Page 38 of Free Fall

When I walk in, the teacher gives me a look at the front of the room. “Pass?” he asks.

I blow him off, stalking my way to the back row and finding a place to sit. Classmates stare at me like I have three heads in the process, but that’s nothing new. The teacher continues on with his lecture while I sit in the back, trying to piece myself back together.

What the hell is going on now? Both Lex and Reid like me? Or just want to fuck me? Because from what I can tell, there wasn’t any difference. Only Lex gave me a proclamation of his feelings for me the other day and it had nothing to do with any of this happening today. I don’t know what to do with any of that. They were both tormenting me just a few days ago.

My head snaps up when the door at the front of the class opens again. The teacher sighs, then stands up straight. I barely glance up then want to flee the class when I see Lex walk in.

“You’re not in this class, Jones.”

“I know,” Lex says. When he spots me at the back of the classroom, he sits next to me.

I try to crawl into my desk further to get away from him, but there’s only so far I can go.

The teacher opens his hands up at the front of the class in an “Are you kidding me?” gesture, but Lex isn’t even looking at him, he’s staring at me while I’m making a point to look everywhere else but at him.

The whole class goes by like this. My body is boiling just under the surface. My thoughts went round and round in circles, mostly centering on Lex because he wouldn’t take his eyes off me. When the teacher dismisses the class, I grab my work from this class that I did over the weekend and head toward the desk at the front of the classroom. Lex is right behind me. I can feel his presence.

The teacher sits and crosses his hands in front of his chest.

I place the worksheets down on his desk. “This is the work I haven’t turned in yet. Grade it or not, I just wanted to show you that I did it.”

He nods, then looks behind me. “Please don’t come in this class again, Lex, unless you’re supposed to be here.”

“I can’t promise that, Sir,” Lex says from behind me.

He says it in such a way that he’s going against the teacher’s wishes, but he’s also very polite about it. How is the teacher supposed to say anything to that?

He doesn’t. He just shrugs and both of us leave the room. He follows me to my next class, and the next class after that until we’re at lunch. I’m about to sit with Jules when I notice Jules is at the football table again. When I glare at her, she lifts her shoulders, and I notice that Cade has a hand on her upper arm, making her stay in place. “I take it I’m going there,” I ask behind my shoulder to Lex.

“We would prefer it.”

I’m so tired. I’m too tired to argue.

Reid is nowhere to be seen, which means Sasha isn’t at the table either. She’s a few over. When I glance at her, she’s talking happily with one of her friends. Who knows what’s going on? I don’t know if anyone picked up on what was going on earlier, but I would’ve thought news like Reid punched Lex over me would’ve gotten to Sasha already. Maybe everyone thought it was about her. No one probably even noticed me there.

Classic beauty, I think as Reid’s words come back to me.

My stomach twists at the same time Cade looks up. “You going to sit down, Shortie, so Lex can sit too? I don’t think he’s going anywhere without you.”

I fall into the seat across from Jules. We just stare at each other until Cade eventually gets up. He nods at Lex and then heads off toward the lunch line. I’m starving, which I’ve only realized right this moment. I didn’t eat any breakfast, so it’s unsurprising.

“Where’s Reid?” I ask.

“Taking a breather,” Lex says.

I glance toward him. His brown eyes are on me and his dirty blond hair is still a little disheveled from the fight this morning. There’s also a red welt on his cheek. My eyes won’t move away from it. “I’m really sorry, Lex.”

He shrugs. “It’s my fault.”

“I’m pretty sure it was Reid’s fault.”

“Reid’s got…some issues to deal with,” Lex finally says. He’s talking about his friend like nothing happened between them this morning. Like they’re still the same people who never fought.

I blink at him. “You don’t say?”

Cade comes back with two lunch trays after that and sets them down in front of Jules and me. “On the house, ladies. Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

“What about me?” Lex asks.

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