Wicked Love

Chapter 8

I limped through the halls on Thursday morning, a hand clutching at my side.

I couldn't even get out of bed on Tuesday. I'd asked Julie to take Belle for the next two days so I could stay in bed and rest. She was worried, but I just told her I was sick and didn't want to give it to Belle.

The pain wasn't any better on Wednesday, it wasn't any better today, but I decided to go to school before I have any more late work. Julie dropped Belle off at daycare before she went to work today so at least I won't have to worry about her for a while.

I fought to keep the grimace of pain off my face as I limped through the halls to the cafeteria. Each step felt like a knife to my whole body. The burning in my abdomen felt like a hot poker in my stomach.

I'm dreading having to see Julian because I still have to stay away from him and he's not making it easy. I know I should ignore Spencer, but I don't want to find out what he'll do to me. Maybe, since Julian beat the shit out of him, he won't care if I hang out with him anymore, but I don't want to take that chance. I don't even know why Spencer doesn't want me to be friends with him anyway. I never did anything to him, I don't know why he hates me so much.

I'm about to enter the cafeteria doors when I hear Julian's voice from behind me.

"Let's go somewhere and talk."

"What? No! I'm going to get lunch," I reply, about to open the door.

"I know you were only ignoring me because Spencer told you to."

I turn to face him.

"What? No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did. It's amazing what people will tell you when you're beating them senseless," He says, a smirk on his face.

I gape at him. "Why would you go after Spencer!? He's going to kill you."

"Because, after seeing your face yesterday when he showed up, I figured he had to have done something to scare you," He explains. "I cornered him in the parking lot and he told me what he did."

"It doesn't matter anyway, he's right. I'm only going to bring you down. You should just leave now, and you shouldn't feel guilty, I don't want you to feel guilty. And I'm sure there are hundreds of other girls waiting for you to pay attention to them. I mean look at you, you're gorgeous and I'm... Not. You don't need someone like me dragging you down. So, I completely understand if you -"

"You need to stop putting yourself down!" He suddenly exclaims, cutting off my rant. "You are gorgeous and I'm sick of hearing you say you aren't and I'm not just going to stop talking to you because of the likes of Spencer Duval."

I'm stunned into silence. Standing there with my mouth agape. Very attractive, I'm sure.

"I'm not trying to be your friend as part of a prank," He continues. "I care about you and you need to get that through your thick skull, woman," He huffs.

My heart catches in my throat and my voice scratches.

"That's even weirder," I choke out. "Why?"

"Because you're a nice person who deserves kindness," He answers.

"Well, I'm not used to it," I argue.

Julian looks at me unsmiling.

"That's sad," He says softly.

"What?"

"That you're not used to people being nice to you," He answers sadly.

I open and close my mouth a few times. "Now I don't know what to say."