Waiting for Perfect (27 page)

“Well, well.
 
Miss Kendra Voss.”
 
His voice is sticky sweet, and the
sound of it makes the hairs on my arms stand.

I scramble to throw
my books into my locker before slamming it shut and backing away from him.
 
He’s alone.
 
I’m standing about ten feet away, waiting for him to do
something.
 
I don’t think Ryan
would ever get violent with me, but I didn’t think he’d ever try to rape me either.

“What do you want?”
I ask weakly, looking around to see if there are people around.
 
Where is everyone?
 
My palms are starting to sweat, and I
realize I’m barely breathing.

He steps
closer.
 
I move backward until my
back is against the lockers.
 
I can’t
read his expression.
 
He has a pink
scar across his cheekbone where Nick must have hit him.
 
It looks fresh.
 
His eyes narrow, and a mean grin widens
across his face.

I’m frozen.
 
I want to move away from him, but I
can’t.
 
I’m too scared.
 
I remain paralyzed with my back against
the lockers as he gets closer.

Finally, he’s right
in front of me.
 
He puts an arm on
either side of me, resting his hands on the lockers behind my head.
 
I’m pinned.

“I just want to
talk, Kendra.”
 
He raises his hand
and brushes my cheek.
 
The contact
makes me shiver.
 
I feel tears
coming to my eyes.
 
I can’t be this
weak!
 
God, I hate this guy.
 
I hate that he can turn me into a
scared little girl.

I recoil.
 
“Don’t touch me.”
 
It comes out in a whisper.

Ryan laughs at my
feeble attempt at assertion.
 
“Now,
Kendra, don’t be like that.
 
We
used to be friends, remember?”

Friends.
 
Before the attempted rape, we used to
be friends.
 
I wish we could just
go back to that night at Jeff’s.
 
I
wish I never took that stupid drink from him.
 
I know better than to take my eyes off my drink.
 
None of this would have ever happened.

Ryan smiles and
steps closer.
 
He runs his hand
down my arm, and I flinch.
 
It
feels wrong, dirty.

He notices my
reaction.
 
“Come on, Kendra.
 
You’re so beautiful.
 
Let me touch you.
 
Let me show you how good this can
be.”
 
He brushes a finger across my
collarbone and grips his hand over the front of my neck.
 
A tear slips down my cheek.
 
The pressure on my windpipe makes it hard
to breathe.

He lowers his head
and plants a wet kiss on my neck.
 
“So sweet.
 
So damn
sweet.”
 
He molds his body to mine,
and I can feel his erection, hard against my stomach.
 
He kisses up my neck until his lips are at my ear.
 
“God, Kendra.
 
You don’t know how bad I want you.”

“Ryan.
 
Please stop.”
 
I can barely speak.
 
My mind is racing.
 
How can
I get out of here?
 
I think about
kicking him in the balls or head-butting him like I’ve seen in the movies.

Before I can do
anything, Hillary Brooks walks into the hallway and stops when she sees
us.
 
She’s about to turn around,
but then she sees the look on my face.
 
Her eyes go narrow as she evaluates the scene.
 
Her expression changes, as she figures out what is going on.

“Hey Kendra, is
everything okay?” she asks.
 
Her voice
is cold, and she’s staring at Ryan with hate in her eyes.

Ryan releases my
neck but keeps a hold of my shoulders.
 
“Of course everything’s okay.
 
Mind your own business, Hillary.
 
Leave us alone.”

It’s all the
interruption I need.
 
I break out
of Ryan’s grip and move around him quickly.
 
When I pass Hillary, I whisper, “Thank you.”
 
I race out of the hallway as fast as I
can.
 
I don’t know where I’m
going.
 
I just want to get away
from Ryan.

Tears are in my
eyes.
 
I feel like I’m going to
pass out.
 
My vision is
blurred.
 
Just as full panic is
about to set in, I see the one person that always makes me feel better, and I
start sprinting toward him.

NICK

When the bell rings
after Calculus, I practically run out the door.
 
I would usually talk to Kendra – and I really want to
talk to her again after spending time with her yesterday – but I have
someone to meet.
 
Instead of saying
goodbye, I jet toward the library.
 

I try to calm
myself as I approach him.
 
I hate
this guy, and seeing him again stirs up all the rage I’ve been trying to keep
in check.

“Alright.
 
What’s this about?
 
Make it quick, before I change my
mind.”

Morgan texted me
this morning, saying he wanted to meet me after first period.
 
I don’t know how the hell he got my
cell number, but I’ll kill the asshole who gave it to him.

He looks around to
see who’s in earshot, and then says,
 
“I don’t want to sue you, Veneto.”

I laugh.
 
“Right.
 
Don’t waste my time, asshole.
 
What’s this really about?”
 
I step closer to him, looking down about ten inches to meet
his eyes.
 
I am not usually so
aggressive, but this guy brings out the worst in me.

He takes a step
back and throws his hands out.
 
“Whoa, back off, bro.
 
I’m
serious.”

I turn down the
intimidation factor.
 
“I don’t have
time for this shit.
 
I’m outta
here.”
 
I start to walk away.

“Listen,
Veneto.
 
I want to make a deal with
you.”

Is he serious?

I step closer to
him again and puff out my chest to get in his face.
 
“You’ve got some nerve, Morgan.
 
First you try to rape Kendra, and then you serve me with a
lawsuit, and now you’re asking for a deal?
 
Screw you.”
 
I
want to spit in this asshole’s face – or kill him.
 
Yeah, I’d rather kill him.
 
I can understand how Uncle Franco felt
right before he murdered that guy in San Antonio.

“It’s in your best
interest to settle down and listen to me.”
 
He’s splaying his hands out in front of him, trying to get
me out of his face.

I can’t kill this
guy right here on the school campus, no matter how badly I want to.
 
I can’t even punch him with this damn
lawsuit pending.
 
“What?” I
yell.
 
“You’ve got five seconds.”
 
I hold up my wrist and point to an
imaginary watch.
 
“Four….three…”

“Convince your
little girlfriend not to press charges, and I’ll drop the lawsuit.”
 
He blurts it out, making it sound like
it’s the answer to everyone’s problems – except he gets away Scot-free,
and Kendra is left to suffer in silence.

“No way,
shithead.
 
You’re going pay for
what you did to her.”
 
Anger is
coursing through my body, and my hands are clenched.
 
I plead with myself
to just walk away.

 
I can’t hit
him.
 
I can’t hit him.
 
I can’t hit him
.
 

“I did pay.
 
Remember?
 
With your fists in my face, a broken nose, a shattered
cheekbone, and a concussion.
 
You
got your victory.
 
You win.
 
Now convince Kendra to leave it alone,
or else my father will bring you and your family down so fast you won’t know
what hit you.
 
We’ll take
everything, Veneto, until you and your mom are forced to work at McDonald’s for
the rest of your lives.”

I step closer to
him, so that I’m breathing in his face.
 
Every muscle in my body is wound up and ready to strike.
 
How dare he bring my mother into this.
 
None of this is her fault.

“You don’t know
what you’re saying.
 
I was
defending Kendra.
 
There are
witnesses.
 
My lawyer will get me
off.
 
I won’t pay you a dime.”

“Your lawyer?”
 
He laughs.
 
“You don’t have a lawyer!
 
Even if you did, you do know who my dad is, right?
 
We’ll crush you.
 
You won’t stand a chance.
 
The whole thing will be a mockery, and
you’ll be left with nothing.
 
Your
poor mama will be left with nothing.
 
And Kendra – she’ll be the laughing stock of the whole
school.
 
Not like she isn’t
already.“
 

He narrows his eyes,
and his voice goes low.
 
“That
little slut wanted it, Veneto.
 
She
wanted me inside her.
 
She was
practically begging for it all night.”

I want to bash in
his skull.
 
I want to punch in his
face until he’s lying in a pool of his own blood.
 
If I could wish hell on anyone, it would be Ryan freaking
Morgan.

My face is
red.
 
My palms are sweaty.
 
I’m nearly shaking with
adrenaline.
 
Every ounce of me is
screaming to murder this guy.
 
I
strain to keep my voice calm.
 
I
know he’s trying to make me hit him.
 
Then, he could probably nail me on assault charges and throw me in
jail.
 
I’m not going to give him
the satisfaction.

“I’m walking away,
Ryan.
 
You can shove your
deal.
 
I’m not your puppet.
 
Kendra can do whatever the hell she
wants, but I hope she puts your ass in jail.
 
Guys like you are pussies.”

He shakes his
head.
 
“You’re making a mistake,
Veneto.”

I continue.
 
“So sue me.
 
Do your best.
 
Even if you win, and I owe you money for the rest of my life, you’ll
still be nothing but a pussy.
 
Your
whole life, that’s what you’ll be.
 
I beat the shit out of you because you attacked the girl I love.
 
I should have killed you.
 
I wish I had.
 
You don’t deserve to breathe, you piece of shit.”

“The girl you
love
?
 
Are you serious?”
 
He throws his head back with a chuckle.
 
“Kendra is so out of your league; it’s not even funny.
 
Do you think she’d really be interested
in a pathetic low-life like you?
 
Look at you!
 
You look like
some freak show from a Marilyn Manson concert.
 
Kendra is one of a kind, Veneto.
 
Do you think she’d really want to be seen with someone like
you?”
 
He starts laughing, and the
sound of it is like a thousand jabbing needles in my brain.
 
“You’re a loser, Veneto.
 
She’d never love you back – not
in a million years.”

If there’s one
thing I can’t stand, it’s people laughing at me.
 
I rush him and grab a fistful of his shirt, pushing him
against the library wall.
 
The
desire to punch him square in the jaw almost overcomes me.
 
But then I think of my current
predicament, the lawsuit, and how this would just add to the mess I’ve already
created for myself.
 
Not that I’d
change one single thing I did to protect Kendra.
 
She’s worth it.
 
Even if she never feels the same way about me as I do about her, I’d do
anything to protect her from this asshole.

“I feel sorry for
you, Ryan.
 
Years from now, when
I’m a happily married man and satisfied with the great life I have, you’re
still going to be nipping at your daddy’s heels waiting for him to throw you a
bone.
 
Without daddy’s name or his
money, you’re nothing.
 
You will
always be nothing.”

With that, I let
him go and walk away.
 
My body is
still shaking.
 
I don’t know if
he’s still watching me, but I don’t turn around to find out.

I love Kendra
Voss.
 
I’ve loved her for
years.
 
Even when she laughed at me
in seventh grade, I still loved her.
 
I love her now more than ever.
 
I’d do anything to protect her.
 
Anything.