: Chapter 55

Lana leaned to the side so she could whisper ‘He is going to result to locking you up.’

Stone had started a new approach which was to not speak to me. I did not know if his silence was a part of some sort of plan but if I could take a guess then it was probably because he was so enraged that I showed up at school.

I could feel the classroom walls close around me. All I could feel was his stormy gaze on the back of my neck. It was so heated that it sent shivers down my spine. It was enough to make me sit straight up in my chair.

It had not faltered since I had stepped foot in Mr Dankworth’s classroom. It was pretty obvious that me coming to school had pushed him too far and he was now livid.

As the lesson continued, I finally turn around and faced his thunder-like expression and I asked ‘How did you know that I was planning to come to school?’

His fist that was resting on the desk clenched and unclenched but he did not reply.

‘Yesterday, he seen that you had a bag with all of your school stuff. We did not think you would actually come though.’ Brennan’s attention flickered between him and me and then he spoke again ‘You should be at home.’

I forced myself to turn back around in my seat when I replied ‘Not you as well, Brennan.’

That morning, Lana was not happy when I was up dressed and ready to go to school. However after an hour of arguing she finally caved.

I wanted to press on with things and keep going. I was hopeful but I was also practical and that is why I took the pain medication that Mrs Lewis gave me so the discomfort was easier. It only helped a little.

Nothing more was said. Lana and I chatted between ourselves until the end of the period bell rang. The noise made everyone stand up and hurry out of the room to get to the cafeteria for lunch.

‘Remember everyone that I want you to be revising your notes.’ Mr Dankworth called and then added ‘Ella, can I have a word with you please?’

I walked with Lana to the front of the class and nodded at her in reassurance as she walked out the door.

Stone hesitated at the doorway and I could feel his eyes on me yet I did not meet his gaze.

He left after ten seconds but by the way, his shoulders slumped it was begrudgingly.

‘Is everything okay, Mr Dankworth?’ I asked once everybody had left the room.

The old teacher did not say a word when he walked around his desk and embraced me in a hug. I put my arms around him after the shock of what was happening dulled down.

Mr Dankworth pulled back and smiled then motioned for me to sit down. So I did. I jumped up on the desk at the front of the classroom and sat crossed leg on the wood.

‘Are you feeling any better?’ He asked while concern filed his old features.

I nodded and put on a smile ‘It is getting better.’

‘I tried to come and visit you at the hospital.’ He admitted before explaining ‘I even lied and said that I was your godfather but they told me there were too many people already in your room. There was one person that was not willing to leave his place at your side.’

My smile dropped and I did not have the energy to put it back on my face.

‘That was really nice of you.’ I managed to keep my voice light as I spoke ‘Very special treatment for just your student.’

‘Ella, I have been teaching for fifty years and I can say without a doubt that you are my favourite student of all time.’ He informed with a grin ‘Ever since you first came strolling into my classroom and told me all about your theory that Lewis Carroll was Jack the Ripper because of two anagrams that you found were similar.’

I let out a laugh ‘I do not think you are allowed to say that I am your favourite student.’

He grinned again but then it fell as he looked to have remembered something ‘You and Stone were not arguing about books or anything today. Is everything okay?’

‘We are not together anymore.’ I responded quietly.

‘What!’ Mr Dankworth’s jaw dropped then he gently went on to ask  ‘I can only assume that it was you that called it off. There is no way on earth that he would do such a thing. What happened?’

‘I—’ I began but he cut me off.

‘Is this about Litora Bello?’

Gaping at him, I questioned ‘You know about Litora Bello?’

‘Of course.’ He said while taking a seat at his desk ‘I should really thank that young man. I have won a hundred dollars betting on him.’

‘It was not about that. I just—’ I tried again.

‘Is it because you two are slightly opposites from each other?’ Mr Dankworth was eager to talk before me because his words were rushed out like he could not contain his restlessness ‘You have met my husband before. Him and I are very different. Do not tell him but I resent him a little for favouring movies over books. However I love him and I take him as he is.’

I commented while laughing ‘What a monster.’

He quickly changed back to the topic on hand ‘What is it that holds you back?’

‘It is hard to explain.’ I muttered before I gave him an analogy ‘Think of it as Les Misérables. I am Jean Valjean and Stone is the bread. He is a necessity. He is my lifeline but if I take him then that is only going to lead to trouble. None of the conflicts would have happened in the Victor Hugo book if the main character did not take the bread.’

‘That is one of the most wonderful yet weirdest analogies I have ever heard.’ He laughed before he evaluated ‘So you are trying to say that you are putting yourself through a hard time to avoid having to face it in the future. You are breaking your own heart now to stop yourself from getting your heart broke in the future.’

‘Exactly.’ I sighed ‘You are not in the French Revolution. Nor are you in a book.’ He smiled at me sadly as he spoke ‘The only person dictating your story is you, Ella.’

We fell into silence until I stood up and walked to the door.

I turned back and told him ‘I will not be at school tomorrow. It is my dad’s funeral.’

‘I am very sorry for your loss.’

I nodded once and then swiftly changed the subject ‘I probably will not come in Friday either. It is my birthday and I think Lana and I are going to call in and pretend to be sick.’

Mr Dankworth smiled ‘My present to you is that I will not tell the principal.’

‘Thank you.’ I said as I matched his warm grin before walking to the door.

‘Ella.’ The old man called before I could leave.

Turning back around, I tilted my head ‘Yeah?’

‘I am your kindred spirit but I am not your soulmate.’ He chuckled while referencing my inside joke with Lana ‘Your soulmate is the one who makes you feel at home. Who challenges you and loves you for who you are. The one that will never give up on you.’

Embarrassed about the last thing he said, I rush out the door with an awkward laugh.

I exited the classroom and found Lana leaning against the wall waiting for me.

‘You did not have to wait for me.’ I mentioned while we started to walk along the corridor.

‘It was either me or Stone.’ She stated before letting out a small sound of amusement ‘His words. Not mine.’

I kept quiet as I was not sure how to reply to that.

Lana picked up on my awkwardness and tried to steer the conversation away from him ‘I have got all the decorations for your birthday planned out.’

‘We agreed a Halloween party.’ I scolded her ‘I do not want anything birthday based. No birthday balloons. No birthday banners—’

‘No birthday cake?’ She questioned with a mischievous smile.

‘Of course I want cake!’ I blurted out ‘What kind of question is that?’

She giggled and I joined in with her laughter until we both stopped as we got closer to the lunch hall.

‘I have to ask…’ She said before trailing off.

‘What?’

‘Do you want to be with him?’ Lana asked slowly and tenderly before she then went on to threaten ‘If you do not then I do not care how freaking scary he is, I will tell Stone to go away.’

As much as I would love to see that, I decided to be honest with her ‘I do. I really, really do. I just cannot.’

‘Then you need to understand that I really, really want him to win this bet that you two have because I want you happy.’ She expressed to me ‘He makes you happy.’

I changed the subject ‘Would you really tell him to go away if I asked.’

She stayed quiet the sighed ‘Well…’

‘I do not think he is one to mess with today.’ I mentioned while laughing ‘He has not been in the best mood lately. He has been even more irrationally angry.’

‘Of course he is acting irrationally.’ She replied ‘He can see that you are hurting and you are not letting him be there for you. Also he sees that you are trying to leave him.’

I did not say anything else as we both crossed the cafeteria. The two males were already seated at our normal table. The only abnormal thing was Brennan had taken my seat.

I was both devastated and relieved. I could avoid my skin brushing against his skin but with the giant sitting opposite me then I could not run away from his gaze.

Stone was watching me from his seat. I was trying not to meet his eye but it was pretty much impossible. His irises were like two black holes. They were sucking me in and imprisoning me.

I stole a glance at him before I sat down.

Silence hung in the air between us and the tension could be cut with a knife. I watched as Lana fiddled with her sleeve and Brennan looked between Stone and me.

The large man across the table was still focused on me and the small gleam in his eyes almost looked like longing.

Brennan coughed and decided to fill the quietness ‘I am genuinely scared Stone is going to forget that it is not Ella next to him and he starts trying to touch my leg.’

All of the things I thought I saw in Stone’s expression was now completely gone as he sent a glare Brennan’s way.

A new voice spoke as I felt someone sit down next time. The blonde invader forced my body to move closer to Lana to make room for her.

Surprisingly, Lacey who was obviously there for her own agenda addressed me ‘I am really sorry to hear about your dad.’

I raised an eyebrow at her ‘Thank—’

She did not keep her focus my way for any longer. The blonde girl started to speak across the table. At Stone. It was pretty clear that she had wanted him for a while but I did not think she would move as quickly as she did.

My stomach dropped at the thought of them. I kept my eyes trained on my hands that were resting on my lap. I tried to tune out of the conversation. I really did not want to sit and listen to their conversation and think about the possibility of Stone moving on.

Lana nudged me with her elbow before she leant close and whispered ‘Are you really not going to stop this? She is shamelessly flirting.’

I shrugged, twiddling my thumbs ‘I have no right to be jealous.’

That did not mean that I was not.

Stone was not looking at her though. His undivided attention was on me.

Minutes passed and Stone and I were still in a heated eye lock. During this time, Lacey kept talking but his stare was fixed on me and not once did it move.

Whispering in my ear, Lana asked ‘Do you think she likes him?’

‘I don’t know.’ I tried to sound unbothered but it came out more sad than I intended it to be ‘There is only one way to found out.’

‘How?’

I announced ‘The belly button theory.’

‘Oh no. Not one of your theories.’ She groaned ‘What is it?’

‘The belly button gives away everything. It is the centre of you and it gravities towards the person you like most.’ I explained in a hushed voice ‘It is all about the body language. Your body naturally turns to the person you desire the most. The person you feel most comfortable with in the room.’

After I gave my theory to her, she leant forward so she could look past me. I mirrored her stance and looked down near where the girl who was too busy flirting’s belly button should have been.

Lacey noticed our staring at her stomach and she narrowed her eyes at us ‘What are you two weirdos looking at?’

Both Lana and I sat back in our chairs at the same time and acted like we were not studying her body language.

‘Her belly button was not facing Stone.’ She shared her side of the results of our test.

‘No. It was not.’ I agreed, not adding that what I had found out was that her body faced more towards the other male at the table.

Her body gravitated towards Brennan who had not looked at her once since she sat down.

I tapped my hands in a rhythm and attempted to ignore the unwavering heat derived from the pair of eyes across the table. The irises still did not stray away from mine as the intruder spoke again.

That time I had to listen to what she had to say.

‘Do you have a type?’ Lacey asked while continuing to exercise her finger by twirling it through her golden locks.

A growl was heard and surprisingly it did not come from Stone.

‘Lacey.’ Brennan said, his voice sounding like a warning.

The blonde girl went from flirty to an ice queen as she heard Brennan speak. Her bluish grey eyes froze over like a lake as she sent a glare as cold as glazier to him.

She ignored him and looked back to Stone before she asked her questioned again ‘Do you have a type?’

Stone did not even bother to give her any attention when he spoke one word ‘Ella.’

‘What?’ The girl stumbled over her words, confused.

‘Ella.’ He repeated.

Lana spat out the drink she had just taken and covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

My heartbeat was pounding in my ears.

I ignored everyone else and whispered to Lana ‘I am going to go and get some air.’

She had already started to get up from her chair as she insisted ‘I will come with you.’

‘No.’ I assured her while standing up ‘I will only be a few minutes.’

My body was on autopilot while drifting through the hallway and away from the scene. Everything ached and I did not lie to Lana when I said I needed air.

Stone might not have responded to Lacey’s advances but it was only a matter of time before he did get with someone else.  I could not think about that. Let alone watch it.

I pushed through the double doors of the main entrance of the school and then slumped down on the school steps.

In my peripheral vision, I could see someone sitting down beside me. He watched me taking deep breaths in silence.

‘Want to talk about it?’ The quarterback asked.

Shaking my head, I kept looking ahead in the direction of the parking lot as I muttered ‘Not really.’

‘I am sorry about your dad.’ He uttered softly.

I adjusted myself on the step so I was facing Chase. That is when I got a good look at his face. His very bruised face. My eyes widened at the massive dark mark of a bruise and the small long pieces of tape at the bridge of his nose.

‘You nose looks like a baboon’s bottom.’ I commented before I asked, ‘What happened?’

He chuckled while shaking his head at me ‘Your boyfriend happened.’

‘Stone did this?’

Nodding, he looked almost sheepish when he admitted ‘I kind of deserved it.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked while leaning closer to see the severity of the bruise and making myself a reminder to confront Stone.

‘It was my fault.’ He replied ‘I turned up to your hospital room with flowers. Then I made a couple of comments.’

‘Is your face okay?’ I asked while wincing ‘It really does look bad.’

‘Thanks.’ He responded with sarcasm before explaining ‘He knocked me out. It was a good thing I was at a hospital when it happened. He managed to break my nose into eighteen places in one-go.’

Not knowing what to say, I randomly blurted out ‘What flowers were they?’

He laughed at me before answering ‘Roses.’

‘I love roses.’ I told him because I felt kind of bad for him and his face.

Chase frowned ‘I do not want you to hate me, Ella.’

‘I don’t. I never did.’ I assured him honestly before adding ‘I have to admit that you are not my favourite person in the world.’

His frown contorted to a small smile ‘I am sorry for everything.’

‘I don’t understand what changed.’ I admitted ‘You were once nice to me. We got on really well and then everything changed as soon as we came back to school.’

‘Everyone noticed how he never took his eyes off you as soon he started Leavendale.’ He uttered and it was the most vulnerable I had ever heard his voice ‘I noticed how you looked at him too. It was not as noticeable but I could see it.’

‘So you thought that you would announce to the whole English class that we were sleeping together?’ I asked, ‘Did you want to mark your territory?’

‘I did not want to be the joke of the school, Ella.’ He raised his voice slightly as he spoke ‘Everyone knew that I liked you and you were looking at someone else.’

‘So you think insulting me was the way to go about it?’ I questioned.

‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged ‘I was just mad.’

I tilted my head as I pointed out ‘Before Stone, it was not like we were really together.’

Chase focused on something else in the faraway distance like he could not meet my eye as he uttered ‘You were the only person to care. All of my friends did not. You were the only ever there for me when my mom up and left. Sometimes, I just wanted to push you away because you were the only person that I wanted to be there.’

That all sounded way too familiar. It hit far too close to home.

He spoke again ‘It keeps replaying in my head the thought that if I stayed with you and if I drove you home that night then you would not have got hurt. You would have been okay and I—’

Cutting him off, I shook my head ‘It was not your fault, Chase.’

‘I am sorry.’ He said and his expression was completely apologetic.

‘I am sorry, too.’

‘You are my only true friend, Ella.’ His lip moved up in a small sheepish smile when he mumbled quietly ‘I need your friendship.’

‘I would like to be your friend.’ I replied before I smiled ‘What is it you do with your other friends? Fist-bump?’

Laughing, he made a fist and met me halfway as I bumped mine onto his.

‘If anyone asks you what happened to my face then it was at football practise.’ He laughed as he told me ‘Also I don’t want people knowing I was in the hospital for it.’

‘Says the guy who I had to take to the emergency room because he roundhouse kicked a beer bottle barefooted.’

He looked around after our laughter died out and whatever he had seen behind us made his eyes widened.

I already knew who to expect by the small flick of fear that ran over Chase’s face.

Even from afar, I could feel how tense he was. How murderous his dark eyes were. How clenched his sharp jaw was. How tightly his hands were balled into fists.

His stance screamed dominance and deadliness. I imagined it was what a volcano would look like before destroying a town and everything in its path.

‘Go to him.’ Chase whispered ‘My face is too handsome to be smashed. Again.’

I stood up and walked towards him. I stopped right in front of him and peered upwards while speaking quietly ‘Lurch.’

His eyes softened instantaneously.

Then it looked like he was remembering something. He narrowed his eyes at the person behind me. Any softness in his gaze that was on me was now gone as his shoulders tensed once again. Both his hands formed fists and clenched at his side.

‘You love roses. Are you fucking kidding me?’ He bellowed at me, hinting that he had heard the whole conversation.

I said nothing.

He kept his voice void of any emotion and that was even more scarier than him exploding ‘You can return the gesture by taking him roses to his grave when I put him ten foot under the fucking ground.’

‘It was a joke.’ I defended.

‘Do you see me laughing?’

Forgetting that I was meant to be pulling myself away from his embrace, I reached out and put my hands over his clenched ones. After a second or two, they relaxed and he intertwined his fingers with mine.

I did not look up at him while I sauntered around his huge form.

Walking down the corridor and leading him away from Chase for the sake of the quarterback’s safety, I did not let go of his hand. It was only when I could feel him tense that I let go and swivelled around to face him.

‘Say what you want to say to me because I can feel the anger radiate from you.’ I challenged because if he hated me then he would let me go ‘Stop treating me like I am going to break.’

He made his way over my way to me in long threatening steps until I was backed up against the locker.

His hands rest on either side of my head, leaving me entrapped. His obsidian eyes were dark with fury. It was like looking into a dark sky as a storm took place. His nostrils flared as his rage simmered on. Once he had taken a deep breath then his preying unfaltering gaze set on me again.

‘You punched Chase.’ I stated instead of asking ‘You broke his nose and fractured the bone into seventeen different places.’

‘Eighteen.’ He corrected without an ounce of guilt.

‘Why?’ I challenged.

‘You are mine. I will rip apart limb by limb anyone that thinks differently.’ His tone came out hard and husky.

It was filled with undisguised and murderous jealousy.

My heart was a traitor. It clenched at the pain in his voice and the sight of tension in his stance. My body too betrayed me as the way it was reacting to him now was out with any of my control.

‘Here is a reason we can not be together.’ I poked his chest as I stated the obvious ‘You are a possessive caveman.’

‘You, mine. I, yours.’ He spoke like he was actually a caveman while his lips pressed together in a scowl.

I bit back my minuscule amount of amusement and instead glared at him.

‘I want to hit you with one of those prehistoric stick things with the spikes.’ I ranted ‘The caveman club thing that I do not know the name of. I want to bash your stupid face in.’

He leaned closer so his nose brushed against my cheek until he moved to my ear and huskily replied ‘Then why are you blushing like crazy and you are biting your lip right now.’

Gulping, I continued to try and slow down my breathing but nothing seemed to be working.

His possessiveness and dominance should not have affected me in such a way. Not when I was meant to be trying my best to push him away.

Finally, I managed a reply ‘You are pressed up against me. It is cheating. I can not think properly.’

His head moved back so he could study my face. His expression could only be described as desperate as his gaze roamed every freckle and every detail of my face. Almost as if he had not seen me in years.

‘Medusa.’ His deep voice was barely a whisper ‘I belong to you. Just like you belong to me. Why are you fighting that?’

I shook my head in reply to argue against what he was saying. The thought behind my action was that if I shook hard enough the butterflies would stop fluttering around in my stomach.

‘You are forgetting something.’

‘What?’ I asked, peering up at him.

‘I am an Ella-expert.’ He reached out like he needed to touch me as he affirmed ‘I know when you are lying and you are right now. If I really thought you wanted space or for us to end for a while then I would give that to you.’

‘Would you?’ I said because I was not convinced he would.

‘I would wait any amount of time for you.’ Stone rasped out ‘If that what was I thought you truly wanted then I would. No matter if staying away from you would kill me in the process.’

I did not deny what he was saying because I could not.

Instead, I tried to move the conversation on in hopes that he would not notice ‘I asked you for space yesterday and it was hardly five hours before you showed up again. How is that space?’

‘I have tried doing things your way but you do not play fair, Ella.’ His voice grew deeper as he continued ‘You are walking around like everything is fine. Like you are fine when I know better. You show up at school like nothing has happened. You avoid me. Then I find you opening up to him.’

‘Chase and I were just talking.’

‘You can not expect me to sit back and watch that.’ He spoke in his gravelly tone ‘I can not do that and I will not do that.’

I stood on my toes and I tilted my head upwards so that he knew that I was serious. I wanted to appear tall and strong yet I was lucky if my rant hit his chin due to the height difference.

‘I can talk to whoever I want whenever I want and there is nothing you can do about it.’ I argued.

‘Do not push me. You know that I go fucking crazy at the thought of you with another guy.’ He growled in warning.

‘This is ridiculous!’

He scowled and I scowled right back. That is when adoration made its way onto his expression. His face was a perfect balance of anger and affection as he stared down at me.

‘Can I speak to Brennan without you going all Bruce Banner on me?’ I remarked sarcastically while crossing my arms ‘Or am I banned from speaking to every male?’

‘Every last fucking one of them.’

I did not know if wanted to kick, kill or kiss him.

Infuriatingly, it was mostly the latter option but there were still urges to do the other two swirling around in me.

Poking his chest again, I muttered ‘You are irremediable.’

Stone let out a deep sigh of content as he continued to watch me silently. It was only for a moment but it felt like much longer.

Then I manoeuvred myself out of his ensnare so I could scurry away.

Marching down the hall and away from him did not work because he was already hot on my heels. He did not do anything except walk behind me silently. I had a feeling that as his prey, he was playing with his food before he pounced I was proved right when I reached our table in the cafeteria because before I could make it to my seat, he wrapped his arm around my waist and picked me up.

He sat down in his seat and set me on his lap while ignoring my glare that I was sending his way.

‘Let me go!’ I tried to escape from his lap but it was no use.

The giant was far too strong.

‘You are mine.’ He grumbled with a clenched jaw ‘You are not going anywhere.’

I turned my head so I could give him my best-annoyed face before facing the table again.

‘You are really starting to sound like those seagulls from Finding Nemo.’ I pointed out.

‘Do not look at me like that, bro.’ Brennan said from next to us ‘I never know what she is talking about.’

I huffed as I looked around the lunch hall to find not a single person looking at us. Some people took a small glance but never a second. Everybody was acting like it was a normal occurrence.

‘Under Californian law, a conviction for keeping someone hostage can result in up to eight years in prison.’ I informed him.

His arms did not loosen around me. If anything then his hold grew stronger as he moved me so that my back was leaning against his chest.

His voice, his scent and his warmth were messing with my senses. It took everything in my being not to relax into him.

From the other side of the table, Lana was grinning our way. I interpreted her expression as You want him and he is going to win this wager. Stop fighting it ‘Do not look at me like that.’ I told her while crossing my arms ‘My belly button is not facing him.’

Stone leaned closer until I could feel warmth tickling my neck as he spoke ‘I think you being here on my lap contradicts your theory.’

I tilted my head upwards until I could see his smug face as I questioned ‘How do you know about the belly button theory?’

‘Your blog.’

I narrowed my eyes ‘That it is. I am going to kill you. I do not care how good you can fight, I will destroy you’

Brennan chuckled ‘You two are something else.’

Attempting to get up and getting nowhere, I finally resulted to asking Brennan ‘Help me.’

‘No way.’ Brennan held up his hands and took a glance at Stone ‘What even brought on this kidnapping?’

‘I did nothing.’ I replied.

‘You were speaking to Chase.’ Stone gritted out.

With a frustrated moan, I argued ‘I can speak to whoever I want. Again there is nothing you can do about it.’

‘Oh no.’ Brennan exaggerated a shocked face as he asked ‘Little Ella, do you want to be responsible for the end of the male race?’

‘No. I just want to end Stone.’

Stone pulled me tighter towards him until his warmth surrounded my body like a blanket. He buried his head into the crook of my neck, nuzzling himself into my skin and breathing me in.

For a few seconds, I let him stay there because I wanted to revel in the moment. It was like nothing had changed. We playfully bickered and then I ended up in his arms.

I tried to pull away as I voiced ‘We are not meant to be—’

A deep humourless chuckle cut me off.

‘Do not pretend that we have not been together since the second we met and do not pretend we are not together now.’ Stone said tyrannically.

His hand instantly moved up my back to just under my ribs. Chills travelled through my body until they covered every inch of me.

I looked back at him until my gaze ran down his attractive face to his lips.

‘Reason.’ He quietly grumbled, ‘Give me a reason why I should not kiss you right now.’

I still did not want to elaborate on the core reason so I lamely replied with the first thing that came to mind ‘The height difference.’

‘What about it?’

‘I am only going to admit this once. I am not five foot two. I am five foot exactly.’ I told him before going on a rant ‘You are closer to seven foot. My head barely reaches your chest. You are still way larger than me now when I am sitting on your lap.’

His mouth moved up in a small amused smirk.

‘Do you not think that looks ridiculous?’ I asked before I elaborated ‘You are way too big.’

He put a hand under my chin so I had to look over my shoulder at him.

‘I would not change anything about you.’ He told me, his deep voice strong ‘Not one single thing.’

With a final once-over of his features, I faced the other way and did my best to run away. It was another failed attempt.

The pattern was that I pulled away and he pulled me back twice as hard.

It was draining me. I was fighting so hard for something that was the exact opposite of what I truly want.