Playing With Fire (Previously Burning The Bad Boy) (UNDER RECONSTRUCTION)

{8} Survival of The Fittest

There was something about Damon's words that haunted my nightmares that night. Every time my eyes fluttered shut, I saw his pulsating blue eyes staring back. I could hear his motorcycle being kick started off in the distance, any time I took a step, I woke up with a start. It was easy to say I hardly got any sleep, and Damon, as always, was the root cause of it all.

The second my dad pulled into the parking lot of the school, I ducked out of the car without as much as a word and headed for the front doors. The last thing I needed right now was to be greeted by the devil himself. He had spent the entire night at the forefront of my mind and I absolutely hated it.

"You look like crap." Rachel said through a mouth full of chips when I reached my locker. Her blonde hair had been thrown into a sloppy bun and she looked as if she'd climbed out of bed and thrown on the first thing she could find-a pair of old jeans a size too small and a crop top I knew she'd get a referral written up for.

"Didn't sleep well." I muttered, rubbing my free hand along my forehead as I pried one of my textbooks out of my locker.

She raised a nearly nonexistent eyebrow. It had always fascinated people how light her eyebrows were, and how in certain lighting, they didn't exist at all.

"Does Mr. Bad Boy have anything to do with that?" she teased.

"Can you just stop it with all that crap already?" I snapped. "I can assure you the next time I see Damon, I'll probably punch him."

My best friend only snickered, not taking a word of what I said seriously. "So you can pay that hospital bill too?"

I shook my head angrily and stomped passed her, ignoring the quiet calls after me as she tried to keep up. To my relief, Ryder rounded the corner at the same time I did and accidentally on purpose ran directly into my best friend with a crooked grin. I would have to ask her about it when I had more than an hour and a half of sleep in my system.

Falling into my seat in History, I wasn't at all shocked to find Damon's seat vacant. He didn't seem like the type of student to show up early, on time, or even to school. Why would I think it was possible he'd be here ten minutes until the bell?

I unzipped my pencil case and pulled a pen from it, tapping it gently against my desk as I lifted my head to stare at the clock over the door. It wasn't everyday I was on my own in this classroom. Rach and I usually stepped in a few minutes early and joked about what we had done the night before. Sitting alone in the quiet, empty room, my mind drifted back to the rare occurrence I had seen in the hallway.

Ryder Stone had actually run into my best friend purposely. There was no hiding the fact that he had move slightly to the right after passing me so he'd knock a book or two from her hands and be able to pick them up for her. My best friend was finally living out her fantasy, and I kind of hated myself for not being able to be there to experience it with her.

"Riding solo today, Princess?" Why can't he just leave me alone?

"Rachel is-"

Damon leaned forward on my desk until he was blocking my view of the clock. "Rachel is ditching with Ryder. They just left."

My eyes met his, my mouth opening in astonishment. Rachel hadn't missed a day of school in four years. She had even come in with a stomach flu that left her sitting in the hospital overnight. She had ruined her perfect attendance record for a guy?

"So how about you pick up your things and we'll ditch this hellhole too?" he joked.

I cocked my head. "You're asking me to leave with you? Is this some sort of nightmare?"