A Gift for Audrey and Jackie

An Unexpected Surprise

"Ah, crap," Audrey muttered, glancing down at her bleeding hands. She walked off, jealousy coursing through her. Yes, Audrey, Atticus Rhodes's best friend and to some students, girlfriend, had a crush on The Kaiser, top of the class, Zane Truesdale.

She headed towards the bathroom, staring at the ground. Suddenly, she bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," the person said. Audrey recognized the voice immediately.

"K-Kaiser Zane! Sorry!" she exclaimed.

Zane stared down at her for a couple of seconds. "Don't be. It's perfectly fine." Suddenly, he blurted, "You're the girl whose book Atticus took yesterday, right? I did apologize about him, didn't I?"

He remembers me? "Um..... Yeah."

Zane nodded, then glanced down. "Oh, your hands are bleeding," he noted. Carefully, he took Audrey's pale hands in his and examined them. "I'll fix them up real quick."

Fortunately for Audrey, Zane didn't look back at her face as he led her to his room, because it was redder than Jaden's jacket.

In Zane's lavish Obelisk room, he took a washcloth and slowly cleaned the blood off Audrey's fingers and palms. "I'm assuming you know me," he said with a laugh as he placed a few Band-Aids here and there. He moved to the couch and motioned for Audrey to sit next to him. She did.

"How could I not?" Audrey blushed. "You're Zane Truesdale."

"And your name's Audrey."

"How did you know?" she asked, surprised.

Zane smiled. "JJ referred to you once as, 'Atticus Rhodes's girlfriend'. Is that true?"

"No! Why would she think that?" Audrey exclaimed. "I'm just his friend!"

"Really?" Zane said, arching an eyebrow. "Because I heard the same thing from Atticus when I went to talk to him after he tried to take your book!"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Please, he's done that at least once for every girl. And it's only the second week of school!"

Zane laughed. "You may seem like an introvert, but up close, you're.....you're really cool."

Neither one could figure out who moved first. All either student knew was that suddenly, Audrey's arms were wrapped around Zane's neck, his arms were around her waist, and they were in a liplock so tight they felt like they'd never break away.

Eventually, they had to, and they did, panting. Once Audrey caught her breath, she smiled up at Zane. "Wow....you're a good kisser."

Zane smiled, hugging her. "I suppose. I mean, that's what JJ thinks."

Audrey's head jerked up. "What?"

He went paler than normal. "I- I mean- that is to say-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Audrey shoved him away, a couple of the bandages falling off. "That was straight-up mean!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "Kissing a girl you're not even dating! And I didn't even know you were dating JJ! It's mean to her too!"

"No, we've just kissed a couple of times!" Zane retorted, standing as well. "She wanted my opinion on her kissing and I told her I'd help! We're not dating!"

Audrey burst into tears and tore out of the room, leaving Zane to sink onto the bed and stare at the ceiling for the next three hours.

There was only one place to go when Zane needed to stare at the ceiling for three hours.

To the docks.

"You came," JJ whispered, sliding her arms around his neck. "I felt bad pretending to not know you as well earlier."

"I feel bad too. Maybe we should drop the act. Let this go public," Zane replied, hugging her waist.

JJ shook her head. "I dunno, Zane. I feel that would upset some people. Atticus, for one."

"And Au- that girl that hangs out with him. Somehow I think she'd be upset."

"Maybe," the brunette girl mused, letting go of him and stepping back. "With the way you kissed her, I'm sure she would."

Zane let that register. "I told you no more spying in my room!"

Tears filled the girl's eyes. "Audrey's right, Zane, you're a jerk!" With that, she took off, crying.

"JACKIE!!" He started after her, but stopped. She wouldn't listen. She never did.

"Looks like some-one needs some help," Atticus said, stepping out of the bushes.

"Get lost," Zane shot back coldly.

Atticus didn't get lost. He sauntered right up to Zane and put his hands behind his back, smiling like an idiot.

"Nope. I wouldn't be able to do this if I got lost." Firmly, he grabbed Zane's upper arms and planted a serious kiss on him.

Shock registered on Zane's face for only a second before he wrapped his arms around Atticus's neck and kissed back.

From a nearby tree, Audrey steamed.