Tainted Innocence

Chapter 3

Cynthia Moreau's heartbeat steadied again only when she caught sight of her best friend walk into AP Chemistry, her books in her hands. She smiled at her, but it faltered when she saw Cain's leather jacket thrown over her friend's shoulders. There was a sickening feeling in her stomach and she clenched her jaw in annoyance, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

"At ease Thia," Victoria ordered beside her, putting her hand over Cynthia's fist.

"How can I remain at ease knowing that that foul, evil, monstrous Devil is so close to our best friend?" she retorted, not taking her eyes off of Katarina. "He's completely manipulating her, but she won't see past his ruse."

"And we promised her not to lecture her on it," Victoria hissed, turning to glare at her. "So, unless you want to lose Aria, let it go."

Cynthia thought about staring her other friend down but she gave up, unclenching her jaw and fists. She plastered a smile onto her face just as Katarina walked over to their table, flashing them a small smile. She sat down in front of them, but said nothing as Mrs. Raina Castor split everyone into groups. The girls were lucky that they managed to stay together with the addition of only three boys.

"We have AP Lit together," one of the tall blondes declared, holding out his hand to Cynthia and flashing her a smile. "I must say, of the redheads in this school, the two of you are definitely the hottest."

She had the urge to punch him in his square jaw, but she refrained from doing so, nodding sarcastically instead. "And I must say, that you are as stupid as you look," she shot back, satisfied only when his smile faltered before turning into a frown. "See? It took you all of thirty seconds to understand my insult when normally, the process is done quite simply."

"Thia!" Victoria hissed, nudging her hard in the ribs.

But Cynthia was on a roll and it didn't lay low as she saw another one of the guys moving toward Katarina. "You must think you're all that because you're big, tall and on the football team, but if you take one more step toward my best friend, I will knock you on your ass," she warned, grabbing hold of Katarina's arm. She pulled her friend toward her and glanced back at the front of the classroom, where Mrs. Castor was staring concernedly at them. "Mrs. Castor, can we have a change in partners?" she asked loudly. "These guys are trying to commit statutory rape." She heard snickering from somewhere behind her before someone spoke, his voice clear and smooth as well as slightly accented.

"We can switch with them," the guy declared. "I'm sure Fahey, Branson and Mitchells don't need another complaint on their permanent records."

Cynthia didn't turn around, but she shot the three guys a smirk as they switched with the three guys behind the girls, her eyes popping at the sight of them. They looked like jocks just as much as the others, but there was something softer in their features, something that was nice to look at. She found herself staring at one of the blonde guys, her eyes falling on his ocean blue ones and then counting the number of beauty spots he had on his neck and the second half of his face. She did her best to remain uninterested, but it was harder to do than she would have thought. She eventually had to tear her eyes away in order to clear her mind, but that was even worse because of the way Katarina was staring at her.

"What?" she asked quietly so only her friend could hear.

Katarina shook her head innocently, looking away. "Nothing at all Thia," she answered. "Nothing at all."

Cynthia grimaced and glanced back at Victoria, who had already started pouring chemicals. She hadn't paid any attention to the boys and she cursed her friend mentally for not doing so. Katarina didn't even look at boys because of her brothers and Victoria was always far too immersed in her own head and training to do it. The least either of them could do was give her some help.