Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (16 page)

               
“I’m sorry,” Damien replies, pulling away.  “I didn’t mean to be forward.”

               
“It’s all right,” Kayla says with a giggle.  “I was just teasing
you.  As long as you aren’t feeling me up, I don’t mind being
touched.”  Damien winks at her and then laughs.

               
A loud voice breaks them apart. “Who in the hell are you?”

               
Everyone turns to see Jude standing behind them in the hall.  Jackson
steps forward, seething. “You don’t get a hint, do you?”

               
Jude looks him in the eyes. “You don’t scare me.  You can’t touch me,
Jackson.  You’d get expelled and arrested.”

               
“He can’t touch you, but I sure can,” Damien says, stepping next to
Jackson.  “I don’t go to school here and have a team of the best
lawyers.  Now, who are you and what is your problem?”

               
“This is Jude,” Kayla states, pulling both Jackson and Damien back. “He’s a
thorn in my side.
”
She
turns her attention to Jude.  
“
What
do you want?”

               
He looks down at her.  “I want to talk to you, and I’ll keep asking until
you agree.”

               
“Don’t be ridiculous.  You can keep asking all you want, but the answer is
going to be the same.  You grabbed me and threatened me, Jude, there’s no
apologizing for that.”

               
Damien charges forward, grabs Jude by the collar, and pins him against the
wall.  “
Please
tell me I didn’t hear her correctly,” he growls.

               
Jumping after them, Kayla says, “Damien, leave him alone!  It’s
fine.  It’s not like he hurt me or anything.”

               
“You have no idea who I am or what I could do to you,” Damien whispers to Jude.
 “Stay away from her.”

               
“Come on,” Kayla says, grabbing Damien’s bicep.  “He’s an idiot.  No
need for bloodshed.”

               
Putting his arm around her, Damien says, “Your protection is my number one
concern; Jackson’s too.”

               
“What, now
he’s
your boyfriend?” Jude’s tone is filled with disgust as
he addresses Kayla.

               
“No.
”
She shakes her head,
deciding to use this moment to her advantage.
“
I mean, yes.  Does that bother you, Jude?  Does
it get under your skin?”

               
“Sweet, boyfriend works for me.” Damien chuckles.  Kayla gives him a look
like she was exaggerating when she said 'boyfriend.' 

               
“Is that the way you are now, bouncing from guy to guy?”  Jude asks
harshly.

               
Smirking, Kayla says, “So what if I am?  They are two fine specimens of
men.
”
She scans him from
head to toe.
“
I can’t say
the same for you.” 

               
Jude just glares at her.  “You’re a lot looser than I thought you were.”

               
With a loud crack, Damien’s fist collides with Jude’s face.  Jude crumbles
to the ground.  “Damien!” Kayla yells as she shoves him to the side. 
“Jude, Jude, are you okay?”

               
“Get away from me!” he yells, holding his nose.  He points his finger at
Damien.  “I’m suing you!  I’m going to call the police and then sue
you!”

               
“Whatever,” Damien replies.  “That is why I had the pleasure of knocking
your teeth down your throat.  One, I don’t care and two, you can try to do
whatever you want to me, but you will fail, so go right ahead.”  Damien
reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a card.  “Here is my
information.  My lawyer is at the bottom.  Feel free to call.” 
He flicks the card onto Jude.

               
Kayla stands up and grabs Damien’s arm.  “Stop it!  You’re being
ridiculous.  Let’s go before you get arrested.”

               
Jackson laughs. “Wouldn’t be the first time.  Though this time I would
gladly bail him out.”  He looks down at Jude.  “Don’t talk to her
again.”

               
With a groan, Kayla pushes Jackson and Damien down the hall.  “Go,
move!  I can’t keep tabs on both of you.”

               
Jackson walks by her locker and grabs her backpack and books.  “That was
awesome, Damien.”

               
“No, no it wasn’t!” Kayla exclaims.  “Go!  I swear!”

               
They all walk out the front doors.  When they get outside, Jackson turns
around. “I promise, I’m going to be nice to you for the rest of the day.”

               
Damien smirks. “I can see that I did what you’ve wanted to do for a while.”

               
“So badly.”

               
“Stop it,” Kayla yells.  “Violence doesn’t solve anything!”

               
Walking backwards, Damien looks at her. “He called you a slut, you know that,
right?”

               
That makes her stop in her tracks.  “Oh…he did, didn’t he?  Asshat!”

               
“See?  He deserved what he got.  Anyway, I didn’t even hit him that
hard.  If I was really trying, I would’ve knocked him unconscious.”

               
“Thank God you didn’t do that!” Kayla groans.  “This is going to be all
around school by Monday.  My Facebook page will be lit up!”

               
With a single step, Damien is in front of Kayla.  He bends down to her ear
and whispers, “Tell me you didn’t like that…just a little bit.”

               
She opens her mouth and then closes it.  Finally, Kayla looks at
him.  “Fine, maybe a little, but it's still wrong. So wrong!”

               
A devious grin passes over Damien’s face.  “No it wasn’t.  But that’s
beside the point, the whole reason I’m here is that I wanted to take you out to
dinner.”

               
“Oh,” Kayla squeaks.  Her eyes drift to Jackson, but he looks away. 
“Sure, I would be happy to go to dinner with you.”

               
From behind them they hear, “Kayla Marie Hendrickson!  You stop right
there!”

               
They turn to see Tracy standing behind them with her arms crossed. 
“Uh-oh,” Kayla mutters.

               
Tracy comes over and cocks her hip.  “What the hell?  A hot guy
finally punches Jude and I have to hear about it from everyone else?  I'm
surprised I'm not reading about it on Facebook!  What kind of friend are
you?”

               
Damien and Jackson erupt with laughter.  Jackson points to Tracy. 
“Damien, this is Tracy, Kayla’s best friend.  Tracy, this is my cousin,
Damien.”

               
With the most flirtatious look, Tracy says, “You are just as hot as Jackson.”

               
“Wow, usually I'm told I'm hotter,” Damien retorts with a grin.

               
Jackson shoves him hard.  “Shut up.”

               
Pointing his finger at him, Damien snaps, “You said you were going to be nice
for the rest of the day.  So deal with the ego, man!

               
“It is not cool that Damien punched Jude,” Kayla states seriously.

               
“Yes, it is,” Tracy says.  “I would give him a huge kiss if I were
you.  Fighting for your honor…hot…soooo hot.”

               
Rolling her eyes, Kayla groans. “Whatever.”

               
“That’s him!  Standing right there in the purple shirt. That’s the guy who
punched me!”

               
The shouted accusation forces them all to turn toward the school where they see
Jude holding his bloody nose and pointing at Damien.  The liaison officer
saunters over to them, Jude following at his heals.  Damien sighs. “You
guys better call my lawyer.”

               
“You can’t be serious,” Jackson protests.  “What a nark.”

               
The liaison officer focuses on Damien.  “Are you the gentleman who punched
him?”

               
“Yup,” Damien articulates.  He sticks his wrists out. “Be gentle. 
I’m a lover, not a fighter.  Oh wait, that’s a lie. I’m both.”

               
The officer turns to Jude.  “Are you pressing charges?”

               
“
Yes
, of course,” Jude yells, his words muffled a bit behind his
hand.  “Did you see my nose?”

               
Turning back to Damien, the officer takes out his cuffs.  “All right, you
are under arrest for assault.”

               
“Hot,” Tracy quips.

               
“No, it’s not,” Kayla snaps, spinning toward Jude.  “Don’t be
ridiculous!  What, are you the biggest pansy at this school?”

Damien nods. “Yes, yes he
is.”

She tries not to laugh and
continues to drill Jude. “You called me a slut, what did you think was going to
happen?”

               
“Only you would date someone with such a hot temper.  I can’t even believe
you’re attracted to
that
,
”
he says, pointing to Damien.
“
What
a Neanderthal!”

               
“He was defending my honor,” Kayla snaps. “Which you were trying to tarnish.”

               
“What honor?” Jude snarls.

               
Kayla gives him a look of hatred and then steps up to Damien.  She grabs
his face and kisses him, and it’s not just a little kiss.  It is hot and
passionate.  When she pulls away, she says, “Thanks.”

               
“I would punch him again for that.” Damien laughs.  “Come here.”  He
bends down and kisses her again.

               
“All right, all right,” the liaison officer says, pulling Kayla away. 
“That’s enough.  We need to call your parents.”

               
Snorting, Damien says, “They’re out of the country.  You can contact my
lawyer.  I got emancipated when I graduated two years ago.  It’s
easier to go to college that way.  You know, since I go to
Yale
,”
he adds, looking at Jude.

               
Jude gasps. “You go to Yale?”

               
“Yup,” Damien retorts. “Of course, if they find out about this, I may not be
anymore, but I have a really good lawyer, so I’m not too worried.  You
know, this does make you the world’s biggest baby.  I doubt your nose is
even broken!  But none of that matters, you should never have implied that
Kayla was a slut.”

               
The officer looks at Jude.  “Is that true?”

               
“What?  No…I mean, I didn’t literally call her that,” Jude draws out,
sounding annoyed.

               
“You could be expelled for sexual harassment,” the officer replies.  “You
need to come with me to Head Master’s office.”

               
Tracy hoops and says, “Awesome, revenge!”

               
“Wait!  What?  I can’t get expelled,” Jude yells.  “I won’t be
able to get into a good college.”

               
“Should have thought about that first,” the officer replies.  “Unless
these students are mistaken and that was
not
what they heard.”  The
officer looks at Kayla.  “Is that what he said, ma’am?”

               
Kayla eyes Jude.  “I don’t know, are you pressing charges?”

               
With a glare, Jude says, “No, I guess not.”

               
“All right,” the officer says, unlocking the handcuffs.  “Why don’t you
guys go on about your business and Jude, you better get back into that
building, young man.”

               
“Hold on, I have to take care of something,” Kayla says.  She pulls Damien
toward her by his shirt.  Planting her lips on his, she kisses him again. 
It’s like an explosion inside of her. She runs her hands up his chest and
around his neck.  It gets heated very quickly. 

Finally, Jackson pulls her
away from him.  “Damien, enough.”

               
Damien smirks. “I can’t help myself.”

               
“Yes, you can,” Jackson hisses.

               
Stumbling back, Kayla exhales, “Whoa.”

               
“Now, that was hot!” Tracy exclaims.

               
“Gross,” Jude yells.  The officer turns to him, and Jude shuts up
immediately.  “You guys can go jump off a bridge.”

               
“Hey,” Kayla snaps.  “Didn’t you promise to stop talking to me?”

               
Jackson laughs and yells to Jude, “We like to jump off the bridge.”

               
“Frequently,” Damien adds on.

               
“Whatever,” Jude mutters, turning on his heel and leaving.

               
The officer looks at Damien.  “I think you should get off school property,
right now. I don’t remember you being a student.”

               
“I’m just giving her a ride home from school,” Damien says, nodding his head
toward Kayla.

               
“You can wait in the parking lot, like everyone else,” the officer
replies.  “If you go to such a prestigious school, I would be more mindful
of your actions.  Violence doesn’t solve anything.”