“She’s just… I don’t know John” I heard Clayton say. I didn’t open my eyes, listening to the conversation. I knew it was about me. What other ‘she’ is there?

“Don’t get attached, Clay” John warned, sounding sincere for once “She’s the enemy. They warned us about the pull girls’ have. Don’t let her get to you”

“John, there’s something different about her” Clayton tried to reason with her “She’s… innocent. She has no intention of harming either of us. She’s just now

coming out of her shell!”

“Clayton….”

“I know, I know. She’s going back to the Girl’s Side anyways. I just… I’m going to miss her”

“Please tell me you’re not turning into a Neuterus”

I frowned slightly, wondering what a Neuterus was.

“I’m not John! I’m just saying…”

“Bullshit you’re just saying”

“Look, I don’t like girls. I just like this girl”

“Like I said, don’t get attached. You’re only going to be with her for a couple more days, Clay”

He sighed, fingers running across my cheek “I know. You know its going to be super hard to get back on our side once we’re there right?”

“That’s why we’re taking the Nerd’s Lightplane”

“Still…”

“No. The Nerd’s going to tell the Queen- Bitch of us. Otherwise our plane is going to get shot down when we go across”

“He could still do that…” Clayton’s voice cracked slightly. He covered it up with a cough.

“He wouldn’t. This is his only Lightplane until next year, Clay. The Nerd wouldn’t risk it getting damaged”

“Then why is he letting us use it?”

“He has to. Our society paid for it. We’d just go break it if he didn’t”

“Right”

It was silent then. I debated whether or not to pretend to awake. I decided against it. I could tell it was still nighttime.

“Sometimes I forget how little you know” John said, breaking the silence.

“Shut up…”

“You should’ve finished school”

“Shut up”

“It got a lot better towards the end”

“John, shut up!”

John stopped talking. I could almost imagine his reaction. He probably just shrugged, focusing on something else. Clayton sighed, brushing the hair from my

face.

I loved the feel of his fingers on my skin. It felt so nice for someone to show affection towards me.

“I’m going to crash, John” Clayton said after a while. “Make sure everything’s turned off before you fall asleep”

I felt Clayton’s presence move. A warm body pressed itself against my back. John made a noise, which I assumed Clayton ignored.

I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.

The corners of my lips tilted up slightly as I rolled into him. I ducked my head under his chin, loving the feel of his skin against mine.

The silence engulfed me, sending me into my thoughts. I looked back, remembering what my life was like before that horrible prank.

“Ellie, come here” Jim laughed, opening his arms. With a sigh, I stumbled into them, hiding my face in his chest.

“I can’t believe I just fell on my ass in front of everyone” I could feel my face reddening from my failed attempt at ice skating.

Jim slowly moved down the ice, pulling me with him. I didn’t dare move so as not to trip and fall… again.

“That was the funniest thing I’ve seen from you in a while” Jim said, still laughing.

“Shut up asshole!” I said, slapping his arm playfully. “You’re so mean to me!”

“Its because I love you” He teased back “Come on, move your legs”

“I don’t want to fall again!” I whined, really wishing we could leave. I had promised Jim I would hang out with him and do whatever he wanted to. But I never thought that he’d want to ice skate. I never realized he was into that kind of thing.

“I’ll help you” He promised.

I bit my lip, debating.

“Trust me”

“Fine” I sighed, having a horrible feeling we were both going to end up on our asses. Jim stopped moving, circling behind me. He placed his hands on my hips, moving his feet slightly.

“Move your feet like you would if you were roller skating”

“Oh yes, because you know I can definitely roller skate” I muttered sarcastically.

He chuckled before making us move a little faster. “Bend your knees a little. That’s good, just relax Ellie, you’re as stiff as a stick”

“I’m sorry! I don’t want to fall again!”

“Its fine. You’re going to be sore tomorrow if you don’t relax though.” He warned “Good, now move your feet out slightly then in. Like an hour glass shape”

I focused on doing what he told me to, noticing how we had picked up speed. “Jim can you slow down a little?”

“You’re the one controlling the speed”

“I want to go slower!”

“Do you want to fall?” He asked. I shook my head no “Then you have to keep going. Trust me, you’ll fall less if you’re moving faster”

I took a deep breath before trying to follow his instructions. Slowly, I felt us pick up speed. Jim’s hands remained on my hips.

“That’s right!” He whispered in my ear. “Now move you feet off the ground instead of bring them back in”

I bit my lip, stumbling a bit. I let out a squeal as my body lurched forward. Jim pulled me back by my hip to him, steadying me.

“Careful now, Ellie” He laughed.

“Shut up, Jim” I laughed back. I regained my control as we moved. Soon enough, I was getting the hang of it. If I would jerk at all, Jim would be there to steady me out. Thankfully though, I was beginning to jerk less and less.

“Alright, Ells, I’m going to back away and let you go on your own, ok?” He said

“No!”

“How about I’ll just hold your hand?”

“…Fine!” I whispered, trying to focus. Jim’s hands left my hip for a moment. I tried to focus on not falling as his hand grabbed mine. I tightened my grip on it, making sure I didn’t fall.

“Hey love birds!” Mason, Jim’s friend, called out to us. We’d come with a group of people, all who could skate.

I was the only one who couldn’t.

“Mason shut up!” Jim called.

“Jim and Ellie sittin’ in a tree” Mason sang. Clark soon came over with his girlfriend and joined in “K-I-S-S-I-N-G”

“Ah!” I screamed as my feet slid out from under me. My butt landed on the hard ice for the second time today, Jim falling with me. I hissed as I landed, the others laughing at us.

Jim fell on top of me, rolling us over so that I was half on top of him. “Damn, Ellie, that hurt”

“Sorry” I laughed, feeling a blush to my face

“Its fine” He smiled back.

Back in reality, I felt myself roughly shaken from my thoughts. My eyes widened, mouth opened to release a shrill scream when a hand clamped over my

mouth. Slowly I made out a face in the darkness that surrounded us.

John put a finger to his lips, hesitantly pulling his hand away from my mouth. I nodded slightly, saying I understood. He grabbed the collar of my shirt,

shoving me up away from Clayton.

I stumbled up, following as he pulled me away from Clayton.

My heart beat sped as we got farther and farther away from him. I tripped and stumbled in the darkness, which caused John to yank on my collar harder. I

was sure he was going to cause the shirt to tear.

Suddenly, John stopped, causing me to run into him. He let go of my collar, letting me fall back onto the ground. I landed in something soft, assuming it was mud.

“Stand up, girl” John growled

Hesitantly, I stumbled up, just barely making him out in the moonlight.

“What are you doing to Clayton?” He hissed, pushing me back. I fell back, managing to remain standing. He shoved me again. “When I’m not around, what

are you doing to him?”

“I—I—”

“Answer me, girl!” He hissed, shoving me again. I felt my back hit something hard, a tree. John put a hand against either side of my head, getting in close.

His eyes sent daggers into me, chills running up and down my spine. My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour, pure fear running through my veins.

“I—he—he wanted a kiss” I whispered, barely audible.

John somehow managed to hear my whisper. “You...he let you kiss him?!”

I nodded, keeping my head as far away from him as I could in the little room we had. That was a very difficult task to do.

“Kiss me.” John growled “Now”

“Wh—what?!”

“You heard me”

“Why?”

“I want to know why he’s obsessed with you. Kiss me now” John growled.

“I don-­”

John grabbed the back of my head, taking in a fistful of hair. I gasped in pain, my face clearly showing it. He pulled my face to his, roughly pressing his lips

against mine.

For as rough as he seemed, his lips were incredibly soft. I felt my eyes close as I moved my lips with his slowly. John’s death grip on my hair slackened

slightly, enough for the severe pain to fade away. I nipped at his lip.

Surprisingly, for a guy who hates girls, he was an amazing kisser. He ignored me, taking the dominance. I slid my hands around his neck, fingers playing

with the hair at the nape of his neck. I let out a slight moan as he deepened the kiss.

His free hand slid up my leg, resting dangerously close to my panties. He pulled my leg, forcing my body closer to him. He tucked his hand under my knee,

our bodies against each other.

I pulled away, kissing down his neck. John let out a groan as I nicked at his neck, hands sliding down his chest. I hooked my fingers on the edge of his

pants, pulling on them slightly. Slowly, I kissed back up his neck, teasing him at the corner of his mouth.

“Fucking bitch” He muttered, his hands sliding to my ass. I giggled, pressing my lips back on his. John squeezed my ass before pulling away.

His eyes widened in shock, body rigid. I opened my eyes, frozen in fear.

I opened my mouth slightly to speak, but no words came out. I looked at John, he looked at me. The silence surrounded us, neither of us moving.

Suddenly, I became aware of John’s hands still gripped on my ass. My fingers were still hooked around the edge of his jeans, pulling them out just slightly.

At the same time, John and I pulled away. I pressed my back against the tree as he took a step away, breathing in deeply.

We exchanged a look.

“Don’t tell Clayton” He whispered.

I shook my head “Never”