Perfect Enemies

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9 OceanofPDF.com I KANE was so pissed at myself for what happened at the party that I hardly spoke to anyone the whole next week. I wasted my entire weekend in a video game, which helped me temporarily forget my Friday night, but there was no avoiding Val once I was back at school. The best I could do was keep to myself while I tried to sort out my s**t. Between being the new guy and acting like a surly motherfucker, it wasn’t hard to isolate myself. I needed the time to think and get my head in order. I never imagined I’d meet a girl at Xavier who would erode my control the way Valentina had. It wasn’t unusual for girls to bat their eyelashes in my direction and smother me with attention, but not Val. Her concern for her friend came before any attraction she might have felt for me. That made her more than a pretty face. She was multifaceted when everyone around her was two-dimensional. I wanted to peel back those layers and see what was beneath, so much so that I couldn’t get her out of my damn head. Kissing her had only made the compulsion worse. Now, her sultry taste and the feel of her hands clutching me close haunted me day and night. My lack of control grated on me worse than nails on a chalkboard. I couldn’t just beat the s**t out of the person annoying me because that person was me. No matter how hard I tried to repress my urges, my eyes were drawn to the curvy brunette each day at school. My lungs ached to breathe in her floral scent. My ears strained to hear the commanding way she ruled those around her. I was practically obsessed with the girl, and I hated myself for it. I’d never been so f*****g conflicted in my life. By Friday, I was so on edge that I snapped when some douche with braces checked my shoulder in the hallway. Looking back, I realized the contact had probably been accidental, but at the moment, it was the perfect outlet for my frustrations. Before I’d even thought about what I was doing, I had the kid up against the lockers pissing himself. “All right, big guy. Better let the little s**t go, or you’ll end up in Principal Ruiz’s office.” Bryson clapped his hand on my back goodnaturedly as if I hadn’t just acted like a lunatic. I glanced around at the circle of students surrounding us, then stepped back. My traumatized victim scurried off, disbursing the onlookers. “Thanks, man. I guess I lost my cool,” I murmured to Bryson. “No sweat. It happens to all of us. You just gotta survive one more class till the weekend.” He gave me a conciliatory chin lift, then merged into the stream of students flowing down the hall. One more class. If only it were that easy. It would be yet another hour of torture sitting next to the source of my torment. When I entered class, she was already seated, eyes directed straight ahead as though she were alone in the room. I slumped down in my chair, expecting her to continue ignoring me as she had most of the week in response to the icy blast of air I’d interjected between us. To my extreme annoyance, Barnard instructed us to get with a partner. The class immediately began to pair off with their usual partners. Val and I surveyed the nonexistent options before looking back at one another. Her lips thinned. “Let’s hope you’re feeling more civilized after throwing your tantrum in the hallway. At least I know I’m not the only one being subjected to your temperamental mood swings.” Her voice carried over to me like the scent of Eve’s apple tempting Adam. There was hurt buried in the bitterness, and I yearned to soothe the pain I’d caused. I hated that I couldn’t even give her an explanation. “It’s complicated,” I murmured sullenly. She snorted on a choked laugh, drawing my narrowed gaze. “That’s what they all say. You don’t have to explain anything. I got the picture loud and clear.” It was that spark in her—the innate fight that stiffened her spine—that drove me wild. She stood up for herself and those around her, calling a spade a spade without apology. Her ferocity called to an elemental part of me that wanted to coerce the lioness to show me her soft underside. To convince her to walk beside me rather than battle against me. It was madness. A sickness in my bloodstream that I was powerless against. I clamped my hand on the corner of her desk and started to pull her in close to me, but she slammed her feet down on the floor and glowered at me, keeping herself rooted to the spot. My lips peeled back to reveal a wicked grin before I slid my own desk next to hers. Her eyes widened a fraction as she craned her neck to maintain eye contact. I slowly leaned in, my lips settling close to her ear. “No matter what you think you know, I can promise that you don’t.” A whispered confession, or the closest I could get to one. When I pulled away, confusion lined her pretty face. I slid over her iPad and began to read the class exercise, determined to ignore just how reckless I was near Val. It wasn’t the first time in my life I’d struggled with impulse control, but I’d thought I’d remedied that little problem. Where Val was concerned, I was just as self-destructive as I’d been as a kid.

10 OceanofPDF.com K VALENTINA ane began to read aloud from our assignment, but I hardly heard a word he said. Between the ravenous intensity of his glare and the fervor of his snarled defense, I had to wonder if I’d been wrong. Had I misinterpreted his behavior toward me? What else could possibly explain the bipolar nature of his actions—flirty and alluring one minute, then cold and withdrawn the next? Something kept him from opening up and getting close to me. What secret was bad enough to justify pushing people away in order to keep that secret safe? What all did I even know about Kane? He’d come from Texas and had a little brother. He was intelligent and had a strange fondness for political history yet no real interest in excelling at school. He had a knee injury that kept him from playing sports, and he rode a sleek black motorcycle to and from school. It wasn’t the most comprehensive breakdown, but it wasn’t entirely devoid of detail. There was still plenty missing. I wanted to fill in every c***k and crevice. More than ever before, I wanted to know what made Kane Easton who he was. My shift in attitude transformed my anger into curiosity. I forced myself to focus on what Kane was reading, listening intently to the gravelly hum of his voice. Although he had pulled our desks together, our bodies never made contact—accidental or otherwise. We discussed each question from the reading like any two students without a mountain of awkward baggage between them.