Young Annabelle Series: Young Annabelle, the Truth About James, What My Heart Wants (50 page)

CHAPTER 40

He didn’t follow me out of the parking lot.

And that was fine….really, it was. I wasn’t upset that he just gave up, or didn’t care enough to make a scene chasing me back into school.

AND WHO on Earth told that buffoon he could use the ‘Love’ card? Especially when it was clear he obviously didn’t understand the concept of the word. 

God…if Jenna knew what I did, I think this time she’d actually disown me as her best friend. Hell, even with Roy’s obvious innocence she was adamant Dana stay away from him. In her mind he was guilty just like James was.

If she knew I’d sat in his car not too long ago….. 

Yeah, I think I’m close to losing her as a best friend if I keep acting the way I do. Nothing I did was making sense today, especially my stupid behavior, which I needed to put in check.

“Next ten!” The lunch lady yelled, slamming the restaurant’s door back. The line shuffled forward, barely making a dent in the amount of people still left in front of me.

This was going to take forever. I should have left last period as soon as the bell rang, instead of hesitating, taking my time. Jenna was on security duty for Dana, not leaving her side for a second. The entire Swim team had crammed their table. There wasn’t even room for me. Which brought me to my next, huge, monumental dilemma, where was I going to eat today? I barely got a wave from Jenna when I entered the cafeteria five minutes ago. She was probably mad at me for even considering that Roy could be innocent.

There was no way I could sit with them today. Jenna probably thought I was going to ruin all their hard work by trying to convince Dana that Roy was innocent. I was still shocked that they didn’t see it for themselves. It was kind of obvious that Roy wasn’t into kissing Latisha as she was with him.

Sigh…..
I don’t know….

Hot breath tickled the back of my neck. I shivered from the feel and before I could face the culprit, it spoke, whispering into my ear. “You think anyone here’s going to feel for you the way I do?”

I groaned, shutting my eyes in frustration. I didn’t need this right now. He was making a scene again.

I wanted to turn around and push him away, but I didn’t want to make ‘this’ bigger than it already was to all the wide eyed bystanders, obviously eager to soak in the latest of our drama. To avoid becoming a hot topic again, I was going to have to hold myself from exploding. “Get away from me.” I whispered, sternly.

He grabbed my shoulder, pulling me further into his hard chest. The feeling of his warm skin next to mine stalled my breathing.

OH MY GOD!

Steady the heart!

Steady the heart!

Steady the heart!

Breathe!

Don’t let him control this. Show him you control this.

“You belong to me, baby.” His hot breath slid across my skin as if it were one of
the
most dangerous love elixirs known to man, woman, warlock, hobbit, alien, the world. That’s how powerful it felt.

Stay strong!

“I belong to no one, least of all you.” I growled, quietly. “Why would I ever want to be with you?”

He exhaled. “Because I love you.”

His arms circled my waist. I had to pretend like it had no effect on me, even though it did majorly. I snorted. “You don’t even know what love is and you think you can love me?”

“I’m sorry I hurt you.” James murmured, tucking his chin into the curve of my neck. The small of my back, plus the area just below my waist began to tingle ‘uncomfortably’. Unfortunately, I could think of only one solution for getting rid of that ‘problem’. It involved a ton of privacy and a sign that said ‘Screw Dignity, I got my man back’.

Oh damn, this was not good.

Be strong. 

I inhaled through my nostrils. “You humiliated me this week, repeatedly.” I hissed. “Why would I ever,
fucking
, want that?”

The restaurant’s door slammed open with the lunch lady yelling. “Next ten!” The line shuffled forward. I followed with James hooked on me from behind. It was taking every single ounce of me not to turn around and push him away. That would make a huge scene. I know, I said I’d fight if fought against, but that was decided before his little declaration in English. My soul felt crushed, my brain felt mushy and my heart thumped rapidly. I was in no condition to fight big today, even if it was discreetly.

He arms tightened around my waist, pulling me closer. I heard chuckles and whispers around us, and me fighting back or not didn’t matter since we were top news again. We were the show again.

“Next ten!”

It was my turn, finally. I pulled at his strong arms. “Let me go.” He let go reluctantly, but I felt him follow closely behind me. “Will you stop following me!” I snapped once we were inside.

“I want a chocolate milk.” He pointed to the fridge, smirking.

“You skipped the line, how’s that fair? You need to respect the rules.” I snipped.

“I follow my own rules.” James smirked, heading for the fridge. I shook my head, exasperated and headed towards the hot station.

I was going to get fries today.

Fries!

For the first time in weeks, I wanted something greasy!

I ordered my fries and as I waited for the attendant to fill the carton for me, from the corner of my eye I spotted James standing next to the cashier. Why wouldn’t he leave! He already succeeded in humiliating me again, what more was there for him?

He needed to stop playing with me.

“Why are you still in here?” I asked, after paying for my fries and water bottle. “You need to stop stalking me.”

James slowly shook his head and murmured. “I’m not going to stop.”

“Why?” I grimaced, confused. “Why are you following me around, declaring your devotion when a couple of days ago you said you were never going to look at me again?”

“I told you why.” He answered, paying for his chocolate milk. “How many times do I have to say I screwed up for you to believe that I’m really sorry?”

I snorted. “You did more than just screw up, you self-destructed.” I had enough of this conversation. I charged for the exit, but he grabbed my arm delicately, halting me and pulling me to the side of the door instead.

“What do you want now?” I muttered, feeling energy drain out of me. “I’m getting tired of this little act. It’s not funny.”

His forehead creased underneath the back of his baseball cap. “I told you I loved you and you think it’s an act and that it’s funny?” James hissed. “The video proved my innocence_”

I gasped. “Your innocence of what? The fact that we are not together right now has more to do with just last weekend. For our entire relationship, you treated me horribly. You ignored me at school and pretended like I was nothing to you while you were around your stupid friends. Why would I ever want to go back to that?”

His jaw clenched. “It’s complicated.”

It’s not good enough…..

“It’s complicated.” I repeated, shaking my head. “Well, why don’t I un-complicate it for you. I think I get it, why all of sudden you want back in. You obviously like what you see, just like some other guys in this school do. But here’s the thing. I’m never letting you touch this again.”

His eyes widened, quickly masked with fury. “What guys?”

I smirked. “There’ve been a few.”

“I’ll kick the shit out of them.” He pulled me around the waist abruptly, leaning his head closer down to mine, capturing my eyes with his hypnotic stare. “You think any other guy in this school is going to come anywhere near you? They know what’s going to happen to them if they do and it won’t be pretty.”

What?

Who the hell did he think he was?

He did not control that….or any other aspect of my life!

I yanked out of his arms. “You’re delusional.” I raced out of the restaurant and eyed Jenna’s table. It was still packed. She’d probably already heard what happened right now. I didn’t feel like dealing with it. Even though I wanted to tell Dana what I’d heard in the washroom earlier, I was going to sit alone today.

She’d have to wait a little a bit longer for the ‘truth’……

“Sit with me.” James’ arm curled around my waist, navigating me towards his table that none of the hot girls were sitting at, surprisingly.

“What?” I muttered, confused. “Where are you taking me?”

“You’re sitting with me today and every day from now on.” James stated, pulling me through the cafeteria. I made eye contact with Jenna as she was in the midst of waving me over.

Her jaw dropped, looking horrified. “What?” She mouthed, pointing at us.

“This is a horrible idea.” I hissed to James, unsure if I should yank my body out of his grasp. That would make a scene.

I didn’t want to make a scene today.

I really didn’t!

I was tired. I just wanted to turn my brain off and pretend everything was normal and boring.

“It’s a great idea.” He stated, cockily. “You’re going to be around me a lot.”

“Dare to dream.” I hissed as he dragged me to his table. I was no match for his strength.

“Well look it here, someone new is joining us.” Peter exclaimed, grinning. James pulled me down, making me sit down right beside him on the bench. Exhausted, I didn’t fight it and glanced across at a depressed looking Roy. “Hi.”

“Hey,” He muttered, eyeing the Swim team’s table.

This was so weird.

None of the hot girls were there, which was really, really, really, really weird. I scoured the room and found them huddled together at a table in the far corner, minus Latisha and Donna. They were all shooting death glares my way.

GREAT!

Now I’d have to add a few more enemies to that growing list I had, they’d all go right underneath Shelby and Donna.

“Is that because of me?” I asked, glancing back at the boys.

“It’s all good,” Tom sighed, who was sitting next to Roy. “They were getting a little too clingy if you ask me.”

“Please, you loved it.” Peter laughed, punching Tom’s shoulder playfully. “Stacey
be
looking good in her little skirt today.”

I cringed as he held out his tongue, pretending to lick ‘Stacey’ as if she were in front of us. The entire table burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, that is disgusting!” I screeched, which only made them laugh harder.

“Calm down, Fireball.” Peter grinned, waving me off.

A small growl escaped James. “Nobody calls her Fireball but me! Her name is Anna to you.” James stated to Peter and the rest of the table.

“Fine, geez. Anna, chill out. I’m just admiring from a far. It’s the least you could let me do. Thanks to you, Stacey is no longer a grab away.” Peter grinned, wagging his eyebrows.

“My condolences.” I muttered, trying to yank my hand away from James’s tight grasp. “Let go of my hand.” I hissed.

He smirked and shook his head. “If I let you go, you’re going to run away again.”

“That’s because I don’t want to be anywhere near you.” I snapped. “Why would I want to sit next to you?”

James snickered. “You had no problem sitting next to me in my car during second period.” The entire table hollered, pointing their fingers at me like I’d just been caught in some scandalous act.

Peter shook his index finger at me. “Not so innocent, huh Anna!”

My eyes bulged. “I only went there to tell him to stay away from me. I only sat in his car with him, because he hurt his hand. I felt sorry for him.”

Tom gave James a look of mock concern. “Awe! Did she make you feel better?”

“She sure did.” James smirked, high fiving Tom. I took this opportunity to try and yank my hand back, but his grip remained intact.

“I didn’t do anything with him.” I shrieked, as they continued to laugh. “He was crying. I felt bad for him.”

The entire table stopped laughing, and James faced me, incredulous.

Mission accomplished. He wanted to play, well, I could play too.

Since it seemed to do the trick and knock James off his pedestal, I had to keep running with it. 

I nodded. “It’s true. I found him hitting his head against his steering wheel, crying loudly while shouting ‘Why’. What was I supposed to do, leave him depressed? Unlike him, I have compassion, even after he humiliated me this week.”

“I didn’t cry.” James stated, eyeing his boys. “I didn’t cry.”

“He did. It broke my heart seeing him red faced, tears streaming down his face. He used all my napkins, wiping the snot off his nose.” I assured, trying my best to stay serious. I eyed James, whose jaw clenched tighter. “I’ve never seen a boy…I’m sorry, a man cry as much as you did. You should have told me how you felt sooner.”

James, now sullen, let go of my hand and I quickly took it back.

Look who was not so cool anymore.

The boys quickly returned to their previously intellectual conversations. As James now ignored me, talking about their game last Thursday, I contemplated making a run for it. This was my opportunity to go, but there was no way I was going to sit with Jenna, not after this little scene. Also, I didn’t know what he’d do if I got up and tried to leave.