Poison Ivy

9.

Taking my seat next to Badge in my World Cultures class Monday wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it was as if nothing happened. It was the typical Badge and Tatum conversation. "He blesses us with his presence again." I teased. Badge had been missing a lot of school lately. And I didn't know if it had anything to do with me, or the skinwalker. Which really in the end, still has something to do with me anyway.

"Selfless acts are kinda my thing." I snorted, and set my book on the desk. "Have a nice weekend?" He asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his wicked smile. It took everything in my power to not blush.

"It was interesting." I answered vaguely.

He chuckled under his breath. "Yeah? What'd you do?"

"Aren't you supposed to be my protector or whatever?" I questioned, making finger quotes as I spoke. "Shouldn't you know?"

"I'm a protector, not a stalker." He smiled. Something caught his attention as he turned his head to the doorway. Hannah came walking in and silently took her seat. She didn't even acknowledge me. I watched Badge's face knowing instantly that he was reading her mind. His eyebrow raised, and I could see his eyes narrow slightly.

"Stop." I ordered. "You shouldn't invade her thoughts."

"I don't need you to lecture me, Tatum." He dismissed. "But I get curious when someone is thinking about me."

I looked back and forth between Hannah and Badge. "W-what's she thinking?"

He smirked. "I thought I shouldn't invade someone's thoughts." I gave him a dirty look. "What'd you tell her about me Saturday?"

"Nothing." I swore. "I may have had a slight freak session, and I may have concerned her, but I swear I didn't say anything about you." I looked at her again. "Why? What's she thinking?"

"I knew it was going to catch up to you eventually." He stated.

"How–"

"I know you better than you think." He answered before I could get the question out. "She thinks I'm forcing you to keep quiet about something big."

"Well, she's right." I muttered.

"Yeah." He agreed, nodding his head. "Last time I checked though I wasn't striking you over the head to make sure you kept your mouth shut." I gasped and looked at him apologetically, but Badge only seemed amused by this. Of course, he did. Badge found almost everything amusing.

Like she knew we were talking about her, Hannah turned around to look at us. Her face turned red when she found us looking right back at her. I offered her a smile. She looked back and forth between the both of us, and then turned back around in her seat. "Okay." I said slowly, looking back at Badge. "What was she thinking then?" Badge had a devilish grin on his face as he stared back at me. "What?" I asked, confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He looked back at Hannah for a moment, and then reached for my hair. He gently pushed it aside and lightly touched my neck with his thumb. I froze once I realized what he was looking at. He silently chuckled. I felt the warmth rising to my cheeks as I covered my neck with my hair again. "Not funny." I grumbled, facing the front of the classroom.

"I got you good." He mused, failing miserably at trying to hide his smile.

"Shut up." I grumbled, to which Badge could no longer hide his grin.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore him. Thankfully, Mr. Dmitriyev finally decided to start class. It made it easier to focus on something other than Badge's glinting eyes staring me down. Unfortunately, the news that Mr. Dmitriyev had to share was not going to help my case. He assigned us projects to do with our partners. He said we could join another group too if we would like. We were to agree on a country, research it, and present our findings to the class. A group project meant more alone time with Badge. And I'm not so sure if that's what I needed right now.