Chapter 50

"Days like this remind me of you," he sighed in a fake romantic tone, and I pretended I wasn't hearing the howl of annoyance inside me. "Rancid, gloomy, full of storms.... But which then gives way to the warmest sun there is."

I closed my eyes, beginning to gasp at the blatant provocation. The metaphor was crystal clear, and I couldn't breathe properly anymore. Concentrating on normalizing my heartbeat, I finally plucked up the courage to fight back.

"What do you want?" I growled between my teeth, glaring nervously at the side opposite him, who let out a contented chuckle.

"Me?" he replied, wryly "I don't want anything, I've already taught all my classes for the day.... What more could a teacher want? Now you're just dying to leave, from the looks of it."

I huffed, with my arms crossed tightly at chest level and my hands clenched tightly into fists.

"You don't care," I grumbled, agonizing over my inability to send oxygen to my lungs, "Can't you tell I don't want to talk to you yet?"

"It's okay, I didn't mean to talk anyway," Nicholas retorted, with humor in his voice "There are far more interesting things than talking."

As often as it happened, I don't think I have ever wanted to punch Nicholas as much as I did at this moment. So I didn't mind being in the middle of the street, so close to people who shouldn't have seen this scene, and I shoved my hand in his face. Well, at least I tried.

Damn, what had he been doing lately, reflex training? Why did he have to be so much faster that I couldn't hit him anymore? I closed my eyes, frustrated, when I felt his strong fingers close against my wrist, just inches from his face.

"You know what your problem is?" he smiled calmly at me, as if he wasn't talking to someone who intended to painfully pull out all his teeth if he got the chance "You're in too much of a hurry. You don't know how to wait."

"Let go of me," I ordered, staring at him in disgust, and his piercing eyes made me dizzy for a moment "I want to leave."

"Then let me finish talking, stressy," Nicholas spoke, raising his eyebrows in a superior tone, and I huffed again, unable to do anything but listen to him "Before your useless and childish attempt to beat me up, I was going to offer you a ride, but now that I've noticed your excitement to leave, I withdraw my offer..."

"Fine," I grunted, smiling sarcastically at the idea of accepting a ride from him. But my smile quickly disappeared when he finished his sentence:

"And I replace it with a demand."

I frowned, unsatisfied with that absurdity. Who did he think he was to demand anything from me?

"Listen here, you idiot," I began, not even caring that I was speaking louder than advisable, "I can't stand it when a disgusting person like you speaks to me, do you hear me? Get over me, I hate you! Only you haven't realized that yet!"

"If you don't come with me now, girl, I'll walk into this school and tell Suan everything that happened yesterday," Nicholas muttered, his eyes locked on mine in an intimidating way.

I forgot how to breathe with that threat. I couldn't even stand the mere chance that Steve knew about my slip-up, and now with Nicholas confronting me like that, it all seemed much more possible to happen. And I knew there was no way I could risk it, but I tried anyway.

"No one would believe you," I stammered, giving a dismissive chuckle that was no match for his quiet, self-assured one. He knew how much Steve was worth to me, he knew that sooner or later I would give up and fall into his trap.

"Well... That's a possibility," he agreed, not showing an ounce of concern about my bluff.

I continued to stare into his brown eyes, my thoughts racing. As hard as I tried to think of another way out, nothing occurred to me but to obey him. There was too much to lose in this blackmail, and I couldn't depend on possibilities.

I looked away from him to the floor, completely defeated, and let out the air trapped in my lungs, declaring my surrender. Nicholas needed no words to understand, and finally let go of my wrist, turning his evil expression into a victorious smile.

"Good girl," he whispered, turning in the direction of the street, "Let's go."

I glanced quickly to the side, making sure that there was no one who could catch us, and found nothing. Completely annoyed, I followed Nicholas to the other side of the street, and waited until he put his backpack in the luggage compartment of his bike and took out a second helmet, since the first was in one of his hands from the beginning.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, laughing at my face, when all that was left to go was for me to get on the bike. Needless to say, every little part of me was reluctant to do this (well, at least most of me). Apart from the fact that I hated helmets, they gave me a headache. Not that I had worn helmets many times before, I had never ridden a motorcycle in my life, nor did I intend to. But there's a first time for everything, right? I'll say.

I sat on the back of the bike right behind him, and looked for some way to stay on the bike when it was in motion that did not involve physical contact with him. But with a backpack full of books on my back, this would be even more complicated.

"Better hold on," he warned, still reveling in my misfortune, and threatened to speed up with the bike, giving a slight jerk and making me grab him on the spot. Which only made him laugh harder.

"That's great," was the last thing I heard him say, because just then the deafening roar of the engine filled my ears and he sped away furiously. I closed my eyes, startled by the speed and lack of protection, and involuntarily hugged him tighter, somehow pushing that perfume further and further into my lungs and making me feel intoxicated.

I opened my eyes, in a sudden act of courage, and all I saw were colored blurs. The strong wind made me blink every half second, making me dizzy and nauseous again, and I preferred to close my eyes for good. At every turn, I crushed the ribs of Nicholas , who seemed not to care, and even to be amused by my insecurity. He was definitely the most sadomasochistic guy on earth.

I can't tell exactly how many minutes we were riding in that thing, until he slowed down and with one turn, got on the sidewalk. Without looking at him, I noticed that he turned his head to the side, which was the maximum movement he could make to talk to me, and laughed when he saw me tense up.