Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest Series) (21 page)

Thump.

“You’re going to get your ass beat.” Someone spit on me, but I wiped it off and twisted around. I lunged for whoever was in front of me. She had black hair, maybe Jasmine? I yanked on it and then punched her face.

“Oh, shit!”

“AHHH!”

“Get her off!”

“GET HER!”

I wound up for another hit when I was lifted off my feet. Two strong arms wrapped around me and carried me away. Kicking at them and trying to squeeze out from their hold, I yelled, “Let me go!”

“It’s me. Stop, Sam.”

Kate was being held up by a couple of guys. I think it was Jasmine that I had hit. Natalie and Parker stood around her and both were glaring at me. One brushed Jasmine’s hair from her forehead and was inspecting her face. I growled. I wanted to get them all. Fuck it. I was out for blood now.

Grabbing onto one of the arms around me, I sunk my nails into it. They protested, so I pushed them deeper. I needed to get free. The need to hurt them back was a frenzy inside of me. So many people had hurt me, I wanted to hurt them all—Analise, David, Garrett, Jeff, Lydia, Jessica, Becky, Adam.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

“Let me go,” I yelled. My voice broke, but I didn’t care. I tried again.

A litany of curses came from behind me and I heard, “Sam, it’s Mason. Stop it.”

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

“SAM,” he yelled in my ear.

“Get her out of here. No one will say anything.”

Mason argued over my head, “Yes they will.”

“Not if everyone says they’re liars. We’ll handle it. Get her gone.”

“Fine.” His arms tightened around me, and he carried me through a side door. We stepped outside before he let me back on my feet. I knew it was cold, but I didn’t feel it. I was heated. Enough logic had filtered back in as they discussed what to do with me, but my blood was still boiling. The need to hurt them was so powerful. My hands shook, and my head went down. I gasped for air, trying to fill my lungs so I could think straight, but it wasn’t working. The need to run back inside was aching. I
had
to go back, and I started to, but Mason caught me around the waist. He pushed me against the wall and positioned himself in front of me as a barrier.

“Stop,” he murmured. He kept a hand on my stomach, but it was a light touch.

I drew in more breaths and closed my eyes.
Get it together.

“Sam?”

I shook my head and lifted a hand. I needed a minute. Enough reason had come back, and I was starting to realize what I had done. I still didn’t care. There would be ramifications. There were always ramifications. I was trying to remember why I used to care about them.

Mason’s statement came back to me at that moment,
Your dad looks ripped. Not bad for a guy his age.
His statement haunted me. So did mine,
It doesn’t matter to me anymore.

It did. I thought it hadn’t, but I was a fool. I was beginning to realize how much it did matter to me.

“Sam?”

I heard the concern in his voice and everything melted inside of me. Just like that. The fight left me, and I wanted to disappear. “Mason,” I choked out.

He swept me up. My legs wrapped around his waist, and he turned so his back was against the wall. Sliding down to sit on the ground, he started stroking my hair back and rubbing my back at the same time. I clung to him. A minute earlier I’d been ready to tear someone apart, and now I was trying to hold the tears at bay.

“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

I murmured against his shoulder, “Besides Kate being a bitch?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. His hand kept rubbing up and down my back in long sweeps. He slowed them down as he continued.

“You mean she didn’t deserve that?”

“Sam.”

I still had some fight left in me. Grinning at that thought, I pulled away enough so I could meet his gaze. “I’m kidding.”

“Hey, man.”

“Yo.”

“Oh, whoa …”

Three guys came around the corner. They were dressed in black clothing that drowned them. They looked like skinny freshmen. All three braked when they spotted us.

Mason barked out, “Leave.”

Two scattered. One lingered.

He added, “Now.”

The last one took off after his friends.

“Hey.”

We glanced the other way. Logan was standing outside the door. Heather popped her head past him and started to step out. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back in. When she started to push through again, he reached for the door. His arm was a barrier now.

She glared at him, but moved so she could see me better. She gave me a gentle smile. “You okay?”

I nodded. “How’s it inside?”

“Okay. No.” Logan stepped all the way and pushed the door closed.

“Hey,” Heather protested. “Come on. I’m her friend. Let me talk to her.”

“Give us a minute.” It wasn’t a request, and he shut the door in her face. When it started to open again, he leaned against it. “Give us a minute, Jax.”

She huffed from inside, her voice muffled, “Fine. One minute, Kade.”

He rolled his eyes and said to us, “I’m shaking in my boots here.”

I frowned. Mason stood and lowered me to the ground. That was a prime opportunity for one of Logan’s smart-ass comments. I asked, “Did it look bad in there?”

“It didn’t look like you were holding hands and hugging,” he griped at me. His tone was biting. “No, Sam. It didn’t look good.”

“Relax, Logan.”

“There’s blood all over the table—” he bit off his statement, clenching his jaw at the same time. “Is she okay? Are you okay, Sam?”

I started to respond, but Mason answered first. His hand tightened on my back and he held me against him, speaking over my head, “She’s fine. She took one hit, but she’s strong.”

Logan cursed under his breath before he replied, “She shouldn’t get in trouble. We don’t have to worry about them calling Analise in for her.”

“What’d you do?”

“They already said something, so I told Principal Green that Kate and Jasmine fought each other. Since they didn’t want to get in trouble, of course they’re going to blame an easy target. Everyone knows how much they hate Sam anyways.”

I asked, “Are people going to back that up? All he has to do is ask a freshman or something.”

“He won’t.” Logan’s gaze lingered with Mason’s. The two seemed to share an unspoken conversation before he added, “Anyone who rats us out will get hurt. They won’t.”

“I don’t care if I get in trouble.” But my stomach was protesting again. They were right. Analise would be called. I’d be forced to move back in. “If someone says anything, I’ll tell them about everything Kate’s been doing to me: the threats, the text messages, stealing my clothes.”

Someone began pounding on the door from the inside. There were a few kicks added in and they stopped when Heather yelled, “Let me out. She’s my friend, too. Logan!”

“Let her out.”

He nodded and stepped away from the door. As soon as it swung open, she punched him in the gut. He didn’t move. He didn’t even blink, and Heather seemed taken aback. She rubbed one hand with the other before she hissed at him, “That wasn’t nice. I thought I was in the trust circle. That’s crap.”

He ignored her and said to us, “I’m going. See you later, Sam. That was a helluva hook.”

When Mason remained, Heather turned her disapproving eyes to him. His hand tightened on my side in reflex until she said, “You can’t miss any classes. If you do, you’ll be booted from the game. I, on the other hand, can miss all I want. I won’t get in trouble with my dad. Go, Mason. I’ll clean her up.”

He was reluctant.

“I’ll be fine.” The pain in my cheek was starting to filter in, and he couldn’t help with that. “I mean it. I’ll talk to you after school.”

He frowned, but nodded. Bending to kiss my lips, he thought better and kissed my forehead instead. When he glanced at Heather, I knew there were words he wanted to share, but didn’t. An outsider was present. As he stalked through the door and it shut behind him, Heather frowned at me. Her hands went to her hips. “What the hell was all of that about?”

She meant the fight. I sighed. “I miss my dad.”

Heather took me to her house after the fight. The bruise on my cheek wasn’t too big, and it was easily covered with make-up. When she asked if I’d get in trouble for skipping, I didn’t think I would. Most of the teachers didn’t take attendance and the ones who did never called my name. Because I was still new, I didn’t think my name even got onto the attendance sheets. She seemed okay with that answer. When we first arrived, her dad met us in passing, heading back to Manny’s after taking a lunch break. She gestured to me and said, “It was those same girls.” That was enough for him. He nodded and replied, “Always stand-up for yourself.” Then he left.

I asked her later what he meant, and she explained that she informed her dad about everything. He knew about Kate. He knew they were sending her threats. He knew they’d threatened his and her brother’s livelihood. I was surprised that he hadn’t gone to the principal, but her dad was realistic. He knew nothing would be done and those girls always got away with their bullying. Heather informed me that he gave her permission to defend herself, in any way she needed, and that he would have her back.

Then she added, “My dad’s not stupid. He knows there’s only so much a parent can do against these types of bullies. If they get in trouble, they’ll only do something worse the next time around. That’s why he said I don’t have to worry about getting in trouble with him.”

I nodded.

I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do as a parent. My own weren’t stellar, but she talked to her dad. He was here for her. He would support her if she needed it. Then she distracted me when she asked, “You still going to the game tonight?”

There was no question about what game. It was the game against Roussou.

She suggested, “You could sit by my friends. You remember my friend, Max? Channing’s half-brother? Dark spiky hair? Usually wears ripped shirts and has tattoos all over him? He always goes when they play Roussou. He likes to spend time with Channing, but Cory and Rain should be in our stands.” I grinned at the thought. Cory was like a feral cat. Her ‘warming up to me’ was not snarling at me. Then she added, “But you’ll have all those Academites there, too. You could see some of your old friends.”

Mark would be there. His mother might be there, too and that meant … my father. And hours later when I parked outside of the school, it seemed that everyone had come for the game. There were no spots in the parking lot. There were no spots within a four block radius of the school. I finally found an empty spot near the football field and parked. I jogged over it, heading past the parking lot. When I noticed the line that snaked outside of the gym’s entrance, I slipped in a side door. Some of the hallways were blocked off, but not all the way. I could slip past one of the gates, and join the mass chaos once I found one I could fit through. The volume in the building was deafening. People was lined up at the concessions, there were lines for the bathrooms, and people were packed into the entrance hallway. Instead of two people selling admissions, they should’ve had twenty.

I hadn’t gone far when someone touched my arm.

Thinking it was Kate, I swung around with a fist already formed.

Instead, it was Mark. “Hi,” he shouted in my ear, but is eyes got wide as he stared at my hand. “Uh … never mind?”

“Sorry. Hi.” I gave Mark a grin in response. He was friends with Logan, but since his mother started dating David, things had been awkward between the two of us.

He leaned close again. “You like it here?”

I nodded. I couldn’t help myself. I looked around him, but there was no sign of his mother. Spotting Adam in a corner, he had his arm around a girl’s waist. Mark must’ve noticed my gaze. He yelled in my ear again, “Yeah, Adam has a new girlfriend. She transferred in this semester.” He let out a little laugh. “Or he’s trying to get a new girlfriend. I don’t think they’re official yet.”

She was pretty and petite. Her wavy hair was a wheat-golden blonde color and fell to her shoulders. When Adam saw me, he stiffened. She glanced up, a frown on her face, and followed his gaze. When her eyes caught mine, they were a breathtaking green.

I waved at them. Adam jerked his head in a stiff nod back to me. Her gaze lingered on me, and I could see the confusion there. Lifting a hand to his chest, she tipped her head back, the questions already on her lips. As his jaw clenched, I knew she had asked who I was.

When I turned back to Mark, he lifted a shoulder up. “Her name is Kris. He’s crazy about her.”

I remarked, “That must drive Cass nuts.”

“You have no idea.” Amusement sparked in his eyes now. “We miss you over there.”

My eyebrows went up at that.

“We do. I do. I know Adam does. Not everyone hates you over there.” He skimmed me up and down with a wolf-whistle on his lips. “You look good, Sam. Public school must agree with you.”

I shrugged. “Seven hours earlier and you would’ve
really
though that. You look good, too.” And he did. Mark had always looked good, but there’d never been an attraction between us. He was six foot two inches, had muscular shoulders, dark hair and the same almond eyes that his mother had. He wasn’t the golden-boy beauty that Adam was, and he didn’t have the classic handsome features like their other friend, Peter, but Mark’s easygoing personality and contagious smile were like a magnet to girls. Always had been. I had no doubt Mark had his pick of the ladies.