"You make no sense!" I retorted, reaching for my bag, when he caught me by my hand.
"Don't!" He said, pulling me all the way in as I bumped into him.
"Ouch." I said, feeling the growing soreness in my hand.
"There are people looking for me, I can't go out, and neither can you!" He confessed. I looked at him wide eyed.
"What?"
"Man, I have to repeat it all?" He groaned, looking me in the eye.
"Do you realise that you literally sound like a psychotic criminal?" I raised my brow at him, and he chuckled.
"I am not asking for your judgment. Just stay here till the coast is clear!" He said, and I couldn't help but worry that he was too deep in some shit.
"Really? And what makes you think that no one will find you? This is a goddamn community shower, not your father's penthouse!" I said, jerking my hand away from him.
"That's my problem to deal with, you do as you're told!"
"I am not taking orders from a runaway idiot!" I said, walking to the door when I felt the stringent pain in my back as he pins me to the wooden door. My cheek pressed cold against it as he holds me afixed to the uncomfortable position.
"Let go of me, Gus! Don't pull me in your shit!" I whined and I could feel his warmth behind my ear. Did I mention this guy needs a shower?
"I don't want to hurt you. You're just making it annoyingly hard for me to get things done!" He whispered in my ear.
"Touché. You are literally hurting me!" I said, feeling the jolting pain in my hand, and I felt his grip turning softer.
I turned around as he gives me the space to breathe, and face him. He might be an outlaw, and God knows what potential he has for damage. I had to make calculated moves.
"If I agree to what you say, you won't hurt me?" I murmured.
"No." He said.
Everything seemed stupid. Trusting him, and his replies when I didn't even know him at all! A kiss literally means nothing. Not when it's done wrong.
"Why are you running away?" I asked.
"I can't tell you." His hands laid on either side of me as I stood frozen between the door and him. Between the world, and Gus, I was a weakly elected armour. The thought itself felt fishy.
"Okay. What happens if you get caught?" I fumbled with the corner of my shirt, pulling at it nervously.
"I get a suspension before the semester starts." He said, with an undying guilt in his voice.
"Fine. I will co-operate!" I said, and he moved to a side, setting me free. I walked to the other end of the room, and sat with my legs crossed on the dry, tile floor.
To my surprise, Gus walked to my side, and sat right beside me. Leaning against the wall, he let out a sigh, and I couldn't help but wonder what did he do to get expelled, if caught? I hope he didn't kill someone, or something.
"Marley." He murmured.
"I won't ask how you know my name. I am convinced you are a stalker!" I chuckled.
Chances were that he had picked my name from my conversation with Jake. I never thought he would remember it. But he remembers.
"I won't deny. But I am a good one." He said, and I tilted my head to see him smile.
"Doesn't work if you say that yourself, honey!"
"Come on! Give me something, I am your first kiss!" He waved his hands dramatically.
From a relatively rude jerk to a friendly banter partner...How did we get here? I pinched myself hard, just in case I was under the effect of antidepressants.
"You are the rudest, most inappropriate, and cocky first kiss ever!" I whined when he turned to face me.
"I have my reasons." He said, his expressions turning dark. His eyes a shade of distant black, and his raven perm all too wild. His lipring shined unaffected, too good to have been there for all weathers - good, or bad.
"Uhm. Sure." I said, trying to hide the fact that he had been nothing close to polite that day, even with his reasons. Why can't I just tell people off on their face? Why this sudden need to not hurt others? Perhaps I was tired of being alone all the time. Not that Chesterville had left me any more sociable, but I wished things to be a little different. I desperately wanted a world where I wasn't a weird presence, where my sorrows weren't a burden for all, and maybe I would find what I want to do with myself.
"Hey, I am sorry." I heard it in an almost whisper.
"What?" I gawked at him.
"I am sorry for not being...a gentleman." His eyes turned soft, looking straight into mine and I felt conscious of myself.
"Nevermind. It was a spur of the moment. None of us wanted it!" I said, biting my buccal vestibule. Only if it was the truth! I sighed.
"Umm. Yeah. Right." He shifted awkwardly in his side.
"Hey..." Gus whispered a second later, breaking the awkward silence.
"What?" I concentrated on the showerhead on the other side. I was supposed to get back and arrange my things and here I was...Stuck with a boy I hardly knew.
"You still up for being friends?" He asked. Am I? No. We can never be friends.
"No." I said. He was a ticket for trouble, and by now, I had figured that the best way to stay around him was to stay as far as possible. And then, why would someone like him want a friend like me?
"Oh. I understand." He lowered his head, spreading his legs out, and strangely I didn't found it embarassing to stare at his naked front.
"You are staring. Like what you see?" He pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Don't flatter yourself!" I chuckled. So what if he has a body that screams 'I hit the gym everyday', I had other things to praise and patronize.
"If you say so." He grinned.
"Gus..." I mumbled, moving closer to him as I crawl on my knees.
"Hmm." He whispered, and his Adam's apple quaked as I inched closer.
"You should consider taking a shower. You're really smelly." I said, breaking into fits of laughter as I sat on my haunches.
"Really?"
"Really." I affirmed.
He didn't react. Instead, he leaned in. Moving closer and closer till his arm gets a grip on mine, and he pulled me right into him. I came crashing down on him, as he sprawled on the floor, and I laid on top of him. Raising his torso, so my lips were a few centimetres away from his bare neck. His free arm moved over my head, and next I could hear the water trickle down from the showerhead on the top.
"What the fuck!" I screamed as water poured down on us, and I laid pressed against him.
My clothes sticked to my body, and I absolutely hated the feel of it. Before I could think straight, Gus rolled me over, pinning me on the floor as his arms help him maintain his equilibrium.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Considering your opinion." He stood up. I tried to sit straight as the water came down on me with force.
"I am gonna kill you!" I said, when his hand pulled me all the way up.
Gus dripped wet. His lipring resonated a ripple each time the water bead hit it. His hands went around my back, holding me in place as his eyes burned into mine. I placed my hand on his bare shoulder, leaning against the wall as the water washes me over and over again.
"Marley..." He whispered, and I could feel his lips brushing against my cheek. The familiar warmth coursed through me and my arms coiled around him and his lips pressed against my neck.
"Gus." I moaned his name, too overwhelmed with his arms moving up and down my back.
I felt needy for air and when I inhaled all I could smell was his scent. This has to stop!
"So soft." He said, moving his fingers underneath my shirt.
"Gus. Don't." I said, feeling his bulging front pressed to my navel.
Bang. Bang.
"Open the damn door!" My attention shifted to the screams. Fuck. No. No. No!
"Shit." Gus gritted his teeth. Letting go of me, he turned down the shower and I quivered. Partly from being wet, and partly from the fact that we will be greeted by half of the dormitory, too tired to wake up on Sundays and slightly offended from not getting to shower on time.
"What are we going to do!" I nearly fainted when Gus held onto me.
"Don't freak out. Just follow my lead. Okay?" He said and I gulped.
"Okay."
His hands moved to my shirt, and he started unbuttoning it.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop right there!" I said, and he furrowed his brows.
"You want to get dragged into a suspension? I hope not. So trust me on this one!" He unbuttoned three of them, right before they gave away my bra. Trust him? Okay. How?
"You don't have to do anything. Stay silent. I will take the lead." He said, dragging me by my hand to the door. He fumbled with his shorts, sliding them down so they swayed with his hips.
"Unbolt the door." He said and I looked at him wide eyed.
"What?"
"Just do it!" He said irritated. I couldn't move.
"Fine! I will do it myself!" He unbolted the door, and a crowd of nearly ten girls hoarded outside.
"Sorry, girls. Didn't want to keep you waiting. But it was hard getting quick." He winked.
"What the-" I was midway into calling him out on his shit when his lips pressed into mine. His fingers dug into my bare back from the hem of my shirt, and pulled me close to his body.
"Until next time, darling!" He said, when he was done kissing me. A second later, he was out in the hallway, and then no where to be seen while everyone looked at me shocked.
What the fuck just happened?
"You. Hooked up with Augustus Rush?" One of the girls squeaked, looking at me wide eyed, and if I couldn't follow up with the crowd, everyone had their jaw dropping to the floor.
"Wait. No. Uh. What?" I couldn't form a sentence.
"You're a queen!" Someone from the crowd cheered.
"Huh?" A queen for hooking up with a guy? What rubbish!
"Who the hell hooked with Gus?" I heard a voice, muffled with anger walking through the crowd as everyone made way for her. I rubbed my eyes again to see who it was...
"Stacy?"
I saw her eyes bloodred, her fists drawn into balls by her side.
"Why did you hookup with that jerk?" She yelled.
Uh. Oh. Well, if I told her truth, would she even believe?
"I. Umm. He's. Hot?" I was literally clueless. Where's common sense when I need it the most!
"You are out of the HOE Code!" She yelled and I could see Sherry in a distance, looking devastated. Oh boy. Did I really blow up my chances on having a 'bitches for life' friendship? My heart sank at the thought.
"I-ah-ah-achooo." I sneezed...And in that moment I knew I fucked up bad.