True Intention

Ch 14- Taking the wind of change head-on...

Soren POV

It was Saturday, thank God. Since Thursday, I'd slept in Nao's bed. I'm still not sure how I've managed to keep myself in check, beyond reminding myself constantly that overcoming her trauma came first. It was working pretty well, most of the time, but I admit to waking up with morning wood happily, and maybe a bit painfully, nestled against her perfect ass. I was seriously hoping that in the future, I'd get to do more with her. I sighed. I'd never felt this crazily attracted to or interested in a person before.

If you couldn't tell, I'm more than a bit of a loner. I like my friends, they are important to me, but I operate on my own terms. If they decide how I do things is wrong, so be it. Nao is the only one that makes me second guess myself.

For now? I was planning to sleep next to her as long as she allowed it.

My plans were progressing nicely. I'd gotten some really promising responses as a result of my emails. As far as Kenny was concerned, a warning was going to be issued, which was about what I expected. I hadn't taken any action regarding Carla yet, and Lou had called to let me know she'd been released, since at this point, what she'd said was just words. She was given a warning, but none of us thought she'd listen. This was fine for now, but soon the school would be on the lookout for her too. My dad's security people already knew everything, and were keeping a tail on her most of the time. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she was being watched, and that her true nature was not going to stay hidden for long.

I was on a personal mission to expose her.

Robert was about to be blindsided. The DA I'd made contact with, a woman with a mind like a diamond, was ready to pounce, and his school had replied that they were not interested in keeping a student on scholarship that could possibly hurt other students. Since I'd informed them of the situation, they were now liable if he did anything to the girls there. They'd all been cc'd, so the DA knew the school had been notified, just like his parents had. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. The school was smaller and private, but in the same state, which meant it was likely to hit local news. I was kinda hoping it would set Carla off.

The moment she mouthed off in support of a r****t, it wasn't likely that she was going to be able to maintain the social presence she currently had. She'd managed to increase her followers in just a week to 500, and I was determined to bring that s**t to a screeching halt. The school had between 10K and 11K students, so it wasn't a substantial following, but it was more than she deserved.

I was scanning through the school social media, when something caught my attention. I didn't participate in anything social media, not really, but I always watched them just in case I saw something concerning. Most of the time, it just got passed to Lou and his team, but this was potentially about Naomi. A girl had come to her in class and asked if she was the same Naomi that Carla had ranted about in the now viral video of the lunchtime fiasco. For now, it was unflattering for Carla, but if the attention shifted to Naomi, and if people actually figured out they were one and the same, this could get ugly fast. This is why, as flattered as I was that girls thought I was attractive, it was more annoying than anything else.

Always taking s**t into their own hands and causing trouble.

Someone had commented on the video, saying they had asked if the Naomi in their class might be the same person, but that she'd said it was a coincidence. They went on to say that "Art Major Naomi" had stolen the man she wanted, and it was too similar to Carla's claims to be just a coincidence. Of course, the response to this comment was immediate and negative. There was no point in Naomi hiding herself any longer. The moment Carla checked these comments, she was going to hunt Naomi down and do her best to ruin her, all over again.

There was no way I was letting that s**t happen.

I immediately shot off a text warning our friends of the proverbial s**t about to hit the fan. I guess I was going to have to move faster on Carla to prevent her from actually hurting Nao. It was unknown exactly how much the girl was capable of, at this point. I just knew she seemed pretty damn evil. I got an influx of responses from our friends, all fiercely vowing to keep Nao, and me, safe.

Right. I guess I hadn't really thought too much about the fact that I was Carla's target too. In all honesty, thinking about her touching me, even with her nails, still made me feel nauseous.

I went to Naomi's room and knocked, entering when she gave permission. She looked surprised, but grinned, charcoal in hand, aimed at the canvas she was working on. When she saw my serious face, her smile dimmed, but she gestured me further into the room. Anxiety rolled off her in waves.

"Hey, babe." I leaned in and kissed her cheek, something I'd been doing a lot in the last 24 hours. Her shoulders eased slightly. I imagined she thought I was coming to tell her I was ditching her. I didn't know how to make it more plain that wasn't ever happening, but refocused on what I actually needed to say. "You remember that girl that asked if you were the same Naomi as Carla's?" I asked, and she nodded, brows drawing together in a frown. "Well, she commented on the video of our lunchroom encounter that she thought it had to be you, because you stole me from her. Carla will see it for sure. I tried to get the video taken down, but I can't without potentially illegal steps." She tilted her head to the side.

"You want me to stop hiding." She sounded resigned, sighing deeply, setting the charcoal aside and wiping her hands with the baby wipes she kept close for cleaning up art supplies and her hands. She looked down as she robotically removed the charcoal remnants from her skin.

"I don't think there's a point, Nao. Carla may be evil, but she isn't an i***t, either. She's going to come straight after you. Our friends, and I, are ready to back you, babe." I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. She closed her eyes, a single tear seeping out of her right eye. I wiped it away with my thumb, then pulled her in for a hug. Giant sobs wracked her body. After about ten minutes, she pulled away, sniffling.

"I'm sorry, Ren. I've put such a heavy burden on you all." She lamented. I cupped her cheeks and made her look at me.

"Nao, you have never been and will never be a burden. We all want to help you. Let us, okay?" I said ardently, and she nodded. "So, no more of your fake normal clothes, okay? You be you, let your piercings and gorgeous eyes show. Lose the disguise. Okay?" I could feel her reluctance as she nodded. "Don't make me help you get dressed, hmm?" I teased, loving how her face flushed.

Of course, I still slept in her bed all weekend. She'd finally started to talk through her emotions, not just surface s**t. Not just her favorite color or dream vacation, which I fully planned to fulfill, maybe next summer. A trip to Kyoto? Hell yes. I like Japanese stuff too, though I'd say Nao was definitely more of a fan than I was. She got real about her doubts, fears, and how damaged her confidence was. How she knew she was worthwhile, but after so many peers defining her as worthless, it was hard to bring out the person she used to be.

The person she liked.

When Monday rolled around, I wore black and gray camouflage Techwear cargoes, my usual buckled black boots, a gray long-sleeved waffle-knit Henley, and a black military-style vest with a gray skull emblazoned on the back. It also had a hood. I spritzed my cologne and carefully styled my undercut backwards, my face clean-shaven as usual. Blowing out a breath, I went downstairs to greet our friends, battle armor in place. No surprise that Archer and Enzo wore variations of my color combo, in their own unique way.

We heard Naomi enter the kitchen and were curious to see what her armor looked like. Enzo and Archer were in front of me, while she entered the room behind me, and their jaws both dropped. I took a deep breath to prepare myself, but when I laid eyes on her, nothing could have actually prepared me for the sight before me.

She was beyond sexy... like ridiculously hot.

Instead of her hair tossed into a messy bun with a pencil, she wore it long, smooth, and parted down the middle. She set a headband about two inches from her forehead that was black with silver spikes. She'd replaced her bioplast jewelry with steel, other than the diamond stud nose ring. Her makeup was a soft purple smoky eye with black cat's eye liner (Heidi made sure I knew all this s**t, the perks of having female friends), and shimmery nude lips. Her skin was flawless and needed nothing, really. I bet she saved the dark lip color for dates. I licked my suddenly dry lips. Okay. I was going to need to provide solid feedback so I kept observing. Enzo and Archer were still silent.

She wore a short (possibly too short for my comfort, but I was not going to say anything, she looked f*****g hot) gray pleated utility skirt complete with chains and a studded black belt. The skirt sat low on her waist, showing her hip bones, but still only came to mid-thigh. Her jacket was extra short with a high neck that zipped to about her clavicle, but had long sleeves and a bunch of buckles. It matched the skirt in material. Underneath the jacket was a deep plum scoop-necked tank top that was cropped to just above her exposed belly button. She wore several rings I'd not seen yet, including a huge moonstone cabochon on her right pointer finger. She had on chunky black heeled buckled ankle boots with studs, and finished off the look with over-the-knee black socks.

Holy s**t.

Archer shot me a look that asked if I was sure I wanted everyone to see her like that. Of course I did. She was beautiful and sensuous. I held out my hand, and she took it. Today we were leaving early to get coffee on campus. The girls were meeting us there. At the door, we slung on our messenger bags and jumped into action.

"Nao, you look fantastic." I said, lifting her chin and looking into her different colored eyes.

"Yeah, totally floored me!" Enzo chimed in.

"Good thing Ren already claimed you, is all I'm gonna say." Came from Archer. I glared and he smiled. I cleared my throat.

"Alright, let's show them what it means to have real friends, huh?" I said as we marched towards the school.