Today was that day. Everyone knew about the next day you'd have to face that something after doing something embarrassing.
In my case, today was the day I was facing Mercer and not in the terms of confrontation. No, Mr. Finsley is having us work on the group project today meaning I will be forced to talk to Mercer sooner rather than later.
One side of me was claiming I was making a bigger deal of it than it actually is and the other side of me is telling me to be cautious as much as I can.
The closer I made it to Mr. Finsley's classroom, the slower my feet began to move.
I just didn't want to face the inevitable so soon.
"You okay, Gen?" Carson's soft voice fills my ears.
Clearing my throat, I nod. "Yes," I smile. "Just a little tired."
He frowns slightly, a guilty look on his face. "I didn't keep you too late did I? I'm sorry if I did."
My smile grew at the concerning look on his face. He was so charming and his concern was pulling at my heart. Carson and I looked over the photos after Skylar's club. We went to the library to use one of the computers and he showed me what he had so far on his flash drive.
All I can say is that Carson had a great eye when it came to capturing the perfect picture. Talking to him was easy and I was so wrapped up in our conversation that I didn't realize the time. I almost went past the time of my given curfew and I had to rush home.
"No, you didn't."
"Good," He sighs, shifting on his feet. "Shall we get to class?" He gestures with his free hand.
I walked in front of him and we had a small talk on our way. Passing the threshold of the classroom door, I nearly hesitate at the sight of Mercer.
There he was sitting at his desk, looking down at his phone. The familiar nonchalant look on his handsome face made it hard to figure out what he was thinking.
"Text you later?" Carson smiles.
I nod my response and we parted ways to go to our desks.
My heart was thumping so hard I'd think it would burst out of my chest. It only got faster with every step I take towards my desk. The desk that was right in front of Mercer. Right in front of the bully. Right in front of the guy that confronted me in the locker room. Right in front of the guy that was looking at me differently than he normally does.
My head was spinning just thinking about if he was going to bring it up. The moment was intense and he was a crazed person lost in his head.
Slowly, without making a single noise or even greeting him, I slip into my chair and faced forward. I tried my best to keep calm and relaxed but I couldn't. Especially when I can feel his eyes on me.
I didn't need to turn for confirmation. It was a strange feeling but I knew he was staring at me.
The bell rang and Mr. Finsley wasted no time in going over the project. After a few minutes of him talking, I shifted in my seat.
He was still staring at me.
"Alright, students. Don't disappoint." Mr. Finsely dismisses us into our groups and I take a few breaths, preparing myself to face him.
Students got out of their chairs and went to their partners or groups while all I had to do was turn around. I still can't believe Mercer made himself my partner.
"Are you going to turn around, Red, or do I have to come to you?" The amusement in his deep voice was clear as day.
Exhaling slowly, I turned to face him meeting his gaze.
"Still ignoring me?" He mused.
I blinked, getting my mind together. What to say to someone that found this genre situation humorous. Or did?
Pushing aside his words, I pulled out a piece of paper with a list of suggestions for our project. "I think we can come up with a name after we figure out our topic."
A few books to the side, I pulled out a pen when I heard him chuckle softly. Lifting my head to meet his eyes once again, they twinkled.
"You serious?" He mutters, blue orbs flickering across my face.
"What?"
Oh, please don't bring it up. Please don't.
"You're going to sit here as if nothing happened." He mutters intensely, eyes narrowed softly.
"Nothing did happen." I say and he frowns as if I said something after to offend him.
I mean it was true. Nothing happened between us in the locker room. Sure, Mercer acted all caveman for no reason just because he saw me with Carson but he had no authority over me. I was my own person just as he was. I don't go around telling him who he can and can't talk to.
He hums letting his tongue run across his bottom lip, my eyes following the action. Clearing my throat and looking away from the sight, I grabbed my pen and began to write.
"Difficult." He mumbles.
"What?"
He shakes his head, contemplating. "I said you're difficult."
He has had some nerve to talk. It was a challenge to deal with Mercer. Specifically, if I have to see him every day. Heck, I tutor the guy, and not only do his mood swings and overbearing actions make me angry at times but make him difficult to deal with.
I sighed. "How am I difficult?"
"You acting as if nothing didn't happen in the locker room."
I scoffed. "All I remember is you demanding I stay away from Carson." And the fact that your hand around my throat awakened foreign feelings.
Gone was his amusement, a serious look on his face replacing it. "And I see the motherfucker is still sniffing around you."
"What is your problem? We're just friends." I say letting my attitude slip.
"I don't give a fuck what you are. He's a creep. Who the fuck would stare at you for so long?" The disdain in his tone was fierce.
Ouch.
Was there something wrong with me physically? It must be if he had to say that.
It shouldn't bother me. It shouldn't bother me. It shouldn't bother me.
Who am I kidding? It did bother me.
"What is that supposed to mean?" My eyes narrowed, allowing the emotion to fuse with my words.
He meets my gaze and he must of saw that his words affected me because he curses and grabs my hand that had an unrelaxed grip on a pen.
"I didn't mean it like that." He grits with a tight jaw.
Liar.
Forcing away the sharp foreign pain in my chest, I remove my hand from his and look down at my paper. "Can we just focus on the project?"
I could feel him staring at me, silently asking me to look at him. But I don't.
I stay quiet and worked on half my portion of the paper. That's how the entire class went. The silence between us while we both worked on our parts.
Mercer was an asshole without having to even try and all it does is wrap me in my insecurities.
⋄ ✵ ⋄
"This is disgusting." Demi complained, setting her sandwich back down.
I laughed, lowering the book I held in my hand. "It can't be that bad."
She always complained about the school's cafeteria food. Sometimes she would order from a nearby fast food place but she was late on doing so because she had to stay a few minutes back in one of her classes.
Now, we're sitting at our usual table in the cafeteria full of chatter.
"Says the girl who rarely eats during lunch."
I shrug, looking over her shoulder at the familiar table full of well known people. The people that rule the halls sat in one section of the cafeteria. Mercer's table.
He looked to be in deep conversation with some guy with cut curly dark hair but that's not what made me feel a sudden bitter feeling. The sight of the girl, Tyra, was leaned up against him.
I watched the way her fingers played with the loose strands of his blonde hair at the back of his head while smiling at her friends. The sight was sickening.
Scoffing while mocking at the sight of two of the meanest people sitting so close to each other. Two people that deserve each other.
"Gen?"
Demi's voice invades my thoughts and I turned to her. She's looking at me with concern in her eyes and I forced a smile.
"What's up?"
"Are you okay? Did Mercer say something to you today?" She frowns, the defense in her tone fusing with her words.
Sighing, I shook my head. "I'm fine, Demi." I gathered my things, over lunch. More so the sight of seeing Tyra all over Mercer while he just sits there and lets it happen.
I shouldn't care this much. I don't care.
The two bullies can do whatever they want together.
I didn't care.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to stop by my locker. I'm forgetting a book. I'll see you later." I told her just as I finished and made my way out of the cafeteria, not once looking back over towards that table.
I made it to my locker with quickness just as my phone chose the perfect time to ding, notifying me that I just received a message.
Asshole: Tutoring session still on for tomorrow?
A simple message I wanted so badly to decline but I knew better to go back on my words of agreeing to help him. I said I would and I mean what I say. Plus, we can get a few more things done with our project in English.
Me: We're doing it at your house.
My dad was slowly getting off my back with this curfew and just about everything that came with this punishment. I was almost off of it and I didn't need my father to yell at me about bringing the same guy whose house I slept over, to his house. That won't end well.
Asshole: And what exactly are we going to do? *smirk emoji*
I scoffed. This idiot and his mind.
Me: Definitely not that. I would never. Especially with you.
Asshole: You lost me. Are we still talking about tutoring? *thinking face emoji*
My fingers pause on the screen. Oh, god. Was I reading into it wrong? He was talking about something intimate was he not? Heat courses through my body as a wave of embarrassment consumes me.
Me: You are confusing me, Mercer.
It probably made no sense but I wasn't going to let him know that I was thinking negatively about his words.
He takes a minute to respond and I get nervous. A few more minutes passed and I shook my head, knowing if I didn't put my phone down and avert my attention elsewhere, I was going to go crazy waiting for his response.
Sighing, I close my locker. A short scream escapes me at the instant sight of him leaning up against the lockers and making me drop my books. Where did he come from?
"You really need to stop doing that." I growl, holding my hand against my chest and inhaling deep breaths to calm my beating heart.
And he talks about Carson being a creep.
Ignoring me, he bends down and grabs the books I drop on the floor and stands back up to his tall height. I take my books from him and look up at him.
"How did you even know I was over here?" I asked him, one of my brows raised.
He shrugs carelessly. "I saw you walk out of the cafeteria."
I hum, pushing away the questions I had in my mind. "So, we're going to study at your house, right?"
He nods stiffly, his eyes looking me up and down. "And we can do parts of our project too."
"Then that's all I need to know." I step forward to go around him. "See you tomorrow."
I move to go around him only for him to move with me. A figure from a mirror copying my steps.
"Is there something else?"
"What did you think I was talking about that had you confused?" His voice is much deeper and the blue in his eyes, much darker. He was staring down at me with interest.
"Tutoring." My answer came out more like a question while I shift on my feet forcing the embarrassment away from having a dirty mind.
His lips twitched and the look on his face was stern. "I see." He steps forward in front of me which makes me tense, my body becoming stiff at how close he was to me. "You're a horrible liar, Red."
I avert my attention away from him, looking down at the wording of his sweatshirt with narrowed eyes. The heat that courses through my body just wouldn't go away and he must have noticed because he chuckles deeply. The sound is sweet to my ears.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I voice, hoping I didn't sound uneased.
Unexpectedly, he reaches out, gripping my chin forcing my head to tilt to look at his face. "You're still doing it. Don't you know lying makes outcomes worse?" He asked tensely.
"I'm not lying." I was lying but I wasn't about to embarrass myself even further and tell him I thought he was talking about intimate activities.
I have a negative mind.
His tongue runs across the top row of his teeth. That glint in his eyes was still there. "Sure you aren't." He shakes his head. "See you tomorrow." He says before walking off. But not before his touch lingered, his thumb caressing my skin and letting go.
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@N'sGosRoom: Halloween is approaching. Looking forward to all the seniors in their costumes. Sexy licking good is what we're looking for! As well as juicy gossip amongst Durant High. It's been quiet but always know that I am watching and will always have a story to tell. Until then my dears.
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Thank you guys so much for 10K reads.
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