Acquainted ⇒ Brett Talbot

XIII. Abandoned

"You got suspended?"

"Yes, Brett, I got suspended."

He turns on the ignition and sighs over the noise of the engine revving up. "Good one, Lenore."

"It was worth it, though."

"Really? Knocking a girl out for some petty comment?" He raises his eyebrows at me.

"She said I was a whore, Brett! You should've done something yourself to stop it. But no, you just stood there until I had finally had enough and punched her in the face."

He doesn't say anything after that. I cross my arms over my chest and clench my jaw, glaring at Brett out of the corner of my eye.

"You're angry at me now, but you'll thank me for it later," he says eventually.

"Okay, you sound like my mom," I say. "Who is dead," I add.

"You know, maybe you'd be happier if you stop bringing it up," he says. The car slows to a stop outside of my house.

Ouch. That hurts. "You don't understand," I yell. "You don't have two dead parents."

A muscle feathers in his jaw. "My parents died when I was three."

I cup a hand over my mouth. "Oh my god," I gasp. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I said that."

He purses his lips, purposely avoiding my eyes. "It's fine, Lenore," he says softly. "You didn't know." But his words have an underlying sour tone in them.

I run a hand through my hair. "God, I'm such a bitch! I can't believe I said that."

"Lenore st—"

"I am so sorry. I am actually the worst person on this planet right—"

I'm cut off by Brett's mouth colliding with mine. His lips are soft but passionate as they work in time with mine. His arms go around my waist, pulling me closer to him. When he pulls away, his lips are pink and swollen. Our faces are still millimetres apart when he says, "I thought I told you to stop."

I feel my lips curving into a dry smile. "God, our lives are so messed up."

"I know," he says softly.

His lips press down firmly on mine again, this time more passionate and strong. His lips move in sync with mine and his hands burn through my skin with every brush of contact. His hands are curious, exploring; playing with the hem of my shirt, sliding down past my hips and down to my ass. He pulls me onto his lap and trails his lips across my jaw and then down to my neck. A small noise escapes my lips as he sucks on the skin between my neck and collarbone.

And that's when I feel it and pull away. "Brett," I exclaim, a strand of mussed hair falling across my face. "I can feel your little guy!"

He widens his eyes and turns a deep shade of red. "Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. Holy crap. Get off of me right now. Right now. You're making me — okay, wow, just please get off before I embarrass myself further."

I push open the door and clamber out. "That was..." I, myself, don't even know a word that'd describe the level of awkwardness that just ensued.

He grins and tries desperately to cover what's happening between his legs. "Yep." He grimaces and looks at his phone. "Wow! Would you look at that! Satomi's called. I better be on my way, I s'pose. See ya, Lenore."

And without even waiting for an answer, he speeds down the street. "Goodbye to you too, Mr Talbot," I mumble to myself and head inside.

Turns out my streak of being charming is over, because as soon as I get inside I hear the voice of June yelling from the living room. She comes out, cheeks red — huh, her complexion is uneven for once — and eyes wide with fury. I don't need much imagination to conjure up steam coming out of her ears, either. "Suspended? Really? And for hitting another girl?"