Chapter 2
2
ZORA
T hey say Lucifer is a beautiful man. That’s how he’s able to tempt so many people to sin. And Jackson Champion is no different. He is the epitome of what most people would acknowledges as handsome. Despite my utter loathing for him, even I’m not blind to his appeal.
He stands at 6’4 with broad shoulders, and corded muscles rippling throughout his body from years of competitive swimming. This is knowledge I wish I weren’t pertinent to, however, there’s a large poster hanging in our school’s gymnasium of all the star athletes in their respective uniforms along with stats.
Whoever thought that was a good idea had to be out of their minds, because whenever we were forced to attend a pep rally, there he was, front and center in a tiny pair of swim pants, built like one of the Avengers.
He has a full head of thick black wavy hair that falls just below his ears. A stray tendril can often be seen casually caressing his forehead. His jawline is disgustingly chiseled, seeming to be craved from granite by a master artist.
When he smiles with straight teeth so blindingly white, he could charm a flea off a dog’s butt. Not my words. I overheard some teachers talking about him like a couple of groupies and one of them used that phrase.
Eww.
Most of our brain-dead classmates voted him as best looking and most popular for the senior superlatives. Because most of the kids at my school suffers from brain rot, they hang on his every word and treat him like he’s descended from heaven. In my opinion the only award, he deserved was King of the Jackasses.
He’s a freshly plucked honey crisp apple with a rotten core. And smack in the middle is an evil worm.
He stares down at me with eyes I’ve never quite figured the color of. In certain lights they appear green and other times blue but now they’re a perfect blend. Aqua. Yes, that’s it. He has aqua eyes.
My breath catches in my throat and my palms grow sweaty.
I attribute these reactions to the steady buildup of an oncoming anxiety attack. I don’t consider myself a nervous person in general, but this seems to be the effect he has on me.
As big as this monstrosity of a house is, I’d hoped I wouldn’t run into him, but apparently luck isn’t on my side tonight. I want to cuss him smooth out but I’m on his turf and I’m certain he could snap his fingers and his minions would descend upon me and make this already uncomfortable experience even more unbearable.
I mentally tell my feet to move and walk around the big obstacle he’s created with his body because for some unknown reason, he’s decided to block my path. Not to mention, he has yet to let go of my arms.
But my legs don’t cooperate, and we find ourselves in a standstill, staring into each other’s eyes. I’m not sure how much time has passed but a pinch at the base of my head threatens to become a full-blown cramp from me craning my neck to meet his gaze.
“There you are, babe. Where have you been?”
As if my night couldn’t get any worse. I was worried about his flying monkeys, but I should have known the Wicked Bitch of the West would be lurking somewhere in the shadows. Teagan Richards. The second worst person in the world.
She has never had a kind or civil word to say to me and I’ve always done my best to either avoid or ignore her. Because her head is so far up Jackson’s ass she probably knows when he has to take a shit even before he does.
She’s decided that making me her target for constant harassment is acceptable. Most of Jackson’s friends have been unkind to me throughout my high school experience but Teagan has been particularly heinous. When she’s not making fun of my weight, clothes or looks, she’s being the queen of racial macroaggressions.
She’s slick enough not to say anything blatantly racist but she definitely knows what she’s doing when she bates me and then acts scared like I’m about to get violent because that’s what ‘people like me do’. She’s so gross but I take comfort in the fact that she’s another person whom I’ll never have to see again after tonight.
When her beady hazel eyes falls on me, her lips droop into a ferocious frown and her nose scrunches as if she smells something particularly foul. She stares pointedly at the grip Jackson still has on my arms.
“Jackson, I knew the invitation to tonight’s party was for the entire graduating senior class but couldn’t you have made exceptions. Not everyone belongs everywhere.
This bitch…
I use the distraction of her presence to wrench myself out of Jackson’s hold. Surprisingly he doesn’t say anything as I maneuver myself around him but as I walk away, Teagan says, “I guess we no longer have to wonder where that smell was coming from.”
I’ve put up with her shit for so long, I refuse to let that slip. I turn on my heels and paste a big smile on my face. I look her square in the eyes and say, “I was thinking the same thing. The stench of many sucked dicks was lingering in the air and I wondered where it was coming from and then you popped up. Mystery solved.”
Rumors ran deep at Oakridge High and one of them was whenever Teagan and Jackson were on the romantic outs, little Miss thinks-her-shit-doesn’t-stink, spreads herself quite thin amongst the various sports teams. It’s said she’s seen more locker room action than the varsity athletes.
A deep red color shot from her neck up and spread to the dark roots of her bottle blonde hair. She opened her mouth and then shut it.
Several snickers and a couple of loud guffaws surround us and I realize we have a small audience. I should have known wherever Jackson was a crowd would follow. As good as my little victory felt, the attention this little threesome has garnered makes me extremely uncomfortable.
I steal a quick glance in Jackson’s direction and again, he’s oddly silent. Maybe the God of Luck is being merciful to me after all.
I turn around to get away as fast as I can when I hear Teagan scream at the top of her lungs, “You fat black bitch!”
I toss my middle finger up in the air without looking back. I’ve been called worse.
This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to this party tonight. Maybe I would have been better off third wheeling it with Lea but even better, I could have just stayed home.
At least the buffet was a bright spot. When I finally make it to the food stations, I pile my plate with items from nearly every station. That’s what it’s here for after all.
Satisfied with the meal, I’ve created I seek out a place to sit and spot some tables off to the corner where a handful of people are gathered. Some are eating while others are just hanging out and laughing with their friends. I spot an empty table and make a beeline for it.
Ignoring the people around me, I pull out my cell phone that I had tucked in the front pocket of my jeans and start pulling up a book I’d been reading. Yes, I’m that type of nerd. With good food and a good read, I’m finally content. Lea can take as long as she likes as long as I can stay here for the rest of the night. That is as long as I have no further run-ins with any of The Clique .
I’m just getting to a particularly juicy part in a story about a woman who’s lost her memory and she’s surrounded by people who are out to kill her. She has to find out who is after her through surrounding clues and a mysterious sexy stranger.
I’m so deep in the e-pages that I don’t realize I’m no longer alone.
“I hope you don’t mind me joining you.”
Startled by the abrupt interruption of my peace, I let out shriek of surprise and nearly drop my phone. I look across the table to see Keith Samuels has joined me. He’s one of the few kids at school who’s decent to me.
He’s not particularly popular but he isn’t at the bottom rung of the social ladder either. He seemed to have a bunch of friends and played on the tennis team. He was even friendly with a few kids in The Clique although he wasn’t a part of their inner circle.
He and I had several classes together and worked on group projects together. He was always respectful and friendly. At one point I had a crush on him. He’s not ‘hot’ in the conventional sense. He’s the kind of good looking that makes girls wonder if he’s attractive because he’s handsome or that he’s 6 feet and acne free.
At one point even I had a bit of a crush on him but I think mostly because he actually treated me like a decent human being. In my delusional 15-year-old brain, I thought he liked me back but then he grew cool toward me. The withdrawal from our casual friendship was so abrupt, I wondered what I’d done wrong.
We’d only started talking during this past year when we were assigned to work on a project in our physics class. It wasn’t the same as before and by then the small infatuation I’d had for him had vanished.
Looking at him now I see a guy with average look, sandy brown hair, watery blue eyes and clear skin. If I didn’t already know him, if I saw Keith on the street as a stranger, I’d instantly forget his face.
I didn’t really want company right now but what the hell. It’s grad night Keith was okay compared to a lot of my now former classmates.
I manage to twist my lips into what I hope is a smile. “No. I don’t mind.”
“I’m glad you came here. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
I raise a brow. “Oh? You were debating on whether I’d show up?”
His eyes which stick out a but, turned beet red at the tips. “Ugh, that’s not what I meant. Just that I’ve never seen you outside of school before. You don’t ever attend any parties.”
“This is actually the first party I’ve officially been invited to.” Minus the one I was invited to my sophomore year as a joke. I showed up at an address on the invitation which turned out to be an empty warehouse. After that I’ve been wary of all social events. But I don’t mention that incident I’ve filed away in a box of many unpleasant memories.
“Oh, well…I…” His eyes dart away.
I’m not sure what his purpose for joining me was but I have no ill will toward him and don’t want this encounter to be awkward for him.
I reach over and place my hand on his. “Really, it’s no big deal. In a few months, most of us will be moving on to college or whatever the next phases of our lives will be and high school will be a distant memory.”
“I guess that’s a good way of looking at it. Uh, Zora, I actually wanted to talk to you about something. That’s why I’m glad you came tonight.”
My eyebrows shoot up. What could the two of us have to talk about? After tonight he’s one of the many people I planned to never see again. Sure, at one point I thought we were friends but that was a long time ago. But all I manage to say is, “Oh?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of loud in here. Do you mind if we go somewhere a little quieter to talk?”
I glance around the room, and while there are a several people at the various food stations and some at the surrounding tables, no one was paying attention to us that I could tell. “You can’t tell me here?”
He glances over his shoulder before leaning across the table. “I can but I’d rather we have some privacy. You and I used to be cool and I miss that. I know it’s my fault why we drifted but I believe you’re owed an explanation.”
Still, I don’t understand why he’s so earnest about getting me alone, but seems sincere enough.
I release a heavy sigh and against my better judgement, I nod. “Okay, let’s go.”
He points to my plate where I’ve only managed to eat half of its contents. “Did you want to wait to finish that?”
“I’m good. I guess I overestimated my appetite after seeing all the food offerings. I feel bad for wasting all this food though.”
“I’m sure it was to be expected considering the excess. Not like the Champions can’t afford it. His lips twist with what I can only interpret as derision. Maybe I’m just imagining things like the bitterness in Keith’s tone at the mention of the Champion name.
But just as quickly as his irritation appeared, it’s gone in an instant. “Shall we?” Keith stands up and offers me his hand.
I place my hand in his and rise from my seat. He doesn’t immediately let go as he leads me out of the dining area. In fact his grip tightens and anyone on the outside looking in could almost assume the two of us were a couple instead of two people who’ve casually run into each other.
It didn’t occur to me to ask him where he was taking me as we wove through the several people we passed until we’re nearly at the top of the grand spiral stair case. “Are we even supposed to be up here?”
“I’m sure Jackson won’t mind. I’ve attended a party here, nothing on this scale but we have a better chance of finding a quiet room on this level.”
I’m usually a lot more cautious than to allow some guy to lead me to a quiet spot away from the crowd but I’m certain Keith is harmless. Besides, what was he going to do to me anyway? He’s given me no indication that he’s the slightest bit attracted to me.
The first two doors he opens, reveals occupied rooms. In one of them there’s a threesome happening between two girls I recognize from the cheer squad and the Lacrosse Captain. In the other one, I see two guys making out. One of them yells, at us. “Get the fuck out!”
The third room Keith and I come to is thankfully empty.
He closes the door behind us once we enter and flips on the light switch with a seeming knowledge of the layout. I glance around what is clearly a bedroom. It’s three times the size of my own room that barely fits my full-size bed, and dresser.
The cream-colored walls are tastefully decorated with gold-framed sports portraits of famous athletes. This is not so much a bedroom despite the four poster king-size bed with a satiny black comforter, but a sanctuary. It had a sitting area with a black love seat and gold chaise lounge. On the opposite side of the room, was a desk with three monitors, a PC set and various expensive electronics.
I notice a picture on the nightstand by the bed. A family portrait and I freeze. The three people in the frame is the Champion family. An older version of Jackson with iron gray hair, a stern looking blonde who appears several years younger than her husband, and Jackson.
It occurs to me that I’m in his room and I immediately want to leave.
“We shouldn’t be in here.” I headed for the door but Keith moved in front of me.
“Wait. What I have to say won’t take long.”
Instinct screams at me to get the fuck out of here because a gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach has formed. I shake my head. “Maybe you can tell me in the hallway, because it seemed pretty empty before we came in here.” I maneuver around him and make a beeline for the door.
As my hand grips the handle, he blurts out, “I had the biggest crush on you our sophomore year.”
I freeze. Maybe I heard him incorrectly. Slowly, I turn to exam his face. He’s not snickering but then again, he could be a good liar. “Excuse me?”
He moves closer until our bodies nearly touch. “It’s true. I liked you a lot back then. I wanted to tell you but I couldn’t.”
“I don’t understand. You basically stopped talking to me. You barely acknowledged me in the classroom unless you absolutely had to. And even if I did believe you, why are you telling me this now.”
He releases a heavy sigh. “I told myself that if I ever see you after graduation, I’d tell you the truth. So here I am. I really liked you Zora, and I’m sure you’re wondering why I stopped talking to you.”
I raise my shoulder into a shrug of nonchalance even though my heart is beating a mile a minute. “Does it really matter? I already figured you didn’t want people to think we were friends because they’d make fun of you too.”
He takes my hand in his and our gazes lock. “There’s nothing I wanted more than to be your friend Zora. I wanted to be more. But I was scared, but not for the reason you think. If you would have agreed to be my girlfriend back then, I wouldn’t have cared what anyone said.”
“So, what was the reason if it wasn’t that you were ashamed of me?”
“Jackson Champion basically threatened to beat the shit out of me if I didn’t leave you alone. It makes me sound like a coward to admit that but you deserve to know the truth.”
Every part of my body stiffens except for my heart which threatens to burst from my chest. I knew that asshole was out to get me but threatening violence to someone who wanted to be my friend, possibly more, pissed me off.
“That motherfucker,” I say more to myself than to Keith, as I process what I’d just learned.
“I have another confession.”
“Huh?” My mind is still trying to play catch up after his revelation and I don’t notice when he cups my face until the heat of his breath is on my lips.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”
“What are you?—”
He smashes his lips against mine, cutting me off. I’m so caught off guard, I remain still. For the most part, I’m a realist, but there’s still a part of me that’ fantasized my first kiss being a little more romantic than this. I wait for that tingly feeling I’m supposed to get from this intimate act, but I feel nothing.
The crush I once had for Keith is well and truly dead. Whether he was sincere about his feelings or not, this ship has well and truly sailed.
Just as I place my hands on his chest to push him away, the bedroom door crashes open.
Keith and I jump apart like two kids caught doing something they’re not supposed to, although technically we weren’t doing anything wrong.
Everything seems to happen in a blur.
Jackson charges inside the room and grabs Keith by the collar and proceeds to punch him in the face. The sickening crunch of broken bone turns my stomach.
Blood gushes from Keith’s nose and I’m certain from the sound it made when Jackson’s fist connected, it was broken.
What the hell was going on? Keith and I had no business being in Jackson’s room but this was a gross overreaction.
“I fucking warned you!” Jackson growled, rearing his fist back to assault poor Keith again.
I grab Jackson’s arm to stop him. “Stop you asshole! You broke his nose you dick!” I scream at him.
Jackson glances down at me. His aqua eyes are now the color of a stormy sea.
I flinch, but don’t release his arm.
His nostrils flare and for a second, I think he’s going to hit me too. But instead, he returns his angry gaze on Keith and releases him. “Get the fuck out of my house.”
Holding his nose, Keith races out of the room without a backward glance toward me.
Wow.
I head for the door as well but Jackson beats me to it.
To my surprise and horror, he not only closes the door, but locks it.
His eyes are still stormy, and I instinctively cover my nose. I’ve never been called a great beauty by anyone besides my dad, but I like my face just fine and want to keep it intact.
While Jackson has spent the last few years tormenting me, I’ve never seen him get violent until tonight.
“Look, I’m sorry for being up here. I’ll leave okay.”
He continues to stand in front of the door but says nothing as his breathing grows shallow. He’s really starting to scare me. But for the sin of trespassing, I don’t think I deserve whatever horrible thing he has in mind for me.
“I said, I’m sorry, now move.” I attempt to push him aside but he’s a granite wall, cold and unyielding.
Suddenly, he clasps the lower half of my face in his muscular hand and squeezes.
“You’re not going any fucking where.”