by Julia Wolf
Sebastian backed me into a set of lockers. The cold metal seeped through my thin T-shirt and locks dug into my spine. His hips pressed into mine, and there was no hiding the bulge rubbing low on my stomach.
“Grace.” He made my name sound like a filthy cuss word. “The only thing I told Gabe was I was interested. Otherwise, he’d be all over you.”
My head clanked against the metal lockers and my heart jackhammered, but I maintained my bravado. “It would be terrible for a guy to be all over me without my consent, wouldn’t it?”
His erection had grown, but he didn’t grind it against me. He didn’t even try to touch me anywhere except my neck. His thumb rubbed back and forth along my throat as he stared at me.
“Are you finished running from me?” He sounded almost exasperated, which was truly nuts.
“Will you leave me alone?”
Light flashed in the deep, black pools of his eyes. His thumb moved to my chin, rubbing where it jutted out in defiance. I tried to turn away, but he held me fast.
“No. I’m not going to leave you alone.”
“You should seek help, Sebastian.” I couldn’t keep the tremble out of my voice. He liked me afraid, and I was giving him my fear on a silver platter.
The corner of his mouth hitched in amusement. “I’ve heard that before.”
It struck me this could all be a game to him. A sick version of cat and mouse. If I kept running, he’d only enjoy the chase more. He had said he liked when I fought back, and not fighting back wasn’t an option. Even if I wanted to, my body would take over and work on instinct to protect me. There had to be some way to use this—to use what I was learning about him—to my advantage.
“I have no doubt about that.” I pushed at his chest. “Didn’t you say you wanted to have lunch with me?”
He didn’t move even an inch. “Are you going to do it without a fight?”
“I’m finally hungry after two days of being too sick to my stomach to eat a bite. If I have to eat with you, I will.”
He hummed again, leaning his forehead on mine. “You know what? I’m gonna pass for today. I’ve changed my mind. I’ve got something I need to take care of, but we’ll spend some time together soon. We have a lot to talk about, and I’d really rather not have an audience.”
His lips grazed my cheekbone before he pulled back and adjusted his erection in his pants. He looked me over, and even though the lines of my body were concealed by my loose clothing, he ran his tongue over his lower lip like he’d never seen anything better. And I whimpered like he’d actually touched me.
“Be seeing you, Grace.”
Sebastian sauntered off down the hall, leaving me in a puddle of terror. I couldn’t take my eyes off his retreating form, nor could I deny the heat between my thighs. I hated that he elicited such a response from me, but hating it didn’t make it stop.
Chapter Ten
Bex was already waiting outside for me, but instead of our normal spot on the bleachers, she was perched on the wall Sebastian and his crew normally sat on. She didn’t look happy to be there, and when she saw me, she nearly leapt off, but Gabe stopped her.
“Come on, Rebecca, your girl’s here and in one piece. No need to rush off,” Gabe said.
“Are you okay?” she mouthed.
“Yeah, are you?” I mouthed back.
We both nodded.
Gabe stuffed a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth, speaking as he chewed. “Where’s Bash? You murder him?”
“Oh. Yeah, guilty.” I held out the bottom of my shirt. “Damn, I’ve got blood on my clothes again. Mother will be pissed.”
He snorted, which led to choking. Bex gave him a good thwack on the back, when honestly, I might’ve let his choking play out. I certainly wasn’t in the mood to assist him. Gabe wasn’t as bad as Sebastian—not many were—but he still got a kick out of tormenting me. And it appeared Bex as well.
“Tell me the truth, little princess.”
I shrugged, hopping up on the wall beside my girl. “He didn’t say where he was going.”
“That fucker,” he mumbled, wandering down the wall to talk to the other guys hanging out.
I agreed, but kept my mouth clamped shut. My stomach still stirred with fear, so I was in no mood to banter. I hadn’t been lying about being hungry, but if I opened my mouth now, I might scream with frustration. I couldn’t believe I was in this situation, and from where I sat, I couldn’t find a way out. My hope was for Sebastian to lose interest in me. I really wasn’t very interesting, so maybe that would happen soon, before he damaged me in a way I couldn’t come back from.
Bex elbowed me in my side. “Where’d you go? I don’t think you heard a word I said.”
“Sorry.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m still shaking off whatever bug I had. I’m listening now.”
She perked up, turning to me with her lunch in her lap. “I asked what your work schedule is for the week.”
“Um…tonight and Friday.”
She grinned, leaning closer. “Perfect. I’ve been texting with Elijah—”
“You have? You didn’t tell me, you little minx.”
That made her laugh. “Hardly. We both know I was his second choice. But I’m not even mad because he’s not my type.”
“What is your type?”
She shrugged. “Well, if they’re nice to me, I’m immediately not interested.”
I snorted hard, gripping both her arms. “Oh, god. What in the internalized misogyny?”
“Hey, just because a guy’s nice doesn’t mean he’s good, you know? Not that I have a lot of experience, but women thought Ted Bundy was charming and hot, and look where they ended up.” She made a slitting motion with her hand across her throat.
“Okay, so your type is hot serial killer, but make him mean?”
She made a slitting motion across my throat. “No, you little dick. I tend to catch feels for the edgy bad boy. But nothing ever happens because, well…”
“You’re chickenshit?” I supplied.
“Exactly. Back to Elijah. He invited us to come hang out with him and some friends from Marshall on the beach Saturday. And since you and I talked about working on our tans…”
“I’m in.”
My response was so immediate, she reared back. “Really? I don’t have to twist your arm?”
“No. Not this time. I could really use a regular, no pressure day away from Savage River. It’ll give me something to look forward to this week.”
She gave me a long look, sighing as she did. “What’s going on? Why are we sitting with Gabe and the misfits all of a sudden? Is this because of Bash’s crush on you?”
I groaned, holding my head in both hands. My temples pulsed with a headache. “I don’t know, Bex. I don’t think a guy like Sebastian is capable of having crush-like feelings. Maybe he wants to crush me. I’m dealing with it, though. Don’t worry about me.”
From the pinch of her brow, she didn’t seem to buy what I was selling, but she let me off the hook anyway. My day got easier from there. Elena wasn’t in English, and Nate left me the hell alone. And on my walk to Wheelz after school, I bought the most decadent caramel brownie I’d ever eaten. For my first substantial food in days, I couldn’t have picked better. The iced coffee I bought along with it hyped me up enough to sail through my third shift at the shop.
The cherry on the top was working with Carly, who was chill about me doing my homework behind the counter when we weren’t busy. Once we closed, she drove me home too.
I went to sleep that night still sad, still afraid of what tomorrow would bring with Sebastian, but I wasn’t falling apart. My life wasn’t all bad, and that was what I had to remember.
* * *
Mr. Klaski pointed to the back of the room the second I walked into class.
“You’ll need to move to your regular seat today, Grace.” He was going for stern, but he hadn’t quite gotten the expression down yet, so he looked more constipated than anything. I had to hold back a l
augh as I trudged down the aisle.
Gabe and Sebastian arrived moments after I’d settled in my seat. This time, I kept my chin up, though my focus was on two kids in a spontaneous rap battle across the room. Sebastian slumped in the seat beside me, his gaze on me unwavering.
“Hey.” His greeting came out so soft, my eyes darted to him, startled. His lips twitched at my reaction. “Feeling better?”
“We’re not friends. You don’t need to ask me how I am.”
He reached across the aisle with his long arm, cupping the back of my neck. “You think I want to be your friend?”
“I have no idea what you want.”
He breathed heavy through his nose. His black eyes were unreadable, but even if I could have read them, I didn’t want to. Horror stories had never been my thing.
“I don’t know either, Grace.”
Mr. Klaski finally called the class to order ten minutes after the bell rang. The rap battle endured a few minutes longer, but he just tried to speak over it. I could barely make out what he was trying to say, but I swore I heard “partners” and “twenty-five-percent of your grade.” Those phrases sent me on high alert. This class might have been a joke, but I still needed to get an A in it. I was counting on at least a partial scholarship, so my GPA had to stay high.
Beside me, Sebastian raised his hand. “Grace and I are partners.”
I went still. Mr. Klaski smiled, writing our names down on his clipboard. Gabe hopped up, raised his arms skyward, and yelled, “Betrayed by my own friend!” He bellowed to Helen on the other side of the room, telling her they were going to partner up. She flipped him off, but Mr. Klaski wrote them down as a pair anyway.
Mr. Klaski handed out sheets with the assignment printed on them. We had to set up a budget for a household and play it out over a month. He assigned us financial speedbumps to throw at our imaginary household so we could figure out how to work around them.
I folded the sheet in half and placed it in my textbook. “I can do all of this.”
“Nope. We’ll work together,” Sebastian said. “You don’t want me to get my education?”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “I don’t want to be alone with you.”
“Then we’ll do the work somewhere we won’t be alone. Your mom home tonight?”
I didn’t trust this boy at all. Not one bit. But if my mom was there, what could he really do? I’d rather work with him in my apartment than in a library where he could drag me into the stacks.
“She’ll be there,” I confirmed.
“All right. I’ve got something to do after school, but I’ll be over later.”
“Great.”
He shot me a crooked grin. “I’m glad you agree. I think it’s pretty fucking great we got partnered up.”
I didn’t bother to refute. He was either gunning for a reaction or completely demented. Either way, the less we interacted, the better.
He let me escape him after class, which worked for me on every level. Bex and I were meeting with our AP art teacher, Ms. Steinberg, for a working lunch since we were both at a stalemate on what type of projects we were going to work on for our final portfolio.
The three of us sat at one of the large art tables, discussing possibilities.
“My problem is I want to work with metal. In Switzerland, we had a garage where I could weld and not have to worry about setting anything on fire. Here, we’re in an apartment, and I can’t exactly whip out my blowtorch in the middle of the living room.” I rested my chin on my fist. “I guess I can sculpt, but I’m not feeling clay at the moment.”
Ms. Steinberg tapped her pen on the table. “There’s no problem, Grace. You can work in the shop. They probably have all the material you need, and anything they don’t have, I can order for you.”
“There’s shop class at this school?” I asked.
She laughed. “There is. I know this building is massive, so it’s pretty easy to overlook parts of it. Shop class is at the very back, on the ground level. I’ll talk to Mr. Frederick about arranging for you to work there after school if that’s what you want.”
For the first time since coming back to the US, I was truly excited. My fingers itched to slip on my gloves and bend metal to my will. I’d need to do a lot of planning before I got to that stage, though.
“Thank you. I’ve got some sketching to do. But wow, this is more than I could have hoped for.”
Ms. Steinberg beamed. “This is what I’m here for. Now, Bex, what are you thinking? How can I help you get where you need to be?”
Bex and our teacher discussed what she maybe, sorta, kinda wanted to do, but I was already sketching out ideas on my pad. I’d been sculpting since I could remember. First, with Play-Doh, then clay when my parents realized I was doing more than just clumping it together. In Switzerland, my art teacher had introduced me to sculpting metal, and I never looked back. My biggest piece, which I had to leave behind, was taller than me. My smallest were little delicate flowers that fit in the palm of my hand.
There was a lot of pressure to get my portfolio just right. Since this was an AP class, if my scores were high enough, I’d receive college credit, which was one less class to pay for next year—and I could send my portfolio to the art programs I planned on applying to...which meant I needed to get cracking since some schools started accepting applications soon.
I spent the rest of the day going back and forth between paying attention in class and sketching in my drawing pad. My vision hadn’t cleared yet, but I had ideas.
Those ideas floating in my head were probably why I didn’t notice Elena following me to my locker with a few of my other former friends in tow. I couldn’t do anything but notice her when she shoved my shoulder so hard, my forehead slammed into my locker.
I spun around, more confused than angry. At first. When I saw Elena’s evil smirk mirrored on all her minions, I geared up for a fight—one I’d lose because I wasn’t physically tough in any way, but I’d try my damnedest.
“Hey, Gracie,” she cooed.
“Jesus, Elena. You could have given me a concussion. What the hell are you doing?”
She flicked a long fingernail under my chin. “I’d ask you the same question, but I already know. You were all over Nate at the soccer game. I thought we already talked about this. He’s mine.”
“I don’t want Nate in any shape or form,” I gritted out.
The girl at Elena’s shoulder—Annika, I thought her name was—pushed forward, jabbing her finger at me. “Liar. I saw you with him. It’s really so pathetic, you know? You come back here after the way you slutted it up freshman year and try to pick up right where you left off. Well, this time, Nate already has a girlfriend. He’s not interested in you, so back the fuck off.”
I stomped my foot and groaned in frustration. “I’m not interested in him. I will never be interested. Elena and Nate can get married and have a dozen blonde babies and I’d be ecstatic for them.”
Elena sneered. “Actions speak louder than words, Grace. You were seen for what you are back then—a dirty little poacher—and you haven’t changed.”
“You’ve gotten worse,” I hissed, pissed I’d spent so much of my life contorting myself into someone I wasn’t to be friends with this vile girl. I had loved her like a sister, but the second we both became interested in the same guy, she’d turned on me like our history hadn’t mattered.
She got right in my face, her bright blue eyes icy and red-rimmed like she’d been crying. Maybe she did have a heart buried deep beneath her pretty veneer. I hoped she hadn’t been crying over Nate. He didn’t deserve any tears.
“I’ll give you this one free pass because of your dad. I’m not unsympathetic. My dad is my best friend, and I’d be so, so sad if he died.” She stuck out her bottom lip, feigning some unidentifiable human emotion. A second later, she flipped a switch, shining her pearly whites at me. “Lucky for me, my dad’s in perfect health, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
My hands ball
ed into fists. I had never once hit another person, but Elena was seconds away from being my first. I’d been stressed out, grieving, and so fucking tired for too long. If she kept pushing me, I might push back.
Her nail grazed my cheek. “We’re done here.”
I brought my arm up, swatting her hand away. “We are done here. If you ever touch me like that again, you’ll regret it.”
She cackled like the witch she was, and when she turned to her friends, they joined in. Elena had her own personal coven. Their brooms must have been stuck up their tight little asses.
“Oh, I highly doubt that.” She waved right in my face, then swiveled around, sashaying down the long, quiet hallway, the rest of the wicked witches in tow.
My head ached from where I’d hit it against the locker, and I’d missed the bus for sure, so I took my time loading up my backpack. When I got to my math textbook, I remembered my day wasn’t over yet. I still had to deal with Sebastian Vega invading my personal space once again.
Chapter Eleven
Sebastian knocked on our door at eight in the evening. He’d said he’d be by later, but I hadn’t expected him so late. Annoyed, tired, and still achy, I swung the door open to him.
“Hey.” He used that same soft tone he had in math class, sending a flush up my chest and cheeks. “Are you gonna let me in?”
I held the door, blocking his path with my body. If he wanted to plow into me, he could easily get by. The fact that he didn’t told me he had at least some respect for my mom being just down the hall.
“You’re pretty late. We won’t have much time to work.”
He cocked his head, looking me over. His eyes alighted on the bruise forming on the center of my forehead. “What happened?”
I tried to swoop my hair over it, turning my head to the side. “Nothing. I’m fine.” I backed up a couple steps, opening the door wider. “Come in.”
He passed by me, trailing rough fingers along my jaw. “Tell me what happened.”
I shook my head, walking away from him. “Mom, Sebastian is here.”
