Free Falling (13 page)

“And who are you?” Mr O’Conner growled, looking at Zach when
he was on his feet again.

Zach did a little bow. “Zach Anderson, new pain in your
ass.” The watching crowd laughed at his comment.

“Principal, all three of you!” Mr O’Conner barked, pointing
at the door.

Alex frowned but didn’t protest; Luke winced as he rubbed
his hand over his bruising cheek but headed out without another word. Zach just
laughed.

I watched the three boys go, hoping that Alex didn’t get
into too much trouble. I would owe him for that, I asked him to break it up and
get involved, so if he got detention then it’d be my fault. The crowd dispersed
quickly now that the teachers were here. I saw a blonde head step in front of
me. I gulped when I looked up at Sandy’s smug face.

“You’re not worth all that,” she stated, sneering at me.

I wanted nothing more than to push her to the floor and rub
the spilt spaghetti over every inch of her face, making her look like an
Oompa-Loompa. “And you think you are?” I asked, shaking my head at her.

She grinned at me, flashing her straight white teeth. “Luke
thinks I am. He told me that I was the best night of his life,” she stated,
picking at her manicured nails.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her comment. That couldn’t be
true, they didn’t even get to finish, he was throwing up all night and spent
the night in hospital. That was clearly not the best night of his life! She was
obviously lying, trying to upset me. I knew she wanted Luke; she had done for a
long time.
It wouldn’t surprise me if I find out that she was the one that
drugged him just so she could have her way with him.

Then it occurred to me what I’d just thought. Had she been
the one to spike his drink? She gave him a drink after he fell off of the
stool, then one of her friends came and told me where to find Luke. Did she
plan to have me walk in on them like that? Had she set this whole thing up?

I felt my eyes widen with shock. Would she really go that
far though? To drug someone to get them into bed? Did she want him that much,
and hate me that much? “Did you-” I started, but the warning bell sounded,
signalling there was five minutes until afternoon classes. Without another
word, she turned and walked off. She shot me a smug smile as she let the door
slam shut behind her.

My heart was racing in my chest. If she’d planned the whole
thing then I kind of felt sorry for Luke; she’d used him, and taken advantage
of him in a way. But he would still have been able to say no, he certainly
wasn’t fighting her off and telling her no when I walked in the room, he was
clearly enjoying himself. Did it make a difference if someone spiked his drink
or not? He was in full control of himself; he pushed her off when I walked into
the room so he could have stopped it at any time if he wanted to. She wasn’t
exactly forcing herself on him, or was she? Maybe I needed to speak to Luke
about it again. 

I felt the bile rise in my throat as I immediately started
to picture it again. I closed my eyes and tried to shake the images away. All I
wanted was to erase it from my mind, if I could do that then I would be able to
forgive Luke, I would be able to have the future that I planned, the happy one
with the adorable guy. Instead, I get to see that smug witch walk around,
knowing that she slept with my boyfriend.

I hung my head and tried to ignore the whispers of people
around me. Charlotte and Beth ran up to me immediately, Charlotte gripping my
arm tightly as she looked at me worriedly. “You alright?”

I nodded and shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Maybe
I was going into shock or something, I kind of felt a little numb, like this
was all happening to someone else. It was quite nice to feel numb and not feel
the heartbreak; I secretly hoped it lasted for a little while. “I’m fine. Come
on, let’s get to class,” I suggested, trying to keep my voice stronger than I
felt.

Beth looked at me sympathetically. “Everything will get
better, Maisie.”

Charlotte frowned, looking like she was trying to think of
something to say that would help. “Your brother is seriously hot when he
fights. If he didn’t ruin it as soon as he opened his mouth, then I would definitely
tap that,” she stated, waggling her eyebrows.

I burst out laughing and she smiled proudly. It was
obviously her intention to take my mind off of what had just happened. “Yuck,”
I replied, pretending to gag.

She grinned and linked her arm through mine. Beth took my
other, and we talked about Alex being a badass as we walked to our lockers to
get our books before the next bell rang for the start of class.

I grabbed my gym bag and headed there, feeling the dread
sink in with each step. Both Sandy and Zach were in this class. People were
staring at me even more after the whole fight scene that took place a few
minutes ago. Instead of changing in the locker rooms, I headed to the bathrooms
next door and changed into my black shorts and white T-shirt, pulling on my
sneakers and then reluctantly headed out to the gym to see what we were doing
today.

Sandy and her little followers were all milling around in
their little circle of perfection, bitching obviously about some of the other
girls in the class. I stood at the back, chewing on my lip, wishing this day
was over with already. I found myself wishing Alex was here with me. The boy
drove me crazy most of the time, but his presence was calming to me, like he
was my rock or something. I wished I could just shrink into his side and hear
his annoying voice just to keep me company.

Sandy smirked at me and her friends all turned to look at
me, making me shift uncomfortably on my feet. The girl that had told me that
Luke wanted to speak to me at the party, smiled at me almost apologetically,
but I just looked away as Mr O’Conner walked in.

“Right then guys and girls, we’re running laps today so get
those behinds in gear and no slacking,” he barked, waving his hand at the door.

The gym door opened again just as Mr O’Conner was telling us
about how many laps to run, how to warm up and cool down. Everyone turned to
see who dared enter class late; Mr O’Conner was a seriously harsh teacher when
it came to punctuality.

Zach entered, smirking at the class, his nose slightly red,
his lip split, and his knuckles red raw. “Sorry I’m late, some jackass teacher
sent me to the Principal,” he chirped. I looked at him warningly and shook my
head, nodding towards the front where Mr O’Conner was standing. Zach’s eyes
settled and me and his smirk grew bigger as he looked me over in my clothes.
“You rock that gym kit,” he teased, winking at me.

“ENOUGH! OUTSIDE EVERYONE!” Mr O’Conner bellowed.

Everyone jumped and practically ran for the door; Zach
grinned and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the teacher
challengingly. I gulped and headed out of the room not wanting to witness
another showdown.

I walked slowly to the field, and stretched out my muscles,
getting ready to run. Sandy stopped next to me, stretching out her long toned
legs as she tied her long immaculate hair into a perfect twist. “The new guy’s
hot,” she stated, raising one eyebrow. I looked at her with as much hate as I
could muster as I imagined ramming her face into the mud and standing on the
back of her head. “I think maybe he’s even hotter than your ex-boyfriend. Maybe
I’ll give him a try and see which one screws the best before I decide which one
I want.”

I opened my mouth to speak but I was cut off by a male voice
behind me, “Trust me, I screw better. Thing is though, sweetheart, you just
don’t do it for me. I like a girl to have a little more up top, and I’m not
talking about bra size.”

I laughed and turned back to see that Zach was looking at
Sandy distastefully. She huffed and turned to walk off to her group of waiting
clones. “Nice knock-back,” I congratulated.

He laughed and stepped to my side. “Thanks. So that’s her,
huh?” he asked, looking Sandy over in her short shorts and tank top. I frowned
and nodded.  “Don’t see the appeal myself. I like a little mystery, something
that you have to work for. With her, you see what you get before you even
unwrap, where’s the fun in that?” he asked, turning his nose up slightly.

I grinned and rolled my eyes, trying to look like I
disapproved but I just couldn’t, I loved that he wasn’t interested in her, it
reminded me of how Luke used to be before everything got ruined.

“So how much trouble did you guys get in for fighting?” I
inquired as we started to jog around the track.

He shrugged. “Two days lunchtime detention. No biggie.”

“Why did you do that anyway?” I asked curiously. He must
want to get expelled from here too or something.

He grinned. “Just thought your dickwad of an ex deserved a
little payback. He was seriously pissed with me,” he explained, laughing
happily.

I raised one eyebrow at him in disbelief. “You like to make
a good impression, huh?”

He shrugged. “People think of me what they want. I don’t
need other people’s opinions to validate who I am. If they don’t like me then
that’s tough luck for them. I call it like I see it. I thought your boy needed
to hurt, obviously the thing that’s hurting him the most is losing you. He’s
got it bad, so I decided to rub his nose in it a little more,” he said,
shrugging as we continued to run.

I gulped and dropped my eyes to the floor, not wanting to
talk about Luke and his feelings for me. “I don’t like fighting,” I said
sternly.

“Duly noted, but sometimes it’s necessary. For example, you
need to punch that hoe in the face,” he stated, nodding at Sandy who was
running about a hundred yards in front of us.

I snorted at his comment. “I’m not punching anyone in the
face; nothing can be solved with violence.”

He laughed and bumped his shoulder against mine. “Maybe
you’re right, punching her won’t actually solve anything, but it’ll make you
feel better.”

I laughed. It probably would too, but I still wasn’t doing
it, that wasn’t who I was. The rest of the lesson we just jogged with him
teasing me about how unfit I was. The boy wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter
how many times I told him to just run ahead and not wait for me. He stayed
firmly planted at my side the whole time and even walked me to the locker-room
to change after.

“Walk me to English after?” he asked, cocking his head to
the side.

I shrugged, pulling my sweaty T-shirt away from my body
distastefully. “Whatever. Meet me here then, okay? I need to shower.”

He grinned wickedly. “I could come and help if you want,
wash your back for you,” he suggested, raising one eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and didn’t bother to comment on his slutty
remark. Now that I’d gotten to know him a little better I realised that he was
actually a pretty nice guy. He was unquestionably cocky and opinionated, but he
reminded me a little of Alex in some ways.

I showered and changed as quickly as I could, heading out,
only to find him pressed up against a girl who I recognised as one of Sandy’s
little minions. She was giggling while he leant in, one palm pressed against
the wall near her head; he was obviously flirting his ass off with her, and
doing well too by the look of it.

I didn’t bother to interrupt their little session, I just
turned on my heel and headed to English class on my own, choosing a seat near
the front so people wouldn’t be able to talk to me too easily. He came in five
minutes after class had started, earning him a warning from the teacher. He
frowned at me angrily and plopped down in the seat a couple of rows from me,
tapping his hand on his desk, looking out of the window, not paying attention
to anything the teacher said for the whole lesson.

When the bell rang he walked over to my desk and kicked the
leg of my chair to get my attention as I packed my books. “What was that? I
thought you were meeting me?” he growled angrily.

I shrugged. “I didn’t want to interrupt you, you obviously
have a need to flirt with as many girls as possible in one day, who am I to
ruin that for you? You’re probably going for some sort of record by getting as
many phone numbers as possible on a first day,” I teased, smirking at him as I
shouldered my bag.

He frowned and sighed, shaking his head and strutting off
without answering. I watched his back as he walked away. Guilt washed over me.
I should have waited for him earlier; we had agreed it after all. I’d have to
try and catch him tomorrow to apologise or something.

I headed to my locker, pulling out my books for the last
lesson of the day. I did it deliberately slowly, just wanting a couple of
minutes peace. People started filing out to their respective classes, so I
closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. There was only one more
lesson left now, but I wasn’t sure I could make it through anymore. I chewed on
my lip and considered skipping my last class, I could easily catch up, and it
wasn’t like I ever usually did it so no one would suspect anything foul if I
missed one class.

Movement at my side caught my attention. I opened my eyes
and looked up just as Luke stopped next to me. He looked bad; Zach had
certainly done a number on his face. His cheek and jaw were red, his lip split
and swollen. I daren’t even think what his body looked like. He looked
incredibly sorry for himself, his head hung and his shoulders slumped. His deep
brown eyes met mine, and I felt my heart break all over for him. He was so sad,
so rejected, so low, but I just didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know if I
could forgive him. I just knew deep down that everything was ruined, I didn’t
think there was any way we could come back from this.

Chapter 9

“Can I talk to you, just for a minute?” he asked quietly as
he frowned at the floor.