Page 29 of Distortion
I’m taken aback when his hand shoots out and takes hold of my chin, but I don’t struggle even though I want to. I won’t give him the satisfaction of showing fear. He leans in closer and I freeze, my mind stuttering. But then I register a scent that has me sniffing the air in front of me. It’s floral and musky. I don’t know what the fragrance is, but I love it.
‘When I’m supposed to be taking you somewhere, you wait for me, Tulip. Understand?’
I stare at his chest and nod, still smelling him as surreptitiously as I can.
‘It’s Daisy,’ I correct without thinking.
‘What?’
‘You said, ‘Tulip.’ It’s Daisy.’
‘Does it matter? A flower is a flower.’
I glance up at his eyes again, and, oddly, they get caughtthere for longer than usual. ‘Marguerite is my real name,’ I say. ‘But it means Daisy in French.’
‘I see.’
His fingers are still holding my jaw, and I’m sure I feel them move as if he’s caressing me, but then he pulls away.
‘I’ll be at the house at one-fifty to walk you to your next class, Tulip,’ he says.
I frown as he turns away. ‘But why? I told you I can get to where I’m going by myself.’
‘Look, Shade wants it done, so I’m going to do it. Some crazy chick who just spent a decade in the loony bin isn’t going to change my mind.’
I hear my own gasp as he says it aloud.In front of people.I didn’t want anyone here to know about The Heath.
My cheeks hot, I glance at his two friends who are now staring with even more interest than before. They look like the blanks, I realize. They’re staring at me like I’m three parts crazy, one part intriguing.
I hate it. I’m afraid I’m going to cry, so I do the only thing I can. I turn on my heel and run.
For the restof the day, I go through the motions. I go to Grinder for my first shift and try to pay attention. I think I pull it off, but my mind just keeps going back to what Mav said, like an earworm going around and around in my head.
Why would he say that? It’s not my fault Shade told him to take me to class. Does everyone know now?
Lu lets me out at one-thirty so I can make it back to the house in time for Mav to take me back to campus. It grates on me because it makes no sense, but until I can speak to Shade about how stupid this is, I suppose I’ll just have to endure his friend, who, despite giving me half a sandwich last night, clearly doesn’t like me.
Why I care, I don’t know. Not many people do like me, after all, and usually, I don’t even notice until they do something to exclude me ... or hurt me.
I wait outside the house because I can’t get in. I stash my bag of clothes behind a bush, hoping it doesn’t rain before I can collect it, and wait for Mav to show up.
When he comes out of the house, he doesn’t say a word, just walks me quickly back to campus and to another building. It looks just as old as the other English building, but at least this one isn’t falling down.
I wasn’t going to say anything to him either, not even about how illogical it is to make me go all the way to the house only to turn straight around to go back to campus again, but as he turns away, I can’t help myself. What he said before was really mean, but maybe he doesn’t know that I want a fresh start.
‘That wasn’t very nice,’ I say.
He pauses mid-step and swings back to me, eyebrows raised. ‘What wasn’t?’
‘What you said before in front of your friends.’
His answering smirk has my eyes narrowing as I focus them on his broad chest.
‘I don’t know what Shade has said to you, but where I’ve been over the past few years is no one’s business but my own. You shouldn’t be telling people. It isn’t very nice.’
He doesn’t reply for a moment and I huff, looking away to stare at the ground. Why did I bother to try to explain?
‘Your eyes are shifty, did you know that?’
