Free Falling (12 page)

I just kept my head down and willed the tears not to fall.
The worst part of all of this was: the one person that had caused me all of
this pain and sadness, was the one I really wanted to hug me and comfort me. My
body longed for Luke; I wanted to bury my face into the side of his neck and
wrap my arms around his broad shoulders, clamping myself to him. I hated myself
for wanting that, it made me feel like a worthless pushover. How was I supposed
to make myself stop loving the guy? Could I? I wasn’t sure of the answer to
that question at all.

I kept my head down during class, not making eye contact
with anyone, pretending to be engrossed in the lesson. The time passed, slowly,
but it passed. As soon as the bell sounded I made a quick exit, not wanting to
linger and talk to anyone. As I stepped out of the door I was engulfed in a hug
by Charlotte who quite often met me from class so we could walk to third period
together.

“Okay?” she asked, pulling back, looking at me
sympathetically. I sighed deeply and shook my head, willing myself not to cry
again. “You know, I could hack the FBI and put a warrant out for Luke’s arrest
if it’ll make you feel better,” she suggested, grinning at me hopefully.

I laughed and rolled my eyes.
She probably can too.
“It’s fine, it’ll settle down.”

A wicked smile crept onto her lips. “I already gave Sandy
some payback this morning during my computer science class.”

I chewed on my lip and giggled. “What did you do?”

She shrugged casually. “Hacked her Facebook and changed all
of her settings, sending out a status that said and I quote, ‘I’m a dirty whore
who likes to watch midget porn instead of doing my school assignments’,” she
said laughing to herself. “I might have also sent out a few hundred friend
requests to some people who she wouldn’t really want to be friends with.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist as we walked down the
hallway. I felt ten times better now that I had someone with me; the looks that
I got off of people weren’t as bad when I had someone distracting me. “What
kind of people?” I asked, shifting my heavy bag on my shoulder.

She grinned. “Freshman, nerds, faculty, strippers, everyone
I could find.”

I laughed. Sandy was going to be furious when she realised,
but she’d never know it was Charlotte, she was too good at things like that.
“Thanks, Char.” We stepped into class then and headed for the back, still
talking back and forth about other computer things Charlotte could do to her as
payback.

When the lunch bell rang at the end of class I smiled at
Charlotte and Beth. Half the day was done, I just needed to get through lunch
and then three more lessons then I could go home and hide in my room, listening
to Boyz II men. When I got to the lunchroom entrance I stopped as I saw Zach
leaning casually against the wall. Girls and boys were milling around talking
to him, looking at him, seeming to hang on his every word. I was right earlier,
he was undoubtedly going to be popular with the girls here, they were already
adjusting their shirts and skirts, trying to get his attention.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. One good thing about him being
accepted by the popular crowd was that I didn’t have to eat with him today.
Charlotte nodded in his direction, cocking her head to the side looking at him
curiously. “Is that the new guy, Zachary something or other?”

I nodded. “He prefers Zach.”

“You gotta eat with him?” she asked, pouting at me.

I waved it off and shook my head. “He looks like he’s all
set. Come on, I’m starving.” I nodded towards the canteen and got about three
steps before someone shouted my name, making everyone stop talking and look at
me.

I groaned.
As if I’m not centre of attention enough
already!
I turned and looked at him as he pushed himself off of the wall,
smirking at me. “Yes, Zach?” I smiled politely.

“I’ve been waiting for you. You ditching me? Now that’s not
very nice is it?” he teased, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I thought you were alright,” I replied, nodding at the fangirls
he’d already accumulated that were waiting for his attention again. “Looks like
you have people to sit with already.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “So, how was your morning? I
heard you told a guy to shove a note up his ass and then stormed out of class
telling the teacher to eff off,” he said, looking at me with an almost hopeful
expression on his face.

I sighed dramatically. The rumour mill in this school were
working overtime today! “Yeah, my day happened just like that. How was your
day, Zachary?” I turned and walked towards the lunch line, not caring if he
followed me or not. Charlotte looked at me with one eyebrow raised as her gaze
flicked to Zach, raking down his body with an appreciative bite of her lip.

He laughed and kept up with me easily. “My day’s going
great. So far I’ve got four girls’ numbers.” His eyes flicked to Charlotte, a
smirk on his face. “Care to make it five, sweetness?”

She snorted, and I knew any thoughts she had about him, were
now gone. She hated being called pet names. If she was crushing on him at all,
that was now gone. “In your dreams,” she replied, waving a hand dismissively.

He laughed and pulled a burger and fries onto his tray.
“Probably actually.”

I turned to him and looked him dead in the eye. “Zach, I
don’t want to do this today, okay? I’ve had a really long day already and I’m
only half way through. If you could just cut the annoying comments down
slightly, otherwise please go find someone else to eat with.”

He grinned and started munching on his fries. “The comebacks
are definitely getting better.” He winked at me. “So, about this tutoring
thing. We don’t really need to do that, do we? I’ll just say I’m meeting you at
the library and stuff, you’ll get paid, and everyone’s a winner.”

I scowled at him distastefully. “I’m not doing that. If you
want an easy ride then you find another tutor,” I stated confidently. I smirked
at him. At least now I’d get out of the whole tutoring thing.

He cocked his head to the side, studying me, as if he were
assessing how serious I was. After another minute he frowned and nodded. “Fine.
But I don’t do libraries,” he grumbled.

I sighed and grabbed a sandwich, not even hungry in the
slightest, but I needed to get something otherwise Charlotte and Beth would be
looking at me worriedly and fussing over me. I didn’t say anything, just
ignored him for the rest of the line, watching Charlotte’s back as she chatted
with a girl in front of her about fundraising for the IT department. I was
dimly aware of Zach following behind me as we walked to the table where a
couple of our other friends were already sitting. He plopped himself down right
next to me.

I looked up just as Ricky and Luke walked into the canteen.
My back stiffened automatically. Was Luke going to approach me? I always ate
lunch with him, every day for the last nineteen months. I shifted on my seat
awkwardly. 

Zach elbowed me in the side as Luke’s eyes flicked up and
met mine. I saw hurt and sadness on his face that just broke my heart all over
again. “Who’s that? Please tell me you weren’t dating a jock! The nerd with the
jock, how cliché,” Zach mocked sarcastically from beside me.

My mouth dropped open. I wanted to make an angry retort, but
nothing was coming out. I felt my eyes prickling with tears and I willed them
not to fall. Luke raised one hand slightly in acknowledgement and mouthed the
word hi to me.

“Wow, you sure can pick ’em, huh? Let me guess, quarterback?
Maybe the running back? Hmm, this is probably going to hurt,” Zach muttered,
nudging me again to get my attention. I dragged my eyes away from Luke and
looked at Zach, still not seeming to remember how to speak.
What’s going to
hurt? What is this guy even talking about?
He smirked at me and slipped his
arm around my shoulder. I frowned and shifted so it would drop off, but he just
adjusted his position and moved it back there again.

Before I knew what happened, something slammed down onto my
table making me jump and yelp as I glanced up to see a furious looking Luke had
slammed his fist on the table. He was glaring, not at me, but at Zach.

He leant over, his eyes fixed on Zach. “Don’t touch her!” he
growled, knocking Zach’s hand off of my shoulder.

I frowned at Luke. I hated it when he got all possessive,
and it wasn’t even as if he had a right to anymore anyway. Zach just laughed.
“Luke, don’t start,” I warned, looking at him sternly. 

Zach stood up next to me, smirking at Luke. “So, you’re the
one I need to thank? I’ve been trying to catch you all day just to say thanks
for screwing up with Maisie. If you hadn’t fucked that little cheerleader on
Friday night then I wouldn’t have had the most amazing rebound sex with your
girl,” he said, running his hand up my back again to grip my shoulder tightly.

I gasped and jumped out of my seat, but before I could even
open my mouth and tell Luke it wasn’t true, Luke lunged for him. Zach shoved me
backwards at the same time as he stepped forward in front of me protectively. I
stumbled but managed to catch myself before I fell on my ass. I watched with
wide eyes as the two of them started fighting in the middle of the lunchroom.
Both reining blow after blow on each other as people gasped and started
heckling and clapping along, just like in a bad teen movie.

Chapter 8

I could see Luke’s lip bleeding, as was Zach’s nose. I
screamed at them to stop, and stepped forward, grabbing Zach’s arm because he
was closer to me, but before I could do anything I was immediately pulled back
again. Two strong arms wrapped around my waist and literally lifted me off of
my feet, turning me and carrying me a couple of feet away.

When the arms disappeared I glanced up to see a furious
looking Alex. He stepped in front of me protectively as he watched the two boys
fight it out. Zach launched himself at Luke, throwing them both onto the table,
knocking peoples’ lunches everywhere; he straddled Luke and punched him over
and over in the face and chest. He was a serious badass, and I was pretty sure
that Luke hadn’t landed more than a couple of punches on Zach, and one of those
was probably because he’d taken the time to shove me out of the way.

I dug my fingers into Alex’s side as my tears started to fall.
“Alex, stop them for goodness sake. Please?” I hated seeing Luke get hurt.

“Let the new guy kill him, it’ll save me doing it,” he
growled, shaking his head.

“Alex, please?” I begged, pressing my face into his shoulder
blades, trying to block out the sight of it, but the sounds of the fight were
rebounding off of the walls, making each crash and blow echo and seem even more
horrifying.

Alex sighed and nodded. “Fine, but just stay out of the way.
You don’t
ever
step into the middle of a fight, have I taught you
nothing?” he scolded, shaking his head at me in disapproval.

I flicked my eyes to the fighting pair in time to see Luke
throw Zach off of him, both of them crashing to the floor, Luke now on top.
“Can we leave the safety lecture until later?” I cried, pointing at them,
shaking my head at my twin who was more concerned about me getting hurt than
breaking up the fight.

He sighed and nodded again, turning on his heel. He wrapped
his arms around Luke from behind and pulled him up to his feet. He was still
thrashing, trying to kick Zach as he was dragged away a few steps. I could see
Alex talking into Luke’s ear, his face hard and angry, I had no idea what he
was saying but by the distasteful look on Alex’s face he didn’t like touching
Luke at all.

Zach pushed himself up off of the floor; he smirked at Luke
who immediately started thrashing in my brother’s arms again. Zach brushed off
his clothes. He didn’t look too bad at all; judging by the way he acted, he was
probably used to getting in fights. “Thanks again for screwing up, Luke. She’s
the best lay I’ve had in ages,” he teased, grinning and winking at me.

I scowled at him and Luke threw off my brother’s hold,
jumping for Zach again, but Alex grabbed him in time and stopped it, putting
his body between the two boys. “Back off, Hannigan!” Alex shouted, shoving on
Luke’s chest hard, making him stumble back a couple of steps.

Zach smirked again over Alex’s shoulder. “Yeah, back off,
Hannigan,” he teased, winking at Luke.

“Son of a bitch!” Luke shouted.

Before I knew what happened, Luke was on the floor and my
brother was shaking out his hand so he’d obviously punched him. “Calm down,
fucktard!” Alex growled, sneering at Luke who was looking a little dazed as he
sat on the floor.

Zach smiled and patted Alex on the back. “Nice punch,” he
congratulated.

Alex turned and punched Zach in the face too, making him
crash back into the table. My mouth dropped open in shock as Alex stepped
closer to him. “Don’t make up shit about sleeping with my sister!” he shouted
angrily.

Zach smiled and rubbed his jaw, looking at Alex
appreciatively. “Ouch, dude. You seriously fight great. You train?” he asked,
not seeming to be bothered about the fact that my brother had just punched him
in the face.

Alex frowned, looking a little taken aback by Zach’s comment
too. “Yeah, amateur kickboxing league,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Break it up! What on earth is going on in here? Hannigan,
Preston!” a male voice bellowed. I looked up to see a couple of teachers
running over to us. Mr O’Conner, the gym teacher, was at the front, looking
murderously angry as his eyes took in the situation. Food was all over the
floor, there were broken plates everywhere, students all in a crowd looking at
the three boys in the centre.

Zach held out his hand to Alex, smiling happily as if this whole
scene hadn’t just happened. Alex frowned but took his hand anyway, pulling him
to his feet, his body still tense as if waiting for a sly attack or something.