Part 46 (2/2)

”Why?”

She shrugged. ”Can't explain it, just did. I'm really sorry.”

He breathed out. ”No probs. Guess that's why you're at Wera, cos those nasty Claydon boys scare you, unlike us nice boys at Wera who just get you horn-” He grinned, ”Swooning.”

She humphed, ”Yeah, right, Romeo, it's cos Claydon's a really bad school. I used to hate goin' there. And it's not just the students who are bullied, even the teachers are hara.s.sed.”

”That happens at our school too.”

”Not like Claydon. They bring knives into cla.s.s, even guns.”

”Yeah, I heard that too.” Ash started walking, grateful that he didn't live in Claydon, because unlike Tiana he had no great sporting talent. Being good at rugby wasn't enough, because half of b.l.o.o.d.y South Auckland was great at that game and the Pacific Island boys had bulk on their side. Get hit out on a field by one of those m.o.f.os and you'd end up in a neck brace, which was why he learned how to sidestep pretty fast.

Tiana took hold of his hand. They walked in silence, Ash acutely aware of being out in the open. He'd been caught a few times skipping cla.s.s and had almost gotten suspended once, which would've ended in an expulsion if the princ.i.p.al had found out what he'd really been up to. His cousin occasionally asked him to be a backup man for selling drugs, and if anything went wrong Ash was to lure the cops or an angry customer away. But some dreg pulled a gun on him the last time, that experience putting him off from helping Hunter again.

”This is my road,” Tiana said.

They entered the side street with a corner dairy. Signs advertising The New Zealand Herald and women's magazines brightened the shop's exterior along with buckets of flowers. Trees and power-poles punctuated the sidewalk, the pink blossoms contrasting with the concrete eyesores. Tiana steered him into a property framed by an alleyway and a large steel pylon. The weatherboard home appeared well cared for; its white exterior gleaming like an advertis.e.m.e.nt for house paints. To Ash's relief the driveway was empty, only tyre marks remaining on the lawn.

”Told ja my mum would be out,” Tiana said. ”She helps at church on Wednesdays.”

They walked up the path and onto the patio, Ash's nerves causing his stomach to clench as she unlocked the front door. She glanced past him as though to check that no nosy neighbours were watching, then ushered him inside. A mixture of bright colours a.s.saulted his eyes as he entered the lounge. Two handmade quilts with flower patterns adorned one wall while a large photo of what appeared to be Tiana's family filled the s.p.a.ce in between. He frowned, the boy standing behind Tiana looking a lot like the spiky haired guy.

Tiana grabbed his arm as he moved towards it. ”Shoes off,” she said.

He toed off his boots then walked up to the picture. It was the guy, just younger and... He'd also seen him somewhere else before, but b.u.g.g.e.red if he could remember where.

He pointed at the picture. ”You were avoiding your brother?”

”I was protecting you; he would've bashed you for bein' with me. He's extremely over-protective.”

”You could've just told me that without lying.”

She grimaced. ”I thought you'd dump me if you knew what he was like.”

He put his arms around her waist. ”I wouldn't do that. And you haven't met my father; he'd make your bro look like the Pope.”

She laughed. ”Well, at least your stepdad's nice.”

”S'pose so, I just wish he'd stop goin' through my stuff.”

”Yeah, my mother does that too.” She kissed his cheek. ”You wanna go to my room now?”

Smiling, he followed her down the pa.s.sage, feeling a h.e.l.l of a lot better. After four months of dating, he'd wondered why she hadn't invited him to meet her family. His cousin had told him Tiana was probably ashamed of him. Although Hunter had been joking Ash had believed it, but now, it looked like he was wrong.

Pictures of netball players decorated her bedroom walls, while makeup, jewellery and tiny porcelain ponies littered her mirrored cabinet. Ash's gaze zeroed in on the bed, the thought of what Tiana was going to do making him want to run to the bathroom for another clean. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, and tried not to let on how nervous he was. No one had ever offered him anything like this before...

Well, that wasn't entirely true because he'd had s.e.x with Jenna Hamilton five months ago. Though, he could hardly call it that, considering all he did was stick it in and nothing else. In and out, not even a wiggle about, because she'd started crying, complaining that he was hurting her. Then he saw blood. Freaking, he'd apologised profusely, and had gotten dressed and left. And when she'd slagged him off at school, totally humiliating him in front of his mates, he hadn't said a word because he'd felt awful that he'd hurt her. Eventually he'd fessed up to his cousin about what had happened. In return Hunter had given him some advice: 'Chicks are like ground and instant coffee. One tastes better but takes longer to prepare. If you wanna go with a virgin, c.u.mming doesn't happen instantly, you hafta grind them slow or else those chicks will scream b.l.o.o.d.y murder. And that's precisely why I like older women, cos I prefer instant. You put your spoon in, mix it around and hey presto you get an o.r.g.a.s.m.'

And then Hunter had gone on to explain what types of chicks were good for roasting.

Tiana shut the door, flicked on a light switch then closed the shutters. She turned around, her expression reflecting the nervousness he felt. Unsure of what to say or do, Ash sat on the bed, hoping that she would make the first move. He didn't want to stuff things up twice.

She sat next to him and looked down at her hands, not uttering a word. Feeling awkward, Ash went to ask if she was alright, but before he could get a word out she grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips, knocking him against the headboard. He quickly recovered and returned the kiss, then almost jumped as she touched his crotch. Willing himself to relax, he closed his eyes and placed a hand on one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, expecting to get it smacked off, but instead she unzipped his pants and started jerking him off. And there was no way he wanted to spurt before they'd barely started. Mrs. Mullen, he thought, think of Mrs. Mullen. An image of his elderly neighbour popped into his head-dentures and all. He shuddered, imagining those awful teeth on his c.o.c.k.

He opened his eyes to get a picture of Tiana, and slipped a hand under her jumper. She pulled back from their kiss. Her face was flushed, both embarra.s.sment and arousal colouring her caramel skin.

”Close your eyes,” she said.

He did as instructed and sat waiting, feeling both exposed and excited. A light kiss brushed his c.o.c.k, making him jump. Tiana giggled then lifted up his s.h.i.+rt and jumper. He peeked to see what she was doing. She was staring at his erection against his stomach.

”It's so red.” Her eyes flicked up to his. ”I told ja to close your eyes, Ash.”

Embarra.s.sed, he closed them again. He thought she'd just put it in her mouth and make him c.u.m, not examine him like some science experiment, ready to be marked on his size and b.l.o.o.d.y colour. No, don't get him wrong, he was proud of what he had down there, because he was definitely bigger than his mates-not like he was looking, they just seemed smaller-but why the h.e.l.l wasn't she putting it in her mouth already?

She rained more kisses on it. He felt her move off the bed then a strange, but nice moistness enveloped his c.o.c.k. What sounded like a car door slammed outside, taking away the warmth encasing him. He opened his eyes and looked at Tiana, who was now kneeling in front of him with a frightened expression.

”What-”

She placed a finger to his lips. He closed his mouth and waited, wondering what he'd done wrong now. The sound of the front door jiggling made both of them bolt to their feet. She pulled the blinds up and opened the window, silently gesturing for him to climb out. He zipped up his pants and climbed through the window, jumping onto the gra.s.s.

”My boots,” he whispered.

”Later,” she hissed. ”Go.” She shooed him with a flick of a hand, then lowered the blinds.

He stood there, frozen like a stunned animal. A door shutting inside snapped him out of his possum-in-headlights state. He inched around the corner of the house, aware that he could still be seen. It wasn't exactly how he'd pictured meeting her mum, dad, or whoever it was.

A silver station wagon was parked in the driveway. He slowly edged down the side of the house and peeked around the corner at the front. No one was in sight, but he still had to run down the driveway and, from memory, the curtains were wide open. He glanced at the fence lining the walkway. Yeah, he could scale that. He put a foot on the middle beam and pushed himself up and over, landing on the concrete on the other side, then ran down the walkway and onto a field. Cla.s.srooms framed one side, while a fence outlined the back of the school with roofs jutting over the top. He grimaced, realising he was on Claydon High's rugby field, the goal posts and blue clad students hard to miss.

A group of boys throwing around a rugby ball looked his way. A fat boy yelled out, ”Hey, wrong school, dumba.r.s.e.”

Ash gave him the finger then ran back down the alleyway, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone had followed. Nope, he was safe. He turned back round, and almost smacked face first into three guys as they piled into the walkway: Tiana's brother and his mates.

”s.h.i.+t,” Ash muttered.

Tiana's brother pulled out something from his pocket. ”Thought I recognised you. Now, the question is do ya recognise me?”

Ash's gaze dropped to the black handle of a gun. He backed up, the scene feeling like deja vu. It was the c.o.kehead who'd pulled the gun on him and Hunter during the drug sale a few months back, but this time the guy was sporting a different hairstyle and was his girlfriend's psycho brother.

Yeah, today did suck, but in the worst possible way.

Graffiti Heaven is available from Amazon.

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