Darksoul (2 page)

As I passed Ms. Sanchez, I heard her ask
over the music, “How are things working for you and Hunter? Everything okay?”

I spared a glance
toward Slade, who was staring at me. What the hell was with him and staring? Class was over. He could stop torturing himself with the sight of my face now. “Oh, it’s great,” I said to her. “Let’s just hope I don’t kill him in the coming days. The urge,” I added, my eyebrow quirking, “will be hard to resist, but I think I’ll manage.”

Ms
. Sanchez laughed. I nodded my goodbye to her and then shot one last burning glance toward Slade.

Bye, asshole,
I mouthed.

I didn’t know if I imagined this. I didn’t.

But right before I turned away, I could’ve sworn he looked down to hide a smile.

Chapter
2

It was as though
I couldn’t escape him.

For the next three days, I
sat in my usual seat, cello music dancing between my ears. Asshole Slade would be at his table—like he had been, I assume, since the beginning of the semester. Good for him. Good for me. A good distance between us. But then I’d turn my head and find him watching me from his post, gray gaze barely visible under the cover of his tousled, impossibly blonde hair.

For a mome
nt, I wondered if he’d looked at my drawing. It didn’t take long for me to decide that he had. Unlike before, the side of his mouth held the slightest curl. His eyes had warmed up, I thought—though not in a kind, playful way. More in a secretly amused way, with a tinge of mockery and the faintest hint of laughter. Not nice laughter. More like
you’re-ridiculous-and-should-be-in-a-circus-with-a-chimpanzee-slash-potato
laughter.

“Do you know who Hunter Slade is?” I trained the lens of my came
ra on a swath of orangey leaves and clicked the shutter button. Sumiko (my awesome friend) and I were laying under a tree in the courtyard, waiting for Ash to show up. Dry, chilled grass pricked the back of my sweater. “He’s blonde, tattooed, and not particularly apt when it comes to changing his facial expression. Any idea who I’m talking about?”

She
laughed. My head was propped on her stomach, and I could feel it rising and dipping under me. “No
.
Although he does sound hot—wait a minute.”

She sat up, her silky, outrageously pink hair falling
out of her messy bun. “What?” I said, sitting up along with her.

“Blonde and tattooed?” She laughed again and tilted her book—she was always reading some kind of book—at something across the courtyard. “You mean the dude who’s over there, totally checking you out?”

I turned to look. “Where?”

“There.”

I still didn’t see anyone. “Where?”

She
pressed her palm against my cheek and turned my head for me. “There,
Hazeru-chan.
There.”

And then I saw
him. Asshole Slade sat far but directly across from us, dark lashes lowered. Sumi was wrong. He wasn’t looking at me. From what I could see, he had his sketchbook open in front of him and was sketching something out. His pencil moved fluidly across the page. Lightly. As if it were dancing on air. He wore nothing more than a shirt, even though it was chilly out. His tattoos looked bright and deadly in the wan autumn light.

“That’s the guy,
” I said, flopping back on the grass. Once again, I fixated my camera on the leaves. “I got paired up with him for an art project on Monday. Five seconds in and he called me ugly.”

Sumi choked on a laugh.

“It’s not funny.” But even as I said that, I couldn’t help but laugh, too. “Okay, fine. It’s kind of funny. I told him he could go screw himself, and—well. We’ve yet to work on our project. I’ve yet to talk to him again. Let’s just say we’re not on the best of terms.”

“He called you ugly. The beginning of an epic love story.”

“Are you kidding me, Sums? Like, ew? No? Not in a million years?”

She squinted at him, trying to size him up
from here. “I actually think the two of you would make some hot babies. Imagine that. A mini blonde version of you running around. A mini caramel-haired version of him running around. Okay,” she gushed, whacking me on the arm with her book, “you have to admit that sounds adorable.”

I glare
d at her over the top of my camera. “Sumiko. Fucking. Takahashi. Are you seriously asking me to puke on your face right now? Because that’s what that sounded like to me.”

She
laughed again, and I nearly gave in and stopped glaring at her. I liked to watch her laugh. Her cheeks always got this rosy tint to them, as if someone had said a dirty joke. It was kind of cute. Kind of adorable. Kind of made me want to hug her and never let go.

And then her laughter faded. “Ah,” she said, pursing her lips at something behind me. “Here comes our favorite Englishman. About time.”

I turned my head to look. Ash was making his way across the courtyard, eyebrow piercing glinting a slick silver and beanie in place. Small black gauges twinkled from both of his ears. Add a black hoodie to that ensemble. Dark jeans. And dark boots. Like Asshole Slade, he had a thing for rings and wore three of them on his left hand: on his thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Good for punching people. And flipping them off.

S
umi returned to her book. I tried not to watch.

He wasn’t alone.

A plump girl with almond-shaped eyes and silky dark skin walked beside him. She was saying something and twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, not seeming to be aware that she was doing so. Okay. So she was cute. Wasn’t going to deny that. He laughed at something she said, reached out and grabbed the curl that she’d been about to yank off. Gently, he patted it back down and continued as though nothing had happened, taking a bite of his half-eaten Milky Way.

Something uglier than jealousy and darker than the pits of hell welled inside my stomach. Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it—
“Blondie is staring at you again,” Sumi whispered.

“Blondie,” I said, watching Ash from the corner of my eye, “can go suck some—”

“Watch your mouth,
Hazeru-chan
. Dangerous talk there.”

“The only dangerous thing here is Ash’s boy-stick-thing. It’s currently scanning the area for female activity and
is
, I’m afraid, succeeding.”

She
snorted.

Pretty Girl’s round face looked like a tomato. She couldn’t make eye contact and settled for the next best thing: his mouth. Lush. Soft. Provocative. I wouldn’t be able to help myself, either.
As he spoke, a glint of metal peeked through his lips, and her eyes latched on to the tongue piercing I’d tried to keep him from getting. Her gaze lingered. It was easy to guess what she was thinking.
That piercing would feel good in a lot of places
.
No. In one place in particular. Mmm. So hot. I want him now. But that green-eyed girl over there might kill me in the next few seconds, and I’d better act like I’m an innocent little girl.

The truth of the matter was that she did look innocent. Ash would only corrupt her soul, but hell, wasn’t that what she wanted?
He wasn’t the nice boy-next-door type and he’d never be. She knew what she’d be getting into if they went out. And if they did, I’d get over it. Because Ash wasn’t the only fish in the damned sea and—and just because I’d liked him since, I don’t know, the womb (read: seventh grade)—it didn’t mean I wouldn’t find anyone else. Of course I would. I was a Victoria’s Secret model. Of course.

At last, Ash and Pretty Girl said their goodbyes. He leaned down
and pecked her on the cheek, so far from her lips that it seemed like he’d purposely avoided her mouth. It wasn’t to be taken personally. Although Ash was with a different girl every hour, I’d yet to see him kiss one of them, much less bother to take them on a date.

S
he looked disappointed, and I felt a stab of sympathy for her. Been there, girlie. Certainly done that.

When
Sumi saw that Ash was finally coming over, she shut her book and shot to her feet. “
Asshu-kun!
” she exclaimed, saluting him with the zeal of three hundred soldiers and a half.

He
was already laughing.

She took off at a sprint and launched
herself at him, jumping into his arms. They did this every time they saw each other. If space allowed for it, of course. Just as he returned her embrace, I picked up my camera and, biting back a smile, photographed them while they were going at it. These shots would definitely make it into my collage.

“I totally ship you guys,” I said
, snapping a photo of them as they came up, their interlaced hands swinging between them. They let go and gave each other a low five before Sumi sunk down beside me, picking up her novel again. “Jesus, the two of you are cute. Ash, your stick-thing can stop scanning the area—I think the perfect girl has been sitting next to you this whole time.”

“Oh?”

“And so it begins,” said Sumi, flipping to the next page in her book.

“Yes,
oh
,” I said, poking him on the leg when he crouched in front of me. “You”—and I poked him again—“need to stop bouncing around. Settle for someone. Sheesh. Just watching you makes me dizzy.” With jealousy.

“Dizzy,” he repeated, regarding me through hooded eyes. “I can think of several ways I could make you dizzy. None of them involve watching me. Ninety-nine percent of them involve bouncing. On me. No clothes on. No lights on. Just—”

“
Aaaand
it’s beginning,” said Sumi.

Nasty boy talk. As always. “One day,” I said, clenching my teeth, “I’m going to grab your
filthy tongue, Evans, and scrub that shit clean.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but then he saw something
beyond our tree and let out a low, appreciative whistle. I turned to look and, sure enough, a girl was walking past the courtyard, the highlights in her cute frohawk glimmering in the sun. She wore confidence like a cloak. It looked good. She looked good.

“Okay, so s
he’s pretty,” I said, not about to deny it. “But seriously? You were with another pretty girl seconds ago. Give it up already. Choose one.”

“I already chose.”

Huh. “
An introduction is quite overdue, then, you asshole.”

“An introduction isn’t necessary.”

In the corner of my vision, I saw Sumi lift her eyes from her novel.

“Fine
,” I said. “Be that way. What’s her name?”

A soft, nondescript whisper.
Hazel.

I froze.

“Jane,” said Ash.

Sumi snorted into the pages of her book.

“Jane?” I echoed. “That’s the toilet of all names.” No offense to the awesome Janes out there.

“That may be tr
ue, but she does have nice curves.” Lips twitching, he reached into his back pocket and took out his second Milky Way in ten minutes. “Don’t get me started on her mile-long legs. Oof. Would crack that shit open and barge right in.”

“
Aaaash,” Sumi mumbled. The tips of her ears were red, and behind her paperback, she looked as if she were drowning in molten lava. Understandable. His dirty talk wasn’t something that many could survive. Unfortunately, I was distracted and couldn’t jump in to save her. I just—I wasn’t sure if I’d heard my name a minute ago or not. It’d been a hushed voice, like the one on Monday. Not male, not female. And slightly familiar.

“Please do excuse me w
hile I try to calm down my boy,” Ash continued, biting into his caramel nastiness. A black shadow curled along the back of his neck, caressed the raven tips of his hair, slithered out of sight. I blinked. But he was as unaffected as ever. “He’s acting up inside my pants, and—well. Can’t do my manly ritual here in the open. Sadly.”

G
etting back to my senses, I said, “You had better—”

A whisper.
He really quite likes you.

I froze again.

“Say what you want, but you have to admit it’d be thrilling as fuck,” said Ash, not seeming to notice my sudden pause. He watched me, lashes half-lowered, lips quirked at one corner. “Imagine that. Everyone looking at you while you’re there, enjoying yourself. What do you think, eh, Sums?”

Again
. Don’t pay attention to anything he said.

I willed myself to pretend I hadn’t heard that just now.
“You’re killing her,” I said, noticing the red spots on her cheeks. She’d given him a quick embarrassed smile and buried her face in her book again. “Now, if you would please—”

In truth, he wants you.

“Before you wring my neck,” said Ash, reaching into his back pocket and taking out a Butterfinger bar. He rose out of his crouch, his six-foot-freaking-three frame dwarfing everything around me, and held it out to me. “Here. I just wasted a dollar on this nasty piece of shit. For you, of course.”

Another whisper.
And only you.

“I’m so flatte
red,” I said, ignoring the damn voice. Just as I reached up to grab the bar, he lifted it, dangling it out of my reach. “Damn it, Ash, I’m not in the mood.”

“Neither was that girl last week, but I still got some.”

I jumped to my feet. “Sumi,” I said, unstringing my camera from around my neck and flinging it at her. “Hold my shit. Some English ass is about to get kicked.” Looking startled, she caught it, scrambling with her book and the long strap. Lashing out with an upturned palm, I said, “Put it right here.”

The side of Ash’s mouth twitched. “I can’t unzip my pants in a public place, Zel. I do appreciate your openness, but why don’t we do everyone a favor and keep it between the sheets.”