by A. M. Hardin
"What they were arguing about you. Dad said something about not signing up for this. Whatever this is, I don't know, but he sounded really frustrated."
My stomach churns as I pull into the school parking lot. "Maybe he's referring to prom?" I say in a half-assed attempt to guess what could be going on.
Ella gives me a shaky smile. "Yeah, maybe."
"You don't think that's it either do you?" I ask softly, turning the car off.
Ella gets out of the car and waits for me to exit as well before speaking again. "No, I don't think that's it. I honestly have no idea what it is. I just know that this is so unlike them that it's honestly scaring me, Cher."
I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side as we walk. "I know. I'm worried too."
"What are we going to do?"
"We're going to figure out what the hell their problem is and fix it," I say with a confidence I don't feel.
"And if the problem is you?" she says carefully, asking the question that I didn't want to ask.
I exhale a deep breath, ignoring the nausea that question caused. "If the problem is me, then I'll see if I can stay with Zoe or Lucy until I can get a job and get my own place. That way they won't have to worry about dealing with me."
"Cherish-"
"No, it's fine, Ella. I don't want mom and dad to separate because of me, it wouldn't be right."
"Neither is the way dad's acting."
I shrug, feeling incredibly helpless. "I don't know, El. We'll figure it out, yeah?"
"Alright.”
Chapter Five
Cherish
I jump at the feeling of someone kicking my leg under my desk. Instantly knowing who it is, I look up to glare at my best friend.
"For real?" I ask sleepily.
Lucy chuckles. "Dude, did you not sleep last night?"
I shake my head miserably. "No," I moan softly.
"How are you here before everyone?"
"Ugh, Ella needed help with her art project and woke me up not long after I passed out to take her to school and help her."
Lucy's lips tighten together, and I know she's fighting her laughter because her shoulders are shaking slightly. "You look seriously wrecked, dude."
I narrow my eyes at her. "You're so nice. It's a wonder that I don't have self-esteem issues."
She snorts. "Whatever. Did you finish the assignment?"
"Stayed up all fucking night working on it," I confirm.
Lucy's eyes dart to something behind me, and her eyes widen. "Cher," she whispers, "one of the new guys is in this class."
I plop my head back down on my desk, close my eyes, and give her a thumbs up. "Fantastic. Let me know when the teacher gets here."
My friend snickers as she sits down in her seat in front of me, and I let my eyes fall closed, desperate for some more shut eye.
"Excuse me," a new voice says from beside me, "is this seat taken?"
I don't bother opening my eyes when Lucy’s foot connects to my leg again. "No, it's the only open seat in class right now," Lucy answers when I refuse to open my eyes.
"Is she okay?" the new guy asks Lucy. I'm guessing he's referring to me.
Lucy snorts in laughter. "She doesn't do mornings. She especially doesn't do mornings when her procrastinating ass was up all night doing the homework. She doesn't like school to begin with, though."
"I heard that, you bitch," I mumble without opening my eyes.
"I know you did, you were meant to," Lucy snarks back.
"I didn't think you were awake," new guy says.
"I'm awake," I confirm, eyes still firmly shut. "Now, shhh, and let me sleep until the teacher comes in."
The new guy chuckles, and I have to ignore the tingle it causes to rush down my spine. It's not a bad tingle, either. It's a good one. A really, really good one. His laugh sounds like fucking music.
"I'm Lucy," my friend introduces herself, unfortunately, not being quiet, so I can sleep.
"I'm Kade," he replies politely.
"It's nice to meet you, Kade," Lucy says. "What made you move to bumfuck nowhere?"
I can't help it, I laugh and lift my head to look at Lucy. "Seriously? That's what you think of our hometown? It's no wonder you were never named homecoming queen," I joke, not at all serious. Lucy hates homecoming.
Lucy narrows her eyes at me, though there's humor glittering there. "Of course. This is bumfuck nowhere. It's a small town in the middle of nowhere. I'm not lying." Lucy pauses, eyes flicking to Kade before coming back to me. "Speaking of queens," she says softly, "word around school is that you and Gloria are pretty much neck and neck for prom queen."
I sigh and lean back in my seat, giving up on sleep. "I know. Ella told mom and dad all about it last night."
"Prom queen?" Kade asks, pulling my eyes in his direction, and I bite the inside of my cheek when I realize which of the new guys he is. He's the shortest of the three, and he has the messy blond hair, although it looks more like it's actually styled to be messy, than like he just rolled out of bed messy.
The air shimmers around him, and my brow furrows as I look at him, blinking rapidly before shaking myself out of my daze.
"Um, yeah. Prom is this weekend," I tell him, tilting my head at his confused frown. "Do you not have prom where you're from?"
He pauses, almost like he doesn't know the answer himself. "No, we don't."
"It's a dance for upperclassmen. We vote for the prom queen and king and all that fun shit," Lucy explains. Lucy looks at me, her eyes wide. "Shit. You no longer have a date for that now that you and Adam are toast do you?"
I wince and rub my temples. "Technically, no. Who knows, he may end up showing up to take me, but I doubt it. He'll most likely take Gloria after the way they hung all over each other yesterday after we broke up."
"Cherish," Lucy says softly, in a tone that's actually quite rare for her, gaining my attention. "It isn't on you that he's a bastard."
"Your name is Cherish?" Kade asks, his eyes curious and intrigued.
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Yeah. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kade shrugs. "No reason. It's just that you have a very beautiful name."
I study him and realize that, even though he's telling the truth about how he feels about my name, he's not exactly telling me the whole truth.
"Cherish? Everything okay?" Lucy asks, kicking my leg again.
I didn't even realize that I had been staring at Kade, or more specifically staring at the glimmering shield around him, trying to see what's beyond it before Lucy's foot connected with my leg.
I snap my gaze to her and frown at her. "Dude, stop kicking me. I'm going to get some wicked bruises."
She chuckles and opens her mouth to say something else but doesn't get the chance because Mr. Brown enters the classroom, starting class.
My eyes flick to Kade, and I bite the inside of my cheek when I see that he’s watching me closely, like I’m a puzzle he’s trying to piece together. I feel heat rise to my face and turn to face the teacher, determined to get the hot new guy out of my head and pay attention to what the teacher is saying.
This whole listening thing would be a hell of a lot easier if I weren’t so tired. My lids slowly droop shut while I rest my cheek on my hand, Mr. Brown’s monotone voice lulling me to sleep.
Snickering followed by a poke to my cheek wakes me up, what seems like a minute later. I open my eyes and a yawn slips out while I look around the nearly empty room. The only ones left in class are Lucy, Kade, and me. Mr. Brown’s even left the room.
“Where’d everyone go?” I ask while rubbing the sleep away from my eyes.
Lucy laughs. “Dude you’ve been sleeping through the entire lesson haven’t you?”
I wince as I take in Kade’s amused smile and Lucy shaking her head while she laughs. “Um, no?”
“No? You’re not sure?” Kade asks, his smile growing.
“Maybe? I don’t know.” I give up. Another yawn. Fuck, I’m
tired.
Lucy bites her lip in an attempt to hide her smile. She failed. “Maybe you should just go home and go to bed.”
I shake my head. “Can’t. I’m Ella’s ride.”
“Who’s Ella?” Kade asks as we grab our bags and exit the classroom.
“My little sister. She’s in the grade below us.”
“Your . . . sister?” Kade blinks, looking stunned.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when your parents have more than one kid. You end up with siblings.” I look him up and down. “Where did you say you were from again?”
He smirks. “I didn’t.” He glances at something at the other end of the hallway and tilts his head. “I’ll see you later, Cherish and Lucy.”
Lucy and I pause in the middle of the hall and watch him walk toward the other new students he was standing with yesterday, and I can’t help but notice how good he looks from behind. I shake the thought from my head.
Jesus. I only just broke up with Adam yesterday. I should not be looking at other guys like that.
Should I?
“He wants you,” Lucy announces, startling the hell out of me.
I gape at her and look between her and Kade’s back. “Are you out of your mind?”
She shrugs. “Dude, truth is right there in black and white.” She pauses as she thinks about that. “Okay, maybe not necessarily in black and white but it’s clearly there in his eyes and in the sexy as hell look he threw you before walking away.”
“What look?”
She snorts. “You’re so clueless.” She pats my head. I slap her hand away, scowling.
“Shut up. Let’s get this day over with, so I can actually sleep after school.”
We start walking again, and as we’re nearing Kade’s group, Lucy reminds me, “You know you can’t go to sleep after school. We have dance class.”
I groan. “I’m skipping it. I’m barely walking in a straight line right n–” my words cut off as I run into a very familiar body.
This shit’s getting ridiculous. I’m not usually this clumsy. How the hell do I run into people two days in a row?
I look up at my ex and am taken aback by the anger that I see flaring in his eyes. “Adam.”
I step back, out of his arms and that’s when I notice that the entire hallway is silent. Everyone’s watching to see what happens. They apparently already know we broke up.
“What the hell, Cherish?” Adam snarls.
I raise a brow. “What did I do?”
“I’ve been getting dirty-ass looks from everyone ever since we broke up yesterday. Even Gloria’s pissed at me. I know it was you.”
Tilting my head and tapping my chin with my finger I adopt a contemplative expression. “Hmm. The only thing I did yesterday was tell the truth. I also only told my friends, so if they spread it around or if someone overheard then that’s your problem, Adam. Not mine.”
“You little bitch.”
I smile, not a nice one either. “Thanks for the compliment. Now, you should probably get to class before I tell your new girlfriend about what else I found out last night.”
He narrows his eyes at me, eyes searching. “How the hell did you find out?”
“The quiet ones always have eyes and ears everywhere.” I step close to him, and I notice Kade’s entire group tense beside us. “You broke my heart, you sorry sack of shit. Did you really think my girls would let that go? Did you really think I’d let go of the fact that you cheated on me?”
Adam glares at me, anger blazing in his eyes, more intense than before. “Quit spreading shit, Cherish. The only thing you’re good at is spreading your legs.”
I laugh while Kade says, “Hey!” He doesn’t get any other words out before I make a fist, pull my arm back and punch Adam straight in the nose. A sickening crack fills the hallway and everyone freezes as Adam stumbles back a little.
Lucy is laughing so hard she’s doubled over. “Dude, you’re a dumbass. You know she has all kinds of self-defense training because her mom’s paranoid as hell. Why the fuck would you piss her off?”
“Crazy fucking bitch. You broke my nose!” Adam shouts at me.
I grin wickedly at him. “I’ll break your dick off if you come at me with that shit again. I wasn’t the whore in our relationship, Adam. You were. Go fuck yourself and leave me the fuck alone.”
Lucy flips him off as we walk around him. “Heed the warning this time, jackass. You know she can fuck you up.”
“Miss Marsh,” Mr. Peters says from the end of the hallway, his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
“He started it, Mr. Peters, I was just finishing it.” I tell him truthfully. I’m well aware I’m in trouble for punching another student.
“I find that hard to believe,” he mutters, and I smirk. He’s not entirely wrong. I do have a tendency to piss people off on purpose, and I love going for the nose when they piss me off. He shakes his head. “You’re suspended for the rest of the week. Leave now.”
I shrug and pound my fist into Lucy’s. “It was so worth it. I’ll see you later, Luce. Can you give Ella a ride home?”
She chuckles. “Yeah, I can give her a ride. See you later.”
I walk past the principal and out of school to my car, feeling a hell of a lot better than I have in a long time. Damn. Punching assholes is a great stress reliever.
Chapter Six
Kade
The guys and I leave the school, arriving in the woods by Cherish’s house shortly after she gets home after being suspended.
“It would appear her name is still Cherish,” Andrei says from behind me, speaking for the first time since we started talking in the hallway at the school before the scene between Cherish and the Adam kid.
Xander leans against a tree, his eyes on Cherish’s house. “Is anyone else kind of shocked that the princess just broke some jackass’s nose while laughing?”
I chuckle, and Andrei’s mouth twitches a little. “She’s got her father’s temper.” I lean a shoulder against the tree beside me. “I learned a few things about her today,” I admit.
“What’d you learn?” Andrei asks.
“She’s not a morning person. Or, at least she’s not one when she’s been up the entire night before doing her homework. She procrastinates. She has her friends. She also has a sister.”
“Have you heard anything about her mom?” Xander asks.
“She says she has both a mom and a dad. I don’t know if her mom got remarried, but she didn’t say it was her step-dad. She said that he was her dad. She’s also pretty funny,” I say with a chuckle.
“We also learned that she’s apparently been taught in self-defense,” Xander points out.
“Yeah, Lucy said that her mom’s paranoid, so she had her take self-defense classes.” Something catches my eye, and I see Cherish and an older version of her walking outside to the back of the house. “Incoming,” I mutter.
With our slightly enhanced hearing and the fact that it’s practically quiet, we can hear their conversation easily.
“What’d you do to get suspended this time?” the woman, presumably her mother, asks.
Cherish looks up at the sky and tilts her head side to side as they walk. “Um, I kind of punched Adam in the face and broke his nose.”
The woman snorts out a laugh. “My darling girl, you need to get that anger of yours under control.”
Cherish shrugs. “Hitting him was keeping it under control. I didn’t beat the shit out of him at least.”
“Do you know if you can still go to prom?” she asks.
“Probably not. I’m going anyway. Mr. Peters said that I was suspended the rest of the week. He didn’t say anything about the weekend, so I’m not counting it.”
“Cherish.” Her name was said in admonishment, but there was a lot of amusement in the word. Too much for it to be taken literally.
“Mom, he was being an ass. I won’t deal with that shit from anybody, you know that.” Cherish stops walking and looks at her mom
. “I’m not sorry for what I did, and I’m not sorry that I got suspended.”
Cherish’s mom pulls her in for a hug, holding her tightly. I exchange a look with Xander, who’s standing against the tree beside mine. “Honey, I’m not mad. I understand, and I have to say this,” she pauses. “I’m really glad you punched him. He wasn’t good for you. I know you thought you loved him, honey, but I don’t think that it was the kind of love that I want for you.”
Cherish pulls back from her embrace and wraps her arms around herself. “Mom,” she starts with a shaky voice, “what’s going on with you and daddy?”
I look at Andrei when her mom leads her to one of the benches surrounding a fire pit and mumble, “We shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”
Andrei scowls at me. “We need to keep watch over her without her knowledge that we’re even here. We can’t be concerned about listening to her conversations. Especially when it means we’ll learn more about her and how to approach her.”
I resist the urge to tell him that I’ve already approached her when Cherish’s mom starts speaking.
“Why would you ask about me and your father?”
Cherish brings her thumb to her mouth and it looks like she’s chewing on the pad of her thumb. I noticed her doing that in the hallways yesterday. Must be some anxiety thing, maybe. “Ella said that you guys fought again this morning. That you were fighting. About me.”
“What did Ella say that we said? I’m not denying it, I just want to know what she thinks she heard.”
“She said something about dad saying he didn’t sign up for this.” Cherish and her mom are quiet for a few minutes before she talks again. “I don’t want to be the cause of your guys’ relationship blowing apart, mom. If I need to, I’m sure Zoe or Lucy’s parents will let me stay with them until graduation in a few months.”
“No,” her mother says, voice emotional. “You’re not leaving me yet. I have so little time left with you that I don’t want to miss having you in my home.”
“Mom, I’m going to college, not the moon,” Cherish says with a laugh.
Her mom gives her a watery smile and pulls her in for a side hug while they stare into the empty fire pit.
