CH. 2: Confrontations

Automatically I curse myself for being caught up in my own world. I keep my eyes shut; not wanting to see his face more than necessary. Hearing his voice always brings a mixture of emotions. There's always the reminiscing of the innocent, shy boy who bumped into me on our first day of high school. Then there's the cold truth that only makes a visible frown form on my face. Plus the frustration that he always manages to make me feel.

His voice is the last thing I want to hear. I'd rather be deaf than have to hear his voice. It only screams at me how much of a douche bag he is. The cruel tone he always makes sure to use, the way his lips naturally form a sinister grin, and his devilish eyes; they all let me know that the boy I thought he might have been never existed. He is no longer my classmate that used to sit three seats down from me in our freshmen homeroom. He's just somebody that I thought I knew.

I open my eyes to see that he has his posse following him. The cool kids as the school would label them. In my opinion they're just jerks and douche bags. Every single one of them is a zombie for Austin with the exception of Dez.

Dez doesn't embarrass people like Austin and the rest of his crew. We have never even met and yet I can tell that he has more brains than Austin and his crew to have the decency to treat anyone as a person. Every now and then he'll try to stop them if he is around, but right now luck is not on my side. I sometimes wonder how someone so sweet as Dez could be around the devil himself.

Seeing him staring me down, I can't help but feel annoyed with him. The thought of his previous suggestion making me boil with anger again.

"Austin, can you please move out of my way?" I ask with an edge.

I'm clutching onto my books for dear life, and it takes everything I have to not start chewing on my hair. I have to admit, my apology was most likely not the smartest thing to do. I could have just gone from unseen in Austin's radar to number one target in just a few seconds. I can tell from his smirk that he's telling me he's the best and I should know it.

His chuckle makes me cringe. His arms are crossed and he is glaring at me. His friends are anticipating for what's to come. They always love the shows that Austin puts on. I've seen them laugh too many times at people that Austin doesn't think are up to his standards; like Adriana.

"What's that?" he cups his ear with one hand to emphasize the fact that he can't hear me. His eyes look mischievous as his laughter rings in my ears.

"Can you guys hear anything?" He turns around to look at his buddies.

They're dying of laughter as they tell him no. This used to bother me at first. I used to want to smack common sense into them. Now it just makes me feel sorry for those bastards. At least I don't have to live with a cold heart like they do. When I leave for university, they are going to be gone. I won't have to see them make other people feel bad. But they can't... because everything they are is the hatred that follows them.

After a couple of minutes, Austin catches his breath again and with a smirk he says, "So how did the principal's office go? Think you want another visit?"

This just makes the boys laugh harder and I think that one of them even has tears falling from his eyes. I shake my head in disapproval before I start making my way around them. Austin and his posse could be childish for all I know, but I have a class to get to.

I am only a few feet away when out of nowhere Austin comes right in front of me. Correction, he's right on me. He's standing so close to me and when he leans in to my ear I can feel his breath on my neck. I can feel the outline of his body as he stands about a centimeter away from me. I never understood what it must feel like for a zebra to get caught by a lion... but I think I just found out.

"Who said you could go?" He asks roughly yet so quietly to my ear.

Getting annoyed with my silence, he sighs in frustration and then says, "Don't make me repeat myself. Did I give you permission to go or not?"

I know this is going to cause me more trouble. I know this might end up ugly. But right now I could care less. Nobody tells me what to do. I don't need anybody's permission to walk. Especially not Austin flipping Moon!

I push him back roughly and send him the coldest glare I could muster. He might be the devil, but I have dealt with him enough to know when he has crossed the line. I know him too well from observing him across the hall or when he tricks the girls who he swears he loves. I've learned a few tricks of my own.

"I'm done asking you politely Austin. Get out of my way!" I yell at him as I shove him, "I don't need your damn permission to do whatever I want in my life. So mind your own bees wax!"

I'm storming down the hallway as I hear his friends howl in laughter at Austin. He seems frozen as my footsteps echo in the hallway. I don't understand why he's acting like this. Halfway to my classroom, I turn around and say to him, "Yea I actually did have fun at the principal's office!"

Huffing and puffing, uttering soft curses, I am ready to rip my hair out. I am about to reach the door of my classroom when he pushes me up to the wall and cages me in.

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

His stare makes me fear for my own life. He sounds more edgy than he has ever been before. He lets me go but he doesn't move away from me. I know he's trying to intimidate me. But I have learned that all he is doing is simply putting on a show. He always loves being the center of attention. He always loves being right even when he's wrong. He's just giving the public what they want. He's just making sure he keeps the reputation he's work so hard for.

I know that my life depends on these next words. I try to find any emotion in his eyes. But he keeps them in control as he stares at me down. I wish I could have seen any remorse for his behavior but I don't. He's lost all of his heart that he can't be compassionate even if he wants to. But then again, you can't lose something you've never had.

I put my guard up. I don't understand what makes him so "cool." I can't comprehend why people do everything he says. With venom in my voice, I move some hair out of my face before I say, "You heard me. I don't need to give you a play by play."

I stand as straight as I can to make up for the fact that he's five inches taller than me. I let him know that I'm not afraid. I show him that I can have a smart mouth as annoying and frustrating as his. It does take two to tango after all.

I want to see some sort of regret run through his eyes. I want to see him get nervous and guilty as he remembers everything's he's done to the innocent people. I want him to regret everything he's done to impress those stupid thick headed hockey players. But if he does feel any of these emotions, he never shows them.

From the look on his face I know that I've caught him. I know that he can't do anything else except wait for a moment to get back at me again. The tension rises in the room as everybody in the hall waits for Austin to react. We all wait for him to say something; to boast out his infamous comebacks at me. I feel a smirk form on my face as I think that I've finally outsmarted him. But it falls flat when I see the same nuts and bolts turn in his head as his grin comes into view.

"Oh but you do Darling," I don't know why but he's used that name too many times when he refers to me and it's starting to give me the chills, "Now that you're the team manager, I need to know every bit of your life to let you know how you will be assisting me."

If I thought hearing this news from the principal was bad, hearing it from Austin Moon is horrible. Seeing me come to pieces makes him gain his cool back again. His friends let out a chuckle of relief as they see that their faithful captain hasn't disappointed them.

He plants a harsh kiss on my cheek before he leaves me standing there alone. Walking away with his friends as he tells them how he had me under control the entire time. Even when it looked like he didn't.

I wait until they're gone to rub on the skin he's touched. Almost as if being near him was enough for me to get a deadly disease. I see him slowly disappear and all I can think is that I need to find a way out of this punishment.