Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set

by Misty Reigenborn

  She rolled her eyes at the brilliance of Molli's remark, and stuffed her books into her backpack, deciding that it was time to get to class. Mind still whirling over the fact that Jude had given Molli a sort of promise ring when he'd just had sex with HER; she made her way down the hall

  Chapter 8

  For the next few days, whenever Tory saw Molli, she was flashing the ring to whoever would pay attention. With the lack of sex and drugs to calm her mood, Tory was boiling over with anger, when an opportunity presented itself that could not have been more perfect if it had been wrapped and delivered with a bow and stashed under a Christmas tree.

  She was late for her third period class. The halls were deserted, when who did she see hurrying down the stairs in front of her but none other than Molli. Without stopping more than a few seconds to think about it, Tory rushed her and putting all her weight into it, she shoved Molli down the stairs.

  Not waiting to see if she was all right, she hurried back to the door to the stairs and made a huge detour to the elevators that were off limits except to those with special permission. She rode the elevator down to the class that she was already a good five minutes late for.

  At least she had an excuse. She had been kept late after the previous class by her teacher who wanted to suggest a certain college to her, and then had been further delayed because she'd had to return to her locker to retrieve a folder that she'd forgotten earlier that morning. And Molli had seemed much too distracted to know that anyone was behind her, let alone who it was.

  She offered an apology to her teacher who gave her a dirty look and slid into her seat.

  She expected an announcement to come over the loud speaker at any minute, saying that there had been an accident and calling everyone out of class. But the minutes ticked by and nothing happened. She wasn't summoned to Marcune's office for harming Molli, and nothing was mentioned about any kind of incident.

  Well, she figured as the bell rang to signal the end of the last period of the morning, the longer the bitch lay there without being discovered, the better. And would there be any reason to believe that anything had happened other than someone going down the stairs in a hurry and being careless she wondered?

  She fully expected something to happen during lunch, because there was still no sign of Molli. Tory figured that that meant that she had at least been hurt enough that she couldn't make it to the lunch room. Then Molli almost ran her down on her way to her next class. She had a lump over her eye, and she was walking stiffly, with the help of Ms. Belmont, or at least had been until she spotted Tory.

  "You little bitch," Molli seethed. "I know you pushed me you little psycho. You just can't stand the fact that I'm the one that Jude wants can you?"

  Biting back a retort, Tory moved off to the side as Ms. Belmont took hold of Molli's arm and propelled her down the hall. "Calm down Molli. If you don't there's no way I'm going to let you get away without going to the hospital. You need to worry about getting some rest. The staff will take care of the rest."

  She swallowed the lump that suddenly rose in her throat, and went to her next class on shaky legs, wondering when they were going to call her out of class, wondering if they would just kick her out of school or if what she'd done to Molli had been enough to get her arrested. Her next class was a blur, and still there was no summons from Marcune.

  She could hardly concentrate on her math test and was going over the first question for the third time, when her teacher tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a note that told her that she was wanted in Ms. Marcune's office. Wanting a cigarette like she'd never wanted one before, because there was nothing else she could think of that would calm her nerves, she walked slowly down the empty hallways and made her way to the office.

  The fat secretary looked up at her when she went in and nodded at her. "I'll let her know you're here."

  Not knowing whether to sit or continue standing, Tory stood uncomfortably next to a chair that looked like it belonged in a hospital waiting room. She had decided to sit down several minutes later, when the secretary said, without looking up from her computer "She'll see you now."

  Wishing that she'd never met Jude or Molli, wishing that she could drop through the floor and disappear; she paused in front of the inner office. It felt weird to be standing there. She didn't know if she should knock.

  She had raised her hand to knock when the unmistakable voice of Ms. Marcune called out "Come in already. I don't have all day."

  Tory pulled the door open and sat down in the chair across from the desk.

  Marcune cleared her throat. "These are some rather strange circumstances we're in here Ms. Collins. There have certainly been fights in these halls because what school can truly say that a fight has never taken place on its grounds? But this Ms. Collins was something quite unexpected."

  "I um. . ."

  "First Victoria, would you be as kind as to explain to me exactly why you were so tardy for your fourth period class."

  "My third period teacher kept me after class to discuss an opportunity for college. Then I realized that I had forgotten the folder with my assignment in it for my next class and had to return to my locker."

  "Your teacher explained to me that she had kept you after class. When you were going down the stairs to your next class did you happen to run into anyone?"

  She took a deep breath, wondering briefly whether telling an all-out lie would only get her in deeper Tory said (half wanting to add that her name was just Tory and not Victoria). "I was running so late that I took the elevator down to class. I know we're not supposed to but I was really late by that time and. . . ."

  She trailed off, sneaking a glance at Marcune. The woman was expressionless as usual. There was no way for Tory to tell if she was buying the story.

  "I see. I’d been told by Mr. Harris that he had seen you coming off of the elevator. But there is an issue with Ms. Archer who seems to have had an unfortunate accident on the stairwell. She’s convinced that you pushed her."

  "I wouldn't do that."

  Marcune nodded to herself. "I had believed that the girl was mistaken. With your explanation and with the corroboration of two of my staff, I now have no reason to think that you were on that stairwell when Ms. Archer fell." Marcune sighed. "I only wish that I could convince her. She seems to think that you have some vendetta against her over some young man. There was nothing that could be said to calm her down. She always has been excitable, though. I was rather reluctant to allow her to enroll because her parents had mentioned emotional problems, doctors, medication. But I believe that every girl deserves a chance at a good education. You on the other hand, have been someone who should be the cause of envy. Nary an issue with you since day one. Your grades are some of the best I've seen in years, and it all seems to come to you with so little effort. You are free to go. I'm sorry to have pulled you away from class for such a ludicrous reason, but every avenue had to be investigated or this wouldn't be the kind of place that parents strive to send their daughters to."

  Tory stood to go, surprised by what Marcune had let slip about Molli. It was probably illegal to dispense private information like that but Tory felt a little thrill all the same. She had pushed Molli down the stairs and Marcune was apologizing for taking her away from class, telling her how great she was. Wasn't that just a bitch she thought?

  Hiding a smile, Tory made her way to the door.

  Well, she thought as she opened the door and then shut it silently behind her, how was that for punishment?

  The funny thing was that she wasn't sure that she wanted Jude anymore.

  She loved him. But love was blind and oftentimes so idiotic that it caused people to stay with significant others who beat them and cheated on them. And there was no way that she was going to share Jude with Molli or anyone else.

  She went back to class and slid back into her seat, hoping that she'd be able to finish the test before the period ended in twenty minutes. She got to work, and since her concentrati
on was better, she was able to finish the test with minutes to spare and had handed it in when the bell rang.

  Classes ended for the day. Tory decided to take a short jaunt into town after dinner. She really needed a smoke. There was no way in hell she was going to be dumb enough to smoke on the school grounds or in the woods. Besides, Molli might be out there with Jude telling him all about what Tory had done to her she thought.

  She knew that Molli would go running to Jude eventually. Would he be worried about their baby she wondered? Did he know about the baby? That certainly wasn't information that Molli could flaunt in the halls she thought.

  It was funny how much attention the staff paid to the rumors, if you could get around the fact that it really was rather pathetic.

  She made a quick stop at her room after dinner to grab her jacket and bag.

  She slipped out the back door, and wondered briefly was Tony was up to. She thought that he was probably getting high; shooting up or snorting a bunch of coke. What an ass he was. But she already missed him. Damn she thought. Maybe she could swing by his house to kind of test the waters. No, she thought, what the fuck was she thinking?

  She didn't need Tony. She didn't need Jude. What she needed was someone who would supply her with blissful sex, cigarettes and weed. Which was Tony personified. But the last thing she needed to do was get wrapped up with some other drug dealing loser.

  She lit a cigarette as she hurried through the woods, not wanting to run into anyone. She stepped out onto the road, and shoved the cigarettes back in her bag. She almost jumped when her cell phone rang. She took a deep breath as she glanced at the screen, hoping that it would be Tony.

  I am pathetic she thought. She hadn't really let herself fall for him had she? But damn it had hurt when he'd told her to go away.

  She squinted at the phone in the growing darkness, and saw that it wasn't Tony calling her but Carl. The phone stopped ringing just as she pushed the button to answer it, switching over to voicemail. She sighed as she waited to see if he'd leave a message. The phone beeped at her. She dialed her voicemail and put in her password to listen to the message.

  "Hey, Tor. It's Carl. I know you probably don't want to hear from me but Tony needs you. He's already in too deep. Give me a call back when you get this please."

  Damn it she thought. What the hell was she supposed to do to help that asshole when he wouldn't let her?

  She dialed Carl back. He answered the phone before the first ring had stopped. "Tor, I'm really sorry to bug you but I'm worried about Tony."

  "Me too. But what can I do about it when he's already mad at me?"

  "I don't know. But if he doesn't get his head out of his ass I'm gonna have to get my dad involved. The last thing Tony needs is to end up in jail."

  "Carl I'd love to help, but. . ."

  "He's in love with you Tory. He may not want to admit it because he's this tough drug dealer that goes through women like I don't know what. But it messed him up so bad thinking that you were ashamed of him. He's been strung out for the past couple days; doing all kinds of nasty shit. He hasn't slept, hasn't showered, and hasn’t eaten. He looks like shit. Give him time and all he's going to accomplish is a damn overdose."

  Mixed feelings went through her. She really didn't want to see Tony doing something stupid like killing himself over some stupid insult to his pride but she also felt a little weirded out. If he was this messed up over such a little thing what would happen if she did something that was worse?

  A real insult, a real slight. Shit, what would Tony do if he knew she'd slept with Jude she thought? What the hell had she gotten herself into?

  "Tor you still there?"

  "Yeah, Carl. I didn't mean anything by it. But I can't go over there. He threw me out the other day, told me to get the fuck out of his life. I don't want to make things worse."

  "Tory, I'm scared. I know that Tony would call me a pussy, but it's crazy. I mean yeah, I'm too young to drink and I still do it. Sometimes if I smoke too much weed I don't get my homework done. But I never really wanted to try anything stronger. Tony told me he'd kick my ass if I tried coke, and who wants to be messed up like those dumbass crack heads and tweakers? I've seen the nasty bitches that come around to Tony's, all hours of the day and night. I don't want to see Tony go down like that. He's been like a brother to me. He's already got enough crap going on in his head with his mom so messed up. We can't let him do this to himself Tor. You gotta help me. He won't listen to me."

  She reached into her purse for another cigarette. "I don't want to see Tony do this to himself either. He's too smart for that shit but I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to do. He doesn't want to see me."

  "Can you call him? Can you at least try Tor? Please?"

  "Fine." She sighed.

  "Thank you so much Tory. You don't know how much this means to me."

  "You're welcome, Carl. I'm gonna let you go now and try Tony. Take care."

  "You too."

  She jabbed the end button on her phone and sighed again. She didn't want to do this she thought. She threw her cigarette onto the side of the road and steeling herself, dialed Tony's number. As it rang on the other end, again and again, she wondered if he was ignoring her. He hung up and tried again, telling herself that if he didn’t answer she wouldn’t call again.

  But he answered the phone after the second ring this time, sounding winded. "Hello?"

  "Tony?"

  "Hey Tor."

  "How are you doing Tony?"

  "Baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that shit to you. I just can't stand the thought of you being ashamed of me."

  She wanted to cry. "Tony, I'm sorry. I'm not ashamed of you. I'm proud of you. You have the potential to do so much better with your life. You can't do this to yourself."

  "I love you Tory."

  She almost dropped the phone. Her breath caught in her throat.

  "Are you still there Tor?"

  "Yeah, Tony. I'm here."

  She didn't know what to say. It was obvious he cared about her but loved her she thought? Oh what had she gotten herself into? First Jude, who had torn her apart inside and now this.

  "Can you come see me, Tor?"

  "Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen minutes or so."

  "I'm gonna get in the shower, so just come in like always."

  "Okay. I'll see you soon Tony."

  "Bye."

  "Bye Tony."

  She shut her phone with a click that seemed very loud in the quiet evening. It was getting chilly out and she quickened her step, heart beating fast. So much for a no strings attached relationship she thought.

  As she neared Tony's house, she saw that his car was parked haphazardly in the driveway and there was a dent in the side that hadn't been there before. Not that the car hadn't been in bad shape before but now it really looked bad. What had he been doing she thought?

  It had only been four days since she'd last seen him and already he'd smashed into something with his car and had been getting high pretty much nonstop since he'd left his aunt and uncle's on thanksgiving. Maybe she should walk away right now she thought, before she got in too deep. But no, that would be more messed up than what Jude had done to her.

  She couldn't run away from Tony now, after he'd told her that he loved her.

  She sighed as she opened Tony's front door. She could hear the shower running down the hall and was glad that she would have a minute to think about what the hell she was going to say to him. There was a part of her that wanted to smack some sense into him, and another part that wanted to fall into his arms.

  She was a bona fide idiot she thought, no doubt. And this man, whose house was messier than it had been and now had a strange smell to it, musty with something vaguely metallic underneath, had turned her into a sex addict. First she'd been having sex with Tony. Then she'd ended up sleeping with her ex-boyfriend whom she'd sworn was the love of her life and now was starting to see in an even worse light.

  She steppe
d around a pile of porno mags as she heard the shower shut off. Her heart was beating triple time as she walked down the hall to Tony's room. She opened the door silently and entered the room as he was stepping out of the bathroom, dripping wet and gloriously nude.

  Oh he had a spectacular body she thought. Tall and muscular. His wavy hair was downright curly when it was wet; and those sexy hazel eyes. He made her melt. The messy room faded. She didn't notice that the bed was stripped of sheets, and the trash was overflowing. She didn't notice the hard drugs on his dresser as he came towards her and drew her into his arms.

  He kissed her like she was the only woman on earth, like they'd been apart for four months instead of just four days and damn her hormones she thought. She was more turned on than she'd ever been in her life. She didn't know what time it was, could barely remember what day it was as he kissed her, drawing her towards the bed.

  They should lock this man up and throw away the key because she felt like she'd do anything for him, anything with him, if he'd just give her what she wanted, what she needed to stop her hormones from raging, her blood running white hot she thought. She'd run away with him if he asked her to, live in exile like her father while he dealt drugs for the rest of their lives, as long as he made her feel like this. It must be wrong to be so turned on she thought; anything that felt like this had to be.

  He pressed her gently to the bed with fire in his eyes, just looking at her for a moment. She was fully dressed and he was naked and still wet from the shower, sporting an erection. He was still standing there looking at her when she decided she had had enough, and sat up and stripped.

  He said nothing as she lay back on the bed, wanting him so bad she could almost feel him inside of her. Damn a condom she thought, damn them both because she didn't give a shit if he had any or if he'd been screwing around the last few days. She wanted him and she was going to have him any way she could get him.

  He lay down beside her, still just looking at her. She knew he was turned on, hard ons do not lie she thought. So why was he so relaxed, so damn content to just look at her when she was feeling like she would come the second he was inside of her?