Scorched

Chapter Two - Collision

RAYMOND

“Hey Ray, would you mind running the attendance sheet down to the main office?” I just happened to be passing in front of Mr. Bird’s desk. He held out the daily register to me.

“Yeah, sure,” I mumbled. I took the paper and started walking toward the classroom door.

I was about two steps from the hallway when a massive black form spun around the door frame and collided with me at full speed. There was no stopping his momentum as he knocked me backwards like a freight train. However, he grabbed me by the shoulders, and somehow managed to turn my body, so that when we fell, I landed on top of him, and not the other way around.

I think the force of my fall, combined with my body weight must have knocked the wind out of him, because for a long moment, Jackson just laid there staring up at me with those intense green eyes. He still had his hands on me, and I was pressed intimately against the hard plains of his body. Too intimately because I felt my body start to respond. Oh Jeezus, not now! Of all times! I scrambled off him.

“Uh, sorry,” I mumbled. “Are you okay?”

He sat up. “No, it’s my fault,” he said quietly. He had the nicest voice. I realized how rarely I ever actually heard him talk. I felt my face getting red as I yanked the hem of my t-shirt down lower. “Are you okay?” There was something in his eyes, something I couldn’t quite identify, but I watched his gaze travel knowingly from my red face down to the tent in my pants that my t-shirt didn’t fully cover. It didn’t help that his eyes were level with my crotch. His eyes went back to my face.

The kids in the class had gotten over the initial shock of our collision, and they were beginning to make their stupid comments.

“Whoa Jackson, what a tackle!” Someone shouted.

“How was it Ray-Ray? That’s more action than you’ve seen all year.”

I scrambled for the paper I had dropped when the two of us went sprawling across the floor. I looked away from those green eyes. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” I mumbled as I skirted him and hurried out to the hallway. I didn’t go to the office, though. I made a beeline for the boys’ bathroom and locked myself in the first empty stall.

I leaned against the stall door and groaned. I didn’t even dare look down at myself. It would only make it that much more embarrassing.

I had a hard-on for Jackson Lockhart.

JACKSON

Levi Benton was making some stupid jokes about Raymond’s virginity, but I shut that down immediately. I picked myself up off the floor and stalked over to his desk. “You got a problem, Benton?” I growled.

Benton was nothing but a spoiled little rich boy. He held up his hands and gave me a stupid smile. “No man, I was just joking! Chill!”

I didn’t think he was funny, and I was about to let him know it when Mr. Bird raised his voice behind me. “Mr. Lockhart! Now that you have completely disrupted my classroom, you can find your own way to the principal’s office. Out! Now!” I gave Benton one last glare before I grabbed my backpack off of the floor and stalked out of the room.

It was just an accident. I was late and rushing and trying to run into the class before Mr. Bird shut the door. I flew around the corner. I had no idea that Ray would be right there. I was sorry for embarrassing him, but kind of not sorry at the same time. My hip was a little sore where it had taken the brunt of the impact in our fall, but it had been worth it for that that brief moment of having his body pressed against mine. I had felt him too. It was impossible not to, since he wore those soft jogging pants all the time. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. It didn’t even mean anything. After all, it could have just been his body reacting to the pressure and the friction. But I couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful.

As I made my way down the hallway, he was just coming out of the bathroom. I headed toward him thinking this was finally my opportunity to talk to him, but he veered off and headed toward the office. I’m pretty sure he was trying to avoid me on purpose. I stopped and leaned against the wall beside the door just out of sight. Now that I’d made up my mind to talk to him, I wasn’t going to let him dodge me.

After a few minutes, he stepped back out. He jumped a little when I pushed away from the wall and fell into step beside him. “Oh,” he said, looking at me sideways with those warm brown eyes, “You are still here?”

I chuckled, “Yeah, well, Mr. B threw me out of the class, so I got nowhere to be for the next,” I checked my watch. “Twenty-three minutes.”

His expression flickered sympathetically. “That’s not fair. It was just an accident.”

I loved how understanding he was. Instead of being pissy that I had plowed him over, the guy was defending me. I shrugged my shoulders. “He said I was disruptive. It's kind of true. You want to go hang out somewhere until the bell?”

Skipping classes wasn’t really Ray’s thing. But he didn’t really want to go back and face those jerks that were making stupid jokes and snide comments. I could see indecision wavering in his expression before he finally nodded.

“Okay. We could go sit in the library. Mrs. Bently is cool.”

I followed him down the halls to the big library in the center of the school. I had not set foot in this section of the school since I did the official school tour my freshman year. Raymond, though, was perfectly at ease. He led me around to a quiet corner behind some bookshelves where there were some beanbags and pillows arranged in a reading nook.

“Hey, this is great!” I plopped down into a bean bag and stretched my legs out in front of me.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ray took the other bean bag, and squirmed around to make a comfortable little nest for himself. I felt his eyes on

me again and turned my head to look at him. For once, he didn’t turn away. That made me smile. “So… why were you late today?”

I couldn’t tell if he was curious, or if he was just trying to make conversation. I wondered what he would think if I told him the whole story. He would probably look at me with pity and revulsion, and I didn’t want that. So, I gave him the short version. “I had to take my little sister to school, and she made me late.”

“Oh yeah? You have a sister? That’s cool. I’m an only child.”

“Its not always that great,” I mumbled. Don’t get me wrong. I love Katie. But sometimes I wish I could have a normal sibling, someone I could talk to, someone who could help me out sometimes. I always feel guilty when I think those kinds of thoughts. Its not Katie’s fault, she didn’t ask to be the way she is.

“I guess,” he said. He threw one arm over his eyes, like he wanted a nap. Or maybe he just didn’t want to look at me anymore.

I had been waiting all this time to talk to Raymond, but now that I had him sitting right there, practically a captive audience, I didn’t know what to say. All the conversations I’d rehearsed in my head flew right out the window. I was just sitting there staring at him, all my famous wit and charm failing me. “Um, do you like ice cream?”

He removed his arm and smiled at me, a real smile that hit me in the gut like a sucker punch. “Who doesn’t like ice cream? Wait, is that a trick question?”

I shrugged and laughed a little, “I don’t know, you could be lactose intolerant or something.” I struggled to sit up a little, “So uh, would you like to go to Martha’s after school?” Martha’s was a drive-in diner that was practically famous for its enormous soft-serve ice cream cones. It was a popular after-school hang out once the weather was warm enough to sit outside.

He narrowed his eyes, as if he thought I was pranking him or something. “Nah, I don’t think so…”

“What? Why not? You just said you liked ice cream, right?”

He scratched at his chin, “Well, I didn’t say that exactly…”

“Oh, I get it,” I folded my arms over my chest and huffed out a little breath. “You don’t want to be seen out in public with someone like me.” I pouted a little bit.

He looked uncomfortable, his eyes leaving mine and skittering to the bookshelves behind me. “That’s stupid,” he said quietly. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“So, you’ll come?” I gave him my eager puppy-dog eyes, which usually got me whatever I wanted.

He shrugged reluctantly. “Yeah, all right.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you in the parking lot after school. You know my car?”

“I know it,” he said, still not meeting my eye.

The awkward moment was saved by the bell. I sighed and picked up my stuff, heaving myself out of the comfortable bean bag chair. I reached down and offered a hand to Ray. He gave me another look that seemed half skeptical, and half worried, but he did finally grasp my hand in his. His hands were almost as large as mine, despite his small stature, and they were soft. Obviously, he wasn’t a guy who did hard work or played sports, but I liked it. I grinned at him, “See ya later then, Ray.”