Linked

Chapter 16

Kaileen

I yawned as I went to my room and put some water in the kettle to boil. Staring out the window, I poured some tea into a cup. I found myself in a section of my mind where I didn't want to be, which was my mother and the rest of the life I had left behind. I blinked, getting the images of the last time I had seen Mum. I needed something to distract me. After I took a sip of the tea that had cooled by then, I decided to go find Elia. As I walked out into the hallway, I heard very familiar sobs coming from the lounge. Elia's warm chocolate brown eyes glistened with tears. I sat down quietly next to her and patted her on the shoulder. "What's wrong, Elia? I haven't seen you since breakfast." Elia responded with a loud sniff.

"I..I... I saw Jax making out with a Zerron girl. And when I went up to him, he looked at me like he didn't even know me. Then..." she sobbed, sounding quite pathetic.

"Then what?" I asked.

"Then he invited the girl to come to his room where they wouldn't be disturbed." As she heard the words coming out of her own mouth, she broke down again into a heap of tears.

"Hey, he isn't worth it. You deserve much better that that piece of trash. I'm so sorry that you found out about him this way." I consoled, keeping my voice soft and soothing.

The door opened. "Hey! Oh, what happened?" Kyle's blonde head poked in. I slowly stood up.

"Uh, Kyle? Can you watch Elia while I go and change my clothes?" I ask, gesturing towards my sweaty training gear.

"Sure. Go ahead." replied Kyle. By the Circles, Lucas needed to learn a thing or two from him. I looked back at my two closest friends before leaving the room.

Elia

I took a shuddering breath, and watched my best friend walk out of the room, leaving me with Kyle. "You don't have to 'watch' me, you know. Like I'm a child that needs babysitting." I said defiantly, putting air quotes at the word 'watch'. I knew that Kaileen meant no harm, she was just very protective of me. But in front of Kyle, who I had always secretly liked, I felt like an emotional minefield, and my best friend was walking on very thin ice.

Kyle

I sat down beside her, running through my thoughts to say something. 'I am sorry about what happened' sounded like a funeral. At least it's not 'I am sorry for your loss.' Kyle, focus. "That son of a bitch." I said quietly. Elia managed a small smile, and looked at me.

"How did you know...?" she asked.

"Oh, gut feelings. You know, I never liked Jax. I only put up with him because you seemed to like him a lot."

"Well, thank you. I guess." Elia looked away, and I found myself mesmerised by her incredibly long eyelashes, half hidden by her hair. Before I could stop myself, I reached forward and tucked a loose strand of her blonde mane behind her ear. I delighted in her look of surprise, and pulled her into a hug.

Kaileen

I slunk out of the room, feeling guilty for leaving Elia behind. And of course, my luck was such that I immediately bumped into Lucas on the way out. My heart stuttered as I breathed his sharp scent in. He leaned down, and I caught a whiff of alcohol. "Have you been drinking?" I asked, concerned. Alcohol was a rare privilege, and I had only seen someone intoxicated as Lucas was once, and that had been Elia's father. I knew for a fact that people who were drunk were reckless and dangerous, and that made this situation... what? Dangerous? Even though I knew Lucas could be lethal, I had no doubt that he wouldn't hurt me.

"Would you care if I was?" he whispered, with a dangerously seductive edge in his voice.

"Well, that would depend on what you'd do to me," I wished my voice hadn't broken. Lucas noticed the nervousness barely hidden under fake confidence, and chuckled. His laugh was like drums in my head. It somehow gave me courage to speak. "If you could please get out of my way, mister?" I said sarcastically.

"I'm terribly sorry, miss, but I'm afraid I cannot do that." he shot back, in the same sarcastic tone. He stepped closer, and I stepped back. He came closer again, and this time my back hit the wall. My breath was coming in shallow bursts because of my panic. Even though I was sure of my safety, the situation was so similar to the time Jack had almost done unmentionable things to me. Lucas placed one hand on each side of my head and grinned like the Cheshire cat from the old stories. I tried to dodge out of the jail that his arms had created, but he darted forward and pressed his body to mine so that every inch of us were pressed together. I could feel every single part of him, hard abdomen muscles under the thin cotton T-shirt he was wearing. I put my palms on his smooth and perfect chest plane, and he jerked under my touch. Lucas leaned forward, so that our faces were inches apart, and I smelled alcohol on his breath again. This isn't right, I thought. Lucas was moving closer, and before I could think about it, my hand lashed out and slapped him hard on the cheek. He had a surprised, vulnerable look on his face, which soon melted back into his usual cocky expression. He raised a hand and touched his reddening cheek.

"Surely you could do better than that?" Lucas ran a finger down my exposed throat, making me shiver. I slipped out of the circle of his arms, and stormed down the hallway. I could hear him chuckling, that annoying laugh following me as I went.