Having Damien grab me out of the blue was becoming all too familiar. He had me by the biceps and pushed against the wall. His face was so close that I could feel his breath. He was too close. With my face still hurting from the dodge ball, I was in no mood for his shenanigans. 

I struggled to get free of him. “Let go, Damien!” 

He ignored me. “Angela said it was some girl named Jenna.”

I continued to struggle. “Get off me!”

“Tell me what happened!”

Had Angela gone straight to him? Why would she think telling him was a good idea? Also where was she?

I clenched my fists in exasperation. “I got hit in the face with a dodge ball. There’s nothing to tell. Let. Me. Go!”

He seemed to become aware of himself. His eyes darted over my face and to his hands. He jerked them off me and took a step back. “Angela said it was intentional.”

I took a deep breath in relief at having personal space again. I considered his question. I didn’t know why he was so interested, and I suspected that I should tell him as little as possible. I shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Did you hit her back?”

“What? No. Coach stopped the game immediately.”

“So you need to get revenge.” Damien’s mouth curled into a creepy smile.

“No, I need to get home.”

He rolled his eyes. “You can’t possibly be thinking of letting her get away with it.”

“Yes, I am. I don’t know why she decided to attack me, but it’s over.”

His eyes narrowed. “So she did do it on purpose.”

“I don’t know! If she did, I don’t know why she did. I barely know her. Just drop it.”

He crossed his arms and looked unhappy. I didn’t know what he had to be unhappy about. I was the one with the black eye. I turned to leave, but he reached out and grabbed my arm. I turned and started slapping his hand. “Stop it! Stop grabbing me! Let go!”

He let me go and held up his hands. “Sorry,” he muttered. 

But his apology barely registered. I kept speaking, “What is with you? Why do you think you can just do whatever you want with me? Am I a toy or something to you? Stop grabbing me and touching me whenever you want. I don’t like it. It’s not right. You don’t have the right. I may not be rich, but I’m still a person, goddammit.” I stopped and took a shaky breath. 

“Don’t cry,” he murmured.

“Then stop doing your damnedest to upset me!” And that did it. I covered my eyes and slumped against the wall, my bruised eye hurting as I rubbed the tears away.  

He just stood there staring at me as I sniffled.

What was I even doing here? I wanted to go home, but I’d rather not upset my parents by showing up with a tear-stained face. They were going to have enough questions when they saw the black eye. Damien moved to lean against the wall beside me, but he kept a foot of space between us. 

“I am trying not to touch you,” he said.

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“The dean showed me a video of you in his office. I saw how much I’d upset you.”

My mouth dried up and my body went cold. “He was videotaping me?” I felt betrayed. Violated. 

He shrugged. “Yeah, he videotapes everything. He called me into his office last night and showed it to me. I-I don’t mean to upset you.”

I laughed, but it cut my throat as it came out. “What do you mean to do?”

He was looking at his hands. Rubbing them, twisting the rings on his fingers. I watched him and waited. “I don’t know. I just have to reach out occasionally. Touch someone. It helps.”

“Helps what?” I remembered his odd behavior earlier in Prof. Bolkis’s class, him holding my hand against his body. It was so odd. It hadn’t upset me, but it had definitely confused me. 

He didn’t answer.  

I pushed off the wall and turned to him. “I need to get home.”

He lifted his eyes to me and nodded. “Yeah, go home. See your parents.”

He looked sad. Lonely. 

“What are you going to do now?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I guess I should eat.”

“You could go find Angela or Andy and Tom.”

He sighed. “Why?”

“So you’re not alone?”

Damien’s eyes flashed when he looked at me. “Oh, do you think I need watching? A babysitter? I don’t need anyone.”

“Everybody needs someone,” I said.

He pushed off the wall, his hands reaching out to grab me. I stepped back in fear. He stopped and dropped them to his sides. He turned his face away from me. “I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth.

I knew better than to argue with him. “Okay. Well, see you tomorrow.” I picked up my bag and turned to go.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” he said to my back.

I looked back, and he was leaning against the wall again. I wondered how long he would stay there.

* * *

Mom fussed over me half the night because of the black eye. Dad stayed quiet for the most part, but he had asked a few pointed questions that had put me on edge, one of which was if Damien West had been the one to hit me. At least I’d been able to assure him honestly that it wasn’t him. I’d told them Jenna’s lie that it had been an accident. They’d nodded, but I was sure they knew it was a lie also. 

Overnight, the black eye had darkened to a classic purple ring. Mom carefully spread concealer around it to try to hide it, but I’d washed my face afterward. The bruise had still been visible under the makeup and it had felt weird. 

Everyone did double takes when they saw me. I didn’t know how widely known the truth was. If they didn’t know, I bet they assumed Damien had done it. I would have liked to correct them all, but short of wearing a sign saying, “Damien West did not give me a black eye,” there was no hope of stopping the rumors. 

Damien was already in class when I arrived. I went over to our desks and said good morning. He grunted in reply. He had his feet up on the desk and was looking at something on his phone. I got my things out and waited for class to start. As I waited, I thought about Jenna. I wanted to know why she’d done what she did. But I didn’t know when I could ask her. I didn’t want Damien around, but I was leery of trying to talk to her during gym. 

Prof. Edward came in and started class. I could tell when he saw me. He stiffened a moment and his voice faltered. I gave a slight shake of my head and a little smile to indicate the black eye wasn’t anything serious. He quickly recovered and continued talking. I took notes while Damien remained immersed in his phone. I glanced at it and saw he was playing some match three game. I rolled my eyes and focused back on my notebook.

When class was over, Damien escorted me to Prof. Engler’s class. And I meant escorted. He walked at my shoulder and glared at everyone around us. He stayed close, taking the exact same steps as me. I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad behavior. I didn’t worry about it too much because something more pressing distracted me. Jenna shared English with us. I looked for her as soon as we went in. For the past two days, she’d sat directly in front of us, but today, she’d claimed a desk in the back opposite corner of where we usually sat. 

I kept my eyes on her as I moved through the classroom. She sat stiffly, staring at her textbook. I wanted her to look at me. I wanted her to see my face. Damien noticed where my attention was and broke away from me to go to her. Alarms began ringing in my head.

I dropped my bag and lunged to stop him, but I was too late. 

He grabbed her desk and leaned in close. “Was it you?” he demanded.