| |
Tyler left shortly after that, even though we didn’t want to leave each other. But as police officer ‘Fathers’ go, Brady once again popped his head out his window and told me to get inside and get warm and for Tyler to go back home; that we had classes in the morning.
The next morning went great. I felt pretty good about all the assignments I had gotten done the night before, even with Tyler’s visit. Wendy and Kane seemed to be on task in our morning lecture, which was unusual for them, but good for me. The two of them could be very distracting at times.
I had all but forgotten the Tucker and Tyler episode with everything that had been going on at home, but even that would come back to haunt me. I was too focused on my problems at home, along with my unique relationship with my guys, to even worry about being that idiot’s conquest. So I forgot that it was another issue I had. I messed up.
Badly.
Who knew that Tucker was waiting for his moment to get me alone? Waiting to ‘talk’ to me. I had no idea. It happened after my afternoon class, in which we had a lecture on algebraic functions, not that it mattered anyways, but as I headed down the hall to my next lecture, a hand shot out from the door across the hall and pulled me inside. Scared and frozen, I just went through the movements until I saw him.
"Don’t be scared. I just want to talk," he told me as he was locking the door behind him.
Talk, huh. Then why was he locking the door?
I. Was. Freaking. Out.
It was now at this point that I should have screamed. Run. Or gotten out of there sooner, but no, I just stood there like an idiot, not doing much of anything, frozen. What the hell, Faith! I yelled at myself, but my feet wouldn’t move. My mouth, though, was another story.
"About what?" I growled, as my legs started to work, and I shifted myself backward, further into the empty lecture hall.
I could have used you earlier, I scolded myself, as my limbs came back to life. I knew there had to be another exit. The guy turned towards me and must have noticed me looking for a way out, because he put up his hands in a defensive gesture. The idiot in question was Tucker.
"Hey, Hey, I’m not going to hurt you."
I laughed a nervous laugh, looking around once again, until I saw the second exit sign on the other side of the room. "And I’m Cinderella." I needed to make my way there I thought. I tightened my hands, readying myself for a fight if it came to that. I would have to break my promise to Brady about punching people and making friends, but in my defense, Tucker didn't seem very friendly right now.
He grinned, as he put his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the door he locked. "Hello, Rella." He snickered at his own joke, which had me turning back to him. "I always wanted to meet you," he continued.
I paused as I looked him over. He had a weird sense of humor, and I wondered if he knew that I knew who he was. "What do you want?"
He shrugged. "I noticed you around. Wanted to talk to you, but then you were gone. You’ve been gone, and now you're back. I wasn’t going to miss my chance again."
I let out a ‘un-lady like’ snort and glared at him. "So you pull me into an empty lecture room and lock me in? You’re doing really good at impressing me," I told him as I stressed my sarcasm.
"Do you even know who I am?" he asked, amused, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
He confused me. First, he confessed that he noticed when I was gone from school, then changed tactics by asking if I knew him? What was this guy getting at?
"No," I lied and then dished it back. "But you seem to know who I am." I stepped back more, and it landed me in the middle of the main floor. I looked briefly to my left where the open stadium seating stretched upwards and back towards the other exit. My escape. I had no idea what this guy had planned for me, and I wasn’t too keen on finding out.
"Look," he said again, and I turned back to him, but not before noticing all the glass cages that looked like dry aquariums towards the front of the room. "I’ve tried to talk to you, but I’m always being cock-blocked by that asshole Tyler."
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t like him talking about Tyler like that, and I wanted him to get to the point of all of this. "First off, don’t talk about Tyler like that and second, what do you want from me?"
He started to walk towards me with a cheeky grin, "Name’s Tucker and I wanted to see if you," he shrugged as he continued my way, his eyes amused at my retreat, "wanted to go out sometime."
I shifted my bag in front of me allowing it to act like a barrier as I continued to retreat, keeping one hand ready to defend myself.
"No."
He looked annoyed with my answer, but not put off as he kept his slow gait towards me. "Why? Are you putting out for someone else? Maybe... Tyler?"
Tucker was tall. His ebony black hair was cut close to his head, with the hair in the front a little longer so it could be lifted into a faux-hawk. His eyes were just as deadly and almost as dark as his hair. Muscle wise, he was full of them, just like Tyler. This guy could hurt me. I didn’t want to take my eyes off of him for fear he’d strike, so I fumbled blindly for my phone in the side pocket of my bag as I made my retreat. I'd run first, and then fight if I needed to.
"That is none of your business," I told him trying to keep my voice strong.
"I beg to differ." And he lunged for me. I turned and ran, barely missing his hand.
"What happened to, I’m not going to hurt you?!" I screeched as I bolted for the exit sign to push the door open, but I never got that far. Tucker tackled me to the ground with a thud. I was going to have to fight.
"HELP! HELP!" I yelled as I struggled to get out from beneath him. I was face down on the ground with my hands out in front of me trying to crawl away. I elbowed him in the gut, and he grunted. His burly body was heavy as he pinned me to the floor. His hands snapped up and caught mine, so he literally surrounded me. I was pinned and was freaking out! I couldn't even get in a decent punch. I should have taken those defense lessons Brady offered me before. My chest hurt where I landed, and it was getting harder to breathe as I tried to scream once more.
"Geez, stop, I’m not going to hurt you! There’s a loose snake in here!"
"And I'm Frosty the Snowman!" I yelled back. "Help!"
"I'm being serious, Babe! It's one of the red ones. We need to hurry!"
I paused. What?
"Damn his ass. Are you done? We need to get out of here so I can call Van," he grumbled, getting up off of me then pulling me to stand up.
"A snake? Van?" I got up quickly and punched him in the gut not holding back. He grunted taking it. "And don't call me babe." I stepped back and it was then I heard the hissing. I looked towards the front of the room where I saw the glass tanks or cages. Then I looked past him and saw the black and red snake coming towards us. I didn’t waste my time as I let out a loud screech and booked it out of there as fast as my legs could carry me. I wasn't staying. Tucker was scary, but a snake? I'd split.
When I was outside, I didn't slow down. I wanted to get far, far away from that snake and Tucker until Tucker caught my arm. "Hey! Wait up."
"No!" I pulled my arm away and tried to keep walking, but he caught it again.
I twisted around to see a cell phone up to his ear. He was talking to someone as he held onto my elbow, not letting me walk away. My chest was burning, and I was getting dizzy from the all the stress. I need to sit down.
".... Yeah, Van, just out in the open. I’m not sure, but.... Yeah, I’ll give you your key back." I watched him grimace and then say, "Not so good." He looked to me, "In fact, I think, she thinks I’m some kind of psycho."
I heard loud laughing on the other end and tried to regulate my breathing.
"I think she’s Tyler’s anyway," he murmured, his eyes narrowing when he saw I was having trouble breathing. He took my arm and moved me to a grassy area with a huge tree and made me sit down. I heard some noise from the phone and then Tucker’s face went red.
"That was before I knew!" he growled out, sliding his hand through his hair. "Yeah. Yeah! Just get the damn snake back in its cage." And then he hung up and glanced towards me.
I found my voice. "Who’s Van?"
He grimaced once again. "The Zoology Biologist for that lecture hall. He also happens to be my brother. I knew you would pass by his door on your way to your next lecture and wanted to talk to you. I never thought it would quite go like that." He looked sincere, but I had my doubts.
I glared at him as I held onto my stomach trying to calm myself down. I shifted on the hard ground, trying to relieve the ache. "So you just pulled me in there and acted all cocky! What’s wrong with you! What happened to bring a girl flowers first, huh?"
The light picked back up in his eyes, "So if I—"
"No," I growled out. "I’m not some ‘Hot Piece’," I stated, quoting what Tyler had said Tucker had told him, "that you can get your hands on!"
Tucker's eyes went dark at the mention of the McGuire’s oldest son. "Tyler," he muttered, understanding where I had gotten that from.
I grunted, getting up from the ground and wiped off my backside, feeling the burn in my chest yet again. I wonder if I re-injured it. "And you’re an idiot."
He grunted a most sounding hurt. "I beg to differ."
I punched him hard on his shoulder, "And what was that about?! ‘I beg to differ’ earlier, huh? Then you lunged at me! Geez, Creeper!"
He lifted his hand to palm the back of his head as he looked away from me. "I begged to differ because I wanted a chance to change your mind and I ‘lunged’ at you because I saw the fucking snake."
I pursed my lips and confessed, even though I was annoyed with him, "I thought you were psycho."
He let out a chuckle, shaking his head, then shoving his hands into his pockets, "I never had a chance, did I?"
"Never did, so quit beating up Tyler."
His body tensed as he glanced off towards the left. I followed his movement and realized why. "We’re enemies." I turned back to him.
"Daniels!" I heard Raina call out worried.
He turned back to me. His eyes that had held an edge, now seemed to be soulless. "I don't like Tyler. See ya around, Rella." And then he left, making me wonder what happened between the two of them for them to hate each other so much.