01. Chasing Nikki (9 page)

I held onto
Nikki even tighter and walked into the school, moving through the doors into
the nearly empty library.  I walked around behind a bookshelf, so we were out
of the view of the librarian.  I set her books on the table.

“Are you
okay?” I asked, nervous about how quiet she was.

“Me?” She
stared incredulously.  “I’m more worried about you.  You’re bleeding.”

She touched
the back of my arms near my elbows, and I noticed they were stinging.  There
was some slight road rash there from sliding on the pavement.

“I’m fine. 
This is nothing,” I replied, shrugging it off.

“You look
like you might have a little swelling on your jaw too,” she added, reaching to
tenderly trace it.

I captured
her hand and pulled it down.  “I’m fine, Nikki,” I emphasized again.  “It’s you
I’m concerned about.  I’m sorry I jumped him in front of you.  He said that,
and all I could see was him attacking you. I just lost it.  Who the hell does
he think he isto talk to you like that?”

My anger
over the situation was rapidly growing again, and I wished I could’ve beat on
him for a while longer.

Nikki slid
her arms around my waist and laid her head against my chest.  “I’ve never had
anyone stand up for me like that before.  Thank you.”

The
frustration coursing through me melted away, and I naturally reached out to hug
her tighter to me.  “I’d do it again, anytime.  I just want you to know I’m
here for you if you ever need it.”

She chuckled
quietly.  “I think you’ve already proven that.”

I lifted her
chin with my finger.  “I mean it—anytime.”

“I know you
do.  Thank you.”  Her eyes were still brimming with tears, and I couldn’t look
away from them as I realized how close we were.   Our faces were mere inches
apart.

Involuntarily,
I leaned in closer to her, as she swayed toward me.

“Chase
Walker, and Jeremy Winters, please report to the principal’s office,” a female
voice blared through the school’s intercom system.

The moment
was broken, and I sighed loudly as Nikki stepped away from me with a concerned
look.  “Please don’t tell anyone what he did to me,” she pleaded.  “I don’t
want anyone to know.”

“Your secret
is safe.  I promise.”

She held my
gaze, and I reached out to stroke her cheek with my thumb.

 “I’ll talk
to you later, okay?”

She nodded,
and I turned toward the door.

“You might
want to go home and change your shirt too.  It’s ripped, and there are some
blood spots on it.”

I paused,
trying to glance over my shoulder and see the tear she was referring to.  “Man,
Jeremy better watch his friggin’ back because my fish is gonna be pissed.”

Nikki choked
back a laugh, and I smiled, happy to see her face light up again. I walked out
and headed to the office.

Chapter Eight

“Do you two
have anything to say for yourselves?” Mr. Woodside asked again, only to be
greeted by silence once more.

“Jeremy?” he
prodded further, trying to get to the bottom of what had happened.

“It really
was just a misunderstanding,” Jeremy supplied, seeming eager to not have me
speak.  “We’ve taken care of it between ourselves and moved on.”

Stupid
punk,
I thought.  If ever there was a kid deserving of the title, it was
this guy.

“Well, I’m
glad you seem to think everything has been resolved, but I need to remind you
that fighting is not allowed on school grounds.  You’ll both be receiving
detention.  We’re trying to teach the students here to strive for excellence,
and frankly, the message the two of you sent today isn’t acceptable.”

“I’m totally
fine with the detention,” Jeremy said, sucking up even further, making me want
to sink my fist into his pansy wuss face one more time.  I didn’t think he
would be able to take another hit without breaking though.  His left eye was
nearly swollen shut and turning a nasty looking purple color.  His split bottom
lip was quite large now, with a dried trail of blood that ran down his chin.

“And you,
Mr. Walker?” Mr. Woodside directed his attention toward me.

“I’m good
with whatever,” I replied blandly, still slouched in my chair like I had been
since we entered, not like Mr. Brownnoser sitting next to me, who was plainly
doing his best to kiss up.

“Alright,
Mr. Winters, you’ll serve detention at lunch today.  You’re dismissed.  Chase,
I’d like to talk to you a little longer.”

Jeremy threw
a nervous glance in my direction, and I couldn’t help the slight grin and
cocked eyebrow I shot at him as he stood and left the room.

Mr. Woodside
folded his hands on his desk and stared at me.  “You were awfully quiet during
all of that.”

I shrugged. 
“Didn’t have much to say.”

“Did you
start this fight?” he asked point blank.

“It depends
on what you mean by started.  If you mean did I throw the first punch, then
yes.  But only because he threw the rude comment that deserved it.”

“Someone
insulting you is not a valid reason to hit them.”

I laughed
cynically.  “Is that what you think?  He didn’t insult me.  He can try to
slight me until he’s blue in the face.  I won’t give a crap.  He attacked
Nikki, though.  I won’t stand for that.”

“Really?
What did he say?”

I leaned
against the chair and chuckle wryly.  “Does it matter?  I know everyone around
here thinks he’s the Boy Wonder in the flesh, but he’s not.  He’s a jerk.”

“It might
help your case.”

I shook my
head in disgust.  “He told me not to waste my time, that she didn’t put out,
and then he goaded her with his remark.”

Mr.
Woodside’s eyes widened in surprise, and he pondered over this information for
a moment before he spoke again. 

“Okay,
you’ll get detention for throwing the first punch then, and that’s all.”

“I threw the
last punch too,” I added, feeling the need to let him know who had actually
won.

He looked at
me seriously.  “Good,” he said, and I was the one who was shocked this time. 
“I think I successfully judged the winner by the damage you did to Jeremy’s
face. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning fighting by any means, but I felt
he must’ve been the one who started it by the way he was so anxious to be
cooperative.”

I watched
him with newfound respect as he began writing on a piece of paper.  Maybe this
guy wasn’t so bad.  He actually paid attention and listened to what people had
to say.

“Here’s an
excuse for your tardy to class.  I want you to serve detention in the after
school session.  I’ll call your mom, or grandparents, and explain what happened
and why you are going to be late.  I don’t want you and Jeremy in the same
session.” He slid the note across his desk toward me.

I took it,
thinking my grandpa was going to freak when he heard about this, especially
since everyone talked like Jeremy was the golden boy favorite of all the
football coaches.

Mr. Woodside
stood and walked to the door of his office, holding it open for me.  “Try a
little harder to keep your nose clean around here, okay.”

I smiled and
headed out into the hall.  I rounded the corner into the next one and found
myself being roughly grabbed by my shirt.

“What did
you tell him, loser?” Jeremy said, his face only two inches from mine.

I narrowed
my eyes, instantly reverting back to the anger I’d felt earlier.  “I told him
you’re a friggin’ rapist who deserves to be locked away for life, and he should
interview every girl you’ve ever dated to get the testimony of all those you’ve
forced yourself on.”

He blanched
white. 

I slammed my
knee hard into his crotch. 

He let go,
flushing red, and fell to the floor, writhing on his side in pain, as he
clutched himself. 

I knelt down
next to him, getting real close to his ear.  “Hurts like hell, doesn’t it? Do
you know what they do to guys like you in prison?  I think they’d love you—a
lot.”

His eyes
burned with both pain and hate, but he didn’t reply.

“If I hear
of you doing this to any other girl, I’m gonna sing like a lark to any person
who’ll listen.  You can say bye-bye to scholarships and college dreams, and
hello to a striped jumpsuit.  And just in case you didn’t get my message—stay
away from Nikki.  I don’t want you to even look at her.  Understand?”

He gave a
barely perceptible nod.

“Good.  Glad
we’re all straight now, buddy.”  I clapped him on the back once.  He groaned
again, and I got up and left, feeling quite content about his current
suffering.

I went out
to my truck before I headed back to class.  I reached into the rear seat for my
backpack I’d gotten into the habit of carrying during some of my worst alcohol
binging days.  I’d needed a change of clothes occasionally after a party,
before I returned home.

I pulled off
the shirt I was wearing and quickly exchanged it for the spare one, before I
went into the school again.  I stopped by the bathroom, just to check my face
in the mirror, finding the slightly swollen, bruised area on my jawline.  It
smarted a bit still, but other than that everything looked good.

Turning on
the sink, I washed the minor scrapes on my arms, only to be interrupted by the
sound of someone puking in one of the stalls.  I tore off some paper towels and
was about to ask if the person was okay, when I recognized Jeremy’s shoes from
under the door.

Sucks to
be you, doesn’t it?
I thought, as I shook my head and left the room. 

I was pretty
sure I’d made a big enemy today, and I was positive there were those who’d be
happy to stand up for him too, if he ever decided to retaliate.  I would
definitely be smart to watch my back from now on.

I handed my
note from Mr. Woodside to the teacher, before I slid into my seat beside Brett.

“You
survive?” he asked under his breath as he looked at the lab printout in front
of him.

“I’m fine,”
I replied, digging a pencil out of my binder and getting to work on the
assignment.  “Detention after school for throwing the first punch.  That’s it.”

“What was
that whole fight about anyway?”

“Nothing. 
Just forget it, dude.”

“Didn’t look
like nothing when I was pulling you off him,” Brett said, sounding offended.

“I’ll tell
you about it later, okay?  For now let’s just say Jeremy decided he wanted a
lesson in manners, and I considered it my civic duty to teach it to him.”

He snorted. 
“He’s needed that lesson for a while, I’d wager.  Glad you could help him out. 
Maybe they’ll let you count it as community service hours.”

I laughed. 
“That would be nice.  And it’s a project I could really get behind.”

He tried to
hide his chuckle as the teacher glared at us. “I bet you could,” he mumbled
into his cupped hand.

We both
studied diligently for the next while, until the bell rang, giving us
permission to escape from this prison into another one.

“What’re you
doing tonight?” Brett asked.

“Probably
getting horsewhipped by my grandpa when he finds out not only was I in a fight,
but it was with Prince Charming, too.”

He
grimaced.  “Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to trade places with you.  I was gonna
see if you wanted to hang out tonight.  I scored a little blunt.”

“Thanks for
the offer, but if I’m to have any kind of life in the near future, I’d better
be keeping myself on the straight and narrow for a bit.”

“I can see
how that might be beneficial,” Brett agreed.

“If I’m not
grounded into the dust, maybe you can come over and play video games some night
this week,” I suggested, not wanting him to think I was trying to avoid him. 

“That sounds
cool.”

“Yeah, bring
those losers, Wes, and Chad, with you too.  We can have us a little
competition, and I’ll see if I can coax my grandma into making us something
great to eat.”

“Okay, I’ll
tell them.  Um, see you later,” he added when he saw Nikki waiting for me at
the door.

“Hey,
gorgeous.”  I sauntered up to her, quickly glancing around, checking to see if
anyone overheard.  “I can call you gorgeous in public now, right?”

“Quit
joking, and tell me how much trouble you are in,” she said worriedly.

“No
trouble,” I replied casually, and when she arched her eyebrow at me, I sighed. 
“Okay, after school detention. No big deal.”

“And
Jeremy?” She bit her lip.

“Lunch
detention.”

“So he got
off easy too.” She frowned.

“Not so
much,” I said with a shake of my head.  “He’s hurting in more ways you than you
can imagine right now.”

“What do you
mean?”

I gave her a
half grin.  “Don’t worry about it, babe.  Just trust that I’ll do whatever it
takes to keep you safe.”

She got this
sudden look of adoration, and for some reason I had to fight back a moment of
panic. 

I was
plainly growing way too attached to this girl, making outlandish promises, and
such. It almost seemed as if fate was determined to twist our lives together. 

My old fears
rose up and hit me hard.  Suddenly, I didn’t know if I was ready to care this
much about someone again.

I coughed
and moved, trying to distance myself from the things she was causing me to
feel. 

“Gotta go,
or I’m gonna be late.  Can’t afford another detention now, can I?”  I spun away
from her, but not before I noticed her look of confusion.

During my
next period, I tried to ignore the hammering staccato rhythm that seemed to pound
the word “jerk” over and over again into my mind, but it was so loud I could
hardly concentrate. 

The teacher
called on me to read a piece in the Iliad, and it was as if I couldn’t even
understand the English language anymore.  I was so distracted.