“I thought you didn’t do dances.”
Noah held me close enough to see those chocolate-brown eyes. “I don’t. And, this afternoon, I had no intention of coming here.” He swallowed. “This dance seemed so damn important to you. And you … you’re important to me.” He stopped swaying from side to side and looked away from me. My heart beat so loudly he had to hear it, if not feel it through my chest.
“Echo, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen because I don’t know. I don’t hold hands in the hallway or sit at anyone else’s lunch table. But I swear … on my brothers that you’ll never be a joke to me and you’ll be much more than a girl in the backseat of my car.”
The proximity of his body to mine made voicing the thousands of emotions raging inside of me impossible. My fingers drifted from his neck to his head. I clutched his hair and guided his head to mine. I couldn’t tell him, but I could show him.
“Get away from my girl, Hutchins.”
In lion-fast movements, Noah maneuvered us into the hallway and placed me behind him. He stood between me and Luke. “She’s not yours.”
Luke’s face reddened and he fisted his hands. Stephen, Chad and a few other guys stumbled out of the locker room. Their laughter faded the moment they noticed Luke, Noah and then me. Crap.
My now-ex stared straight at me. “Come here, Echo.”
“We should talk. In the gym. ” And get the heck out of here. Back where lots and lots of teachers hovered to prevent scenes like this. I inched toward the gym, but neither Noah nor Luke moved.
Stephen stepped beside Luke. “It’s not cool to be up on another man’s girl.”
Hello? Did anyone hear me? Recap—I needed to talk to Luke and we were all going to go into the gym so we could be monitored by adults. I wrapped my fingers around Noah’s hand and tugged gently. “Noah.”
He squeezed back before pulling away. “Why don’t you go on in? I’ll be there in a few.”
“Um, no. Not without everyone else.”
Luke took a drunken step toward Noah. “Yeah, go, Echo.”
This was not happening. Luke didn’t stop his advance. In fact, he picked up speed and slammed into Noah. The two of them crashed into the wall. “No!”
Luke punched Noah in the jaw. Blood trickled from Noah’s lip as he drove his fist into Luke’s stomach and pushed him away.
“Come on, man,” Noah said, wiping the blood from his lip. “You don’t want to do this.”
“I warned you to stay away from her,” Luke yelled as he rammed into Noah again.
Prepared this time, Noah punched Luke in the gut and pushed him to the ground.
“Stay down, Manning,” he hissed.
Luke staggered up, staring at Noah. I raced toward them. This had to stop. Only I was a little too late. Luke launched himself at Noah at the same exact moment I stepped between them. Cement hit my stomach. I lost the ability to breathe, followed by massive amounts of pain.
“Echo!” multiple voices yelled from various parts of the hallway.
My stomach hurt way too much to move, open my eyes or speak. Oh, God. Absolutely no air entered my body. I forced my mouth open and fought to suck in oxygen. Nope, nothing. One more time … yes. Not much, just a little, but it was air … regardless of how much it hurt. The cold floor touched one of my cheeks and my hair touched the other. Crap. It had taken me an hour to get all of my hair in that clip. Dear Lord, I think I broke something, like my liver.
“Jesus … Jesus, I hurt her,” Luke mumbled from close by.
“Get away from her, asshole,” Noah barked. Warm fingers touched my face, brushing back my hair. He lowered his voice. “Echo? Are you okay?”
Those warm fingers left my face and then covered my hand. I focused all of my energy on exerting pressure onto Noah’s. He applied pressure back. “I’ve got you. I promise.”
“What’s going on out here?”
I moaned, not from the pain, but due to the person who entered the hallway—Mrs. Collins. “Echo? Echo!” Heels clicked rapidly toward me. Another hand, colder and delicate, touched my face. I forced my eyes open and blinked the double vision away.
“Are you okay?”
No. “Yes.” Against the scream of every muscle in my body, I picked my head off the floor. Noah placed his hands on my back and helped me sit up, hovering centimeters behind me.
Mrs. Collins’s kind eyes softened. “What happened?” She checked out the hallway, taking stock of the situation. Funny thing, Luke’s friends had disappeared. “Noah, you’re bleeding.”
Noah wiped his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re Luke, correct?”
Luke sat at my feet, eyes wide. “Yes.”
Mrs. Collins sighed heavily, shaking her head. “I’m not going to like this at all, am I?”
“Nope,” answered Noah.
“I tripped,” I said.
Mrs. Collins’s lips tightened into a thin line. “And Noah’s mouth?”
“Me, too.”
She stared at Luke. “And the nice bruise forming on your jaw is from?”
Luke absently rubbed his jaw, but he kept his eyes locked on me. “I got into a fight earlier tonight.”
“But not here, right?”
“No, not here.”
Mrs. Collins closed her eyes and sighed again. The three of us held our breath, waiting on her verdict. Finally, she reopened them. “Luke, why don’t you return to the dance? I’d like to speak with Echo and Noah.”
Luke continued to stare, as if he physically couldn’t take his eyes off of me. My dazed mind began to function. He wasn’t staring at my face, but my arms. The glove on my right arm no longer protected my scars from the outside world. It hung limply around my fingertips. Before my eyes, though, it suddenly slipped back up my arm. Noah mumbled several words directed at Luke as he placed an arm over the glove he straightened.
“Echo,” Luke said. I forced myself to look at him. “I’ll be waiting.” His eyes flicked back to my arms, the disgust clear. Somehow, he walked into the gym without stumbling.
Mrs. Collins sat on the floor beside me, kicking off her heels. “Guess I’ll need to dry clean this dress. I hoped to avoid it. I have a habit of forgetting my clothes there and they end up chucking them.” She produced a tissue from the small purse hanging on her wrist. “Here, Noah. No need to bleed all over the place.”
Noah settled against the wall, pulling me into his chest between his legs. He took the tissue from Mrs. Collins while keeping a protective arm on me. Too tired to care what Mrs. Collins thought, I rested my head against him.
“So, Noah, Echo’s the coat girl.” I had a nickname?
Noah chuckled. “Yeah.”
“Echo, is your father aware of this relationship?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I didn’t know about it?”
Her eyes laughed. “Yes.” She stared at us like we were rats in a maze. “I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. So much for my intuitive powers. Anyhow, let’s get the two of you to the nurse’s office. She’s here tonight in case of sudden illness or accidents.”
Noah startled me by saying “No” at the exact same time as I did.
“I’m fine,” he said.
“Me, too,” I added. “Fine, I mean.”
“If you’re sure.” Mrs. Collins collected her shoes and lifted herself off the floor. “I expect the two of you to remain professional in your tutoring sessions. I’ve been extremely pleased with your attendance and progress reports from your teachers, Noah. I see a negative change and I’ll be in the middle before the two of you can say group therapy. Am I making myself clear?”
We both mumbled something and watched her fade into the dark gym.
Noah nuzzled my hair. His warm breath sent shivers down my spine. “Truth, Echo. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I whispered, enjoying the sensation of his lips skimming the back of my neck. “Noah?”
“Yes?” The husky sound of his voice set me on fire.
I hated to end this moment, but … “I need to talk to Luke.”
He tensed then dragged me with him from the floor. “Onetime offer, Echo. You and me, but you’ve gotta dump the ape. I’ll wait outside. You’ve got twenty minutes.”
Noah left me. I stood with my hair half fallen from my mother’s clip, feeling suddenly alone. I unlatched the hook, letting the rest of my hair fall to my shoulders.
As I walked into the gym, I could barely see several feet in front of me. The glittering disco ball created the only light available. Fortunately, my friends found me.
“Oh, my God, Echo. Stephen told me what happened. Are you okay?” Lila grabbed hold of me. My heels dangled in her hand. Natalie and Grace flanked her on either side.
A lump grew in my throat. Would she stand by me? My best friend since kindergarten? She’d stood by me through so much already. If I chose the wrong guy in her eyes, would I destroy the one relationship I absolutely needed?
Grace pushed a few curls out of my face. I’d lose Grace. Definitely Grace, but had we really been friends to begin with?
“Echo?” prodded Natalie. She’d follow Lila. She always followed Lila.
“I need to talk to Lila,” I said. When I saw the hurt in Grace’s and Natalie’s eyes I quickly made something up. “Mom issues.”
Grace and Natalie both gave me encouraging smiles as they turned away. They left any conversation regarding my mother to Lila.
Lila placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not buying the mother card. You’re breaking up with Luke and you want my permission.”
“I’m not ‘in’ with him and I’m not going to be. I can handle losing Luke. I can handle becoming a social reject again, but I can’t handle losing you.”
“Are you falling for Noah Hutchins?” Glinda the Good Witch looked suddenly … serious.
Terror and joy fluttered inside of me. If I chose Noah, I might push Lila too far and destroy the only real friendship I ever had. But the mere thought of Noah’s name made my heart skip beats. It brought a smile to my face. It made my skin tingle for his touch. “Yes.”
She hugged me. “I expect a report on his abs. Real details, not romance novel nonsense.”
“What about Grace and Natalie?”
She sighed heavily, pulling away. “You know Nat will be fine. I’ll take care of Grace, but I’ll expect a picture of his abs for that one. Anyway, only three more months to graduation.”
“Echo?” said Luke from behind me.
Lila kissed my cheek, stuffed my shoes into my hand and left to join Natalie and Grace.
“Luke.” I tugged at my gloves.
He had his dress jacket off with his sleeves rolled up past his elbows. “I’m sorry for running into you. I saw you, but I couldn’t stop.”
“It’s okay.” I shifted from one uncomfortable foot to another, sensing the sand running into the bottom of the hourglass. “Luke …”
