Fracture

Chapter Seven

"You're here by yourself."

He said it like he wasn't talking to me, staring down the hall mumbling under his breath.

"Cass Hollister," he said, trying out my name in his mouth.

I was surprised at how my name sounded so beautiful when it came from him. I shifted away from him, eager to keep my distance. He was popular. And I didn't like attention.

"You know my name," I replied, more coldly than I had intended.

Hmm. 

Julian grabbed me by the arm and, without any effort at all, lifted me off the ground. By my arm. Shocked, I tried to back away but he was too strong.

"Hey!" I yelled while trying to twist my arm free.

"See, these halls would be flooded with rabid girls if you don't move," Julian warned while glancing around warily.

Goddammit, Julian you're running from girls not wild monkeys.

"I'm sorry, Cass? This is for your safety, if those girls see that you're with me, you're as good as dead."

Ha, it's almost as if he knew what I was thinking.

He impatiently, and quite literally hoisted me into the janitor's closet. I screamed. Loud.

"Cass!"

He slapped a hand over my mouth.

I was burning all over. Who did he think he was?

"Are you going to shut up?"

I struggled under his grip for a good minute until he let go after making sure that I wouldn't escape by slipping between his legs. I craned my neck upwards so that I could look at him straight in the eye. It was really the least I could do to show that I wasn't intimidated by him. I was downright pissed.

 It was difficult since his body was against mine and the janitor's closet was more of a janitor's box. Julian smelled like cigarettes and perfume.

"You know what?" I muttered angrily, "You know what, Julian-effing-Ryder? You can't just drag a girl in here without a good reason."

"Julian-effing-what?" He said in his sexy, low voice, clearly amused.

"That's your name isn't it?" I said, quite innocently, attempting to outsmart him in some way.

My attempt backfired miserably when he grinned to himself, plunging us into a long moment of awkward silence.

It was impossible not to take in his gorgeous features since we were almost face-to-face.

Well, more like face-to-chest because I was short and Julian was more than a head taller.

His raven black hair was tousled elegantly, curls occasionally falling into his eyes as he tried to speak. What slightly annoyed me was when he had subconsciously brushed the strands of hair aside, looking down at me with his cat-green eyes. Julian looked like a god, actually, but I knew better than to fall for guys like him. He was definitely not my type.

"Okay, what?" I scowled, not bothering to hide my exasperation.

"You are officially invited to my nineteenth birthday party on the thirteenth."

I glared knives at him.

Well, no, I glared fucking cleavers at him.

"This is why you dragged me into here? You pretty much ruined the chances of me saying yes."

Julian contemplated his reply, sucking in his lips.

"Yes, but what will your best friends think when they find out  Cass Hollister rejected a party invitation from the Julian Ryder?"

I rolled my eyes, and he laughed, looking at me like I was his pet hamster that had accidentally rolled over while on the running-wheel thingy.

"They won't." I whispered, after hearing some shuffling of feet from the outside.

Julian conveniently rested his chin on my head, slipping his hand over mine, and I tried my best not to shiver under his touch.

"Are you sure?"

And I knew he was challenging me.

Before I could say anything, he reached his free hand behind him and turned the doorknob. I wanted to scream for him to stop, but a lump had found its way to my throat, making it hard to speak at all. He kicked backwards, letting  the door of the janitor's closet fly wide open. It was the worse two seconds of my life and everything seemed to be playing before me in slow motion as I peered across Julian's body to face the after-school crowd.

The door hinges made a sickening "creeeeeek" sound, crashing loudly against the wall after making a painfully slow hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

They stared.

Julian lowered his gaze to mine, looking extremely pleased with himself as he studied my reaction. My face was flushed.

"I'll see you at the party," he whispered in my ear, somehow in a volume which everyone could here.

His lips grazed my ear and he slowly released me, pushing his body off of mine. Then, he walked off, mercilessly leaving me with the staring crowd inclusive of Tiana and Gabriel.

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened.

Their stares were starting to feel like heavy bricks weighing on top of me, so I had to walk coolly but briskly to the bathroom for refuge.