This is not my fucking day.
“Yeah, Q. Did we hear that right? You’re ours now?” I hear Cohen but can’t see him since I’m pinned to the ground.
“Absolutely not.” I growl.
“Oh, this is gonna be so much fun.” I hear the smirk in Cohen's voice as he watches from the side of the mats.
I finally wiggle enough to make space to look up, only to see his strong arms folded in front of him, evil smirk in place and basically devouring every inch of me with his eyes.
Oh, shit. The low rumble of his voice comes back to me,Mine to have and mine to share.
Fuck.Me.
Cecelia saidto watch my back at school. Is this what she meant? Matteo and his boys are all of the sudden now up in my business. Literally.
Noah grinds his hard on into me and he shoves his face into my neck and kisses some glorious spot just below my ear, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t feel good, I just can’t give into it. I just need him to think I’m going to. I turn my head and smile at him, lifting my chin like I want him to kiss me. I wrap my legs up around him and as soon as he relaxes into me, then I shove my whole body against him until we’ve flipped.
“Oh, you like to be on top, huh? I should’ve known you’d want to be in charge.” He leans up so we are nose to nose and forehead to forehead and quickly pecks a kiss at my lips before I shove off of him and take off for the locker room and all I hear is them laughing behind me.
“Damn it!” I gotta get my hormones in check or this is going to end badly. Why does it have to bethemthat brings out all of these sexual feelings in me? They can’t be the ones. Being a teenage girl sucks so hard sometimes. I’m not even going to bother changing, I’ll shower at home. I go to grab my bag, only to be whipped back around. Hell to the no. This shit is not happening again. I bring my fist up and swing a hard uppercut into the stomach of my most recent attacker only to catch a face full of.. what is this? pine-sol? Oh fuck, it burns! I run into the showers to try and get it out of my eyes and off my skin.
“You stupid bitch! You’ll never deserve him. He’s mine. I don’t care what your name is. Stay the fuck away from all of them, you dumb cunt or I’ll make you wish you fucking had!!” It takes me a minute to realize who the screeching belongs to.
It’s Avery who did this. Now my only goal was to get whatever chemicals she mixed up off of me. It smells like bleach and pine-sol. I register her footsteps as she runs away so I know I can deal with my irritated skin now and the princess later. At least I got one good hit in. Thank god she did this while I was close to a shower so the effects aren’t that bad. My hair actually took the brunt of the damage when my ponytail whipped in front of my face from spinning around so fast. My face is definitely red and splotchy but there are no chemical burns so I don’t need a doctor.
I change my clothes quickly. I just want to get home and go to bed. I should’ve recognized my good weekend for what it was. A bad omen, preluding the dangers ahead. Nothing good ever happens without balance.
“One day at a time.” I whisper to no one. I’m surviving one damn day at a time.
* * *
“OH MY GOD!YOUR HAIR! YOUR FACE!! What the hell happened?!” Cecelia loses her mind when she sees me.
“Are you ok? Tell me who the fuck did this! Blood will fucking spill, I fucking swear to god!” Her face is turning an unhealthy shade of purple and she looks like she’s about to step up her mama bear game so I react without thinking, I just need her to stay calm. I’ll fight my own battles.
“Mom! Calm down, I’m fine. Jesus. It’s just hair...” Only too late do I hear myself call her mom. But I realize that it’s probably for the best. I know in this moment that she’ll fight for me no matter how big or small my troubles are, she’s on my side. In my gut, I know that she loves me and will always do what she can to protect me. In my heart, I allow myself to love her too. I won’t speak it into existence yet but it’s there.
In my head, I hear my nightmare come to life and I know that it was never just a dream. It was a memory. I’ve never dreamed of losing my own baby. It’s her voice I hear calling out for me. It’s her face I see fighting to reach me before my kidnapper escapes. I’m too emotionally exhausted to sit and dwell on these things but I can read it all over her face, she knows that we’ve just made a breakthrough. By calling her mom, I’ve come to terms with our life and I’ve accepted that we can start to really develop the relationship we were cheated out of.
Instead of making it a big deal, she takes a deep breath and shakily says,
“Why don’t I schedule an emergency hair appointment and we’ll get that fixed up for you? While we’re out we can grab an over the counter ointment to help with any agitation or swelling on your face. Come on sweet girl, I’ll get you whatever you need to feel better and then maybe we can grab some pizza and ice cream on the way home, yeah?”
“Um, yeah.. Yeah, that actually.. Sounds really good. Thanks.”
Chapter Eleven
Quinn
“Look at your hair! Oh my gosh, I love it! You look like a sexy little demon. I wish my mom would let me do something like that! Is this why I couldn’t get ahold of you all night?” SB raves about my new look.
We had to trim the ends a bit but the hairstylist worked magic as she wove a deep blood red in between the strands of dark hair. She managed to keep almost all of my length while adding in just enough of my favorite color to match my attitude. I fucking love it. Cecelia earned some major mom points last night. We talked a little bit more too but she stayed pretty tight lipped about a lot, just saying not to worry and that she’ll handle things. I’m not used to having people on my side so that’ll take some getting used to.
“Ha, thanks. Didn’t have much choice after Avery threw a bucket of the janitors floor solution all over me.” I look over to see SB make this affronted look, as if it happened to her instead of me.
“That bitch! Okay, that’s it. I’m hacking the school systems and changing all of her grades! She’ll be flunking out of school by the end of the day. She’s gone too far this time. I’m done with her and her bullying.”
I can’t help but laugh at her outrage.