Grabbing my backpack I rush to the door, eager to find my friend, except Clay is leaning up against the wall outside my classroom, a knowing smirk stretched across his annoying mouth. “He said you’d try to hide.”

Ignoring him, I drag my bag onto my back and step past him, but my forward movement is halted when he grabs hold of the straps on my backpack and drags me backward.

“Come eat with us, you’ll only piss him off if he has to hunt you down,” he warns, his voice friendly.

“I don’t want to have lunch with him, I want to eat with my friend.”

“She can eat with us too. We don’t normally allow outsiders in, but if you ask him, he’ll make an exception for you.”

“Why is he doing this? He doesn’t even know me. He’s ruining my life,” I whisper-yell.

Rolling his eyes, he sighs. “Dramatic much?” Taking my bag from my shoulders, he holds it in his hand and then places his other palm high on my back and guides me away from the classroom and all the people who are pretending not to watch us.

“I was invisible, no one saw me and I liked it that way,” I say petulantly.

“He saw you.”

“Fucking great, I’m not invisible to stalkers, good to know,” I hiss beneath my breath.

We round the corner and Sebastian is striding toward us. His eyes narrow when he sees Clay has his hand on me. “You touching my girl?” he growls angrily.

“Just making sure she’s where you told me to bring her. Starling has something she wants to ask you,” Clay says, moving his hand away from me as he passes my bag to Sebastian.

“Is that right, little bird?” he purrs, stepping into my personal space until our chests are touching.

“I want to eat with my friend.”

“She can sit with us.”

“Alone, I want to eat with my friend alone, like we normally do.”

“No,” he says harshly, smashing his lips against mine punishingly hard, dominating me with his touch, like he thinks he can bend me to his will with a kiss.

“I’ll text Evan to find the friend,” Clay says from beside us.

At the sound of his voice Sebastian relaxes his hold on me, running a soft fingertip over my cheek. Discombobulated, I stumble a little and Sebastian carefully wraps his arm around my waist, his gentle touch in complete opposition to the way he just punished me with his kiss.

“I’ll text her, I just need to find my cell,” I say, reaching for my backpack.

“I have your cell,” he smiles, pulling my old model cell phone from his blazer and handing it to me.

“Why do you have my cell phone?” I demand.

“I charged it for you. I also programmed mine, Clay, Evan and Hunter’s numbers in there too. That way if you can’t reach me, you can contact them instead.”

“Why would I need to contact any of you?” I protest.