Redwood High

He simply stared at me like he couldn’t wait for me to get the hell out of his face. My confidence dwindled, and my smile dropped. “I just… I saw you headed here, and I wanted to…” I trailed off.

Ever since I’d arrived at Redwood High, I had noticed a lot of things, but the one that stood out the most was Jake Grayson’s persona. Unlike my boys, Jake was in a different element entirely. Everyone at school knew him, but no one talked to him. Even the teachers stayed out of his way. It wasn’t that he got into trouble, which was unusual because he was your typical bad boy; he was just an outcast.

I stood up to leave when it became clear that my brain had suddenly developed an inability to conjure words, and my mouth had refused to project.

“Come on, Katrina, just speak up. I don’t bite … at least not at first.” He smirked.

I glared at him for using my name when secretly I liked the way it rolled off his tongue. It was either Dawson or Katrina, and my whole being craved the sound of my name on his lips.

I sat back down, my confidence renewed, and faced him. “Why don’t you eat with the others at the cafeteria? Why don’t you speak to anyone at school? Why do you keep to yourself so much? Why do you ignore me here?”

“So many questions, Katrina.” He released a slow grin; that with his wind-ruffled hair, made him look so gut-punching sexy. “Which do you want to be answered first?”

I swallowed, suddenly feeling the heat rise above my neck, which was funny since we were seated on the bleachers. “Why do you ignore me here? Whenever I try to talk to you, you just walk away like I’m invisible,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too bitter or disappointed or both.

“I talk to you at home, and I’m talking to you now.”

He raised a perfectly arched brow.

For the third time that day, I rolled my eyes. “You only say hi to me when my Mom is around, and you’re talking to me now because there’s no one around to see us,” I countered.

“Well, it’s in your best interest not to be seen talking to you, Katrina. We wouldn’t want you to be tainted now, would we?” he spat out bitterly.

“Tainted? What’s that supposed to mean? Did something happen to you?”

For some reason, my question made him laugh briefly before his face turned blank again. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“I’m just trying to be friends with you, get to know each other,” I protested.

“Well, I already know you, Katrina. Rich girl, who has got everything, in a new town prancing around the school and enjoying popularity while feeling sorry for the poor boy who no one talks to.”

His words hurt because they were anything but true. My eyes stung, but I willed the tears not to fall. “You don’t know me, and I do not feel pity for you.”

He stood to his full height, his form casting a shadow over me. “I don’t care what you feel for me, Kat. Just stay the hell away from me.”

He turned around and left me sitting there as the tears finally fell from my eyes.

After dinner with my Mom that day, I heard something hit my bedroom window, and when I looked down, it was Jake throwing stones at it. I opened the window and watched him climb the tree effortlessly then jump into my room.

“What are you doing here?” I asked with my hands folded across my cotton pajamas.

He stared me up and down. “I’m sorry about earlier… at school. You didn’t deserve to be yelled at like that.”

I nodded, not entirely satisfied, but I’d take what I could get. “Okay.” When I started to turn, he continued.

“My dad used to hit my Mom…”

Well, I hadn’t expected that. I turned to face Jake and took his hand before dragging him to sit on the rug by the foot of my bed and motioned for him to continue.

“One particular day, it got so bad I was sure he was going to kill her. I ran inside, took an ax, and rammed it into his head with all the strength I could gather. The cops ruled it as self-defense. I was fifteen when I killed my father, and I don’t regret it.”

He stopped and watched me for a while, but I gave nothing away.

“Redwood is a small town, and everyone knew what I had done. Suddenly no one wanted their kids around me, and no one wanted to be associated with my Mom and me. I lost my friends too, and that’s how it has been ever since. If people see you talking to me, they’re going to…”

I didn’t let him finish his sentence before I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. “I’m your friend now, and you won’t lose me,” I whispered into his ear with conviction. I felt him smile.

We spent the rest of the night talking, and suddenly it was morning again.