Page 42 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares (The Society #1)

Georgia

E verything felt different this morning.

My coffee was more bitter than usual, it took longer to chase away that groggy half-asleep feeling, and when I did my warmup stretches, my limbs felt extra heavy.

Even the crisp morning air smelled less fresh.

It felt like I wasn’t completely inside my body.

Every sense was dulled by the thoughts going through my mind.

Issac Kratz made me orgasm.

How could such a thing happen? I couldn’t comprehend it. The man who had been tormenting me since I got here made me feel so good that there were no words to describe it. And the truly messed-up part was that I wasn’t even mad at him for it.

I went into that closet with them. What did I think was going to happen? And that single thought was the one that wouldn’t go away.

I ran down the path, pushing my feet faster, hoping that the burn in my calves would calm my mind.

It didn’t. No matter how fast I went, I couldn’t outrun the voice in the back of my head whispering, ‘You’re smarter than that.’

Despite being the product of a teenage pregnancy, I wasn’t the person whose parents worried about the choices they were making. Mom knew where I was every night. I didn’t go to parties or date the wrong guy.

I didn’t date at all. My studies came before everything else. I was the good child every parent wanted. If I made Mom worry about anything, it was missing out on what she deemed as important experiences, like prom.

I was not the girl who got inebriated at a party, then went into a closet with two men. At least, I never used to be that girl.

Then last night happened.

Choices like that were what gave people reputations they didn’t want. Not that I necessarily cared about my reputation, but I did feel like everybody was staring at me.

I ran past a group of three guys and tried to ignore the way they were eyeing me.

Did they know what happened? Was I now that girl? Did Issac tell them? Did Zoe? I wouldn’t put it past her. Zoe was the type of girl who enjoyed tearing others down.

I never should have gone to that frat party.

I only did it for Rachel. Because that’s what good friends do.

Although one could argue that a good friend would never talk their friend into doing something they were so uncomfortable with.

But friendship was a two-way street, where sometimes compromises had to be made.

And panic attack aside, I did actually have some fun.

For a bit, I felt free from the pressures I’d placed on my own shoulders.

I wasn’t constantly thinking about my next exam or what I could do for extra credit.

Talking to someone else didn’t stress me out at all.

There were no expectations to meet or goals to achieve.

I wasn’t Georgia, the awkward honor student. I was just another girl at a party.

I realize now that that was the alcohol. I now saw the appeal of drinking. It was nice to just be for once in my life. It was a shame that there were so many negativeside effects that came with alcohol. One of which was impaired judgment.

Why I ever agreed to play that stupid game was beyond me. I typically avoided girls like Zoe, but for some reason, I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of winning. Turned out she won anyway. I ran out of that house utterly mortified.

Needless to say, it took me a while to fall asleep last night, and when I did, I dreamed about that closet. Seven minutes was all it took to upend the stable course of my life into chaos. It wasn’t because I thought Issac wanted me.

He wasn’t going to knock on my door and claim me as his future bride or anything. That would be ridiculous. The chaos was all me. My body felt like a foreign entity.

When I woke up this morning, I could still feel Ravi and Issac’s hands on me.

It wasn’t a violation in the way it should’ve been.

I didn’t feel violated at all. I was pissed off, not at either of them.

I was angry with myself because I couldn’t chase away the sensation of being squished between them.

I was terrified, yet not. It was almost as if the warmth of their bodies calmed a part of my panicked mind. The only person I had to blame for that was me. Lack of experience was never an excuse. It was a choice.

If I’d gone on a couple of dates, or to just one high-school party, I might’ve been better prepared. After all the arguments I had with Mom about prioritizing knowledge over beauty, I neglected the most crucial subject.

Life itself.

What nineteen-year-old had no idea how to interact with people, or what to expect in social situations?

I didn’t even understand my own body’s responses, because I’d never explored it myself.

Of course, I had urges—I had hormones like everyone else—but I was too busy studying seismic activity and sedimentary deposits to pay attention to them.

I didn’t like being unprepared for something. I was so not prepared for Issac and his friends, or anything else here. Kash, Rachel, and campus life in general were so far out of my comfort zone. For the first time in my life, I wished I’d listened to Mom’s advice.

It was too late to go back now. I had to forge ahead and deal with whatever came my way. Transferring colleges wasn’t an option. Everything I ever wanted was right there, waiting for me to take it. If I ran away because I felt out of place, then all my sacrifices would be for nothing.

My mind finally cleared of the chaos, allowing me to enjoy my morning run. That wasuntil a haunting reminder jogged up beside me.

“Hey,” Ravi smiled.

Seriously? “What are you doing?”

Was there no place on this campus where I could get a moment of peace?

“You’re not the only person who runs in the morning.”

No, but I was the only one who ran on the broken paths weaving through the woods behind campus. Besides… “You’re wearing combat boots.”

Ravi arched a brow. “Is there something wrong with running in combat boots?”

There were so many things wrong with it. Not to mention the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing weren’t exactly proper running attire, hence why he was already panting.

“I’ve been chasing you for like twenty minutes,” he breathed heavily. “Can you slow down?”

I didn’t want to slow down, but I wanted him to follow me in the forest even less. Being alone with Ravi or any of them was a bad idea. Being alone in an isolated area was a worse idea. So, I stopped a few feet before the turn that cut into the thick wall of trees.

“What do you want Ravi?”

He bent over to catch his breath and held up a finger. “Give me a minute.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Wait,” he said when I took a step. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“You wanted to see how I was doing?”

“Yeah.” He sucked in a deep breath and stood up. “You ran out of there so fast yesterday, I didn’t get the chance to ask.”

That was a load of crap. “Do you even care how I’m doing?”

“Not really.” He shrugged.

“So, why are you asking?”

“Oh, I was stalling.”

Stalling?

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as I turned to run away.

But it was too late. I collided with a solid wall of muscle, halting my retreat.

The force of my shoulder smacking off a chest pushed me back, knocking me off my feet.

I flew back, landing ass first on the hard dirt path.

Pain shot up my tailbone, stealing my breath and blurring my vision.

But I didn’t need to see to know who I ran into.

“Well, that was pathetic.”

I’d know Issac’s voice anywhere.

“No,” I coughed up at the hazy image of Issac. “That’s what happens when someone my size runs into someone your size.”

It was basic mass versus momentum.

My vision cleared in time for me to see those piercing turquoise eyes glaring down at me. “Is that so?”

“Yes, that’s so.” I pushed myself back onto my feet and brushed the dirt off my ass. “If I were going at full speed and you weren’t prepared, I would’ve knocked you down.”

“And yet you were the one who wound up in the dirt.”

Asshole. “Now, if you’re done tormenting me, I’d like to get back to my run.”

And far away from them.

“Oh, I haven’t even begun to torment you.” Issac took a step closer, making me take one back.

Being here with Issac and Ravi was not a good situation, but I highly doubted he would do anything while we were out in the open. Mind you, he did attack Kash in the library.

Taking a cautious step back, I looked from Issac to Ravi and back again. Neither one of them seemed any more threatening than usual, but they did look different. Almost appealing in a way.

I found myself noticing things I didn’t before. Like how the hard ridges of Issac’s chest pressed against his shirt, and the playful way the golden flecks in Ravi’s hazel eyes sparkled. They also smelled really good. That didn’t mean I trusted them anymore. In fact, I trusted them less.

Issac tipped his head. “You scared, Peaches?”

Yes, I was, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

“What do you want from me, Issac?” Whatever offense I committed against him, I had long ago paid for.

I backed up as he stepped in again.

“What do I want?”

He took another step.

“We can start with your complete and utter surrender…”

Another step .

“Followed by your undying servitude.”

Another step.

“And then I’ll take your body.”

My retreat halted when my back hit a tree.

Issac closed the distance so fast that I didn’t have time to react.

The air literally sucked in around me as he moved.

My heart hammered against my chest as I was reminded of that moment in the cafeteria when I questioned the reality of supernatural beings.

Of course, I passed that thought off as my own paranoia. No such thing existed.

Now, I wasn’t so sure.

There was a good three feet between us, and Issac closed that distance in the time it took me to blink. One second, he was there, the next, he was here.

Everything I thought I knew was suddenly in question. I couldn’t wrap my head around what just happened, let alone formulate a sentence. All I managed to stammer out was a quiet, “People don’t move that fast.”

“I do.” Issac slammed his arm into the tree above my head and leaned in, growling, “Scared yet?”

Yes, yes, I was. But I wasn’t going to admit that to him.

“Get away from me,” I ordered in as forceful a tone as I could muster.

“Still playing the brave one, I see,” Issac snorted. “But I can feel you trembling.”

I was so done with his games.

Puffing my chest out, I jabbed my finger in his chest. “I don’t care how fast you move. If you come near me again, I will end you.”

It was a sad attempt at a threat. I knew that, and Issac knew that. Proof of which came when he threw his head back with a laugh. I couldn’t blame him. The top of my head barely came to his shoulders, and he moved faster than anyone I’d ever seen. What could I possibly do to him?

“You hear that, Ravi?” he called over his shoulder. “Georgia here is going to end me.”

“I look forward to watching her try,” Ravi snickered.

Issac stepped in, forcing me to once again smash my back against the tree.

“Enjoy your last day of freedom, Peaches. Cause tonight, you’re mine.”

The seriousness in his tone wasn’t what made me swallow back a heavy gulp. It was the darkness in his eyes.

Issac wasn’t a good guy, I knew that, but the way he was looking at me made me question the existence of pure evil. It was as if the devil himself was inspecting me. How did one fight that? Issac was determined to drag me to hell.

Just as I was beginning to lose all hope, I heard a familiar voice in the distance.

“Georgia, are you out here?”

Rachel!

I never thought I’d be happy to hear her voice.

Her call distracted Issac long enough for me to throw my knee into his groin. And I got him good. I felt the crack from my impact.

Issac sucked in a strangled gasp, folded over, then fell to ground, groaning in pain.

Ravi thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He doubled over with laughter as I sang, “Not fast enough to dodge a knee, I see.”

Before Issac could get up, I turned and bolted down the path in the direction I heard Rachel call from.