Part Seven

We turned onto Samantha’s street and I parked the truck in front of her house. I looked at it and I just knew she wasn’t there. She was showing me that she wouldn’t just jump when I told her to jump.

“Why are you leaving?” Mac asked me as I started the truck again.

“She’s not here, she’s showing me she’ll do what she wants,” I said and took off in the direction of our school.

We came across her five minutes later and I parked the truck right next to her and her eyes widened slightly when she saw us. Jett was hanging out of the window and she kept walking so I let the truck roll forward.

“Hey Sam,” Jett said. “Where are you going?”

“What do you want?” she asked him.

“Didn’t Griff tell you we were picking you up?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said.

“Ah, showing him who’s boss, I get it,” he said with a laugh.

“Get in the truck, Samantha,” I said through the open window.

“So you can order me around some more?” she asked and I parked the truck.

“Get her in the truck, Jett,” I said.

“No problem,” he said and jumped out.

Samantha shrieked as Jett threw her over his shoulder and opened the front door. Mac got out and climbed into the back as Jett deposited her on the seat and grabbed the safety belt and clicked it in place, shutting the door before she could blink.

“Right, let’s go to school,” I said and started driving again.

“Can you at least park on the other side?” she asked.

“Why? Are you ashamed of knowing us?” Mac asked her.

“No,” she said but she looked down.

“Are you worried about Rosco?” I asked her as her head snapped up and her eyes found mine.

“Yes… no… I just don’t want any trouble, my life’s complicated enough as it is,” she said softly.

“Rosco, what a preppy asshole. Rosco should be the least of your worries,” Jett said.

“What? Why?” she asked him.

“Because right now everybody’s looking at you and you’ll be climbing out of Griffin Wood’s truck and that in itself is going to spark rumors like crazy. Just hold your head up high and let us take care of the rest,” Jett said with a grin.

“What are you doing?” she asked Jett as he pulled a beanie over her head.

“Making you part of the Jags, your own personalized beanie, your now officially Jag property,” he said proudly.

“Uhm,” she said as she looked at me.

“People will now know that you’re with us,” I said and she nodded as I opened my door.

Samantha grabbed her backpack and slid it over one shoulder as she climbed out and I grabbed her hand and started walking to the school entrance. Travis Morrison and his cronies were standing near the steps, his arm slung over Beth’s shoulder.

“Hey Beth,” Jett said with a wink as I pulled the front doors open.

“Hey Jett,” she said and looked down as Travis stiffened next to her.

“Looking good, damn girl, when did you get so hot?” Jett asked her.

“Keep walking, Jett,” Travis said, clearly irritated.

“Call me,” Jett said and winked at Beth again as she giggled and then we were inside the building.

Jett whistled as he walked past us and nodded at a few people as he made his way over to his locker. He’d gained the first point for us in pissing Travis off by flirting with his girlfriend and I knew it was just a matter of time before Travis retaliated.

I waited until Samantha got her books and she walked with me to my locker to get my books. She looked nervous and the beanie suited her, actually too much, and I shook my head to clear those thoughts away.

“Cafeteria, our table,” I said to her.

“Is that an order?” she asked me.

“Yes, don’t make me come looking for you,” I said as we walked towards her home room.

“Fine,” she said and walked inside.

I nodded at Mac who moved to the seat behind her and then walked to my own class, slipping inside just before the bell rang. I leaned back in the chair, only responding when my name was called and found Travis in the hallway when I walked to my next class.

“What’s your boy’s sudden interest in Beth?” he asked me.

“Why are you talking to me?” I asked him.

“Come on, Griff,” he said, looking irritated.

“Griffin,” I said to him. “You don’t get to call me Griff.”

“Whatever man, tell Jett to watch his back,” he said.

“Is that a threat? From you? You should stick to football Morrison, comedy’s not your thing,” I said to him.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are…” he began talking.

“Piss off Morrison, we’re not one of your underlings, you don’t scare us, maybe you should watch your back and tell your buddy Rosco to do the same,” I said and walked past him.

“Rosco…” he said looking confused.

I kept walking because my anger was surfacing again and I really didn’t want to get suspended the second week of school. I saw Rosco up ahead with his back to me, sucking face with his new girlfriend, Tiffany. She was a real bitch and they actually suited each other.

At lunch time we sat at our table when Samantha and Jennifer walked inside and she froze just inside the doors and looked at us. We kept staring at each other for a few seconds and it seemed like she was going to make a run for it.

“Samantha! Soul sister!” Jett yelled as he stood on the table and then jumped off and walked towards her.

“Trust Jett to get everyone’s attention,” Mac muttered.

Jett threw an arm each over Samantha and Jennifer’s shoulders as he led them back to our table, a stupid grin on his face as everyone watched them. Jennifer’s cheeks reddened slightly at the attention and I saw Travis looking in shock as Samantha sat down across from me.

“We already got you lunch,” I said as Samantha looked at the two trays.

“Thanks,” she said and took the beanie off.

“Hmm, we might have to get her a jacket,” Jett said as she stuffed the beanie inside.

“You might need to cool it, Morrison’s already pissed about your antics from this morning,” I said to him.

“Really? Me saying ‘hey’ already got him worked up?” Jett asked and laughed.

“This is going to be fun,” Mac said.

“What is?” Samantha asked him.

“Jett’s going to go to phase B now,” he said.

“What’s phase B?” Jennifer asked.

“Now he’s going to make sure he pisses Morrison off,” I said and Jett laughed.

“Stop, the compliments, you guys,” he said, trying to look shy.

Jett was on a mission now and he wouldn’t stop until Travis either lunged at him or tried to kill him. It was actually kind of perfect, it would deflect the attention away from Rosco, I was stupid to have even mentioned his name to Travis that morning.

“Were you guys in trouble for staying at Sam’s house this weekend?” Jennifer asked.

“No, our parents knew where we were,” Mac said.

“You have cool parents,” Jennifer said.

“Yeah,” I said and looked towards Travis’s table as Jett winked at Beth and she blushed.

The rest of lunch was spent with the two groups glaring at each other and Sam feeling uncomfortable with Jett’s flirtatious behavior. He did it with everyone he considered a friend and Sam was part of that circle now.

Samantha didn’t look at me as I walked her back to her class after lunch but she didn’t run away from me either, I guess it was a start. I sighed as she kept walking without looking back and entered her class. As I turned around Travis and Rosco stood there and pushed me against the wall.

“Seems like even your self-proclaimed little girlfriend dislikes you,” Rosco said with a grin.

“You’d think so wouldn’t you, at least she’s not a slut like yours,” I said to him.

“Screw you, Woods,” he said threateningly.

“Aren’t you like number thirty on her list?” I asked him.

He was raising his arm to deliver a punch when Jett came out of nowhere and tackled Rosco and Travis to the floor. I was next to Jett in an instant as he looked down at them.

“Watch my back right, Morrison, take your own advice and stay out of our way,” he said.

“Samantha’s not as innocent as you think,” Rosco said loudly before my fist made contact with his face.

“She’s the one girl you’ll never have,” I said to him in between punches.

“I’ve already had her,” Rosco hissed and even Travis’s head snapped towards his.

“Stay away from Sam, before you really get hurt,” I said as I pushed him away.

I turned to get my backpack and Samantha stood in the doorway with tears in her eyes. I walked past her not saying anything and walked to my next class. I wasn’t mad at her but the anger kept flashing through me and I knew I was capable of killing Rosco.

He’d said he’d already had her, she’d talked about force and that only led my mind to one thing. I also knew it hadn’t happened at one of Travis’s parties, because he was shocked at Rosco’s revelation. I didn’t want to think about it.

I was quiet as we drove home that afternoon and Samantha didn’t say anything either as I stopped in the street and she climbed out. The moment she closed the door I took off again and I saw her standing there watching us leave.

“Uhm,” Jett said as Mac silenced him with a glance.

I parked the truck in my usual spot and didn’t even wait for them to follow me inside. I went upstairs and slammed my bedroom door behind me with force. For the very first time in my life I could feel Kane’s raging turmoil. It scared the shit out of me, his anger was intense and his blood lust even more so.

‘Can we talk?’ I read Samantha’s text and sighed.