Rocket

-XVII-

Fiona held her forehead trying to calm herself thinking of what could happen in the next few weeks or days. Handing her a glass of water, her boyfriend sat beside her and pulled off his boots wanting to be at least physically comfortable. He eyed her fingers as they brushed against her lips in a nervous fit and he grabbed them. Fiona turned to him.

“Kain-”

“Fiona.”

“I should have never gone to that party all because of some stupid helmet. Kain, what was I thinking?”

“It was my fault for allowing you to come with me.” He plopped his head back on the couch and growled angry with himself. “In all honesty, I was stupid to think this would never happen.”

“Your friends don’t like outsiders do they?”

“No.”

He tilted his head to look at the girl who brought her knees into her chest. She was really worried. “Hey. Look at me.” The girl was gone with her thoughts. With a grunt, Kain slid off the couch and onto his knees. He pulled her legs down and placed himself between them catching her attention. “Let’s try to think of this in a better way. What if nothing ever happens and it just turns out that Henry was lying out of his ass?”

“Why would he want to lie?”

“I don’t know. I thought I knew Henry but…”

“Do you think they’ll come over tonight?”

Kain shrugged. He hated not being able to predict his so called friends’ actions.

The rest of the day was slow. The television was never turned on and the two settled on studying in the living room. Fiona cooked breakfast without the aid of the radio and Kain took care of the cockroach she forgot about. No one else came to the door and the couple didn’t plan on answering it anyway.

That night Fiona couldn’t even pretend to be asleep. The sounds of the neighborhood that was supposed to be at rest kept her eyes wide open in the bluish dark. She twitched hearing her window screech shut as Kain climbed back into her bedroom. She rolled over and looked to him for an answer. The two had heard voices and car doors slamming.

“Anything?” Fiona whispered as if someone was right outside.

“No. Just some kids down the street.” Kain shook his head bathing in the moonlight. He pulled off his sleeveless shirt and climbed into bed draping his arm over her.

They faced each other feeding off of the paranoia clearly written across their faces. Fiona began to play with the black cord around Kain’s neck.

“Have you ever done something like this? Gone after someone based on rumors?”

The boy blinked. “I’ve done other things based on rumors but I’ve never hurt anyone because of it.”

“What did you do?”

“The question isn’t what but rather who.” Kain rolled onto his back placing an arm behind his head. “But I guess you already knew that.” He smirked welcoming the sudden change of subject.

Fiona scrunched her nose but continued to listen a bit curious.

“I’ve been with a lot of girls, the next more interesting than the first. It was like a hobby. Me and the guys would just go different places and pick up the hottest chick that walked through the door. But some of the girls we actually went out looking for.”

“That sounds creepy.”

The boy frowned at the ceiling. “Not really. It wasn’t like we were rapists.” He glanced at his girlfriend seeing that she wasn’t convinced. “It’s like hearing there’s a sale at the mall, wouldn’t you want to go and check it out?”

“Comparing girls to objects isn’t very charming, Kain.”

“Well I wasn’t looking to be charming back then.”

Fiona hummed to herself and sat up. She wore a T-shirt with an outstretched collar that exposed her shoulder. “So was I a random catch or an interest based off a rumor?”

“Random catch.” He reached out to grab her thigh and slipped his fingers underneath her shirt. “But I didn’t expect all this to follow afterward.”

The dancer went stiff staring back into her boyfriend’s black eyes. He looked less devious in the dark despite his wispy hair and unreadable expression. His fingertips lightly brushed her warm skin setting a course for something new. Becoming more confident by not being stopped, Kain gripped the end of her shirt and pulled her forward into a rough kiss. Her sound of surprise made him grin and he held her in place hooking a finger into her panties. Still no objections. She would have been stripped naked if it wasn’t for the loud bang coming from outside.

Fiona gasped jerking away from Kain and they both sat up looking at the window. The Asian crawled out of bed first and leaned on a bent arm looking down and out into the street. Some teens were walking down the sidewalk and one apparently fell into a group of trash cans.

“Drunks.” The dancer grabbed the boy’s waist.

“Fiona?”

“Yes?”

“Tomorrow when we go to school we act as if nothing ever happened, okay?” He was sure Mickee and all his idiocy was going to be there waiting but it wasn’t like he alone was a threat.

Fiona nodded and rested her forehead against his arm feeling perhaps confident behind his instructions. “Alright.”

The ride to school was dull and muggy. The sky had become a dusty blanket of holes where the sunlight seeped through from time to time. The early morning was silent and Fiona rested her head against Kain’s back watching the buildings and cars zip by.

She wasn’t as calm as Kain was when they jumped out of bed. Despite the comforting words and courtship, Fiona’s mind was a mess. Every street, sidewalk, and coffee shop seemed to host menacing eyes glaring back at her. She couldn’t keep focused on one spot without making eye contact with someone intimidating. Halfway to school, she shoved her face into her boyfriend’s beat-up jacket.

Kain’s motorcycle rolled to a stop catching a red light. He took the opportunity to stretch and patted his head. He had left his helmet at home and hated what the wind was doing to his hair. “How you doing back there, babe?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Um, good.”

Kain frowned at the sudden vice-like grip around his abdomen. He partially turned to see her out of the corner of his eye when a vehicle pulled up beside them. The window was already down and the owner of the car was looking straight at him. Misty eyed and foreign, the boy was around the couple’s age and wore a frown after noticing the girl on the bike. Before any words could be exchanged, the streetlight turned green and Fiona urged Kain to go.

Several turns later, the two arrived at the community college with time to spare and the parking lot was sprinkled with cars. Kain hurried to park his bike with the awkward silence clawing at the back of his mind. He waited for Fiona to hop off first and she hugged herself scanning the parked vehicles like a hawk. From what she could see, the cars were empty but her frantic brain painted a darker picture; one with heavy footsteps and shouting. An ambush.

“Hey.” Kain nudged her elbow wanting to hurry inside before anyone showed up. He rested an arm over her shoulder and pulled the glove off his left hand with his teeth.

“Thank God I have class with you today.”

The campus was beige and windy. Unlike Fiona and Kain, the other early birds were like zombies dragging their feet down the hallways. In an attempt to wake themselves up, some blared their IPod or headphones all while sticking their nose into a book.

“It’s dead in here.” Fiona commented nearly stepping on a sleeping student.

“Well this is what we get for coming so early. Looks like the teacher’s here early too.”

“Good.” It was stupid but the dancer felt a sense of safety being in the small classroom. Her English teacher was busy on the computer and barely lifted her head to say “good morning”.

Kain took a seat next to his girlfriend by the window and they both watched as the student s began to trickle into the parking lot. The Liberal Arts building was quite a length away from the parked cars but Kain kept a sharp eye out for any motorcycles. His mind went to the image of Henry tipping his glasses with a devilish smirk. He always saw the boy as an understanding individual, intelligent and most importantly a friend. He never expected Henry to be the one to betray him. Mickee yes but Henry never. He knew the kind of woman Rose was. He didn’t like her either. What was with the change of character?

The boy’s eyes fell on Fiona’s who was glued to the window running her hand down the metal paneling. She looked cute in her worn jeans and slashed black shirt. He figured she was trying to appear hardcore and wondered if it was because of their current situation.

“Fiona.”

The girl turned around with raised eyebrows.

“Get away from the window. Come sit down.” He said it so leisurely.

Fiona joined him and was now focused on the classroom door just when a student slipped in. He glanced at the couple uninterested and took a seat in the front row. Kain watched him briefly and felt Fiona dropped her head onto his shoulder.

“This is draining me.”

Soon the rest of the classmates appeared and the room suddenly became noisy. Outside the parking lot was full and the campus was littered with students; some rushing to beat the 7 o’clock mark. The English teacher stood up and began passing back papers. She counted off everyone’s name and handed Fiona’s essay to Kain.

“Nice.” He pinched the girl’s side. “Genius.”

Fiona smiled at the excellent grade and relaxed against the back of her chair. She looked over to Kain’s paper as it slid across the table. “Oh come on. “

The boy grinned. “An A is an A, babe.”

Fiona snatched the paper away from him squinting. “Not when there’s a sticker included.”

“Jealous.”

They shared a laugh as they looked over each other’s paper and completely missed the individual slipping into class five minutes late. Technically she would have been considered tardy if it was her classroom. She only stayed for a few minutes and causally talked with an acquaintance while leisurely playing with the camera function on her cell phone. Giving the couple one last glance, she exited the room without the teacher noticing.

“Don’t tell me you’re seriously angry over a sticker.”

“I can’t beat you in anything.” Fiona folded her essay paper into a small square.

“Hey, don’t do that. You worked hard on it.” He unfolded the paper. “And you can beat me in something.”

The curly-haired girl rubbed her neck. “What?”

Her eyes lit up watching the boy attempt to move his hips while in his seat. He pumped his arms above his head and stuck out his lips. He stopped spotting a bright grin on his girlfriend’s face.

“Don’t ever do that again.”