Branded

Chapter 5

The week of finals finally arrives and I'm nervous as all hell. I'm filing paperwork in my uncles office, but I feel myself getting sloppy. I run different subjects through my head trying to remember useless facts that don't matter to me and I'm messing myself up. I always get this way before a test. I redo all the work I've done in the past five minutes to bring it up to my standards. I return to my desk and start looking at more cases for filing.

"Hey, gorgeous." a voice says behind me. I can feel them rest their hands on the back of my chair.

"Go away, Calum." I say secretly happy he's here. 'Wait, what? Why am I happy. I can't stand him.'

"Why? Its fun to see you squirm." he says chuckling a little.

"Squirm? Me? No I have nerves of steel." I say stamping a file so hard that the sound quiets the room momentarily.

"Sure, that's why you just caused an awkward silence." Calum says as he sits himself on my desk, "Where've ya been? I thought you quit or something when I didn't see you."

"When have you been in here?"

"Wednesdays."

"Exactly. I don't work Wednesdays. At least right now. Too busy with something else."

"I'm assuming it has to do with ballet."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you look exhausted, your a little fatigue, your hair is pulled back in a tight bun, your pointe shoes are hanging out of your bag, and you have a sticky note in front of you that says "FOR TUESDAYS: NO WORK TOMORROW. DANCE FROM 4 TO WHENEVER.""

I glance at the note and smirk a little. I forgot about that. I look back at Calum, "Alright, yes I have been doing dance. I need the extra practice time. I'm a horrid dancer."

"I doubt that since you were able to get the lead for a performance. Which one you doing?" he asks absentmindedly playing with a pen.

I stumble over the words as they fall out, "I... did not get the lead... That's... just ridiculous."

Calum gives me a "really?" face, "Are you kidding me? No one else would need extra practice time for a recital if they're in an unimportant role. I mean, yeah there would be extra practices, but not every Wednesday from four to whenever."

"Fine, yes I got the lead. And we're dancing Swan Lake."

He rolls his eyes and mutters, "Typical."

"Look, what gives you the right to judge me? The first time you saw me was like forever ago when I was sitting at a desk doing my job, and then you started hitting on me like immediately."

He laughs a little, "I saw you at the beach like four months ago, was it? When you spilled that guy's drink and then kicked his ass. I think I have the right to judge you a little bit. You remember that day, don't you?"

Unfortunately, I do. It was a week after Nikki and I moved here. It was the perfect day and she dragged me to the beach. Okay, she didn't drag me, but I had other things to do, like unpack. But either way, we went there and were having a great time. I don't remember exactly, but I think I was running from Nikki because she was trying to dump ice water on me. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I ran into someone.

"I am soooo sorry. Did I spill that? Oh my, I'm sorry. I'll buy you a new one." I said feeling horrible.

"Damn straight you're going to buy me another one. Jeez, what's your problem?" he snapped so rudely before muttering under his breath, "Stupid American."

"Um, excuse me? I was actually going to buy you two drinks, but not you can forget it. You don't need to be an ass, it was an accident."

"Excuse me?" he said as he tried to grab me. I smacked his arm away and reflexes kicked in: I punched him in the throat. I wasn't actually aiming there, but it got him to leave me alone. I just remember after that his friends dragged him away and Nikki peed herself laughing over it. I felt bad, but he deserved it.

"Wait, you were there?" I ask in shock staring at Calum.

He nods, "Probably didn't notice me because you were too busy being embarrassed. Plus, I was with a friend and his girl. You're only used to seeing me alone."

I look at Calum in wonder. How on earth could I have not noticed him? I'm always observant of my surroundings. I would have at least seen him at some point, but I have no recollection of it.

"So you noticed me running into the guy? And remembered it?"

He shrugs, "It was funny, so I remembered it."

I make a disgusted noise and start to stamp files again. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Calum smirk, "You're so cute when you're angry."

"I am not angry," I snap, "And I'm not cute."

He laughs, "See you later, sugar."

And before I know it, my face is encapsulated by his hands and his lips are pressed against mine. His lips are warm and inviting. I don't move a muscle. I just sit there, eyes wide open, not breathing. Calum smirks, kisses my nose, and walks out of the station like he owns it.

~ *Nikki's POV* ~

Lee looks like a ghost as she walks in. She's half floating, half stumbling as she makes her way across the dance studio floor. She goes into the bathroom dressed for work and comes out several minutes later dressed for dance, but her hairline is wet. She must have been majorly zoned out to have to wet her face to appear normal.

"Leanne, you're late. What happened?" Ryland asks.

"I got held up, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Why are you dressed for dance?" I ask confused.

"What?" she looks down at herself, "Oh, what did I do?" She runs back into the bathroom and changes into her chill clothes.

Ryland glances over at me and tilts his head. I shrug because I'm just as clueless as to what's up with her as he is. Ryland doesn't waste anytime getting on with reviewing Lee's dance video. For the next few hours, we watch the video and take note of corrections. When he dismisses us, Lee is still slightly dazed. I don't ask her anything about it until we get back to the apartment.

But, of course, we don't make it there without being stopped. We're passing an ally way when someone whistles. I don't look over because I know that means someone is going to try to jump us if we do. But the sudden noise is enough to snap Lee out of her daze, and she looks. We're surrounded pretty quickly.

I don't know what happens next. I hear Lee screaming and feel the guys pulling at my clothes and cursing. I fight back the best I can, but that only earns be a smack to the side of the head. I find myself screaming for Michael, though I don't know why. He isn't here or anywhere close enough to help. He probably wouldn't help even if he was.

I suddenly feel very cold and realize my pants are off. I start to kick for all I'm worth. I hear the sounds of skin on skin, but I'm not the one causing the sound. My legs hit no one as I kick. I see a flash of red before I'm hit again and my vision goes blurry.

The sound of feet running fills my ears and then a squeal from Lee. I feel someone pick my up, but I just close my eyes and rest my head against their shoulder. I don't care who is touching me. I just know I feel safe close to them.