I half expected the pretty but, well, somewhat masculine Trina to fly across the hall and introduce Kats teeth to her fist, but Trina just fronted and moved on with a glare that promised vengeance.
O-kay. New note to self: never mess with Trina. Her tank was regulation, but still managed to show off her muscular arms and tats. Her hair was chopped to just below her ears, and there were scars stretching across the back of her neck. Like, scars that resembled teeth marks.
And I really needed to stop rubbernecking, or Id paralyze myself.
Hes gay but in denial, Kat continued, as though nothing had happened, so just a heads-up not to try and tap that. Now his friend over there is loaded, but hes a total douche. Oh, and shes so snotty youll need Kleenex just to talk to her. Actually, just pretend that entire group has the plague, and youll be the better for it. Shes not bad. Hescrap! She ground to a stop, forcing me to do the same. Laugh like I just said something amazingly hilarious.
Laugh? Seriously? Did I even remember how?
She slapped my arm and whispered fiercely, Laugh!
Okay, so I forced out a laugh. Im embarrassed to admit I sounded like a frog had jumped into my throat and played bongos on my voice box. Even Kat was horrified, her mouth hanging open so wide that I could see her tonsils.
She recovered quickly and tossed her hair over her shoulder, throwing off her own magical laugh. It was like an angel played the harp on top of a rainbow. So not fair!
Why are we doing this? I asked quietly.
Dont look now, but thats my ex over there.
Surely Im not the only one who takes dont look now as theres no better time than now. I looked.
Bad Ali! Another slap to my arm. Bad, bad, bad Ali! Have you no self-control?
Sorry. I rubbed away the sting. Did I stop looking, though? No. I stared. Hard.
To the right of us was a group of eight boys. If Id ever needed a visual definition of serial criminal, I now had one (or eight). They were tall, all of them, and they were stacked with muscle. Most sported tattoos on their arms and piercings on their faces. A few wore chains around their waists, as if the metal links were belts, but on those bodies they could only be weapons.
Proof: two of them had house-arrest anklets on display over their dirt-caked boots.
They were shoving one another, laughing and punching each other on the arms. One of them even rubbed his fist into anothers hair, holding the guy by the waist and forcing him to stay hunched over and take the abuse while others pointed and called him the worst kind of names.
There used to be more of them, Kat said. Two died last year from some disease that turns your blood into a toxic sludge, basically causing you to rot from the inside out. Its not contagious or anything like that, or so the proverbial they saypamphlets were sent out to all the students because everyone was totally panickingbut its weird that two guys got it at the same time, you know.
I caught a note ofsomething in her voice. Did you know them?
Yeah, and I thought Id cry forever. And this might be horrible to say, but Im kinda glad they went together. They were best friends and you never saw one without the other. And wow, this little chat became morbid. My apologies.
No worries, I saideven though I was worried. I never wanted to think about death and blood again, much less talk about them. So which one is yours? I asked, changing the subject back to the living boys.
She snorted with disgust. The blond, and he was mine. Was. Hes not anymore and wont ever be again.
I scanned the crowd. Two were black, one had a shaved head, two were brunettes, one had jet-black hair and two were blond. I wanted to look over the blonds, I really did, but once I spotted the one with hair so black it was almost blue, I was stuck.
He wore a bright red baseball cap. There was writing in the center, but I couldnt make out the words. He was the only one not horsing around. With his back pressed into the lockers and his arms folded over his chest, he watched his friends with lazy amusement.
He was gorgeous, and I absolutely, no question, had to be drooling. After a quick and hopefully stealthy checkbig shock, I wasnt!I found myself wondering what color his eyes were. Brown maybe. Or even hazel. Either waywow, just wow. Deer? Headlights? Hi, Im Ali.
Yo, Kitty Kat, someone called. I forced myself to stop staring at Red Hat and glancedat one of the blonds. Come over here and give me a proper hello. You know you want to.
What I want is for you to go to hell, she called back.
Aw, come on. Dont be that way, baby. He was the taller of the blonds, with cold brown eyes and a face that would have made the devil hide in a shadowed corner, sucking his thumb and crying for his mommy. Even though I couldnt imagine him winning a girl like Kat, I could imagine him cheating. He had to be the ex. You love me, cause you just cant help yourself.
I hope Rina gave you an STD.
The boys around him snickered, and the fact that he maintained his grinrather than murdering Katsurprised me.
Thats harsh, baby. I was just teasing when I called you by her name.
Both times?
Yep. The ex. Sooo Trina the two-faced, lying, cheating witch had to be the very same Rina hed messed around with over summer break. And, honestly? That totally blew my mind. Kat was one of the prettiest, most feminine girls Id ever met, while that Trina person was hard-core.
Although, so was the ex. Besides that Im-totally-a-serial-killer face, he had black bands tattooed around his wrists and brass knuckles tattooed over hiswell, knuckles.
Im not mad, though, Kat said. You lied to me, and I lied to you. Were even.
Finally he lost the grin. When did you lie?
She gave him a SweetN Low smile, as if his amusement had been poured into her. Every time we messed around. I didnt actually enjoy myself, if you know what I mean.
Burn, one of his friends said.
He shoved the boy away. Dont be that way, he pleaded to her, and I would have bet he was only halfway kidding. There was a desperate gleam in those dark eyes.
Dont tell me what to do. And by the way, Im not teasing when I do this. Kat flipped him off times two, and all of his friends erupted into a fresh round of snickers.
His confident facade faded, but still he said, Ill change your mind and Ill win you back. Its just a matter of time.
Actually, its just a matter of time before I feed your balls to my dog. In an aside to me, she said, Remind me that I need to buy a dog.
The black-haired one finally glanced over at usyeah, Id returned to staring at himand I forgot all about Kat and her problems. Violet, I realized. Those eyes of his were the most amazing shade of violet. Id never seen so beautiful a color.
Had to be contacts. Right?
He gave Kat a once-over and grinned a hello. I barely stopped myself from chewing on one of my nails, a disgusting nervous tic Id broken years ago. Would he look directly at me?
Answer: yes.
The moment our eyes met, the moisture in my mouth dried up and I lost focus of my surroundings. He was all that I could see, all that I wanted to see. And in the span of a single second we were no longer across the hall from each other
we were pressed together, his arms wrapped around me, my arms wrapped around him, and we were kissing. Miracle of miracles, he was five inches taller than me, practically dwarfing me. I loved it! And oh, glory, I loved what we were doing....
I had never been kissed before, but his tongue was definitely in my mouth, and my tongue was definitely in his, and we were practically eating each others faces.
Ali, he breathed as he drew me closer, squeezed me tighter.
Cole, I breathed back. I couldnt get enough of him and never wanted to stop. He was so warm. So very warm, when Id been so cold all summer. No matter how many blankets Id piled on top of me, Id been cold. I wanted to stay here, just like this, forever.
My fingers tangled in his hair, knocking off his cap. He angled his head, taking my mouth deeper, harder.
You taste good, he rasped. He smelled of sandalwood and something fruity, like a strawberry lollipop just freed from its wrapper.
Talk later. Kiss now
Ali. Ali! Kat stepped in front of me. She was frowning, waving. Hello? Anyone home?
I blinked and realized I was in the same spot Id occupied before. And with that realization came another. Id never crossed the hall, never met the boy in the hat halfwayCole, Id called himnever plowed my fingers through his hair. Never touched him, and absolutely never kissed him, yet my lips tingled and I was having trouble drawing air into my lungs.
You okay? Kat asked, her concern evident.
She was so short I had no trouble peeking over her shoulder at the group of boys. Nearly everyone else had abandoned the hallways. Maybe because the tardy bell had been ringingand was only now fading. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. How long had I been staring at that boy?
At least he was staring at me, too. Or maybe that wasnt such a good thing. He was scowling at me, and it was the kind of scowl you saw on a guy in a dark alley just before he crunched your face into the dirt and stole your purse. One of his friends was tugging on his arm, trying to get his attention.
Red Hat snapped his teeth at me and turned away to stomp out of the hall. His remaining friends traveled after him, one of them muttering, Mind telling us what that was about, my man?
I leaned against the lockers to find my balance. Only then, with distance between us and his gaze unlocked from mine, did I manage to catch my breath. The one with the hat, I said to Kat. Whats his name? I probably should have assured her of my mental competence first, but I craved info about him too badly. And really, could I assure anyone of my mental competence just then?
Kats head fell forward, as if suddenly too heavy to hold up, but her penetrating stare remained on me. Why? Are you interested in him?
My mouth floundered open and closed. I was interested in knowing what had just happened. How I had justenvisioned kissing him. How that vision had seemed so real that Id felt his heat, his strength. So real that my body had reacted physically.
Just curious, I finally said, trying for a nonchalance I didnt feel. But my words were the straight-up truth. I was curious.
She wasnt buying. Thats Cole Holland, and girl, you so dont want to date him. Trust me.
Shock blustered through me. His name really was Cole? Buthow had I known that?
You heard someone else call him Cole, thats all. A subconscious thing.
Maybe. Probably. Why? I croaked.
Because Im totally trustworthy. Hello, youve met me, right?
If I hadnt been in such a state of upheaval, I would have rolled my eyes. Not why should I trust you. Why dont I want to date him?
Oh. Well, for starters, because youre intimidated by him.
Im not intimidated by him.
She rose on her tiptoes to pat the top of my head, and said, Since you wont admit that little truth, how about this one? Because hes the leader of that rabid pack of animals and hes totally dangerous.
Dangerous. Yeah, I got that. You dated one of his friends.
She spread her arms, as if Id just made her point for her. And look where I ended upcheated on and brokenhearted. The soft snick of closing doors filled the hall, and she glanced around. Come on. Lets finish this on the way to your class.
Now that the halls were deserted and I could move freely, I should have relaxed. But I felt like Id been plugged into something. A battery, maybe. I had energy. And there was a soft buzzing sound echoing in my head. Even the lights in the hallway seemed brighter.
Coles, like, the worst of the lot, Kat said. He speaks, and the rest of them jump to obey. They skip school a lot, and dowell, your guess is as good as mine. No, probably not as good, but close. And yeah, youd think Id know for sure, but Frosty was stellar at keeping secrets. Obviously. Anyway, theyre always wounded, so you know they like to throw down in the nastiest way possible. And did I mention that theyre secretive? Cole is the worst, but Frosty is second in line for the title of The Vault, I promise you.
Frosty?
My ex.
I got that, but his name is
A nickname, yes. He accidentally locked himself out of his house one winter. By the time he was found he was covered in ice and completely frostbitten. They nearly amputated all of his limbs. True story.
Really? Because I hadnt noticed anything missing, and if theyd nearly amputated all of his limbs, surely they would have taken a few of his fingers, the most vulnerable part of the hand.
Fine, he only lost a toe, but frostbite is treacherous. Anyway, the only girls who get to hang with them on their private little adventures are Mackenzie LoveColes exand Trina, who you had the misfortune to meet earlier.
Cole still hung out with his ex? That had bad news written all over it. Not that I cared. Or wanted to, I dont know, go on a date with him, marry him and have his babies. I just wanted answers. Really.
What had happened in that hallwayor rather, what had not happenedwas freaking me out. I mean, Id always had a strong imagination, as evidenced by the monster in the wedding dress I was convinced Id seen, but this little mind-vacay of making out in the hall with a strange boy I hadnt officially met far surpassed anything else Id ever thought up.
Just a warning, Kat said. If you hang with them, Mackenzie will corner you and threaten your very existence. Oh, and your friends will drop you and youll be known as trouble.
I could handle the name Trouble. Again, not that I was considering doing anything with Cole. Were you dropped when you dated Frosty?
For a moment, only a moment, she radiated sadness. Then she flipped her hair over one shoulder, grinned and said, Ive always been known as big-time trouble, and though no one has yet realized, Im more trouble now that Frosty and I Or is it Frosty and me? I cant ever remember. Whatevs. Im more trouble now that weve spilt, but youll learn to appreciate that part of me, Im sure.