Page 7 of Rebel

“You went to Henderson before?” he pressed, his gaze lingering on my neck. Weird.

“Uh, yeah. I took a business management course there. I’m transferring to the program at WU.” Holding the basket awkwardly, I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

He nodded, as if he had me all figured out. “Must be nice to have your mom marry for money. Life is different on this side of town. You might want to be careful. There are dangerous people everywhere. You never know when you might piss off the wrong person.”

My jaw dropped. Was this guy for real?

“You’re a real dick, huh?” The words spilled out, driven by the rise of my temper. I never went looking for trouble, but if it came my way, I wouldn’t back down either. “You don’t know a damn thing about me or my mom. Maybe you should mind your own fucking business. And for the record, you started it. You wanted me to fight. You got what you asked for.”

Right on cue, my mom descended the stairs, rounding the corner toward the doorway. She spotted me holding the basket and her face lit up.

“Who is our visitor, Storm?” She came to the door, beaming a bright smile at the jerk on the front step. Extending a hand, she said, “Hi, I’m Diane. And you are?”

He accepted her handshake, pasting a fake as hell smile into place. “I’m Rebel. My mom asked me to bring you this basket to welcome you to the neighborhood. She’ll come by to meet you sometime soon.”

Mom took the basket, perusing the contents. “Wow, this is so thoughtful of her. Please tell her how thankful I am for the kind gesture. I would love to have you all over for dinner or drinks soon. Maybe a barbecue in the backyard.”

“I’m sure she would love that,” Rebel said, acting like he hadn’t just insulted my mother before she appeared.

“Great, I’ll pop over sometime and discuss it with her. I’m going to put this away in the kitchen. Thank you again, Rebel. Nice to meet you.” Mom took the basket to the kitchen, humming to herself.

Once she was out of earshot, I hissed, “You’re scum, you know that?”

Rebel stepped forward, getting close enough for me to smell his cologne. Something twisted in my stomach, flooding me with heat. Why was he so easily able to do that?

“You kind of like it though, don’t you? I made your pussy wet, didn’t I?” His grin was that of the devil himself.

He surprised me by reaching to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. I stood there frozen, unable to jerk back or push him away. Somehow, I managed to speak.

“Is that what you think?” I asked, refusing to confirm or deny that he’d elicited a reaction from me. “Jesus, your ego is huge. Look, I won’t say a word about what I saw last night, okay? Leave me alone, Rebel.”

Rebel shrugged, his eyes gleaming with wicked intentions. “You think it’s that easy to get rid of me? I owe you pain. Remember?”

That remark spurred me into action. Placing both hands on his firm chest, I shoved him away from the door. Flipping him the middle finger, like he’d done to me, I closed the door in his smug face.

My hands shook as anger filled me. What a cocky, arrogant bastard. Damn, he had some nerve.

Obviously, Rebel thought he was something special, and I was nothing but dirt. Last night had made him hungry for some kind of payback. As if he hadn’t brought that punch on himself. He could go fuck himself for all I cared. That’s what I told myself as I fled up to my room.

Living next door to Rebel was going to suck.

CHAPTER FIVE

STORM

On my way out to school the next day, I peeked out the front door first, checking Rebel’s driveway for any sign of the prick. When I was sure it was clear, I hurried down the front walk to my car.

I slid into the driver’s seat, pausing to double-check my eye makeup in the visor mirror. Perfect liner with a dusting of gold shadow. My hair fell in curls over my shoulders. Wearing knee-high boots, a cute as hell skirt, and a long flowing cardigan over my top, I felt good about my appearance. I was ready to hard launch myself at a new campus. Hopefully, it would be big enough to avoid Rebel.

It took me longer than expected to find my first class. The campus was larger than my previous school. I’d have to spend some of my free time scoping it out. By the time I met up with Athena and her campus friends for lunch, I’d managed to have a pretty good day. The professors had warmly welcomed me, and the students seemed focused.

Athena sat with a few other girls around a picnic table outside. Several other tables were littered about, occupied by students enjoying some fresh air. Athena waved me over, patting the bench next to her. I was a little nervous about meeting her friends until they greeted me with smiles.

“Girls, this is my bestie, Storm. Storm this is the girls, Ripley McKay, Luna Burke, and Codie Edwards.” Athena pointed at each girl as she said their name.

Ripley was a blue-eyed blonde with a shy smile and the cutest dimples. Luna’s pink and purple hair easily held my attention as she waved, popping a strawberry in her mouth.

Codie eyed up my outfit, making me nervous until she said, “Cute boots. Where did you get them?”

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