Chapter 7: Showdown in the Gym

KARA

“So how was detention?” Layla and Jess walked up from behind me.

“Well,” I began, and they were already hooked. “It was boring.” Their faces dropped when they realized that I wasn’t going to tell them a long and fascinating story about my afternoon in detention with Jason.

I didn’t want to tell them about all the touching just yet.

Jess let out a deep sigh. “How are things with Adam?”

I scoffed at the sound of his name. I hadn’t seen or talked to Adam since that night I saw him lying on the floor.

Adam hadn’t bothered to apologize, and I accepted the fact that he wasn’t the same guy I once adored.

“I haven’t seen him since the party. I don’t think he’s been to school, either.” We had History and Gym together, but I hadn’t seen him all week.

Part of me was worried that he wasn’t okay, considering he took a pretty hard hit, but I’m more than positive that Jason wouldn’t be at school if that were the case.

Layla cut in, “Well, he’s here today.” My heart dropped a little.

That meant no matter what, I was going to have to face him. There was no way I’d be able to avoid him, even if I tried, but I wasn’t going to talk to him.

What would I even say? Staying away from him was my best option. Adam was no longer a part of my life, and the sooner I could make him realize that, the better.

In hopes of dropping the topic, I stayed silent, and Jess and I proceeded to walk into the girls’ locker room together to change into our gym attire.

Jess fired away questions about Charlie as we walked into the gymnasium. Jess and Layla absolutely loved him.

“I have to come over! I can’t believe that I haven’t seen him in a year!” She began to rant about how much she missed Charlie as we kicked a soccer ball back and forth.

Jess and I continued talking while the rest of the class was doing whatever they wanted since we had a substitute teacher for the day.

The older man stood with a book in his hand, clearly hooked by whatever was happening.

“Hey.” The voice I was trying to avoid interrupted Jess and my conversation. I stood frozen in place, not wanting to turn around.

Jess glared at Adam, waiting for my move. The nod I sent her explained that it was okay, and she mouthed a ~good luck~ before scurrying to the other girls in our class.

“Can we talk?” I slowly turned to face Adam, whose green eyes were full of sadness.

“I don’t know, are you going to hurt me?” I spat and instantly regretted my tone when I saw pain flash through his eyes.

I wanted to slap myself for the pity I felt for him. Adam didn’t even deserve to talk to me right now.

“Kara, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Adam ran a hand through his tousled light brown hair. My teeth gritted, and I waited. I’m not sure for what, but I just waited for him to continue talking.

I didn’t know what to say to myself. I could forgive him, but that’s it.

I wasn’t going to allow myself to let him stay in my life.

Adam had caused me more than enough pain.

“I feel terrible for cheating on you. It was a mistake.” Adam stared into my eyes, except this time I felt nothing.

I felt absolutely nothing.

Did he really expect me to still have feelings for him after everything he’s done? Adam had only proven to be a complete dick.

“Stop.” I closed my eyes briefly as I tried to find a way to explain things nicely. “I get it, Adam, you made a mistake—a stupid one, if you ask me—but things are over now. I’ve moved on.”

My eyes opened to see Adam looking hurt for the briefest of moments, but then his face went blank. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling at this point.

All I knew was that I wanted this conversation to be over as soon as possible.

“You moved on?” Adam scoffed after a moment of silence. I hesitantly nodded back, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Something told me this conversation wasn’t going to end well.

“You’re lying.” Adam shook his head, and some of his hair fell across his forehead. “I thought we had something special.” Rage coursed through my veins at the audacity.

My blood felt like it was on fire. “I’m not the one who cheated. If we had something special, you would’ve kept your mouth to yourself,” I snapped at him. My skin was boiling at this point.

That seemed to shut him up; the look on his shocked face said it all.

“Who?”

“What?” I responded in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

“You can’t move on that fast. Either you’re lying or there’s someone else. Who is it?”

Adam crossed his arms as he stood across from me, resembling an angry parent who had just caught their child sneaking back into the house.

“Me.” An arm swung around my shoulders. I heard the cockiness in his voice and immediately knew who it was.

Adam growled, “Seriously? With this loser?” He glared at me with his bright emerald eyes.

Completely ignoring Jason, I scoffed, “You’re one to talk.” Karina’s face popped into my head.

The disgust I felt toward Adam returned. This was a mistake. I should’ve walked away.

“Like he’s any better.” Adam stared at Jason with pure hatred. I opened my mouth, ready to stand up for myself, but Jason beat me to the punch.

“My mom actually raised me to treat people right. I’m not going to cheat on her,” Jason cut in, his face completely serious. I tried to hold back my smirk, impressed with his façade.

“Whatever. At least Karina let me fuck her.” Adam’s words stung, and I took a step back from the sudden insult.

Did they do more than just kiss? It was a possibility that I’d suspected, but it was different hearing Adam admit it.

Even though we only dated for less than three months, my feelings for him were strong. Adam and I had been friends since we were sophomores, and we met in math class, where he sat behind me.

He would always play with my hair just to get my attention, and it worked. I had a crush on him ever since, and I was torn when we didn’t speak as much our junior year.

You can only imagine how excited I was when I was the one to sit behind him in math class during summer school. We began talking again, and soon enough he asked me to be his girlfriend.

I snapped back into reality when I saw Adam fall to the floor, yelling in pain. Jason stood over him and grabbed him by the collar.

“If you ever fucking talk to her like that again, I will make sure I break your jaw,” Jason growled and shoved him back, causing Adam’s head to thump against the ground.

Jason stood tall and fuming. My jaw dropped to the ground, and I stared at the scene before me, completely baffled.

Everyone in the gym had their eyes turned to Jason and Adam, curious as to what just happened. Adam’s words still stung.

I didn’t want to believe that Adam was as bad as everyone said he was, but recent events had shone light on my point of view.

All the staring was making me anxious. Looking around, I realized the substitute wasn’t aware of what happened, and that eased my nerves. I didn’t want to get in trouble, especially not after yesterday.

Before anyone could say anything, Jason stormed out of the gym.

“What just happened?” Jess was gawking.

“I honestly don’t know,” I replied, watching Jason’s back disappear as the double doors closed. “I’ll be back.”

My curiosity got the best of me, and I ran after him. The doors of the gym creaked loudly, and I burst into the hallway, almost landing on my face.

“Jason,” I called after him. He was a few feet away and turned to face me. Jason’s blue eyes were blazing and pinned me in place.

“What?” Jason snapped. His reaction caught me off guard.

“Oh.” I awkwardly stood there, entranced by his bright eyes. “Uh—are you okay?”

Jason looked lost in thought. Then he tilted his head back and let out a throaty laugh, leaving me puzzled.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” My lips parted. I really liked the sound of his laugh. My pussy clenched as he ran a hand through his thick blond hair.

“Yeah, well, you left,” I mumbled, avoiding eye contact. My curiosity was burning inside me like a wildfire. “Why’d you defend me?” The question slipped out.

Jason stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at the marble floor. “I don’t like him.” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

“Right.” I looked down at his hand and noticed the fresh scars. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand and observed them.

It felt warm in mine. His fingers were so long. I wondered how they’d feel inside of me; I’d already gotten a sneak peek the other day.

“Uh—”

“Shit.” I immediately went cold and dropped his hand. “Sorry, it looks like it hurts.” I tried to play it cool.

Jason tilted his head like a curious puppy and stared at me for a moment. After a moment, he took a step away. “I don’t like the effect you have on me,” he growled before walking away.

My mouth parted, absorbing what had just happened and how everything had gone sour so suddenly.

What the fuck was that? That asshole was not only annoying but moodier than a pregnant woman.

I stood dumbfounded as I watched his figure walk away down the empty corridor.

With a confused mind, I took a moment to compose myself. Back to the bigger problem: how was I going to be able to face Adam after all of that? The tension was going to be monumental.

As I walked back into the gym, our teacher blew his whistle, dismissing class. Thankfully, I didn’t see Adam.

I jogged to the girls’ locker room and quickly changed.

“Is it true?” Layla ran up to me as I walked down the hallway to my next class. Her blue eyes sparkled with life.

Jess was already with her, and I had a feeling she’d already updated Layla. Knowing Jess, she probably made it sound way more dramatic than it really was.

“Is what true?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, partially playing dumb.

The entire situation unraveled so quickly that I hadn’t really had time to even replay everything in my head. I’d been too distracted with trying to make it to my class on time.

“That you moved on with Jason Kade, and that he stood up for you and beat up Adam, and then confessed his undying love for you.”

I almost choked on my own spit.

“What? No! He may have almost fought Adam again, but there is nothing going on between us. Do you understand, Layla? Nothing.”

I grabbed her by her shoulders and gave her a little shake, but I was one hundred percent sure she was too caught up in her own daydream.

An irritated groan slipped out as Layla continued to laugh. Jess’s eyes moved to behind me and then widened. As soon as I heard that annoying high-pitched voice, I knew why.

“I can’t believe Jason left me for you,” Sarah hissed from behind me. I looked up at the ceiling, cursing fate for bringing her my way, before turning around to face the bitch.

“One, I didn’t know you guys broke up, and two, I want absolutely nothing to do with that asshole.” My jaw clenched tightly as I tried to be patient.

Sarah came to me as if it would change anything between them. I had nothing to do with it, and I honestly couldn’t care less.

“How long has it been going on?” Sarah’s dark brown eyes were glued to me.

“When have you seen Jason and me get along?” I asked, crossing my arms. Sarah flipped her short curly hair back and stopped to think for a moment—if that was even possible.

“Never, but—”

“Exactly my point. That pendejo can go bother some other girl,” I snapped at the wild-eyed girl and stomped away toward English class.

I growled to myself when I remembered that I shared that class with Jason. Just when I thought I could get away from him.

The teacher didn’t say anything to me when I walked in late, and I was thankful. Jason was sitting in his spot, with his signature smirk plastered on his face.

As soon as I sat down next to him, he took it as his cue to bother me.

“Why were you late?” Jason seemed amused by my bad mood.

Wasn’t he angry like twenty minutes ago?

I ignored him until I felt something jab the side of my stomach. “Stop!” I hissed quietly.

Jason laughed and continued to poke me. “I swear to God—” He poked me again, and I pinched his arm roughly, causing him to yelp loudly.

I let go as soon as the teacher turned around. He raised an eyebrow at us, and I kept a straight face.

Once our teacher was facing the board again, one of Jason’s friends leaned over his desk and put his head in between us.

“Feisty girls are hot.” The black-haired boy winked when my face went red. They glanced at my face and continued snickering.

“I’m this close to—”

“Lucky me.” Jason grinned at his friend, completely ignoring my threat. I groaned loudly in frustration and faced forward.

“Do that again—it kind of turns me on.” Jason winked and leaned closer to me. His scent surrounded me, and my heart began to race as I inhaled slightly.

I let out a long string of profanities as he laughed his ass off.