St.Luke's

Anna woke the next morning with the sun gleaming in her eyes. For a split second she panicked and twisted against the arm that was wrapped around her middle. The moment passed and she remembered that the protective shield belonged to her friend, ‘If that’s what you would call him.’ a voice in her head chided at her. She snuggled a little further into his middle and smiled against the sun rays. Her eyes fluttered shut again and she fell back into a half dream state.
“You awake?” a voice breathed lovingly into her ear.

“If I say ‘no’ can I stay here forever?” she snuggled a little more closer, trying to obtain more body heat. It was already October but rather chilly, in her opinion.

“Well,” he paused teasingly “I suppose that I don’t want you to leave and that you don’t want to either.” his other arm snaked around her.

“I think you are right.” she opened her eyes and was greeted by a smiling sun on a beautiful Saturday morning. She rolled over to face Alex and smiled at the sight that greeted her. “Do you ever sleep with a shirt on?” she blushed as she asked him.

“Usually I am not even this modest.” he traced a finger over her collarbone. “In a dorm of guys there isn’t a molecule of modesty.” he laughed at her expression of both humor and disgust.

“Well…” she didn’t even finish.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS GOING ON HERE?” an infuriated voice shrieked. “MR. SERRANO YOU HAD BETTER START EXPLAINING THIS INSTANT!”

Alex and Anna both shot up in the bed and stared at a very disgruntled seething headmaster. Alex jumped to his feet and bowed low to the headmaster “Sir nothing happened.” he said as soon as his brown eyes found those of the angry older man. Wise gave him a look of such hatred that Anna thought that Alex was going to fall over dead.

Anna, in her haste to find the source of the voice, had bolted upright and not even realized that her white uniform top was unbuttoned all the way, so that her bra was showing. She gasped and pulled the sheet up. ‘When did that happen?’ she scolded herself. She had specifically seen the headmaster take in the sight of her. She felt blood rush to her face.

“Young lady?” the older man addressed her.

“It is as he said sir,” she felt her temper rise, she hated that he would dare accuse her of ever letting a guy touch her again. Especially since the night when he touched her. “Nothing happened, Jason.” she spat his name out as if it were the dirtiest of words.

His eyes went dark and he scowled at her. Anna felt herself flinch. She didn’t like it when people regarded her with such disrespect. “You would do well to respect those in power, Vaughn.”

Anna stood, not caring at this point whether or not the headmaster got an eyeful. She let the insult strike against her. Alex could have sworn she could not have been more hurt if Wise had slapped her. Her usual sweet innocent glow was gone in a flash. Her eyes hinted to the raging war that ignited inside of her. “And who would that be?” she mocked “Would that be you or your damn little friend that hangs between your legs?” the headmaster opened his mouth but was drowned out by Anna’s rants “You weak arrogant sexist, son of a bit. . .” A sting flashed across her cheek. She staggered back and put a hand to the source of the pain. She had worked herself into a rage that she couldn’t even see straight. She hadn’t seen it coming and Alex had. “Bastard.” she whispered.

Alex saw the scene in slow motion. Anna and Wise stood on the other side of the bed and he had to get there before she did something she would regret. He bounded across the bed and grabbed her by the middle. “No.” he said as she struggled all the harder to get away from him and kill the headmaster.

“Let go.” she hissed at him reaching toward the amused headmaster.

“Good way to choose Mr. Serrano.” Wise chuckled and Alex almost let go of her just to see how badly she could beat him, but he resisted the urge.

Anna struggled harder against him and was not getting any closer. “Well I see that this little interlude is nothing more than a hoax. Good day.” the chuckling man began to walk to the door and turned as he reached it. “Oh one more thing Mr. Serrano.” his eyes met the headmasters. “Don’t let this happen again, Wilson has my blessings but you do not. I don’t want anything going on that I don’t know about got it?”

Alex nodded and released his hold on Anna. She fell forward but caught herself before she stumbled too far. She rounded on him but her eyes confessed her fear. “What was that?” her voice was a whisper if not softer.

“He’s planning something.” Alex claimed simply knowing all the truth in his words “Don’t go anywhere near his office and make sure you stay the hell away from Aaron.”

Anna stood, mouth slightly agape and just looked at him. “What do you mean . . .?”

“It is as simple as jealousy. The green eyed monster has friends in high places.” Alex avoided her gaze “The headmaster is notorious for planning and scheming. There are a lot of ways to get to people and no doubt he will try to her to you too. He always gets his way and I don’t know what he’s planning but you can bet that its not good.”

Anna shrugged and took a deep cleansing breath to soothe the savage rage that was threatening to explode. “I got that.” another deep breath and she felt slightly more at ease. “I was there that night, remember?” she felt heat rise to her cheeks when she looked down and saw that her shirt was still open. She rushed to fiddle the buttons closed but he stopped her.

“I thought we had been through this before.” his grin was infectious “You” kiss “are,” kiss “beautiful.” longer kiss. Her hesitation to his kiss didn’t stop him from running his hands down her back or tracing her bottom lip with his tongue. He was not discouraged by her resistance but encouraged by he lack of enthusiasm. His hands wandered on their own, tracing their way down her spine and pulling her ever closer.

Anna enjoyed the first of the sweet kisses, but was alarmed by the last one. He wasn’t pulling away. She hated the way his hands found where her ticklish spots were. On the one hand he had called her beautiful and on the other this was way too fast for her after the ‘sessions’ with the headmaster and Aaron Wilson. She tried to push him away, but he was more forceful when she began to resist. His kisses began to trail along her cheek, then lower to her collar bone.

“Alex,” she half whimpered half said his name.

“Hmm.” his lips caressed a soft spot where her neck and shoulder met.

“No.” she shrugged and pushed a little harder. “Too soon.” she managed to say.
“Afraid are you?” Anna did not like the way he was staring down at her. She detested the way her body was again betraying her and she wanted him to let go of her so she could kill him.

“Let go, Alex.” she warned in a menacing voice.

“Or what?” his smirk seemed to come from no where.

“You don’t want to know.”

“OH really?”

Anna’s senses were going berserk. She still had control of her body but it was fading fast. ‘Please forgive me.’ her brain prayed. Her knee met rapidly hardening flesh. Alex yelped and jumped away from her. She had not kneed him as hard as she would have liked but it got him to move away.

Alex shook his head as if he had just woken up. His eyes were dazed and he stared at Anna in horror as if he did not know what he had just done. “What in the,” he interrupted himself “Shit. Anna.” he took one step forward which warded Anna two steps back. He opened his arms and looked wounded. “I wasn’t thinking.” he muttered in all truth.

“You weren’t thinking with the correct part of your anatomy, is what I think you mean.” she snapped buttoning up her shirt.

“Guess I deserved that.” he said running a hand through his brown curls.

Anna’s heart melted and she took four quick steps to him and hugged him. She felt like a little kid, hugging him around his stomach like that. After a second she spoke. “Thank you. I think I would have regretted doing what I wanted to do to the headmaster.” her voice shook slightly.

Alex absently stroked her hair and rested his head on the top of hers. “I’m sorry.” he said pulling away and looking at her.

“You should be. I thought for a second that you…” she shook her head to rid the rest of the thought from her mind. “Why did you anyway?” she sat on the bed and drew circles on her skirt.

“Well I guess its because. . .” it was Alex’s turn to stutter. His gaze didn’t meet hers.

“What?”

“Well,” his hesitation was making her nervous. “Promise you wont freak out and do something stupid?”

“Only if you tell me already.”

“My freshman year we, that is to say the guys, had special,” he paused searching for the right way to phrase it “we had seduction lessons.”

Anna’s mouth dropped and she gaped at him. Her disbelieving gesture made Alex hurry on with his explanation.

“Well Wise had been the headmaster for a few years and he said that love was the key to a happy school. He insisted on all of the freshman boys meeting at least once a week and he would teach us how to seduce girls. Then the week would pass and at the next meeting we would see who got some and who didn’t and so it was kind of a game. We would see which methods we could master and which ones worked on who and you know, which ones worked most often and so umm…”

Anna didn’t say a word. She stared at him in complete awe. Alex wasn’t sure if she was furious, surprised or just disgusted. “Well say something.” he coaxed.

“So its just a game?”

“No not now it isn’t. Its not like all of my class was enthusiastic about the game that Wise was playing with us. He was kind of creating his own little drama in his own twisted little world. He had us use the girls and then they would go crying to him and he would, well he would ‘comfort’ them. I was expecting him to wait you out.”

“So you mean to tell me that the headmaster is plotting this whole thing so he can get laid?”

“Yes, in some sick and twisted way. Aaron and I were the best at what we did. When I decided that I had had enough of the game, Aaron kind of felt he had ‘one upped’ me.”

“Why don’t you go to the police?” her voice was quite and her normal demeanor evaporated. It was as if his past had come back to haunt him.

“That would mean giving up a lot of powerful families sons. It would mean admitting that I had done so many things wrong. At the time it wasn’t rape because. . .”

“Its still rape.”

“They said it was okay.”

“So enticing them and then letting up so they are begging for more isn’t rape?”

“Not technically.”

“Sicko. You are just as bad as Wilson and Wise.”

In a flash she was slammed against a wall. She yelped and felt a bruise begin to form on either of her shoulder blades. His face was inches from hers. His body did not spare her any room. She felt his excitement through the fabric of his pants. “Don’t ever,” he grinded against her “ever,” he kissed her “compare me to those bastards again.” he growled staring her straight in the eyes. “I have stopped myself from forcing myself on too many girls. That includes you just now.”

“And that just makes every other time okay then?” her sarcastic tone did not help soothe Alex’s temper.

“I said I wasn’t going to force anyone so I didn’t. If you haven’t noticed Wise and Wilson forced you and I asked you to stop.” When her gaze hit the floor Alex stopped dead. “He gave you a choice and you a choice didn’t he? Wilson gave you a choice and you didn’t answer him?”

“He wasn’t going to stop.” she defended.

“But he gave you the chance to say no. Why in all the names of God didn’t you take it?”

“He wouldn’t have stopped. There was so much blind lust in his eyes I would bet anything he couldn’t see straight.”

“That’s not an excuse.” his fist dented the wall next to Anna’s head. “If you had told him no then we could have…”

“Gone to the police?” she let out a bitter laugh “And told them the whole damn story.”

Alex backed away from her as if she had a disease. She hated the look of pity in his eyes. She took a step toward him and he took a step back.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” he apologized. “I just wanted so bad to…” he couldn’t finish.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“No, but maybe one day you can say it without feeling like such a wimp.”

“I am not a wimp.”

“But you’re afraid of your own feelings.”

“I am not afraid, guys don’t talk about their feelings that’s what women do.”

“You can come and find me.” she walked right past him and out the door slamming it on the way out.

‘Why couldn’t I just tell her?’ a voice chided inside his head. ‘I just wanted her to know how much she meant and all I did was scare her away.’ he sighed and walked into the bathroom. ‘I wanted her to feel how much I love her.’ he turned the shower on ice and took off his clothes. ‘How can you love her? You don’t even know her.’ another voice protested. ‘Amor a partir del primer momento.’ his mother’s voice echoed. He stepped under the ice water. ‘I really have to start controlling my hormones.’