Core

Chapter 3

I was thrown against the lockers and before I could react Lucas had already pinned me back, threatening to squeeze the life out of me as he pressed his forearm against my neck. Kal was beating on his shoulder and trying to pull him off me and Nariko simply watched in horror as I tried to kick him.

I should've seen this coming: the way Nariko was staring at me just a few minutes earlier, the way her eyes suddenly widened and her face reddened when she recognized my face. She told Lucas everything. I could see it in his expression as she whispered. The change from surprise, to disbelief, to anger and holy crap did he look mad.

I tried to kick him off again but he blocked it before kneeing me in the gut. I felt his arm move away and I fell to the ground trying to get my wind back. The scene had gathered quite a bit of attention from surrounding students. It was almost the end of lunch so we already had a number of people forming a half circle around where we were.

"Nothing to see here," Lucas said, I could feel him looking down at me and I saw him turn around to the others, "I said nothing to see here! Get out of here!" The rest of the crowd soon began to dissipate as I still tried to catch my breath on my hands and knees.

"Luke! What the hell has gotten into you?" Kal asked. She sounded like she was about to cry. Her voice cracked and I could see Lucas fall back a bit when she pushed him.

"It seems Donny has been stalking Nariko last night. She said he caught him peeping while she was getting changed in her room," Lucas replied.

I dropped my head in shame. It wasn't exactly peeping. I was investigating. It just happened to end up like that due to the circumstances. Still I could tell Kal's judgement on the situation was slowly changing. She was probably getting mad at me now. Thanks Lucas for making it worse than it all actually was.

The bell tolled and Lucas spoke to Nariko. "You should probably head to class. I'll clean this mess up, don't worry."

I looked up and saw Nariko nodding at him before staring down at me. Well, at least she looked worried about me. Or maybe that was pity. Luke waited until she was out of sight before offering me a hand up. I took it and tried to stand. Damn did my gut hurt. I saw the grin on Lucas' face and I immediately knew what was up.

"You could've pulled that knee a bit, you know," I said. This prompted a confused look from Kal and a soft chuckle from Luke.

"You're not a very good actor so I had to make it more convincing. So, tell me: what was she wearing?" Luke asked.

"Luke!" Kal cried out in disbelief as she looked from him to me. "What the hell?"

He raised a hand at her. "Strictly guy business. Nothing for you to worry about."

"A white bra, pink pajama pants and pink polka-dot panties," I replied with a smile.

"How'd she look?"

"She's small. Small breasts, kind of a flat butt. But it comes along nice with her hips-to-waist."

"See anything else?"

I shook my head. "Dude, I was seriously there just to see what was going on at her house, not to watch her undress."

"Uh huh, sure..." Lucas said with a slow nod.

"You boys are unbelievable!" Kal responded, setting herself in between us. "Lucas! I honestly thought you were defending her decency. And Donovan..." She didn't say anything but only shook her head. I expected something like anger from her but all I got was this incredibly upset expression that I couldn't help but turn away from. I hated that look so much. Well, not hated but it made me feel terrible. It was one that she only gave to me when I really did mess something up bad for her.