Authors: Chelsea Ballinger
She rolls her eyes at me and
slips on her jeans.
I slip on my boxer briefs and
wrap my arms around her while she is just in her jeans and bra. I kiss her neck
and rub her stomach, which is a huge turn on for her.
“Stop” She moans.
“Why?” I whisper.
“You must not be too greedy,
Donovan. We do have curfews you know.”
“Please, it’s only ten o’clock
and my parents think I’m at the library studying. Your dad thinks you’re at Jade’s.”
“Yes. Which means I should get
there in time for him to pick me up.” She turns around and gives me a quick
kiss on the lips.
“On all the days you don’t
drive.” I sigh at my loss of alone time with my girlfriend.
She flashes me one of her
signature smiles and continues putting her clothes back on. I follow her lead,
grabbing my jeans and red plaid shirt.
“So… I got into NYU” I glance up from
buttoning my shirt and stare at her with lit eyes.
“What?”
She smiles at me and I grab her swinging
her around the room.
“That’s great!”
“Thank You.” She laughs.
I lower her down and press my
lips on hers. I press my forehead against hers and rub her cheek with my
knuckles.
“So, you tell your dad yet?” I
ask her.
“I’m working on it.”
“Well no matter what, I’m proud
of you.”
She smiles bright at my
comforting words. I am proud of her and I hope her father does let her be
happy.
Our celebration is interrupted by
the honk of a horn outside. I’m guess that’s Jade. We finish grabbing her
things and head outside.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow.” She
turns to me and places one last lingering kiss on my lips.
I brush her hair from her face
and smile. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She runs towards Jade’s car.
Before getting in she takes one last look at me and blows a kiss. I laugh and
smile at her corny gesture. She smiles and rolls her eyes. I watch them as Jade
pulls off.
Moments like these show me how
blessed I am. With a great family and great girl, I shouldn’t take it for
granted and I won’t anymore.
I head across the abandoned
street towards my car. Once I get to it I am blinded by bright lights driving
towards me.
What the hell?
I cup my hand over my eyes to
see. Its two trucks. One a pickup and the other I think it’s an Escalade.
Both trucks turn off their
engines and lights. I blink twice to get my sight back. These are guys from my
school. I recognize two as the guys I beat up at that party. Suddenly I see
him.
Eric… Claudia’s ex.
The one guy that can ruin
everything.
Shit.
They slowly circle around me. Its
seven guys to be exact. Eric walks toward me until were about a feet away from
each other. I could try to run, but something tells me I won’t get very far.
“So” Eric’s voice is calm, but
his eyes speak
pissed off
. “Is she good?”
That’s my cue. If I’m going down,
I’m going down fighting. I look back around again then back at Eric. I sucker punch
him the face than elbow the other guy to my right. Next thing I know, someone
punches me in the head from behind. My head rings while the rest them tackle me
down and start kicking and swinging at me. I receive blows to my head, stomach,
and chest.
“Enough!” I hear Eric yell.
I stay down holding on to my
stomach and spitting out blood. I lean against my car and look up to see Eric towering
over me with his fists clenched. He then brings his arm back and releases it
colliding his fist with my face.
Chapter
11
“Our Deepest Fear”
Claudia
Today will be a great day.
It’s Wednesday, which means its
closer to Friday. The sun is shining and I’m smiling. Okay, lame I know, but
hey I’m a girl in love.
I’m greeted by James Ross in a
very flirtatious and creepy way.
“Hey.” I say quick and
platonically.
As I walk down the hall way
people continue staring at me. There whispering, laughing, and some are looking
at me like I’ve killed somebody.
What the hell is
going on?
I’m stopped by Jade, before I
get to my locker.
“Hey what is going on?” Before
she can answer I look past her towards my locker. Oh my god.
It’s a flyer. It’s a flyer with a
picture of me…. with Donovan. I push through Jade and snatch it off my locker.
Oh
my god
. It’s a picture of us kissing outside the house. I think it’s from
last night.
Oh My God. Oh My God. Oh My God. Oh My God. Oh My God.
“Wow, Claudia” I look up to see Naomi
and her gang of skanks, smiling and shaking their heads at me. “I guess you’re
not little miss perfect after all.”
“Walk away bitch!” I hear Jade
say as she gets in between.
“I swear the more they hang out
with them the more violent they get.” Naomi says as she walks away.
Is it possible to have a heart
attack at eighteen? Because I’m having one, I swear. Next thing I know Eric walks
towards me and leans into me.
“You really should be discreet at
a party. You never know who is watching.” He whispers.
He walks away as I stand there
dumbfounded and numb.
Who else has
seen this? Did my dad see this? Where is Donovan?
I turn around and run until I am
stopped and pulled into a hug.
It’s him
. It’s Donovan. His embrace
instantly slows my heart beat. He always calms me.
He lifts my head up to see him.
He has bruises on his face and a cut on his bottom lip. I stare down at him as
I see him in the same clothes from last night. He looks around at everyone.
“What?! Huh?!” he says as he
jerks at the people around us still holding on to my hand. “Get the hell out of
here!!”
He comes back to me and places
his hands on my face. I continue shaking not knowing what to say. What do I
say? It’s all over.
“You okay?” I don’t answer.
“Donovan, what the hell
happened?” Jade asks him.
“That asshole Eric. After you
guys left, he and his friends jumped me and locked me in the trunk of my car.”
“Mr. Pierce and Ms. Stonem!” We
turn around to the Dean of Students who looks extremely pissed. “You two come
with me.”
Yeah, this is not a good day at
all.
********
I watch my dad as he grabs the
flyer from the dean. He stares at it and from the look on his face; I want to
vomit right now. He passes it back to the Dean who then gives it to Roman and
Vera Pierce. She looks away and rubs her forehead while Roman looks at Donovan
with the disappointment written all over his face. Donovan keeps staring down
while I look at my father.
“There will be no suspension
because we have no reason to believe your children had any part in this.” Dean
Meyers says.
“But you will find out who did,
right?” Donovan’s mother says in more of a demanding way than a question.
“Yes of course.”
“Claudia, let’s go.” I look up at
my father who is extremely disgusted with me right now.
I grab my bag and follow him out.
I can’t even look back at Donovan right now.
Donovan
“What the hell were you
thinking?! Huh?!” I continue standing facing my parents in the living room as
my father asks me this question that I can’t answer.
I don’t know what the hell I was
thinking. I wasn’t thinking at all.
“Speak damn it!” My father yells.
I say the only answer I got.
“I love her.”
“Oh my God” My mother says as she
lowers her head. My father looks at me like I have lost my mind.
“You love her?”
“Yes.”
“You might want to rethink your
choice of words right now.” My dad says with the "I’m going to kick your
ass" look.
“Donovan how long has this been
going on?” My mother asks me.
“For about three months.” They
scoff at my answer. “But it kind of started way before that.”
“What do you mean? What you felt
something because you were kidnapped together?”
“No. Well later yeah, but I met
her.” I try to gather the short version of our story. “I met her the night
Christian died.
“What?” My dad comes toward me.
“You said...”
“I know what I said.”
“You! You said that nobody saw
you at that party!”
“I know, but I just wanted to get
out of here. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Obviously. You never think
straight that’s your damn problem.”
“So you met Henry Stonem’s
daughter at a party.” My mom says still shocked.
“Yeah, but there was a connection
between us and when I came back here it started all over again.”
“For all you know Stonem could be
using her.” My father says.
“That’s what I said.” We all look
back at Ella.
“You knew?” My mom asks.
“Yeah, but I told him to end it.”
“I can’t believe this my children
are liars. My children are keeping things that could easily harm this family. I
mean Donovan didn’t you think that what you were doing could hurt this family?”
“Mom, I did, but she is
different. She could have easily told her father, but she didn’t.”
My dad says sarcastically.
“That’s right! She loves me and I
love her.”
“Both of you are grounded.”
“What? Me?! I didn’t do anything.”
Ella says.
“You kept this from us Ella!” My
mom says. “You could have told us and I know for a fact Emile knows he knows
everything you do.”
I can’t even lie about that.
“That little shit.” My dad says.
“You are not to see that girl alone again. Do you hear me?!”
“You can’t stop me from seeing
her.”
He walks toward me closely until
we are face to face. I stand tall against my father knowing I will probably
lose this fight.
“You’re not going to see her. I
don’t care if I have to have Benny sit with you in every damn class! You will
not see Henry Stonem’s daughter again. You really disappointed me this time
Donovan.”
Claudia
“How long?” I see my father
pouring himself a glass of brandy as I continue standing in the middle of his
office while Julia sits on the couch.
“For about three months.” I
answer softly.
I can’t say how we met because I
don’t want my dad to know he was at the party the night his brother died.
“How did it start?” He says
calmly.
“At school…we just clicked.”
He lets out a dry laugh. “You
just clicked. You just clicked!”
I jump at the sound of my father’s
tone. I have never been more frightened in my life.
He walks toward me with his glass
in one hand. Without warning I am back handed by my father so hard I don’t even
know how I still kept my balance.
“Henry!” Julia yells.
“Be quiet!” My dad yells back at
her. “This has nothing to do with you!”
I rub my throbbing cheek as my
father faces me again.
“Never in my life have I’ve been
so disappointed, disgusted, and embarrassed. You will have no phone, no
computer, no nothing. You will come home after school until graduation, than
you will stay here in this house until you leave for college.”
He walks towards the fire place.
“Dad.” I say tearfully.
“Do you know what you have
done?!” He says stomping his feet to the ground. “You have humiliated this
family!”
All I can do is continue standing
there. What can I say? I love him?
It doesn’t matter now. Our
deepest fear has come true.
“Get out. I can’t stand the sight
of you.”
I dismiss myself on my father’s
demand. I run up the stairs and into my bed room. I curl up like a little baby
in my bed and cry like my life depends on it.
Donovan
Two weeks passed and my parents
were not joking with me. The only time I saw Claudia was at school. She never
looked at me. I didn’t want to cause any more trouble for her so I did nothing.
It hurts like hell. It feels like a knife turning in my chest. Every time I see
Eric I want to rip his fucking throat out. That night they jumped me and locked
me in my trunk. I spent the whole night ramming the trunk door. My parents were
in a panic when they couldn’t find me the next morning. Emile knowing where I
went came to look for me when my mom asked him where I was. By the time he got to
me it was time for school and I had to get to Claudia. I would have called her,
but my phone was broken from those assholes stepping on it. By the time I got
to school it was too late. She saw the fucking flyer those jackasses put on her
locker. They put them all over the cafeteria too, but the Dean took them all taken
down before lunch. I’m so sorry for her. I know she didn’t want her dad to find
out about us this way. I’m upset for my parents too. If only they understood, I
just need them to understand that I love her. My love for her consumes me. It
pierced itself inside of me and the only way to handle it is through her. To
have that kind of love… well you just can’t let it go. It hurts too much to let
go.
We are at the charity masquerade
ball right now. I’m only here because I need to see her.
“Hey. How you doin D?” I turn
around to see Emile with his black mask covering his eyes and in his black tux
with a bow tie.
“I’m fine. You don’t have to
babysit me, Emile.” I down my forth glass of wine. I’ve been grabbing them off
the tray, not caring who sees me. “Well, you know your dad and my folks are
kind of pissed at me and I want to make sure that you’re okay and that you
don’t do anything out of line tonight.”
“I’m not going to do anything.
What is it with you people?” I snap.
“So you’re going to be able to
keep your cool when you see her?”
Emile is seriously about to piss
me off.
“Yes! Why the hell wouldn’t I?”
I’m lying.
Emile looks past me in a daze and
takes off his mask.
“Well maybe because she looks
like that.”
I turn around instantly to see
the love of my life coming down the steps of the hall in a red gown that looks
radiant on her.
Holy shit.
She has on a black mask with
diamonds on it. The sparkle from the diamonds accelerates her gray eyes through
the mask. Her skin is golden and flawless. She is flawless.
Emile is right. How can I just
keep calm? Especially when I see who is waiting for her down the steps.
Fucking Eric.
Claudia
Fucking Eric.
“You look amazing.” He says with
a smile, that I really want to smack right now.
“Don’t talk to me.” I start
walking past him when he grabs my arm and leans into my ear.
“Remember what your dad said.
You’re my date and you will enjoy it.” He says as he tightens his grip. I jerk
away my arm and start heading towards Jade who is beautiful in a beige gown.
I’m so happy to see somebody I like right now.
“Hey.” I say to her. “You look
great”
“So do you.” She greets me with a
hug. “How are you doing?”
“I’m hanging in there.”