High School Never Ends Ch. 04

"Yea well I don't make a habit of wearing party clothes to class." He stopped her progress, holding her arm so she would turn to face him.

"I get that, what I am saying, that you seem to be intentionally avoiding, is why are you hiding that beauty from the world?" For the second time that day, she was pinned between a male body and she was almost hypnotized by the ocean of his eyes. He was close, too close, but she couldn't find it in herself to move away.

"He sees it too you know, what you try so hard to hide from others. It's why he wants you and I don't fault him, not one bit." His lips gently caressed hers. So soft it fluttered across her skin the barest of caresses. Just as quickly as the kiss started it was over and Daniel was leading Skye down the hallways to the very destination he said he was lost trying to find.

"Lost my ass." He maneuvered his way through the halls of her schools like he went here for years. The grin he flashed her when she muttered under her breath could be considered nothing less than charming, but Skye was no longer fooled. He was just as devious, if not more so, than the man they were looking for.

As they cleared the building and headed towards the field house, Skye could see Nickolas leaving the football field with the rest of his team. His practice was apparently over and she could do without seeing him again today. In an attempt to avoid any further humiliation, she made an abrupt about face to leave; however Daniel's hand caught her bicep before she could walk away from him.

"And where are you headed off to in a hurry?" His voice was calm, the charming quality was never lost, but his stance was tense. He was prepared for her to be antagonistic. That annoyed her. They were able to read her like an open book and it dawned on Skye, in that exact moment, that she had been going about this the wrong way. She couldn't fight money and power head on, she neither to attack or defend herself with. If she wanted to get out of this mess, she was going to have to be just as cunning as they were and that started with throwing them off balance. They expected a fight.

That didn't mean she had to give them one.

"No where. The sun was in my eyes and I had to turn away for a moment to adjust." Well at least the lying was getting easier.

"Alright, let's get moving off this hill then. I'm sure Nick is anxious to see you."

He saw her and Daniel from the top of the hill on his way inside of the field house. He was fully expecting to see Daniel, but Skye, not so much. Unsure why he felt as irritated as he did seeing the two of the together, Nickolas took deep breaths to keep himself calm. If anything, he was still trying to figure Daniel's angle in all this. He didn't want to give Skye to him, even though it was something they have done previously and if Daniel knew him as well as he should, he knew it too.

So it wasn't any wonder the foul mood he greeted the two of them with when he met them in the locker room. He even took a bit of pleasure at her discomfort at being surrounded by a good portion of the male student body. He watched closely as she did everything she could to keep her eyes everywhere else but the half naked men, himself included, and Daniel before her eyes focused solely on the locker in front of her.

He frowned. This just wouldn't do. He would never consider himself a sadist, but it was something about watching Skye's humiliation and discomfort that gave him a rush of adrenaline that he could never reach on the football field or any of his other somewhat reckless activities.

"Skye." She jumped a little at hearing her name, but she did not move her eyes from that spot. When after a moment she still did not respond. Nickolas called to her again, his patience running thin.

"Come here, Skye." His voice was harsher than he intended. He saw Daniel's eyebrow raise in question. He had nearly forgotten about his presence in the room, nearly forgotten where he was, he was so focused on Skye. Her shoulders slumped a little in defeat before she walked to him, eyes downcast. When she was finally in front of him, he maneuvered them so that she was once pinned between a male body and a row of lockers.

"Good girl." His word stung even as they gently caressed her skin; his lips followed whispering across her jawline before claiming her own. In front of everyone, he kissed her and no one moved to stop it, not student or coach, and Skye realized how insane it was that no one in authority did anything to stop this. To stop a student from sexually assaulting another one.

Why wasn't anyone doing anything to stop this. To stop him. What was going on here? There had to be more to what was going on here than she knew and Skye was determined to find out what.

"Do I get a kiss too?" His hand left her hip to flip Daniel off, before he separately from her completely.

"Go back to Daniel, Skye." He kissed her hair before sending her off and he began to get dressed. After momentarily fixing her eyes back to the lockers in front of her, she heard her name in a warning tone before turning to look back at Nickolas, He wanted her to look at him, she saw it in the incline of his head.

"Well I'm here like you wanted."

"Not exactly like I wanted." Nickolas looked pointedly at Skye and Daniel shrugged.

"What was I supposed to do, I saw her looking all lost and confused after leaving that classroom and I figured maybe her seeing you might get her head back on straight." The snort that left her lips was automatic and she turned to look at Daniel incredulously.

"I guess she can come with." Nickolas was finally clothed when Skye turned back to him. She didn't want to go anywhere with the two of them. As far as she was concerned, she had done her duty for the day and she was done.

"I can't, my mom is expecting me to help with the shop today." That was a lie, not that they knew; however judging by the narrowing of his eyes, Nickolas might. Skye did what she could to keep a straight face as she stood her ground. Daring him to challenge her. The smile he gave her was anything but kind as he conceded this to her.

"Fine we will give you a ride home." His tone was edgy when he address her.

"I don't think - "

"I don't care what you think, Skye. Daniel and I will take you home, now let's go."

The car ride back to her house was tense as Daniel and Nickolas spoke in hushed tones about forms they needed while ignoring Skye, who sat in the back seat. Occasionally Nickolas would eye her from the rear view mirror, but he never verbally acknowledged her the entire ride and Skye bolted out of the car and up the steps of the shop before either of them could have a chance to say anything.

She ran out of one chaotic situation and walked right into another one.

The scene of her mother frantically running around the upstairs living space of their home throwing clothes in a duffle bag was startling, but she kept her composure.

"Going somewhere?" She eyed her mother warily. There wasn't much that put Janine in a frenzy, but she was downright manic. Whatever was going on, it was big.

"I have to go for a while. Some things have come up and I have to take care of them."

"How long will you be gone."

"I'm not sure, maybe a week. You know where I keep the emergency funds so use that for groceries and don't worry about the shop." She still had yet to stop running around the house to even look at Skye.

"What-MOM what is going on? Where are you going" Her mother's frantic state was starting to put Skye in a panic. There was too much going on right now for her mother to just up and leave even if it was for business.

"I suggest you keep that tone of yours in check, got it." Janine had finally stopped moving to stare her daughter down waiting for the apology that would follow. She took a breath to calm herself. "I'm sorry Skye, if this could be avoided, trust me I would avoid it, but this is something that I have to take care of for the both of us. I will call you as soon as I land okay sweetheart."

Janine didn't wait for an answer when she kissed her daughter's forehead and hugged her and quickly left the house to the waiting cab.

Skye was alone.