Page 13 of Spite

Chapter Six

The next morning I found Alec by his locker. When his locker neighbor finished up, I took his place, leaning against the metal as I looked up at him. He was cute, I had to give him that, and when his green eyes turned to me, my stomach did a little flip.

“Hey,” I spoke softly, getting his attention. “I just wanted to thank you for yesterday.” Christian’s locker was further down the hall, and with any luck, the dickhead would see me here.

“For what?” Alec asked, running a hand through his blonde hair, the motion lifting up his t-shirt somewhat. Before I knew what I was doing, my eyes fell, spotting the muscles on his abdomen. Now was not the time to ogle Alec Perry.

“For driving me home. I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with these days,” I went on, pulling the shit directly from my ass, “I just didn’t know how to act around you. It’s still like a part of me is back in sixth grade.”

Alec had his stuff for his first period class, and he was slow to close his locker. I had to hurry this up, otherwise I’d be late. “We’re not in sixth grade anymore.” Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.

“I know.” As I spoke, I set a hand on his arm. A soft, gentle touch, one he probably wasn’t expecting. I didn’t let the touch linger though, quickly dropping my hand to my side. “And no matter what you think, I would be happy to start new. To forget about the past.” Tilting my head up to him, I gave him a smile that I prayed was meek and shy. “I’ll see you later.” Before Alec could say anything more, I wandered away.

I had to get ready for homeroom and first period too, didn’t I?

Planting the seeds. That’s what I was doing.

I was quite happy with my little encounter with Alec, at least until a rough, strong hand appeared before me, closing my locker with force and causing me to blink in shock. I stared at the hand, knowing who it belonged to even before I turned my head to meet its owner. Christian stood less than a foot from me, taller than ever, smelling like body spray and hair gel. It wasn’t a bad smell.

Christian was…even larger up close. Wide shoulders, at least six feet tall. The kind of guy every girl in the school had a crush on at one point or another. His blonde hair was cut short on the sides, a little longer on top. He was clean-shaven, allowing me to see the curve of his cheekbones and the small cleft in his chin. Underneath his Letterman jacket, he was all muscle, and everything I hated.

And yet, my heart did a funny kind of pitter-patter when I met his sapphire eyes.

His posture was aggressive, but instead of being scared, I was, for lack of a better word, sort of turned on. His mean and haughty sixth grade face had morphed into one of sexy arrogance and handsome cruelness.

“Stay the fuck away from Alec,” he whispered, a scowl forming on his attractive face.

“You,” I said, taking a step toward him, stopping when there was less than a few inches between my chest and his abdomen, “don’t get to tell me what to do. Not anymore, Christian.” It was a confrontation to his jerky attitude, but it was difficult to hold my resolve when every time I breathed in, I smelled him.

Damn, the boy smelled good.

“Alec is my friend, and I’m just looking out for him. You are trouble,” Christian spoke with a sneer, his mouth curled into a frown. A sexy frown, but a frown nonetheless.

I was trouble? Oh, the nerve of this guy. “Only one of us is trouble here, and it isn’t me,” I told him with a shrug. “Now, could you kindly leave me alone? I’d hate to be late on my second day back.” My voice was coated in sugar, the exact opposite of his.

“As long as you stay away from him, we’ll be good.” Christian sent me one more glare before leaving.

Well, that was…completely unexpected and totally uncalled for. I hadn’t even enacted my plans of revenge yet, and Christian already had it out for me. Great. That would only make things harder.

The morning passed quietly. I kept my nose in my books for most of my classes, ignored the sneers that came from Christian during English class, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. Regardless of what Georgia thought, I was going to keep sitting with her. I rather liked her.

Georgia had the same packed lunch she did the day before, and I had the feeling she always brought the same thing, day in and day out. She was a creature of habit, which I could respect. I slid into the seat beside her, dropping a chocolate bar onto the table.

Her red eyebrows lifted. “Chocolate for lunch?”

I shrugged. If there was one thing she should know about me, it’s that I had a sweet tooth. Came hand in hand with having an orthodontist as a dad, who never let me eat sweets in the house growing up. When I lived with Mom, I ate candy as often as I could, and I wasn’t about to stop the tradition now. It just meant I had to work out a little more and brush my teeth a little extra.

“Want a piece?” I asked, breaking off the first row of the bar.

“No, thank you,” Georgia said with a shake of her head. “I’m good.” Silence overtook the table, and I was focusing on my chocolate bar until she said, “This is weird.”

I looked at her. “What’s weird?” My mouth was full of chocolate, and I flicked my gaze to Christian’s table. He had his hand on Jessie’s, and she was busy laughing at something he’d said. On his other side, Alec was busy trying to pay attention to the table gossip, but failing miserably, mostly because he kept looking at me. I made sure to meet his stare across the cafeteria a few times, to let him know I knew he was watching me.

Georgia fumbled with the snacks in her brown paper bag. “I’m not used to sitting with anyone. Usually I just eat and read, maybe do homework, if I have a lot.”

“If that’s what you want to do, don’t let me stop you. I’ll just be eating my chocolate.” I grinned, meeting the girl’s eyes. Today her orange hair was swept back in a braid.

“No, it’s…” She coughed, embarrassment flashing across her face. “It’s kind of nice, having someone to talk to.”

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