VIOLENT DELIGHTS | Rosalie Hale

CHAPTER TWO

JESSIE'S GIRL

THE NEXT DAY WAS better... and worse.

It was better because there wasn't any fog, so it was safer to drive. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Adam waited for me by the stairs with a group of his friends, introducing them to me. It was obvious by the way they kept nudging each other and snickering that Adam's crush was common knowledge, and it made my stomach flutter a little. I'd have to cut the chord with Johnny soon, I knew what I was like when I had a crush, and just one call with mopey lovelorn Johnny after meeting Adam was enough to turn me off. People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Jessica, Chess Club Eric, a boy named Mike who seemed to be fond of Bella - and of course Adam, and two of his buddies, a shorter boy with frosted tips and tan skin named Ed and a shaggy brunette with acne and a pierced ear named Toby. Unsurprisingly, the boys were in a band together. I really had a type.

It was worse because I was tired; I couldn't sleep well, the Cullens kept flashing through my dreams. It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable because I had to play volleyball again, and I got socked in the back of the head by a stray and it hurt my neck. And it was worse because the Cullens weren't in school at all. All morning I was dreading my classes with them, dreading lunch, fearing the bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to confront them and demand to know what their problem was. While I was lying sleepless in bed, I had even imagined what I would say. I'd never had a problem with confrontation before, and it frustrated me that something about them intimidated me to the point of shutting up and bowing my head with my tail between my legs. I didn't want to roll over. Why was I?

Adam made his move after school, seeming to notice I was upset. He offered a drive around town, a 'welcome to Forks' grand tour. As if I hadn't spent fourteen summers here and seen it all. Still, I perked up at the idea, not just because it was the chance to be alone with him but because I'd noticed that morning that he drove a rusty Z28. Bella could see what I wanted, shaking her head with a little smile at my pleading eyes. "Go. I'll be fine, I can handle groceries on my own. I'll tell Ch—Dad you'll be home late."

"Back before dinner." I nod firmly, turning to Adam who smirks.

It wasn't long before we were making out in the woods.

"What about your boyfriend?" He managed while I moved to straddle him in the driver's seat, awkwardly trying to squeeze in between him and the steering wheel while my lips found his again and he helped me shove off Johnny's jacket.

"What boyfriend?" I breathe, moaning as his lips moved down my neck and his fingers dug into my ass through my jeans. We went on a little longer, getting to the point of taking my sweater and his jacket off, grinding against the hard on in his jeans, when the music abruptly cut off and he pulled back with a groan. I hadn't noticed that the whole car had died with the music.

"Sorry." He apologized, but I was already climbing off of him and pushing the driver side door open to stumble out. "This happens, it's a shitty scrapyard save that I paid way too much cash for and it dies all the fucking time, I keep replacing the battery but—"

"Pop the hood." I tell him, rolling the sleeves up on my henley while he stares at me in surprise, chest still rising and falling in deep with the pulse he was trying to bring down. I raise an eyebrow back at him, already trudging through the mud toward the front of the car. "Just pop it."