Bad Falls 101

7. Outrageous Demand

The following day, I can say with certainty that I am more distracted than usual, busy as I am replaying the damned kiss. What is so special about Ryker that makes me feel this way? Well, get in line, folks, for I, too, wonder.

I manage to trip and fall three times on my way to my first class.

There are whispers following me, laughter echoing in the hallway after each fall… and I am sad not to have Blair by my side. No, I am not hiding behind her braveness, it is just that her very presence is comforting - so much in fact, I feel at peace when I am with her.

I do not have friends, Blair aside. I have never had the chance to meet someone quite as understanding as her. And I don’t think I ever will. She is a kind soul and a loyal friend. She is beautiful, strong, witty too, and is never afraid to speak her mind. She is the embodiment of my female role model.

I, on the other hand, am boring, cannot read a damned room, manage to land myself in situations that should never be on my to-do list… and last but not least, I have now become the school’s bad boy’s prey - whatever that means - for the school year. I have my own self-proclaimed tormentor… Yay me!

Let’s not forget that he stole my first kiss. Double yay! Please note the sarcasm.

I heave a silent sigh of relief as I manage not to fall for the fourth time that morning, and it is all I can do to keep myself from looking for Ryker.

Good god, what is happening to me?

Why am I so obsessed with a guy I only met yesterday, who is for all intents and purposes naught but a stranger, and who could very well be the worst thing to have ever happened to me?

What is wrong with me?

“Quite the fall, that last one,” someone comments in a teasing tone.

I click my tongue in annoyance and ignore the person.

“Hey,” a hand comes to rest on my shoulder, and I turn to look at the guy. “I am talking to you.”

“Are you?” I challenge with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you mocking me, you clumsy b***h?”

Now, I do not know the guy, and I most certainly don’t know what I did to offend him. I cannot find anything witty to answer him… I avert my gaze and say as I try to free myself, “Don’t touch me so casually.”

“Really now?” He taunts as he shoves me slightly away.

I glare at him.

He shoves me harder and I bump into a nearby desk.

I have absolutely no time to whine or voice out my displeasure for the next thing I know he is pinned against the wall by none other than my self-proclaimed tormentor.

"Ryker," I breathe out in shock.

“Are you okay?” He asks matter-of-factly while the guy who has been bullying me is now turning red and blue, struggling to get air in his lungs no doubt.

“I’m okay,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat up for some unfathomable reason.

“Now, tell me, Mr. Jerk, what did you think you were doing exactly to my prey?” Ryker asks the moment he releases the guy.

Mr. Jerk, as he just called him, is gasping for air, his eyes moist with tears. It truly is a sight, I have to say. Who would have thought the bully would get bullied? A case of the biter bit much?

“I… I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking,” is the answer that gets wheezed out.

“Clearly you were not,” Ryker says in an icy tone, “Don’t let me catch you bullying her again.”

“N… never again,” the guy promises on a stutter as he rises to his feet.

“Good,” Ryker nods in approval before telling him bluntly to scram.

He turns to me, focusing his full attention on me, and it is all I can do to breathe properly.

Do not think of the damned kiss, girl! I tell myself.

Too late, I think as a crimson blush spreads on my cheeks.

What is happening to me? What is my own tormentor doing to me? And, why did he protect me? I cannot believe myself that he did that out of the kindness of his heart. There must be something he wants in return.

He cannot possibly want me, can he? My eyes widen in shock at my own thinking.

Then, as I try to make my heartbeat steady again, I feel the urge to say, “I won’t be doing your homework for you, you know?”

“Oh, you figured it out all on your own, huh?”

There is something off about his tone, but I choose not to dwell on it. What good will more silly thinking do? Surely, nothing of value.

“I just wanted to make that clear,” I carry on. “I do not believe in cheating or in doing someone else’s job for them.”

“Fine,” he says with a smirk.

“Fine,” I reply, feeling like I have won the battle.

“Tutor me then,” comes his outrageous demand.

“What?” I cry out in shock. And I am pretty damn sure my feelings are painted all over my face, from puzzlement to shock and everything in between.

“I’m sure you heard me, little girl,” he says confidently, his smirk still plastered on his face, his tone somewhat playful.

“But…” I try to protest.

“There is no room for a but here. I wasn’t asking,” he says arrogantly.

I want to fire something back at him and possibly throw something as well… but he is the bad boy of the school, and I just witnessed what he is capable of.

He is dangerous.

He is arrogant.

I cannot take the staring match.

I end up giving in and agreeing to his demand.

“See you after school then?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Do I have a choice?” I retort bitterly.

His chuckle is the only response I get before he leaves the classroom.