A World Apart (2 page)

Unfortunately, ever since his dad died unexpectedly the summer before their junior year, Mike had drifted away from Jake and the other guys with whom he had played football.  He began to skip classes and got into a couple of fights after school.  In one fight, he had knocked the guy cold with one punch.  He had gone to juvenile hall for about a month for that.  Once he returned, he started to spend more and more time with some of the least savory characters at school.  With his obvious strength and a sudden reputation of being willing to fight at the drop of a hat, most sane people avoided making Mike an enemy.  Luckily, he was still friendly with Jake.

"This doesn't involve you, Mike, so why don't you just back..."  Donald started confidently, only to realize that John and Robert were slowly backing away.  They had played football with Mike and knew what he could do.  Mike just stood there looking at him with a slight smile on his face, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists, his muscles flexing and looking as if they were going to rip apart his short sleeved shirt.  Donald swallowed nervously.  "Look, I don't want any trouble with you.  This is between Jake and me."

"Next time, why don't you just man up and do your own fighting?"  Mike replied, voice steady and firm, smile gone.  "If I catch you running up three-on-one on Jake again, then I will make this my business.  Trust me; you don't want any part of that.  Your daddy's money won't do you any good then."  A smirk crossed his face.  "I'll make sure your girlfriend is taken care of, though."

Donald flushed at the last remark, but wisely bit back a reply.  He glared at Jake and said.  "This isn't over."  He turned and walked away, John and Robert sheepishly following.  The quiet that had descended on the table area broke into a multitude of voices as it seemed that everyone began speaking up all at once.

"Thanks, Mike."  Jake said as he exhaled sharply.  "You know how my folks feel about me fighting, especially at school.  Not only that, I can't have something like that on my record as I'm trying to get into some good schools."  He hesitated for a moment.  "You going to college in the fall, Mike?"

"No."  Mike replied shortly, face unreadable.  Then a smile reappeared.  "Did you really ask out his girl?"  Mike said with a soft chuckle.  "Your timing with the ladies has always been lousy.  Hell, if I was in his shoes, I'd probably want to kick your ass too."

The smile slowly faded, his dark eyes meeting Jake's.  "Watch yourself.  That rich dickhead is used to having things his way.  If he tries anything, you let me know.  I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget."  Mike turned to head back to the gangster table.  "Peace out."

Jake stared sadly after Mike for a second, regretting that their friendship had drifted apart.  He heard the guys at Mike's table give him grief about ruining a perfectly good fight.  Jake turned to head for his table and saw Matt and Sean weaving their way through the crowd that had gathered to watch the show.

"Man, we didn't know you were involved or we'd have been there to back you up.  We figured it was a couple of jocks messing around."  Sean said as he came up to Jake.  "We heard it was Donald and a couple of his buddies.  What's up his ass?"

Sean and Jake had been friends since grade school.  He was about Jake's height with wavy dark hair and bright blue eyes.  Even Jake had to admit that Sean was a good looking guy.  When they went swimming or to the beach, Jake found it was hard not to feel a little jealous of Sean.  He looked like a swimsuit model when he pulled off his shirt, lean and muscular.  That generally would bring the girls around; unfortunately, Sean was pretty reserved and even more awkward around girls than Jake.

"I asked Sabrina to prom."  Jake replied, blushing slightly, embarrassed.  He had not told anyone, including Sean and Matt, about the call and Sabrina had promised not to say anything.  Well, that apparently did not work out.

"Dude, seriously, you didn't know she was dating the Donster?"  Matt asked, a broad smile on his face.  Matt always seemed to have a smile on his face.  Jake had met Matt their freshman year in math class.  Matt was shorter than Jake and Sean and a bit on the chubby side.  His shaggy brown hair always looked like he did not own a comb; it was always hanging down in his glasses.  Matt's personality was the opposite of Sean's in that he was anything but shy.  He acted as if he did not have an off switch; he always had something to say, most of the time trying to be funny.  In fact, Jake could not remember if Matt had ever been quiet for more than a couple of minutes.

"You've actually got to use the Facebook account I set up for you."  Matt continued.  "I saw that she had changed her status and posted about it a couple of weeks ago.  When you said you were going to ask someone to prom, I figured it was Tina."

Tina Rostell was one of Jake's chemistry lab partners and had a not-so-secret thing for him.  They had drunkenly made out at Matt's house a couple of months ago when his folks were out of town.  Matt had invited about twenty people over and, naturally, they had gotten into his dad's liquor cabinet.  Several drinking games later, Jake had found himself with Tina in the spare bedroom on a dare and things just seemed to happen.  If not for the intervention of the group, banging on the door and shouting suggestions, Jake was not sure where it would have stopped.  Despite trying to make a joke out of it since, it was pretty obvious that Tina would like to have a second go.

The problem for Jake was that he liked Tina.  She was smart and attractive, with short, dark hair and brown eyes, her petite body slender and fit from running cross-country and track.  Jake really liked that she had a sunny disposition, always smiling and joking.  But Jake's only real love interest for the last year was Sabrina.

"You think he is going to keep at you?"  Sean asked, sounding worried, referring to Donald.  "Let me give you ride home after school."

Sean always had a protective streak in him, even when they were kids.  Of course, Jake thought, having trained in martial arts since he was about seven, Sean could actually protect someone.  Jake had gone to a couple of Sean's classes and found out that he was a bit of a badass, fast and strong.  Not many people knew that about him; it was not something that Sean talked much about.

"That may not be a bad idea."  Jake replied, thinking that, given the day's events, maybe erring on the side of caution would be the prudent course.  Jake's car was still in the shop with electrical problems, so his mom had been dropping him off in the morning and Jake would walk the couple of miles to his home, located just outside of town, after school.  It was not so bad, as the weather was nice.

"Dudes, the lunch period is a wasting.  Let get back to the table and eat."  Matt said.  They went over to the table where Matt and Sean had been sitting.  At Matt's prompting, Jake recounted his call with Sabrina.

That brought the conversation back around to what Jake should do about Donald.  Sean wanted Jake to avoid Donald and never go anywhere without him, despite the impracticality of that.  Matt's suggestions, of course, were not serious and soon became more and more outrageous.  Before they knew it, they were laughing about it and Jake started to feel better.

When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, the three friends headed towards the classrooms together.  Sean had English for fifth period while Jake and Matt had chemistry together.  Sean walked with Jake and Matt to their classroom.  "You want me to meet you at your class after sixth period?"  He asked.

"No, I'll meet you at your car."  Jake replied.  He saw a look of doubt on Sean's face.  "Don't worry.  I'm sure I'll make it there before Donald can find me."  Sean nodded and headed off to his class.

Jake and Matt entered the classroom and headed for their seats in the lab.  Jake tried to ignore some of the speculative looks and whispers his classmates exchanged at the sight of him.  Jake mentioned it quietly to Matt.  Matt patted his cell phone and made a joke about the curse of modern technology.  Their seats were in the back of the lab with Matt sitting at the lab table next to Jake's.  As they approached, they saw that Tina was already at her and Jake's table, dressed in shorts and a loose blouse.

"Hello, Jake.  Matt."  Tina said sweetly in greeting as they got to the tables.  She gave Jake coy smile and patted his chair next to her.  Jake felt his cheeks getting a bit hot at that, but Matt laughed out loud.

"Hey, Tina."  Matt said, a broad smile on his face.  "Jake and I were just talking about the party.  You know, I think my dad still has some vodka left over and I'm sure I can find an empty bottle.  Care to come over and spin the bottle again?"

"You wish."  Tina said, her face going slightly pink at the memories.  She looked over at Jake with a smile and gave him a wink.   "You know that Jake is the only one for me."  Matt laughed again.

As Jake was sitting down, facing the classroom door, Sabrina walked into the room, her short sundress emphasizing her form and highlighting her legs.  Jake paused, captivated as always by Sabrina.  She was looking at her phone as she came in, a frown on her face.  To Jake, even that was attractive.

She was tall, just a little shorter than Jake, and slender, with those long tan legs and just the right amount of curves.  Her face, framed by her shoulder-length blond hair, was smooth and flawless, with just a hint of a tan.  She had classic features, with her round eyes, slender nose and medium lips.  Her eyes were a rich deep blue that Jake could just sit and stare into, losing himself.  When she smiled, her white teeth catching the light, she seemed the most beautiful person ever created to Jake.  As he watched her approach, he wished he could find some way to get her away from Donald.

Tina's exasperated sigh brought Jake back from his thoughts and he sat down.  He glanced at Matt, who nodded at Sabina and smiled, a mischievous look in his eyes.  Jake shook his head no, but he could tell that Matt was going to say something regardless.

To his surprise, Sabrina came right up to his table.  She nodded at Tina in greeting and looked at Jake.  "I heard about what happened at lunch.  I'm so sorry about that."  She reached out and put her hand on Jake's.  The contact was electric; he marveled at the warmth and silkiness of her skin.  "I'm going to talk with Donald about this.  It won't happen again."  She gave him a small smile.

"Your concern is so touching, Sabrina."  Matt interjected sarcastically, smirking.  "First, you break poor Jake's heart by scorning his invitation to prom and then your boyfriend almost breaks everything else.  How did Donald find out anyway?  A little bird?"

"You're an ass, Matt."  Sabrina said sharply, frown returning while Matt chuckled at the insult.

She turned back to Jake, face serious.  "I didn't tell Donald about you asking me to prom, Jake.  I made the mistake of mentioning it to Shelly in passing this morning and she sent someone else a text, which was forwarded and, soon enough, Donald heard about it.  I'm so sorry."

"It's ok, Sabrina.  Water under the bridge."  Jake replied, smiling, savoring the feel of Sabrina's hand on his and the slight hint of her perfume.  "It's not a big deal.  No one got hurt."  She smiled back.

"Thanks, Jake.  I'll talk with Donald, though."  She gave his hand a quick pat and moved towards her seat.  Jake, smitten and enthralled, followed her with his eyes, remembering the feel of her hand and enjoying the way she moved.

"Gee, Jake, you act as if you have never seen a girl before."  Tina said, interrupting Jake's thoughts.  Jake turned towards her, startled to see what looked like an angry expression on Tina's face.  Before he could comment, the look passed and Tina smiled sweetly.  "Didn't anyone ever tell you it is impolite to stare?  Especially when there are other girls present."

"So you say!"  Matt said, a big smile on his face.  "Only a dead man wouldn't stare at that.  You have to admit, Tina, that Sabrina does have a great body.  It's not hard to see why ole Jake is so gaga for her."

Jake sighed quietly as Matt and Tina continued to banter, his eyes drifting back over to Sabrina.  His thoughts wandered as he wistfully studied her.  How could he get her to see that Donald was bad news and he was the better choice?  What was he going to do about Donald?  Why did Tina look angry?

His thoughts continued to roil in his head as the teacher came in and class began.  Despite his questions, one thing he hoped for was that he would get out of today without any more drama.

C
HAPTER
T
WO

The bell sounding the end of sixth period and the school day shook Jake out of his daydream of him and Sabrina together, Donald having been pushed out of the picture.  His civics teacher had been droning on about the federalism and Jake's mind had wandered, remembering Sabrina's touch earlier, her perfume still on his hand.

He cleared off his desk, gathered his things, shoved them in his backpack and headed out the door.  He was still in a slightly absent-minded state, remembering the pleasures of his daydream, as he entered the press of other students in the hallway.  He had taken a few steps when he noticed some of the other students watching him and then looking around.

"Crap!"  He thought.  "They're looking to see if Donald is around."  He shook off the effects of the daydream and began subtly glancing around for Donald.  He tried to stay cool, nodding and briefly chatting with some of his classmates, as he dropped off his backpack in his locker and headed to the student parking lot to meet Sean.  Despite all of the other students around him, he felt alone and vulnerable.  Even though he hated to admit it, having Sean around would make him feel better.

"Jake!"  Tina's voice came from behind him.

He stopped and turned as Tina came up to him, smiling.  His mind flashed back to the two of them, intertwined, making out in the spare bedroom at Matt's house.  Remembering the feel of her body against his, he started to blush.

She stopped uncomfortably close, just a few inches from him, the scent of her perfume making him blush further.  She lifted up on her toes, her left hand reaching out and resting on his right shoulder and leaned in, her hair brushing the side of his face as she whispered in his ear.  "You need to be careful.  Everyone is saying that Donald and his goons are looking for you."