“Hey!” I protest, reaching for it.
His arm blocks me, his beefy hand coming way too close to my chest. It doesn't matter what style of shirt I wear. They're always turned into low-cut. My boobs are bigger than I would like, and I carry a little extra in my hips and ass too. My stomach is flat, at least. Hours in the gym every week plus years of karate have made me strong, even if I don't necessarily look it. I almost prefer it that way. Better to keep people off their guard. If this Brett guy thinks he can push me around, he better think again because I'm not in the mood for his crap or anyone else's.
“Mr. Winters for homeroom. The guy’s a dick,” Brett says smoothly as he shifts that arm up over my head to drape around my shoulders, forcing me out of the office and into the abandoned hallway. Everyone else is in class already.
It’s pure instinct. My shoulders tense. I donotwant to be touched, and I'm grabbing his wrist, ducking down to bring his arm in front of me again. My free hand decks him in the cheek and then grabs onto his shoulder, wrenching it back far enough that he's off-balance. I go to sweep his leg to take him down, but the element of surprise has worn off. I took too long to knock him down, and he straightens and manages to sweep me. My arms flail, and there's nothing to grab but him, so I let myself fall, throwing out my arms and tucking my chin to my chest, keeping my head up, to land properly.
“The fuck you playing at?” he snarks, leaning over me.
Spit lands on my face, but I don’t wipe it away, pretending he doesn’t affect me.
But he does. My heart is racing, my palms are sweaty, and everything in me is screaming to fight back. I bite my tongue hard enough to cause pain but not to bleed. I can’t risk expulsions. I can’t risk a full-fledged fight my first day.
And he knows it. That’s why he’s pulling all this crap on me.
“Is everything all right out there?” Jess calls.
Brett narrows his eyes. They're a haunting shade of green, a shade any girl would love to stare into. It's a shame such a terrible, self-centered jackass has them instead of someone decent.
“Well?” he mocks with a smirk, leaning even closer. I can smell his mouthwash—minty and cool. “Is everything all right?”
I shove both hands against his chest to try to get some space, but I’m flat on my back. I’m in a terrible position, and he’s too strong. He doesn’t move at all.
“Everything’s just fine,” I call out, glancing toward the office.
A thick hand lands on my throat. I glower at Brett.
“You’re going to regret trying to take me down,” he mutters into my ear before biting my earlobe.
Biting hard. Not nipping and not playing with his teeth either. Not scraping.
Biting.
He squeezes my throat, and I force myself not to cough. Finally, he stands and lets my schedule flutter to the ground.
"You better hope you get lost and don't see me again," he says before purposely stepping on my schedule, which he already crumpled in his hand. He twists his foot this way and that before stalking off. His swagger is unreal. Eighteen years old, and he thinks he's a god.
I know that type. I lived with that type.
I hate that type.
No one is a god, and no one deserves to be worshipped. People use and abuse. It's all they ever do, and I ran away to get away from that.
I ran away to save my life.
I will not have some asshole bully making me want to run away again. I’m done running.
Even if it kills me.
* * *
My schedule is torn, and Brett's shoe left its imprint. I smooth out my schedule as best as possible. Homeroom is already over, so I won't meet Mr. Winters just yet to see if he really is a dick or not. If Brett, the Prince of Dicks, thinks the teacher is, that's saying something. It's almost cliché to say it takes one to know one, but it's a cliché for a reason. There's truth to it.
My class for first period is calculus. I've always had a head for numbers. My mom used to push me toward both math and science, wanting me to be as smart as possible so I could get ahead in life and do whatever I wanted.
The only thing is that all I want right now is to be safe.
So long as I avoid Brett, I will be fine. Even the receptionist said it's a big school. What are the chances I'll run into him again? Besides, a Neanderthal like him is probably taking pre-calculus.