-•PRESLEY•-
The boss wasn't happy.
The morning after the gang party, I was called into the bosses' office. When I got there, Alvin, Kyle, Red and Nathan were sat before him, voices raised. I stood tentatively at the doorway, not sure what to do.
"I told you we never should have taken him!," Nathan said, voice booming at his father.
The boss spotted me at the door and his jaw twitched. Nathan turned around and flickered his eyes over me once, then looked away.
The boss gestured for me to sit. I shuffled my way over to the right side of Nathan and sat down with reluctance.
"Heard there was a little fight because of you last night," the boss announced, fixing me with an intense gaze. The gaze sort of resembled Nathan's, except Nathan's usually held fire, the boss's held ice.
I gulped and nodded silently, embarrassed at the urge to burst into tears. The boss turned to Nathan with the same ice in his gaze, his gaze was met with blazing fire.
"You told me you had it under control," he said, jabbing a finger in Nathan's direction.
"No, it wasn't his fault," I whispered hastily, wrapping my arms around myself.
The boss snapped his head to me, teeth bared. "Did I say you could talk, kid?," he growled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a muscle twitch in Nathan's jaw. He clenched and unclenched his hands.
I couldn't meet the bosses gaze as I shook my head. I didn't trust myself to speak.
"I told you I didn't want to take him," Nathan rasped. "You were the one who wanted to show him off, none of this would've happened if you hadn't forced me to bring him to the deadliest party of the year."
Alvin, Kyle, and Red looked hesitantly between the boss and Nathan, waiting anxiously to see what was going to unfold.
The boss looked at me a moment, considering. "This can be a good thing, if we think about it. The K Blades know we have him now, and they want him. Now they know we have something that they don't," the boss grinned. "Exactly what I intended."
"What about the fight, boss? The K Blades aren't going to let that go," Kyle inputted.
"The K Blades never let anything go, we'll be at each other's throats for life, nothing to worry about there," he said dismissively. "Yes, they'll want Presley more than ever but we've done a fine job at keeping him a Creeds so far, it shouldn't be harder to keep it that way."
So far.
"And just so we're clear, no one saw you throw those grenades, correct?," the boss asked, flipping through a file.
"No, boss, there was too many people. The smoke made a good distraction," Red confirmed. Alvin nodded in agreement.
The boss leaned back in his chair. "I have a meeting in fifteen minutes, go make yourselves useful. And someone get that kid to school," he said, waving a lazy hand in my direction.
I was the first to rise, not eager to stay one more minute. The boys followed me out. Kyle, Alvin and Red departed for the armory while I walked to the infirmary.
Before I could leave with my head hung low, Nathan called out my name.
"Presley," he called. When I peered up at him through my hair, his face displayed millions of unreadable emotions at once, then he went back to being guarded.
He cleared his throat and took a step back. "Just wanted to tell you that Red is taking you to school today, I have a meeting with the Tyrants."
I tried to muster a smile but I sighed instead. "Okay," I whispered.
He nodded grimly and spun on his heel, walking briskly away from me.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Ross sat with me at lunch. I listened to him talk about his school back in Florida and what he used to do on the weekends with his friends. He told me that everyone was much more rowdy in Florida, that there was always noise, always a party.
Ross held his never ending smile when he talked to me. He kept on asking about what I did with my spare time, what I did after school, and who Nathan was.
I told him that Nathan was my neighbor who picked me up occasionally. Ross seemed skeptical to believe it, and to be honest, so did I. Thinking about Nathan as just someone who picked me up occasionally instead of the sharp edged gang member he was, almost sent me into a fit of laughs.
When the bell rang, I threw away my plate and gathered up my bag.
"Hey, meet me after school. I have something to show you," Ross said with his usual dazzling smile.
"What is it?," I asked softly.
He shook his head. "You'll see," he said grinning.
•••••••••••••••••••••••
At the end of class, I gathered up my things and made my way out the door. I dodged students as I weaved my small form through the crowded halls. Suddenly, I wished for Nathan to be here; when he was around, everyone seemed to part for him. I hastily dropped the thought and made my way to the front of the school.
I sat at a bench, popping a mint into my mouth and looking around curiously to see where Ross was. I hoped he would arrive soon, I did not to want explain to Red why I had disappeared because there was no doubt that he would tell Nathan, and Nathan didn't seem to like Ross.
"Presley," Ross called out, flashing me a smile.
I turned and smiled slightly at the way Ross bounded his way to me.
"Come on," he said, jerking his head to the back of the school.
"Where are we going?," I asked with a small smile.
"Behind the bleachers," he said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the back of the school where no one was in sight. I stared at my hand in his and a fresh wave of panic arose in me.
I bit my lip to calm my breathing as he tugged me behind the bleachers. The mint in my mouth dissolved and I wished I could reach into my bag and retrieve another one.
Ross stopped abruptly and turned to me. He was significantly taller than me but he didn't tower over me like Nathan or Kyle. I found myself rubbing my arm nervously.
I focused my attention on my feet. "So what did you want to show me?," I asked quietly.
He tilted my chin up to face him where I saw his grin. He looked around quickly and returned to scanning my face.
"This," he said, then dipped his head and placed a kiss to my lips. He moved his mouth with a fierce rhythm. At first, I was dazed, but then I felt his hands trail down my sides and land on my hips. My breath hitched as he slipped the entirety of his tongue into my mouth greedily. It took me by surprise and I gasped.
I felt like I was struggling to breathe with his tongue lodged without warning into my mouth. Ross didn't give me a chance to adjust myself as he slipped his hands beneath my sweater.
He pulled back, sensing my rigidness. "You okay?," he asked, his voice rough.
I gaped at him, my words catching in my throat. Knowing that I really wasn't okay, I nodded my head anyway. He returned to attacking my mouth and I didn't have the heart or the courage to tell him that I wanted to pull back.
I didn't know what it was, but I felt an odd feeling settled in my stomach. I pushed the thought away as I tried to keep up with Ross' kisses.
Was Ross really kissing me right now? It felt strange and foreign. It didn't feel like me.
Red. Oh, lord. Red was probably waiting for me. My eyes shot open and I stumbled from Ross's embrace.
He looked bewildered.
"I- um, my ride is waiting for me. I need to leave," I stammered helplessly. I didn't wait for his answer as I raced toward the parking lot.
Sure enough, the red challenger was waiting for me. I opened the door and plopped into the passenger seat, embarrassingly flustered.
Red looked over at me peculiarly. "You okay, kid?"
I nodded. "I just...don't feel so well," I said softly.
"All right, lets go then," he said, starting the engine.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Haley was in the infirmary with me. She was helping me make elixirs for the patients with broken bones.
I was itching to tell her about what happened with Ross today just so I could relive it off my chest but I didn't have enough courage.
"Anyway, like I said, Kenna was driving me crazy today. She never offered to help Ally and I once, she was totally kissing my brother's ass just so she could get ranked up sooner, which for your information will not work because my brother hates like everybody, well, except you- ," she said, twisting a lock of her hair before I quietly cut her off.
"I had my first kiss today," I said, my cheeks burned as I casted my expression on my elixir.
Haley grabbed my hand and squealed. "Who was he?," she asked desperately. "Wait, how was he?," she asked, winking.
I looked at her quizzically. "How did-."
She put a hand up to silence me then sighed. "You don't look at me like a horny bastard, that's how I know."
I rolled my eyes and giggled slightly.
"Sooo," she probed, poking my arm. "What's his name?"
"His name is Ross," I answered quietly. "But I don't know...it just felt a bit weird."
She patted my hand. "All first kisses are weird. Do you like him?"
I shrugged and sighed. "He's good looking," I admitted with flushed cheeks. "And he's really nice to me, he makes me laugh, but I don't know."
"Listen, Pres. You don't have to marry the guy, just talk to him. If you want to date him-."
I shook my head. "I don't think Nathan would like that very much."
Her face fell. "Why not?," she asked.
"Because, he doesn't trust him," I said softly.
"My brother has met Ross?," she asked bewilderedly.
I nodded. "Nathan met him when he was picking me up from school. He said he might know him from somewhere," I shrugged.
Haley suddenly looked troubled. "Nathan is almost never wrong, Pres," she stated, looking warily at me. "But if you want to date this hottie, then I wouldn't say anything."
I giggled softly and hugged her. "Thank you, Haley," I whispered.
"I'm the best, I'm aware," she said, hugging me back.
I really didn't know what I was going to do about Ross, I didn't want to dive into that web of confusion just yet. All I wanted to do was listen to the raven haired girl in front of me rant about her drama.