Life Unaware (Entangled Teen) (8 page)

I tapped my pen against my notebook and exhaled slowly. So much for wishful thinking.

“Pssst,”
Nolan whispered. Since he was oblivious and had no volume control, his whisper attracted the attention of our teacher. She spun away from the board, her brow pinched in stern lines. Her gaze swept over all of us, and I couldn’t help but squirm a little when it fell on me. After I endured several seconds under her cool stare, she finally turned around and resumed reading.

The threads pulled tight across my chest loosened. I looked over at Nolan to find him grinning at me. He pointed to the paper on my desk and mouthed the words “Open it.”

I knew he wouldn’t let up until I did, so I carefully pulled the folded triangle apart, smoothing it until it laid flat on my notebook. Written on the paper in sloppy handwriting was the question,
Do you like me?
Beneath it, two boxes were drawn with the words “yes” and “no” written below.

Oh my God, I was dealing with a kindergartner.

“Answer it,” he whispered.

My jaw was clenched so tightly that my teeth ached. I clicked my pen and checked “no” before handing the paper to him.

Nolan scribbled on it and slid it back over. My urge to groan was overwhelming. I glanced down at the paper to find a new question.

Why not?

Mrs. Lochte was still reading, so I jotted down,
There’s not enough room on this paper to list all the reasons.
I placed the paper on his desk.

He glanced at it and smiled. After scribbling a reply, he handed the note back.

In large, bold letters were the words,
Let’s talk about it at lunch.

I almost laughed out loud. As if I’d spend an entire lunch period listening to him tease and berate me. Besides, if I had any hope of building my popularity back, the last thing I needed to do was damage it further by hanging out with the biggest freak in school. I wrote back,
Let’s not.
I crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it on his desk.

He unraveled the ball and stared at my response. A second later, he looked at me, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Lochte turned away from the board, asking if we could detect the metaphor between the puppy’s lost mother and our current society.

Relieved, I relaxed into my chair and did my best to pay attention. Still, my thoughts kept returning to Jeremy’s arm twisted around my neck. My pulse spiked at the memory, and Mrs. Lochte’s words twisted together, forming an incoherent drone of sound. Had Amber put Jeremy up to it? Or had he decided to harass me because he thought no one would stop him?

But someone had.

When the bell sounded, signaling the end of class, I stood and gathered my things quickly. I’d rather take my chances out in the hallway than be forced to endure any more of Nolan. As soon as I had my things zipped up, however, Mrs. Lochte appeared in front of my desk. She arched a thin red eyebrow. “Miss Flay? Mr. Letner? Please stay seated. I need a word.”

A brick of lead sank inside my stomach, and I dropped back down in my seat. This was the second day in a row she’d asked me to stay after. Not good.

Beside me, Nolan smiled and gave a halfhearted shrug. “Sure thing. It’s always a pleasure to spend more time with you.”

Mrs. Lochte folded her arms across her chest. “Charming, Mr. Letner.” She watched the door until the last students left the room. When we were alone, she walked to her desk and perched on the end of it. “I couldn’t help but notice how much you two enjoy writing during my class.”

The weight in my stomach expanded until I thought I might sink through my chair. How on earth had she seen us? I’d been so careful.

“And since you enjoy writing so much,” she continued, “I’ve decided to give you two an extra assignment. You will work together on a picture book due on Monday. You will write the story, Miss Flay, and since Mr. Letner is so found of art”—she gestured to the doodles in his notebook—“he will draw the illustrations.”

“No.” My chair teetered backward before righting itself. “You don’t understand. I can’t work with him. He’s…impossible.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Lochte tilted her head. “You looked like you were getting along just fine when you were passing notes in my class.” She slid off her desk and pointed to the door. “The project is due Monday. If you fail to produce the book by then, you will be assigned detention. You are dismissed.”

“But—” I began.

“Dismissed,” Mrs. Lochte repeated. She moved around her desk and sat, giving her attention to her laptop.

I glared at Nolan, who appeared on the verge of laughing. The anger building inside me since this morning built to epic proportions. “You…” There were about a million names I wanted to call him, but with Mrs. Lochte sitting only a few feet away, all I could do was repeat the same word.
“You.”

He continued to smile. I envisioned myself snatching him by the hair and slamming his head against his desk. The fantasy only made me feel slightly better.

“So, we’re going to have to get together this weekend to work on the book,” he said. “Do you want to call me or should I call you?”

I groaned and marched toward the door. I didn’t have to turn around to see it—I could hear the damn grin in his voice. It would be a miracle if we actually finished the assignment. The odds were so much greater I’d kill him before we even started.

Chapter Nine

“Regan,” a deep voice called from behind me.

Huh-uh. There was no chance in hell I was subjecting myself to any more of Nolan’s abuse. And since it would take his long legs no time to catch up to my much shorter ones, I darted for the only place I knew he wouldn’t follow.

“Regan. Wait up.”

I was out of breath when I reached the girls’ bathroom—the same one Payton, Amber, and I used to hide out in when we wanted to talk crap about everyone. The same one I’d hid in only yesterday. Because it was in the old wing and in desperate need of a remodel, most girls tended to avoid it. When I pushed open the heavy door, I was relieved to find no one else inside. I slowly made my way to the sinks and set my bag on top of the cracked porcelain. I was definitely going to need help calming down if I hoped to make it through today. I dug through my bag for the bottle of pills.

“There you are.” A voice rang out, echoing against the ceramic-tiled walls.

With a gasp, I withdrew my hand from my bag.

Nolan stepped inside the bathroom and let the door swing shut behind him. He ran a hand through his hair and made a show of looking around before letting out a low whistle. “This is really…shitty. Not at all what I expected. Where are the velvet lounge chairs? And the guy in the tux who hands you a paper towel when you’re done washing your hands?”

I pressed my back against the sink. There was only one way out of the bathroom and Nolan was blocking it. “You can’t be in here. You’ll get suspended.”

He held up his hands. “Oh, no. Please don’t ban me from a place I hate.” He leaned against the sink beside mine and folded his arms across his chest. Leave it to Nolan to look relaxed in a girls’ restroom. “How else was I supposed to get you to talk to me? We need to plan out this project.”

“There’s a reason I don’t talk to you, you know. We hate each other.” I licked my lips and looked at the door. All I needed was for one person to come in and distract Nolan long enough for me to escape.

“‘Hate’ is a really strong word. I think ‘loathe’ is more like it, don’t you?”

Voices from outside the door interrupted me before I could answer. Hope swelled inside me at the thought of Nolan getting busted, but as the voices drew closer, they became clearer, and my excitement gave way to terror.

Amber.

Shit.
Fear clenched my stomach. The only way I was going to survive my fall from popularity was to blend into the background until my social scandal became old news. Being caught in the bathroom alone with Nolan would kill any chance I had at staying out of the spotlight. Since we couldn’t sneak out, we’d have to hide.

“Come on.” I grabbed his arm and yanked him off the sink.

His eyes grew wide. “What are you—”

“Shhh,” I hissed. I pulled him with me into the handicap stall and locked the door behind us.

His lips parted, but before he could say anything to give us away, I rushed forward and clamped my hand over his mouth just as the restroom door squeaked open. I pushed him against the wall next to the toilet and said a silent prayer no one bothered to glance under the stall.

“I can’t believe she hit on your boyfriend,” a girl said.

I leaned forward and peered through the crack of the stall to see if Payton was with Amber—she wasn’t. The speaker was Taylor Bradshaw, the girl who’d been penciled in next to my scribbled-out name on the cheerleading roster. Apparently Amber had a new groupie.

“It just proves what kind of girl Regan really is,” Amber replied. “Fucking skank.”

My hand fell from Nolan’s mouth, and my fear that we’d be discovered fizzled into a horrible, hollow feeling.

“I heard she practically threw herself at Jeremy before third period,” Taylor responded.

Amber laughed. “Pathetic, right? She probably thought she could regain her popularity or get back at me by hooking up with him. As if he’d want anything to do with her skanky ass.”

My pulse thundered inside my head. As if I wanted anything to do with
that
douche bag. Obviously Jeremy had either told Amber a
very
different version of our encounter or she was too stupid to realize the truth about her sleazebag boyfriend.

I didn’t realize I’d reached for the door lock until Nolan grabbed my arm and drew me back. I wanted to fight him, to burst through the door and launch myself at Amber, even though I’d get suspended and my mom would be furious. I didn’t care. In fact, I was finding it harder and harder to care about anything.

I heard the sound of a lipstick top being popped off. “She’s lucky I haven’t seen her today,” Amber said. “I’d fucking beat her skank ass to the ground.”

Tremors ripped through me, growing in strength until my teeth started chattering. Great. Now was not the time for a panic attack, but I was powerless to stop it. Nolan grabbed my shoulders and pulled me against him, wrapping his arms and his heat around me. I should have backed away—his arms were the last place I should want to be—but I just didn’t have the energy. And despite the fact that I couldn’t stand him, his chest was warm and his strong arms were rigid. I felt safe for the first time in a long time.

Taylor giggled. “I would so pay to see that fight.”

“Oh sweetie, you wouldn’t have to pay.” I heard the
click
as Amber’s lipstick lid snapped back on. “I’d do that shit for free. I bet I wouldn’t even get suspended. As much as the entire school hates her right now, they’d probably throw an assembly in my honor.”

“Totally,” Taylor agreed.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Amber said. The sound of their footsteps moved toward the door. “If she so much as looks at Jeremy again, I’ll rip her eyes out.”

The bathroom door squeaked open, and their footsteps disappeared into the hallway beyond.

And yet, I remained inside Nolan’s arms. I wanted to shove him away, to scream at him to let me go. But I also knew if he did, I’d fall to the cracked tile at my feet. His arms were the only things holding me up.

My cheeks flushed and my eyes burned. One blink was all it would take to make the tears fall. One blink and Nolan would get everything he wanted. He’d see Regan Flay break before his eyes. He’d have proof of how weak I really was.

My eyes blurred. I knew I couldn’t keep them open forever.

So I blinked.

Using the last of my strength, I ripped free from his grasp. Burying my face inside my hands, I huddled against the corner opposite him. I couldn’t—
wouldn’t—
let him see me break.

“Regan.” The way he said my name then was different. Softer. Unsure.

I shook my head. “Please, just go away.”

He didn’t move. Watching me fall apart must have been too irresistible. After all, wasn’t this what he’d wanted all along? He’d told me I wouldn’t last a week, and he was right.

I refused to turn around. He probably had his damn phone out so he could record my failure. “Please, Nolan.
Please
just go away.”

He paused. “I don’t think you should be left alone.”

Despite the tears coursing down my cheeks, I actually laughed. “Really?” I wiped my wet cheeks with the back of my hands and turned around. “You’re actually going to pretend you give a damn?”

His face was the most serious I’d ever seen it. Not even a hint of a smile played on his lips. “Just because you and I don’t get along doesn’t mean I want to see you hurting. I’m not a fucking monster.”

This coming from the guy who wouldn’t stop harassing me. “Whatever. Just go away, okay?”

He didn’t move for several seconds before giving the faintest nod. “If that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.”

“Okay.” He pulled the stall’s latch open and swung the door wide. He stepped out, and his eyes darted to the mirrors. They narrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He muttered something, but the words were a growl.

Curious what had him suddenly angry, I inched away from the stall and peered around him. On the center mirror, written in Amber’s signature shade of red lipstick, were the words
Regan Flay is a skank-ass whore
.

A stifling heaviness settled on my chest. It took the last of my strength just to breathe around it, and I sagged against the stall door.

“This is getting fucking out of hand.” He stalked over to the paper-towel dispenser and cranked out a long sheet of brown paper. He took it to the mirror and wiped through the words until nothing remained but a bright red smear. When he finished, he crumpled the paper towel in his hand and stared at me, his chest heaving.

Without Nolan’s warmth, tremors were back. No matter how tightly I squeezed my arms around myself, I couldn’t make them stop on my own.

I didn’t want to think about what that meant.

Nolan slipped out of his school blazer and wrapped it around my shoulders. It was warm and smelled like him, that same mixture of pine and citrus I’d smelled in the hallway. The warmth sank into my body and slowly, I stopped shivering.

Damn it.

I didn’t understand. Nolan wasn’t at all what I expected. “Why?”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You looked cold.”

Before I could respond, he turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the bathroom, wrapped in the heat of his body.