was like that because I was fighting with myself about my feelings for you.  And I was jealous when you were with Patrick and then Ryan. " He raises his eyebrow again.  "And Hayes."

I can't look at him when he says that.  I sit up, cross legged and stare at my hands.  Fuck, I want to tell him.  But I can't tell him.  I just can't.  He'll hate me for sure if he knows what I did.

Manny puts his hand on my knee cap, rubbing gently.  "Something you should know about me.  If we're going to start going out and stuff.  Look at me."

Damn, he's bossy!  But I raise my eyes and look at him timidly.  Crap, what's he going to tell me?  It can't be worse than me sleeping with our teacher, can it?

"I'm really old fashioned.  I know it's lame and not considered cool or whatever, but that's how I am.  I was raised to have values, especially when it comes to love and relationships.  So, trust is very important to me.  Once you lose my trust, well, there's no gettin' it back."

I can't speak.  My heart is in my stomach.  Because I'm a thousand miles away from being trustworthy, or at least I was.

"I had this girl, back in sophomore year.  She didn't go to our school; she went to my church."  Manny slides over and puts his head in my lap.  I can't stop myself from stroking his thick dark hair.

"We were like, really in love. Or as much as you can be at that age."  He laughs softly.

"What happened?"  I whisper, twirling my fingers in his waves.

"She cheated on me.  There was this creep who also went to our church and I knew they were flirting with each other but I didn't think it was more than that.  I asked her though, you know, if she was seeing him behind my back.  She lied and said she wasn't.  But she was.  She had his baby last year."

"Jeez!  I'm so sorry, Manny!"

He sits up, crosses his own legs and now we're facing one another and he's looking at me with his beautiful dark eyes, and they're wide and innocent looking, pleading.

"I have to know, Taryn.  For my own peace of mind.  You and Hayes.  What really happened between you two?"

I can barely breathe.  Oh my god, why is this happening?  I have never wanted to tell someone the truth so bad in my whole life.  At the same time, I've never wanted to lie more either.

Just tell him.  Maybe he'll understand.  My little inner voice, the good one, is urging me to be honest.

But the other voice, the one that continually gets me into trouble is screaming at me.  Hell no, don't tell him!  He'll dump you; he'll hate you, he'll be grossed out and never look at you again!

I look back at my hands as Manny takes them in his, our fingers intertwined.  He's waiting for my answer.  And right now, I can only listen to the loudest voice in my head.

"Nothing happened," I tell him.  "He just flirted with me and every other girl in school, and we all flirted back.  That was all."

Manny visibly relaxes and then lies back down, pulling me with him.  We curl into a tight embrace and he starts kissing me with a little more urgency this time.

I kiss him back, pressing myself against his hardness and letting him know with my entire body that I'm his.

It will be alright, whispers the voice of trouble.  He'll never know.

No one will.

◆◆◆

"It's a little late in the year to be changing classes, Taryn."

I look at Mrs. Hanson, my guidance counselor, as I sit in her office.

"Yes, I know, but I'm just really not doing as well in the class as I'd like to. And I'd hate for my grade point average to dip below 4.0 because of it."

Mrs. Hanson regards me silently with her chocolate brown eyes. She swings her chair back and forth slowly and folds her hands over her middle.

"Is there some other problem?" Her eyebrow goes up. "With your teacher? Another student?"

I shake my head quickly. "No, no ma'am. Everything is fine. It's just not a good fit." I keep my eyes wide and innocent. Boy, is she scrutinizing me!

Her gaze slides away, to the side of the room, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Well, it's strange."

"Ma'am?" I'm trying to talk and hold my breath at the same time. I have to get the hell out of Michael's class. I can't take looking at him every day anymore, watching him flirt with Tracy and the other girls. It's torture.

Mrs. Hanson shuffles some folders on her desk, checking something.

"I've had two other girls who have Mr. Hayes for classes come in and make the same request. Just last week. And now you're here. Anything you want to tell me?"

Two other girls?? Holy fuck.

I force myself to keep my face calm and then shrug.

"No, not really."

Mrs. Hanson and I have a little stare off, and I wonder what the other girls told her. They couldn't have said anything; otherwise, Michael wouldn't still be here. Our little circle of silence.

"Alright, then." Mrs. Hanson sighs and turns to her laptop, tapping away. "Well, at this late date, Taryn, the only place I can move you is Novels. You have all of your English credits, and you're actually over the requirement for graduation. So, this is just an extra for you."

I nod. "Sure, Novels is fine, I love to read."

She taps some more and then smiles at me. "Okay, you're now in Mr. Nile's first-hour Novels class. I hope it's a better...fit."

Great. Mr. Niles is ten shades of weird and dresses all in black and looks like a vampire, but he'll do.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hanson." I stand up, anxious to leave.

"No problem. And Taryn?"

I pause, my hand on the doorknob. "Yes?"

"If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here."

I can't look into her kind eyes, so I turn away. "Thanks!" Opening the door, I quickly make my escape.

◆◆◆

Novels isn't too

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