Chapter Eight

Abigail.

So, how would you feel if you were in the girlâs lockers room changing for gym class? And you were trying really hard not to stare at the other tan curvy girls and not envy them? Youâd feel kind of intimidated. If you had my pencil-shaped body and pale complexion, you would be jealous of the other girls. I threw my gym shirt on I that got from the girls' PE teachers. It was a gray t-shirt that had the schoolâs logo on it on the right side. I slid the ugly color green basketball shorts on and pulled my hair up in a ponytail. I just hoped the concealer I had on was long lasting like it said it was.

I tied my shoes and walked out of the locker room and into the gymnasium where other students were running their seven laps around the gym. I learned since the school was such a small size, the grade levels have to share classes. So, the sophomore and senior classes shared PE together.

I began my seven laps as a jog since I hated running so much. I wish there was a different class I could go to for this stupid running. I thought and then I yawned. I am so tired and Tyler didnât even cry once last night. But I was always tired. I wished I could just sleep forever, but then who would take care of Tyler? I canât just leave him alone and not have anyone take care of him.

On my fourth lap, I slowed down to a quick walk. Did I mention I hate running? I had to hold onto the right side of my waist because I was getting a side stitch there. I saw someone appear next to me and I turned my head to see Mina. She looked me over and pursed her lips. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged, giving her a questionable look.

She crossed her arms over her shoulders. âListen here since itâs the only thing you can do, Abigail. I have wanted Scott since eighth grade and I wonât let some little freak like you take away my chances. I donât know what he sees in you anyways. Your hair is an ugly color of brown and youâre as thin as a stick. Itâs kind of gross. Heâs just playing you. So if you dare take away what is mine, youâll regret it and be afraid,â she said before running again. Wow.

My mouth was hanging slightly open and, even though I usually donât care what people say about my looks or calling me a freak, for some odd reason it hurt when she mentioned Scott and brought out my flaws at the same time. I knew she was right though. Scott only wants to use me. A boy that hot will only want one thing. Why would he want to have just one girlfriend who doesnât even speak? Why am I thinking about being his girlfriend?! I need to stop. Itâll never happen.

I awkwardly covered one of my elbows with the other hand and kept my head down as I continued to walk. Suddenly, I felt two hands go on my waist and I took in a sharp breath, turning around to see it was Scott grinning down at me. I scowled him and hit his shoulder for scaring me! Why does he have to be in this gym class? Now heâs going to end up distracting me. Ignore him. It always worked before.

I turned back around and, even though I didnât want to, I started running again. Not because of what Mina said, but what my dad said.

I need to ignore him and his brothersâ girlfriends. I canât make friends with them. Why do they want to be friends with me anyways? I shouldâve known Scott would have been able to keep up with me since I wasnât running very fast. I kept my eyes off him and looked around to notice Haley and Skylar were in the same gym class as me too. I sighed hard in annoyance.

âSo, are you going to ignore me now?â Scott asked and, just to show him I was, I didnât reply or look at him. âOkay, well, Iâm just going to keep talking until you look at me, Abby,â he said, and I heard the amusement in his voice.

âSo, I see youâre feeling better. Thatâs great. I felt kind of bad since it was me that got you sick. Iâll admit, it was stupid to take you out in the winter night since it was, like, ten degrees out!â he chuckled. âBut anyways, you didnât miss much yesterday as you probably already know, but just another boring day here at Kingâs High. Thank god itâs Friday. Letâs just hope this weekend doesnât go by fast. I hate it when that happensââ

Ugh, heâs getting on my nerves. Before I knew it, I stopped and turned to him, putting my hands on his chest and pressed him against the wall, pointing at him and wanted to yell at him so bad to âshut the hell up!â

I hate how I canât stop myself from almost talking to him sometimes! He always seems to make me want to talk! Ugh, heâs like one big, fat, giant headache! I saw amusement in his eyes and when I realized what I just did, my cheeks burned bright red and I turned my head around a little to see most of the class noticed what I did.

My body went stiff and nervousness filled me. I hated people looking at me. I gulped really hard and I felt two hands go on my waist, pulling me closer to Scott. I felt so much more nervous now and I was cursing him in my mind, wanting him to let me go since he smelled sooo good!

I canât explain it, but it was a fresh kind of smell, like Old Spice. A low gasp escaped my lips and my eyes widened when he moved his mouth right to my ear and kissed underneath it. I felt like I couldnât move. I hated how my body seemed to light up when his lips touched my skin.

He whispered something in my ear, and it was barley spoken, but it kind of sounded like âmineâ. My eyes furrowed together in confusion, but I stayed still, afraid to move. My lips felt dry and I quickly licked them, my heart feeling like it was going to explode, it was going so fast

Then it felt like water was splashed on me when I remembered we were in the freaking gymnasium! Oh my god, this is so embarrassing! I hit Scott hard as I could on his stomach, but his stomach was hard as a rock! Damn it! That hurt too. But he got the point. He let go of me and I continued with my last lap. Ignoring the looks I got from people.

God, I just want to cover my face and go hide! That was so embarrassing! I was just about to start making out with Scott right there in class! I just wanted someone to slap me right now. I needed someone to slap some sense in me. Iâm such an idiot.

*

Scott:

I had a giant grin on my face when Abigail started to run. Iâll have to admit, almost kissing her was exciting. I was disappointed that she was away from my hold, but when her skin was touching mineâ€Â¦man, did everything feel right. Skylar and Haley came up to me and shook their heads.

“Really, Scott? In class?” Skylar questioned.

I leaned up from the wall. “Hey, don’t start on me, man. Talk to your girlfriend about being pregnant and doing gym class.”

“It’s exercise, dip shit. It’s good for both the mother and baby,” she said to Skylar.

“And she wouldn’t listen to me anyways,” Skylar said, clearly annoyed.

“I’m not glass, Skylar. I’m not going to break from running even though it’s getting tiring,” she said, putting her weight on one foot. Her eyes then pooled with tears. “Oh god, I have to quit the cheer squad now! Thanks a lot, Skylar. This is all your fault!” she exclaimed, tears sliding down her face as she ran out of the gymnasium.

“Six more months of that,” Skylar said, his voice irritated. “I wonder if she remembers she was also in the act of making that baby. She’s the one that wanted to have sex that night and—”

“Man, I do not need to hear about which of you wanted it first,” I told him. One, it’s gross to know to about my brother and his girlfriend's sex life. And second, it kind of makes me jealous. To know that I’m a guy and I’m still a ‘virgin’ at sixteen is kind of annoying to me. I mean, I’m a guy who literally has animal instincts and it’s really hard some nights. It’s really hard now that my mate’s showed up and she’s the stubborn type.

Skylar nodded. “Right. Come on, let’s just finish before Mr. Berry comes out and gives us his irritating lectures.”

*

Abigail:

I dodged each of the big rubber balls that were coming my way. Most were from the evil witch Mina. She was on the other teams and her eyes were mostly on me. I have been hit, like, at least four times by her and it was getting on my nerves! If she wants Scott, she can have him!

Speaking of Scott, he was at the front, having the time of his life smacking people with the big rubber balls. I noticed that most of them were going to Skylar who was trying to hit him back. I couldn’t help but stare at his perfectly muscular arms and his built body.

Ugh, why does he have to be so gorgeous!?

“Hey, head ups!” I heard the girl next to me yell, and I turned my head to look at her, confused, but something smacked in my face. I fell on my side and I cried out in pain. My hands flew up to my throbbing left cheek and I bit my tongue a little. Fuck, that hurt! I yelled in my head. My eyes teared up, but I closed my eyes hard, not wanting to cry. My face was throbbing and hurting, too. Mina has a good arm. I felt someone lift me up a little and I opened my eyes to see it was Scott.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice concerned. I tasted blood on my mouth from my bit lip and that hurt like a bitch also. I rubbed my cheek and nodded. I got up from the floor and glared at Mina who had amusement on her face.

“Should have been paying attention,” she said. I took a step forward to punch her just for the hell of it, but Scott held me back by wrapping his arms around me. I tried to get out of his arms, but he was stronger. Ugh, I just want to punch him too! Why is everyone here so messed up! First, people want to be friends and now, the popular girl's out to get me! I used to be ignored and I grew used to that! I was just a shadow in the crowd and I didn’t mind at all. Why is it so different here?!

I felt Scott’s hot breath next to me ear. “Relax, Abby,” he whispered in my ear.

Mina put her hand on her hip and chuckled, “Look, Mute-Freak here’s trying to fight, how cute.”

“Shut up, Mina!” Scott yelled. “Call her that again and watch what happens to that face of yours!”

“You won't touch me, Scott. Why are you defending her? She’s nothing but a freak-show. She can’t even talk!” Mina yelled, so loud the whole gymnasium could hear. I saw the gym teachers come up, but the growl coming from Scott’s mouth brought my attention to him. My eyes widened since it sounded so un-human like. I felt his arms loosen around my waist and he moved around me.

I saw the dangerous look on his face and he didn’t even seem human. His eyes, instead of their perfect chocolate-gold like color, were pitched black now. I put my hands on his chest and held him back, shaking my head when he looked down at me. It would be different if it was me ripping those dyed locks out of her head, but a guy beating up a girl? Totally wrong. Realization hit me like a cannon ball. If Scott would go to hit Mina, does that mean he’s an abuser? My body felt stiff, feeling stupid to think he was a good guy.

My mom was right; guys like Scott don’t seem to be how they are in the beginning. Oh god. I took my hands off his chest and one step back. He looked down at me confused. His eyes somehow turned back to their normal color as I stepped even farther back from him. I won't let him hurt me.

Riiinnng! Riiinnng! Riiinnng!

I jumped when the bell went off and I turned around, quickly walking away to the locker room to go change and get away from Scott. I’m so stupid, I thought. After changing back into my regular cloths, I looked in the mirror of the locker room and touched my crimson cheek.

I frowned and wet a paper towel, pressing it against my cheek to cool down the hot throbbing feeling. I frowned and dropped my head to stare down at the sink. I sighed heavily and ran my hand through my hair which was down now.

Suddenly, someone pushed me against the wall and my back hit it. A sharp gasp escaped my lips and I stared at Mina and two of her friends in surprise. What is she doing?

“What did I tell you about staying away from Scott?” she hissed. She stepped closer to me and the look she gave me scared me. I pressed my back against the wall and I jerked when she was in front of me, almost touching me.

“Look, I don’t know what he sees in you. You’re nothing but a stupid broken little bitch. Truth hurts, I know, but it’s true. You can’t talk and that’s a way he can’t control you. Me, I’m not broken. I’m perfect,” she said, putting her hand on her hip. She was only in her skinny jeans and her pink Victoria Secret bra. Her body was dark tan and she had a belly button piercing. I looked away from her and she grabbed my chin, making me look at her. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” she hissed.

“You will let Scott know somehow you’re not interested and tell him to leave you alone. I won’t let a freak show like you steal him away from me. We would be perfect together and I won’t let some trailer trash whore steal him from me.”

I wondered what she would think if I let her know I have told him I’m not interested and to leave me alone, but he still keeps coming back to try and get me to let him in.

I don’t want him though. And if he wanted her, he would have had her already. She’s just desperate.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” I heard Haley’s voice and Mina let go of me. Haley came up next to her. “You’ll be leaving her alone from now on, Mina.”

“Or what?” she questioned. “You think because you’re head cheerleader you can do whatever you want and order us around? Bitch, I don’t think so.” Mina looked taken aback for a second, probably because she had actually called her a bitch to her face. She quickly recovered and smiled sweetly at Haley.

“Yes, I do think that. I can get you kicked off the squad for the rest of the season. You’ll leave Abigail alone from now on,” she said. Haley moved next to me anyway and put her arm around my shoulder.

“You okay?” she asked. I was happy that Haley was sticking up for me, but I didn’t need her help. I just nodded and moved away from her arm. I walked over to my stuff, grabbed everything, and made my way out.