Free Golden Blood by Melissa Pearl

are you wasting time with that weed when
you should be with me?”
    “Don’t make me sick. This jacket’s suede, I
don’t want to ruin it.” She gave him a sickly sweet smile.
    “You really are a frigid bitch, aren’t you?”
He ran his hand up her arm.
    “Why? Because I don’t want to date an
arrogant prick who smells like Old Spice? I think that makes me
normal.”
    She flicked his hand off and slammed her
locker closed. Jordan’s face had taken on a hard edge after her Old
Spice comment. Her body instantly readied itself for battle in
spite of her inner screams to back off. Something about this loser
always brought out the worst in her. She managed to step away from
him, feeling her pride build as self-control took over. She would
have made it more than two steps if he hadn’t made his next
comment.
    “Well, maybe once the competition has been
eliminated you might think differently.”
    Gemma’s heart slammed into her ribcage.
Clinging to her inner monologue, she calmly turned on her heel to
face him.
    “Jordan, you touch Harrison and I will hunt
you down. I don’t care how much trouble it causes me, you will
suffer.”
    His eyes blackened with a sneer. “You know I
don’t care about that weed. I just want to get freaky with the
freak.”
    He ran a sweaty hand up her arm and placed it
on her shoulder, pulling her towards him. She swallowed back the
bile burning her throat, her mind switching to battle mode. Keeping
her voice slow and clear, she gave the enemy his final out.
    “I can think of six different ways to break
every bone in your hand. It will take me three seconds to choose
one.”
    His eyes narrowed with skepticism.
    “One.” She swallowed. “Two.”
    His hand dropped away and he shot her a
malignant look before backing off. She had a feeling it wouldn’t be
over that easily, but it would probably scare him away for a week
or two. At least he knew she meant it.
    She ran a hand over her face and smoothed
back her hair.
    “What was that all about?”
    The sound of Harrison’s voice made her jump,
yet instant relief flooded her system. She didn’t understand how
the guy was able to make her sweat with fear yet still make her
feel safe enough to be herself. The idea of downloading the last
five minutes made her turn with a welcome smile that quickly
disappeared. Her mouth froze shut. He wasn’t alone.
    Dana stood next to him, close enough that
their hands kept brushing. Chelsea was on the other side doing much
the same. Behind him Courtney hovered and behind her stood Darren.
Gemma wondered if the ringlet blonde knew she was being thoroughly
checked out by Mr. XBox.
    She caught Courtney’s eye before her gaze
dropped to the floor.
    “It was nothing.”
    A quick glimpse of Harrison showed a
smoldering face.
    “Are you okay?” Gemma glanced up at Courtney,
a ringlet bobbed against her cheekbone as she tipped her head,
looking concerned.
    “Of course she is.” Dana threw a black look
over her shoulder.
    “I was just checking D. Your brother can be a
jerk sometimes.”
    “First class.” Darren mumbled.
    “He’s not that bad!” Dana’s expression was
dark and sulky.
    “What did he want?” said Harrison.
    “Um. Just…” Gemma fought for a bland
expression. The group before her showed no mercy as they waited for
an answer. “Well, he…”
    “Cut out your tongue?” The look on Dana’s
face told Gemma she was a pitiful wretch.
    “No, I just don’t…”
    “Don’t what?”
    Gemma’s mouth went into gold fish mode.
Harrison soon put her out of her misery… sort of.
    “Leave her alone you guys. Gemma needs her
privacy.”
    Dana’s lips jumped into a smug smile. Gemma
glanced up at Harrison and didn’t see the anger she was expecting.
Instead he looked disappointed, which was a million times
worse.
    Gemma wanted to counter the attack with some
witty words that would make them all smile and realize she wasn’t a
complete dork. Harrison would laugh, step forward and kiss