We're Almost There

15. I Highly Doubt You Have Somewhere Better To Be.

Fifteen

Tristan

Did he seriously show her how he died? What was wrong with him? Was he going soft?

Tristan chuckled to himself at that last part, his dirty mind taking over.

"Something funny, Mr. James?" The history teacher Mr. Vanderbout asked, eyebrow raised high.

Tristan cleared his throat. "No sir. Please continue."

Mr. Vanderbout furrowed his bushy grey eyebrows then continued his lecture on the Civil War. Tristan was there mostly because he found it funny he was in history class learning about something that happened when he was alive.

But he forgot Evan was in this class. His ex-friend sat in the second row, staring at the desk. Tristan hadn't talked to him or Mike ever since they came out and things... escalated.

Tristan would never admit it, but he was kind of lonely. It wasn't just Evan and Mike, but Alex hated him too. What would happen if he apologized?

Bad things. Satan wouldn't stand for it. Not in a million years would the devil himself forgive Tristan (or anyone, for that matter) for breaking his rules.

He didn't realize he'd zoned out until the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. He stood and walked out of the class before anyone else.

Tristan rounded a corner and stopped when he saw Erin and Kenzie talking over something in the hall. Kenzie looked kind of happy, he noticed she was blushing.

Erin laughed and said something else before turning away and hurrying down the hall.

All of a sudden, Tristan felt someone tap his shoulder. He spun around to see Gracie Herrington, a fake smile plastered on a makeup-caked face. She smelled overwhelmingly of cigarets and roses.

"Hey, Tristan. How're you?" Gracie licked her lips, looked at his mouth, then back to his eyes, all while stroking his arm and stopping at his bicep.

He rolled his eyes. That was the oldest trick in the book. "Fine," he growled. "Yourself?"

She giggled, sounding like a drunk on laughing gas. "I'm great. And actually, I would be even greater if you came to the party Ace and I are throwing tonight at my house. You may of heard the whole school talking about it. What do you say?"

Tristan shrugged. "Alright."

Gracie squeezed his arm. "Super! Just, don't bring any other girls with you. We wouldn't want... too many people there."

Real subtle, he thought. But he just nodded and flashed a smile. Gracie grinned back, shiny white teeth appearing blinding in the fluorescent lighting, then sauntered away, high heels click-clacking on the tile floor.

Kenzie, Tristan remembered. He turned back around and was glad to see the girl still standing there alone, reading some poster.

He jogged up to her and put his arm around her shoulders, causing her too immediately tense. Tristan squeezed her tight. "Afternoon, McKenzie," he mumbled into her ear.

Kenzie shivered. "W-what do y-you want?"

Tristan looked over his shoulder, the halls were mostly clear. He smiled, and disappeared with Kenzie in a cloud of black dust.

In seconds, they were downtown, in the front of an alley beside a jewelry store. Tristan snapped his fingers and the two of them were instantly invisible to everyone around them. They couldn't be seen or heard.

Kenzie, obviously having realized what was going on, tried making a run for it, but Tristan just appeared back in front of her. "What's the hurry? I mean, I highly doubt you have somewhere better to be." He whispered with s hint of laughter. Tristan worked a little magic to make himself seem less threatening.

As soon as Kenzie seemed to calm, Tristan swiftly pushed her against the wall, trapping her with his arms on both her sides. He looked at her for almost a minute, neither of them saying anything. If you looked at her the right way, Kenzie was actually pretty. But so not his type. She wasn't big enough in the chest or ass. Tristan had a split second hearing of Erin's voice in his head scolding him for being sexist, causing him to chuckle.

"L-let me g-go, Tristan," Kenzie stuttered. "You k-know th-that this is r-really, low. Even... even for y-you."

"Someone's acting tough," he mused.

Kenzie made a small whimpering noise and closed her eyes tight. She was shaking viciously.

Tristan cocked his head to the side. "Wait a minute..." he paused, realizing what was going through Kenzie's head. "You thought I was going to rape you? What the fuck? I'm an asshole, not a pervert."

Kenzie opened her eyes. "Then... w-what are you doing."

Tristan laughed. "Something worse." He leaned in close to her, so their noses were touching, lips a centimetre apart. He opened his mouth and red steam escaped, causing Kenzie to involuntarily breathe it in. Tristan rolled his shoulders and let his aura drop.

Kenzie screamed, but he didn't worry, because no one could hear. Her brown eyes rolled back in her head and Tristan stepped back as her unconscious body collapsed on the pavement. He whispered a few words, magic that would make her visible once she woke up.

Tristan walked away and smiled to himself. I've still got it, he thought.

**********

Later, just before eight, Tristan slid on his leather jacket over a shirt with the name of some band called Metallica. He grabbed a six pack of beer from the fridge and went out to the parking lot, climbing into his car.

It didn't take very long to get to Gracie's place. Tristan was in awe when he saw it, the girl lived in a freaking mansion.

He got out of the car and jogged up to the door, not bothering to knock and just let himself in. There were already a ton of people there; eating, drinking, making out, ect. Tristan set the beer on a table and pulled one out for himself.

He started roaming around and talking to people with familiar faces. When he saw a girl that reminded him of his sister Amy, Tristan had to leave the kitchen. He found himself back near the front room where Gracie and Ace were socializing. Gracie's eyes lit up when she saw him. "Tristan, you made it!"

He sat beside her and took a swig of his beer, then snatched her cigarette from her fingers. Tristan took a drag of it and pretended he didn't need to cough. Why were these dreadful things ever invented?

Gracie seemed to blush but he couldn't tell because of the dim lighting.

Tristan started to reply but cut himself off when he saw the door open out of the corner of his eye. He was confused to see her standing there.

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Two things:
I'm sorry about the long wait but I'm doing a lot of stuff at school right now considering it's almost the end of the year and all that.
I've been working on a new story for when We're Almost There is over, called Roommates At War (more information soon!).

I would also like to tell you that some of the chapters coming up will be quite short (probably) but I should be quicker in updating.

Please vote, comment, and share this story with a snotty rich girl!
~Paige