The Last Girl (9 page)

Chapter 18: The Second Auction

For the second time in the past week, Luke and I wake up late for school, due to the fact that he forgot to turn on the alarm.

“What are you two still doing in bed?” I hear his mother ask.

My eyes open and I quickly pull myself away from Luke. My eyes still adjusting to the light, I get up and quickly run to the bathroom to get ready.

“What was that?” I hear her ask through the door. These doors are really thin.

“What?” Luke asks.

“Why were you two sleeping in the same bed? Again?”

“We fell asleep while watching a movie.”

“I have been hearing that explanation a lot, lately,” she replies.

There is a pause. “What does that mean?”

“I doesn’t matter,
Luke. I’m not going to try to control your life. But just remember, she’s so young.” Karen says, agitated.

I
hear a door shut and I catch myself holding my breath. I hear Luke then let out a long, stressed sigh.

I get out of the car with my big overflowing bag filled with my clothes and shiver. I had nothing clean to wear, so I was stuck in my stupid, skimpy auction outfit.

“You can leave your bag in my car, if you want,”
Luke says.

I nod, “Thanks, it would have been annoying dragging that around all day,” I open the car door and set it on the back seat. “Just don’t leave before I get it back.”

He smiles, “Okay.”

We start the walk towards the school and my teeth start to clatter.

“Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine,” I shake my head.

Luke pulls of his grey hoodie, “Here.”

I push it away, “No, it’s fine. I don’t want you to be cold.”

He laughs and slips it over my shoulders, “I’m fine. Plus, I’m wearing jeans and along sleeved shirt and you’re wearing, well, that.”

I feel the color rise in my cheeks and smile to myself when
Luke looks away. Now I can walk around all day with his scent.

I open the door to the hallway with my locker and I hear
Luke say, “Bye, Jenna. Good luck today.”

I smile to myself once again. But it quickly fades when I see Jessica and Daisy bickering at my locker.

“Don’t be mad about this,” Jessica is saying.

“Why would you think that I wouldn’t be mad about this?” Daisy’s volume makes everyone else in the hall look over at us.

I keep my voice quiet, hoping Daisy will do the same. “Mad about what?”

“My supposed ‘best friend’ won’t leave my house!”

I look at Jessica, “What is she talking about?”

Jessica looks at the ground and her
fingers start to scrape off her nail polish. “Well, the week for the Slave Auction is over, but-.”

“No buts!” Daisy interrupts, causing people to look over once again. “The week is over! That means you stop living at my house!”

Jessica continues, looking at me, “But Lance wants me to stay longer.”

“Don’t make it sound one sided! It’s not like you are dying to leave either,” Daisy’s face starts to turn red with rage.

“Why is it so bad if I stay longer?”

“Because I never see you! You’re always with
Lance. And I can hear every single thing you say through the walls. And when it gets quiet, I get all grossed out because I know you guys are kissing and I hate it! I want it to end! It’s fine if you date him, just not in my house!” Daisy storms off.

Jessica looks after her, “I can’t stay, can I?”

I wrap my arm around her, “If you want to save your friendship, you can’t.”

“Sorry for the interruption,” the teen voice on the loudspeaker says. “Seniors attending the Second Slave Auction, will you please make your way to the auditorium? Thanks and have a nice day everyone.”

I take a deep breath as I stand up out of my desk and look at my English teacher. He nods approvingly and I feel all eyes on me as I exit the class. It was a class of all
freshman so no one followed me. Seniors file out of other classrooms and some whistle at me. I ignore them as best I can and fast walk towards the theater.

About to open the back door to the building, I hear someone call my name. I stop and turn around.

“Zac?” I ask as he runs up to me. He looked gorgeous and I almost regret not kissing him. His hair was styled up, as usual. He had on his leather jacket and I was reminded of riding the motorcycle to his house.

“How are you doing?” he asks.

I nod slowly, “Alright. Just a little nervous. Not to mention cold.”

He laughs glancing at my clothes, “I bet. Listen, I will try to bid the highest I can, I promise. But, I’m sorry if I can’t. There are some people in there who have a lot more money to spend than I do.”

I smile and hug him, “Thanks Zac. For everything.”

I feel him wrap his arms around me slowly, “No problem at all.”

I pull away, “Well, I’ll see you inside.”

I o
pen the door and walk inside. Staying with Zac for a week would not be bad at all.

I see
Courtney in her cheerleading outfit, waiting for me.

“You ready?” she asks, looking me up and down.

I slip off Luke’s jacket and nod.

“
Okay, great. So this auction will be much shorter than the last one. But, prices will go way higher than the last one so try not to look too shocked. Remember to smile and remember how I taught you to walk. And try not to squint so much. I get it, the lights are bright, but it looked weird last time.”

I try to drone out everything Courtney says. It’s difficult though, since she is just someone you always want to look at and listen to. Her appearance and confidence when she talk
s forces me to listen.

“Wait,” she says as she unzips a little pink bag. She pulls out some powder and a bru
sh and starts to pat some on my face. “Didn’t want you to look shiny under the lights. You’re welcome,” she smiles and snaps the powder closed.

Five minutes later I am pushed to stand right behind the red curtains of the stage.
I hear all the voices of the audience merge into one, sounding like a low roar. Courtney walks out on stage. I hear her pat on the microphone before talking.

“Attention everyone. Welcome to the Second Slave Auction! Thank you everyone for missing class, even though I’m sure you would all rather be here than stuck in some
dull classroom, am I right?”

The crowd cheers and I hear Courtney giggle.

“Great enthusiasm! Well, no point in carrying this out any longer. Everyone welcome to the stage Jenna Brown!”

I walk out onstage, forgetting how bright the lights were.
The nerves I had in my stomach last week are replaced with feeling of desperation. I just want to get the hell out of here. Don’t squint, don’t squint. And then I realize something. Why do I care if I squint or not? I allow myself to squint and I feel Courtney’s burning eyes glare at me. I smile at her and pose in the center.

“Okay, let’s start the bidding at
$500.”

And that’s when the mayhem starts. About 12 guys jump up calling $550 and 10 more jump up calling $600. Courtney picks the guy she hears say the highest number. I don’t know how she keeps up with all of them, but somehow she does. My cheeks start to hurt from smiling once the number gets to 1,050. The number of seniors bidding gets cut in half. Only about 10 guys keep bidding. The price gets to $1,500, the price
Luke spent, and three more guys sit down. The seven left were all seniors I had never seen before. How creepy.

“Do I hear $1,800?” Courtney voice booms out of the speakers.

“1,900!” a familiar voice calls out. I squint and try to see more than just the outline of the person. I could see a little bit of a red glow illuminating off the guy’s pants. I feel a sharp stab in my stomach as I realize who had just bid. Lance.

Why would
Lance bid on me? Jessica is still staying with him! She’s his girlfriend. I remember when he kissed me and wonder why I am so surprised now that he would do this.

“$2,100!” another familiar voice calls. This one was the opposite of
Lance’. It was deep and husky. From the outline, I could see the shape of his hair and instantly knew it was Zac. I felt myself smile for real. The creepy guys I didn’t know all sat back down and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

It came crushing back down as
Lance yelled, “$2,250!”

Do they not hear the numbers coming out of their mouths?

“$2,300!” Zac counters.

“$2,500!”

I see Zac’s outline look at Lance’. He slowly sits down. I look at him pleadingly and see him shrug apologetically. I sigh and nod, accepting my fate.

“$2,500,” Courtney nearly sings, “going once, going twice
-.”

“$3,000!” a look back up into the audience, surprised. By the murmur coming from the crowd, I could tell I wasn’t the only one.

“$3,000, going once, going twice? Sold to Hayden Sharpe!”

Chapter
19: Mediocre

Last week, if I had heard his name being called by Courtney, I probably would have broken down on the stage. But now, just hearing the name Hayden got rid of all the strange feelings in my stomach. I felt an involuntary smile grow on my face.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I watched his silhouette
walk between the aisles of seats, making his way up to the stage. As he got closer, I could see the gorgeous smile appear on his lips, bringing me out of this world and into another. I forgot about Lance, Zac, and even about Luke. I didn’t even hear the disappointed sighs from people in the audience. I didn’t hear the principal say thank you to everyone for coming and that he hoped to see them next year through.  Nope. I kept my eyes on Hayden, noting every little move he made; from him pulling out his wallet to him signing the check. I didn’t even notice Courtney flirtatiously lean over the podium to try to get him to glance down her shirt. Okay, maybe I did notice that, but I noticed even more when he didn’t react. He just combed his hand through his hair and turned to me.

I walked over to him and he snaked his arms around my waist, pulling my close in a hug. He lifted me
by the small of my back and I floated in the air for a few seconds before he put me down.

“I got scared you changed your mind,” I say as I look into his emerald eyes.

His dimples slowly appear, “No, I keep my promises.”

“Jessica!” I call to her as our lunch table came into view. She broke contact with Lance’s face to look over at me. She smiles and stands up to walk over to me.

“How’d the second auction go?”

“What did you hear?” I ask, looking over at Lance.

“
Lance told me that Hayden won,” she says smiling.

“What else did he tell you?”

Her smile fades into a confused look, “What do you mean?”

“Never mind,” I reply quickly, shaking my head. “Did you tell
Lance that you aren’t staying at his house any longer?”

“Yes,” she sighs. “I did this morning when he walked me to second period.”

I hear a gasp inside my head. She told him before the Second Slave Auction. That’s why he bid on me.

Jessica sees the upset look on my face, “What’s wrong?”

I need to tell her.

I take a deep breath, “
Lance made a bid on me today.”

Jessica’s expression matches mine, “What?”

“He and Zac got into a bidding war. Lance almost won with $2,500 before Hayden made a bid for $3,000. If it wasn’t for him, I would be staying with Lance for a week.”

Jessica shakes her head in denial, “Are you sure it was him? It’s hard to see on the stage.”

“It was him,” I respond matter-of-factly. “I could see his red pants.”

She looks at the ground, “Damn. It must have been him, then.”

I grab her hand, “I’m sorry.”

She tugs away, “Don’t be,” she straightens up. “I don’t need anyone feeling sorry for me. I’ll ask him about it.”

I follow her back to the table and sit next to Hayden.

He sweetly kisses me on the cheek, “Hello, gorgeous.”

I smile, but it quickly fades when I realize a few of us were missing, “Where’s Daisy?”

“Probably in the library like the geek she is,”
Lance laughs. I glare at him.

“Okay, then where is
Nolan?”

“He’s with that girl Kelsey. I guess they are dating now,”
Zac laughs. “Go Nolan.”

“Yeah, they are adorable,” Jessica gushes. I snap my attention to her, giving her a look to prompt her to ask
Lance.

She understands my look and opens her mouth, only for nothing to come out. I glare at her some more.

“S-so who else made a bid on Jenna today?” she asks stuttering.

“A bunch of random guys,
Zac and Hayden,” Lance says nonchalantly. He nods at Luke, Zac and Hayden who give each other confused looks before slowly nodding with him.

“Oh,” Jessica responds.

I feel Lance glare at me as I glare at Jessica to continue. She avoids my gaze and never says anything the rest of the lunch period.

“I’m sorry I’ll do it L8r”
the text on my phone says. I roll my eyes and lock my phone, not wanting to respond to Jessica’s lie. I walk out of my sixth period class towards the exit of the grey hallway. My eyes grow wider as I recognize the curly haired boy standing next to the brown doors, hunched over his phone. I walk up to him and poke him in the side.

“How do you know where my class is? I think this classifies as being a stalker now.”

He looks down at me, his height making me feel like an ant next to a skyscraper. “Actually I was waiting for my friend to get out of his class.”

I feel my heart
drop to my stomach in embarrassment and disappointment. “Oh, that’s awkward. I’m sorry,” I try to sound casual by adding a laugh at the end.

He smiles, “I’m just messing with you. I was waiting for you.”

I feel relief wash over me, “Oh, in that case, I go back to what I said about being a stalker.”

He laughs deep in his throat, “Only for you babe.”

I feel my insides tingle as he wraps his arm around my waist, resting his hand on my hip. We walk out of the hallway and I notice a few girls stare at us as we walk by. Hayden doesn’t notice anything.

“Do you have a lot of homework today?” he asks glancing over at me.

“A little bit.”

“In what?” he steers me through the crowd of people.

“Geometry and Spanish.”

“
You’re taking Spanish? Why?” he asks.

I shrug, “Why not?”

He smiles, “Oh, well, me llamo Hayden. Me gusta el queso.”

I stifle a laugh, “You love cheese?”

“Is that what I said?” he laughs. “I thought I said I love cats.”

I laugh too, “That would be ‘
Me encantan los gatos.’”

“Good thing you told me.
I’ve been going around saying I like cheese randomly.”

“Yeah, cats and cheese are very different.
I don’t want you to help me with my homework now.”

He leads me to his parking lot and we get inside his gaudy car.
We blast music and sing along the whole way.

I get right to work on my homework, rushing through it so I will be able to spend as much time as I can with Hayden. I finish and as I am putting my books into my bag, I hear the rumbling of the garage door opening. A few seconds later, Anne walks through the door, her arms full of groceries. I run up to help her, relieving her of some paper bags.

“Thanks
Hayden,” she says and I giggle a little realizing the bags blocked her view of my face. We set the bags on the counter and she sees me fully for the first time.

“Jenna?” I giggle as she pulls me into a hug. “Did
Hayden win?”

I flinch again at
‘win’ but brush it off, “Yeah.”

“Oh good! He was so nervous all week that he would be out bid. And I told him to spend all the money he needed as long as he thought it was reasonable. It was reasonable, right?”

I bite my lip not knowing what to say. She reads my mind and says, “I guess I don’t want to know. Ugh. Men.”

We both laughed a little.

“Well, what are you doing standing in here with me? Go be with Hayden!” I laugh and nod, turning to exit. I walk down the hall and knock on Hayden’s door.

“Come in.”

I open and see Hayden sitting on his bed, watching TV in grey sweat pants and shirtless.

At seeing his bare skin, I instantly turn towards the wall, “Oh, um…”

I hear him laugh, “I’m wearing pants, Jenna.”

I feel my cheeks turn pink and I slowly turn to look at him.
I feel him stare at me as I stare at him. No matter how hard I try, my eyes won’t leave his stomach. His flat, hard, tan, six-pack . . . Oh lord.

Another laugh sounding from his pink lips finally enables me to tear my eyes away.

“You like what you see?” he questions.

I pray that I am not blushing when I shrug and say, “Eh.”

He raises his eyebrows, a little smirk on his face, “That’s it? Just an ‘eh?’”

I force myself not to smile as I sit next to him on his bed, “Eh.”

I hear him sigh, “Tough crowd.”

I laugh, “You know what I realized?”

He turns his head to look at me, “What?”

“That the whole point of the Slave Auction is for me to do things for people and like help them. And
Luke never asked me to do anything, even when he spent all the money. I’m not going to let that happen again.”

Another smirk grows on his face, “Well I have a few things in mind.”
I read his look, “And I will do them. As long as they are PG-13.”

His smirk falls, “Damn, now I got nothing.”

I laugh, “Classy.”

We watch TV in silence for a few moments before he rolls slightly on top of me. “I got something,” he says.

“Oh? And what is it?”

He smiles and leans in, pressing his soft lips to mine.

“Time for dinner!” Anne calls from the hallway. I push
Hayden off of me, gasping for air.

He laughs as he gets up off the bed, “How forceful.”
He winks and leaves the room.

I slowly get off the bed and follow him, replaying the wink in my head over and over.
I walk into the kitchen only to see Hayden and Anne sitting at the table with bowls in front of them

“I made my specialty,” Anne smiles. “Noodles.”

“And by specialty, she means the only thing she can cook,” Hayden laughs.

Anne smacks him lightly on the arm, “Hush,” She turns to me, “You like noodles?”

I smile, “Me encantan los fideos.”

Hayden
laughs, nearly choking on his water as Anne looks at me strangely. I take a seat next to Hayden, “I love them.”

We eat and talk, mostly Anne asking about my parents and what they do and what I like to do (when I’m not staying at people’s houses, that is).

At one point, Hayden grabs my knee under the table, making me nearly jump. Anne doesn’t notice and I look at Hayden. He just smirks and continues to eat. The rest of the dinner, his hand remains, squeezing just above my knee, giving me chills.

Once Anne is done she stands up. “Well, I’m off to bed. I cooked
Hayden, you clean,” He nods as she walks away.

I stand up and grab my bowl, carrying it to the kitchen. I set
it on the counter and feel Hayden’s arms wrap around me from behind, bringing my back to his chest.

“I thought of another thing you could do for me,” he whispers seductively in my ear.

I turn around to face him, his hands still on my hips. “Is it PG-13?”

He nods, pushing me into the counter. I was trapped between that and him. I am reminded of how
Lance had trapped me that day in his room. But this time was different; I didn’t try to fight him.

Hayden
leans in close. I feel his breath on my lips as his barely touch mine. His green eyes are dark as he stares into my brown ones. The ends of his hair tickle my face as he says, “You can do the dishes for me.”

I feel confused as he runs out of the kitchen and towards his room laughing hysterically.

“Hayden!” I yell after him but I hear his bedroom door slam shut, muffling his laughs.

I sigh as I turn to the dishes. I guess I asked for this.

I dry my hands on a towel and make my way down the hall. Without knocking, I walk into his room and find him sprawled out on the bed asleep. I roll my eyes. It had been five minutes and he fell asleep? I sit next to him, trying hard not to shift the bed to wake him.

I stare at his peaceful face. His eyelashes were laid on the tops of his cheeks as his chest rose and fell. His chocolate curls fanned out messily around him on the grey pillow. My eyes fell on his light colored lips wishing to feel them.

His
green eyes flashed open and he yelled, “Boo!”

I jumped off the bed, my heart thumping against my chest.

He laughed, “Got you good, didn’t I?”

I tackle him, “You jerk!” I punch him on the shoulders playfully but he grabs my wrists to stop me.

“Well, aren’t we feisty?” he smirks.

“You nearly killed me!”

His eyebrows raise, “How?”

“I-I could have fallen off the bed or my heart could have popped out of my chest or something like that.”

He pulls me down and tugs me close to him, arms gripping me tightly, “Sounds like that could have actually happened,” he says sarcastically.