Chasing Nikki Page 8

  Chapter Eight

  “Do you two have anything to say for yourselves?” Mr. Woodside asked again, only to be greeted by silence once more.

  “Jeremy?” he prodded further, trying to get to the bottom of what had happened.

  “It really was just a misunderstanding,” Jeremy supplied, seeming eager to not have me speak. “We’ve taken care of it between ourselves and moved on.”

  Stupid punk, I thought. If ever there was a kid deserving of the title, it was this guy.

  “Well, I’m glad you seem to think everything has been resolved, but I need to remind you, fighting is not allowed on school grounds. You’ll both be receiving detention. We’re trying to teach the students here to strive for excellence, and frankly, the message the two of you sent today isn’t acceptable.”

  “I’m totally fine with the detention,” Jeremy said, sucking up further, making me want to sink my fist into his pansy wuss face one more time. I didn’t think he could take another hit without breaking, though. His left eye was nearly swollen shut and turning a nasty shade of purple. His split bottom lip was quite large now—a dried trail of blood ran down his chin.

  “And you, Mr. Walker?” Mr. Woodside directed his attention toward me.

  “I’m good with whatever,” I replied blandly, slouched in my chair like I had been since we entered, unlike Mr. Brownnoser sitting next to me, who was plainly doing his best to kiss up.

  “Alright, Mr. Winters, you’ll serve detention at lunch today. You’re dismissed. Chase, I’d like to talk to you a little longer.”

  Jeremy threw a nervous glance in my direction, and I couldn’t help the slight grin and cocked eyebrow I shot at him as he stood and left the room.

  Mr. Woodside folded his hands on his desk and stared at me. “You were awfully quiet during all of that.”

  I shrugged. “Didn’t have much to say.”

  “Did you start this fight?” he asked point blank.

  “It depends on what you mean by started. If you mean did I throw the first punch, then yes. But only because he threw the rude comment that deserved it.”

  “Someone insulting you is not a valid reason to hit them.”

  I laughed cynically. “Is that what you think? He didn’t insult me. He can try to slight me until he’s blue in the face. I wouldn’t give a crap. He attacked Nikki, though. I won’t stand for that.”

  “Really? What did he say?”

  I leaned to the side and chuckled wryly. “Does it matter? I know everyone around here thinks he’s Boy Wonder in the flesh, but he’s not. He’s a jerk.”

  “It might help your case.”

  I shook my head in disgust. “He told me not to waste my time, that she didn’t put out, and then he goaded her with his remark.”

  Mr. Woodside’s eyes widened in surprise, and he pondered over this information for a moment before he spoke again.

  “Okay, you’ll get detention for throwing the first punch then, and that’s all.”

  “I threw the last punch too,” I added, feeling the need to let him know who had actually won.

  He looked at me seriously. “Good,” he said, and I was the one who was shocked this time. “I think I successfully judged the winner by the damage you did to Jeremy’s face. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning fighting by any means, but I felt he must’ve been the one who started it by the way he was so anxious to be cooperative.”

  I watched him with newfound respect as he began writing on a piece of paper. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. He actually paid attention and listened to what people had to say.

  “Here’s an excuse for your tardy to class. I want you to serve detention in the after school session. I’ll call your mom, or grandparents, and explain what happened and why you are going to be late. I don’t want you and Jeremy in the same session.” He slid the note across his desk toward me.

  I took it, thinking my grandpa was going to freak when he heard about this, especially since everyone talked like Jeremy was the golden boy favorite of all the football coaches.

  Mr. Woodside stood and walked to the door of his office, holding it open for me. “Try a little harder to keep your nose clean around here, okay.”

  I smiled and headed into the hall. I rounded the corner and found myself being roughly grabbed by my shirt.

  “What did you tell him, loser?” Jeremy said, his face only two inches from mine.

  I narrowed my eyes, instantly reverting back to the anger I’d felt earlier. “I told him you’re a friggin’ rapist who deserves to be locked away for life, and he should interview every girl you’ve ever dated to get the testimony of all those you’ve forced yourself on.”

  He blanched white.

  I slammed my knee hard into his crotch.

  He let go, flushing red, and fell to the floor, writhing on his side in pain, as he clutched himself.

  I knelt down, getting real close to his ear. “Hurts like hell, doesn’t it? Do you know what they do to guys like you in prison? I think they’d love you—a lot.”

  His eyes burned with both pain and hate, but he didn’t reply.

  “If I hear of you doing this to any other girl, I’m gonna sing like a lark to any person who’ll listen. You can say bye-bye to scholarships and college dreams and hello to a striped jumpsuit. And just in case you didn’t get my message—stay away from Nikki. I don’t want you to even look at her. Understand?”

  He gave a barely perceptible nod.

  “Good. Glad we’re all straight now, buddy.” I clapped him on the back. He groaned again, and I got up and left, feeling quite content about his current suffering.

  I went to my truck before I headed back to class and reached into the rear seat for the backpack I’d gotten in the habit of carrying during some of my worst alcohol binging days. I’d occasionally need a change of clothes before returning home after a party.

  I pulled off my shirt and quickly exchanged it for the spare one before going into the school again. I stopped by the bathroom, to check my face in the mirror, finding the slightly swollen, bruised area on my jawline. It smarted a bit still, but other than that everything looked good.

  Turning on the sink, I washed the minor scrapes on my arms, only to be interrupted by the sound of someone puking in one of the stalls. I tore off some paper towels and was about to ask if the person was okay, when I recognized Jeremy’s shoes under the door.

  Sucks to be you, doesn’t it? I thought, as I shook my head and left.

  I was pretty sure I’d made a big enemy today, and I was positive there were those who’d be happy to stand up for him too, if he ever decided to retaliate. I would definitely be smart to watch my back from now on.

  I handed my note from Mr. Woodside to the teacher before I slid into my seat beside Brett.

  “You survive?” he asked under his breath as he studied the lab printout in front of him.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, digging a pencil out of my binder and getting to work on the assignment. “Detention after school for throwing the first punch.”

  “What was the whole fight about anyway?”

  “Nothing. Forget it, dude.”

  “Didn’t look like nothing when I was pulling you off him,” Brett said, sounding offended.

  “I’ll tell you about it later, okay? For now let’s just say Jeremy decided he wanted a lesson in manners, and I considered it my civic duty to teach him.”

  He snorted. “He’s needed that lesson for a while, I’d wager. Glad you could help him out. Maybe they’ll let you count it as community service hours.”

  I laughed. “That would be nice. And it’s a project I could really get behind.”

  He tried to hide his chuckle as the teacher glared at us. “I bet you could,” he mumbled into his cupped hand.

  We both worked diligently until the bell rang, giving us permission to escape from this prison into another one.

  “What’re you doing tonight?” Brett asked.

  “Probably getting horsewhi
pped by my grandpa when he finds not only was I in a fight, but it was with Prince Charming too.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to trade places with you. I was gonna see if you wanted to hang out tonight. I scored a little blunt.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but if I’m to have any kind of life in the near future, I’d better keep myself on the straight and narrow for a bit.”

  “I can see how that might be beneficial,” Brett agreed.

  “If I’m not grounded into the dust, maybe you can come over and play video games some night this week,” I suggested. I didn’t want him to think I was trying to avoid him.

  “That sounds cool.”

  “Yeah, bring those losers, Wes, and Chad, with you too. We can have a little competition, and I’ll see if I can coax my grandma into making us something great to eat.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell them. Um, see you later,” he added when he saw Nikki waiting for me at the door. “Hey, gorgeous.” I sauntered up, quickly glancing around to see if anyone overheard. “I can call you gorgeous in public now, right?”

  “Quit joking and tell me how much trouble you’re in,” she said worriedly.

  “No trouble,” I replied casually, and when she arched her eyebrow, I sighed. “Okay, after school detention. No big deal.”

  “And Jeremy?” She bit her lip.

  “Lunch detention.”

  “So he got off easy too.” She frowned.

  “Not so much,” I said with a shake of my head. “He’s hurting in more ways than you can imagine right now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I gave her a half grin. “Don’t worry about it, babe. Just trust I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

  She got this sudden look of adoration, and for some reason I had to fight back a moment of panic.

  I was plainly growing way too attached to this girl, making outlandish promises and such. It almost seemed as if fate was determined to twist our lives together. My old fears rose up and hit me hard. Suddenly, I didn’t know if I was ready to care this much about someone again.

  I coughed and moved, trying to distance myself from the emotions she was causing me to feel.

  “Gotta go, or I’m gonna be late. Can’t afford another detention now, can I?” I spun away, but not before I noticed her confusion.

  During my next period, I tried to ignore the hammering staccato rhythm that seemed to pound the word “jerk” over and over into my mind, but it was so loud I could hardly concentrate. The teacher called on me to read a piece in the Iliad, and it was as if I couldn’t even understand the English language anymore. I was so distracted.

  “Winters must’ve hit him harder than we thought,” a sardonic voice floated up from behind me, followed by some twittering laughter through the rest of the class. I didn’t even bother checking to see who had said it. Honestly, I didn’t give a crap what anyone else thought about me. What reason was there to try and please people, when they were clearly going to draw their own opinions of who I was, regardless of what I did?

  I stumbled my way through the rest of the piece, and then slumped into my chair when I was finished. I didn’t hear anything said for the rest of the class. I could only see Nikki’s face floating in front of me, torturing me with her parting expression.

  I watched the clock tick away every second of the remainder of the hour, springing to my feet when the bell rang and hurrying out the door ahead of everyone. Searching the locker hall, I looked around for Nikki, but didn’t see her anywhere. I walked toward her next room, hoping to catch her and apologize, but couldn’t find her.

  Lunch arrived, but I still hadn’t seen her. I was starting to get worried because it seemed Jeremy had mysteriously disappeared too. All of a sudden, unbidden thoughts of terror coursed through me. He wouldn’t really try to hurt her after I’d threatened him with going to the police, would he?

  “Dude, what is up with you?” Brett asked. “You’re acting weird.”

  “Have you seen Jeremy since this morning?” I replied, still scanning the hall.

  “Yeah, he went home after third period. His dad came and got him because he was feeling too sick to drive. I think you worked him over more than you realized.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Mr. Tough Guy, that’s what we should call you from now on.” He laughed. “Why do you want to talk to him anyway?”

  “I don’t,” I answered with a shake of my head, as I spied Tana talking to Brittney. “Hang on a sec, bro.”

  I hurried over, causing Tana to look up in surprise when I grabbed her arm roughly, twirling her to face me. “Where’s Nikki?” I asked abruptly.

  “Uh, hello. You’re hurting me,” she said with a frown as she wrenched her arm away.

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I took a step back, glancing between both the girls. “I’m just worried. I haven’t been able to find Nikki. I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

  “Her little sister got sick at school. She had to go pick her up and stay with her because their mom wasn’t able to get off work,” Brittney spoke up.

  Tana gave me a strange look. “You have her number. Why didn’t you text her yourself?”

  Relief coursed through me, as well as a moment of feeling stupid. “I thought I might’ve hurt her feelings earlier. I didn’t know if she was avoiding me on purpose.”

  Tana shrugged. “Well, if you did she certainly didn’t say anything to me about it. All I ever hear lately is her singing your praises.”

  “Thanks, Tana.” I grinned. “It’s nice to know all my charm is finally working. I needed to hear that.”

  “Well, don’t tell her I told you.”

  “It was a nice thing you did today, by the way,” Brittney said.

  I narrowed my eyes, wondering if she was being serious. “I think your boyfriend would beg to differ.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t care what he thinks. Jeremy can be a real loser, and it’s about time someone called him out. I wish Matt would learn to stand up to him too.”

  “I don’t know . . . can you teach a pansy new tricks?” I gave her a questioning look, and she punched me in the arm.

  “You don’t like him. How come?”

  I shook my head. “I think you could do better. I’ve got to go get hold of Nikki now. Have a nice day ladies.”

  “Everything all right?” Brett asked when I rejoined him.

  “I think so. I need to check one more thing.”

  I dialed Nikki’s number.

  She answered on the second ring. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself. You doing okay?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, basically repeating the same story I’d just heard. “I was getting ready to text you while you were out for lunch.”

  “Okay, I was worried about you. I thought you’d been kidnapped or something. Kind of went frantic on everyone.”

  She laughed. “You’re such a tease.”

  “I’m dead serious. Can I come see you after my detention this afternoon?”

  “Sure. Come on over.”

  “Alright. I’ll catch you later then,” I replied, hanging up the phone and turning to Brett. “Let’s go eat.”