Twelve

I hadn't even taken three steps toward the cash register when a hand latched around my elbow, preventing me from taking another step.

I didn't need to know who the hand belonged to; I knew it was Harper. Though, how did he digest whatever I told him so soon, was beyond me. How did he react so soon and even get up to grab my arm? Stupid football players and their reflexes.

"What did you just say?" Harper hissed in my ear, too low for anyone else to hear. 

There was nobody in the bakery. The teen couple who had been sitting had long gone after leaving a generous tip, Stephanie still hadn't come out from the back and Monique and Antony rarely came out in the front. I was at his mercy now. Great! Just my luck!

"I know you heard me, Harper." My voice was so small and quiet, I didn't even recognize it. Something in Harper right now terrified me and I simply didn't want to anger him.

I couldn't even look at him right now, I was just looking towards the doors hoping someone would come in the bakery, forcing Harper to let me go. 

His grip on my arm wasn't too tight, it was just enough to hold me and not let me go. 

I didn't expect this kind of reaction from Harper. I thought he would just look at me, call me weird, shrug it off, and just state that I had gone mad. I didn't expect him to go all crazy on me.

"Who told you about us, hun? Was it your precious friends?" He spat at me and spoke the word friends with as venom as a person could muster.

"What the hell are you talking about, Harper?" I furrowed my brows and looked up to meet his eyes. He looked furious! Why, I didn't know!

"Don't act all coy with me, Zara. I know your type of girl." He seethed. His grip on my hand tightened and was starting to hurt now.

It seemed more like a power play between us rather than a simple confrontation and I didn't plan to back down. His grip hurt and I tried not to flinch or jerk my hand away from him.

"I thought you were different, Zara. But you're not. You are just like all the other pathetic girls that are after me." His words hurt me more than I thought they would. His expression was hard and I knew he meant every word of it. He seemed menacing and totally out of control and I was panicking inside. I didn't know how one person could change moods so often.

He didn't stop. He just kept going. "Those fucking kisses meant nothing to me, Zara. I go around kissing girls all the time and you were just a number. A number I can't even fucking remember. I played with you, Zara. Open your fucking eyes. Don't make up some godforsaken story to make me come to you. I have enough whores around me that are willing to go to desperate measures to get me to fuck them. And tell you what, they are fucking better storytellers than you could ever be!"

Was this guy bipolar because one second, he was just sitting there, lazing around, while the other second, he pounced upon me making ludicrous accusations no one could even dream about?!

His words struck a chord within me and I could feel two, big and fat tears roll down my cheeks. This was the last thing I expected to happen. 

I knew that those kisses had meant nothing to Harper, but having him say them, set the fact in stone. I wasn't hoping he would metaphorically open his eyes and realize that those kisses meant something to him too. I just wanted to pack those kisses as a fond memory, never to be opened again. But he had destroyed that. He had destroyed a happy memory and I hated him for it.

No, I didn't hate him. I loathed him.

My vision started to blur because of the tears and I couldn't find it in me to look at him again. I kept my head down, trying to control my tears. 

He had won the power play; it was pretty clear. He had made his point clear. 

"Don't you have anything more to say, hun?" He chuckled. His chuckle held a dark timbre to it and sent dangerous shivers down my spine, activating my fight and flight response. I wanted to get away from him. Right. Now.

"I want you to stay the fuck away from me, Zara. Do you hear me?" I would be a psycho if I would try again to talk to him. I had no qualms whatsoever to be near ten feet of him. Weird dreams and itches be damned, I would even change all the classes I had with him, just to make sure I don't even get to see his face in the hallway.

"Look at me when I am talking to you!" He said while roughly grabbing my chin and making me look at him. More tears streaked down my cheeks as soon as he touched my chin and I hated myself for showing weakness to him.

I didn't want to stroke his ego and let him have the pleasure of proving me weak and making me cry. I tried to control the onslaught of tears as best as I could but they just kept coming.

Regret flashed through his almost black eyes and his grip on my hand loosened. He stepped away from me, leaving my bruised elbow as if I had set his skin on fire.

I cradled my elbow using my other hand. Red, angry fingerprints were visible on my pale skin and they looked horrid. I choked back a sob at the sight.

Harper moved like a superhuman and ran out of the bakery. The bell dinged violently as he left.

I wiped my tears and took a deep breath to control my emotions and get back to work.

No one came to the bakery after Harper's little fiasco. Stephanie had volunteered to stay back and take care of the bakery for the night. It served her right, she just vanished after Harper left and I wouldn't be surprised if they were shagging each other in the alley behind the bakery. That thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

In the last half hour of my shift, Nat messaged me and told me she was going to pick me up and that Sam would meet us at her house. An impromptu get-together. I could live with that.

I was relieved because I was too emotionally drained to drive. I would just leave my car in the lot in front of the bakery and pick it up tomorrow.

I had a lot to tell both Nat and Sam and this impromptu meeting couldn't have been scheduled at a better time. I needed to flush Harper out of my system as soon as possible.

His actions had only guided me in the right direction and I knew it wouldn't take me too long to forget whatever happened between us. Practically speaking, nothing happened between us, we weren't lovers and we weren't friends.

I stood in front of the bakery's doors at exactly seven in the evening for Nat to pick me up. 

I had already messaged my dad that I was going to Nat's house and that there was a possibility that I could spend my night there too. He protested a little at first, but I assured him that we would be in school on time because Sam would be staying the night with us too. That was all the convincing he needed. 

It wasn't the first time Nat or Sam were picking me up from the bakery unplanned, so it wasn't totally out of the blue. 

Nat arrived in her car and without missing a beat, I sat in the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt.

Silence reigned in the car and none of us was willing to break it. The tears had finally stopped when I reminded myself that one couldn't expect better treatment from a guy like Harper. I didn't know about Nat, but I had a lot to think about and had my reasons why I wasn't talking. 

"Zara, did something happen between you and Harper?" Nat asked tentatively. She was never tentative and I knew whatever she was going to say next, would be serious.

"Yes." My voice came out quiet and resigned and I hated it. I hated Harper for bringing out the scared little cat inside of me. I had always been a strong person and I prided myself on the fact.

I cleared my throat which had been scratchy and hoarse after crying. "Why?"

"Because he is waiting for you at my house." She glanced at me for a second and then concentrated on the road ahead of her.

I suddenly didn't want to go to Nat's house. It was a safe sanctuary for me and I didn't want to embellish it. 

I wanted to go home and cry because whatever reasons I gave myself for comfort, I knew Harper's words cut deeper than I had expected them to.

Shit! That was the last thing I expected.

Good luck flushing Harper out of my system.