Leather Kisses

Leather Kisses. 22

Dean turned and lifted his head, kissed my cheek lightly, then leaned and rested on his arms for a bit. I couldn't help but look up at him with glazed, starry eyes. His face was so mesmerizing; his dark eyes, his thick eyebrows, his chiseled jawline, his crimson lips, his scars, and his freckles. I wanted to study and memorize every detail of his beautiful face. It seemed like Dean was doing the same for me, except his eyes never broke the connection with mine.

I laid there peacefully, and enjoyed the perfect moment we were sharing. Not everything between us was perfect, but right now, it felt like it was. Unfortunately, our perfect moment had to end. The bell rang, and we were forced to leave the safety of our sanctuary.

The rest of the day I traveled like a ghost, drifting through the shadows as an unseen bystander. I kept my head bent low, so that my hair would hang and cover my face. I wanted to be invisible, as I had been to Blake just hours before. People still talked about the changed, unruly Riley Jennings, but nobody saw her.

Relief struck when the final bell rang at the end of the day. I joined the stampede, eager to escape this never-ending hell. Dean managed to find me in the crowded lobby, then he swept me away towards the parking lot. He slung his muscular arm around my waist and held me close. As we walked towards his parking spot, another couple blocked our way.

"Look who it is, couple of the year," Blake sneered to his new punching bag. She let out a light cackle, and then snapped her gum. Blake stood tall in his football team jacket, proud and threatening.

"Blake," Dean muttered. "Move."

Blake widened his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Make me." Dean curled his hand into a fist in rage, but later released it. He knew better. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Have you two met my new girlfriend? This is Emily."

This is where I'm brutally reminded that no matter who you are in this school, everybody knows everybody.

"As if we all haven't been going to school together since Kindergarden . . ." I muttered under my breath.

He rolled his eyes, as he pulled her thin body closer to his. "She's next in line for Valedictorian . . . now that you're out of the running," Blake snapped at me.

"Who said I'm out? I'm still in it," I raised my voice.

The couple chuckled as if I had said something funny. "You're kidding, right?"

Dean looked at me, asking me to back off with his eyes. But I couldn't help but ignore him. I may have not be the same person anymore, but my values hadn't changed.

"My GPA is still standing, my curriculum and scores are still as they are, so no, I'm not kidding."

"Right . . ." Blake remarked in the midst of chuckles. He gave Emily a tight squeeze, and a slight push. "Babe, why don't you go wait in the truck? I'll be there in a minute."

Emily kissed his left cheek, leaving a faint red lipstick mark. As she pushed through us, she glared at me with intense, competitive eyes.

"Isn't she great?" Blake rhetorically asked, with sparkling eyes.

"Yeah . . . a real individual," Dean mumbled. Obviously, he picked up on the similarities too.

Blake sighed, like a love sick puppy. But he didn't have either of us fooled.

"Yeah well," he paused briefly. "Don't think I've forgotten about you. It's not over, yet."

With a cackle, he walked away with his hands shoved in his pockets. It was unbelievable how sick and twisted a person could be.

Dean channeled his attention towards his bike. Quickly, his face washed over with panic. He hurried to the side of his motorcycle, and knelt down. His fingers dipped into a pool of a dark, oily substance.