Fallen Crest High (6 page)

The bottom of her uniform top started to ride up her waist. She reached down to pull it down, but stopped. A satisfied grin came to her and she let it up even further. One of her hands moved to the bottom of her skirt. She pulled it down an inch so her hipbones showed, along with the black thong she wore.

"Look at you," I purred. "You
wanna
be Britney Spears? Wear the pigtails tomorrow. I'm sure Jeff would love it."

She moved closer. "Only when I give him head."

"That's the spirit."

Her smug smile slipped a bit. I knew she was a cheerleader, she'd forgotten that.

"You do know he cheated on me with my best friend for two years, right?"

"He won't with me."

I laughed. "He won't cheat with you or he won't cheat on you? I'm sure both will happen."

"Jessica Larsen won't be sleeping with him anymore. She only did it to get back at you and from what I've heard; she's close to getting Logan
Kade
to date her."

"Yeah."
I threw my head back and laughed. "You'll be luckier thinking Jeff won't cheat on you."

"He's wanted me for years." She pulled the other side of her skirt down as well, readjusted her hold on her books, and arched her back slightly. Her breasts were on display as people went past; the guys had stopped awhile ago and were watching. I heard the whispers and knew this'd be all over school, probably already was.

"And you're the Mecca for his dating daydreams?" I caught sight of Becky on the sidelines. Her cheeks were inflamed and she pointed to the corner. When I looked over, I saw a confused Adam Quinn against the wall with some of his football teammates. He pushed some of his blonde hair out of his eyes and scratched his forehead.

Then Ashley
DeCortts
pushed through the crowd. She sidled next to Jill and touched her on the arm. "What are you doing, Jill?"

"I'm making my stand." Her eyes drilled into me.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Are you kidding me? You can have Jeff. I don't want him back." Then I thought about it again. "I haven't wanted Jeff for a couple years now."

Someone gasped. Someone laughed. And I turned to leave, but I stopped when I saw him right behind me. A look was hurt was evident when he met my gaze for a second.

My jaw hardened and I pushed through the crowd.

When I saw the men's locker room door was open and no one was inside, I went without thinking. My dad's office was in the back and his door was open. I paused in the doorway. I'd rarely come to his office because of where it was, but I took a deep breath. I was there now.

The small bathroom that attached to his office had the door closed. The toilet flushed and a moment later he came out, drying his hands.

He froze for a brief moment. "Samantha."

"Hi." I glanced over my shoulder. Male voices carried through the room and I heard them coming closer so I closed the door and sat in one of his chairs.

"What are you doing here?"

I hugged my books on my lap. "I haven't seen you since we moved out."

"Yeah…I know." He sounded tired as he sat behind his desk. His body was tense and his finger started to tap on his chair. I watched as it continued to tap, a habit I knew he did whenever he was nervous.

"How are you?"

A small
grin appeared. "I'm okay. I'm the one who's supposed to ask you how you are."

One of my shoulders shrugged. "I'm not the one who's getting a divorce."

"Yeah, there's that."

"Jeff and I broke up."

"Oh?"

"He was cheating on me."

My dad's face remained void of any reaction.

My hands twisted together in front of my books and I looked down at my lap.
"With Jessica.
You remember her, right?"

There was silence.

I ploughed on, "For two years and Lydia knew. She helped them lie about it."

I waited and then after a minute, he asked in a quiet voice, "Why are you telling me this, Samantha?"

"What do you mean?" I looked up now. I needed something; I was looking for it in him. I didn't know quite what, though.

"I'm sorry that Jeffrey cheated on you. That's a horrible thing to find out."

"Like you and mom?" I swallowed thickly.

He froze again. His finger stopped tapping. And then a deep breath left him and he hung his head a moment. When he looked up again, I reeled back. The pain was so clear, so evident in his eyes. I was speechless for a moment.

He choked out, "I can't keep lying to you, Samantha."

Lying?
"Dad?"

He closed his eyes and looked away. "I'm not your father."

I laughed.

"I mean it, Sam. I'm not your biological father." He caught my gaze again.

He was serious. I saw it in them and a flare of pain stabbed me in the gut. I almost bowled over, but my fingers caught my chair's sides and dug in. My books fell to the floor, one of them thumped on top of my toe. I didn't feel it. I was caught in his eyes and I felt seared by them and by his words.

Something cracked. I lifted my hand and saw blood trickling down from underneath my nails.

"Sam, let go of the chair."

"What?" I jerked my chin upright. I couldn't see him. He had blurred and there was two of him. They were starting to swim around.

"Let go."

I opened my mouth. No sound came out.

Then he got up and rounded my chair. He forcibly lifted my other hand and there was more blood from that one. Two of my nails were gone.

He cursed under his breath and left.

My head slammed to my lap and I gasped for breath. No way. There was no way…

Footsteps were heard coming back and hands lifted me in the air. There were more faces now, but I didn't pay them attention.

"Put her on the trainer's couch. Quinn, get the nurse."

I was placed on my back and both of my hands were lifted in the air. I felt some cool liquid poured on them as they poked and prodded. I looked at the ceiling. The white tiles above me looked like they were mocking me.

"Sam. I'm sorry." His voice was muffled close to me. His hand brushed some of my hair from my forehead. "She made me keep that secret all your life. I should've told you a long time ago.
Analise
didn't want—"

The footsteps were coming back. They were louder this time. My head rolled to the side and I saw a nurse and another man hurrying to me, they looked like they were moving through the air. Some guys were behind them.

"Get '
em
all out, Quinn," my dad barked.

I frowned. Not my dad. David.

"What, honey?" He bent low to me.

"You're just David now."

He frowned and closed his eyes. He seemed to struggle with something and then when he opened them, they looked bleak. He looked how I did now. "Yes, Samantha. I guess I am."

CHAPTER SIX

Becky sat next to me where the sidewalk dipped to the parking lot. I'd been there after the school's nurse had tended to my hands and after my
da
—David took the football team to the field for practice. That'd been around four. It was six now.

"I don't understand why you won't let me drive you home," Becky grumbled.

I stared straight ahead.

"You want something to eat? Let's get something to eat. I'll drive."

I jerked my head in a nod and stood up. When we got to her car, I winced as I tried to open the door. Becky hissed and moved me out of the way. She opened the door for me, and then climbed on her side. As she started the car, she muttered, "And you expect to be able to drive home like that? You can't even open a door. You're crazy."

I grinned. "I thought you were going to be a good friend."

"I am and I'm telling the truth. You're crazy."

That shut me up.

Her voice took on a giddy note. "Did you see how Adam was hovering over you? It was so romantic."

I hadn't. I'd been distracted.

"You guys are going to make a great couple. I can already tell."

"How?"

"What?"

"How can you tell? You don't even know me."

"Well… Okay, I'm being honest here, but you weren't all fabulous before. I mean, I've always known who you are. We're lab partners, seriously, but I didn't care. But something changed with you this year. I have no idea what, but it's like you don't care anymore." When we pulled into a coffee shop, she laughed. "Then you showed up at that party in that outfit. It sounds stupid, I know, but there's just something about you, like you're a mystery or something. Everyone knew Jeff wanted you hardcore that night. And everyone knows he's been cheating on you. Then you showed up today and you told off those pathetic excuses for friends."

"Are you obsessed with me?" My hands were starting to throb. I sucked in a breath when I tried to flex one hand, but stopped right away. What the hell had I done?

She laughed another one of those high-pitched squeals and flipped the red curls over again.

I cringed.

"Um, no.
Are you crazy? I mean, you are, but are you?" Her laugh weakened. She turned to face me in the car. "I've known Adam all my life. He's my neighbor and he's a good guy. He's one of
the
good guys. I was thrilled when he broke up with Ashley."

"So why don't you date him?"

The cheeks got red again and her hands started to fidget in her lap before she tugged her skirt further over her knees. She mumbled something then.

"What?"

When she looked back up, her whole face was red. "I'm not good enough for him. I'm fat. I know it. Everyone knows it. Your friends used to call me hippo every day until—they still do."

I frowned.

"Anyways, I'm happy that he likes you. Last year I wouldn't think you had any balls. I mean, look at who you were. You had two sleazy best friends and an even sleazier boyfriend. They were all sleazy together behind your back. Some people thought you were stupid or had special needs or something."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

She brightened. "Now you're awesome. Jill Flatten tried to decimate you and you got away from her, easy as pie. No one does that. And you made her look stupid too."

"Is that hard to do?"

"Ashley
DeCortts
is afraid of her. That says something."

I grinned. "Are you going to buy me dinner now? All this flattery, then you drove me, now's the food part? What's next?
A movie and a drink?"

She went back to tugging her skirt down again.

"Relax." I caught one of her hands, but grimaced from the contact. My hands were going to be in rare form for awhile. I swallowed the pain down. "I'm sorry I'm not as excited about Adam Quinn. I don't know him. I've never cared to know him either."

She turned to the window and mumbled under her breath, "He's only the best guy in school. That's all who he is."

"I think you should try for him."

A corner of her mouth twitched up. "He doesn't like me like that. He's interested in you."

"Okay, well, we'll have to wait and see, hmmm?" I elbowed my door. "Can you help me out over here?"

"Oh." She scrambled around the car and opened my door. As we walked inside, she started to bounce up and down. "I picked up an application here for a job. I'm hoping to work here. I think it'd be awesome. Everyone cool comes here, you know."

"When'd you turn your application in?"

"A month ago."

"Have they called for an interview?"

Her smile dimmed when we approached the counter. "The girl said they were fully staffed, but they'd call when they had some openings."

A Help Wanted sign hung underneath the cash register.

"Can I help you?" A brightly smiling petite girl waited for our orders.

I shook my head. "No."

"What? I like this place." Becky hurried after me towards the door.

"You tore into me how I let people walk over me last year. If we're friends, then take my advice. Don't let this place walk over you." I pushed open the door and started to step out, but a wall slammed into me from the side.

I cried out and blinked past tears from the sudden pain. It speared through me, but hands caught my shoulders and set me to the side.

"Oh….hi…" Becky had become a third grade little girl.

I sucked in my breath through my teeth and tried to numb down the pain. It felt like fire as it bolted up my arms and through my legs. I couldn't see for a moment when more tears kept threatening to spill out.

A voice asked, "What happened to her hands?"

Becky shuffled around on the sidewalk. I could hear her blushing. "She had an accident."