Crushed (6 page)

The next several nights I'd seen
Claire, we'd gone bowling, watched movies in her room, played
tennis. Each night was something different, always lots of fun. And
each night she'd invite me into her room. We'd make out, she'd stop
us and then she'd beg me to take her. I always obliged. How could I
resist the feeling of being deep inside her? I had to change my
game, she was getting too close.

Chapter 9

Claire

Neil hadn't been in English class
that morning so I went to his room afterwards. I knocked on his
door and looked down at my feet as I waited for him to answer. I
was pretty sure there wasn't a practice so I was hopeful that he'd
be in there. Maybe he just needed to catch up on his sleep, I had
been keeping him up late for the past several nights. I smiled to
myself as the door opened.

It was opened wide and he pulled it
towards his side when he saw that it was me. It was too late
though, I'd already seen Justice naked with fresh-fucked hair in
his bed. My eyes met his and I forced myself to smile. We hadn't
committed to being exclusive, I just assumed we were, and that was
my mistake. I didn't realize until that moment that I'd let myself
get close to him.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, I just
thought you might want the notes for class." I held out my
notebook. He ran his hand through his hair and flashed me his
killer smile.

"Thanks, Claire. You're a good
friend." My heart jumped and felt like it was shriveling in my
chest. He reached out and grabbed the notebook. He held it at his
side while he winked at me. "I'll drop your notes off later after
I've had a chance to copy them."

"Oh, sure." I smiled and feigned
cheeriness I wasn't feeling. "Anytime. I'll see you later." I gave
him a small wave of my hand and then turned, walking back down the
hall to the exit. I couldn't believe I was such an idiot. I
wondered if this is how all of Neil's conquests felt. I felt used.
I didn't like it, not one bit.

I was almost to my dorm when I felt
a hard tug on the back of my hair. I winced and turned around,
ready for confrontation. When I saw that it was a scowling Justice
my face softened. She was the head of the cheerleading squad,
surely she'd just seen me and wanted to talk to me about
cheerleading business.

"Justice, he-" I was cut off by her
biting words.

"Stay the fuck away from him,
Claire. He's mine. I've been trying to win him over and have spent
more time than any of the other sluts in his bed. That isn't going
to change now." I shook my head, frowning at her. She was crazy!
How did she even know that I'd been seeing him? Maybe she didn't. I
decided I'd call her bluff.

"I don't know what you're talking
about. I was just bringing him English notes. We have that class
together."

She rolled her eyes, hands on her
hips. "Oh please. Cut the shit, Claire. Garrett saw you and Neil
fucking in the woods. He even got some of that shit on video. He's
a good friend and warned me that you were trying to steal my
man."

I shook my head again, hands up. "I
swear, I didn't know he was yours."

"And you won't make that mistake
again." Before I knew what was happening her fist met my right eye.
A jolt of pain registered in my brain as my feet shuffled back from
the impact. That bitch punched me! Over a boy! Did I just flash
back to the elementary school playground? My mind blanked when
another punch came to my stomach, I doubled over and was gasping
for breath. Another blow came to my back and I barely noticed the
murmurs of the crowd that had gathered around us as I fell onto the
ground. I curled onto my side and put my hands on my head to
protect myself as the kicks kept coming. Finally it had stopped but
I didn't raise my head until I felt strong arms pick me
up.

Through one good eye I saw Will's
handsome face. He looked like he wanted to kill someone, luckily
that someone wasn't me. I hid my face against his chest and felt
his warm hand in my hair. His deep voice rumbled in his chest as he
spoke softly so only I could hear, "Its okay, Clair, I got you. No
one will hurt you now." He stopped in front of my dorm room door
but wouldn't put me down when I wiggled to get my key. "Where is
it?" he asked.

"In my pocket." I said softly as I
leaned back and dug it out. I held it up and looked up to him. He
cursed softly when he looked at my face.

"That bitch did a number on you.
It's already swelling. Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" I
shook my head softly. He sighed heavily and took the key from my
hand. He opened my door and once we were inside my room he put me
onto my bed gently,as if I were a fragile kitten. I had to remind
myself he was probably still under some sort of love spell. I
didn't want the kindness to end but I had to be honest with the
guy.

"Will... I don't... I've decided I
don't want to do the dating thing..." I watched his face as it fell
slightly, "So if you want to go, I understand." He frowned at
me.

"I'm disappointed but I'll settle
for being your friend if you'll let me. It's better than nothing at
all." I searched his face with my one good eye. He seemed to be
telling the truth. I nodded.

"Okay. Friends. No kissing,
though." I smiled softly as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, okay. If you change your
mind I'd better be the first to know." He looked around my room, my
dirty clothes basket was spilling out, I needed to do laundry soon.
My cheerleading uniform was draped over my chair for practice that
was supposed to be later today. I wouldn't be showing up today,
Justice had seen to that. "Can I get you anything, Claire? Some
water from your fridge? Tylenol? A phone so you can order a hit on
that girl who beat the crap out of you? What the hell did you do to
her anyway?"

A long sigh escaped me. "Remember
that guy that I went out with the other night? Apparently they're
together, I didn't know." A growl ripped from his
throat.

"I'll kill him!" His brows furrowed
and his handsome face now looked very fierce and slightly
scary.

"Will, you can't kill him." I
groaned as I tried to sit up and he came to my side and put gentle
hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down onto the
bed.

"Fine, I won't kill him as long as
you stay in your bed and rest. I'll come bring you some stuff.
Just... stay put." He put my key into his pocket and left without
another word. I stared at the door for a few minutes as my brain
went into overdrive again. Seeing Neil was out of the question. I
didn't want another run in with Justice. I tested my theory on him.
I just needed to find another man to test it on. Once my face was
healed I'd go looking for another non-purple aura man and kiss
him.

I'd spent the next two weeks
avoiding Neil at all costs. He'd tried to return my notebook but I
refused to answer the door. So he slid it under my door. I got my
English class notes by attending the same class in a different time
slot.

Today was my first day back in the
cheerleading squad. We had a game. Justice kept her distance
because she was too busy cheering and we were in front of the
school officials. Neil winked at me as he passed through our
shaking pom-poms and whenever he scored a touch down he'd point in
my general direction, but he could've been pointing at the fans or
the whole squad. I didn't let myself think too much into it. Will
was in the bleachers with Merit. I could still see his purple and
yellow aura. I smiled and waved to both of them.

After winning the game the mixer
commenced as usual at the footballer's frat house. I stayed close
to Merit and Will but eventually Neil and I crossed paths. His hand
cupped my elbow and gently pulled me in close to him. I held my
breath, not yet prepared to fight off his advances. His lips
brushed my ear, causing me to shiver, "Hey Claire, where have you
been hiding?"

I pretended to be impartial and
smiled, pushing him away as I shrugged my shoulders with a playful
smile. Justice wrapped her arm around his neck loosely from behind
as she came up. Her eyes spit daggers at me and I smiled and waved
at them both. I stepped back and bumped into Will's solid chest. I
tilted my head way back to look at him and smiled as he curled an
arm around my waist. He glared at Neil and pulled me away, back
towards Merit who was bouncing to "Pumped Up Kicks" that was just
finishing up through the speakers.

The cheerleaders' pep song started
and I groaned inwardly. If a cheerleader heard this song they had
to drop what they were doing and dance it was ritual, expected. I
squeezed Will's large hand as I twisted out of his grip and clapped
my way towards the middle of the floor where the rest of
cheerleaders were gathering. I pasted a smile on and danced. When
the number ended I felt hard bony hands on my back. I fell forward,
catching myself on my hands and knees. The crowd "oohed" and pushed
in closer, forming a circle around us.

I'd had enough of this shit. I
stood up and turned around, brushing off my knees. Justice was
walking away from me as if she didn't just push me to the ground
and something in me snapped. I was ready for a fight! "Don't walk
away from me, you whore!"

She stopped and whipped around on
her heel. "What did you call me?" I felt an arm hook around my
waist and then I was pushed behind Neil's back.

"Fight's over." He was staring at
Justice when he said it but I wasn't done yet.

"A whore! Like your mother!" I
glared at Justice from behind Neil's shoulder, I tried to get
around him but his arms wouldn't allow it. He was bitch-blocking
me.

Justice flipped her blonde hair
over her shoulder, unaffected by my words. "Not unlike your father,
little half-blood. What did your father give you with his
indiscretion but a prison sentence?" Her lips curled into a little
smile. "Don't hide behind your cherry popper, Claire." My name fell
off her tongue like acid. I pushed hard against Neil's arms and got
free. I was running towards her, fist pulled back and just a split
second before my fist connected with her turned up nose I was
yanked back again. She had the gull to stand there, arms crossed,
like she was completely unthreatened. The bitch.

I was slung over Neil's shoulder as
he walked quickly through the crowd, pulling me away. I beat on his
back with my fists. "Put me down, dammit!!"

"Come on, Claire, you're better
than that." He said softly.

"You just don't want me to punch
your girlfriend in her goddamn nose! Let me go!" I wasn't going to
go down without a fight.

When we were outside, and away from
prying eyes and ears, he put me down hard onto the ground. I winced
from the pain radiating in my ass.

"She's not my girlfriend. You know
that." He all but growled it at me. I couldn't help but
chuckle.

"You should clue her in then. She's
out for my blood because some asshole videotaped us by the lake."
His head dropped, he stared at his feet and roughly ran his hands
through his hair. I was momentarily wishing my hands were in his
hair instead. Just for a split second, it passed
quickly.

"I heard about the fight, I already
talked to her. Do you want me to kick her ass?" He looked at me and
smirked, his hands falling from his neck down to his
sides.

"I don't care what you do with
Justice's ass." I growled softly and looked away from him and his
friggin' smile.

He crouched down in front of me and
reached out, taking some of my hair in his fingers. "Claire. What
can I do? I specifically told her that she's not my girlfriend and
to make things right with you."

He wasn't going to suck me
in...again! I stood up and started walking away from him. He
followed. "You did all you can do, I guess. I'll just have to deal
with it from here."

His arm caught me around my waist
again and pulled me back against his chest. Weakness invaded my
senses and I froze as his lips moved to my ear. "Please, Claire.
I'll do whatever I can to help fix this." His breath tickled the
side of my neck and I shivered slightly. I inhaled and pushed out
of his grasp once again.

"You're just going to cause more
rumors. And despite the fact that you told Justice you aren't
together she obviously still thinks you are. Just go. Thanks for
the... good times, but we're done with that. I'm cutting the
strings. You're all hers or whoevers. So just go and don't touch me
... and don't talk to me." There. I'd said it. Despite the
incredible sex and the fun I had with him I needed to move on and
find another purple-less dude.

"She needs to know that she can't
act like that. I'm going to stop seeing her." He didn't follow me,
he stayed where he was for the time being. I turned and nodded to
him, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

"Getting another fun buddy should
fix things for me." I watched his face, trying to gauge his
feelings.

"So you're going to start sleeping
with another guy?" He sounded slightly crushed by the idea. I
raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"So what if I am? I told you, Neil,
we're done." He pulled at his hair again and took a step towards
me, to which I countered with a step back. He stopped.