Duality: Vol 1, Melancholia (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (7 page)

Kootch gave up on the whole idea of teamwork and took a shot after walking two steps.  It wasn’t pretty, but it went in.

“Yeah!  Three points!”

“One point, dumbass.  You get one.”  Jasmine walked over and took the ball.

“It’s just an expression, Butts.  And don’t call me a dumbass.”

She was dribbling the ball and chewing her gum really obnoxiously, walking backwards to the half-court line.  “I call it like I see it,
dumbass
.”

“Listen, Butts, I’m not the one with the word
ass
in my name, okay, so just put your shit away.”

“Why don’t you come over here and
make
me put my shit away, Kootch?  Or should I call you Hootch?”

“Listen, Buttface, I’m warning you…”  Kootch started walking towards her.

“Uh-oh,” I said softly to no one in particular.

“What?  What’re you going to do?”  Jasmine was totally taunting him now and she knew it.  She was actually smiling, and she didn’t do that very often.  “You gonna throw a rock at me again?”

I frowned.  Rae had been walking over and she stopped next to me.

“What’s she talking about?” Rae asked.

“I have no idea.”

Kootch threw his arms up.  “I told you I didn’t throw that fucking rock!”  He was roaring mad now.

I took off after him without thinking too hard about it.  I was just afraid he was going to do something really stupid, and I wanted to stop it before it went too far.

Rae apparently had the same thought, because she ran right next to me.  We both reached Kootch, just as he was getting in Jasmine’s face.  His jaw was bouncing as he held in his anger with gritted teeth.

“Yes, you did!” Jasmine yelled.  “It was totally you, you prick!  And I still have the scar from it too!”  She jabbed a finger towards the corner of her eye.

“Yeah, well, it’s an improvement.  You should
thank
me.”

She shoved him in the chest.

He didn’t even budge, but he did roar.  And then he squatted down and grabbed her around the waist, picking her up about a foot above his head as he squeezed her to his chest.

Jasmine screamed in either fright or surprise, beating him about the head and shoulders.  “Put me down, you fucking lunatic!  Ahhhh!!  Get him off me!!”

Rae was on him in a second, trying to pull his arms away from her teammate.  But Kootch was much stronger than her, and she looked like a little mosquito buzzing around him, having no effect whatsoever.

Kootch started spinning around in a circle, further making it impossible for Rae to help her friend.  “Say you’re sorry!” he yelled.

Jasmine poked him in the eyes on purpose.  “Sorry for what?!  Telling the truth!  Never!”

I stepped over to help, worried either someone was going to get hurt or we were going to get busted by the teacher.  I was trying to grab him by the shirt sleeve, and I did get a grip on it, but his movement carried me sideways when I didn’t let go.  I accidentally slammed into Rae, knocking her off her feet.

I had a split second thought that I needed to help her not fall on the hard floor, but only succeeded in going down with her.  We landed in a tangle, me on top of her and Kootch and Jasmine spinning just above us.

“Owww!  Those’re my eyes, Butts!” he yelled.

She slapped him in the face, first one cheek and then the other.  “Good!  See how you like it!”

I struggled to roll away from Rae.  I was freaking out that touching her was not only feeling way too good, but it was going to hurt her in ways that were too awful to think about.  She was going to get attached and sad and then terrible things would happen.

“Hey!  Hey!  What’s going on over there?!”  Mrs. Hatcher the gym teacher had finally decided to make her appearance.  The slapping of her feet on the wood floor reached my ears.

Kootch took one step back and got his foot caught in my legs.  “Ahhhh!!  Buuuuuutts!”

He went down in slow motion, Jasmine high above him and still in his arms.

Everyone screamed, including me.

Chapter Eight: Rae

EVERYTHING WAS GOING SO WELL, and then Jasmine and Kootch had to get into it with each other.  One second they were arguing, and the next thing I knew Malcolm and I were running over to break them apart.  I nearly had a heart attack when Kootch grabbed Jasmine and lifted her up, spinning her around.  If I hadn’t heard the angry words between them, I might have thought he was just being playful; and if I hadn’t seen her slapping and poking him, I might have thought she was his girlfriend being swung around in fun.  But that was definitely not the case with them, and I had to rescue my new friend.

I was reaching up to grab Kootch’s arm and stop him from spinning anymore when Malcolm slammed into me.

I was so stunned, I didn’t realize what had happened until I was on the ground and he was on top of me.  All the air had been pushed out of my lungs and I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds, but that didn’t stop me from feeling every inch of his body as it lay on mine.

He was heavy and warm.  I could smell his scent - not cologne exactly but something definitely male.  Some of his hair tickled my cheek as he rolled to the side.  Part of me wished he had stayed right where he was, but a girl like me can’t have that kind of contact without terrible things happening later.  Unfortunately, I think it made me want it that much more.

An adult’s voice shouted out across the gym.  “Hey!  Hey!  What’s going on over there?!”

The teacher.  Oh no! 
I scrambled to get my arms and hands under me so I could get up.

And then the mountain that was Kootch started to fall.

I screamed, and so did a bunch of other kids around us.  Even Malcolm yelled, holding up his hands as if to stop it all from happening.

The full weight of Kootch holding Jasmine landed across my middle, and I grunted hard.  I continued with frantic wheezing as all kinds of scrambling was happening on top of me.

“Let!  Me!  Go!  You complete idiot assjockey!” yelled Jasmine.

“I’m trying!  I’m trying!  Ow, stop kicking me you nutbag!”

“All of you get up!  Get up right this second!  Do you hear me?!”  Mrs. Hatcher had joined the fray, leaning in to try and grab bodies.

I just laid there trying to get my breath back as everyone rolled away and kicked around in their attempts to get free.

The teacher grabbed Kootch’s shirt and hauled him to his feet.  “Detention!  All of you have two weeks of detention, do you hear me?!  Physical violence is
not
tolerated in my class.  That is bad sportsmanship!  Bad sportsmanship!”

She pulled Jasmine up by the wrist next, taking her by the shoulders when she was standing finally and setting her off to the side, away from Kootch.

Jasmine glared at Kootch as she straightened her t-shirt and pants.

Everyone was on their feet now but me.  I looked up at Malcolm, finally able to breathe again.

He held out his hand to help me up, staring at me with a strange expression on his face.

I took his hand and used the leverage he provided to stand.  His fingers were really warm, and I didn’t want to let them go when I was up.  Something about him made me want to hold on … to cling.  He was like a life raft and I was lost at sea.

But he dropped my fingers like they were burning him, and turned away.

I let my arm fall to my side, staring at the floor as the teacher continued to lecture us.

“What were you thinking, Caden?  You know you can’t touch girls like that.  I thought you knew better.  Maybe I should call your parents.”

“Aw, no, Mrs. Hatcher, please don’t do that.  If you call them … just don’t.  I’ll clean out the locker room.  I’ll wash all the towels or whatever.”

“The janitor does that work, but believe me, it’s tempting.  I’m giving you two weeks of detention.”

“Are you sure you can’t just make me clean some lockers or toilets or something?” he asked in a pitiful voice.

“I’m sure.  Now go get dressed.  You’re done for the day.”

Kootch walked off, his head hanging low and his feet shuffling on the dusty wood.

“As for you, Jasmine … how many times have I told you that your mouth is going to get you in serious trouble?”

“About eighty?”

“Don’t be a smartbutt with me.  Just go get changed, and think about how wrong this could have gone for you if it hadn’t been here in this gym with all these witnesses around.  A boy as big as Caden in a dark alley could mean big problems for a girl like you.”

“Kootch wouldn’t have hurt me even if it was in a dark alley.  He’s not like that.”  Jasmine sounded offended on his behalf.  I was kind of proud of her for sticking up for him like that, even if I wasn’t sure if it was true or not.

“You don’t know that.  You don’t know him at all.  Everyone has secrets, and most of them things you don’t want to know about.  Now go.”  Mrs. Hatcher pointed to the locker rooms.

Jasmine was mumbling as she walked away, but I couldn’t hear any of the actual words.

“And you two…”  Mrs. Hatcher was staring at me and Malcolm.

Neither of us said a word.  We looked at each other for a couple seconds and then at the floor.  My heart skipped a beat. 
He is so cute.  And he doesn’t seem to be affected by me.  Maybe he’s a Neutral!  How can I get him to talk to me so I can find out?  I can’t believe I could have two Neutrals in one class.  That would be a first.

“Malcolm you finally decide to participate and this is what you do?”

“I told you …”

“Yes, yes, yes … you’ve told me … it’s better if you don’t participate.  But I don’t agree.  It’s better if you
do
participate and be a part of a team.  You can’t be a loner your whole life.”

He looked up sharply at that, sounding angry when he responded.  “Yes, I can.”

“No.  You
can’t.
”  She fixed him with a stern look.  “
Everyone
needs people.  That’s how we’re wired.  I don’t care what color you are, where you’re from, or what your sexual preferences are … everyone needs someone.  And you aren’t going to find that someone by sitting on the sidelines of life all the time.”

Malcolm looked like he wanted to say something, but he just clenched his teeth together, making his jaw stick out at the corners.

She turned to me.  “And you, young lady.  It’s your
first
day
, and you’re already involved in a physical altercation.  I cannot imagine your parents would be very proud of this kind of behavior.”

I was almost happy she was mad at me.  No one stayed mad at me, not even for a little while. 
Could she be a Neutral too?  But she’d been so weirdly nice in the locker room…

“Um, yeah.  They’ll probably be mad.”  It was a lie, because even my parents couldn’t get mad at me, but it felt normal to say it.  Normal is awesome.

“And here I was listening to all this talk around the teacher’s lounge about our new valedictorian.”  She pointed a finger in my face.  “If you mess up your gym grade, I’m not going to be responsible for you losing that honor.”

“No, ma’am.”  I tried really hard to look chagrined, not sure I was pulling it off.  I wanted to jump and cheer over the idea that she was mad at me, like I was a regular kid in her class who’d messed up.

“Make sure you bring your own uniform tomorrow.  You can buy the shirt you need in the main office.  Wear any color sweats or shorts, but not too short.  I don’t want to see any butt cheeks in my gym.”

“Okay.”  I couldn’t stop smiling.

“I don’t see what’s so funny here, Rae.  A first impression is very hard to change.  If you set yourself up here as a trouble-maker, you’ll have a hard time living that reputation down.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  I should have been cowed and worried, but I was thrilled. 
She’s mad!  She’s angry at me!  She’s treating me like everyone else!

The teacher rolled her eyes.  “I don’t know what to do with kids these days.”  She stared us down again. “Two weeks of detention.  All four of you.  Starting today after school.”

We both nodded at her, saying nothing.

She gestured towards the locker rooms.  “Go.  I don’t want to look at you anymore.  When you’re back in street clothes sit on the bleachers.  Apart.  I want all of you separated for the rest of this class.”

We walked around her without another word and moved towards the locker rooms in silence.  It was only at the door that separated the girls’ locker room from the boys’ that Malcolm finally spoke.

“You’re on track to be valedictorian?”

I shrugged.  “I guess.”

“Oh, man.  That sucks for Jasmine.”  He pushed the door open.

“Why?”

“Because until you showed up, that was her crown.”

He disappeared inside, leaving me with a sinking heart and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Chapter Nine: Malcolm

I JOINED KOOTCH AT THE lockers where our stuff was stored.  He was already standing in his boxers, pulling out his clothes.

“Can you believe that shit?  Totally unfair.”  He slammed his locker door closed.  The happy-go-lucky jokester was gone and in his place was the Miserable I’d been trying to ditch for weeks.

“Yeah.”  I removed the lock and opened my locker.  As I took out my clothes and dropped them on the bench, I realized I was twice as bummed now as I had been before.  For a little while there I’d actually been thinking I could hang out with Kootch.  Now I knew it was just a fantasy.

“That Butts … she’s the one who caused all this.”  He pulled on his jeans but left them unbuttoned.

“No she didn’t, man.  You did.  You’re the one who picked her up and swung her around.”  I frowned, keeping my eyes on my clothes and not him.  I didn’t want to fight, but I couldn’t let him blame Jasmine for what happened.

“Did you hear what she said?  She’s still blaming me for that bullshit with her eye.  It was years ago. 
Years.” 
He yanked his t-shirt on over his head and pulled the bottom of it down.