Reaping Me Softly

“You’ve never been bullied?” Ben immediately took back the question. “Of course you weren’t. With that face and your confidence.”

“Anyway, want to come with me to visit Carrie this afternoon?” Expectation mixed with anticipation surfaced from the depths of Arianne’s eyes. “I really want her to meet you.”

Endearment had his heart soaring on golden wings. “You want me to meet your sister?”

She nodded with a smile tugging at her lips.

Niko brought her into the circle of his arms. “It would be an honor to meet Carrie.”

“You two aren’t going to start making out are you? Because that’s not the wisest idea right now,” Ben said in disgust.

Arianne giggled. “Meet you at the front steps after class?”

Niko answered Arianne and the audience he knew they had by kissing her, uncaring that he sealed his fate.

Chapter 19 ALERT LEVEL

THE MOON-SIZED WALL CLOCK held Arianne’s attention like a three ringed circus since she’d left the cafeteria. She had momentary lapses in her focus when a pesky teacher asked her to answer a question. After giving a perfunctory response, her eyes hurriedly returned to the clock, its second hand ticking away, urging the minute hand forward to complete the final hour of her school day. The bell finally shrieked, plucking at her tension. She bolted upright, gathered her things, and ran for the front doors with fire at her heels.

In her haste, she cared little for the girl she shouldered or the boy she elbowed in the gut. What mattered was the door and the distance between her and being with Niko again. Her mind zeroed in on the task of getting from point A to B with extreme focus. Her heart pumped like it had never pumped before, beating as if in tune with each step that thrust her forward.

The doors sighed with relief as they opened. Arianne rushed outside and breathed in the lingering summer air. It weighed a ton in her lungs, but she didn’t care. To her, the breath represented freedom and life and love. Eyes shut, she smiled up at the sky. The line “I’m the queen of the world” gurgled from her spring of cheesy quotations. She didn’t care if she looked strange to everyone who’d passed by. The need to celebrate tingled all the way to the pads of her feet and her fingertips.

“You know you look weird, right?” Ben said.

She hadn’t heard him approach. She viewed him askance. “Life is good, so sue me.”

“And she bites.”

“Shut up.”

He twirled his forefinger in front of her face. “This doesn’t look like you’re happy.” He yanked his finger away just before she nipped at it.

Her teeth snapped together. “Are you seeing Carrie today?”

His cheeks, nose, and neck turned a charming shade of Rubik’s Cube red. “I have a couple of errands to run first. See you there?”

She gave him a curt nod then watched him catch the bus home.

Slowly, with every car that left the lot, Arianne’s excitement ebbed until only a handful of trucks and cars, including Niko’s Mustang, remained. The hairs on her arms rose as her happiness gave way to panic. A cold block of dread thumped to the bottom of her gut and anchored itself there. She scanned the students lingering in the lot. Some of them she knew, and others only in passing.

Arianne did a quick one-eighty and pushed into the building. Darla couldn’t, she repeated to herself for every empty classroom she’d checked. She zigged, opened a door, peeked inside, then zagged and did the same to the next room, and then the next. She checked supply closets, bathrooms—both girl’s and boy’s. The art room. The admin offices. The library.

No dice.

Frustration transformed her muscles to steel. Arianne only had one more place: the gym. Her lead filled shoes had her thinking either she was in slow motion or the gym double doors kept moving away from her. The echo of the slamming doors magnified the emptiness of the space. Her knees quaked so badly, they threatened to buckle. The custodian had waxed the floors recently, and the wood’s lemon scent almost made her retch.

Instead of taking her previous route, Arianne decided on a side entrance. Sweat beaded her forehead as she used the closed door for support. The balmy air no longer brought her reassurance. Her lungs protested all her attempts at breathing properly.

Where could he be? She thumped the door with her fists.

Darla’s ice-queen voice chilled her heart.

“What happened to you this morning is a parlor trick compared to what I have planned for you right now.”

Arianne inched her way toward the shed behind the gym used for supplies. She mentally castigated herself for forgetting. The shed had become the center for what Darla called “private conversations.” Its out of the way location made it the perfect place. Even Coach Simmons hardly went to the shed. And Mondays meant team meeting days.

She peeked around the corner. Niko knelt on the ground with his arms spread out, held at the wrists by two pep squad tumblers. Darla stood over him, derision clear on her features. The rest of the pep squad fanned out behind her. Some carried bats. Arianne winced. Darla had never resorted to using extreme force before. At least, to her knowledge.

Arianne said a silent prayer before charging forward, getting between them. She faced Darla head on, her back to Niko. A whisper spread through the group as quickly as the surprise on Darla’s face.

“Ari,” she said.

“I told you not to call me that anymore.” Arianne injected spite in her words, even if her spine felt like jelly. “You think I didn’t know about this place? What were you planning on doing to Niko? Huh?”

“Arianne,” Niko whispered behind her.

“Shut up!” she hissed as quietly as she could without taking her attention away from Darla. “Answer me, Darla. Were you planning on clubbing him to death?”

Calm menace replaced Darla’s surprise. “Maybe break his knees, to start.” She crossed her arms.

“Dar, I thought—”

“Shut up, Peter!” Darla interrupted the broad-shouldered base by her side. “My meeting with Niko doesn’t concern you, Ari. If you could just—”

“What?” Arianne barked. “You want me to leave? Good luck with that.”

“Tina, Joyce,” Darla called to two flyers. They flinched and moved forward. “Please escort Ari out of here and make sure she doesn’t come back.”

Arianne crossed her arms and tilted her chin up just as the two girls moved toward her. “Why don’t you tell them the real reason why you’re harassing Niko?”

The girls stopped and looked at each other then at Darla, who now stood slack-jawed.

“You wouldn’t,” Darla said after she’d regained some of her composure. “Ari, don’t!”

“Everyone,” Arianne addressed the whole squad, “I want all of you to know that you can tell as many people as you want after I’m finished speaking.” She glanced at Darla, now visibly pale. “Have you ever wondered why Darla doesn’t have a steady boyfriend when she can have her pick of the lot?”

“Arianne,” Darla pleaded. “Please, don’t do this.”

“Or what? Dar, I’m tired of what you’ve been putting me through all these years. Intimidating guys who so much as looked my way. Bullying those who actually wanted to ask me out. And now, Niko. You actually threatened to physically hurt him. I won’t stand for it.”

“There’s got to be another way.”

Arianne scanned the pom pom team. “You see, Darla thinks she’s in love with me, and that I belong to her.” Her gaze landed on Darla last. “Dar, I wasn’t thinking straight when I came to you. I’m sorry that I made you think