Let It Be

Chapter 28

A week later, it still hadn't happened. From what Sam had told me about accepting him, something was supposed to happen, things were supposed to change when I accepted him. I didn't understand why things were staying the same; it obviously meant that I hadn't officially accepted him, but I didn't understand why it hadn't worked.

As I was waiting outside my English class contemplating this, Tristan popped up suddenly and plucked my notebook out of my unsuspecting hands.

"Hey!" I called angrily.

He just turned his back to me, using his height and athletic ability to keep me at bay and flipped through the notebook, looking at the papers I had stored in the pockets. He quickly found what he wanted. My sketches were right in the front. They were ones I had done recently, ones that didn't have the pain of my past in the images. A weeping willow, Mason in his cowboy costume, and to Tristan's delight, Sam.

Tristan pulled them out, and I tried to grab them back. It was a hopeless cause, it just fueled him. "Drawing in our spare time, are we?" he taunted.

"Give them back."

"They're quite good, especially this one of Durand," he gushed mockingly.

"Tristan, I'm going to be late to class. Give me back my stuff."

He smiled deviously at me, holding the notebook and sketches behind him. "Buy it back with a kiss."

"No!" I exclaimed in shock. If that's how he was going to play it, he could keep it. I didn't care that all my class work and sketches and school ID were suddenly in his hands. It just wasn't worth it.

"Come on, one kiss."

No way.

But before I could get away, Tristan backed me up to the wall. The corners of the books in my backpack pressed painfully into my spine. My blood heated and my eyes went wide with fear as I tried to push him away. He grabbed the back of my neck, and despite my weak fighting, he kissed me.

And kissed me.

I froze.

It was instinct, to freeze. But as it happened, memories flooded back. When he domineered me, when he overcame me and did something I didn't want, I knew better than to fight back. So when Tristan stood over me, his tongue shoved down my throat, I did nothing but freeze.

And cry.

I didn't just cry, I wept. When my chest shook with my sobs and I tried to gasp for air, Tristan pulled back and looked at me.

I don't know if he realized that there was more to my crying than just fright of Tristan himself, but he just looked at me as if I were insane. "Tristan, stop," I begged through my tears.

People had stopped in the hallway to watch what was going on. What was the weird new girl who hung out with Sam Durand crying about in the middle of passing period? Why in the world was she sobbing because Tristan kissed her?

Before Tristan could respond with more than an amused smirk, running his hand suggestively through my hair like he usually did, he was snatched back from me suddenly. It took me a few confused moments to figure out what was happening.

Sam had ripped Tristan off of me, and had punched him. Hard.

Blood was pouring from Tristan's nose as he stared at Sam in rage and surprise, then lunged at him. They started fighting right in the middle of the hallway. Students all rallied around, watching and cheering them on, and I just stood there, still frozen. I squeezed my eyes closed tight and put my hands to my head. No...