Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

F un fact…

When you fall and hit your head, there is a very good chance you have ended up with a concussion. Add in a weight that is physically preventing you from getting up and…

Concussion doesn’t even cross my mind as I slowly drift to sleep. The weight from the gator holding me down has my mind shifting back to a fall day at my old middle school.

“ Now guys, I don’t want you to feel like this assignment is…” A scream straight out of one of the horror movies I am totally not supposed to be watching, stops my English teacher mid-sentence. For a moment, we all sit in silence, curious as to what is happening.

Thirteen seconds.

That’s all the time it takes for us to hear the next set of gunshots and for pure chaos to erupt inside the classroom. There is only one door in and out, so they start opening windows and sneaking out. While the school is on a single floor, there is still a small drop-off on this side of the building, making a landing outside the windows a dangerous choice.

A shot rings out closer and my heartbeat skyrockets.

Fuck it. I’ll take a leg injury over a gunshot wound.

Turning towards the windows, I prepare to make my way from the front-row seat I usually occupy to the closest window with two students waiting their turn to exit. Glancing down the row, I notice that most of the windows have two or three students still working their way out the windows. Why did I never notice the window-to-student ratio was so far off from one another before?

Another bang from the gun, this time I lose the loose hold I have on my bladder and piss runs down my legs. The fabric of my jeans wicks the wetness only seconds before sounds explode behind me.

A student rushes in, covered in blood, and takes out several of the abandoned desks. When she sees the windows, she runs and shoves others out of the way trying to get out. In our shock of watching her, we miss the handful of other students and the additional teacher who also enters the room.

Mr. Franer, my Pre-Algebra teacher, shoves the door closed and presses his body against it. Like a lot of the students that ran in here, he too has blood on him.

Another three shots sound off far too close. One of the students closer to the wall yelps and drops to the floor. A white-hot pinching feeling pulls my attention and when I glance down at my left leg, I spot a small circle of blood just above my kneecap.

A body slams against the door and the last of the students all scramble and claw at one another to try and make it out the windows. I don’t move. I don’t think I can. My fear has me rooted so firmly in place. Mr. Franer puts space between himself and the rattling door, as he heads straight for me.

I’m not sure what I expected my math teacher to do, but throwing himself against me, to send us both tumbling to the ground, was not at the top of my list. As we fall, the door bursts open and more shots ring out. Debris flies around and I watch as Mr Franer’s body does a tiny jerk before a tear falls down his cheek. By the time my back and head impact the ground, Mr. Franer’s body is already limp and lifeless. It holds me down and I’m trapped.

Trapped.

“Oh no you don’t!” My cheek gets hot as a hand connects with it. Hard. “Wake the fuck up!”

“Ow!” My eyes crack open but the light is so bright I moan and close my eyes again.

“Ok, well let’s not make those noises right now. But you are not falling back asleep. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” Whoever the male is, he seems agitated as he mumbles under his breath. His voice is deep and smooth. I shudder a little under the vibration of it.

Wait a fucking second.

Vibration?

My eyes fly open as I realize this guy is on top of me, and make the not-so-bright choice to sit up quickly. My forehead connects with his and the impact has us both yelling out before I fall backward again. Instead of the back of my head meeting the dirt ground again though, a warm hand braces my skull and prevents the impact from causing further damage.

In all the chaos, I’ve managed to keep my eyes open. This means that as the man leans over me to examine my head, I am able to see him quite clearly now.

His black hair is slick and rests just above his bare caramel-skinned shoulders. His face is full of hard lines and chiseled features, and even though his eyes are hard in concentration, the emerald color calms something inside of me. A very nice and thickly muscled arm extends near my head—no doubt since it’s attached to the hand—but my gaze trails down the muscles of the arm, to a naked chest and…

“Holy shit, you’re naked!”

The guy brings his attention back to my face and tilts his head as if he doesn’t understand.

“Why are you on top of me and naked? And where is the alligator? Juan! Juan, are you still here? Help!” I’m not really sure why I am asking for help when it seems this guy is concerned about me, but it feels like the normal thing to do. Besides, he’s naked. Like totally naked.

“Be quiet.” The guy growls the command at me and I snap my mouth shut. “I mean you no harm. And your friend seems to be more affected by those darts than I was.” He nods his head towards the direction I last saw Juan. When I manage to turn my head enough to see him, I spot the dart sticking out of his arm as his body is slumped to the side.

Well, this is just great.

The next bit of shock filters through and I try to wiggle my left leg. Pain shoots up the damn appendage and I hiss. “Where is the alligator?”

The guy seems to think hard for a moment before he mumbles a quick “I took care of him.”

I shriek. Not my finest moment. Especially when you factor in that I am currently pinned on an exotic forest floor by a very naked and gorgeous man, but I am also scared, concussed, and if I remember correctly, I pissed my pants at some point. The black jeans make it really hard to tell.

Yeah, today is just getting weirder and weirder.