I'm not head over heels in love with this one. Probably because it lacks the same emotional tug the past two have had. *shrug* Idk. I just hope you enjoy. :)
The rest of the weekend was a blur to her. No matter what she did or what her mother said she didn't really register it. She simply nodded of murmured a simple 'uh huh' before going back to whatever she'd been doing. She had no way to describe it other then she was in shock. That night with Duncan had knocked her off kilter. It was hard for her to say that it had been real, but even harder to tell herself that it had been nothing more then a dream because in a way she wanted it to have happened. If it hadn't would that not make her crazy? Lovesick even? She was not sure. All she knew was that she could not keep him out of her head. When she worked on her homework she'd wind up doodling his face or get sucked deep into thought over how he kept his hair like it was. It was unnatural. What was worse was that in the blink of an eye she was back to school again and it was Wednesday, over a week since their 'moment'. She didn't understand how so much time slipped away from her without her knowledge. All that she was certain of was that the day was what it said on the board of her first period Spanish class, the eighteenth. And she supposed that was enough.
"Sup Princess." Duncan's cocky voice reached her as he walked back to her row and took the seat next to her, a smug smirk plastered on his face.
Courtney sighed heavily, laying her head in her hand as she looked the opposite direction of the punk. At some point during the last week he had adopted a new name for her. No longer was she 'girl' neither was she 'stupid' nor 'hey you'. Now she was formally known as 'Princess' or, on rare occasions to show he owned her, 'mine'. She wasn't sure which she preferred, they were both God awful nicknames which she wished desperately to ditch for the name she was given at birth. "Duncan." she murmured. "We've been through this. I do have a name, and it's-" she was cut off by his laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, I know Princ-Ah!" he chuckled, bringing a hand to his head as if to scold himself. "Sorry." he shrugged. "I always forget." he smiled devilishly.
Courtney rolled her eyes, knowing full well that he was speaking a load of crap. He did it on purpose for the sole reason that she hated it as much as all her other previous names. Granted she was mildly pleased that it was more endearing then her other names, but it wasn't enough to keep her from growing annoyed by him. "Whatever Einstein."
Duncan chortled. "Now who's giving out nicknames?" he teased, poking her in the side.
Courtney tried to keep her composure, but ultimately failed as a tiny smile found its way onto her lips. "Duncan." she whispered, pushing at his hand to get him to cease his act. "Stop." her voice held a laugh like edge, the perfect incentive for Duncan to disobey her.
Duncan's smirk grew wider as he brought both hands over to her and began to tickle her as his mother had done to him when he was young. He never much liked the feeling after it was over, but that was the point in this case. He'd get to enjoy her laughter as well as her annoyance. After all, it was all about pissing her off. "What's the matter?" he chided. "What're you laughing at? Is something funny?"
Courtney was laughing hysterically now, struggling to pull his hands from around her all the while. "S-Stop it!" she cried, tears forming in her emerald eyes from the extended period of laughing. "D-Duncan!" she whined unconvincingly.
"What?" he perked, snickering. "Is something the matter?"
Courtney nearly fell out of her chair then, only being saved by Duncan's insanely fast reflexes. She was so shocked by the speed at which the moment passed that she caught her breath, eyes wide as he stared down at her with his tantalizing teal eyes. He was so close…so close. She said this repeatedly as she fought to level out her breathing.
Duncan blinked a couple of times, mostly unfazed by the event. He didn't care that he was now cradling her head in is hand and had her around the waist with the other. He'd been this close with many girls in the past, much closer in fact. The only thing awkward was that he could see how embarrassed she was with the situation. It was like he was reading a book that said in print 'what the fuck just happened and why is he not letting me go? He doesn't have to hold me like this anymore! Why won't he put me down?' He snorted lightly at her hidden wishes, rising her up to her feet again and letting her seat herself.
Courtney brushed herself off even though she had not touched the floor. She wanted to make sure she didn't have anything on her clean clothes, including dirt from the punk next to her. She glared at him as she went to seat herself. Why didn't he let her fall? At the start of school it had been a part of the game to watch her fall flat on her butt. She shook her head. He was seriously sick in the head after Saturday night.
Duncan reseated himself shortly after her, noticing that the majority of the class was just starting to file in. At least he could say he hadn't ruined her day from letting all these people witness their predicament. He snorted lightly at himself, turning his gaze on the girl at his side. He frowned as he saw her death gaze zoned in on him. "What?" he said plainly, not expecting the answer he got back.
Courtney mulled it over for no more then a minute before deciding that she was well within her rights to act out. She'd hesitated upon noticing that a ton of kids were swarming in now, but it still wasn't enough to hold her back. She slowly raised her hand from her lap, mouth becoming a flat line, before she let her hand go and slapped him right across the face.
The impact made a loud smack that one only needed to hear to know the damage. Duncan's face was bright red, stinging with the direct hit, eyes wide in shock, pupils dilated to the extreme. He didn't know what to say to this, he could barely move, only able to bring a hand slowly up to touch his burning cheek. Normally he would have seen the early signs of acting out like this, but he had not. Why? What was wrong with him? He'd noticed the hate she held in her eyes. So why was he blind to her impending action? It was then he found his voice. "What the hell?" he spat. "Why'd you go and do that for?"
As she stared him down, eyes narrowed and breathing slightly above normal from the rush, she couldn't help but get a sick thrill out of the contact. Not even reminding herself of turning into her mother worked. All she thought of was how much she wanted to do it again. Her hand hurt though. She looked down at it as it ached. It was redder than Duncan's face. She looked back up at him coldly. She still had her other hand. Perhaps she could use it. "Why?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You were being an ass! I told you to knock it off and you didn't listen!"
Duncan saw it plainly this time. Her eyes glinted with power, a power he strove to overcome every day of his life. The only comfort in this situation was that she was a girl, a junior girl no less. She was no match for him on even his worst days. If she tried anything more he'd string her out on a pole and leave her to think about her insanity. "So!" he sputtered. "Since when does that give you the right to hit me!"
Courtney held his intense gaze a moment more before she no longer felt the will and jerked her eyes away from his. Her initial rush was fading and she could no longer find the desire to hurt him. Now all that was left was an immense amount of irrepressible guilt. "I…" she trailed off, feeling the equivalent of a microscopic bug underneath his powerful gaze.
"You what?" he hissed, not intending on giving up until he pried some sort of reason from her. He didn't care how lame it sounded, he merely wanted something to wrap his hands around.
She sighed irritably. "I don't know ok!" she shook her head back and forth slightly. "I just got mad…" She's just upset. Her father's words came to her. It was how he described her mother's random fits. She cringed at the thought.
He snorted. "Whatever Courtney." he grumbled.
Courtney's eyes shot open and she jerked herself up straight. "W-What…?" she breathed. "What did you say?"
Duncan looked lazily at her, eyes duller then they'd been at the start. "Whatever." he said slowly, eyeing her suspiciously. "Sorry that that's so confusing." he half joked.
"No. No." she shook her head. "Not that." she licked her lips, pausing. "You…you said my name." she said in disbelief, smiling slightly.
Duncan blinked a couple of times at her. "And?" he didn't understand how this was bringing her so much joy. Not that he was complaining. He liked her better when she was happy rather then full on crazy bitch mode. Sure he liked the in between mode best, that was a given, he was just glad she was simmering down.
Courtney shrugged. "I don't know. It just kinda makes me happy is all." she muttered without thinking. She barely registered the fact that it was Duncan she was talking to at this point. She was that happy with having her name uttered by him.
Duncan frowned at her strange feelings. "If you say so." he grumbled, looking away from her to the front of the room where the teacher was moments away from opening her mouth and talking an hour of his life away. She was only waiting for the bell.
Courtney stared at him a moment more before turning her gaze to the front as well. "Well I do." she whispered so softly only she heard. "I really do."
Neither spoke a word to the other for the rest of the class, vaguely aware that the other was occasionally stealing glances at them. Duncan could tell because the hair on the back of his neck would stand up and he heard her papers shuffle as she struggled to be stealthy about it. It was harder for Courtney to tell, only catching him doing it twice when their eyes met. They'd been quick to jerk their gazes away from each other then so that they did not appear guilty of spying on the other's expression. After that Courtney could only say she knew he was acting as she was. There was no tangible proof, but she didn't need it. Her instinct was enough.
The bell rang as it always did, bringing them to their feet in an instant. They were ready to get away from each other this time around. After such an uncomfortable class they'd have done just about anything to accomplish this. "Oh, uh, sorry." they said in unison as Courtney tried her best to get around him to no avail.
She sighed. "Stop moving." she ordered him.
He stopped in his place before her, giving her ample time to slip by him and out of the scrunched up space of the back of the room. "Bye…" he muttered with little care of whether she heard or not. Besides, she'd be forced to see him again when fourth period came around. And by then he'd have gotten over all of this and be back to picking away at her. He smiled softly, chuckling at the mere notion. He was so content with this being the norm that he didn't even ask himself why he was so happy with it. He just walked himself out the door and to his next class, Social Studies.
Courtney only half expected things to go her way in second and as such wasn't surprised when Brittany the brat went at her like a ravenous wolf would a bloody corpse. Of course she was used to her insults by now anyway. It didn't matter one bit that she was called every derogatory term under the sun. All she had to do was imagine that first day where Duncan had shot Brittany down and then, with a mite bit of unease, that Friday when he'd been an inch from killing her and she felt better. It gave her the power to ignore her and the buzzing that was her mouth.
Duncan on the other hand was not subject to any sort of torment. He was perfectly at ease, hands behind his head as he leaned back against a storage closest directly behind him and talked the whole class away with Zane. As he did this though he couldn't help but realize that if Courtney were here she would be reprimanding them for being so incredibly gross. It made him smile wanly, distracting him from the conversation ever so slightly.
Zane noticed. "Alright." he sighed. "What is it?"
Duncan perked. "What's what?" he feigned innocence.
Zane rolled his eyes. "You didn't react in the least when I said that I could beat you any day at skating. I know that you're lying."
Duncan shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, ok." he paused to glance around himself. "I was just thinking about that stupid girl. She hates when we talk about this stuff."
Zane frowned, tapping his fingers against the desk rhythmically as he waited, expecting more. Upon realizing that there was nothing more to this tale he blinked twice, confusion etched on his face, "That's all?"
Duncan was quiet a minute, rolling his shoulders and popping them before opening his mouth. "Yeah. I guess so."
Zane snorted, suppressing laughter. "Since when did you care about anything to do with her? I mean I get you and your superiority complex being what gets you to protect her from anyone who so much as looks at her. But what's this all about?" he snickered. "Do you like her or something?" he poked fun.
Duncan's face drained of color, eyes wide. "Are you crazy!" he spat a little too loud, drawing the eyes of the rest of the class for a moment in time. Once they'd all averted their gazes he turned his attention back to Zane and went on, "She's your thing dude." he hissed indifferently, calm tone returning to its place in his voice. "And besides." a pause. "You know I don't go for the stuck up smart girls. I'm all about the cheerleader type." he snickered. "They're the only ones dumb enough to sleep with me thinking I won't ditch them in a heartbeat for someone else. It's as simple as that." he crossed his arms over his chest, a smugness finding its way onto his features.
Zane smirked right back at him. "Ok, dude. I don't doubt you cause, like you said, I know you. I just wanted to see how worked up I could get you?" he chuckled, broad grin present now.
Duncan's smugness fell away to reveal a look of disbelief. "You ass." he growled, pushing at Zane's head as a playful way of getting him back.
Zane pushed right back, making them a tangle of limbs by the time they were called out for their disruptive behavior.
"Zane! Duncan!" the teacher snapped, staring them down with intensity. "Would you like a one way ticket out of here?"
Duncan jumped on this opportunity with open arms. "You bet! Where we goin'?" he chided, grinning from ear to ear as he untangled himself from Zane. "Cause boy do I need a break! Nothing to fancy is necessary of course." he said with a firm nod. " Florida or California maybe, but Hawaii would definitely be too much." he could've went on all day, but stopped short as he saw the teachers face reddening. He didn't need to push to far otherwise she'd learn how to handle him and be able to measure his limits. And he would not have that! "So?"
She gripped her fists tight, smiling falsely. "It's a surprise." she hissed.
Duncan knew what she was trying to do, willingly walking into her trap. "Ok!" he cried. Everyone stared at him wide eyed. "Shall we then?" he mused.
Zane too was caught off guard. Duncan wasn't so stupid. He knew what following her would do. Just in case though he grabbed onto his friends wrist. "Duncan." he hissed. "What are you doing?"
Duncan chuckled. "Don't worry." he leaned done to whisper the plan into his ear. "I have to give her a false sense of confidence. You know, let her win a few. That way she'll get cocky and brag about her brilliance to all the other sucker teachers. They'll hold her highly, but then one day she won't win." he paused to gather his breath. "Then it'll be a blast when she realizes that I'm much harder to handle and she isn't queen of the world."
Zane snorted lightly, feeling stupid for having doubted Duncan. "Only you would do something so convoluted." he chortled.
Duncan raised into a standing position, flashing a devious smirk. "Naturally." he took his eyes away from Zane. "Besides…" his voice was blissful. "I miss missing school." He then trotted to the front of the room to meet the teacher. "Sup."
The teacher stared blankly at the child. She didn't believe this was the same one she had been warned of early on. His smile was too genuine to be fake, his eyes so bright. Was he really that good? She rolled her eyes at her useless thoughts. "Whatever kid. It's your record." she didn't want to escort him but it was basically a part of the handbook rules at this point. Any time Duncan was sent to detention he was to be brought so that he didn't have as high of a chance of skipping out. So with a sigh she turned about without even looking to see if he followed. She was only lucky that for once he did as he said he would.
He moved at a pace a little slower then her, glancing back an instant before he disappeared from view to wave at all in the room, particularly Zane. It was also his infamous signal that for the next ten minutes it was a free for all, anything went while no higher power was present.
It was only as he drew within a few feet of the office that he fully realized what this punishment entailed. He scolded himself. Now he would not see Courtney, he would miss out on all the torturing he had so looked forward to. He sighed softly, entering the office and hating himself for being the smartass that he was. If only he had half the brain of Courtney, then he would have known better then to egg the teacher on. Maybe…
He sat twiddling his thumbs in a seat in the office long after the bell rang to indicate third periods start. He was quite sure that any minute the bell would ring to signal the end of it as well. He hit his head back against the wall repeatedly as some real punishment. What the hell were all the employees doing anyway? He should have been dealt with long before now! He knew how all this was supposed to work, he'd been through it millions of times. Did someone die or something? He cringed as the thought hit him, feeling bad about it immediately regardless of the fact it concerned people he cared little for. That wasn't the point. The point was that dying wasn't funny. It was one of the worst fates imaginable, especially when it involved the young.
It was impossible for Courtney to keep calm like she had all of second. It wasn't because of the nagging, for there was none in third, it was the simple fact that Zane was in this class. She hadn't spoken a word to him in nearly three weeks. So any time she was in close proximity to him she found it impossible to keep her cool. It was pathetic, yeah, but what was she to do about it? She wanted to say she was sorry, that it had been a mistake, and that she hadn't meant a word of it, but it just wasn't that simple.
Zane made sure to keep to his side of the room, as far from Courtney as possible. Most people probably got the impression that he was mad at her because of this. But this was simply not so! More than anything he wanted to be able to go over and sit with her again after such an extended period of silence and just talk. Only he couldn't. He'd said he'd leave her alone and so he would. When she was ready she would say so. He frowned, lowering his gaze to the floor. If only it was that simple.
Courtney sighed heavily, playing footsie with herself to pass the time as well as distract her from her thoughts. She didn't want to be thinking of Zane, she didn't want to be thinking at all. All she wanted was to pass out for as long as it took to get him to talk again. She groaned under her breath, massaging her temples methodically. This distress was giving her quite a headache. She needed to come to some sort of a decision before it got worse. But how? It was either beg him for forgiveness or leave things as they were. Not many options. "That's it!" she screamed, everyone's eyes darting to her. She swallowed hard, drawing her agenda out of her binder. "I need to see the nurse." she growled as if this excused her outburst, striding over to the teachers desk and slapping the book down hard in front of her. "Sign it." she snapped.
The teacher stared up at her like she was crazy, having not expected such demands from Courtney. Still she wordlessly did as she was asked and signed a slot before handing it back to Courtney.
Courtney nodded with appreciation, fleeing the room in a heartbeat. But she didn't go far. She went around one corner, out of sight of the room, and sunk to the floor. She hadn't really wanted the nurse, just a means to escape. She sighed heavily, lifting her head up so that she was looking at the ceiling before she closed her eyes. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel the need to avoid Zane, this boy who had been her saving grace? She was being a coward. Then something struck her. Zane had said something once about Duncan hating cowards. She crinkled up her nose. What? Where did that come from? Why was she thinking about that delinquent? She shrugged her shoulders, pushing him back into the farthest corner of her mind. Right now she needed to focus on Zane and how she was going to get him back! She sighed heavily, going over possible scenarios. She could say hi first. No! To plain. She could wave him over before saying his name. Nu-uh! Maybe she would just launch right into it then. She shook her head. This was hopeless. Nothing seemed to fit right. It wasn't perfect. She felt like a fool just imagining herself going through the actions. It didn't help that she was flushing with embarrassment all the while. "God help me." She murmured to herself.
"Sorry. No such luck darling." The familiar voice of Duncan said in response.
Courtney's eyes shot open instantly, her jumping in her skin out of surprise. "What the-" she started, stopping and starting again with a different approach. "Why are you here!"
Duncan chuckled, hands dug deep in his pockets as he offered a shrug. "Dunno. But I'd like to know the same from you." Courtney opened her mouth to snap back, him stopping her with a wag of his finger as he pulled his hand from his jeans. "Not that I'm going to bother asking though."
Courtney snorted. "Well good!" she snapped. "Cause I won't tell you!" she nodded firmly.
Duncan rolled his eyes at her attitude. "Whatever." He paused, looking back over his shoulder as if at any given moment someone would spring out to drag him off. "I was just passing by anyway."
"Really?" she hissed, eyes narrowing. "And what teacher in their right mind would let you out of their sight?"
He grinned wide. "As many as you think." He laughed at himself. "I just didn't feel like hanging around anymore."
Courtney was appalled by the very notion. "Ah! That's awful!" she jumped to her feet, getting within inches of his face. "If you go around disregarding the rules you'll get worse then detention some day!" she scolded him like a mother would their child, face set hard.
"Chill, Princess. I'm going back." he waved his hand in nonchalance. "It's not like there's anything to do there anyway."
Courtney frowned. "Wait...you're not in detention already, are you?" she murmured incredulously.
He grinned sheepishly. "Nah. Of course not. Who do you think I am?"
"Exactly." she growled in disbelief. "You amaze me I swear." she did a face palm.
"It's not my fault. The teacher didn't have a sense of humor." he lamely defended himself. "But that's nothing compared to the office." he shook his head. "They can't do anything right in there. I got restless!"
She rolled her eyes as well as crossed her arms over her chest. "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that I swear I'd be rich."
"I bet you're rich anyway." he smirked, backing up a step so that they weren't feeling the others breath.
Courtney blinked twice. She didn't quite know what to say to this. It wasn't like she could deny it, but she wasn't going to agree either. "So what if I am?" she growled.
His smug smirk grew. "Then you'll be everything that I thought you were." In a sense it what he meant to say, but at the same time it was a slip of the tongue. The only thing that kept him from losing his amusement was that she obviously thought the same by the way her mouth fell open slightly, face etched with confusion. He snickered lightly to himself, turning away from her before he too gave away his thoughts by the look on his face. He hadn't even intended to go back to the office, rather he wished to skip, but in the end he found himself heading back there as he said he would. "See ya." he waved without looking back. He didn't want her to have the opportunity to call him back or ask where he was going. He didn't want to tell the truth, that it was all because of her.
Courtney watched him go until he disappeared around the corner and she snapped out of her trance, shaking her head violently back and forth. She needed to go back to class. She glanced up at the clock on the wall, it read 11:08. "Shit." she breathed. She hadn't realized she'd asked to leave so late. She didn't have any time left to torture herself with thoughts of Zane or possibilities of asking forgiveness. She needed to get back to class. Then, she decided in the blink of an eye, she would do what she had to. Yes! She would talk to Zane. She started to walk at a fast pace as she gathered details. She'd get his attention as the bell rang and get him to look her dead in the eye before she admitted she couldn't take this any more. In doing so she would also alleviate the pressure placed on her heart and mind. She breathed a sigh of relief just thinking about it, entering the class with much more grace then when she'd left.
She stood for a moment in the doorway, surveying the class. Since there was only a minute to spare most everyone either had their head down or was scooting to the edge of their seats in preparation to fly out of one hell to another. At least, she figured this was their thought process. School wasn't hell for her, more so a reprieve. She cringed as he gaze fell on Zane, one of the only people doing something else. He was staring blankly off into space, deep in thought about something or another. Courtney tried to get him to see her there, but it did no good. He was bent on doing to her as she had done to him. "Zane…" she breathed softly to herself, the bell drowning it out along with the sudden rush of hundreds of feet running from all the classes into the adjoining hall.
She was quick to hop out of the way, lingering in the room so she could meet up with Zane. He was being a bit slow and she found herself frowning with impatience.
Zane noticed Courtney was loitering in the room, perhaps waiting for him, but he pretended not to. He acted the way he'd done for the past three weeks, indifferent and like she was invisible. Not even as she said his name and reached out toward him did he look up, he just kept on walking.
Courtney stared dumfounded after him. He just left. Zane walked out without acknowledging her. Her! Courtney's mouth twitched, eyes narrowed into slits. "No one ignores Courtney Manning." she shook her head. "No one!" she stomped her foot, making a beeline in the direction she knew he was headed. She wasn't about to hesitate now. Momma didn't raise no quitter! After losing once it was all over for her opponent. All over. Because she was incapable of failing twice in a row. "Zane!" she yelled from across the hall.
He perked out of instinct, quickly working to hide his peek of interest. "No.." he told himself. He had to remain unresponsive to her. Besides, he kind of wanted to see her get mad at him again. Yes, he'd missed her that much.
A low growl erupted from her throat. She quickened her pace, closing in on him just outside the door. "Zane!" she snapped, grabbing on to his wrist and dragged him away toward the lockers with no care at all whether he minded. "Stop being a douche!"
Zane peered up from the floor which he had been so interested in as he walked toward class. "What are you talking about?" he said innocently.
"Oh don't even try to play dumb with me!" she sighed heavily, pinning him by the shoulders against the locker. "I know you saw me back there! You just ignored me!"
He shrugged. "I didn't see you." he lied through his teeth, hiding a smile.
"Drop the act!" she snarled, eyes blazing as she pressed harder.
The pressure she exerted didn't bother him at all, it was actually kind of nice, so he didn't complain. He let her think she was dominating over him, knowing that if he really needed to he could break away. "What would I stand to gain from annoying you?"
"Everything! Otherwise you wouldn't have done it for three straight weeks!" pain was evident in her tone no matter how hard she'd tried to conceal it.
He snorted. "I was only doing as you did."
Courtney started, eyes widening, mouth becoming a flat line, and shock setting in. "What?" she hissed almost inaudibly.
"I knew you were mad so I kept my distance. You should know that no one likes being yelled at." he said matter of factly.
Courtney cringed, thinking back to her mother and how much it hurt to see her yelling at her dad and then how much worse it was when it was herself. She swallowed hard. "Who says I was going to yell?" she pressed, irritated tone holding true.
"No one." it was as simple as that. No one, not even him, expected her to be hateful after her one moment of weakness.
"Then why didn't you talk to me!" she whined.
He never averted his gaze, trapped in her intense, helpless emerald eyes. "I told you. I wanted to give you space. You needed it."
"Who are to tell me what I need!" she spat, not liking how he was sounding like her mother.
He cringed slightly from her intense anger. "No one." a pause. "I'm just your friend."
"Yeah!" her anger was slipping into sadness, voice choked. "Well what kind of friend does something like that? Huh? Who would purposefully hurt their friends? I want to know?"
'You.' It's what he wanted to say. It was at the tip of his tongue, fighting to fly free and hurt the one he cherished. Only he wouldn't let it happen. He forced it back down, instead choosing a gentler approach. He had to, especially upon seeing so plainly Courtney's hurt. "Courtney…" he started gently. "I wasn't doing it to hurt you." he pulled out of her now loose hold on his shoulders to shift over to her side and reach for her hands to twist her around to face him. "I only did it because I care. I was letting you choose." he swallowed hard, not letting her hands go. "To be honest…I wasn't sure if you meant what you said. I wanted to believe you were merely mad, but it was hard to convince myself of that. I mean…some of the things you said were harsh. So instead of pressing the issue and perhaps goading you into associating yourself with me I let you be. If you really wanted to be my friend you would come back. If not…" he trailed off, frowning. "Then you would just never talk to me again." he shrugged. "it's as simple as that." only then did he release his hold on her hands, willing to let her slip away if she so desired it.
Courtney's guilt level rose higher with each word much like her awareness of time moving dropped. She felt absolutely irrevocably idiotic. Why hadn't she figured it out? Zane really was doing what was best for her. "I…" she murmured, biting her lip. "I'm sorry." she paused to take a deep breath. "I didn't mean to hurt you either. I was just upset." she cringed at the familiar words for the millionth time in her life. "Duncan…he…he's the one I should've yelled at." she admitted with extreme difficulty, not sure is she meant it now as she might have then. Things had changed. She honestly wasn't sure of much of anything at this point. "So…please…forgive me."
Zane smiled, pulling her into a warm hug. "Why wouldn't I?" he teased, breathing in her alluring scent.
She smiled then too, eyes instantly filled with life. "Thanks." she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck in return. "I missed you."
Zane was glowing, but he did not return her words. He glimpsed the time and figured it was most important. "Come on." he pulled her away from him so that he was able to look deep into her emerald eyes. "We're gonna be late." he grabbed for her hand again, pulling her along the few feet to the class.
Courtney let him drag her along, willing to do next to anything to keep him content. And things being as they were he was incredibly happy as was she herself. She was thrilled more so then she had been in forever, only one thing itching at the back of her mind as he reclaimed his seat at their table. Where was Duncan? Detention. She was willing to bet money on it. But it wasn't just that. There was something else. It was as if she were somehow betraying him as she sat and talked casually with his best friend. Without him. For an instant even she swore she heard his stone cold voice breach the air. What happened to you needing me? he said, and she started, suddenly short of breath.
"What's wrong?" Zane said smoothly as he rested his head in his hand, not sensing anything truly wrong, just noticing that she jumped a bit.
She slowly shook her head from side to side. "No. Nothing." And she tossed away the disconcerting thought, hoping for the peace of mind she was sure Zane's prescience would bring her to settle in. Only it never quite did. And she blamed him. It was all his fault.
Near the end was good. But other then that I'm not a big fan of this. It's almost the equivalent of a filler aside from the end. Not saying fillers are boring, but y'know. Please review! :D