I know The Devil

Chapter 019| The other side of the room

~She’s a strong cup of black coffee

In a world that is drunk on the cheap wineText property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Of shallow love.

I wasn’t surprised to see Julie and Titiana waiting for me next to my battered with sharpie written cusses, locker. Eyes plucked, manicures and pedicures checked, lips pouting and both their make-up on flick with the come-get-me eyes that were second nature to them that they flashed at any deserving guy that walked past.

Julie was trembling while Titiana seemed to be more than just a bitch but a more emotionally stable one but that was expected when you come from a dysfunctional family where the lawn was trimmed, housekeepers paid with lumpy envelopes, tiles Pristine but yet your mother cry to bed every night and your father is a drug addict and sleeps with your agemates.

They say what doesn’t kill you only makes you strong, Titiana was a perfect walking example of that theory but I didn’t give two fucks about them, especially not now when I was running late for P. E

“Prudence, a quick talk?” I rolled my eyes at how calm and polite she sounded, aware that she was a trembling mess on the inside if she had merely caught wind of what had gone down in the hallway and was already here to beg me not to attend her party.

I smirked, dumping my textbook inside the locker and slamming it wishing Titiana’s overly done manicured fingers which she studied like they were the most interesting thing in the world were in between them.

Julie just stood next to her quietly. She made to grab my arm but her hands fall midway. I quirked a brow thoroughly amused and enjoying both girls squirm because regardless of how naturally it came to Titiana in hiding her fear, it reeked.

“Why? We are going to be seeing at the party anyways,” I smirked, “Don’t tell me you have changed your mind. Was looking forward to hanging.”

“Well, the thing about that__” Julie started unsurely. “Our friends are against the idea of having you in our midst.”

I waved my hand in the air as they would do at a flimsy excuse, “I saw that coming so I told Law. Hope you wouldn’t mind giving me the names of these friends. He could talk to them”

Julie’s eyes widened even as she bent over and started coughing. I flipped my hair, waved at Titiana and strutted out not even feeling bad that I’ve used Law to even the scores with them but the look on their faces when I walked out burned in my memory. I couldn’t help the big goofy smile that grew on mine and the warmness that spread on my chest, I could sure as hell get used to this feeling of… Invincibility.

I had expected something to go wrong, it always did whenever I tried to get happy. My smiles were a bad omen and should be banned but what I didn’t expect was for the smug grin on my face to be dropping the next hour when the intercom in the hallway was buzzed, a minute after P. E

“Law Tyler, report to the principal’s office. I repeat, report to the principal’s office.”

I was still changing from my PE uniform so I couldn’t rush to him, look at his face and promise him I’ve got him even though it was a lie and total bullshit. But I owed him that much because he was in trouble because of me, he was way too cold, too quiet, too mysterious to be in the Principle’s office if not for he was trying to defend a stupid suspicious runt litter like myself.

I ran out the minute I was done changing but he was gone. Gloria was behind me.

“He’ll be fine regardless of what happens. They are always going to be fine because they have more opportunities than us. He might get a slap on the wrist and be let off the hook__” my eyes hardened at how nonchalantly she sounded, how nonchalantly I’d have sounded a week ago.

I didn’t know much about Law Tyler which was almost impossible since rich people like to talk about themselves all the time and I knew way too much about everybody that matters in Evans high school. To the point it was awkward. When I say knew, I don’t mean mere basics but personal things like body counts though with bitches in my class that spread their legs like it was love, it was hard to keep up but I knew enough.

Yet, I had nothing on Law Tyler. He didn’t talk about his parents much. Apart from the fact that they were in Britain and loaded, we knew absolutely nothing about his folks. He didn’t have siblings, I heard him once saying that he hated to share and that tendency might have sprouted from him being an only child. So, I didn’t know how connected his parents were, if they knew anybody on the school board in case this matter gets stretched to that point. I knew barely the basics about a boy that had made me feel so many things I thought I was incapable of a week ago even though it felt like it has been a lifetime and that bothered me a lot.

Not being in the know means having to be kept on the other side of the room without illumination. Many people love being in the dark. After all, they were freaks and love surprises because mostly they have been met with a lot of good ones but I wasn’t like most people because I never got that lucky.

I hated surprises.

Five minutes, twenty-three seconds since I’d run out of the girl’s changing room and realized that Law had already walked through that door. Hearing myself, I felt like maybe Gloria was right and I just might be overreacting since it has not been that long to assume the bizarre wild things going on in my mind. I have an overactive imagination, so trust me you wouldn’t want to know, (One clue though it had everything to do with Law Tyler, on the Principle’s golden tiled floor in the pool of his own blood). Don’t you dare ask me how I came to that conclusion. I was feeling all sorts of emotions like I was on a rollercoaster of feelings and I deserve to think shit at the very least.

The door was swung open after 329 seconds, see? Look who doesn’t sound dramatic and an angry unremorseful Law Tyler walked out. I sprang to my feet not even ashamed to admit that I’d cared and had sat outside the principal’s office waiting like the desperate idiot Rob had begged me not to be. He’ll be so disappointed, but guess what? I was too so yeah keep your disapproving frown to yourself in Jail while you await trials your whole life.

He stopped his long strides in the middle of the hallway, right before turning the right corner like he could sense my presence and I forgot I had knees the moment he turned to look at me. How fast the anger in his god-like gorgeous face had changed to concern and care made me feel all kinds of things that should be illegal in fifteen states in the US.

“How long have you been standing there?” I don’t know who had covered the distance between us but he was holding me in his arms and peering into my eyes like I was the one who got tongue lashed doubt by Mrs Henshaw. I didn’t know if she behaved differently with kids who weren’t on scholarship but she was such a horrible human being. I avoided visiting her office by all means possible.

I shake my head, smiling foolishly, “Not uncomfortably long but long enough to feel like a freak,” he gazed at me like he didn’t know what to make of what I’d just said so I shrugged, “I was worried.”

“I was your Superman. It is only human to feel that way.” He had a weird sense of humour if he was attempting on cracking a joke after stepping out of the principal’s office but as I said, I didn’t know how she behaved with the rich folks. Maybe she wasn’t so “Henshawish” around them. (Henshawish in this context means a vengeful and without soul. A racist but felt this strong prejudiced feelings for all those whose parents didn’t make large donations to the school) but yet again, it wasn’t like he had grinned or smirked when he had said those words so I was at a loss of what to chalk them into.

“Jack’s parents are not pressing charges.”

I breathed an audible sigh of relief at his words.

“They would be stupid to anyways since my lawyer had already contacted their ass to sue for sexual harassment. We have lots of evidence to back my claim and almost the whole school as eyewitnesses so they should know better. I had to drop my lawsuit.” He breathed out fire and strength and anger… So much passion and all for me. Prudence the Creekside chick so I resisted the urge to remind him that his eyewitnesses had watched Jack misbehave with me and yet hadn’t raised a brow or lift a finger to intervene and were only now jumping over themselves to help because Law Tyler was the one asking.