He leaned in until I could smell the mix of salt and grease of whatever he had for breakfast that morning. “I’m watching you,” he said. He squeezed at my hip. I twisted my face away, stuffing my hand to my mouth to avoid crying out. “I’m watching those boys, too. I know how they touch you. If I see one indecent act transpire between you, you’ll be in my office faster than you can blink.” He let go, and stomped down the hallway toward his office. He unlocked it, stepped inside and shut the door behind himself.
I leaned against the wall, gasping, trying to collect myself. My hip ached where he had gripped me. I was sure there would be bruises. I shivered. I needed the boys. Kota. Luke. Victor. Where were they? Could I tell them? No, I couldn’t say anything. I had to though. What would I say? My mind whirled and I moved forward without thinking. I collected a pass from the front desk. With a stiff face, I walked the lonely hallways again toward class.
REACTION
I walked into the trailer of English class. Before I entered, I drew in another breath, wiping my face to make sure there weren’t tears in my eyes. I wanted to look cool and collected.
Inside I was falling apart. Principal Hendricks had set me up. Mr. McCoy had knocked me over.
I opened the door to class, and sensed the eyes of everyone falling on me. I knew it was going to happen but I still flinched and my cheeks heated. The heaviest gazes were from Kota, Luke and Gabriel. I felt their silent communication asking a million questions of me before I had a chance to move.
I dropped my head low and swept past the teacher, handing her my office note and quietly padding over to my seat. My attempt at composure was collapsing at sensing the boys so close.
Ms. Johnson continued to give her lecture on the current reading material. I fell into my seat, my lips pursed. The boys’ eyes burned on me but I couldn’t look at them. If I looked at them, I knew I would cry or something and I couldn’t do that in class.
“Sang,” Kota whispered, the command unspoken in his single calling of my name, both soothing and demanding.
Out of instinct, I looked up, catching his eyes.
It was all he needed.
Kota jumped up from his seat, addressing the teacher. “Ms. Johnson, I’m sorry to interrupt but Sang isn’t feeling well. May I take her to the nurse?”
Ms. Johnson opened her mouth as if she was going to deny this. I had just gotten into class after all. One look at me, however, and her face softened. She nodded to him. “Go on.”
I hated and loved Kota in that moment. I was embarrassed enough already and had intended to wait until after class to talk to them. A classroom of curious eyes focused on me again. Ms. Johnson did her best to redirect the attention to her by speaking a little louder and asking the class questions about the material. Kota collected my things along with his and waited for me to lead the way out of the room. His hand waved behind his back and I knew it was directed to Luke and Gabriel. Stay here. I’ll take care of her.
When we were outside the trailer, Kota took my hand and he moved quickly toward the building. I had to jog to keep up. Was he really taking me to the nurse?
He led the way without speaking to me, his green eyes darkening behind his glasses. He stopped at a restroom in an area of the school that was a good distance from classrooms. He popped his head into the boys’ restroom, scanned it and pulled me inside.
I leaned against the wall, my fingertips covering the base of my throat and ready to run out if someone caught us.
He dropped our things on the floor and checked the stalls. When he confirmed we were alone, he rushed back to the door, flipping the lock.
My heart was pounding not just from what happened that morning but with how quickly Kota was working and the pained look in his face. He guided me by my arm to the sink counters. He pointed to the surface. “Sit.”
I shivered but obeyed, easing myself onto the counter until my feet dangled. Kota the boss.
He placed a palm on the counter on either side of my legs and leaned a little until his face was inches from mine. The red tie he wore swung out from his faux uniform, touching against my bare knees. “What happened?”
His eyes bore into me, and it was the final touch to get my eyes welling and my lips blathering. “Hendricks ...” I choked out. My body rattled so hard that my voice shook, too. I didn’t mean to be so sensitive, but after dealing with my parents, school trouble was something I wasn’t ready for.
He let out a breath and said something that I almost thought was a swear. His arms encircled me. I buried my face into his shoulder, my tears wetting his shirt. He pressed a hand against the back of my head, brushing against my hair. “Don’t cry. Please. Just tell me what happened. I’ll fix it. I promise. I swear.”
I breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent of his spicy cologne. With that and the words he whispered over and over in my ears, I was feeling better. “Hendricks knows I’m not from the Academy, but he thinks you’re trying to recruit me. He wants me to ... to tell him things about you. About all of you. He wants to know where the Academy is and find a way to get rid of you.”
Kota backed up so he could face me. He kept his hands on my shoulders. “Did he threaten you?”
“He said he could make my classes very difficult for me.”
Kota’s green eyes narrowed on my face. He nudged his glasses up with a forefinger. “What did you say?”
“I only confirmed I didn’t know anything. He thought I was gone last week because the Academy was doing interviews or special testing. But he knows I’m not from the Academy. He read my transcripts.”
He frowned and brushed his fingers across my cheek at a tear that slid down. His eyes flashed, sweeping back and forth across my face in a rapid movement, calculating his next move. “Come on,” he said, finally, his face setting into something stronger. The plan had come together.
He held me by my hips to pull me off the counter. An ache radiated in my hip and I winced, and pushed Kota away.
His eyes widened at my reaction, confusion setting in. “What’s wrong?” he demanded, the power in his voice surging. “Why’d you jump like that?”
I swallowed. It was the reason why there were tears in my eyes in the first place. I could handle Mr. Hendricks. I could say no. I would tell him whatever they wanted me to say. He had just surprised me.
Mr. McCoy, however, had done something that terrified me beyond anything I’d known before. He’d touched me and I wasn’t used to touching. Instead of like the boys, who meant well, his grip had been f
ull of intimidation. It scared me to think of what he could do to me next.
I fought back all the whispers my stepmother rattled off to me over the years about rape and molestation. My eyes closed and I turned my head away, my body shivering again. “Mr. McCoy stopped me in the hallway and grabbed me.”
“Where?”
I placed a palm on my hip.
He scoffed as if in shocked disbelief for a moment but his face turned back to stone. “Sang,” he said softly. “I’m going to look at your hip, okay? Don’t jump. I won’t hurt you.”
Kota hurting me was the last thing I was worried about. I shoved my hand over my heart to calm it.
He gently lifted my blouse out of the way, and hooked two fingers at the hem of my skirt, dragging it slowly down to reveal the side of my hip. Cool air against my exposed skin caused another layer of shivers to settle in.
His eyes scanned my skin. There were prominent red splotches where Mr. McCoy had grabbed me.
“My god,” he said. “No, that’s it. We’re going to Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green.” He fixed my skirt, wrapped his arms around my waist to gently pull me to standing next to him. He nudged me toward the door.
“We can’t!” I gasped. I struggled against him and pulled away. “We can’t go now.”
“We have to, Sang.” His hands found mine and he wrapped his long fingers around them. “You can’t let Mr. McCoy do that to you. He can’t touch you like that. He’ll keep coming after you until we stop him.”
“It’s my word against his,” I said. “Not that they wouldn’t believe me, but Mr. Hendricks is already looking for reasons to get rid of all of you. We can’t keep facing off with them if you really want to stay.” There would be no recourse if Kota ended up fighting with McCoy over this.
This thought seemed to catch him off guard. His lips twisted and he had that same painful expression in his eyes. He wasn’t sure what to do.
“If we push this, they might try contacting my parents. That can’t happen.”
Kota made fists with his hands, holding them to his thighs. I could hear him struggle to control his breathing. I may have been safe from my mother’s punishments, and my father might be gone, but there was still a risk if they weren’t physically around. This made dealing with the situation much more complicated.