Page 147 of Rebellious

“This will not work, sir,” Skye persisted. “We won’t share him. It has to be one of us.”

“Play eenie, meenie, minie, moe,” one of the male students suggested, obviously finding humor in this situation.

Wilhemhein rocked on his feet and smiled broadly at CJ. “I’m tempted to remove you from the equation, Mr. Caldwell, and allow the two young ladies to work peacefully.”

“That’ll be the fucking day,” CJ grumbled.

“One my aching head would greatly appreciate.” Wilhemhein straightened to his full height. “But I’ll be kind. You pick your lab partner, Mr. Caldwell.”

Spreading his legs carelessly and bouncing one knee up and down, CJ glanced over his shoulder, then looked at the teacher. “Eenie, meenie, minie, mo, catch a dickhead by the toe. If he hollers let him go, eenie, meenie, minie, mo.” He stormed to his feet and grabbed his backpack. “I choose the ‘F’, sir,” he started to walk away, ignoring the snickers from the other students.

Easton tipped his chin down to hide his smile.

“Impressive, Mr. Caldwell,” Wilhemhein taunted. “I’m sure Billson would be proud, but what would your mother say?”

That halted CJ. “That’s a low blow.”

“But an accurate one,” the teacher said smugly.

Easton cleared his throat. “Let me talk to him,” he said, having seen enough.

“If school is on your agenda for tomorrow, Mr. Caldwell, please come in with a smile on your face and the gleam of math in your eye.”

CJ stalked out, leaving Easton to follow behind. He caught up to him just as he stormed outside and headed down the walkway to the back of the campus.

“Wait, CJ,” Easton called. “Let’s talk and have a cigarette.”

“It’s a smoke-free campus, Easton,” CJ responded, walking faster.

Although Easton didn’t answer, he dogged CJ’s steps, surprised when he headed to the track field and one of the low-level bleachers, where he sat.

Easton dropped next to him and realized he’d left his cigarettes in his jacket. He noticed one behind each of CJ’s ears.

“If you give me one of your cigarettes, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

CJ removed one of the cigarettes and held it out to him, then jammed the other one in his mouth. Standing, he dug into his pocket and fished out a lighter. Once he lit both cigarettes, he returned the lighter to his pocket and sat again, then took a drag.

“Girls, man,” he said around a plume of smoke. “I will never understand them.”

“You aren’t meant to. Women are mysterious, beautiful creatures. We are just the mere mortals who worship them.”

“I’d never disrespect Skye or Jaleena but I don’t worship them.” He took another drag. “I thought I’d get to that point with Jaleena, but, fuck…I don’t know if I pushed her away for a legitimate reason. She was so demanding and jealous. Skye is nosy, possessive, bossy, and fucking irritating.”

“It sounds as if you’re over both of them.”

“Today, Wilhemhein is a motherfucker, who’s enjoying my fucking pain. Tomorrow, he might be chill. Who knows with him? The worse part? I hate to team up with anyone at school for any reason. It just reminds me of Molly.”

Easton’s peace and contentment fled. He’d been worked to the bone, kept up for hours at a time, just busy in his quest to become a full patch Death Dweller. Every now and then, in his downtime, he thought about her and wondered if she was okay. Here and there, inappropriate thoughts and ideas flickered across his mind, but for the past week he’d kept her at bay. But, at CJ’s words, Easton recalled Molly as he’d last seen her, out of her head and proclaiming she loved him.

Why that touched him, he wasn’t sure. She was so fucking tragic. After Bash almost killed her, Easton spent days caring for her and keeping her alive. That was probably why, when she did cross his mind, he had to force himself to stop worrying about her and wishing he could watch over her.

Now he couldn’t allow the opportunity to pass. “How is she?”

“Fine as far as I know. We’ll see her over the summer. Maybe next month. Rebel hasn’t mentioned it, but I know my little sister. She probably wants to spend her fifteenth birthday with her twin. If that’s the case, we’ll see Molly then.”

Easton wanted to go with them to see her himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“Can I ask you something, Easton?”