by Doyle, Dawn
“Dirty bastard!” Josh roared. “Quinn, fucking ace this ass-wipe.”
I clutched my stomach, the wind knocked out of me. I couldn’t breathe, my lungs were burning, my heartbeat erratic. “Fuck,” I groaned.
A huge shadow loomed over me, Noah’s wild and bloodied face coming into view before he threw himself on top of me, crushing me further into the dirt. Fists rained down on my head, my face, and my ribs. Pain fired through my torso, bruises already forming under the skin, blood vessels bursting with the impact of each heavy blow.
One of his hands fisted my hair, so I forced my chin to my chest, stopping Noah from banging my head against the floor as he tried to knock me out cold. He wasn’t getting to wail on me when I couldn’t defend myself.
“Bitch! Bitch!” he yelled, his saliva dripping down onto me every time he opened his dislodged mouth.
“Quinn, fuck!” Josh shrieked. “Get the fuck up!”
“Come on, Quinn!” female voices came from the sides, the familiar sounds of college girls surrounding me.
“Get up and smash him to fucking pieces!” Miley screamed. “Tear his fucking head off!”
Yeah, I’d let him have his fun, and now it was time to unleash the rage inside of me. The simmering volcano was bubbling, boiling, the lava rising, further and further, until I shot out my hand, blocking him, then close my fingers around his wrist with my vice-like grip.
I forced my head up a little more, forcing him to look me in the eye. “You’ve had your fun, little man,” I growled.
Before he could react, I let my head fall back, then threw it forward as fast as I could, connecting with his nose. Liquid spurted up like a sprinkler, red coating some of the people around us. The crowd cheered, chanting my name as well as Noah’s posse shouting his.
Noah blinked fast, caught off guard, his fingers loosening in my hair. I grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him to the side, rolling over and straddling him like he’d done to me.
“How do you like me now?” I spat, raising my right hand. “Bitch!” I aimed downward, hitting my mark with perfect accuracy. His holler was music to my ears, a sweet symphony of pain and blood-curdling screams as I shattered his bridge, his eyes swelling more and more with every passing second.
I continued to rain punch after punch with just one hand, my shoulder burning from exertion, my thighs shaking from gripping him tight as he struggled to break free.
He couldn’t protect himself anymore, his arms going limp as he hit my sides, my head, anywhere he could, but I was beyond feeling them.
“Stop,” Noah begged. “No more.”
My hand paused an inch away from his face, his ability to scrunch up in defense gone with the swelling.
“You’re so fucking done,” I ground out, then pushed off his sweaty chest to help myself up. I turned around and took a few steps toward Josh.
His eyes bulged, but he wasn’t looking at me.
I spun just in time to see Noah coming at me, both hands clasped in the air, ready to throw a hit from the back. I parried, sending an uppercut into his solar plexus, knuckles, and gut colliding with monumental force, and he folded. I pressed a hand to his back, pulling my other hand out of his bent-over torso.
He hit the ground with a sharp thud, sucking in air like he was suffocating.
I crouched down, pressing my palm to the back of his sweaty, closely-cropped head. “If you need to take cheap shots to win, Noah, then you’re not a fighter,” I said next to his ear, then shoved his head down when I said, “You’re a fucking coward.”
And I knew one of the biggest out there. Once upon a time, I’d called him Dad.
Kinsley
“Hey, honey,” Miley said, hugging me from behind as I sat at the bench. “I’m sorry, again, for what happened.”
I shook my head and swallowed the piece of blueberry muffin in my mouth. “It’s okay, I got home, so it’s fine now.”
I’d texted her in the morning, letting her know I got back safe. She’d called, apologizing that her phone had died last night, and I gave her the cliff-notes’ version of events because my mom was busy yelling at me once more.
“No, it isn’t,” she replied, her tone curt. “Oh, look who it is.”
“Hey, girls,” Phoebe cooed, waving at us, her black purse hanging from her arm. When she reached the bench, she tucked her black skirt under her legs and sat next to Miley. Her eyes flicked to me. “Sorry, Kinsley, I had an emergency and just had to take off. I’m sure you can understand.” She pulled imaginary lint off of her glittery turquoise sweater, almost pulling off the tiny silver beads there.
I glared at her, a snarl forming on my mouth even though I promised myself I wouldn’t get into trouble here. “Oh, I understand,” I spat. “You fucking left without a damn word, knowing I didn’t know where the hell I was.”
Her hand flew to her chest, the fakest gesture I’d seen in my life, and my ex-best friend was in a sorority. “You didn’t? Oh, now I feel bad.” Her over-exaggerated pout would’ve had me laughing if I didn’t want to tear her head off right then.
I shook my head and huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, you knew it all right.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “Why else wouldn’t you let me go with you to the parking lot, huh?”
Her mock surprise fell instantly, replaced with a sneer. “Oh, I don’t know, because you’re annoying? Because I wanted to go home without having to drop your miserable behind off at your house first?” She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, then straightened her white hairband. “I don’t like you, Kinsley, okay?” She waved her hand at me. “Just go back to wherever it is you came from.”
I barked a laugh so loud that we’d gained an audience. “How mature of you,” I said, still laughing. “So, you deserted me in the darkest and quietest part of town, alone, not knowing my way home, and all you have to say is that you did it because you don’t like me?”
Her face paled, and her eyes darted about at the scene I was making. “I knew you’d call a cab,” she fired back. “Obviously, you did.”
I leaned back and folded my arms. “I did, did I?” I asked, a sly smile curling my lips. Quinn’s angry face ran through my mind, and his determination to get me home himself. “Hmm, safety first and all that, right?”
“Well, duh,” she said, her hand out. “It’s not hard to search up a number.”
“Well, it’s lucky I didn’t have to get distracted by searching Google for a local cab company then, isn’t it?” I glanced at Miley, then back to Phoebe. “No thanks to you, I got home after midnight.”
“What!” Miley shrieked. “We left the theater at eleven, your house is ten minutes away.” She shot daggers at Phoebe. “What the hell?”
“Yeah,” I drew out. “After waiting about ten minutes for you to show up, I started walking. I went in the wrong fucking direction for over half an hour.”
Phoebe burst out laughing. “Oh my God, that’s hilarious.”
“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” I growled.
“Phoebe, that’s enough,” Miley snapped, slamming her hand down on the tabletop with more force than she looked like she had in her. She looked about ready to lunge across the table. “You’re a horrible person for doing that to Kinsley. Anything could’ve happened to her.”
Phoebe held her hand out. “But she’s fine, right?” she asked, turning to me. “No trauma, no PTSD?” She snorted a laugh. “Still got your virginity intact?”
“Phoebe!” Miley shrieked.
Oh, she didn’t just fucking joke about assault!
That was it, I couldn’t take it anymore. Before I could think about what I was doing, I dived over the table, my hands grabbing out, but reaching thin air. I struggled against the hands that were holding me, large fingers wrapped around my arms, stopping me from wrapping my fingers in Phoebe’s hair and pulling every last evil strand from her head.
“Get the fuck off of me!” I yelled, sucking in deep breaths, the adrenaline demanding more and more oxygen t
o fuel my anger. I tried to shrug the tight hold off of me, but their grip was too tight,
“That’s not going to go down well if you hit her,” A deep voice said in my ear. I stilled, my head snapping to Colby, then back to Phoebe. She’d gotten up from the table and had moved way out of my reach. “You’ll get suspended, and from what I think you were about to do, probably kicked off campus for good. The dean doesn’t tolerate violence here, no matter what anybody looks like when they show up.”
Quinn. Mrs. Montgomery had looked at him with disdain, so I couldn’t imagine how Dean Beaufort did if she had a zero-tolerance policy on fighting. He’d done whatever it is he did while off-campus, I assumed, or he was just good at not getting caught.
My arms were still restrained by Colby’s hands, and it’d take just one kick backward to get him to drop like a sack of shit, but instead, I said,” Let me go, Colby.”
“Are you gonna stop going for her?” he asked, unsure, just like I was.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best,” I replied through my teeth, my heavy breathing not slowing for a second.
Colby gently released me, and I straightened my long, black, and gray plaid shirt, then pulled down the black tank underneath that had ridden to my stomach, tugging the band over the waist of my black leggings.
I pushed the loose strands of hair out of my face, never once breaking contact with Phoebe’s terrified eyes.
Her pursed lips looked comical as she tried to compose herself. “Touch me, bitch, and I’ll make sure you don’t step foot in this college again.”
I grinned slyly. “You could try. Because no matter what you do, I’m not going anywhere.” For the first time since arriving at Broken Hollow, the idea of not leaving didn’t seem so bad.
Colby stayed while Phoebe took off, all eyes on her as she disappeared into the building.
Miley took my arm, linking mine with hers. “Again, I’m so sorry,” she said sadly. “If I’d have known she’d pull a stunt like that, I would never have agreed for her to take you when she called me last minute.” When I told her what Phoebe had said outside my house, Miley seemed surprised. “Why on Earth would I need to give Rachel a ride? Honey, I don’t live near Rachel— she and Phoebe live together.”
She set me up.
Fuming, I spun around, taking deep breaths to calm down, to stop myself from following her, and finishing what I hadn’t had the chance to start.
‘That’s not you, Kinsley.’ I could hear my dad’s voice say. ‘Violence doesn’t solve anything except when defending yourself.’
It was times like these when I needed him more than ever. I needed him to pull me into a warm hug, kiss my head, and tell me that Karma would sort out the problem.
But Karma and I weren’t on speaking terms, because the bitch took my dad and my uncle when they didn’t do a bad thing to anyone.
“I gotta get to class.” I turned back, quickly hugged Miley who held on a little too long, and walked away.
“Wait up,” Colby said, jogging to reach me. “I’ll walk with you.”
I looked around, noticing that everybody had gone back to what they were doing already, the show over, and nothing else to see. Except for two people who were looking right at us.
Leaning against the wall with a perfect view of what had gone down, his hands tucked into his leather jacket, and his black denim legs crossed at the ankles, was Quinn, his eyes fixed on me under his black baseball cap, his freshly injured face expressionless, with Josh at his side.
Quinn and I stared at each other until I reached the entrance to the hallway near the art room. It was only then I saw the darkness fall across his features, his eyes no longer on mine, but on Colby.
“Got anything interesting to work on for your fall project?” he asked as we headed inside.
I shook my head. “Not yet. I’ve still got a few more to catch up on.”
“Need any help?”
I tilted my head to look up at him, seeing he was already looking down at me, his eyes searching my face. He was a little closer than I was comfortable with, so I sidestepped a little while walking, so he didn’t notice. Only, he did. He stepped back into the space I’d just created. “Uh, no, but thank you. It’s just some business logo designs that Mr. Spiers said I needed to add to my work portfolio.”
“Well,” he said, nudging my arm. “If you want to go over anything I’ve already worked on, I’d be more than happy to show you.” His lips turned up, hitting his hazel eyes. “Well, if Quinn’s okay with it.”
My brows furrowed. “Why would it have anything to do with Quinn?” My immediate reaction was to tell him Quinn and I weren’t together, that he’d made it up and he has no say in who I spend time with, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it—something told me to shut my mouth.
“He’s…” Colby’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a deep breath at the same time he lifted his shoulders. “He’s intense. I’d hate to cause problems between you.” Colby’s probing inspection of my face, as though searching for something—a tell, maybe—had me averting my gaze.
“Yeah, well, that’s Quinn for you.”
Intense, moody, trouble, a douche… Yet, he’d made sure I got home safe.
Without looking, I knew Colby was still looking at me, the heat of somebody’s stare burning into the side of my face.
His arm brushed against mine as we walked, sending prickles to break out over the skin there, and my pulse to race, but it wasn’t the kind that felt good. Again, I tried to create a distance between us by slightly increasing the width of my stride, but it made no difference. He continued to intrude on my personal space.
“Uh, Colby?” I asked, still not turning his way.
“Yeah?” His voice was low now, the tone rumbling, and my skin crawled as goosebumps broke out all over.
“A little space, please?” I held my hand out, gesturing at the lack of distance.
“Oh, sure,” he apologized as though surprised. He made enough room that I could breathe again without feeling like I was sharing his air. He chuckled quietly. “I think I might have a problem with personal space when it comes to you.”
“Well, you need to fix that problem,” I said, stopping outside the door to the art studio.
He raised one brow, a cocky smirk settling over his features. “Maybe we could fix it so it isn’t a problem?”
I frowned and leaned away from him in disbelief. “You’ve just mentioned Quinn not being okay with you helping me, and now you’re hitting on me? Seriously?”
He shrugged this time, a knowing grin wide on his face, his eyes dancing with humor. “I don’t see Quinn here telling me otherwise.”
I balked, my lids widening. “I’m telling you otherwise,” I snapped. “I don’t need Quinn to warn guys away from me—I can do that all on my own.” When Colby just grinned wider, I pushed open the door to the room and walked in ahead of him. “Un-fucking-believable.”
Quinn’s offer was beginning to look appealing.
***
Once classes were done for the day, I walked out into the parking lot, spotting Miley and a few others standing near my car. I hurried over, wondering what was going on.
“Miley?” When I saw her face and the direction of her attention, my jaw dropped. “What the fuck?” My hands shot to my head, my fingers running over the top. “Oh, this day just gets better and fucking better,” I shot out sarcastically. I circled my car, checking for damage other than my slashed tire.
“Who could’ve done this?” Miley asked, coming over and putting her arm over my shoulders and hugging me to her side. “Kinsley, I’m so sorry. This isn’t a usual thing to happen here, I swear.”
Voices talked amongst themselves, chatter about what I’d done to be targeted flying around.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I replied, ironically. “Apparently, trouble follows me wherever I go. I think I need to get a restraining order.”
That got a laugh from her, but she coughed it back. “Sorr
y, but that was kinda funny.”
I gawked at her. “I’m glad I could brighten your day.” I turned back to my car, wondering how the hell I was going to get home.
No.
He was the first thing that popped into my head, but I couldn’t call him for this; it wasn’t an emergency like the other night. I wasn’t stranded, and it was only late afternoon.
His words from that night came back to me, and rather than get caught up in another argument with him, I took out my phone and looked up my contacts.
“Are you calling your mom?” Miley asked, her arm sliding from around me.
“No, she’s at work on the other side of the city,” I said, still looking down. She wouldn’t be able to come out for me; she was working on a case and would probably be in a deposition. I found Quinn’s number, and a ghost of a smile passed my lips when he’d entered Quasimodo as his name. I pressed the phone to my ear and waited for it to ring.
“Kinsley,” Quinn answered, his voice rough, rumbling through the phone and tickling my ear.
The hair’s on my neck stood on end at the same time my breath caught in my throat. “Hey, Quinn,” I managed, and Miley’s eyes snapped to mine, wide open, her chin dropped, and her hand slowly coming up to cover her gaping mouth. That was odd, but I put that out of my head.
“What’s up?” he asked. “I take it something’s happened for you to call.”
“Ya think?” I fired back, closing my eyes in a silent cringe. I needed to control my runaway mouth. “Okay, so, one of my tires has been slashed—”
“What?” he ground out. “When?”
“No idea. I came out after my class, and I saw it. This car doesn’t come with a spare, and the repair kit probably won’t hold up to a huge fucking hole in the side,” I said, gesturing to the wheel even though he couldn’t see me.
“Who’s with you?”
“Miley. Some others are hanging around and getting a good look at the damage.”
“Don’t move.”
