Pusher

thirteen.

One of the many perks to sitting at Ellie's table in Current Events was the free candy. I still had the lemon flavored sucker she gave me rolling over my tongue as I gathered my things at my locker. The other perk, of course, was no Maverick.

Another day passed, and my streak of dodging any kind of confrontation with him continued. Or so I thought.

The final bell had already run and I was keen to go home and slip into a coma for the remainder of the weekend, but two words from that all-too-familiar smooth voice and a jolt of adrenaline spiked through me.

"Hey, Angel."

I could have withered up and died on the spot.

I spun around, clicking my locker shut with my heel. His proximity sent me reeling back and I pressed my back into the metal surface. He was close enough for me to catch the woody scent that clung to his clothes. That, and the cigarette smoke.

One hand pressed into the metal beside my head. He leaned in, his lips a hard line.

This was it. I was caught — for real this time. Someone must have told him about me selling weed to Cindy McCarthy in the girls' locker room, about me passing an old notebook stuffed with pot to Jeremy Carter in my third period.

I had broken every rule he gave me and now I was going to pay for it.

His fingers twisted around the white stem of my sucker and he eased it past my lips, taking my breath with it. He looked me dead on with those coal black eyes as he popped it into his own mouth and placed his other hand over my hip.

Not even the added layer of my thick jacket could stop the red hot fire that burned through me at his touch. His eyes flicked to my lips and he pushed the sucker to the corner of his mouth with his tongue.

His hand was moving against the surface of my jacket but my eyes were stuck to his. I almost didn't notice when he started speaking, my mind thrown into a daze.

"Montgomery wants to see you."

I was too breathless to speak so I just gave a brief nod. I hoped my eyes didn't look entirely helpless and my weak spine was enough to keep me from melting in front of him, but I was sure my expression was giving away exactly how vulnerable I felt.

That, and every other emotion that flitted through my mind.

He took the sucker out of his mouth and held it in front of my lips. No crinkled eyes. No mocking smile. He was nothing but focused. Controlled chaos.

"Keep it," I told him.

He shrugged, his mouth finally cracking into a smile, if the tilt could even qualify as that, and he wrapped his lips around the candy once more.

Ice slithered down my back as I watched him leave, but my skin was still burning with his fire.

Relief washed through me first. My secret was safe. For now, anyway. But that didn't keep an unsettled feeling from thrashing into my stomach.

What was that all about? And since when had Maverick become Mr. Montgomery's messenger?

I shook away my doubts and focused on slowing my heart rate as I bounded up the stairs and weaved through the hallways. Mr. Montgomery's room was on the complete opposite side of the school. What could he possibly want to talk to me about anyway?

I clicked my knuckles twice against his open door, painted an ugly puke green color. He glanced up from his desk, his mouth curving into a polite smile. The room was vacant save for him.