Kissing Jayden: a romantic teen thriller (6 page)

That still didn’t stop me from going to the kiosk, printing it out, and slipping it into my backpack. I promised myself that I would stop by home after school to put it in my dresser. Looking around, suddenly I was afraid someone was going to see me. It totally felt like
I
was the weirdo stalker even though Stace had taken the picture of Jayden, not me. I shook my head. Whatever. It wasn’t like I was
following
Jayden around or leaving creepy stuff in his locker like a psycho.

By the time we got to school, I thought I had everything figured out. In other words, I would just avoid all guys. Tyler, Jayden — and especially Mike. Stace, of course, was not a fan of this plan, mostly because it involved me hanging out in Mr. Kaplan’s room indefinitely. Mr. Kaplan, who I’d had for World History, was probably the one teacher who trusted students enough to leave his classroom unlocked. I had gone in there to read or study a million times, and Mr. Kaplan said he barely even noticed I was there.
That
was how quiet I had been in his class.

During nutrition, I saw Tyler rushing toward me with this worried look. It made my stomach clench, because I didn’t want to have to tell him anything about Mike Jensen. Tyler had enough reason to avoid Mike. He didn’t need me scaring him.

“Molly?” he asked, coming up behind me after I tried walking in the other direction.

I turned reluctantly and smiled.

“What’s up, Tyler?”

“Have you been to you locker today?”

The nervous feeling in my stomach got worse. I didn’t want to tell him that I had completely stopped going to my locker. I shook my head.

“There’s a note taped to it.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “I guess I should go get it.”

“Who’s it from?” Tyler asked a little more possessively than I liked.

I shrugged and braced myself to lie.

“No idea.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.

I shook my head like that was the worst idea ever. Then I tried smiling again.

“No, it’s all right. I have to get to class early, anyway.”

When he leaned over and kissed my cheek, I kind of jerked away.

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded, really wanting to stop talking to him. It wasn’t Tyler’s fault, but I needed to get away from him. Like now. I was afraid of what Mike Jensen might do to him. But more than that, I realized that I couldn’t sit with Tyler, hold his hand, or let him kiss me — when I really wanted it to be Jayden.

Maybe in college I’d meet a guy who made me feel the way Jayden Stone did. Maybe. I could hope, anyway. But I had decided that, for now, the drama wasn’t worth it. I could have my crush on Jayden, but it had to be super-secret from now on. No more poems, no more staring at him from across the quad. I just had to forget about him.

And eventually Mike Jensen would just have to move on and leave me alone. He reminded me of those boys in elementary school who would catch some poor bug or animal and torture it just because they could. Well, I was sick of it. He could find someone else who wanted to play his sick games, because it wasn’t going to be me. I was done squirming.

Just because I was shy little Molly Adams didn’t mean that I had to fall all over Mike Jensen. Actually, the opposite. In fact, if he didn’t scare me so bad, I’d go right up to him and tell him off.

When I got a text from Mom saying she was coming home the next day, I decided I was going to make
another
batch of brownies to celebrate. This was the best news ever! I missed her like crazy, and I also wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed — and feel safe again.

Chapter 8: Worst Week Ever!

At the beginning of lunch, I finally built up enough nerve to go to my locker. But when I got there, I stopped and stared. Jayden was standing in front of
my
locker holding a note in his hand. I ducked out of view, my pulse fluttering and my mind racing. Why was Jayden holding a note in front of my locker?

When I peeked around the corner, he was crushing the note in his fist. Then he punched the locker, jammed the piece of paper into his pocket, and stalked off in the other direction without noticing me. Unnerved, I turned around and went straight to Mr. Kaplan’s room and pulled out my Trig book. At least I could get my math homework done before the end of the day.

As soon as I finished most of the problems, I went into my backpack and brought out my lunch. I also took out the picture of Jayden and the poem. I couldn’t help myself. But staring down at the poem, I had to wonder again: how obvious had it been? Had people — specifically Mike Jensen — totally known that I had written it about Jayden? I swallowed hard. That would be super embarrassing, everyone knowing that I was totally crushing on Jayden Stone. Hearing the door to the classroom thump closed, I jumped and shoved the picture into my history book.

“Hi, Mr. Kaplan!” I called brightly before taking a bite of my apple.

I liked Mr. Kaplan. He always said that if he had thirty students who were like me — he meant quiet bookworms who actually did the reading — in every class, then his job would be easy. When he didn’t say anything back, I turned around and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw Mike Jensen standing right behind my seat.

I dropped my apple onto the desk as he stared down at me with this crazy look while holding a bat in one of his big, meaty hands. Without thinking, I jumped out of the chair and lunged away from him, ready to scream or run for the door. The problem was he was blocking my path. I started looking around desperately for the best way to escape when he picked up my history book and took out the picture —
of Jayden
— that was peeking out! I gasped before I could stop myself.

“Is this what all you good little girls want?” he sneered. “The Golden Boy?”

Yeah, it is!
I thought in my head.
Because Jayden’s not a psycho like you!

I stepped closer to the door, but I didn’t turn my back on him, thinking of what my mom always used to tell me about mean dogs: don’t turn your back on them and never run, because they’ll chase you.

“Look at the bookworm squirm,” Mike chanted quietly.

“Mr. Kaplan is going to get back any second!” I warned anxiously.

Mike just laughed in this horrible way, like he knew something I didn’t.

“Mr. Kaplan doesn’t have class next period, and I saw him leave at the beginning of lunch,” he sneered as my eyes darted between him and the door.

My breath kind of whooshed out of me. Then I heard my cell buzz, but it was sitting on the desk with the rest of my stuff. There was no way I could grab it without getting closer to Mike. Then I watched in horror as Mike picked up my phone from the top of my backpack. When I tried to make a break for it, Mike held out the bat. He didn’t even look up from my phone. He just held out the bat, like he was telling me he knew all about my plan. I swallowed and tried to keep from crying.

“Just let me go,” I whispered.

“No, I don’t think so. This is too much fun. Hmm. Unless …”

My breath hitched, and I waited for him to release me.

“… unless you kiss me.” His eyes narrowed. “Like you kissed the Golden Boy.”

I gasped again, sickened by the thought of kissing Mike Jensen. Actually, the thought of getting anywhere in the vicinity of Mike Jensen’s lips was nauseating. Suddenly the door swung open, and I looked over sort of praying in the back of my head that it was going to be Jayden. Instead, it was Tyler! I cringed. This couldn’t get any worse.

“Tyler!
Get out of here
!” I cried.

He kind of looked back and forth between Mike Jensen and me — and then he took off. When the door slammed behind Tyler, Mike laughed.

“Protecting your little boyfriend?”

I was relieved and freaked out at the same time. I didn’t want Tyler to get his face pounded again, but I needed help! A minute later, when the door swung open again, I was in tears. I held my breath as Jayden walked in. His jaw was tight, and he looked ready to kill Mike. Finally he glanced over at me.

“Molly, are you all right?”

I nodded really quick, afraid to say anything.

“Good. Get out of here.”

I winced as Mike swung the bat up and rested it on his shoulders, like he was totally relaxed.

“Don’t worry, Stone. I didn’t do anything to your sweet little good girl. But she was just about to give me a real sweet kiss.”

I stood frozen, staring at Mike, wondering just how crazy he was.

“Molly! Leave.
Now
!” Jayden commanded.

Snapping out of it, I bolted toward the door, leaving my stuff behind. I didn’t know whether to scream, run and get a teacher, cry — or what. I was shaking and about to throw up. I rushed toward the quad and saw Stace and Kelly with Tyler and Kyle, which meant that Stace must have gotten back together with Kyle like two seconds ago. Mark Milroy was probably off somewhere sulking. I had always liked Kyle, even if I had resented him sucking my best friend’s face every day during lunch. Tyler pointed as I ran toward them, and Stace and Kelly turned, rushing toward me.

“Molly!” Stace squeaked. “Are you okay?”

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I swallowed.

“Yeah, but Jayden!” I cried. “I think Mike was about to hurt him. He had a bat. We need to get help!”

I looked around frantically for the vice principal, Mr. Fitzpatrick, who was always patrolling the quad during lunch. There was no sign of him. I was about to run to the offices when Tyler grabbed my arm and pointed toward Mr. Kaplan’s classroom. Jayden was walking onto the quad, his beautiful face still intact. I exhaled and kind of dropped into the grass, watching as Jayden walked back to his normal spot on the quad. He glanced once in my direction, his blue eyes serious. It was nothing like the teasing looks he had given me that day in Mr. Kaplan’s classroom when he had tried to teach me how to dance.

Right now the only thing I
wanted
to do was run up to him and press my face into his chest. But that wasn’t going to happen, and I knew it. My eyes started to burn. When Mike Jensen appeared and started stalking off toward the parking lot, I shuddered. I was trying to figure out what Jayden might have said to him when Tyler sank down next to me, looking at me with serious big, brown puppy-dog eyes, his blond hair flopping into his face.

“You really like him — Stone, I mean — don’t you?” he muttered.

I swallowed and nodded, afraid I was going to cry if I said anything out loud. I realized that the thought of anything happening to Jayden made me feel crazy, scared, and desperate. I didn’t want anything happening to poor, sweet Tyler, either, but that was more because I liked him as a friend and would feel insanely guilty if anything happened to him because of me. When Tyler got up and went over to talk to Kyle and Ethan, Kelly’s sort-of boyfriend, Stace and Kelly dropped down next to me.

“What happened?!” they screamed in unison.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and went through the entire story. How I had been hiding out in Mr. Kaplan’s classroom, which Stace knew about. She interrupted and told me she had told Tyler where to find me. Then I told them about Mike Jensen showing up all scary and wild-eyed, holding a bat. I didn’t go into the whole weird “Golden Boy” thing, or how Mike had offered to let me go if I kissed him like I had kissed Jayden. Just the thought of him saying that made my stomach twist.

That was the strangest part, though. I thought about the girls that Mike Jensen — and Jayden Stone — usually went for. Girls who had gone out with a million guys and had tons of experience. Unlike me. When it came to kissing or making out, I didn’t even know what I was doing! Kissing Tyler had been, well, kind of boring and safe — at least until he crashed his teeth into mine. Kissing Jayden had been out of this world amazing, but I had a feeling it was because Jayden really knew what he was doing — and I was head over heels in love with him. Suddenly I frowned.

Was
I in love with him?

But the scary part was: why did Mike Jensen think that my feelings for Jayden would in any way apply to him? Like I could just transfer all the pent up feelings I had for Jayden and use them to kiss somebody I didn’t even like — somebody I was afraid of, even. Eww.

I was kind of exhausted and restless at the same time. I wanted to go home, listen to some depressing music, and read a book to get my mind off things. Stace was getting a ride with Kyle, which kind of made me hope that Mark Milroy, who she just dumped to get back together with Kyle, wasn’t going to turn into a crazy stalker, too. Right now, I could only take so much drama, and Stace and Kelly had already caused enough with their drunken house party stunt.

When school ended, I ran over to Mr. Kaplan’s classroom to find my abandoned stuff, but my backpack wasn’t there, making my stomach twist into even more knots. Then I went by the office before it closed to see if my stuff was in the lost and found, but no luck. At least I had kept the keys to Mom’s car in my pocket. But when I got out to the parking lot, my heart sank and I kind of lost it.

One of the back tires was completely flat and the brake light on the driver’s side was smashed!

As much as I didn’t want to go head-to-head with Mike Jensen, I was really tempted to march into the vice principal’s office tomorrow and tell them what a psycho he really was. Still, I didn’t want to think about what Mike would do next if I ratted on him. Would he come after me? Tyler? Jayden? Even Stace or Kelly? I couldn’t risk it.

I sat on the curb. How was I going to pay for this, though? There was a savings account at Mom’s bank, mostly from checks from Grams and from the little bit of baby-sitting I did when I borrowed the car on weekends. But I needed Mom to co-sign any withdrawals since I wasn’t eighteen.

The other problem was that if I didn’t get the car fixed, I’d have to tell Mom all about Mike Jensen — and then things would get even messier. Well, I could try lying to her and say that some random criminal had messed up her car. Mike
was
a criminal, but he definitely wasn’t random. Besides, I wouldn’t just lie to my mom, and either way, I still needed the car fixed.

This was turning into the worst week ever!