Shattered Poetry (Broken Lives #2) Read online

  “But you’re not one.”

  “I know, ephebophilia is closer to the mark, though it isn’t true for me. I haven’t been attracted to a student since I was one myself, so it’s not typical behaviour.”

  He stared at me blankly, looking like he hadn’t understood a word I’d said. I could see other people looking at me in the same way, just with disgust and recrimination tacked on.

  I breathed out. “All people would see is your age. That you’re still a child.”

  He scowled at me. “I’m not a child, so quit calling me one.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t see you as a child, otherwise I wouldn’t be attracted to you, but other people do, people like Jasper’s father.”

  “Forget ’bout that prick. I’ve had more sex than that blow-up doll fucker.”

  “Maybe, but he still made me feel like I’d taken advantage of you.”

  “We both know I pursued you. You pushed me away more than once.”

  “But I also took things further, like in my house. I put my hand down your pants, for goodness’ sake. You looked so shocked.”

  “Cos I didn’t expect you to do that, but it didn’t mean I didn’t like it. I did ask for sex earlier, plus I fucked you in here.” He smiled. “Fucked you real good.”

  I swallowed. The way he was looking at me suggested he wanted to do it again. To lay me across the desk and drive his cock into me. “I still feel like I took advantage of you,” I persisted, wondering whether I was stupid for thinking that. Because he’d taken full advantage of the situation, taking me without hesitation. If anything, he’d been the predator. He’d locked the door, stalked me, grabbed me, initiating everything that day.

  “Well, you shouldn’t,” he said. “And I do have freewill.”

  “Not according to the law when it comes to sex.”

  “I’ve fucked other women and they sure as hell didn’t feel guilty over it, so ignore Hemi.”

  “It’s easier said than done, because, despite everything, I know what I’m doing is wrong.”

  A dark cloud fell over his face. “What are you tellin’ me? You’re backing off again?”

  I shook my head. “There’s no use, because even if I pushed you away today, I’ll be trying to get you back tomorrow.” I took a step closer to him, reaching up to cradle his face in my hands. “You’ve gotten to me, Dante. You’ve made it too hard to walk away. All I can think about is you. From the time I get up to the time I go to sleep. I even dream about you, and regardless of Mr. Rakete’s threat, I don’t think I can stay away from you.”

  He stared back at me, his expression stunned.

  “Say something.”

  He blinked. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “That you feel the same way. That you’re willing to be with me even though we have to hide our relationship?”

  He nodded.

  I smiled, his simple answer making me happy. I pulled his head down, brushing my lips over his. “I ache for you, Dante,” I murmured against his mouth, all thought of what he’d done with Phelia now inconsequential. I wanted him and I wasn’t going to lose him through jealousy. “I ache for you so bad.”

  “Jesus.” He grabbed my arms and pushed me against the wall, the suddenness knocking the wind out of me. Then his mouth was crashing against mine, his kiss feverish, as though he couldn’t get enough of me.

  I went to kiss him back, to breathe through him, but instead I wedged my hands between us, desperately trying to shove him away, the creak of the door alerting me to the fact we weren’t alone. He didn’t let go, but jerked his head back, his expression confused.

  Panicked, I pushed him harder. “Let go of me!”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but instead jolted as a yell rented the air. A second later, I recognised who it belonged to. Lindy rushed at Dante, the tall emo girl screaming at him.

  19

  Dante

  Lindy struck me across the face. I yelped and held my hands out in self-defence, not wanting to hit a girl. But she came at me again.

  I blocked the strike this time and shot to the side. “Get away from me, you crazy bitch!”

  “No! You attacked Mrs. Hatton!” she hollered, not letting up, her fist flying.

  I blocked the punch and shoved her away. “Fuck off!”

  She started screaming, “Get out! Get out! Get out!”

  My gaze darted to Mrs. Hatton. She wasn’t doing or saying a thing, other than looking between me and Lindy. The fact she wasn’t running to my defence hit me much harder than what Lindy was doing, reminding me of what my first girlfriend had done. I’d been thirteen at the time, while Lavinia had been sixteen. I’d kissed her behind the swimming pool building, holding her against the wall as we’d pashed. Her stepbrother had walked around the corner, catching us. Lavinia had screamed and pushed me away, slapping me as though I’d kissed her without permission. She’d run to her stepbrother, who had advanced on me, looking like he was going to beat the shit out of me, but she’d pulled him back, saying he couldn’t hurt me, that he’d get in trouble with my brother. But Joel still hit me, punching me in the face, then had taken Lavinia away with him. She’d glanced back, seeing me lying on the ground with a bleeding nose, but kept on walking, caring more about her secret, her image, than me.

  And Mrs. Hatton was the same. She was too scared to defend me, more interested in her own image than mine. She didn’t care that Lindy thought I’d attacked her, all she cared about was herself.

  “Get out!” Lindy yelled, her pale emo face going bright red.

  I took off through the office doorway, too upset to do anything else. I shot out of Mrs. Hatton’s class, shoving people out of my way in the corridor, not caring about anything other than getting away from this place ... from Mrs. Hatton ... Clara ... away from history repeating itself. I hated history, fucking hated everything to do with the past, because I kept repeating it, making the same mistakes over and over again, never fucking learning.

  A door opened in front of me. Annabelle stepped out of the drama room with one of her friends. I stopped, this time avoiding crashing into her, Annabelle having a bad habit of appearing at the worst possible moments. I sidestepped her, not bothering to say hello. I didn’t want to interact with anyone, I needed to be alone, my head and heart doing a number on me.

  “Dante, what’s wrong?” she asked, taking off after me.

  “Not now, Annabelle,” I snapped, continuing forward.

  She grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. “Aye, now. Did that senior upset ye again?”

  Not interested in answering, I yanked my arm free and went to take off again, but she shot in front of me. “What the fuck?!” I yelled. “What is it with you women? You won’t leave me the fuck alone!”

  Embarrassment lit a fiery path across her freckled cheeks. Her emerald gaze darted about, taking in our surroundings. The other students in the corridor were staring at us, or me in particular. They were probably waiting for me to flip out, which I was so fucking close to doing.

  She refocused on me. “I’m not harassing ye. I just want to know what’s wrong? How aboot we go behind the gym and ye can tell me all aboot it.”

  “What are ya? A fuckin’ agony aunt? Deal with your own problems and leave mine alone.” I side-stepped her and headed for the exit, grimacing as a senior scooted out of my way, the guy actually looking scared of me. I was two years younger and a couple inches shorter, yet he was afraid of me? Though, I knew why he was bolting out of my way like a pussy. The rumours about me being a murderer were still circulating around the school, the principal’s speech regarding my innocence having zero effect.

  Annabelle ran after me. “It might help if ye get it off yer chest,” she said, placing a hand on my arm.

  I went to jerk my arm away, but stopped as Happy Meal’s two mates emerged from the boys’ restroom. They stopped in their tracks at the sight of me. The bigger of the two’s face hardened. Landon Papua had wavy brown hair and a square jawline, th
e guy a rugby player, like his shorter, stockier mate.

  I glared back at him. “I didn’t kill your dipshit friend, so back off.”

  Landon’s brown eyes flashed with anger. “Watch what you say ’bout Ronnie.”

  I stepped closer to him, getting my face into his, so fucking ready to start a fight. Right here. Right now. And fuck the principal. I no longer gave a shit if he kicked me out of school. If anything, it would probably do me good to get away from Mrs. Hatton.

  “Or what, pussy? You gonna fight me?” I mocked. “Happy Meal wuz the only one with balls outta you lot. You needed him to win against me, and you know it.”

  Landon sneered at me. “I don’t needa take you down, Ronnie’s dad will do that.”

  I lifted my chin up. “He won’t, and you wanna know why? Cos I didn’t kill Happy Meal. I wuz fucking his bitch at the time.”

  Landon’s mouth quirked up. “Then why did I see Phelia at the DC headquarters if she’s so tight with you?”

  I tensed, his words taking me by surprise.

  His smile grew. “She went out back with Ronnie’s dad. She obviously wanted more McDonald cock with extra mayo, rather than your French fry.”

  “She wouldn’t do that old git,” I barked, hoping like hell he was lying. A bad feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. The memory of the large bandage on her forehead returned, telling me she’d sold me out to the Devil’s Crew. She’d probably confessed to Jonah to save herself, admitting the alibi was a lie.

  Landon’s smile stretched even further, no doubt realising I was shitting bricks. He turned his attention to Annabelle as though I wasn’t worth speaking to anymore, a soon to be ghost of his past, here today, gone tomorrow.

  He licked his lips, obviously finding her hot. “I wouldn’t stick around with this one, gorgeous. He’s as good as dead. You should hang out with me instead.”

  Annabelle’s emerald eyes flared at him. “Watch what ye say aboot, Dante!”

  Landon made a loud whooping sound. “Get a load of her accent,” he said, glancing back at his mate, who was eyeing Annabelle up like he wanted to do her. “Hawt as fuck.”

  She scowled at him. “I dinnae care what ye think, so get the fuck oot of our way, ye numpty.”

  “Dinnae. Oot. Numpty.” He laughed. “You sound so cute. So, are you completely covered in freckles?”

  She flicked him the finger. “This is, so frack off.”

  He leaned forward, looking like he was going to bite her finger. I went to push him away, but Annabelle was faster. Her hand whipped out, punching him in the nose. He yelped and brought his hands to his nose, while his mate burst out laughing.

  “You’re gonna regret that, bitch,” he snarled at Annabelle, wiping blood from his nose, the girl surprisingly having a great left hook.

  Regardless, I stepped in front of her. “If you touch her, you’ll have me to deal with.”

  “Not to mention ma uncle Paul!” she hollered behind me. She was bouncing about like Muhammad Ali, looking like she wanted to punch him again. “He’ll do worse than me. He was in the army, was a boxer. He’d flatten yer nose like yer flat arse.”

  Landon’s mate hooted, “He does have a flat arse!”

  Landon spun around and shoved him hard, then turned back, his glare burning a hole through Annabelle. “I heard your fucktard uncle ain’t coming back, bitch!”

  “He’s no fucktard, ye are, ye glakit cunt!” Annabelle spat, still bouncing on her feet.

  Landon shook his head, his eyes returning to me. “You can have the nutty bitch.” He shouldered past me.

  I whipped my arm out, blocking Annabelle from throwing another punch. Still laughing, Landon’s mate followed him, giving Annabelle the thumbs-up as he passed by.

  I pulled out my phone and headed in the opposite direction, now desperate to get a hold of Jasper, what Phelia had done changing everything. The call went through to his voicemail. I yelled at him to call me as I exited the back of the corridor. I jumped down the steps and strode across the concrete quad. A group of younger students shot out of my way. I ignored them, heading for the metalwork room, hoping like fuck Jasper hadn’t skipped out, which he usually did when he was in a foul mood.

  Annabelle ran after me. “Is that why ye’re so upset? Phelia cheated on ye.”

  “I told you I don’t like Phelia, so fuck off,” I snapped, Annabelle like a rabid Chihuahua, biting in and not letting go.

  The bell rang as I entered the technology building. I pushed in front of students to get into the metalwork room. Wooden benches filled the space, along with metalworking machines, clamps, tools, and a whole lot of other shit I couldn’t give a toss about.

  The teacher turned towards me. He was a big bloke with hairy arms and a bushy moustache that should’ve been shaved off after the eighties. “You’re not in my class, Dante, so leave.”

  I ignored him, my gaze searching for Jasper. Not finding him, I turned to leave, annoyed that Annabelle was still following me. I sidestepped her and exited the room, pushing past a few late students, none of which were Jasper.

  Annabelle ran to my side. “Ye sure I can’t help?”

  “You can by fuckin’ off.”

  “That’s not what friends do. Ye helped me the other day, gave me the baws to stand up to ma uncle. He’s no going to make me change schools now.”

  “Good for you,” I muttered.

  “Aye,” she said, not picking up on my sarcasm, or wilfully ignoring it. “So, now I want to return that help.”

  I stopped in my tracks and turned towards her. “The only way you can help me is to find Jasper.”

  “I can do that. I saw him heed into the principal’s office.”

  My eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “Ye didn’t ask.”

  I spun around to go there.

  “He won’t be there now,” she added.

  I turned back. “Why?”

  “He ran oot o’ the room, heeding for the exit.”

  I swore and took off, shooting out of the technology block, the gym ahead of me. Annabelle sprinted after me, saying something about Jasper being a bully with bad breath. Ignoring her, I ran around the back of the gym, keying in Jasper’s number as I sat down on the ground. Again, I got his voicemail. I rattled off what Landon had said as Annabelle plopped down next to me, sounding out of breath. I also texted him, hoping the constant beeping of his phone would get his attention. When I was finished, I leaned the back of my head against the gym wall and closed my eyes, trying to calm down. Everything that had happened was swirling around in my mind, making it feel like my head was about to explode.

  Annabelle placed a hand on my arm. “Ye can tell me anything, Dante. I promise I’ll keep it a secret.”

  “Phelia double-crossed me.”

  “What did she do?”

  I opened my eyes, seeing genuine concern on her face. “You don’t needa know, other than it’s dangerous to hang around me now, so you should leave.”

  “Why?”

  “The Devil’s Crew think I killed Happy Meal and his mum.”

  She gasped. “The Devil’s Crew?”

  I nodded. “I’m so fucked.”

  “But ye’re innocent.”

  “They don’t know that.” I focused on my phone, about to key in my dad’s number, but it started ringing. I placed it to my ear, hearing Jasper saying my name. “Did’ja get my message?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he growled out.

  “Phelia fucked me over, man. I’m totally done for.”

  “No, she’s done for. I’m gonna kill that bitch.” He hung up.

  “Fuck!” I yelled, everything going tits up. I quickly dialled Hemi’s number.

  Hemi answered after a few rings with a “Kia ora.”

  “Phelia ratted me out to the DC,” I said, changing from English to Māori so Annabelle couldn’t understand. “Jasper’s gone after her. He’s going to kill her if you don’t stop him.”

  “Fuck! Do ya
know where he’s headed to?”

  “Pro’bly Phelia’s house.” I rattled off the address.

  “I know where that is. Don’t worry, I’m in the area, I’ll get to him first. I’ll also get someone to pick you up. Go to the principal’s office, pretend you’re sick. You’ll be safe there. Your ride will come inside to collect you. And, Dante...”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re gonna be all right, boy. I’ll sort this out for you. No one will hurt you.”

  I thanked him and hung up, knowing he couldn’t fix this. I was a dead man walking. Nothing could change that.

  20

  Clara

  I shook my head at Lindy’s rambling about Dante, doing my best to calm her down. At least I’d managed to get her to sit down, although I could tell she wanted to bolt, the girl practically thrumming with fury over what she thought she’d seen.

  “You can’t tell the principal about what Dante did,” I said. “He’ll expel him.”

  “Which he should!” Lindy snapped. “Dante not only attacked you, he got Ms. Farris fired.”

  “That wasn’t his fault—”

  “It was too! People believed his lies, believed she did something to him,” she said, waving her hands about. “I was in that class and I never saw her touch him. If anything, he was horrible to her, not the other way around.”

  “The issue wasn’t about her touching Dante, it was about her staring at him and—”

  “You can’t fire someone for staring! That’s ridiculous.”

  “You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say about what Ms. Farris did to his brother.”

  She sneered, her black-painted lips stretching into a thin line. “If he’s anything like Dante, he’s probably a liar too. That family is horrible. Did you see Dante’s father? His face was covered in a tattoo.”

  I shook my head. “You can’t judge him on that, it’s cultural.”

  “I heard he went to jail for assaulting his wife. Looks like Dante’s the same. He’s the one who hit Phelia.”

  I tensed. “He did no such thing.”

  “Yes, he did. Remember she turned up to class with that big plaster on her head. Dante did that.”