Chapter 20

All eyes were on Mara the very moment she climbed out of William's car the next morning. The rumour that she passed out had spread around as quickly as wildfire but she couldn't be bothered by the constant whispering she heard on her way to her locker. Being the centre of the general attention was something she was used to and at ease with, regardless of the reason behind it.

Besides, there was really only one person she felt like giving her attention to this morning, and it was none of those gossips that talked in a hushed tone as soon as she entered a room. She endured the two first classes without saying a word apart from answering the teachers' questions. When someone said hi to her, she smiled and nodded friendly but her lips were sealed. She simply wasn't in the mood. Her night was shorter than what she would have liked, her brother even more sorry than what she thought and Chris even more worried.

She had told William that she would forgive him completely eventually – if he made efforts and bought her enough sushis from her favourite restaurant. As for her lack of sleep, there wasn't much she could do apart from taking a nap after class today.

That left her with Chris. He must have ran late this morning because she didn't see him come to school and when she had glanced at William from across the school yard, he had shaken his head, silently telling her he hadn't seen Chris either. Mara was growing wary when she still didn't see him after her first classes, but she was kept busy by Noora and her friends. They were all so enthusiastic upon seeing her well and coming back to school that the young Magnusson was almost rendered speechless.

"It's good to see you well!" Eva said with a giant smile and stars in her eyes.

"Maybe you're not eating properly," Vilde suggested, setting her worried eyes on Mara like she feared she would pass out again any time.

Mara put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and told her she ate more than enough food for a munchkin like herself. It put a smile on all their faces and she felt like it was a small victory.

"William told me what he did this morning," Noora sighed, looking absolutely done with her boyfriend's shit. "I'm so sorry, if I'd known about this I would have tried to change his mind."

"It's not your fault." Mara shrugged a shoulder and brushed an unruly strand of hair behind her ear. "Have you seen Chris?"

"No, sorry," Noora said with an apologetic pout.

"Oh, I saw him!" Eva interjected, her eyes lighting up. "He mixed up his classrooms this morning and accidentally barged in in the middle of my English class. He looked pretty upset, but I don't know if it's due to him walking in the wrong class or something else," she said sheepishly.

It must have shown on Mara's face that she was uneasy about not finding Chris today.

"I'm sure you'll find him," Vilde said as she grabbed Mara's hand for support. "He must be with the boys or still in class."

It was a long shot, but at least she tried to ease Mara. She smiled despite the bad feeling stirring in her gut.

"We were about to hold a Kosegruppa meeting, do you want to join us to take your mind off of him?" Vilde offered graciously, looking at Mara with wide hopeful eyes.

When she saw her expression, Noora stepped in and answered for Mara.

"I'm sure she'd rather find him now," Noora told Vilde. "You girls start the meeting without me and I'll meet you after helping Mara."

Before any of the girls could object, Noora grabbed Mara by the arm and dragged her away, making her stumble on her feet when she pulled her with her. The urgency with which Noora pulled her forward seemed out of place given the situation, and it triggered a number of alarms in Mara's head. She shivered despite the thick knitted sweater she was wearing. It was Chris' favourite, the one that hung off her left shoulder.

"What is it you're not telling me?" Mara finally asked Noora, stopping dead in her tracks to get an answer. "Do you know where he is?"

"No, but I know why he seemed upset this morning," she said, almost embarrassingly, looking down instead of meeting Mara's eyes, even though Noora wasn't one to shy away from an intense stare – she did date William after all.

Mara added two and two rather quickly and she was storming past poor Noora in a split second, her wild brown hair looking like a wildfire around her head. She hurried down the hallway, people stepped out of her way as though they could feel her aura of fury and when she burst through the front double doors, Mara's eyes immediately set on the person she was looking for.

Iben was exactly where she always was: sitting by the large tree at the school's front gate, with her group of friends, among which some Mara considered her friends too – or at the very least, people she got along well and saw almost on a daily basis in class. When the girl saw Mara coming, she paled and swallowed thickly. She stood up – a vain attempt to keep the upcoming argument private and not get put back in her place in front of her whole group of friends – but Mara was quicker than her and circled around the small gathering of people before grabbing Iben's wrist. She wasn't going easy on her and tightened the grip.

"What are you doing?" She shouted, shocked that the younger Magnusson sibling would resort to force.

"You should have listened to Eva," Mara spat, thinking about how Eva tried to talk Iben out of her nonsensical plan to win back Chris, telling her that it would ruin a friendship instead of restoring a relationship.

"What are you talking about?" Iben barked at Mara, faking not to know why she was being attacked like this. But her voice betrayed her and Mara saw right through her false self-assurance and harsh tone.

"I'm not going to say it twice, Iben: you leave him alone. You had your chance with Chris and you missed it, but if you think for so much as one second that I'm letting you ruin my chance, you're dead wrong. I'll fight for him," she concluded, not deeming it necessary to specify that she meant it literally and figuratively.

Her tone was final and her grip on Iben's arm so tight her knuckles were white. Iben didn't answer – to be perfectly honest, she looked a more scared than ashamed of her behaviour. There was nothing more Mara could do at this point, she wanted to make it clear that she would not bend and break, this was a war she was willing to fight. Iben should know this, she should know that no sane person would play dirty with a Magnusson.

It was clear by the way Iben's eyes watered up that Mara only told her a truth she already knew and suddenly, she felt more pitiful than angry. Mara let go of her and after glaring at her and everyone around one last time, she turned around and walked straight towards the Penetrators, hands dived in her pockets and eyes clouded by her anger. It wasn't everyday that Mara Magnusson had to defend what was hers – and Chris was hers – from the envious eyes of jealous girls, but when she did, she made sure to instil the fear of God in them. And what was an underlying threat if not empty when it wasn't accompanied by physical evidence of her being serious?

To Mara's utmost relief, she finally saw Chris, hidden behind the group of boys. He was sitting on the table, his feet on the bench looking deep in thought. Elbows on his knees and hands joined under his chin, he seemed troubled by something.

"Chris!" Mara called his name and he looked up.

All the boys froze like they were scared Mara would direct her anger at one of them if they made an abrupt movement. But she wasn't mad at Chris. William walked between her and the picnic table, coming out of nowhere and stopping her in her tracks.

"What is it?" She asked with a frown.

"It wasn't his fault, I swear. You know I wouldn't defend him if he did you wrong, but Iben really kissed him by surprise and-"

Mara walked around William and by the time she reached the boys, Chris was on his two feet and met her halfway.

"Mara, it's not wh-" He started but never got to finish the sentence.

Mara grabbed him by the neck and kissed him in front of everybody – the whole school was watching by now, after her little stunt with Iben and her storming past everyone she had attracted a fair amount of unwanted attention. The boys around them cheered and applauded. There were even some "fucking finally" and "not to soon" among the loud excited shouts. Chris' hand mingled in Mara's hair and wrapped around her middle as he answered her possessive kiss. It was a statement, a mark of ownership. They were both aware of it and of their audience, but it didn't undermine the pleasure they took in doing it.

Noora had finally caught up with Mara and was now standing behind William. When Mara grabbed Chris, he grumbled "I can't watch this" and Noora covered his eyes with her hands to spare him the show.

"They are cute together," she commented, though she didn't expect William to agree.

"Still won't watch my best friend suck off my sister's face," he replied. "But yeah."

"I, for one, ship it," she giggled before withdrawing her hands when the two love birds parted.

She squealed when William turned around and attacked her neck with little kisses, making her giggle harder and taking her head off of his sister.

Mara and Chris didn't pay attention to any of this.

"You're not mad? What's the catch?"Chris asked almost immediately after they broke the kiss.

There was no catch, there was no explanation to ask for or apologies to give. From the moment she realised Iben had something to do with Chris' avoiding her and looking upset, Mara knew that the girl was at fault. She knew Iben, she thought of her as a friend to some extend – though not anymore – and if Chris was at fault for cheating on her, she was no angel either and she herself had stolen Chris from another girl, so why would she hesitate to do it again? Mara trusted Chris, she knew – and she held it for truth – that he would never do this to her.

"No," she chuckled. "Just, don't try to avoid me if anything like this happens again."

"You're one hell of a girl Mara," he said, biting his lip and shooting her a heated glance before kissing her again.

"Is she still looking?" Mara whispered. Chris darted his eyes toward Iben and her friends.

"I think she's crying now," he said with a wince.

Mara should probably feel sorry for her, but she didn't. She had kissed her Chris, she could stick it. For a little while they stayed like this, standing aside from the Penetrators, holding each other as if they would die from lack of contact and had to touch in some way. Chris' sneaky hands slid beneath her sweater and massaged her hip and the skin of her lower stomach, making her press herself against him – in as subtle a way she could since it was a pretty public display of affection. But soon, it was time to go.

"I have to go back to class," Mara said regretfully. "Anything planned for tonight?" She inquired.

"Have something in mind?" Chris asked flirtatiously, leaning in and giving a swift and superficial bite to her naked shoulder.

"I might," she replied with a mischievous smile that Chris realised he was the only receptacle of.

He like that. The thought of being that special, the thought of eliciting reactions from her that no one else could trigger. He had to summon a ridiculous amount of self-control to merely take his hands off of her, and he didn't even want to think about the sharp coldness he felt when her body detached from his. Geez, could he be any more smitten with this girl?

"I'll finish a bit later than you, but you can go to the apartment with Will and I'll meet you there, yeah?" She suggested, placing a tentative hand over his collarbone and gently stroking it. She used the same hand to push away from him and walk away after seeing him nod, speechless.

Mara looped her arm around Noora's and the two girls walked away, glancing over their shoulder to watch theirs boys as their made their way back to class, and when they finally crossed the front door of the building, Will sighed. He strutted toward Chris and with a defeated yet delighted look on his face he said "man, we're so whipped."

And if Chris weren't too busy thinking about Mara, her playful eyes, her teasing smile, her silly laugh and the way her hips swayed as she walked away, he could have given a damn. Expect he didn't, because she was too extraordinary for him to care about being whipped or not.

"It's a bad thing?" Chris asked, genuinely not knowing anything anymore at this point.

"No," William laughed. "It's just that I never thought I'd see you like this."

"Like what?" Chris scoffed, shooting him a challenging look.

William didn't open his mouth, but the answer was so evident that it floated in the air around them, and even Chris couldn't deny it anymore. In love.

"If you hurt her though, I can promise you endless torture and major bodily harm that you may or may not recover from," William added for good measure.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Chris laughed and shrugged his jacket on. "Let's go now, we're always late."

At the other side of Nissen, where Noora and Mara parted ways to go to their respective classes, the girls chatted animatedly about the next party they planned for Kosegruppa and tried to convince Isak to host it.

Mara took Noora apart and asked in a hushed tone, "huh, Noora, could you do something for me?"