Binding 13

Joh

"I take it you were lying to me when you said nothing was going on?" she snarled.

"Take it whatever way you want, Bella. I couldn’t give a flying fuck what you think," he shot back loudly. "Just leave her out of your bullshit scheming."

He was defending me.

Not my brother.

Not Claire.

Not Lizzie.

Not a teacher.

No, this boy who made my heart jackknife in my chest at regular intervals and my common sense flatline, was standing in the middle of the school hallway, defending my honor.

He had rejected me last night, and today he was taking on my bullies.

My mind was spi

"Her, Joh

"Stay away from her," he warned in a menacing tone. "Push back on this and you won't like the results."

"Are you threatening me?" she hissed. "What do you think your coaches at The Academy will say about that?"

"Why don’t you call them and find out?" he spat before turning on his heels and stalking back to where I was.

His expression was so thunderous that I felt myself shrink away.

"Come on," Joh

Unsure, I let him guide me away from the staring crowd.

"Where are we going?" I whispered, hurrying to keep his pace.

"Away from here," he bit out, jaw clenching.

"Why?"

"Because if I stay here and she says something to you, I'll lose my shit. If you stay here and she says something to you, I'll lose my shit, " he explained in a tight tone. "Therefore, I need to go –" he paused to pull the glass door open and usher me outside, "and you need to come with me," he finished, leading me into the rain.

"I, uh, yeah, okay," I whispered as I hurried along beside him.

My emotions were whishing through me as he led me out through the courtyard.

"You lied to me, Sha

"I didn’t want to cause any trouble," I admitted.

"That wasn’t your call to make," he replied. "Did you lie about her hitting you, too? About why you're in pain?"

"No," I croaked out. "That part was true."

Regrettably.

"And your neck?"

"That wasn’t her," was all I replied.

Joh

"Don’t ever lie to me again," he finally said in a quiet tone, as he cast me a sideways glance. "I can't take it."

"I won't," I told him, hating the lie as it fell from my lips.

We reached the P.E. hall and hurried inside, both glad to get out of the rain.

I shuffled behind him, this area of the school was more his forte than it was mine.

I kept my eyes trained on his back, walking after him.

I hesitated when he sauntered into the boys changing room, but then he held the door open for me and gestured me inside with an expectant look.

Like a skittish foal, I hurried inside only to jump in surprise when the heavy door slammed closed behind us.

The overpowering smell of teenage boy was the first thing that hit me.

The stench of sweat, deodorant, and bodily fluids was so strong I had to force back the urge to gag.

It wasn’t a smell I was unfamiliar with – Joey anyone? – but this particular stench was eye watering, intensified by the fact that forty or so from the opposite sex used this room at any given time.

Feeling completely out of place, and with my nostrils thoroughly violated, I watched Joh

He sank down on the bench, dragged a bag out from beneath his legs and quickly unzipped it.

"Come here," he ordered as he rummaged around inside of his bag, pulling out socks, cans of deodorant, and empty bottles of Lucozade sport. "Come here, Sha

So, I did.

I walked over to where he was.

Joh

I eyed the bench warily.

Shaking his head, Joh

"Sit down," he coaxed, pulling me down on the bench beside him.

Our shoulders brushed and I skittered an inch or two away, before wrapping my arms around my stomach.

He was big and strong and intimidatingly beautiful.

I felt very small around him.

Very young.

Very uncertain.

Very rejected.

I was intimidated, not because he was scary, he wasn’t, or at least I didn’t find him scary. I'm sure he terrified the guys he played, but that's not what was happening here.

Not for me.

No, I was intimidated because he looked like that and I was infinitely inferior.

Whatever spark of hope I had in my heart quenched out.

He would never look at me when he could have the likes of Bella at his disposal.

They matched.

He was suited with her.

Someone who looked like a page three model.

Someone who looked like a woman worthy of that.

I was a teenage girl with a bad case of lust.

"Fucking finally," Joh

He popped two small tablets out from the foil encasement then held them out to me.

Clumsily, I tried and failed to take the tablets from his fingers.

Flushed, I tried again and again, failing miserably until I managed to knock them out of his hands altogether.

"Relax," he encouraged, stooping down to scoop up the pills. I watched him wipe them on the front of his hoodie and then he blew my mind with three words, "Open your mouth."

I gaped. "I can do it."

"You obviously can't," he shot back, smirking. "Open your mouth."

I sat there stumped for several long beats before finally opening my mouth.

He dropped the two small pills on my tongue and winked.

Reaching into his bag, he thrust a capped bottle of water into my hands and said, "Drink."

I did.

Like a well-trained dog, I did exactly what he told me to.

A

I waited for Joh

He just sat there with me while the pain relief took effect.

He didn’t mock or run.

He didn’t react in the way most boys would.

He took control of the situation.

I knew right there that he was exceptionally special and that it had nothing to do with his sporting capabilities.

He was exceptional on the inside, too.

"Do you need to go back for lunch?" I croaked out. "I'll be okay in a bit–"

"I'm happy to stay," Joh

So, we sat.

We sat and said nothing.

Not one single word.

I was feeling a multitude of emotions right now, ranging from shame to mortification to fear, but with every minute that passed, I slowly calmed down.

Several long minutes of unspoken silence passed between us when Joh

"Not as bad," I whispered, relieved with the speed in which the medication was working. "I don’t feel like I'm being stabbed by a thousand blunt knives anymore."