The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven (150 page)

             
“Get up,” I growled. She laughed. “Get up now and start doing your share of the work.”

             
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll go wait out in the hall until you two are done,” she said, standing up.

             
I grabbed the bucket full of soapy water and shoved it at her. “You are not going anywhere and you are going to help!”

             
She pushed the bucket back at me and made a disgusted noise. “As if,” she whined.

             
“Hey, the nineties called and they want their catch phrase back,” Cameron snorted.

             
“Whatever,” Mackenzie said.

             
I pushed the bucket back at her and she huffed, pushing it back. “Get that thing away from me you freak.”

             
We kept shoving the bucket back and forth. Water spilled over the sides. “Stop calling me a freak!” I yelled, giving the bucket one hard shove.

             
Mackenzie slipped, spilling all the water in the bucket all over her. She screamed and stomped her feet. Cameron and I busted up laughing. “Stop laughing you freaks! It’s not funny.” She held her arms out at her side, grossed out.

             
“It is,” I said, still laughing.

             
“UUGGHH!” she screamed, leaping for me.

             
I managed to dodge her first attempt, but she hopped on my back, and pulled my hair. “Get off me you crazy bitch!” She let out a battle cry and pulled harder, biting my shoulder. I flipped her off my back and she crashed into the desks. “Gross, did you just bite me!?!”

             
“Please, your kind likes it.” She reached for my feet. When I tried to back away I ran into a desk, blocking my path. She clawed and pulled at my legs. I bent down smacking her and tried to get her away. We wrestled on the slippery wet floor, kicking and screaming, while Cameron sat back and watched – occasionally giving me pep talks.

             
Not a minute later Dean and Ms. Kraft showed up with more cleaning supplies. “What is going on?” Ms. Kraft cried. “Girls, stop that this instant!”

             
Neither of us stopped. Dean tried to pull us apart but got caught in the crossfire. He jumped back and held his hand to his cheek. “Fine, you have at it,” he said. One of us had scratched him, but which one I didn’t know.

             
Ms. Kraft having enough, stepped in, and separated us using her powers. Both of us slid across the floor. Mackenzie hit the wall and I slammed into the blackboard. “Stand!” Ms. Kraft demanded and we did. I could feel a force wind push me and hold me against the chalk board. I noticed Mackenzie looked like she was being restricted as well.

             
“May I remind you that this is what got one of you here in the first place,” Ms. Kraft said, narrowing her eyes at Mackenzie. 

             
“She threw the bucket of water on me,” Mackenzie ratted.

             
“I did not! I was tired of her sitting on her ass not helping. I pushed the bucket to her and she slipped and fell on her own spilling it.”

             
“Cameron, is that true?”

             
“Yes Ms. Kraft, it is,” she said.

             
“Of course she’s going to say that. Dykes always stick up for other dykes,” Mackenzie squealed.

             
My jaw dropped to the floor.

             
“Miss Hilliard, I will not tolerate that kind of discrimination and terminology used in my school. You will now clean this entire room on your own and I will be here to make sure you do it right.”

             
“That’s not fair. Why am I being punished again because of her?” She glared at me, practically burning holes in my head with her eyes.

             
“Because this time it was your foul mouth and attitude. You did this one all on your own and for the rest they will be punished as well. You will all be attending a sensitivity class to work on your manners.”

             
“What!?!” Cameron and I said together.

             
“She started it, again. She’s the one who has been causing all the problems since the beginning,” I argued.

             
“Regardless of who started it, I feel you all need to learn how to respect each other and that includes you too, Dean.”

             
The look on Dean’s face made it all worthwhile. “I respect others,” he exclaimed.

             
“Ha,” I said, letting out a harsh laugh.

             
“I have seen the way you treat others and I feel you are the one who needs this the most,” Ms. Kraft said to Dean. I had to cover my mouth to hide my laugh. Dean glared at me before he walked out. “Girls, you may be finished for today. Mackenzie, get to work, now.” Ms. Kraft released us from her hold and I gladly left without looking back.

             
I had an hour before training so I thought I would head out to the quad to see where Roman was. He was near the entrance to the maze shoveling dirt. He had his shirt off and tucked into his back pocket. Sweat was pouring from his face, dripping down his torso, and boy did he look ever so sexy.

             
He leaned on his shovel and wiped the sweat from his brow. That’s when he noticed me. He smiled wide and gave me a small wave. I ran up to him wanting to throw my arms around him, but I had to resist. We needed to take things slow and attacking him with my lips would not help.

             
“Hey,” I said when I reached him. “Do you get a break soon?”

             
“Um,” he looked over his shoulder. “Hey Bart!” An elderly man with soil covered jeans and scraggily white hair looked up. “Mind if I take five?” He nodded his head in approval and Roman propped his shovel against one of the hedges. He grabbed a bottle of water and offered me one but I declined. He gestured over to one of the larger tress that offered more shade.

             
“Did you get done early today?” he asked, before lifting my chin and turning to look at my cheek. “What happened? Where’d you get those scratches?” His eyes started to glow with rage.

             
I didn’t even know Mackenzie had left any marks until Roman had said something. Seriously that bitch had to pay. At least I knew who scratched Dean. “Mackenzie and I got into another fight,” I said, trying to keep my temper in check.

             
“Ella,” he began.

             
“Look before you start lecturing me, I just want to let you know she started it.”

             
He chuckled softly and pulled me close to his chest. His smell was a mix of sweat and dirt, but I didn’t care. I calmed the minute our skin made contact. Despite the small electric currents that shocked me every time we touched, I always felt better when Roman held me. “You want to tell me what happened?”

             
“Not particularly…just Mackenzie being Mackenzie and me having enough of her.”

             
“I thought you said you didn’t start it?”

             
“I didn’t,” I yelled, pulling back in protest. “She did. She just kept sitting on her skanky ass all week not doing anything,” I said in a huff.

             
“Sorry I asked,” Roman joked. I glared at him. “We all know how Mackenzie can be. You just have to know how to tolerate her.”

             
“You’re talking like I started it.”

             
“No. I’m just saying that you have to learn to not let her get to you.”

             
“Would you have let her sit there and not do any of the work?”

             
He sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I think maybe we should talk about something else before we get into a fight.”

             
I let out a sigh and leaned back into him. “I should probably go. I don’t want you to get into trouble,” I said, noticing how Bart was looking over in our direction. “I also need to clean these scratches so I don’t get some weird, freaky Mackenzie disease.”

             
He smiled softly and kissed my forehead. “How about we do something special tonight? Just the two of us?”

             
“Sounds perfect. I’ll see you later.” I took in one final look at him and locked that image into my mind.

             
Since Ms. Kraft had given us the rest of the day off. I had an hour before training so I decided to take a nap in order to stay awake for Roman tonight. All week when we hung out all we would do was talk and kiss. I knew we agreed to take it slow, but this was getting a little ridiculous. I wanted to take it further and I knew he wanted to also, but when I would give him the go ahead he would pull away and say it was time to leave. I admired his restraint, but at the same time felt a little hurt. I didn’t know if he was trying to keep with taking it slow or he was still holding back because he couldn’t get over the fact that I slept with someone else. Regardless, I didn’t want to spend another night of just kissing. Tonight I was going to try to push my limits and see how far I could get. Honestly I didn’t know too many guys who could keep saying no.

             
When I got back to my room I saw Cameron pacing outside my door. “Hey Cam, what’s up?”

             
“Oh hey, you busy, can we talk?” she asked nervously.

             
“Sure, come in,” I said, opening the door for her. She plopped down on the bed and let out a breath. “Is everything okay?”

             
“Yeah fine. Why do you ask?” she said, sitting up.

             
“Because you look like you’re about to throw up.” I looked at her paler than normal face.

             
She ran her fingers through her hair and when she looked up at me she made a funny face. “Did Mackenzie do that to you?” she asked, pointing to my cheek.

             
“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “That bitch seriously has to pay. I’m tired of her shit.”

             
“Good news is that Sienna and Dixon still followed through with our operation destroy Mackenzie while we were away.”

             
“Really?” I perked up.

             
“Sienna told me she kept a journal of everything.”

             
“Awesome, do you have it?”

             
“Yes I do. I can get it and we can go over it after training if you want?”

             
“How about after dinner? I can think better on a full stomach.”

             
Cameron laughed and agreed. “Perfect, I’ll see you then.”

             
“Oh hey Cam, wait. Didn’t you want to talk to me about something?”

             
“It’s not important,” she smiled and left. Since she didn’t seem too worried anymore neither was I. I curled up on top of my covers and took a much needed nap.

             
At first I thought I was just having a nightmare, but when I felt him, I knew this was his doing. I knew he had pulled me into this dream. “You have a lot of nerve,” I said, not bothering to turn around.

             
“I needed to see you,” Tristan said.

             
It hurt to even hear his voice. “You want to see me look at a picture,” I said, trying to force myself to wake up.

             
“Ella, look at me, please,” he pleaded.

             
“No!” I yelled, forcing myself to wake up. I sat up in my bed and looked around the room. I was alone. I covered my face in my hands and cried. I cried myself back to sleep.

             
“Tristan please,” I begged when I found myself on a beach in a white sundress.

             
“Ella please, look at me.”

             
I closed my eyes and turned around. I braced myself for the heartache I would feel when I saw him. My heart dropped to my stomach at the sight of him. He looked amazing. He wore a dark blue shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. “I miss you,” he said.

             
I took a step back as if he slapped me. “Don’t.” I turned away from him, refusing to let him see me cry. “You have no right. You left me…again. It was your choice.”

             
He grabbed my wrist and tried to make me face him. I ripped my arm from his grasped and spun around giving him my icy stare. “I made a mistake.” He grabbed me so fast I had no time to react. His lips slammed into mine knocking the breath out of me. I tried to pull away but I was weak. The moment his lips hit mine I melted into his embrace. His hand slid down my back and onto my behind. He pulled me into him. Then he lifted my leg and slipped his hand up my dress, tugging at my underwear. His sudden abruptness threw my off. Something wasn’t right. Tristan didn’t like to rush like this. He preferred to take things slow. He said it was so he could enjoy every single moment.