Page 105 of Satan's Spawn
For a second I thought maybe she caught me watching her last night.
But I’m pretty sure she’d have curse words to say if she did.
Walking into third period class, I sneak a glance around the room, finding a full house.
Saint on his phone.
Felix brooding at me through his shiner.
Next time I’ll take the whole fucking eye.
Sliding into my desk, I make sure to shoot Rebecca a wink, a move that has Alexis shifting angrily in her seat.
A move that hasmewondering how pretty the bitch would look with two slashes across her cheeks. Hell, I’ll do even worse if she dares to lay a hand on Rebecca again.
“Welcome to the party, Mr. Shaw, only ten minutes late today.” Mr. Beckett announces with undeniable sarcasm. “I guess it’s an improvement from the usual twenty.”
Saying nothing, I take out the essay Rebecca typed up for me and lay it flat on the desk.
“What the fuck is that?” Alexis sneers, handing me the paper she completed on my behalf.
“Yourservicesare no longer required.” I state without a glance, sliding a cigarette behind my ear. “So kindly fuck off.”
“You’re replacing me with that fucking whore?” She accuses me through a stage whisper, loud enough for the back of the room to hear. I know this because several students, excluding a stiff Rebecca, turn around.
I face her, expression bored. “We all know about your need for attention, Alexis, so if you’d like a scene, I’m happy to provide a nasty one.”
Saint chuckles next to me as Alexis whips her hair around, mumbling whatever skanks do when they’re denied regular dick.
It’s probably not the best idea to provoke her this way, given the family ties and Mr. Clean looking fucker following her all the time. But, after what she did to Rebecca at that party, sage choices that were dwindling to begin with have gone completely out the window.
Nobody hurts her but me.
“So we’ll be working on something different today.” Mr. Beckett starts his usual Monday morning rant. “Instead of focusing on poetry based around the Revolutionary War, we’ll be diving into a work irrelevant to it, but one of my absolute favorites.” I can feel the impending dread before he even says the name I know is coming. And when he says it, I can’t help the bitter laugh that slips past my lips.
Gotta love a bit of irony.
I lift the sleeve of my arm, peering down at the first tattoo I’ve ever gotten.
leavemy loneliness unbroken
I inhalea harsh breath through my nose, shoving the sleeve of my jacket down to cover the words.
“You’ll also be working with a partner, who I will decide, this way you can bounce opinions off each other. Learn to do what us old timers refer to as ‘communicating’.”
Mr. Beckett is already announcing partners when I reach for my phone, swiping through the pictures.
They’re all of Rebecca: some running, some walking to class, laughing with her friends, even sleeping.
She’s taken over every wicked thought in my head, most of them surrounding the bad things I’d do to her.
The rest is made up of the bad things I’d do to other people who try to take her from me.
“Miss Dawson will be working with…”
Beckett doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before I intercede. “Rebecca will be working with me.”
A hush falls across the entire room.
