Page 25 of Pawn

“Might wanna bundle up, Medusa,” she says with a shit-eating grin. “It’s cold outside.” With her chin to the ceiling, she makes her way to the showers.

Pixie mouths “sorry” on her way out but that doesn’t help. When I rummage through my locker everything I need is gone. My uniform shirt, my kilt, hell, even my socks are missing.

Pulling the towel around me, no one else seems to care. They all file towards the showers as chatter fills the brick room. Looking for a sign of my clothes, my eyes land on one of the socks in question by a nearby bench. Groaning, I grab it before I see another sock sticking out from under the door leading into the hallway. When I open the door to get the sock, I spot my bra splayed out on the floor, not too far in front of it is one of my boots. The trail of my clothes leads all the way to the end of the hall, where I suspect my kilt is.

Fucking immature assholes.

I’m grumbling the entire way, picking up each piece as I pull the towel tight around me. My bare feet leave a trail of wet footprints, water dripping from my hair to the wooden floor. After I pick up my boot, I look around for my kilt, but I don’t see it. So I push on the door in front of me, a cold gust of wind coming from the side exit.

Fuck.

My eyes land on my kilt that seems miles away, my other boot not too far behind it. When I reach for the handle on the other side, there isn’t one. It’s one-way but my skirt is way too far to reach from where I’m standing.

Think. Think.

Looking around, no one’s in the hall, and I want to get this done before any ERA boys see me. They’re about as mature as a twelve-year-old in a titty bar. Scrunching up the clothes in my hands, I pile them so they stop the door when I crack it open. It works, my clothes and boot squishing between the door and the edge. My nipples pucker under my towel when I step out into the cold winter air, goosebumps forming on my arms. After coming out of that warm building, my skin tingles from the cold, icy contrast.

I’m on my toes, hopping over ice and snow patches to reach my kilt on a small patch of land. Gripping it in my hand, I’m one step closer to being over this childish prank.

SNAP!

My eyes widen.

No.

No. No. No.

When I turn around, my clothes are gone, the door closed.

Shit.

Running back over I bang on the door with my fist. “Hey, is someone there?” Hardly waiting for an answer, my palm bangs on the door again. “Georgina this isn’t funny! It’s fucking cold!” The minute I say it, it’s like my body realizes where I’m standing. Outside. In the cold winter air with only a towel around me. My curls turn into crunchy spirals, ice forming on the strands. “C’mon!”

Banging again doesn’t do me any good. Looking around I start to shiver, my eyes landing on the spot Luca tried to force his cock on me. “Fuck!” I yell to the sky, fists by my side, towel almost slipping off. There’s only one thing to do. I have to go the long way to the front doors. In the cold. So everyone can see.

I’m still on my toes while I dodge more patches of the Eden Gardens winter. Ice and small collections of snow. When I get to the front of the school, my jaw clenches. Damien’s waiting in his usual spot. His leather jacket sits over another sweater, this time grey. The only other shade in his closet besides black, white and the ERA green.

His eyes narrow. “What the fuck?” I can’t hear him but I can see his words from here, the way his mouth forms that hard ‘f’.

He knows exactly what this is. This is what I get for knowing him. For being with him.

For loving him.

And now? It’s time I end this.

For good.

Seven

Damien

My eyes freeze on Jo.

And she looks just that. Frozen.

Why the fuck is she outside in nothing but a towel in the middle of January? I’m slipping off my jacket as she approaches me, happy I left the car running with the heat on.

It’s hard giving her the space she wants in all this. Kills me that she’s locking herself away. Every night I lay in bed thinking about crawling into hers. Thinking about telling her to stop being such a stubborn brat and give into what I know she wants. What I know she needs.

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