My Sweet Corrupted

"You like him," Skye cooed. After Nathan's departure, it was a lot easier to forgot the atmosphere of power surrounding him, the purposeful movement as he'd reached out to her. He'd been playing with her, aiming for a reaction to solidify his ego. Perhaps he was good looking and perhaps he smelt nice, but the same went for Tristan and she wasn't loosing her head over him. Which only served to annoy her further.

"Incorrect," she replied stiffly. "Now shhh." Tristan and Ian stood waiting by their lockers like the gentlemen they were. Eden didn't think that either of the boys woud appreciate Skye's admiration of Nathan's good looks or her insistence that she had a crush on him.

"I can't believe he's waiting by my locker," Skye said in a hushed tone, before they entered the boys' hearing range. "How pathetic."

"It's sweet." Eden smiled at Tristan, wiggling her fingers in a wave.

"Sure, when you've been dating two years. Not two weeks." Skye's voice hit speaking level as they reached the lockers, raising a curious eyebrow to Ian who watched her with enraptured hopefulness. He had no clue that he was doing anything wrong. Any other girl would have been delighted. "Did they move your locker here this semester, Ian?"

His smile faltered ever so slightly. "No, I came to walk you to class."

Eden kissed Tristan on the cheek in greeting, her hand resting on his forearm as she watched Skye and Ian. It wasn't the first time a boy had tried to get close, only to be cruelly pushed away, but each time Eden felt worse and worse for the guy.

"I don't think I'll be raped between here and Biology, but thanks for the offer," she said coolly, nudging him out of the way to open her locker.

Ian opened his mouth as if to say something, looking up at Eden and Tristan as if looking for backup, but all either had to offer him was a sympathetic look. "Fine," he grunted, turning away and disappearing into the crowd.

"It's for the best. He'll learn."

Eden frowned, standing up on her toes to try and catch Ian's head in the crowd but it seemed that he'd made his escape quickly. "You're going to crush his heart."

"Heartbreak is good for people. It helps them evolve."

"And you've had your heart broken before?"

"Of course not. I'm not that stupid to begin with."

As much as she loved Skye, it was times like this that she felt annoyed at her. There were plenty of jerks at the school, but again and again, Skye plucked out a rare kind, thoughtful guy, bullying them until they turned into just another jerk, and when she was tired of pushing them around, she released them back into the world, heartbroken and bitter. She claimed that she was doing them a favour, that good guys were just silly, whiny little children to begin with and that she was actually doing a public service. It didn't make it any easier to watch.

"Ian's a good guy, Skye. If you don't like him, maybe you should leave him alone," suggested Tristan.

On a good day, Skye liked Tristan. She liked teasing him and making playful prods at him and Eden, but when she was annoyed she didn't have any trouble letting him know that his opinion was unwelcome. "Why don't you pay more attention to your girlfriend instead of getting involved in something that doesn't involve you, Michaels." Slamming the locker door closed, she pouted her lips, pushing past them. Eden knew not to worry, she'd be better by lunchtime, but Tristan seemed confused.

"Pay attention? Pay attention to what?"

Eden shook her head. "Nothing, she was just angry. Come on, we're going to be late."