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It’s only been three weeks since I confronted Emma and told her to stay away from me. Since that day I have slowly been going more and more insane. Seeing her perfection walking down the halls makes me want to grab her and never let her go. I’m doing this to protect her, but it’s killing me. I thought still being able to see her would make it slightly easier to deal with but it makes it worse. The fact that I must treat her like she means nothing to me makes it worse. She doesn’t deserve this.
For the history project we had been assigned, she did all the work for both of us without complaint. As promised, I had left notes in her locker with some of my stuff but it was clear she barely used my work. She wrote the entire paper and did the PowerPoint herself. At least Emma was kind enough to slide me a thumb drive before leaving class two days before the presentation. On it were the whole PowerPoint and the points I would need to memorize for my part. I didn’t deserve the kindness she had shown me during the project. Truthfully I didn’t even expect her to give me talking points until the day of, but I guess she didn’t want my grade to take a hit even though I wouldn’t have cared. The only thing I cared about was that she got a good grade. I know what happens if she brings home anything lower than an “A” and it’s not something I would risk with her.
For the past forty minutes of history class, I have been staring at her. Today she looks extremely run down because I know her that well. Everyone else would see her still put together and smiling, but her smile doesn’t reach her eyes like when she’s truly happy. Her brown hair is pulled back in a messy bun, and she’s wearing the sweatshirt I know she stole from me long ago. Half of me wants to rip the sweatshirt off her, but the possessive half loves seeing her in my clothes.
“Hey, Emma,” our school's quarterback calls out as he sits on the edge of her desk.
We’re supposed to be reading a chapter in our texts, but clearly, he thinks he’s above everyone else. If he doesn’t get his ass off her desk, he will be meeting my fists later. No one goes near Emma. Not unless they want their asses handed to them. I guess he’s gonna need a reminder.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go to homecoming with me?” I overhear him ask.
Immediately my fists clench, and it takes everything in me to remain at my desk. She’s not mine, not publicly. I have to trust her to say no herself. Though I’m sure she would want to go to something like that. It would be expected, and she can’t go with me.
Emma doesn’t even spare a glance to look back at me before answering him. I can see the tension in her shoulders as she does, though. “Can I let you know tomorrow?” Her voice is soft. “I just need to make sure my family doesn’t have plans that night.”
Her answer is a lie. She just wants to make sure that the quarterback is an acceptable date in her father's eyes. What she doesn’t know though is by tomorrow, he isn’t going to want to go with her anymore. He and I will be having a nice chat about it after school. The guy’s a man whore and only uses females for his pleasure. I won’t let Emma be one of them.
“Of course,” he gives her a charming smile and wink. The sight makes me want to gag, but I control myself.
Shortly after his little display, the bell rings for class dismissal. As Emma gathers her bag, I see her look back at me. There’s longing and sadness in her eyes. I hate knowing this arrangement is hurting her, but I’m not going to change it. I give her a death glare then get out of my seat, leaving her behind. I can feel her presence behind me as I leave the classroom. Picking up my pace I head around the corner and lose her in the crowded halls. If she tried to confront me today, I may just cave and give her what she wants.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. By the time the last class lets out, I am already waiting outside the men's locker room to have a nice little chat with our quarterback. It doesn’t take long for him and his friends to make their way here when the bell finally rings. The second he sees me I watch his expression darken before he masks it and attempts to walk past me.
“Have a minute to talk, Torrez?” I question as I lean against the wall.
He pauses, waving his buddies on before coming over to talk to me. Glad he knows to listen instead of trying to make this difficult. Guess my reputation really has spread through the halls more than I expected.
“What do you want, Trevor?” he grumbles, coming to a stop in front of me.
“I highly suggest you stay away from Emma,” I growl, not moving from my position against the wall.
“What’s it to you? I can ask her to be my date all I want. It's her choice. You're just a low-life scum from the wrong side of the tracks.” His words are gruff, but I know there’s nothing behind it. He can’t take me.
“I said,” dropping my voice and stepping towards him, “Emma is off limits.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna work for me. She's a hot piece of ass that I have every intention of hitting.” Torrez retorts, getting up in my face.
I don’t think before I swing and hit him in the stomach. Taking a step back I watch as he doubles over. I have no issues using violence to get my point across. No one touches Emma.
“Fuck you,” he spits, straightening. “Now I’m definitely taking her to homecoming. I’ll get her to open those long legs for me and fuck that pussy ruining her for anyone else.”
That does it. I snap at his words, kicking him in the stomach and shoving him into the opposite wall. I know to make sure that I don’t leave a single visible bruise on him. Instead, I focus on his stomach and chest, getting a couple of kidney shots in as well. It doesn’t take long before he is on the ground in a pile holding his stomach while trying to defend himself.
“If I see you fucking near her again you’re a dead man,” I snarl, giving him one last kick for good measure. “Now, promise you and all your little friends are going to stay far away from her.”
“Never,” Torrez spits some blood onto the ground at my feet. He struggles to get up from the ground and only makes it to his knees before I drop to his level.
“You wanna try that again?” I growl, grabbing the switchblade from my front pocket and holding it against his throat. I make sure the pressure is there but not enough to actually cut his skin. Not yet at least.
“You’re fucking psychotic!” He tries to pull out of my hold and away from the knife.
“I need to hear your promise,” I demand, pushing the knife in harder. This time I watch a small trickle of blood form against his skin where the knife sits. No one can say I didn’t try to do this the nice way first. The dumbass just wouldn’t stay away as I told him the first time.
“Fine,” he grunts. “I fucking promise none of us will go near Emma. Now get the fuck off me.” He pushes me away as he makes the last effort to get to his feet.
I watch as he stumbles away and into the locker room. When I know he isn’t going to come back with any of his friends, I walk away and leave for the day. Emma will be pissed tomorrow when she finds out what I did, but it will be worth her wrath. She’s mine and always will be.
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