Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1) (21 page)

I hesitated for a second, then stretched my hand out,
opened the front door and got in. As soon as I was in,
Danny sent the glass up, sealing us in the car. I could feel
his eyes on me, and I didn’t turn to face him. “You’re
leaving,” he accused.
I turned to him now, seeming to finally acknowledge
his existence. “How do you know?” My voice sounded
strange to my own ears.
“Your aunt told me.” I turned back to the cemetery
and then nodded slowly. A silent moment rolled over us.
The only sound came from the raindrops beating against
the car. “Where are you going?”
“Home,” I whispered blankly, but that wasn’t really
true. I didn’t have a home anymore. I was going back to
my parents, two persons that I hadn’t seen for years. My
aunt was my mom, she was the woman who’d raised me
and where ever she was, home should be. But I couldn’t
stay here. It hurt too much to be here.
“Jen, this is your home, you are home!” he shouted
grabbing my shoulder. “Fuck, Jen, you’re so cold.” He was
annoyed with me, but I didn’t care. He turned the heat up
and then threw something at me. I looked at it and found
that it was his shirt, instantly I turned to Danny and found
him shirtless. He then turned away from me so I could
change.
“Why are you here, Danny?” I asked without making a
move to take off my jacket.
“I came to find you. No one has heard from you; we’re
worried. Daren is dead and Brandon is missing... Kris is
going crazy thinking about you, she doesn’t know-”
“Have you told her?” I didn’t have to say what I was
talking about. He already knew. Danny turned back to me
and shook his head. I closed my eyes. “Promise me that
you won’t... ever.” I looked up at his face, silently begging
him. “Please... promise me... No matter what happens Kris
can never know what really happened,” I urged. He turned
away from me, staring out at the rain.
“Danny, promise me.” For the first time in days my
voice wasn’t blank. I couldn't bear the thought of Kris
hating me. She lost her boyfriend, and cousin because of
me, and even though she had every right to, I didn't want
her disgust and hate.
A bell echoed in my head loudly, making me jump out
of my skin and back into the classroom. I realized a second
later that my cheeks were wet and before anyone could
see, I wiped my face dry and stood up as the classroom
became chaotic with students trying to get out as quickly as
possible. I waited until they were all out to make a move.
Just as I was about to step out of the classroom, the
phone Eric had given me came to life suddenly, blasting
‘Sex on Fire’ by Kings Of Leon. I pulled it out, frowning
as I stared at the screen and found Eric’s face plastered on
it.
“Nice ring tone,” he said when I answered. I could hear
the amusement in his voice and I pictured him grinning.
Of course he would put that song as his personal ring
tone.
“Well, if all it takes to get us hot and bothered is being
in the same room, sex is going to be like fire,” I grinned
back, even though he couldn’t see me.
“Feel like testing that theory out?” he chuckled.
“How’s your day going?”
“Good so far,” I told him, choosing not to go into
detail of how depressed starting school made me feel.
“Yours?”
“Spent most of the morning at my dad’s office catching
up on meetings and all that crap. I missed you a lot,” he
sighed. “Are you eating lunch already?”
“No.”
“Great, meet me outside. I’m taking you to lunch,” he
ordered and before I could tell him anything, he hung up
on me. Sighing, I put the phone away and started for the
front of the building.
Once outside, I stood in front the doors, scanning the
area for him. It seemed like almost half of the school was
outside, having lunch on the perfectly maintained lawn
instead of the cafeteria. When I found Eric, my vision
blurred with anger. Standing directly in front of him were
three girls, all skinny, blonde and perfect in every way that
I could see. Two were flanking the tallest one, which was
directly in front of him. She had her hands raised, wrapped
around his neck in a way that suggested more than a
friendly hug.
A low animal-like growl rose from my chest as anger
boiled in my veins and I found myself wanting to rip her
perfect, blonde, Barbie-like hair from her head. Acting
instantly and on impulse, I stormed to Blondie and her
sidekicks, shoving myself between Eric and the girl. I was
literally touching both of them, and the girl took a small
step back, glaring at me. Immediately I wrapped my arms
around Eric’s neck and pulled his head to me, kissing him
deeply and with much more passion than needed at the
moment. My statement here was blunt and clear: Eric
belonged to me alone and I was not sharing.
This kiss was different from all the others. This one
was fierce and angry, and it made my blood even more
heated than before. Anger fuelled me, making the kiss
lustful and passionate in a predatorily hungry way. It was
like a savage had taken me over completely.
My hands combed through his hair and at that exact
moment Eric’s hands slowly trailed down my body resting
on my waist, pulling me closer to him. His fingers left
sparks on my skin, which only burned hot as the seconds
ticked by. The more I took from him was the more I
wanted. I didn’t want to let him go and almost as if he
knew exactly what I wanted, his fingers dug into my skin,
pinning my body to his.
I was torn. A huge part of me wanted to keep kissing
him. I never wanted this to stop, but another part of me,
the part that was pissed off and enraged, wanted to show
up this blonde twat. Eventually that part of me won out
and I tore myself away from Eric before my brain could
completely fry itself. I looked up at him with nothing but
pure lust and desire coating me. It was there, shining in my
eyes, glistening on my skin, in the way I breathed and
moved. I wanted him and it was clear, but more than that,
I wanted to crush the blonde girl staring wide-eyed at me. I
turned around to claim my prize.
“Hi,” I smiled triumphantly, “I’m Jen, Eric’s fiancé,”
my smile brightened as I held out my hand to her and a
loud round of cheering exploded around us. I didn’t pay
any attention to it though, right now I only had eyes for
the stupid girl glaring at me.
“Whatever,” she finally said spinning on her heels and
then stormed off without looking back at me. As soon as
she disappeared into the school another round of cheering
erupted. I looked around and saw that it was coming from
the largest group that was made up of all boys. Most, if not
all the students outside was now staring at us. Furious I
turned back to Eric, glaring at him.
“I was just about to tell Tiffany-” he began, leaning off
his car and reaching for my hand.
“Fuck off, Eric,” I snapped through clenched teeth as I
glared at him in the middle of the school's car park. I was
so pissed off at him, yet equally I wanted him too. I could
feel the raw intense anger bubbling in my veins, mixing in
with the mindless lust. I didn't know which was stronger. I
wanted to beat him to a pulp, as well as drag him out of
the school and have my way with him.
“What was that? You were practically ripping my
clothes off,” he said amused and I shrugged carelessly.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. When I saw the girl
touching him, it was like a switch had flipped in my head. I
immediately stopped rationalizing and anger pushed me to
react. It was like an instinct, one that was wild and animallike had taken over. “I was angry… but it was more than
just anger… it was rage…” I tried to explain, frowning
deeply.
“Oh,” Eric replied, understanding flashing across his
face. He wrapped a hand around my shoulder and pulled
me into his chest.
“What?” I mumbled.
“We are very… protective and territorial especially over
other people,” he whispered, studying my face. “It’s our
most basic instinct,” he explained and I nodded finally
understanding.
“I was staking my claim on you?” I whispered,
breathing in his scent.
“You must love me,” Eric grinned and I opened my
mouth to tell him I didn’t, but was cut short when a hand
suddenly appeared in front of me. I followed the hand up
and found a girl with shoulder length, fire red hair standing
in front of me.
“I just wanted to say that you are fucking amazing,
dude. The bitch totally had it coming,” she smiled.
A confused frown plastered my face, but I took her
hand and shook it anyway. “Charde,” Eric began, “what
are you...” he trailed off. He then sighed and turned to me.
“Jen, this is Charde. We sort of grew up together. Charde
meet Jenifer - my future wife.” I stared at Eric intently,
trying to decode what he meant. Did he mean that Charde
was like him?
When Eric didn't give me any hints, I turned back to
the girl, staring at her. “Jen,” I corrected him. Charde
seemed human enough though and her eyes weren’t blue.
“Whoa hold up Eric. So it’s real? You’re really getting
hitched?” she exploded, her.
“Yes,” Eric nodded proudly.
Charde then turned to me frowning deeply. “And
you’re marrying him, like a real wedding with cake, flowers,
and a big puffy white dress?”
“Unfortunately,” I laughed.
“Aren’t you a little young for marriage?” she asked
frowning at us as if we were about to commit mass
murder. “I mean what are you like sixteen… seventeen?”
“I’ll be eighteen in a few months,” was all I said.
“You rich folks are so weird,” she frowned to herself.
“I’m not rich,” I pointed out.
“And I keep telling you Charde, I’m not weird,” Eric
stated.
“And normal sane teens don’t get married this young,
but whatever floats your boat. Eric, you can barely keep
one girlfriend as it is, how are you going to survive a
marriage to a girl that’ll beat the crap out of you if you ever
cheat?” she laughed and I couldn’t help smiling at her. I
really liked this girl.
“Charde, please stop,” Eric coughed and I turned to
him. I then turned back to her instantly.
“What do you mean?” I asked amused.
“Well, Eric here,” she smiled, looking at him wickedly,
“was the school’s pretty boy.” Her eyes then returned to
me. “Almost every girl in the school wanted him, some
still do. And those that he did date, want him back. You’ve
already met one of them, his latest ex, Tiffany. I swear she
was the worst. I thought that he had shit in his head for
two months and-”
“Okay,” Eric interjected, cutting her off while covering
my ears, as if that would help. I pulled his hands away at
once. “That’s very interesting, Charde but let’s not rehash
my school days, please,” he begged.
Charde and I both burst out laughing. “I like you,” I
admitted.
“Yay!” she cheered, clapping her hands. “I like you too,
Jen, if only because you screwed Tiffany.”
“You should ask her to come with us,” another female
voice put in at our side. Simultaneously we all turned and
found Emily smiling at me. “I'm Emily,” she waved at me
casually. Emily, my guard...
“Right!” Charde cheered, turning back to face me. “Jen,
my friends and I are going out for pizza, you should come
with us,” she stopped, frowning. “Eric’s not invited
because he’s been a dick to me these last few days, you
know… ignoring me and not wanting to lend me his old
chemistry notes, the stingy bastard.”
I looked to Eric who had suddenly gone pale and then
back to Charde smiling. “Sure.”
Eric’s eyebrows went up instantly. “You’re leaving me,
but we had plans for lunch...” he frowned.
“Not anymore,” I said smiling as I went up on my toes,
brushing my lips against Eric's lightly and then pulled
away. “Next time don’t flirt with other girls.”
I was led to a black Subaru that was already humming
seductively, with its driver already inside waiting for us. He
had dirty blonde hair that fell in his dark eyes. His skin was
smooth I imagined he could make any girl swoon with just
the right kind of gaze in her direction.
“Jen, this is Noel, he’s my boyfriend,” Emily
introduced, as we all climbed into the car. Boyfriend, I
wondered… was that what she meant by being deep under
cover? And just how much of this did her ‘boyfriend’
know. I got the feeling that Emily had convinced Charde
to talk to me, just so she could stay close. I liked Charde so
I didn't mind. I did feel weird though, knowing that Emily
was only here to guard me, and I began to wonder how
much of her friendship with Charde was real.
“Hi,” I muttered, looking out the window as he put the
car in gear and then drove out the school’s parking lot. I
didn’t want to think about any of these things anymore.
A few minutes later, we pulled up at Pizza Hut. Charde
and Emily led me to a table at the back of the main eating
area, where a couple was already sitting. “Hey guys, meet
Jen,” Charde introduced me, as soon as we were standing
over the table. “She is Eric’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not Eric’s girlfriend,” I stated instantly, a little
annoyed.
“With what just went on at school, you’re Eric’s
something,” the girl at the table smiled. It took me a while
to recognize her from one of my earlier classes. Her name
was Amelia. She had brown eyes and deep brown hair. It
reached inches below her shoulders. She pointed to the
tall, dark haired boy sitting next to her, “This is my
boyfriend, Mark.”
“Hey,” Mark waved as Charde, Noel, Emily and I sat
down. “So is it true about Eric tying the knot?” he asked,
and Amelia smacked his chest lightly while glaring at him.
“What?” he asked smiling at her.
“It’s fine,” I said at once then turned to face Mark.
“Yep… it’s true,” I admitted desperately trying not to let
my mind wonder off about my upcoming, undesired
wedding. But that wasn’t all I had to worry about. The
wedding was just a prelude for a much more drastic
change; becoming like Eric and his family. Suddenly now
the wedding wasn’t that big of a deal…
The rest of lunch flew by in daze. They all wanted to
know about me, who I was and where I moved from, why
I was getting married to Eric at such a young age, and a
whole shitload of questions that I didn’t have the answers
to. Mostly I talked about Trinidad. It was the safest topic I
could think of. I went into an all out detail of Carnival and
described what J’ouvert and old mas was, since none of
them knew.