Authors: Olivia Lynde
I tug on Seth's
hand and raise myself on my toes; he lowers his head so that I can whisper to
him: "Do you happen to know what this is all about?"
He gives me a
crooked grin. "What do you mean?"
"Come on!
What's the breaking news that has got everyone congregating, all wide-eyed and
excited, and muttering among themselves?"
"Ah,
that." He shrugs in a perfect imitation of nonchalance. "A video's
been uploaded to Youtube and various file-sharing sites and social media.
There's also some screencaps of the video's highlights circulating all over the
Internet."
I stop breathing
for a moment. "The video—does it, by any chance, star Jessica?"
His smile turns
ferocious, and a shiver runs down my spine. "Yes."
I want to ask
more questions but I'm reluctant; I have a feeling that the answers I'd be
seeking aren't ones that I really want to know. So I keep silent until we reach
my classroom, and he leaves me with a quick but still exhilarating kiss. I've
barely passed through the door, however, when someone grabs my arm and pulls me
to the side.
"What took
you so long to get here?" wails Marcie. "Oh crapety, Mrs. Roberts
will be here any second and now there's no time to talk!"
"Calm down,
I'm here now. What happened?"
"Dana was
here for you but she just left because she had to get to class. But Summer, she
said to warn you about Jessica. Seems she's hunting for you, looking all
unhinged and stuff, and said she'd off you when she finds you."
"What?"
I whisper. Does she know that it's me behind the disappearance of her gadgets?
Sure,
she does, stupid; you're the only possible suspect!
Doesn't matter though,
since there's no earthly way she can prove her suspicions.
"Really,
Summer, Dana said that Jessica's totally gone bonkers this time. I mean, we're
not talking just usual crazy here, we're talking berserk, completely deranged, bats
in the belfry crazy. She's—"
"Marcie,
just stop right there! I don't care what Jessica said, and I don't care if
she's even more crazy than usual. She can't hurt me now."
"Uh,
Summer... If I were you, I'd still stick really close to Seth for a couple of
days." Well, yeah. That goes without saying. "But really, what's up
with her flipping out on you this time? I mean, she can't possibly blame you
for her naked pictures. Or maybe—"
"Marcie,
stop! Backtrack a moment. What naked pictures?"
She gives me a
what-planet-are-you-living-on sort of look. "You don't know? The whole
school's abuzz with it. Someone put on the Internet all this really icky stuff
about Jessica. Wait, lemme show you."
She starts digging
in her side pockets and comes up with her Smartphone. A couple of quick taps,
and next thing I know, I've got a digital picture shoved in my face: of
Jessica—naked and spread-eagled. Then another tap—what the heck is that
thing
she's sliding into her... Then another picture, even more obscene, and I push
Marcie's hand and her Smartphone away. I don't need that filth in my head where
no soap can wash it away.
But wait a
minute... I flip from horrified disgust to rage in the blink of an eye. I push
past Marcie and out the door, nearly crashing into Mrs. Roberts.
"For God's
sake, Summer, what's wrong?"
I don't even pause
in my mad dash, just throw over my shoulder: "So sorry, Mrs. Roberts, but
I'm going to get sick."
Seth has
Homeroom today during first period, and that's where I head with forceful
purpose. I pause before the door to the classroom and take a deep breath.
Then I knock
and, without waiting for an answer, enter.
"...your
graduation ro—"
A smallish,
bespectacled teacher stops mid-flow and turns to stare at me, perplexed.
"Yes, Miss?
Can I help you with any—"
I tune her out
as my eyes search for and quickly find Seth at the back of the classroom, sitting
with a bunch of his friends. His eyes are on me, eyebrows raised in question. I
glare at him and his lips quirk sardonically.
I realize the
room has filled with complete silence. Everyone's turned to stare at me, and
the teacher seems to be waiting for an answer to a question I didn't even hear.
Seth rises fluidly to his feet and comes to the front of the room. He gives the
teacher his social, dazzling smile.
"Summer is
here for me, Mrs. Wilkins. Could you please excuse me for a moment?"
Mrs. Wilkins
blushes and adjusts her spectacles. "Mr. Lewis, this is highly
irregular."
He's reached my
side now and takes hold of my hand. I immediately dig my nails into his flesh,
but he doesn't even wince, just smiles wider at the teacher.
"I'll be
right back, Mrs. Wilkins."
Without waiting
for her answer, he turns around and tugs me toward the door. Some of the guys whistle
behind us, and Carter hoots from the last row: "Trouble with the little
lady already, Seth? Must not be keeping her sat—"
The door slams
shut behind us, leaving us all alone in an empty hallway. I instantly whirl on
Seth, hackles raised. I try to pull my hand back too, but he doesn't let go,
the smug behemoth, and there's no way I can win in a physical contest against
him.
"Why were
you in possession of explicit pictures of Jessica?"
"I
wasn't," he retorts calmly.
"Don't you
dare deny—"
"I was in
possession of an explicit video of her. The pictures are, like I already told
you, just screenshots."
"Why would
you have such a video?" I fire back, even more furious.
Now he's
starting to look confused. "It was insurance in case she tried to make more
trouble for us. Sunny, why are you so angry?"
Insurance?
That cuts the
ireful wind out of my sails as I struggle with a slippery memory. Insurance... Ah.
The guy with the spiky hair and the tattoos.
"The black
flash drive?" I ask pensively.
"Yes."
He smiles with affection and something almost like pride, I think, at my
remembering such a small thing.
"Don't
smile, you big lug!" I'm incensed all over again and try one more time to
regain my imprisoned hand. Naturally, he doesn't allow it.
A black, sardonic
eyebrow goes way up. "You called me a big lug?"
"Did you
record that naked video of Jessica?"
His eyes sharpen
with interest and gain a new, wicked brilliance. "So that's what this is
all about? You're jealous."
I feel my skin
starting to burn with a furious blush. "Don't be silly. Why would I be
jealous?"
"Why
indeed."
"Just
because
my
boyfriend happens to have a recording of his ex-girlfriend in
which she's naked as the day she was born and doing things to herself that
would have our forefathers collectively roll in their graves in horror? When,
moreover, she's obviously doing these things for a freaking audience? For an
obviously
male
freaking audience?"
His other hand
snakes lightning-quick around my nape. Before I take a full breath, I have his
delicious lips and his outrageous tongue doing sinful things to my mouth, and
my toes are curling and I can't breathe at all. When he finally releases me, I
have to draw in big gulps of air; and my traitorous body, liquefied with need,
needs to lean into him to remain upright.
His mouth moves
to my ear, and in between indulging in tiny nibbles, he explains, "Jessica's
audience was Josh. He recorded one of their sexcapades without telling her and
bragged about it to the guys, the dumb fucker. After I found out about the
letters, I asked a buddy who's good at that sort of thing to go and retrieve those
files that Josh had crowed about keeping on his computer. There was zero risk
involved because my buddy went in at a time when Josh's whole family was
visiting him in the hospital." So after he'd tried to rape me, the awful
scumbag.
"That
friend of yours is the guy who handed you the black flash drive?"
"Yes."
He brings his face closer to me, his gaze very blue and somber. "Jessica's
not an ex-girlfriend, Sunny, I told you that. She was a quick lay and I
would've had zero interest in doing a porn video of her, believe me. Besides,
that's not my style. Does that ease your mind?"
Yes, on all
levels. "Yes, Seth. Thank you for explaining." I smile at him
tentatively.
His expression
remains thoughtful, his eyes scrutinize me. "I don't think I've ever seen
you this angry. Not even yesterday after you found out about my fighting."
Yesterday I was
upset and heartbroken, today I was fuming mad. I blush again, avert my gaze.
"You matter to me too much. Far too much, I know. But—"
Gentle fingers stroke
up and down my cheek very gently. "Look at me, Sunny. I hate it when you
don't."
My eyes return
to him, always glad at the opportunity to feast on his flawless, beloved face.
He sighs, as if
in relief. "Much better now. And Sunny—there's no such thing as 'too much'
when it comes to us. Too much mutual interest, or awareness, or desire, or too
much damn love—there's no such thing."
"I love you
beyond obsession," I murmur, terrified because it
is
too much.
"I love you
to insanity," he replies, utterly solemn. "That's who I am, and that
is who we are. I don't have any qualms about admitting it, and I don't have any
regrets. Do you?" And there's a note of anxious anticipation threading his
beautiful voice. My answer is very important to him, I realize.
But he's been
truthful with me, and I can do no less with him. "I don't have any regrets
about the way we are."
His eyes and his
face light up like a sun flare, and he gives me my gorgeous personal smile. My
heart prances in joy. If admitting how much of a goner I am for him makes him
this
happy, I should do it more often. Then he's kissing me again, and my hands rise
up and tunnel into his hair, and my body melts into the hard contours of his
muscular frame.
Suddenly we hear
the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly, and we break apart. Then the
footsteps turn the corner, and Mr. Reynard, the assistant principal, comes into
view.
"Mr.
Lewis," he announces in a harried voice. "Just the person I was
looking for. You're wanted in the principal's office."
Seth's eyebrows
draw together. "What for?"
Mr. Reynard
sighs. "The sooner you get there, the sooner you'll know. Come on now, Mr.
Lewis, chop-chop." Then, turning to me with a frown: "Miss Morris,
shouldn't you be in class?"
Miss Morris?
"I think I
ate spoiled seafood yesterday, Mr. Reynard," I tell him in as pitiful a
voice as I can manage—which must be a transparent effort indeed, given the
amused glint in Seth's eyes. "I've felt ill all morning. In fact, I was
just going to the Nurse's office to beg for some medicine. Since you're heading
in the same direction, may I come with you?" This warrants a raised
eyebrow from Seth.
What? If he's
wanted in the principal's office, today of all days, then he can bet his
perfectly-chiseled butt that I plan to be very close by to check what's going
on. Luckily, the Nurse's office is reached via the main office, just the same
as the principal's office.
"Well
then," says Mr. Reynard impatiently, "get going, children. None of us
is getting any younger."
He turns on his
heels and heads back in the direction from which he came, and Seth and I follow
him, holding hands. And the nearer we come to the principal's office, the more
does my sense of unease increase.
I don't know why
Seth was summoned by Principal Adams... but I have a really bad feeling about
it.
After leading us
to the main office, Mr. Reynard disappears again. Seth gives my hand a
reassuring squeeze and walks into the principal's office. When he enters, I get
a glimpse of the room through the open door—and oh merciful God, that's
unmistakably Jessica I see in there. And Coach Bohlen.
It's as if all the
oxygen has suddenly been sucked out of the room and I can't seem to get enough
of it into my lungs. My heart thuds dully, as if having to wade through morass
to achieve each tiny, life-conserving beat.
"Summer? Summer
Moore, are you all right?"
The world around
me snaps back into focus, and I realize the on-duty secretary is looking at me
oddly. Why does she remember my name—and correctly, unlike Mr. Reynard? The
only time I saw her was when I came by to pick up my schedule on my first day
at Rockford High.
I take a deeper
breath, and finally I get enough air to become functional again. "I'm
fine, Ms. Elrond. I'm supposed to wait here in case Principal Adams needs me
inside with the others."
She reacts to my
words with an uncertain frown but doesn't challenge me, and she doesn't stop me
when I step closer to the principal's door. Now, I can hear muffled voices
filtering from inside his office.