Feral (18 page)

Fuck me sideways.  You have to be kidding. 
“Are you saying that dragging my emotions through the coals is-is-is-is some sort of stunt to
impress
me?”

“I’m out of practice
.”

“That’s saying it lightly.  What else were you planning to do?
  Pull my hair?  Kick me on the shin and run away?  Hit me with a stick?  Or were you gonna stick to just calling me names since you’re so damn good at it?”

“
No, I was going to go knock the little weasel around a bit.”

“Do I need to point out that you’re twenty eight?  You can’t
hit Dougherty without getting yourself arrested.  He’s seventeen until December.  Unfortunately.”

“Have you never watched
a game of soccer?”

“No, I was busy watching football.”

“Maybe that’s your problem.  You were watching the wrong sport.”

“
It doesn’t matter how you do it.  You still can’t hit him.”  Dougherty was considerably smaller.  He’d break him like a twig.  Though, I’ll admit the notion was appealing.  Perhaps the golden boy wasn’t untouchable after all.

“Just a little bit?”
he pleaded, noting my weakening resolve.  “No broken bones.  I swear.  Just a few minor bruises to the ribs.  Maybe one to the face.  Definitely one to his ego.  He owes you that much.”

For whatever reason, I couldn’t stay mad. 
Icarus had completely disarmed me with his confession and his adolescent eagerness to pummel the idiot who broke my heart.  I laughed, shaking my head.  “This doesn’t mean I like you.”

“
Then it’s a good thing I have dinner to change your mind.”  Pressing a quick kiss at the corner of my mouth, he loped onto the field, leaving me wondering what in the hell I had gotten myself into.   I had come out to clear my mind and somehow ended up facing Michael Dougherty, and got roped into a dinner date with an alpha male I wasn’t even sure I liked.

Fuck.

Chapter 10

“I think I’ve died and gone to smoothie heaven,” Crispin declared, slurping the last of his strawberry, pineapple, cantaloupe smoothie with exuberant appreciation.  The straw made a hollow sucking sound against the bottom of the glass that left him whining mournfully.

Cracking my jaw, I strived to pop my ears.  Since I awoke, everything sounded like I was underwater. 
I wondered idly if lycanthrope were susceptible to distemper, parvo or bordetella.

“There’s more in the fridge,” I told him, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.
  With a hissed ‘yes’ of delight, Crispin hastened to the fridge for another helping.  I stuck my tongue out at Icarus for doubting my ability to instill healthier eating among his ragtag pack of waifs and strays.

“
Let’s go, Thale!” Caius called as he ran out the front door.

“
You didn’t eat,” Icarus said, disapprovingly.

“I
nibbled while I cooked.”  Grabbing a link of sausage, I rolled it up in a pancake and turned for the door, but Icarus had other plans, using the straps to my bag to reel me in.

He was under the impression
that keeping constant physical contact with me would prevent us from falling back into an extreme pattern of discord.  Throughout the weekend, he would touch me in subtle ways, like resting a hand on my arm while he watched me cook from over my shoulder.  Or chuck my chin when my thoughts would turn toward Benny and my parents.  Most often, he stole discreet kisses before I could object or deny him.  On the other hand, I reconsidered as his lips met mine, that perhaps he simply enjoyed kissing me.  (Or knew that I secretly enjoyed kissing him.)

“
Really?” Crispin complained.  “Minor’s present guys.  Keep it G.”

Icarus’s breath burst warm
ly against my lips in a soft laugh.

“
Thale—iii—aaa!” Caius hailed from outside, impatient.

“I’m in trouble
now,” I said, pulling away.  “They’re enunciating syllables.”

“Good luck today.”

“Straight A’s,” I dismissed, jabbing my thumb toward my chest.  Turning on my heel, I trotted out the door.  Caius caught me on the landing, hoisted me over shoulder and ran for his jeep.  I sputtered in objection, trying to keep my cleavage from escaping as I bounced around.

“If we’re late,” he chastened, “we get detention.  If we get detention, we miss practice. 
If we miss practice, we get twelve laps added to our routine.  And unlike you, we think laps suck.”

Feet first, he dropped me into the back
of the jeep, and then jumped into the front while I scrambled to situate myself.  Bacchus slammed on the gas, propelling me into my seat, and spitting pebbles across the asphalt driveway.  They hit the garage door like the pang of birdshot.

“You liv
e a mile away from the school,” I said, disentangling my arms and hair from the straps of my book bag.  “It’ll only take a minute to get there.”

“
But we won’t get the best parking.”

“So you and Icarus, huh?” Bacchus said in the world’s worst segue. 
I’m sure he’d been waiting since Saturday, to be out of Icarus’s earshot so that he could hound me for details.

His blue eyes bored into mine through rearview mirror.

I shrugged noncommittally.

“It’s good.  He deserves you,” he said, his focus returning to the road.  Though my hearing was off, I didn’t need it to detect the tinge of disappointment in his tone.

“Personally, I’m glad,” Caius voiced.  “Guy’s been solo for so long, he was beginning to lose his mojo.  It was getting painful to watch.  All thumbs and two left feet, you know?”

“Painful to watch
?” I contested.  I was the one on the receiving end of his muddled attentions.  Crossing my arms over my chest, I sat back with a pouty huff.

Honestly, I still didn’t know what to think of our relationship
.  But my acquiescence did appear to mollify him.  And his attentions were more manageable, if not welcome.

Caius chuckled from the front seat.
  “I’m sorry, but I would’ve loved to have seen him whupping your backside,” he confessed.  “I heard you screamed like a banshee.”

“Idiot,” I muttered, sinking deeper against the seat.

“Call me what you will, but I’m a man. 
All
man.  One hundred percent, baby.  And I will forever have dreams of witnessing such an event.”

My mouth twisted impulsively to a grimace. 
“Why are men such perverts?”

“We’re not.  Women
have their share of fantasies too.  It’s just that years of being conditioned to deny them confuses you, and you refuse to admit that certain acts titled as unchaste or licentious actually turn you on.”

Sadly
, that actually made sense.

“No need to admit it,” Caius dismissed.  “My intelligence is often underrated because I’m an athlete and I’m
attractive.  I’m sure you of all people understand.”

Rounding the top of the hill,
facing the school parking lot, my ears finally cleared with an audible pop, reminding me of the principal when he tapped on the microphone just before an assembly in the school auditorium.  Everything seemed unnaturally loud, from the wind rushing past my ears to the strident shriek of the brakes.  I pinched my ears shut with the tips of my fingers as Bacchus pulled into a parking space outside the main entrance.

“I’ll show you to the office so you can pick up your schedule,
” Bacchus shouted.  “But after that I probably won’t see you till lunch.  Caius and I only have one class together.  I think the school makes a point to separate siblings.”

Caius slid from the jeep and held out his arms to help me down.
  He clapped his hands like I was a five year old that needed coaxing.  “Come to papa, sugar.”

“You are such a dork,” I said, but let him lift me down.

Bacchus met us around the back of the jeep and the two escorted me inside, making introductions along the way.  For the most part, the boys took one appraising look and looked away.  The girls were a different story.  Girls in general were more fastidious in their evaluations.  Where boys just checked out your boobs and moved on, girls judged your overall appearance from the split ends of your hair to the designer shoes on your feet and then gossiped about you for hours afterwards.  And I know what they were saying, because I heard them all.

“She’s pretty.”

“Sure, she’s a bleach blonde.”

“At least her Ugg’s look real.”

“Her boobs don’t.”

“Think she’s a relative of theirs?”

“Gross.  I hope not.  She’s dating their…like…
father
.”

“
Maybe she’s mail order.  Russian or something.”

“No, she went to Rock East.
”

“Did her parents die or something?”

“I heard her boyfriend caught her cheating on him at some party.  Madison saw him chase her into the woods.  Now he’s missing.  And she’s hiding out
here
.”

“Holy crap, it’s like a real life Fatal Attraction.”

And so the stories continued.  It didn’t help that I had to stand at the beginning of every class while the teacher introduced ‘the new student,’ which only started a new round of whispers and stares.  By fourth period, I was prepared to hide out in the girl’s room until school let out.

Lunch at least
I could look forward to.  The cafeteria wasn’t difficult to find.  I just followed the direction of traffic and the cacophonous thrum of voices.  On the walk there, my eyes darted left and right, searching for some small sign of the wonder twins.  It was to no avail because as I stood at the mouth of the cafeteria, they were nowhere to be found.  So when I felt a tug on my sleeve, my heart stuttered in relief.

“Thank Go—”  I recant. 
Why God, why?

“Thale
,” said Michael Dougherty with a nod.  His left eye was black and blue, and if I had to guess, his ribs coordinated beautifully.  For that alone, I could swear allegiance to Icarus.

“They’re in the office. 
The twins.  If that’s who you’re looking for.”

“For what?”

“Fighting.  They won’t be out for a while, if at all.”

Wonderful. 
Delivery it is.  Shirking Mike, I headed for the lunch line and began loading a tray for the twins and a bowl of fruit for me.  My stomach was growling, but I didn’t think I could stomach anything heavy, certainly not faux spuds or steamed chicken nuggets.  I added two extra pudding cups for the twins to wash down their sandwiches, and two bottles of cola.

“You left that night,” said Mike, following me.  “You never called
or anything.”

“Maybe I didn’t have anything to say to you.”

“I think I deserve at least an explanation.”

“
Do you?” I said snidely.  “I think I deserved flowers.  Or a nice piece of jewelry.  How much did you win on your wager that night?  You could’ve set a share aside for the subject of your bets, don’t you think?”

Taking my tray, I paid for
the food and headed for the office, leaving Mike behind, gloomy and sulking.  Perhaps, just perhaps I might eat my meal in peace.

“I was
sixteen.  And drunk off my ass.”

I cringed.  Nope.  No such luck.  He was persistent.  I’d give him that. 
“And I was a virgin with an idealistic view of the world.  I guess we both sobered.”

“Damn it, can’t you give me five minutes?”

“I gave you two years!” I exclaimed, whirling to face him.  Surprised by his proximity, I had to take a step back.  Mike took a step forward, stealing the space back.

Lord, why did he have to be so damn good looking
?  Those hazy green eyes always got me.  And his tousled hair.  I remember twirling those windblown curls around my finger while we shared our lunches, and made plans for our future together.  Some future.

“People change,
Thale.”  Nonetheless, the ball bag had yet to apologize.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said, pulling my sharpie from my
backpack.  Mike stared suspiciously but consented with a nod, stepping up.  I began writing on his bright yellow tee, spinning him around and scribbling the punch line across his back.  “Prove to me that you’re still not the same selfish, inflated prick I remember, and maybe I’ll consider speaking to you again.”

“
Whatever it takes.”

“Goodbye Mike.”  I really meant goodbye. 
Asshole.

Back in the office, I found Bacchus and Caius lounging uncomfortably in two hard plastic office chairs.  With the toe of my shoe, I pulled the small end table out and set the tray of food down.  They stared incredulously, gawking at the food like it might sprout spores.

Considering its source, it just might.  But they were hungry.

“Man, you’re the
bomb, Thale,” Caius swore.  “I’m starving.”

“Excuse me,” said the short, squat woman behind the
counter.  She tilted her head to stare over her cateye frames.  When she did, her chin doubled into a bib of pale flesh.  “You can’t eat that here.  Food belongs in the cafeteria.”

“Oh,” I said sweetly, “so we can all go to the cafeteria then?”

“
You
may go;
they
have to stay until they speak with the principal.”

“Well, this is last lunch and
they haven’t eaten yet.”

“They can eat
after they’re sent home.  Right now, they’re under suspension.”

“You don’t know how long that’ll be.  Withholding meals is a form of corporal punishment.  I didn’t realize
it was legal in the state of Pennsylvania.”

“Don’t get belligerent with me young lady.”

“No, Ma’am.  Should we go to the cafeteria now?”

“
No, out in the hall.  But within sight.”

Caius grabbed the tray.  We followed him into the hall, breaking into laughter once the door closed behind us.

“I’ll be watching you, Wazowski, alllwaaayyyss watching,” I said in my best Roz imitation.

“She’s like a hamster,” Bacchus said.  “I think she keeps extra food stored in that thing.”

“Food,” Caius snorted.  “Try small children.”

Sitting in a small semi-circle, we divvied out our lunches,
eating over napkin-draped laps.  Although the twins inhaled their sandwiches, so the napkins were a moot point.

“So, does this happen often
—the fighting thing?” I inquired, dipping an apple into some vanilla pudding.  Chocolate was my thing, not that I’d dip an apple into chocolate pudding, but I’d miss it all the same.  I could write odes to chocolate.  That’s how much I’ll seriously mourn over my new allergy.

“No,” said Caius succinctly.

“Let’s save the inquisition till Icarus gets here,” Bacchus added politely.  “How’s your first day treating you?”