Viper's Kiss

Chapter 3

The next day the pain in my back settled on a bluish purple bruise. I had only found this out after I came out of the shower to change Zarina had saw how irritated it gotten. The shower had stung but not much to the point where I couldn't bend over.

"You sure you want to go to school? I'd stay here with you," Zarina frowned when she saw me putting on clothes. I wanted to make sure my clothing was loose enough so it didn't irritate my back so I decided on bagging grey sweats with a oversized white tee.

"It's fine. For all I know he probably doesn't even know it's me. It was dark and people in a club are annoying." I grabbed a white pair of socks and put them on ignoring the dumbfounded look that she was giving me.

"Do you even hear yourself? You have a bruise for Christ's sake."

"Your point?" I put my shoes on and sat down next to her on the bed. I know I should be upset but there was something about him that made me brush it off. Maybe because Dameon could break my nose if he really wanted to or the fact that whenever he's around my body couldn't control its fear.

"Don't tell me this is you sympathizing with a 'brooding boy'," she put quotes up in the air and shook her head. "I swear sometimes-"

"No. This is me not worrying about the little things. I told myself yesterday at the bar that I was going to tackle any problem that came my way. And I'm going to get a boyfriend," I booped her on the nose. I had meant it when I said that nothing was going to stop me, not even the bruise on my back from someone who clearly wasn't in there right mind.

"Why not start with him?" I looked at her hoping that she'd say that she was joking but nothing like that came out of her mouth. She was staring at me with a blank face, no ghost smile or anything. I was truly confused because I've never known for Zarina to say something crazy at all.

"Explain before I slap you," I said harshly. I didn't have the right to but it just came out that way. I was upset with her for suggesting that I date Dameon, also known as the reason why my f*****g back was in so much pain. I couldn't even attempt to wrap my head around it and I know that thinking to hard was only going to give me a bigger headache but I didn't care.

"Woah slow your roll. I'm just saying that why not start with your type and there's nobody more broody than him. He's mysterious and it's not like he's ugly. He just has the personality of ice but if you melt that away it might be worth it. On the other hand it's a good opportunity for revenge," she laid back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. "I think you should give it a thought. I think you can get laid."

"I want you to think about how dumb you sound."

"I mean it's about the writing. Imagine what real life experience plus I'll be there if anything happens. Think of this as a game of truth or dare you know. I'm spending my 'I owe you' on this one."

At this point I was lost, I understood what she was trying to say but that didn't make it clear to my head. She wanted me to try and date Dameon Halloway. Not only that but she was trying to make it seem like I didn't have a choice, but then again this was probably her believing that she was being a good friend. Deep down I couldn't even get mad at her because I knew she had good intentions, trying to match my type so I could live out the fiction that I write. Zarina truly believed that Dameon and I were going to change each other's lives.

"So just to be clear. You-"

"I dare you to sleep with Dameon Halloway."

"You mean the fucker that pushed me right?" This was comedy gold.

"Yes. I was you to gain experience to write a steamy s*x scene and with a bad boy. No love just pure temptation."

"You know what? I'll do it." This had caught her off guard cause now she was staring at me like I had just grown two heads. "You do realize this was your idea? Don't look at me like that. I'm just stepping out of my comfort zone. You wanted this." I got off the bed and walked towards my desk, looking down at two of my books I smiled. I was proud of myself, two professionally printed books and it was all because I decided to try something new. I rubbed my hands over the cover of one, staring at the daring cover; a lightly clothed females draped around a male that was holding her by the neck. "I got where I was today because I tried something new you know. I should do more with my life."

"I know but I'm still surprised. Anyways let's get to school," she hopped off of the bed and grabbed me by the arm. Zarina tugged me lightly towards the door making sure not to put any strain on my body and pulled me out of my house before I could say bye to my mom. She even ignored me when I complained about my hair not being done, saying that I looked fine. I just laughed and let her pull me towards my car, letting us make our way inside the car. The moment she sat down she laid her hand on top of mine, stopping me from driving off.

"I just want you to know that I will need all the details about you and Dameon." I could see the smirk threatening to appear on her face but instead of responding I just started the car and drove off.

We made it to school in time for me to head to English class without disturbing my professor and I noticed that Dameon wasn't in class which wasn't surprising. During the car ride, Zarina and I decided that I'd start today and attempt to chip his ice early that way I wouldn't coward out later. Although now that he wasn't in class I was wondering if this was such a good idea. I knew nothing about him and all I hear is that he's someone people shouldn't mess with because he sent some guy to the hospital in critical condition. I think that's a stretch though so I'm not going to pay it any attention. People shouldn't be defined by the narrative or what others have to say, the only reason I was scared of him is because of his harsh stare and the fact that he pushed me without hesitating yesterday.

It didn't take long for the doors to open and for him to come through walking past the teacher towards the desk behind me again. I noticed the limp in his walk but brushed it off, he probably got it at the club fighting with some random drunkard. When I heard him sit down with a soft 'oof' coming from him, I involuntarily shivered. My back not failing to remind me that it bruised, it seemed impossible but the throbbing felt more prominent now that he was behind me. I wanted to calm my nerves but may heart was thumping fast in my chest, I couldn't tell if I wanted to s**t myself or pass out but he was doing something to me just by his presence. Unfortunately I couldn't even hearing him, snoring which meant that it was one of those rare occasions during class where he wanted to sit up and tune in.

"f**k my life," I mumbled, trying my hardest to pay attention to what Professor Fletcher was saying but I felt an uncomfortable gaze on my back however I forced my mind to cooperate.

"Instead of doing our normal writing about what you feel. I want you to think about 'love' and how it comes from the oddest of places. Is it a feeling? Or is it a temporary release of hormones that gets your brain high? Is it real or fake? Do you believe in love? These are the questions that I want you guys to think about when you write this next assignment. Think of an unlikely love or even love that's not meant to be and write what this means to you. This is the first part of the assignment. I'll explain the details of the next assignment towards the end of class but right now I'm expecting those papers on my desk at the end of class." Professor Fletcher walked around the room handing out sheets of papers with examples of love that were either tragic or unlikely.

The examples read: West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Titanic, Edward Scissorhands, Wuthering Heights and a lot more.

"Think back to these pieces of art and use them as inspiration to help write. I'm expecting great things." With that being said he sat in his seat and began reading the book that was on his desk.

It felt like the universe was laughing at me right now, it just happens to be that the lesson was about tragic/unlikely romances. Can the world be more ironic right now? To go along with the irony, the man of my problems was still bothering me with his presence. I wanted to use this feeling as inspiration, a thrill and a scare. So I began to write

Love is a feeling that you'd want to give you're all to someone. It's about sticking with your heart even on bad days when it feels like the feeling is gone. Love can be unlikely whether it's someone you are looking for or if it happens by chance and not everyone is who they may seem. Couples can fall from the farthest of heights and dissipate or they can come together and last. Sometimes it may be easy to tell someone you love them but it's not always love, it could be the comfort or warmth that someone may provide that sweeps you away and not the person themself. Love shouldn't be artificial and based on looks, it should be deeper than skin, looks, and whatever material matter they possess. Sometimes love in literature happens at the snap of a finger, in instances like Romeo and Juliet with just a simple glance Romeo had declared he was in love with her. Whether or not that love was tragic didn't come in between their meaning of love, it seems hard to decipher but everyone has their own definition of love that they need to define for themselves. Nobody can tell you what it means exactly because it differs from person to person but everyone should be able to look deep into themselves in order to answer what may or may not be it. You should be able to let go of yourself and your fears when you're in love.

I don't know exactly where these words were coming from or if they even made sense when put altogether but I just couldn't describe it. My mind couldn't put these feelings down exactly because I didn't know what it felt like for sure. I mean, yeah I may fall in love with fictional characters but I can't count that as total love. I wanted it to be physical love and not just mental and emotional love. My mind instantly thought up Dameon and what it would like to be with him, but it didn't seem real. I didn't know a single detail about his life so every fantasy would just die out at the thought of being fiction based and with those thoughts I found myself wanting to know more about him and who he is. I wanted to find out what made him smile since he always seemed upset and deadly but maybe my mind was on a stretch. Maybe I was out of my mind because I was acting like one of the girls in my story: lacking real life sense.

I should be furious at the fact that he pushed me yesterday not wondering how I could make him smile but I couldn't help but wonder if he knew it was me yesterday. The club was dark and most people don't even notice faces so they act on impulses, or maybe this was me just trying to make an excuse for him. I feel like I just wanted a real excuse to get close to him other than this stupid dare that I had. I turned my attention back to my work.

I've never experienced love so I don't know much but I'm guessing your body has to welcome the changes, surrender completely to your feelings in order to truly experience what is going to happen to you. You should be afraid to love but that fear should be replaced by strength

At that point I felt like I was rambling on, it was hard to write about something I didn't know about so I gave up. It took a few minutes for the professor to notice me just sitting there staring at my paper like I wanted to set it on fire but thankfully he didn't say anything to me he just went back to reading. I didn't want to think about this anymore, nor did I have any desire to write because this didn't feel like me.

I think I sat there staring at the page for a few minutes thinking about nothing and it was just confusing but thankfully the class was ending. "Okay. Leave your papers on the desk on the way out and for the next time you come into class you guys will be paired up in order to develop a love story that's either odd or tragic. It's something new because I believe you guys aren't learning much if you sit here and interpret writing all the time. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I quickly grabbed my bag, dropped my paper off, and left the room trying not to visibly flinch when someone bumped into my back. It hurt like a b***h and it took a lot of energy to hold myself together instead of crying bloody murder.

Luckily for me, Zarina had came to my rescue when she saw me slightly hunched over trying to speed walk into our class. At first she was confused but she supported me by my arm and led us over to the table where Greg was sitting waiting for us. I saw her cut him a sharp eye which made him shut his mouth right when he was about to ask me what happened.

"How can one f*****g chair do this much damage to my back," I sighed when I painfully slumped into the chair. I laid my head on the desk and sighed feeling my back taunt me with all the painful throbs. I felt exhaustion hitting me so I closed my eyes ignoring our math professor who came in the room and called out to me, but sleep took over.