Page 57 of Defiant
Furious, and yet, as I pushed out of the locker room with Archer at my side, I fought back tears.
I wasn’t one to cry, but that…something like that would make even the strongest of women cry.
I walked with a purpose, my skin feeling cold, like I was still on the floor in that locker room, the two guys still holding me down. I would give anything to shake the feeling off, to bleach the memory from my brain, but as I walked, I knew I never could.
This was the reality of living in Midpark, and I hated it.
Rounding a corner, I saw that my books were still on the floor; it looked like they’d gotten kicked and stepped on, but they were still whole, at least. As I went for them, I felt someone touching my upper arm, fingers curling the same way they did before that boy, Ryan, had taken me to the locker room to begin with.
“Jaz, wait.” Archer’s voice. Archer’s hand on my arm, his fingers on me.
I froze, slowly turning to face him, glaring at his hand as if it was a knife cutting into my flesh. If he did not take that hand off me within seconds, I would rip it off me and maybe break a finger or two.
Archer got the hint, and he quickly released his hold on me, taking a step back. The halls had emptied, a lot of students already gone for the day. “I’m sorry,” he said, and I could only blink as I stared at him, at those beautiful blue eyes. “I overheard Brittany and her friends talking about what Ryan was going to do, and I couldn’t…”
I’d heard enough; I turned away from him, silently going to gather my books.
“Jaz,” he said my name again—louder, this time. Firmer. As if he had any right to say my name after what he did, what he continued to do. This…none of it would be happening if I hadn’t gotten involved with Archer Vega, and by extension his bitch of a girlfriend.
How messed up was that?
When he said my name for the third time, I finally snapped, “What?” My voice came out shrill; I hardly sounded like myself, but that was to be expected, wasn’t it? It wasn’t every afternoon I was almost fucking raped by some rich, preppy jocks who thought they could do whatever they wanted.
Archer’s handsome face wore an expression I could not read. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“No, you didn’t,” I cut in, holding my head high as I marched before him. “You don’t think, but you know what else? I don’t think you care enough to try. After all, I’m nothing to you. I’m nothing to everyone in this school. That much is clear.” Before I said anything else, and before he could open his mouth and retort, I stormed away.
I kept my head down as I walked through the empty halls to my locker. I didn’t think I’d ever hated a place as much as I hated Midpark High. Sure, I could tell someone, but what use was trying to tell on those rich kids when their money would solve the problem? I was the outsider here, I was the one no one would believe. Brittany would get Archer back on her side, somehow, so it wasn’t like I could count on him to back me up.
Thank God, Archer didn’t try to follow me.
The opposite of thank God, though, came into my mind when I spotted two arguing boys beside my locker, both dangerous in their own way, both tattooed, and both looking like they wanted to kill the other.
I so was not in the mood to deal with Vaughn and Dante right now.
My jaw tensed as I pushed between them to get to my locker, opening it and throwing my books in. I didn’t feel like doing homework tonight. The only thing I wanted to do was text Bobbi and tell her I was in.
I wanted to take Brittany down at the dance, and I wanted it to be as ugly as it could possibly be.
And Archer? The other jocks? One by one, I’d take them down, somehow.
Both guys instantly noticed something was wrong, and they stopped their bickering to study me. It seemed they could only overcome their dislike for each other on my account…not sure what that said about me, being able to bring them together.
“What happened?” was what Vaughn asked, while Dante chose to say, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing much.” I closed my locker loudly, my backpack empty. Mom would wonder what was going on if I didn’t at least pretend to bring home some things. “Just busy getting almost-raped by a few jocks, but beyond that, just a normal Monday for me.” I said nothing else, spinning on my heel and walking away.
I should’ve known they’d follow me. They caught me just before the giant glass door, just before I escaped the confines of this hellhole and breathed fresh air. Both Dante and Vaughn surrounded me, their gazes pinning me to the wall.
“Are you serious?” Dante asked, his shoulders shifting under his leather jacket.
The only thing I could do was nod.
Vaughn’s dark brows went together. “Who was it?”
“Yeah, tell us who the fuckers were, and we’ll take care of it,” Dante spoke, and for a split-second, I believed him. “And if Vaughn isn’t man enough to help, I’ll do it myself.”
The stupid thing was, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that these two would do anything for me, enact vengeance on my enemies and right the wrongs that had been done, but truly, no one else could do that other than me.
