The Seven Devils (YA "New Adult" Romance) (5 page)

Chapter 5

I had to force myself out of bed the next morning. My mom and Austin were both gone by the time I came down for breakfast. I found a note in the kitchen from Mom that said she was at work already and that Austin had gone to school early to talk to the football coach about joining the team. I certainly didn’t mind having a few minutes to myself, and I thought back to the events of the night before. I knew Neil would want to talk to me, and I still didn’t know if I could trust him. He told me to stay away from Derrick and it turned out he was right. Does that mean I really could trust him and that the crap people were saying about him was all false?

I couldn’t decide if I would tell Neil about what happened with Derrick. I was getting the feeling that they were basically sworn enemies. I didn’t want Neil to be angry, and I certainly didn’t want him to confront Derrick about it. I didn’t want either of them to know how scared I had been. Yet, I felt as if not telling Neil was somehow the same as lying to him. 

I was just walking out the door when a car pulled into the driveway. Neil stuck his head out of the driver’s side window and called, “Want a lift to school?”

“Sure!” I answered and walked around the car and sat down in the seat beside him. “I assumed you didn’t have a car since you were walking yesterday,” I said as he backed out of the driveway.

“It’s only a few blocks to school, so I try to walk when I can. I don’t know if this old bucket of rust would last me until I graduate if I drive it every day,” he said with a grin. The car really was in poor shape. The upholstery in the back seat was ripped to shreds as if someone had locked a few angry dogs back there. There was also a crack zigzagging down one side of the windshield.

“Can I ask what exactly happened to your car?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too rude.

Neil’s face was unreadable as he replied. “Well, it wasn’t much to look at when I first got it, and then one day a group of our illustrious classmates decided to have a little fun with it.”

My jaw dropped. “Kids from school did this??”

Neil nodded. “I’m not exactly well-liked.” He sounded calm as he explained it, but I saw his knuckles turn white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. Little warning bells sounded an alarm in my brain. Because of my father, I was always on the lookout for the early warning signs of anger.

“So what made you decide to drive today?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s supposed to rain pretty heavily later. Plus I wanted a little privacy. I have a kind of strange question to ask you and would prefer not to be overheard,” Neil said.

“Oh,” I said, intrigued. “What is it?”

“It’s about last night,” Neil said. “After I left I got this horrible feeling that something had happened to you; that something was upsetting you. I almost turned back to go check on you but then I realized how strange it would seem to go running back to your house just because I had some weird feeling. But I can’t help but ask… did something happen?”

He parked the car in a spot at the very edge of the school lot and turned to face me. My mind was racing and I still wasn’t sure what to say. I looked out the window beside me and wondered why the people at school seemed to dislike Neil so much, and what it was that Derrick told my brother, and why exactly Derrick wanted me to keep away from Neil so badly. Painfully aware of how weird it must seem that I hadn’t answered yet, I was tempted to lie and say nothing had happened, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.

“Something did happen,” I started, “but it wasn’t anything too bad. Derrick just told me again that I should stay away from you.”

Neil studied my face and said, “Ellen, I know you don’t know me very well yet, but I want you to be able to trust me. If he hurt you or threatened you in any way, I want to know.”

I tried to swallow my guilt as I looked down at my hands and replied, “No, nothing like that happened. He just said I shouldn’t be around you. That’s all.”

“Okay,” Neil said quietly and stepped out of the car. I took a deep breath and gathered my backpack and water bottle from the floor of the car. When Neil opened the car for me from the outside, I thanked him, and felt like things between us had changed somehow. I shouldn’t have lied to him, I thought to myself. Inside I burned with shame.

***

School was a little difficult to deal with that morning. People were openly staring at me and I constantly heard the words “Neil” and “new girl” when walking past groups in the hallway between classes. I realized that Erin from band was in my English class and said hi to her as I took my seat. The teacher had not come in yet, so Erin came over to chat with me.

Leaning down close as if she were about to tell me a secret, she said, “So did he rape you yet?”

Her words hit me like a smack to the face. “Did he… what? Neil? Why would he… What do you mean?” I stammered.

Erin gave a Cheshire cat grin. “You still haven’t been told about him? Well, band is last period of the day… stay after for a few minutes and Melanie and I will fill you in,” she said and walked back to her seat, not waiting for a reply.

I didn’t hear a word the teacher said all class period. Erin had some nerve not even waiting for a response; as if she were so sure I’d want to stay after class that she didn’t even have to ask. It made me not want to go. And yet… what was it that everyone was saying about him? What gave Neil such a bad name? Why did Derrick call him a freak and manipulative? Why was Melanie convinced he was dangerous? Then there was the fact that Neil would probably be giving me a ride home. What would my excuse be to him about why I’d be running late? And was I ready to lie to him again? I already regretted not telling him the whole truth that morning. I just didn’t know what to do.

***

Neil was waiting for me at my locker at the start of our lunch period. “Hey, everything going alright so far today?” he asked.

“Other than this huge stack of homework,” I said, putting my books into my locker, “everything is pretty good.”

He smiled and said, “Come on, I’ll buy you a cookie to cheer you up.”

We walked down to the cafeteria together, hand in hand, almost oblivious of the students who stared and pointed. Almost oblivious. My heart began to pound faster as I realized Derrick would be in the cafeteria. Neil’s thumb rubbed my hand softly and I tried to hide my fear as we walked through the cafeteria doors.

The room became silent as soon as we entered it. Or was that just my imagination? I looked to my left and saw Lexie and her faction of Vogue cover girl wannabes all staring at us. Lexie’s eyes narrowed and I felt her studying me from head to toe; eyes resting finally on my hand, still holding fast to Neil’s. My throat became suddenly dry and my breathing became shallow and quick as she smiled wickedly. She said something I couldn’t hear over the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears and everyone at the tables around her burst into laughter.

Neil’s hand left mine and I felt his arm wrap around my waist. His arm tried to guide me away, but I was stuck to my spot. I couldn’t move. Everything had gone into slow motion and I thought for a moment that I had gone mad. Everything seemed to swim before me until suddenly my eyes focused on Derrick. He became the only thing I could see. Derrick. Walking towards me. I felt a bead of cold sweat run down my spine and I swayed on my feet. Neil held me tight and I think he might have been speaking to me, but I couldn’t understand him.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of Derrick as he grew nearer. He looked so angry. Those bright blue eyes seemed so hard and cold. What would he say? What would he do? My mind flashed back to the night before. Stay away from Neil, I knew that’s what he wanted of me. What did he mean by “or I’ll keep you away?” What was he going to do? What would he do to me? Where was Neil? I caught a whiff of whiskey and felt fingers closing around my throat. I gasped for breath but none came. I had to get out of there. I couldn’t breathe. I turned and broke free from whatever was holding me and went to run when everything went black and I began to fall.

***

I woke up gasping for air on a couch that felt like it was just a pile of wood covered in cheap fabric. My head was pounding and I had no idea where I was. Suddenly I noticed a short, nervous-looking man standing across the room who introduced himself as Mr. Gregor, the guidance counselor. “We don’t have a school nurse, but Miss Horner from Science looked you over and said it was just a slight case of heat exhaustion. I keep telling them they need to install central air but no one listens. There’s supposed to be a huge storm later this afternoon and we’ll be forced to shut our windows. We’ll just have to see how many more people pass out before they’ll give me some A.C.!” He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief and looked around anxiously. “So, uh, are you feeling okay? Do I need to do something?”

“Where’s Neil?” I asked.

Mr. Gregor looked taken aback. “Neil Reynolds? You don’t want to be hanging around with the likes of him,” he said, shaking his head furiously like a bulldog. “I could call your brother down if you’d like.”

“No,” I said, making a face. “And why shouldn’t I spend time with Neil?”

Mr. Gregor’s nervous shifting intensified and he rubbed his hands together compulsively and shifted his weight from one foot to the other and then back again. “Well I have nothing on paper. On paper he’s the model student. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s even smarter than I am. But… one just hears things. You’d do best to stay away from him,” he said.

“What things? What do you hear?” I asked, not bothering to hide my exasperation.

Mr. Gregor wiped his hands on his pants and said, “Welp, you seem fine. Off to class you go! If you hurry, you’ll only be a few minutes late.” He opened the door of his office and waited expectantly for me to get up and leave. I stared into his eyes for a few moments, wanting to demand he tell me what he knew about Neil’s reputation, but in the end I gave up and walked out. I heard him sigh in relief as he closed the door behind me.

Neil was waiting for me in the hallway, pacing back and forth. As soon as he saw me he ran up and wrapped me in his arms. I rested my head against his chest and felt immediately better. “The people here are useless,” Neil said. “If you think you might need to see a doctor, let me know and we’ll leave right now.”

“I feel okay; just kind of dizzy and odd,” I said, rubbing my temples.

Neil nodded. “I managed to catch you before you hit the floor, thank God… but I was so worried. Are you sure you’re okay? What happened?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I was so lightheaded. Maybe it’s the heat like they said.”

I thought back to all Mr. Gregor said and studied Neil’s face. “Everyone tells me to stay away from you, even the guidance counselor, but no one will say why. Erin said she and Melanie will tell me after band today if I stayed after a few minutes.”

Neil’s jaw clenched and he looked away. After a moment and said, “I think you should stay after and hear what they have to say. I don’t want to keep you from what they think about me. I want you to know and decide from there whether you keep seeing me or not.” He ran his fingers down my arms. “I’ll wait for you in my car after school. If you don’t come, I’ll know. I’ll understand.”

Mr. Gregor’s door opened and he saw the two of us standing there. “Get to class you two before I give you both detentions!” he barked at us.

I nodded quickly to Neil and then ran down the hall towards my Geometry classroom.

***

Walking down to the band room at the end of the day, I didn’t know how to feel. I was both nervous and a little excited to hear what Erin and Melanie had to say about Neil. I wanted the mystery to be over, but not if it meant I wouldn’t be comfortable seeing Neil anymore. As far as I could tell, he was one of the only people in the school I could actually relate to; the only one I had any desire to spend time with.

“Ellen!” Melanie cried when I sat down beside her. “Are you alright? Is it true that you fainted at lunch?” I said that I had, but that I felt fine now.

I glanced past her to see what Erin was up to. Erin saw me looking and gave me a gloating look that just screamed “I know something you don’t know” and she then pretended to be too busy polishing her trombone to speak to me. Melanie rolled her eyes and we both grinned and unpacked our instruments.