CHAPTER Ten
I wish I could say my days got easier. That after the granola bar incident everything was peachy. For the rest of the week the Red Cafeteria still served nothing but tofu and vegetarian options. By Friday the following week, I made a mental note to go grocery shopping for snacks that weekend the minute classes were over.
Luckily, the notes had stopped.
Well, actually it wasn’t necessarily lucky, because that meant I had to eat whatever was in front of me. I decided that tofu burgers weren’t so bad if you bathed them in ketchup, which I did every day. I even closed my eyes in hopes that God would sense my plight and turn my tofu into a giant cow.
I was just finishing my burger on Friday when someone approached my table. Yes, I was still sitting alone.
“Can I help you?” I asked sweetly.
The girl leaned forward until her boobs almost spilled out of her white button up shirt. “Yes. I was told to give you this.” She thrust a note into my face and waited for me to take it.
My fingers gripped the small white paper. Carefully I opened the note. It said, Meet me outside.
Outside? As in outside by all the grass and trees or outside the cafeteria?
The bell rang, signaling I had to leave anyway. Tossing the note onto the tray I picked up my bag and rushed out of the room.
Kids were lining the halls. Weird.
I kept my head down and gripped my backpack as I kept walking.
“Slut, Slut, Slut,” they chanted as I made my way through the hall. Great. Trying to ignore your peers is about as easy as trying to ignore your own face in the mirror. You don’t want the words to affect you, but it’s impossible. Weight descended upon my chest making it hard to breathe.
And then someone threw something at my head.
I staggered and reached up to touch the liquid running down my face.
Egg.
Another one hit my messenger bag, which upset me more than when it hit my hair. That was the most expensive thing I owned, next to the boots Chase had gotten me. I didn’t count grandma’s vintage shoes, because those were passed down.
I kept my gaze focused on the end of the hallway and kept walking.
Eggs flew by my head. I had to close my eyes a few times in order to wipe the slime away from my line of vision. Once I reached the end of the hall, I turned to the left, and ran right into three strong boys. Each of them had a bucket.
“Better get you clean. Elite doesn’t like dirty whores.” They lifted their buckets and dropped ice cold water all over my body.
Ruined. Everything was ruined. My one and only uniform was ruined. My messenger bag, possibly my cell phone, and all the textbooks I was carrying with me that I knew I would have to replace.
I choked on a sob and pushed through them. Passing my classroom, I began walking faster and faster, until finally, I broke into a run. I turned back to make sure they weren’t chasing me.
They were.
And everyone was laughing.
The minute I turned forward, I tripped and fell, scraping my knee like a little first grader.
People circled me, still chanting whore and slut as if I had done anything to deserve it.
“You don’t belong here, Farm Girl!” one guy shouted.
“Spend so much time on your back you’re gonna get sores!” a girl spat and then dropped a condom on top of me.
It was at that point that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to close my eyes and wait for everyone to leave, or just cry and embarrass myself. Hell, I was already beyond embarrassment. I wasn’t that girl. I was a virgin for crying out loud! I’d kissed one boy in my entire life! Ruthless, they were ruthless. More condoms followed until I was literally covered in them, and then one of the girls from the Red Cafeteria walked up to me and pulled my hair toward her, nearly dragging my body along with her.
“You are nothing. Do you understand?” she said in even cold tones. “You don’t belong here. Say it.”
I refused to say it.
She pulled harder. I shrieked and tried to fight her. Damn, she was strong. “Say it!”
“I—”
Tears burned my vision again. How did this happen to me?
I swallowed bravely and stared her down, even though I knew it was stupid and pointless. “I belong here.”
People laughed behind her. Some gasped, and yes, I did see some people averting their eyes. So not everyone was heartless, but it didn’t matter. I had no protection, nothing.
“Leave her alone,” a low voice said from behind the crowd.
I didn’t realize I was trembling until I tried to rub my eyes to see better.
“And who do you think—” The girls words died off. She jerked away from me as if I was diseased and then she was scrambling for words. “I did it for you, Nixon, for you! She can’t dismiss you like that. She can’t—”
“—Stop speaking.” Nixon pushed her into a waiting Chase’s arms. “Take care of this, will you?”
Chase smirked and grabbed the girl and somehow the rest of the crowd.
“Are you hurt?” Nixon leaned down and touched my face. I slapped his hand away and then started bawling like a little kid.
He cursed and tried to pick me up.
I shied away.
“Shit.” He pulled out a hanky from his back pocket. Did guys still carry hankies? “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t…” He bit his lip until it turned white, then he held out his hand.
My brain was on overdrive. I didn’t want the devil’s protection, but then again, maybe I did. Because there was no way I could last another day of this. I couldn’t take it. What normal girl could? I thought he was kidding. I thought wrong.
Reluctantly, I put my hand in his, but the minute I did, he used all his strength and pulled me into his arms and he carried me down the hall.
Wasn’t this touching? Why was it different when it was him doing the touching and not me? I didn’t have time to think of such things as people slowly trickled out of the classrooms. I saw two professors then. They nodded at Nixon and took a sip of coffee as if this was a normal thing to face every day.
I closed my eyes and leaned my wet head against his chest.
He smelled so good.
I smiled and raised my free hand and rested it against his muscled chest. He tensed, sucking air into his mouth as if I had just caused him great pain. And then he relaxed as we walked into another building.
It was smaller than the three large classroom buildings and was nestled in between the science hall and the gym.
He tapped his card against the first steel door we came to. The door slid — yes, slid open Star Trek style.
Nixon walked in but didn’t put me down. I struggled in his arms, but damn, that boy was strong. My eyes caught a glimpse of the room. A pool table stood in the corner. A flat screen TV took up the entire wall, several leather couches, and a bar. Wow, it was like the President’s suite or something.
I glanced back at his face. It was impossible to read. He bit his lip, causing the lip ring on the side to disappear and then I saw it. I almost blurted it out loud. He could seriously be Channing Tatum’s twin. That is, if Channing Tatum had dark curly hair and a lip ring, but still. It was almost uncanny. I told myself to stop staring, but I couldn’t help it.
His gaze fell to mine, then lowered to my lips. He spoke in low tones. “You need to clean up.”
“Because I’m a whore?” I choked back the tears.
He laughed, the bastard. “No, I think we both know you’re not a whore. You need to clean up because you smell like egg and sugar water.”
Was that why I felt itchy? Ugh, I hated college kids.
“Get in.” He plopped me in the middle of the floor and began pulling my clothes off so fast I couldn’t stop him.
“What the hell, Nixon! You can’t just strip me—”
“—I can, and I will, now step out of your skirt like a good girl.”
Too tired to argue, I stepped out. The sound of water running filled my ears. When had he done that? My arms lifted as my tank top from underneath my button up shirt came off, leaving me in my bra, underwear, and knee highs.
Nixon’s face froze.
Embarrassed I tried to cover myself up. It was all too much. Being called a whore, having eggs thrown at me. No meat!
I crumpled into his chest and sobbed. “I miss cows!”
Nixon burst out laughing. Good Lord, but that boy’s laugh was musical. I wanted to bottle it up and keep it all for myself. “Sweetheart, I’m sure they miss you too. Now do you think you can manage the rest?”
“The rest?” I repeated, pulling slightly away from his chest, the same muscled chest I had just snotted all over.
He raised his hands and cupped my face. His touch felt so good. I closed my eyes. “Open your eyes, Trace.”
I opened them. And they were staring directly at his perfect lips.
“Do you need me to help you take off the rest of your clothes, or can you make it from here to the tub without killing yourself?”
My legs did feel shaky, but it was embarrassing enough standing there in nothing but my underwear. “No, um, I can do it.”
He breathed into my neck, was he smelling me? Didn’t I smell like egg still? “You sure? I wouldn’t want anything to happen to—”
I slugged him. Laughing, he stepped back. “Towels are in the cupboard under the sink. We have everything you need next to the tub. Just… don’t drown, okay?”
“Why would I drown?”
He sighed heavily. “Just…” He slammed his fist against the counter. Holy crap, what did I do? “Just, don’t make me worry, okay? I hate worrying.”
Didn’t everyone? “Fine.” I nodded. “I’ll try really hard to keep myself from mermaiding it, deal?”
Without looking at me, he nodded his head and walked out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
Geez, that boy had more mood swings than grandma when she went through menopause.
I quickly stripped off the rest of my clothes and leaned over to feel the water. It scalded my hands. Perfect.
It was tricky lowering myself into that Jacuzzi tub. Finally I was immersed except for my knee. The scrape was still bleeding, and I knew it would hurt like hell the minute it went underwater.
I just didn’t know how bad.
“Ow, ow, ow! Crap!” I blew on my knee and waved my hands in the air.
The door to the bathroom burst open. “What happened?”
I looked at Nixon. A shirtless Nixon. Was he planning to join me too?
Then his eyes locked with mine and lower. I didn’t cover up this time. I think I was in shock or something. Warmth spread through my body, and it had nothing to do with the bath water as his eyes darkened.
He took a step toward me and then another.
“Nixon! Are you in here? Is she okay?” It was Chase.
With a curse he backed out of the bathroom and slammed the door. My heart beat wildly in my chest. What just happened?
Confused and exhausted, I decided to be quick about the bath. I ducked my head under the water. Peace and quiet. It was so nice. My stomach grumbled underwater. Of course it did. I was losing weight on this whole vegan kick, mainly because I was eating Cheerios and granola bars like they were going out of style.
After fifteen minutes, my hair was washed and I was squeaky clean. But I didn’t have any clothes to change into. I paced the bathroom for a few minutes and tried to even my breathing. I didn’t want to barge out of the bathroom in all my naked glory asking for clothes. What if other people were in there?
“You can do this, Trace, just ask for some clothes.” I gave myself a pep talk, nodded my head once, and reached for the door. The minute my fingers touched the knob it jerked open and I fell directly into Nixon’s shirtless, muscled, and tattooed arms.
We both froze. His fingers dug into my shoulders. My face smooshed against his chest. He was breathing heavily, and I was trying to remember not to faint.
“You need something?” he whispered into my ear. Lord, how did his whisper even sound sexy? Shouldn’t there be laws against guys crazy as sin being sexy?
“I need…” My voice cracked. Great. “Um, I need something to wear.”
“Hmm…” He gently pushed me away and looked down at my towel. “Are you sure about that?”
My knees seriously began knocking together. Why did he have to be so beautiful? And why did his touch make me want to sell my soul?
I licked my lips and broke eye contact.
Nixon released me and immediately I felt so cold I shivered. “I’ll find you something. Give me a few minutes.”
He jogged off. Giving me a beautiful view of a tattoo on his back. It was huge, almost taking up the entire thing. It was the picture of a cross, and then in some weird language, maybe Italian, I couldn’t tell, it said Familia and a few other things.
My eyes scanned the rest of the room. It basically looked like a bachelor pad. Or a hangout. The room was large and each chair had a game console hooked up to it as well as a name, and then the far side opposite of the TV had little closets with uniforms with names above each uniform.
Holy hell, I was in the Bat Cave. This was the Elect headquarters. Crap. I just took a bath in the Elect bathroom.
All I needed was to be seen leaving this place and the entire campus would be even more relentless.
I slumped against the wall.
Nixon appeared a few minutes later with some clothes. They all had tags on them. “So…” He scratched his head. “I, um, I guessed on the sizes, and I honestly didn’t want to offend you by guessing too big or guessing too small, which is why it took me five years to pick something out. So don’t get pissed if I was wrong, okay?”
A laugh escaped my lips. “Okay, I promise I won’t get mad.” I took the clothes from his hands and went back into the bathroom.
The jeans were designer. The only reason I knew was because the tag was still on them, and it said three hundred and ninety dollars. I swallowed and pulled out the sweater. It was cashmere and soft, exactly the type of thing I’d want to wear after a crappy day.
There was a small pink box underneath that said Victoria Secret. What? Did he have a freaking mall in this place? Well, it was the Bat Cave, and it was Eagle Elite. I shrugged and opened the box.
My eyebrow lifted. A thong? Really? The matching bra wasn’t so bad, and wonder of all wonders, it was a 34 C, which actually was my size. Then again he had just seen me topless and… oh crap. I leaned against the counter and took a few deep breaths.
It only took me a few minutes to get dressed. I grabbed my clothes off the floor and tried to comb the tangles out of my hair with my fingers.
Nixon was waiting in the large room drinking something and watching TV. “Better?” He took another sip from his cup and never took his eyes from the TV.
“Squeaky clean, and I’m happy to announce that no drowning took place in your bathroom.”
He smirked and nodded his head.
Okay, so was this the part where I was supposed to say thank you and bolt like a scared deer?
I cleared my throat. He still hadn’t moved.
Right. “Well, thanks for… everything. I’ll just go back to—”
“—You aren’t going anywhere until classes are dismissed. You still have two hours to burn. So make yourself at home.”
“But…” I held the damp egg-smelling clothes in my hands. “I need to get these cleaned and…”
Nixon swore and launched himself from the couch, stalking his way toward me. He grabbed my uniform along with my underwear and tossed it into the trash. “Done.”
“What, you have a magical trash can that cleans clothes?”
“Nope. You can’t wear those again. They’re ruined and there are rules here. You can’t just wear a ruined uniform.”
“I hate the stupid rules!” I stomped over to the trash can and tried to free my clothes. “This uniform is all I have!”
Nixon pried the death grip I had on my clothes and dragged me over to the couch. “Sit.”
“But—”
“Sit.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command. I stuck out my tongue. He licked his lips and smiled. “You thirsty?”
Deep breaths. “No.”
“Hungry?”
My stomach growled. Damn traitor!
“That’s what I thought.”
I refused to turn around even when I heard him messing around in what was probably the kitchen. A few curses and slamming of pots and pans and he returned.
With a cow.
Okay, not a real cow. A dead one, in the shape of a hamburger and fries. My mouth watered and sadly I felt tears prick in my eyes. “Thank you.”
I was officially the lame homeless lady who had no money, no food, and cried when people offered her meat. Sigh.
“You need to eat more.” He cursed.
Just then the doors opened. Chase strolled in with a garment bag, followed by Monroe, Tex, and Phoenix. Welcome all to the room of humiliation!
“Are you okay?” Monroe ran to my side and hugged me.
My mouth was full so I just nodded.
“I made her half a cow.” Nixon laughed. “I’m sure she’s in meat lover’s heaven right now.”
“Aww, you killed a cow for her?” Monroe sighed happily.
“Good God, people, he put frozen meat in the microwave and pressed defrost,” Chase muttered. “Is this all you needed fearless leader?” He held out the garment bag.
Nixon nodded. “Right sizes?”
“Yup.”
“Good,” Nixon clipped.” Just put the bag over there, and we’ll take it over once classes are out.”
Chase’s face was stern as he did what Nixon said, but his jaw flexed as if he wanted to say more but was held back.
Phoenix kept looking at me funny as if I was going to launch my person on him and beat the living daylights out of him, which I kind of wanted to do, all things considered, but I felt kind of powerless against him.
Tex sat between me and Monroe and put his arm around her. “So, what are we doing this weekend?”
“We…” Monroe ducked under his arm and placed it back on his knee. “Are doing nothing. I’m going to be a good friend and hang out with my roommate who was brutally assaulted by the stupid a*sholes that go to our school.”
Tex pouted. “Nixon, can’t you just order a hit on the ones that started it so I can have some alone time with your sister?”
I laughed. “Order a hit? You guys talk like he’s mafia or something.”
The room fell silent and then everyone burst out laughing.
But it was the kind of nervous laughter that happens when nobody knows what else to do.
Freaky.
I finished the burger while Monroe and Tex argued over what to do with me where I wouldn’t get into trouble or cause myself physical harm. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Guys! Just go hang out. I was going to go to the store anyways.”
“No!” everyone said in unison.
“Is the store dangerous or something?”
Monroe shrugged. “No, it’s just not smart. I mean you shouldn’t leave campus by yourself. Besides, you need a car. You don’t have a car.”
No, but I had a bit of money stashed away. “I’ll take a cab.”
Monroe looked horrified. “A cab?”
Tex burst out laughing. “Do those still exist?”
Nixon flipped off the TV gaining everyone’s attention.
“So…” Chase asked, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “What will it be Nixon?”
He eyed me briefly before answering. “I guess we’re all going shopping.”
“But—” Monroe started and Nixon gave her a warning glare.
“We’ll take security.” He shrugged.
“But last time—”
“—I said…” Nixon’s nostrils flared. “We’ll take security.”