he says as he lowers his face to mine and gently kisses me. “Jesse can’t stand it and ends up sucking up to mom
for the next week.”

  “And you?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think you wait until nobody is around before you grovel on your knees for forgiveness and promise that you’ll never do it again, only, you always do it again, or at least, Jesse does it again and you take the blame.”

  I feel his smile against my lips before he presses another kiss to them. “Go to sleep, Tora,” he tells me before kissing me once again.

  Chapter 4

  I walk through the school corridors on Thursday afternoon with a stomach growling for its lunch. I’m just about at the cafeteria. I’m so close I can smell the food and it’s the only thought in my mind.

  Food. Food. Food. Glorious food.

  I push through the big double doors of the cafeteria and inhale deeply. I briefly glance around to see the boys aren’t here yet, but all my girls are and what’s better is that they’re saving me a spot in the line.

  I practically skip over to them. “Thanks,” I say as they reach the front of the line. Courtney leans forward and grabs a handful of trays before handing them out. I graciously take one and get ignored by Brooke whose attention is solely on the selections before her.

  We make our way down the line and I settle for a salad sandwich before grabbing a bottle of water. I turn around to find Nate and Jesse walking through the door, and as usual, Nate’s eyes are already on mine. He sends me a flirty wink and I can’t help the blush that rises on my cheeks. He laughs at my reaction which has Jesse also looking up.

  Jesse looks across at me before he rolls his eyes and flips me the bird. I flip it right back and laugh to myself as the girls meet me at the end of the line. We walk over to our table and leave the boys be for the day. I mean, I see enough of them at home, today is about my girls.

  As I sit down, I can’t help but notice the table in the very back of the room looking extremely lonely. Elle sits by herself with her head down and not a single soul paying her any attention, though, I bet she’s hoping they don’t. After all, she’s made nearly every single person in the room’s life a living hell at one stage or another, and now she doesn’t have the security of the cheerleaders to back her up. She’s now the one on the other end of the bullying and I bet she’s regretting her decisions to alienate her classmates over the past few years.