Page 88 of An Unexpected Turn
Jake:Or lost it again like I did at your uncle’s house.
A smile tugged at my lips. I guessed there were two possessive fools in this relationship.
Everything would be over Sunday night—or at least, the secret would be. Jake was wrong, but so was I. The constant pressure of the past months had finally come to a breaking point. I knew Jake would never lay a finger on Lena, but jealousy and frustration had gotten the best of me. We’d come too far for silly insecurities to derail us. We were in love, and that was a certainty no matter who did or didn’t know. After all this time being angry about keeping what we had to ourselves, in the end, we were the only ones who mattered.
I’d never loved anyone else like I loved Jake, and it was time to take my aunt’s advice and revel in the joy rather than fear the reaction or judgment of others—including Uncle Keith.
I left my office for a quick walk outside, hoping it would clear my head enough before I called Jake back. As I pushed the back door open to head out, I stilled at loud shouting behind me. Sure enough, I spotted three students at the end of the hallway, two boys getting louder as they got in each other’s faces.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I jogged over. I found Selena, her face crumpled as if she were about to sob, standing next to an open locker as the boys continued to argue.
“Nothing,” the boy facing me sneered. I recognized him from the sophomore class but didn’t know his name. “If Aaron wants to talk to this weirdo, it’s his own business.”
My heart sank when I met Aaron’s gaze, his face red as if he were ready to kill.
This would be his second fight this semester, and the principal wouldn’t go as easy on him this time. Even if it appeared to be provoked, nothing I could do would lessen his punishment if it came to blows.
“Guys, stop it,” I said, getting between them and holding out my arms to keep them separated. I took a quick glance around us, wondering where the hell security or the cafeteria monitors were, and huffing out a frustrated breath when I found no one. “Go back inside the cafeteria and cool off.”
I gave them both what I hoped was a glare of warning before I turned to walk away.
“What is he going to do? Tell his mommy the teacher on me?” The boy’s voice dropped to a baby’s whine. “I guess trash stays with trash.”
Aaron lost it and dove for him before I could jump in and pull them apart again. I was so concerned with holding Aaron back from throwing a punch that I didn’t notice the one heading for him. The boy’s fist missed Aaron’s face as it slammed across my cheek. I jerked back from the blow, and in what seemed like slow motion, my head hit the open locker door before I tumbled over.
I registered a whispered “Shit” behind me and Selena yelling for help. I lay there for a few long moments, the wind knocked out of me as I landed on my other cheek. I pushed off the floor, relieved when my arms and legs were able to move, but as I began to roll up to stand, blood dripped off the tip of my nose and onto the floor. Sudden and searing pain across my forehead made me stumble back as the side of my head that took the punch started to throb.
“Peyton, are you all right?” Deirdre crouched on the floor next to me, her voice shrill with panic as she gently took my face in her hands and lifted it up. I winced at the movement, the rest of my head pounding along with my cheek.
“Can you stand?”
“I could, but my head is killing me, and the room is spinning a little.”
“Why were you the only one in the middle?”
“I was the only one around.” I touched my dripping forehead, jerking back from the sting when my fingertip grazed against the cut. I felt around for my phone to check the damage in the camera lens. I was sure I looked as beaten up as I felt.
She met my eyes, studying my face as I squinted at Erin and Cam behind her. “One of the students burst into the faculty room to get us, saying you were hurt. I think someone may have called 9-1-1 for you already because I hear sirens.”
“What? No, I don’t need an ambulance.” I went to sit up and fell right back down. A hand behind me lifted me up by my biceps as a towel was pressed to my forehead.
“You can’t drive, and this will get you there faster. Plus, you’ll need this documented for the fuck-ton of incident paperwork later,” she whispered and squeezed my shoulder, her sad smile almost making me laugh.
“Peyton! Are you all right?”
I held in a groan when I recognized Ron’s voice.
“Good thing this is my day. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
I hissed at the agony from just trying to shake my head. The paramedics swarmed around me, asking my name and the date and anything else I guessed they used to gauge a head injury. Even in miserable discomfort, I sensed Ron as underfoot as usual, but had no energy to swat him away. I wanted to tell Deirdre to call Jake, but I was strapped onto a stretcher and taken out of the school before I could say anything.
I was worried about Aaron and Selena and that I wouldn’t be here when they handed out punishments, but my head spun too much to focus on anything except keeping the dripping blood out of my eyes.
“Don’t you worry, Peyton. I will personally stay with you the whole time once I get there,” Ron said as he headed for his cruiser.
“Ms. Miller, we’re going to lift you in,” one of the paramedics said. “How’s the headache?”
A sad laugh fell from my lips.
