Fire & Ice

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Journal entry:

I'm ready for all this craziness to end. It breaks my heart to see Portia, and Brad for that matter, so torn up about the loss of their friend. I wish there was something more I could do, but so far nothing has changed—I have no new results. The constant separation from Portia has been putting a strain on both of us. I think I need to return my focus to her. Hopefully things with Shelly will improve at some point, but for now, we are simply going to have to wait things out.

***

Leaving Portia's early in the morning, I went home and had breakfast with Marsha before she left for work, got ready for school, and hurried back to get my girlfriend.

It was hard to miss Shelly and her clique of new friends, clumped together in a secluded part of the parking lot. Technically, they were just outside the bounds of school property, so several of them were smoking.

She noticed Portia and me immediately, sending a snotty glance in our direction. Portia's hurt passed through me, and like her, I was puzzled by the action. Shelly was the one who'd left us. We'd certainly never done anything to ostracize her.

Wrapping an arm protectively around Portia's shoulders, I gave her a small squeeze, hoping to comfort her a bit. I hated seeing the way her friend was hurting her.

The two of us made our way into the school, stopping first at Portia's locker, then going to mine to grab some of the items I needed for my first class of the day.

"Hey, Vance," Shelly's voice purred from behind me, catching me off guard. Slowly, I faced her, wondering what she wanted. Portia appeared to be frozen beside me.

Shelly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me on the lips as her body melted heavily against mine.

Standing in complete shock, I didn't move or respond as she rubbed her mouth back and forth, obviously trying to elicit some sort of reaction from me. She stepped away, her gaze traveling over me in a carnal fashion.

"I knew you'd be hot," she said, running a black polished nail down the side of her mouth as if she were very pleased with herself. She touched her finger against my chest, trailing it across my pecs before moving it down my abs, dipping lower toward—I snapped out of it, quickly grabbing her hand, holding it away from me.

"What the heck are you doing, Shelly?" I was flabbergasted by her actions. The next thing I saw was Portia's fist connecting squarely with Shelly's face.

I heard the snap of Shelly's nose and she screamed, blood spraying everywhere.

"You stay away from him!" Portia screamed, lunging for Shelly again.

"Fight! Fight!" Someone yelled and suddenly the hall was full of running students and teachers.

I stepped in between the girls, trying to hold them back as they clawed for each other, and I used my powers to determine that Portia had indeed broken Shelly's nose. There was no way I could heal it either. There were too many people around. The damage was already done.

"That's enough!" the authoritative voice of one of the teachers, Mr. Bryson, broke through the scuffle, and both girls back away, staring at each other, breathing heavily. "Ms. Mullins, and Ms. Fontane, both of you to the principal's office. Now!"

Retrieving my textbook and notebook that had dropped, I hurried after them.

"Not you, Mr. Mangum," Mr. Bryson said, frowning heavily at me. "Get to class."