Painfully Ordinary Special Edition Read Online Free

a great friend, but he was never
going to choose me out of all the girls available at our school.
    We watched
the rest of the movie in silence. It gave me time to think about the morning’s
events so far.
    Eventually
the bell rang and Mrs. Hicks flicked the lights back on, blinding me for a
moment. I always hated that. Talon stood up, handed me my backpack and motioned
for me to lead the way. We strolled down the hall to the commons in silence. As
we rounded the corner, I spotted Leah and Jace standing together. He was
leaning against the wall, and she had her hand on his chiseled bicep.
    Wow. Chemistry must have gone really
well.
    At that precise
moment, Ryan stepped into view, blocking my path and effectively ruining my day.
Leah immediately straightened up and headed toward me, but Jace put his hand on
her forearm and moved in front of her.
    “Well, well.
Caitlin, why don’t you introduce me to your new friend?” Ryan sneered.
    I cringed. Why
hadn’t I just stayed in bed?
    Talon took a
step forward and glared at Ryan. “I’m sorry. I don’t think we have met. I am
Talon.” Talon’s body language was extremely menacing. Any normal person would
have taken a step back – but then again, Ryan wasn’t normal.
    Talon held
his hand out in front of him. Ryan scrutinized the outstretched hand for a
minute and then held his own out to shake.
    I winced. Why
didn’t they just pee on each other like a couple of alpha dogs marking their
territory and get it over with ? They were squeezing
each other’s hands so tightly their knuckles turned white. Finally, Ryan broke
contact first.
    Leah came
over and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Come on, Caiti, let’s head to
class.”
    I let her
lead me away, glancing back over my shoulder as I went. It was a bit like a train
wreck. I didn’t want to witness the inevitable conflict, but couldn’t turn
away.
    Talon nodded
at us. “I will join you in a minute.” He waved at us and motioned to Jace. “Jace?”
    Jace wrapped
his arms around both of us. “Come on, ladies, let’s go. It appears we all have art
class together.”
    How did Leah
and I win the academic lottery by having these two in most of our classes? Who
was arranging all this? One last look at Talon and I decided not to question
our good fortune.
    Leah attempted
to comfort me. “Don’t let him get to you, Cay-bear. The only reason Ryan even
said anything to him was because Tami didn’t get her way with Talon and decided
to punish someone for it. She knew if she said something to Ryan it would get
him all fired up.”
    I sighed, “I
know, Leah. It’s just, once he gets started, it takes so long to redirect his
attention, and he makes me a nervous wreck in the meantime. Everyone else seems
to be able to ignore me—why is he so
obsessed?”
    Jace flashed
his teeth at us. “Not to worry, little pixie girls. Talon
and I have your backs.”
    Being called “pixie girls” made me relax. My mom always
called me her little pixie princess when I was younger. How strange that he
would choose that as a pet name. Leah attempted to go around the corner and
proceed to class, but I pulled back. I wanted to remain within earshot of what
was going on between Talon and Ryan. I absolutely couldn’t believe what I was
hearing.
    Talon shot Ryan
a murderous look and snarled, “I know your kind. You will not harass her any
further. You have caused her sufficient pain and she is under my protection from
this point forward.”
    Ryan
narrowed his eyes but took a silent step back.
    Talon
continued to glare at him with his arms crossed over his massive chest.
    “I think we
understand each other.” Talon pushed past Ryan and strode out of the commons, heading
down the hall to where we were waiting. I whipped around so he wouldn’t catch
me staring at him. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was some
stupid little puppy who followed him everywhere.
    He patted my
back as he came up behind us, and I almost jumped out