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  When we get to the class, I expect him to push me inside with as eager as he was to make sure I got here, but all he does is walk in and around me. I start to see it for the escape it is, but before I turn around and make a run for it, his attention is back on me again and I’ve missed my shot.

  I’m officially stuck here.

  “Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Murphy.”

  If the son of a bitch calls me that again, sticking me in a retard class is gonna be the least of his concerns. I’ve never taken down an adult before, but with the way I’m feeling about this right now, I’m not against it. There’s a first time for everything.

  The only Mr. Murphy I know is the sadistic bastard I like to call dear old dad. It’s bad enough that I have to be forced to spend actual time with the guy, I don’t need to be reminded of him in the one place I’ve used for the last four years to escape him and his sick idea of parenting.

  They say everyone’s got a secret; I guess that’s mine. I hate my father because for the last six years, his idea of good parenting has been to throw me into fights with people bigger than me and make me work for every breath I take after the fact. The son of a bitch can rot in hell for all I care.

  Making my way into the class, I take in everything going on around me. There isn’t a whole lot of people here yet, but the few kids I do see, I don’t recognize. These are all the ones I haven’t gotten around to harassing yet. I take stock of them, making a mental note for the next time I see Tim again; my hatred at being here growing by the second. They can go ahead and think that putting me in here is going to change the way I am all they want. In the end, all they’re really doing is giving me an even bigger list of targets.

  Morons.

  Resigning myself to the fact that there’s no way I’m going to get out of here in the foreseeable future, I look for the nearest empty seat. Giving the room another full scan, hoping I can find a seat as far in the back as possible, I notice something that I didn’t catch the first time around. There’s a person stretched out at a desk in the far left of the room. A girl, and with the way she’s looking at me, it appears as though she caught me staring at her.

  She’s new. I know this because I would definitely remember seeing someone that looks like her around. I might have a girlfriend, but it doesn’t mean I’m blind. If this girl went here, I would’ve noticed and judging by the look on her face, she looks about as thrilled to be here as I am.

  Her caramel colored hair might be covering the majority of her face, but there’s no mistaking the eyes looking back at me. They’re the mirror image of my own and if she didn’t look so damn hot, I might find the whole exchange creepy as hell. The way her gaze is trained on me, it’s like she knows me, which is impossible since I have no clue who she is.

  Before I can look away, I watch her head dip back down toward the desk and following her movements, I see she’s now attempting to bury her attention in a book. That’s fine, she can look away all she wants. Odds are, even with the look of annoyance I caught on her face, she’s like Isabelle anyway and that’s the last thing I need to be getting involved with.

  No matter how sexy her eyes are.

  Shit. I definitely don’t need to be going there. If Amy gets wind of me even thinking what I just did, she’d cut my balls off. As long as I’m here, I’m gonna have to ignore the fact that this girl exists.

  That gets harder to do as I catch where the only empty seat in the entire class is located. In the back, just the way she is, but instead of being on the other side of the room, as far away from her as possible, it’s directly to her right.

  Let the death sentence begin.

  Cadence

  Of course the only empty seat is beside me.

  When I looked away it should have been the end of it, but of course that’s not how my life works. He threw his body into the seat and I’m doing everything I can not to look over, even though I see his chest rise and fall out of the corner of my eye, making him even more impossible to ignore.

  Why does he have to sit by me? Why can’t my mom put him up near the front with the others and bring one of them back here? Having him this close is driving me crazy and he’s only been here a few seconds. I’m super aware of every movement he’s making and when I’m not cursing the fact that I’m here at all, I’m cursing my senses for being so damn good.

  I don’t want to smell him the way I do. The scent of sweat mixed with tobacco and talcum powder is a lethal combination to my nostrils. I’m frozen watching him rake his fingers through his shaggy brown hair and the way his lips part, letting what I can only assume is a sigh escape through them. I don’t want to focus on this. It’s bad enough my mom made me come here, the last thing I want to do is spend the entire time caught up in all things school bully.

  Turning my head to the front of the room, I see my mom talking, but this time, the old guy is gone and she’s speaking to the class. From the few words I pick up reading her lips, I see she’s laying out a lesson, but since it’s got nothing to do with what I’m learning, I don’t attempt to follow along. Instead I look back down toward my book, but not before catching the guy roll his eyes.

  Not thinking, I reach my hand across and flick him. I might not want to be here, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit idly by and watch some jackass disrespect my mom. The minute my finger connects with his shoulder, his head swerves and his eyes land on mine. At first he looks confused, but that quickly passes as his eyes turn hard, his lips which had been smirking a few seconds ago, now tight and straight.

  Probably not the smartest idea to flick the school bully.

  His lips move and I follow along easily. He’s asking me a question and it’s one I’ve definitely got an answer for, but it’s probably not one he’s gonna like hearing.

  “What the fuck?”

  Pulling the pad of sticky notes out of my bag, I scribble across the page and lift it high enough in the air so that he can see it, but I won’t get caught by my mom.

  Stop being an ass.

  As he catches my words, he smirks and I can’t help being drawn in even more by his lips. Giving myself a mental shake and a reminder about who it is I’m staring at, I notice his lips moving again, this time a little quicker than before, but not so quick I can’t catch it.

  “Why didn’t you just say that out loud?”

  Crumpling the sticky note and tossing it down into my open backpack, I scribble my response on a new one, this time leaning over and sticking it to his desk when I’m done. There. Let’s see how he handles that.

  Because you’re not worth wasting my breath on.

  His eyes fall to my words and I smile as they have the desired effect. The smirk he so proudly displayed a couple of seconds ago is gone and in its place is the long thin line again. I pissed him off.

  Mission accomplished.

  “Bitch.”

  Reaching over again after I catch the name he called me, I place another sticky note on his desk, this time way ahead of him and expecting the response. That’s one thing I know about bullies. When they get put in their place or don’t like the way someone reacts to them, they always resort to childish name calling.

  Asshole.

  The strangest thing happens when he takes in what I said. Instead of getting annoyed or displaying even more of his douchebag personality, he looks over and smiles.

  I don’t want to admit it, but when he smiles like that, he’s actually kind of cute. I know he’s king of the assholes here; I mean I just called him one, but right now, smiling at me the way he is, I don’t see asshole at all.

  Damn him.

  If the smile wasn’t enough, his lips part and he talks again. As I follow along, I’ve never been more thankful for the ability to lip read.

  “You might be right about that. So, you got a name?”

  Don’t we all?

  He body shakes as he laughs and my eyes dart to the front. After all the warnings I’ve had about this guy, the last thing I need is for my mom to
catch me talking to him. There’s no telling what she’ll do with that. Right now, being stuck here the way I am, I need something to pass the time; even if it is the quarterback of the football team and the one guy I need to steer clear of.

  Content that his laugh has gone unnoticed as she’s now standing with her back turned, I look back to him and return his laugh with a smile.

  “I’m Dillon.”

  Even though I’ve caught what he said, I turn away and focus my attention back on the book in front of me. He’s already managed to get me to smile once already; the last thing I want to do is give him the satisfaction of learning my name. Let him stew on that for a while. I may be a lot of things, but easy is not one of them; especially not for this guy.

  He taps me on the shoulder and despite my every attempt to ignore it, I fail and look, watching as his lips move again, repeating the question. I completely bail out of the plan and hold the already filled out sticky note in the air.

  Cadence.

  He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, so turning back to my book, I focus on the story and again do my best to tune him and his annoying scent out. It’s only when I feel the brush of skin against my arm that I jump back in my seat. Looking up I see the paper on the edge of the desk and sliding a glance over in his direction, I see he’s seated comfortably; his eyes trained ahead, his good student act a completely success.

  Well, it’s a completely success to him anyway.

  Sliding the paper down to the center of the desk, I pull it open slowly and read the words.

  Cadence. Thanks. This isn’t such a death sentence anymore.

  All I can think as I read the words over is how I couldn’t agree with him more. Dillon Murphy may be a first class asshole, but at the very least, he’s been an entertaining asshole and right now, I appreciate that more than he knows.

  Maybe I can survive these two weeks after all.

  Chapter Two

  Dillon

  When I got sentenced this morning, I figured I would end up here and the day would drag on with no end in sight. As the bell rings, it hits me that I didn’t focus on the time because I’d been so focused on her.

  There’s at least twenty blue sticky notes on my desk and even though it’s crazy, I make sure and pull them off, tossing them in the back pocket of my jeans before I head out. It’s not all that crazy really, I mean I know why I did it.

  She didn’t take any of my shit.

  The way it works around here is pretty simple. Being the quarterback of the football team, it gives me a whole lot of leeway, or at least it did before I got snagged for messing with Eric. I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want and even if the faculty sees, they don’t usually say a word because they don’t wanna mess with me. What that means is, I don’t usually have anyone that questions me at every corner. They’re usually all too afraid to say much of anything.

  Cadence isn’t like that. Not only did she flick me every single time I rolled my eyes or made any sound that came out the slightest bit bored, but she even had a comeback when I insulted her. It’s the first time since I got here four years ago where someone isn’t letting me get away with shit.

  She’s not weak; at least she isn’t yet, but considering the class she’s in, I’m sure that will change and despite taking my mind off being here, I’m going to be the one to change it.

  This might be my best plan yet. The moronic principal wants to throw me in a class full of rejects, well I’m gonna make it worth my while. With Cadence looking as hot as she does, this might even be easier than everything I did with Isabelle.

  The more I thought about it while we were chatting back and forth, the more I realized it really is the perfect distraction and plan all rolled into one. I can waste my days away in here getting close to this girl and in the end screw her over in the best way possible.

  What better way to waste time than to make some retard fall in love with me?

  Packing up my stuff and heading out, I can’t believe how worked up I am over this. For the first time since the dance, I’ve got something to look forward to. The only thing I’m not quite set on is what’s going to happen when I tell Amy.

  Even though she doesn’t seem to care about Charlotte and Eve, adding another girl into the mix, even if it is to screw with her; well it might set the queen off and I definitely don’t wanna do that.

  I’ve been with Amy for about a year. We’ve been off and on for a year anyway. In that time, it seems like every time I so much as turn in a girl’s general direction, it sets her off and she dumps me. If I didn’t enjoy the things she does when we’re alone, I would just let her screw off once and for all, but she is definitely good at what she does. She’s also a temperamental bitch, but I’m not stupid enough to say that to her face. I enjoy keeping my balls intact.

  Truth is, I like being with her because unlike every other chick on the planet, when I choose someone to pick on she’s right there with me, wanting to push it as far as we can go. Some people might let their conscience stop them, but Amy doesn’t. She’s just as sadistic as I am and honestly, if Kayden isn’t around to help, the only other person worthy to do it with me is her.

  Cadence—shit. We’ve been looking for a new target since Kayden caught me with Eric and she’s the perfect candidate. Amy will see it that way when I mention it to her, I’m sure of it.

  Putting the girl out of my head, I make my way into the hall, coming face to face with Tim and as usual, he’s grinning at me.

  “Don’t even think about it.” I warn, motioning down the hall, as far away from this class and the people in it as I can get. “I just wanna get the hell out of here.”

  “Wasn’t gonna say a word, bro.”

  “Since when? You’ve always got something to say.”

  Tim seems to think on this because for the first time in weeks, his mouth goes completely shut. I’ve never been so thankful for quiet in my life. The guy might be my friend, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t annoy the hell out of me most of the time. He’s definitely the mouth piece of the group.

  If Charlotte wasn’t so intent on hooking up with Kayden, they’d be a match made in heaven.

  “So how long you gonna be stuck in there?”

  “No fucking clue, but if I have my way, not long. I’m gonna see if pleading my case to Coach can get me out. In the meantime, I think I found the perfect distraction.”

  “What’s that?” he asks and catching the grin I’m wearing he returns it with one of his own. Tim may be a total moron most of the time, but he definitely catches on quick when I put something in motion. It’s half the reason I’ve kept him around this long.

  “There’s a new girl in the class, never seen her before. I’m thinking instead of going for the usual retards; we change things up and go after this one.”

  “How are you gonna do that?”

  “Get close to her; make her think we’re friends. I’ll even bring her around at lunch to make it seem more legit. I mean if she’s in the class, I’m sure she’ll hear about the shit I’ve done, so bringing her close will erase anything people may tell her. Then we can all have a little fun.”

  “Okay man, whatever you wanna do, but when are we doing it?”

  “Well, was planning on starting this afternoon.” I say quickly, but seeing the look on his face, I realize that’s not what he’s getting at. “Wait, do what?”

  “Deal with Kayden.”

  Despite how bad I want to get back at that son of a bitch for bringing this whole thing down on me, I’m not a complete moron. Retaliation is something they’re gonna be waiting for. I would figure out a way to make Kayden pay, but it’s gonna have to wait. If I try anything now, god only knows what the next punishment would be. Knowing Daniels, he’d probably put me on mop duty for Isabelle and her fucking accidents.

  “Not happening, at least not yet. They’re gonna be expecting that. He’ll get his.”

  “Uhh…”

  I know that sound. Tim’s gon
e and done something and odds are because of his association with me, it’s gonna end up falling back in my lap.

  Fantastic.

  “What did you do?”

  “Ames told me everything that went down and when he met up with the retard this morning, we got some retribution.”

  Knowing that Tim and Amy had my back should make me happy, but nothing about what he’s saying sparks that in me. If anything, it just pisses me off more. I might act like a complete idiot sometimes, but even I know that doing anything after what just happened to me would only bring more trouble. I would’ve thought Tim learned that by now, hanging out with me as long as he has.

  Apparently not.

  “What did you do?” I repeat, annoyed that he won’t just spit it out.

  “We popped his back tires. Well, I did that. Ames keyed the side of his car.”

  Shit!

  So much for going under the radar for a while. Kayden was gonna catch on to what they did and when that happened they wouldn’t be the ones handling it. I would. It was all gonna fall back on me because I’m supposed to keep these idiots under control.

  Before I can rip him a new one the way I want to, my phone goes off. It’s not the first time Amy’s texted when I’m not there to meet her, so as I pull it out that’s what I’m expecting to find. Looking at the screen, I see it’s not Ames at all, but the very last person I want to talk to right now.

  My father.

  Bruce Murphy only contacts me for one reason and it’s got nothing to do with a father son weekend, at least not in the way most dads are. He wants to get together all right, but it’s only because he’s got another fight set up for me and he’s letting me know so I can prepare for it.

  You know how my mom is completely clueless about the shit I cause here at school? Bruce knows all about it. In fact, whenever we do spend any amount of time together where I’m not having a guy’s fist shoved in my face, he’s the one telling me to do it. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but he implies that anyone that displays weakness is in need of a good beating.