Mr. Kahn’s voice was monotonous. His teachings were similar to watching paint dry for hours upon hours. I liked to consider myself a good student. I got excellent grades—you kind of had to in order to attend English Prep—but when Mr. Kahn went on a rant over a war that could have been summed up in ten minutes or less, there was no end in sight. He droned on and on and on until the bell sounded and he was summoned back to reality.
Pair his annoying voice and twitch of his nose every three seconds above his graying mustache along with Madeline’s head bobbing up and down from falling asleep every so often, and I was agitated.
Every time I’d glance at her, with his voice in the background, I’d get even more irritated. I was on pins and needles when it came to her. When I’d left her house Saturday morning, I jumped into the shower and banged my fist against the tiled wall. Blood seeped from my knuckles and washed away down the drain along with every rational thought in my head. Her scream was on repeat, and the need to pick up her broken p
ieces was a substantial weight on my conscious. I barked at her for the rest of the night, acting as if I was doing her a favor by staying in her room, but really, I was doing me a favor. I knew if I left her room, I’d do nothing but lose my shit over the fact that someone had touched her like that.
The vulnerable, sobbing girl with hair as bright as the sun standing on shaky knees shook me to my core. I was angry. So incredibly angry over the fact that someone took her and broke her.
I was also shaken to my core over the fact that I was losing my cool. I was supposed to be hating her. Fuck, what would my mom even say if she knew I was at their house in the first place? If she knew I was lending a helping hand to the daughter of the woman that had a hand in ruining her marriage, how would that make her feel? Probably just as betrayed as she felt when my father cheated.
I was torn. Pissed off even more than usual. Madeline was fucking everything up. I wished I could have let it go. I should have ignored all the clues that something big was going on with her because now look at me. I was stuck in a tangled net over her.
Madeline’s head fell forward again, and the pencil in my hand snapped in half. Hayley glanced at me from behind and gave me a questionable look. I ignored her, and thank God the bell chimed throughout the room, and everyone started gathering their books. Madeline jumped up, her light hair swaying back as her head snapped to attention.
A few snarks and giggles sounded from around us. I couldn’t bring myself to look down at her tired eyes, knowing it was only a matter of time before that, too, would haunt me.
As soon as I was in the hallway, meeting up with everyone before lunch, my shackles rose.
“Did you see the way her head was bobbing? I think my dick is still hard.”
I swallowed harshly, focusing on Hardin and his childish laughter at his own joke. He was a lowerclassman but often hung around us and the rest of the football team because he was actually pretty good on the field. He’d likely be the quarterback next year since we will be off to college. He was a sharpshooter with the girls in the classes below. They oohed and awed at him every chance they got, hanging off his arm during the on season at a chance to become popular. But his pussy-eating grin made me recoil because of the words coming out of his mouth. “No, no. For real. Do you think I could tap that?” He grew serious, taking a step back and glancing down at Madeline digging in her locker. Her long legs, both toned and smooth below her plaid skirt, caught my eye too. I’d give him that. But he didn’t get to say those types of things. Not now. Not after I knew what I knew. He laughed, and Christian and Ollie rolled their eyes jokingly. “No one else wants her anymore. Not after our king tossed her out.” A few girls snickered around us as we began walking down the hall to the lunchroom. I kept my attention straight ahead, trying to tune out his tiresome voice and her legs.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Keep fucking walking, Eric. I wasn’t going to be her hero.
My heart strummed violently behind my rib cage, climbing, climbing, climbing…
“Okay, wait. With her bobbing like that in class, I bet she gives really good head. Someone hurry, push her down to her knees and hold her hands behind her back. I bet she’d be all over me fucking her vile little mouth.”
Snap.
I was over to him within half a second, his body flying back into the metal lockers. “Take it…” I pushed my forearm up to his windpipe, hearing him gasp for breaths. “Back.”
His eyes grew dark, his brows furrowing with confusion. I could feel the depth of my anger, and it rolled off me in crashing, thunderous waves. “How would you like it if I pushed you to your fucking knees and held your arms behind your back… I’m sure someone in this school would fuck that annoying little mouth of yours, Hardin.”
“Bro…what the fuck are you doing?” Ollie’s face came into my vision, his eyes widening. “For fucks’ sake, let him go before a teacher comes out. There’s only so much Christian can do with the headmaster to evade punishments for the three of us. Don’t fucking start a brawl. Again.”
I forced my anger to dissipate, trying to push the unleashed emotion down. My pulsing arms slipped from around Hardin’s neck, and he wheezed. “If I ever fucking hear you talk about her like that again, I’ll snap that glorious throwing arm in two. Do you fucking hear me?”
My peers murmured around me, trying to confirm whether or not I was referring to Madeline.
Fuck.
I growled, shoving my finger into his chest. “If you talk about any girl like that, I’ll snap it in half. You got that? Be a fucking man. Not a cocky little boy who thinks girls are toys. Grow the fuck up.”
Ollie was still giving me a look, his stern jaw clicking back and forth. I finally dropped my hand, and the entire hallway grew quiet. Christian stood back, just far enough away not to interfere but close enough that I knew he heard everything. He looked skeptical and disapproving at the same time. His eyes moved from mine, and as I turned around to see what he was looking at, I felt like I’d just given up my reins.
Madeline was standing there, her books clutched tightly to her uniformed chest. She was fuming. Her pretty features, that just a couple days ago appeared so utterly broken and sad, were skewed together in roaring, dismayed betrayal. She turned around quickly, pulling her attention from everyone that was now staring at her, and rushed down the hall. The door that led to the stairs slammed so hard people in the crowd jumped.
“Now what’s your excuse?” Ollie half-whispered to me.
“What are you talking about?” I ripped my tie from around my throat and loosened it.
“That’s twice now that you’ve stuck up for Madeline. Still going with that whole “I hate her” lie or…?” He looked amused, and I wanted to push him up against a locker too.
“Fuck off,” I ground out before plowing through the dispersing crowd to find the one person that should have been thanking me instead of throwing a dirty look my way.
Madeline had a lot of nerve acting like I was the bad guy in this situation.