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“I’m sorry, Luna. You’re wrong,” he says, anger edging his voice. “Nothing makes what he did okay. You’ll understand one day when you have kids of your own.”
I turn away from him, his deep sigh filling the room.
* * *
Another day goes by without seeing or hearing from August. I didn’t really expect to, but I can’t help the emptiness it brings as I walk out the doors of the school. It’s kind of crazy with how much I miss seeing his handsome face. We’ve only known each other a little over a month, and only a few of those days we were… more than teacher and student.
It’s strange to think how much a person can feel in such a short time for someone they don’t really know. The only thing I know about August is that he’s an English teacher and he’s handy enough to remodel his own house. That’s it.
Oh, and he can make my body do things I never knew were possible.
I want to know more. I want to know everything there is to know about August.
Does he have family nearby and is he close to them? What kind of movies is he into? Since he teaches English, my guess would be he likes to read. What’s one place he wishes he could travel to? His favorite foods? Favorite music?
There are so many things I want to ask him, but I can’t.
Aleah and I have grown closer over the last few days. I grill her at school and on the phone, asking if she’s seen August. With her brother being friends with him, they have to hang out sometimes, right? According to her, they haven’t. And August hasn’t been home either, so even if I could sneak away, it would be a wasted effort because he’s not there.
As I walk across the parking lot, I dig in my purse for my keys. Not finding them in the usual spot, I stop and dig deeper, then frown when I come up empty.
This morning when I locked my car was the last place I saw them. A thought pops in my head, and I swing back around to the school. While I was changing into my track uniform for practice, I knocked my purse over. Several things fell out. I thought I grabbed everything, but my keys must have slipped by my notice.
The halls are quiet, except for the squeak of my shoes against the linoleum. The sound is eerie as it echoes off the walls. Since the night August rescued me from Aaron, I’ve been leery being here after school when the halls are empty of students and faculty. Thankfully, Aaron hasn’t given me any more trouble. In fact, he seems to be avoiding me at all costs. Other than the classes we share and spotting him across the lunch room a few times, I haven’t seen or heard from him. Which is just the way I like it. I don’t know how far he would have gone that night, but I like to think he would have stopped before it got out of hand. Of course, that could be the naïve girl in me.
Grateful that the parking lot was empty and everyone from practice seemed to have already left, I push open the door to the girls’ locker room. I head straight for my locker. Looking around the benches, I don’t find my keys.
They must have fallen under a locker. Just as I bend my knees to get down on the floor to look, a noise has me straightening and cocking my head to the side. I listen harder. It sounds like a soft moan. Not a painful one, but one of pleasure. Embarrassment hits my cheeks, and in my haste to find my keys, my cell phone slips from my pocket and clatters to the floor.
I wince and dart my eyes around, knowing there’s no way whoever is in the back of the room didn’t hear it. The moaning stops, and for a moment, I debate just leaving my keys behind and quickly leaving the room. I’m sure I could call someone to come get me.
Shaking my head at the ridiculous thought, I drop to my knees and frantically look for my keys, hoping I find them before they come to investigate what made the noise.
Spotting my keys underneath a locker, I reach under, my fingers barely grazing the Groot figurine attached to the keychain.
“Well, look what we have here.”
Prickly fear slithers down my spine at the voice. I squeeze my eyes shut and pray that I mistook it for someone else.
Sitting back on my heels, I look up, and dread sickens my stomach at the guy leering down at me. My eyes flicker beyond him, only for bile to rise up my throat when they connect with Brooklyn’s, who’s standing in just a bra and skimpy panties. Dillon, Aaron’s right-hand man, stands beside her in nothing but his jeans, his arm casually thrown over her shoulder. The way he’s looking at me, his eyes sliding down the tank top I’m wearing to my track shorts, tells me he’s going to be no help.
When I attempt to get to my feet, Aaron steps forward. His shirt is off, revealing a firm chest no teenage boy should have, and the button on his pants is undone.
“Nuh uh, Hendrix, you may as well stay on your knees. It’s where you belong.”
“Wh-what?” I ask, barely getting the word out past my dry throat.
He takes another step and a sinister smile curves across his lips. “I said stay down. It’s where you need to be for what you’ll be doing in a moment.”
Fear has me quaking, but I try to hide it. No way do I want these people to know how scared I am.
“Back off, Aaron.” I try to insert as much bravado as I can into my words. “Let me up so I can leave and you three can go back to whatever you were doing.”
He grins evilly, flashing his white teeth. “I don’t think so. I still owe you for the fractured nose that asshole, Mr. Monroe, gave me.” He bends at the waist, putting his face way too close to mine. “And I believe right now is the perfect time to pay up.”
A feminine growl leaves Brooklyn’s lips and she stomps forward. She grabs Aaron’s arm and pulls him so he’s standing straight again.
“You aren’t touching her.”
