Page 32 of Obsession

My throat was burning as my whole body began to shake uncontrollably. I knew these symptoms all too well as I breathed in through my teeth when Harris suddenly stood up and held me. He began to walk in long strides towards the edge of the field and I would have resisted, but I couldn’t even keep my head straight. I was also painfully aware that everyone was running after us, and I panicked when I realized that the nurse was going to find out the reason for my symptoms. I didn’t want the whole school to know that I was a drug addict.

“N-no,” I tried to protest, but my words sounded like the meowing of an injured cat.

He ignored my pleas and continued on his way to wherever he was going. I clutched his T-shirt and held it tightly as his breath brushed over my face, flaming hot. His arms and abdomen felt so warm that I pressed myself against him even more. Despite the burning sun above us, ice flowed through my veins. I glued my ear to his chest and listened to his strong heartbeat, which throbbed in unison with his breathing. He didn’t reject anything I did, on the contrary, he pressed me closer, knowing full well that I was shivering.

“Hey, where are you taking her?”

As if out of a dream, Zac’s upset voice sounded behind us. I looked up from Harris’s chest and was shocked at the sight of the school parking lot.

Harris ignored him and kept up the pace with purposeful strides. I followed his gaze and saw that his car was waiting just a few feet away from us. I was glad he wasn’t planning on taking me to the nurse’s office, but if not… where was he going to take me?

“Hey, I asked you a question!”

I was still feeling dizzy when Harris suddenly stopped and turned around because Zac grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Get your hand off me,” he growled, sending a fierce glare in Zac’s direction.

I shuddered as the vibrations caused by his angry tone traveled under my skin.

“I asked you where you were going to take her,” Zac insisted.

“And I told you to take your hand off me. That is if you still want hands.”

The voice that left his chest resembled an angry grunt, and I shivered along with it.

“Put her down, or I’ll just take her from you,” Zac demanded, trying to look confident as a bunch of students gathered around us, though I was sure recess was over and a teacher would be coming out soon.

I really didn’t need any more problems.

Harris’ anger was growing by the second, predicting it wasn’t going to end well.

“Just try,” he raged, without a drop of fear in his tone as he looked Zac straight in the eye.

I knew if his hands hadn’t been busy holding me because he knew I was not capable of standing on my own two feet, he would have hit my friend. Even if Harris wasn’t much bigger or stronger than Zac, his anger made him look huge.

I could feel his muscles tensing around me. Zac’s friends came to support him, and Harris’s group was nearby too. Nothing good was going to come of this, and I couldn’t believe I was in a situation like this again.

“Enough,” I demanded as authoritatively as I could, but my voice sounded like a strangled rattle, “Zac, it’s all right, he’ll just take me home.”

I tried to hide the nausea forming in my stomach because I knew Harris had no intention of taking me home, but any placewas better than the nurse’s office where prying eyes would have followed me.

Zac’s features were showing more and more anger as well. He wasn’t going to listen to me.

“No, Kath, you need to be seen by a doctor.”

“Hold on to my neck,” Harris whispered close to my ear, just as Zac’s hand reached for me.

I did it instinctively as he managed to keep me upright with just the arm wrapped around my thighs while his other hand caught Zac’s wrist before it could touch me. He winced in pain, but Harris only gripped it tighter.

“You’re playing with fire, Ortega!”

Harris’s blond friend, even though he was shorter than Zac, put an arm around my friend’s neck and pulled him back, managing to keep him still.

Harris let out an angry breath, but kept his mouth shut when he heard me flinch, unable to hold onto him any longer. His arm quickly supported my back again, while the anger on his face didn’t fade. I was sure he was going to get revenge on Zac for his audacity. He turned away from the crowd and continued on his way to his car, his group right behind us.

“Ty, help me.”

His friend quickly opened the passenger door.

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