Free Dark Secrets by A. M. Hudson Page B

thicker, darker lashes than girls.
    “ I doubt Ara’s first
impression of you is that you’re a jackass, David,” Emily
said.
    My eyes went from her
to David again, humour-laced confusion making them smaller. “Wait,
you were worried about my first impression—of you ?”
    David exhaled a breath
through his nose.
    I wanted to laugh.
“Um. I’ve already decided who I think you are and, David?” I looked
over at the chess club boy. “What you did for that kid—it was
really nice. Jackass-jocks, they don’t do things like
that.”
    “ And neither do
fragile, very breakable young girls.” He grew taller in his seat,
his tone sharp.
    I inhaled a huff of
insult through my open mouth. How dare he? Fragile? Breakable? “I
can take care of myself, thank you,” I scolded. “How’d you even
know I was gonna throw it back at them?”
    “ I could tell—from
the way you charged forward, guns blazing.”
    “ Really, Ara. You
should avoid revenge throws when it comes to fruit at this school,”
Emily warned.
    “ Yeah,” Ryan added.
“We’ve had kids hospitalised with lemons in places they don’t
belong.”
    I cringed, hiding my
disgust. “Well, thanks, but I’m fine. I know how to hold my
own.”
    “ Sure. Until you hit
the wrong person in the head and they come after you,” Ryan
said.
    I doubted they’d come
after a teacher’s daughter. “I’d be okay. I’ve done self-defence
training.”
    “ Serious?” Emily sat
taller.
    “ Yeah, well, kind of.
My friend’s a cop, so he taught me how to fight off bad
guys.”
    “ Cool. You should
teach us some moves.” Emily motioned to herself and
Alana.
    “ Won’t matter, Ara,”
Ryan said. “If they know you’ve done self-defence, they’ll make a
point of showing you how weak you really are. And you’re like—” he
presented me with a flat palm, “—tiny. They’d pin you in
two-point-one nanoseconds.”
    David glowered at Ryan
then looked back at me, turning his whole body to face mine. “Look,
the fact is, they don’t care who you are or who you hang out with.
If they get it in for you, you might as well leave the
school.”
    “ Then I’d just
leave.”
    “ Precisely why it was
just better for all if I turned it into a game.”
    “ Well, I don’t need
someone making those decisions for me. If I want to get myself in
trouble, that’s my prerogative.” I folded my arms, sounding too
Aussie on the last word.
    After a second, David
breathed out through his nose, his shoulders sinking. “You’re
right. I’m sorry I stepped in; it was not my intention to offend
you. I just didn’t want—” He swallowed hard.
    “ Didn’t want what?” I
hated when people stopped talking mid-sentence.
    His jaw went tight as
his eyes narrowed, tracing every inch of my face like I was the
most irritating person in the world.
    “ It’s an apple bomb,”
I said. “Get over it.”
    “ It’s not the apple
bomb issue I have a problem with.” He sat back a little, gaining
distance. “It’s you and your altruistic need to get yourself marked
as a target.”
    Altruistic? Me? Boy,
he so did not know me. I cleared my throat, half aware of all the
eyes at our table baring down on David and I. “And why would that
irritate you so much? You don’t even know me. I’m not your
problem.”
    My words only made him
rub his brow; he took a long breath, turning the tension around the
table into dense air. “Ara. You just don’t get it.”
    “ Don’t get it? Don’t get what ?” I wanted to stand up so I
could yell louder. “That you had no right to play white knight and
step in when I was going to help someone. I am not a little girl. I
can take care of myself.”
    He opened his mouth
then closed it quickly. “You know what, fine. Go ahead. Throw a
damn apple at them and see what they do to you.”
    “ Fine.” I unfolded my
arms, stood up and grabbed the apple off Alana’s plate.
    “ Whoa!” David had his
hand on my wrist before I even drew it back by my