Chapter 5: The Punching Hall of Fame, Part 2

"That's cool. Abby has my number, so you can call from her phone if you ever need help with anything."

"Thanks," I said.

"Hands up, Ellie. New girl has a killer right hook," someone shouted from the other end of the hallway. His comment was followed by raucous laughter.

My steps faltered. "How does everyone know about that?" I mumbled.

"Nothing around here is a secret." She shook her head. "Hey, so, I'll catch up with you in a bit." Ellie waved and disappeared around the corner, her long, sleek ponytail swishing behind her.

I walked into class. Abby was already there, sitting in the back with a boy. When she saw me, she waved me over. She'd ditched me for a guy? I flung my bag on top of the desk and sat.

"Sorry I missed lunch." Abby leaned over and lowered her voice. "I'll explain all about it later, but you understand, right?" She gave a subtle nod to the boy on her right.

"Yeah, whatever." But I didn't understand. What happened to family comes first?

"You're the best," Abby whispered.

As if being ditched by the only person I knew wasn't bad enough, Trent chose that moment to stride into the room like he owned the place. Every step oozed confidence, and every girl in the room stared. Me included.

He stopped in front of my desk and crossed his arms. "I was sitting there."

"You were?"

He nodded.

I stared at him, dumbfounded, and then I swiped my bag onto the floor and studied the top of the desk. "I don't see your name anywhere." I stood and checked the chair, too, just to be sure. "Nope. No name." I plopped back down and gave him the sweetest smile I could muster.

To my surprise, he laughed. Like before, the sound was deep, genuine, and it stirred something in my gut, something I hadn't ever experienced.

For a moment, I was terrified I might throw up all over his shoes. The feeling was intense and all-consuming, and as soon as I'd felt it, it was gone. So was the amusement on his face, replaced with mild annoyance.

His brother shoved past him and glowered at me with so much fury, an icy chill snaked up my arms. There was something disturbingly menacing about Jax, and my instincts were telling me to keep my distance. Obviously, he wasn't as friendly as his brother, but I was starting to wonder if my initial assessment of Trent had been wrong.

"Please move," he said.

"No," I said.

It was a stupid desk for crying out loud. There were at least a dozen other empty seats in this room, and here I was ready to fight him over one. But to be fair, he was the one who'd made a big deal over this seat first. And I was not in the mood to give into bully tactics.

"All right. Fine." He slid into the seat beside me and then moved the desk closer, scraping the metal legs across the floor in an obnoxious, grating noise.

Everyone in the room had stopped to watch our exchange. I cringed. Please let me disappear. Someone near the front of the room coughed the word "fight," which caused a ripple of laughter.

I clenched my jaw and turned to Trent. "Why are you telling everyone I punched you?"

"You did," he said simply.

"It was an accident."

He'd accepted my apology. So, why was he embellishing what had really happened? I curled my hands into fists, my fingernails biting into my palms. I really had no idea if he'd told anyone or not, but he was the only other person involved in the incident, so it stood to reason he was the one telling the story.

"Easy there, slugger." He inclined his head toward my balled hands, his mouth twitching with a smile. "I haven't told anyone."

Abby giggled, and that's when it dawned on me. She'd been the one telling people. I was going to strangle her.

"People are saying you…" I averted my gaze. "Grabbed me, and that's why I hit you."

He let out a laugh that silenced the room. All eyes were on us again, and I slinked farther down in my chair. This day couldn't end fast enough.

"No, I most certainly did not grab you," he said.

"You don't have to sound so disgusted by the idea," I mumbled.

I'd had exactly one serious boyfriend – Aaron - and he'd been on track to become the Valedictorian of our class. He was clean-cut and wholesome and polite in a boy-next-door sort of way. He was safe and easy to be with. Trent was the complete opposite, and that put him firmly out of my comfort zone.

"Disgusted is not the word I'd use, Chloe." His voice was smooth as silk, my name rolling off his tongue just as smoothly.

A shiver wiggled up my spine. "What word would you prefer, then?"

He glanced at me like he couldn't believe I'd had the nerve to question him. "Cautiously interested," he finally said.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant when the teacher entered the room and closed the door. The class progressed much like all the others had - with the teacher droning on and on about things I had no interest in.

On one side of me, Abby was shamelessly flirting. And on my other side, I was hyper-aware of Trent. He hadn't bothered to speak to me again, but I felt him there. Every subtle movement he made. Every breath he took. I was aware of it all.

In fact, I hadn't realized my entire body was tense until the bell rang, and I stood. I tried to stretch the soreness from my muscles.

"You okay?" Abby asked.

I faced her, turning my back toward Trent. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Behind me, Trent mumbled something. I spun around to respond, but he was already gone. There was absolutely no sign of him, as if he'd disappeared into thin air.

"We're still going shopping today, right? There's this new scarf I've had my eye on, and I finally have enough money saved to buy it and. . ." Abby rambled, that familiar, excited glint in her eyes.

Ugh. I'd forgotten she wanted to go shopping. She'd mentioned it after dinner last night.

"I'm kind of tired. It's been a long day. . ." I felt bad cutting her off, but this time it was the truth, not an excuse.

Abby gave a loud, dramatic groan. "Really, Chloe?"

She was angry with me, but she didn't - couldn't - understand. Her entire life hadn't been ripped out from under her. It wasn't as simple as getting a good night's sleep and then going shopping. No amount of normal, mundane tasks would make it better.

When she didn't give up the pouting, I reluctantly agreed. Maybe if I kept busy and exhausted myself, I could sleep through the night.

Abruptly, she started waving to a tall, curvy girl with black hair and a tanned complexion, who was absolutely gorgeous. "Rachel," Abby squealed and hugged the girl before turning back to me. "Chloe, this is Rachel, my BFF. Rachel, this is my cousin from Florida."

Rachel looked me up and down in what could only be described as disgust. "Hmm, so you're the one with the fists of fury, huh? I expected you'd be… taller."

"And I expected you'd be nicer," I said before I could stop myself.

Abby glared at me. "She's only kidding," Abby said to Rachel, forcing a laugh. She shot me another dirty look.

I shrugged. At five three, I was a tad on the shorter side, and it wasn't my fault Rachel had chosen to comment on the one feature I hated most about myself.

"Whatevs." Rachel looped her arm through Abby's and turned away from me.

Well, so much for Abby's theory that Rachel and I would get along and the three of us would become besties.