Read Falling Harder for Free Online Page B

you
smiling about?” I ask, “You do realize that we’re heading into school, right?”
    “Exactly,” she
says, “I know what to do here. How to get by. I don’t know...I guess that
school’s always felt more like home to me than any place I’ve lived.” Nadia
catches me looking down at her, dumbstruck, and blushes prettily. “Sorry,” she
says, “I guess that’s kind of a weird thing to say.”
    “It’s not that
weird,” I tell her. “I mean...I’ve heard weirder, anyway.”
    “That’s
something, I guess,” she laughs.
    We step through
the front doors of the school, and swim out into the sea of people surging
through the main hallway. In these last few minutes before the first bell
rings, the whole place is totally chaotic.
    Nadia turns to
me with a timid smile. She’s seemed kind of skittish around me since she got to
the house, hell if I know why. Maybe she just doesn’t make a habit of getting
too friendly with thugs like me right out of the gate.
    She’s only been
around other foster kids for a few years, she probably still doesn’t feel like
one of us. And I’m certainly not going to press the issue. It’s probably better
if she does keep her distance, to be perfectly honest.
    “Guess I’m off,”
she says, “I’ll see you after school.”
    “Yeah, OK,” I
say, nodding once.
    We move away
from each other and head our separate ways, but a weird feeling creeps through
my blood the minute I turn my back. I whip my head back around toward Nadia and
feel my jaw clench hard. Her slight body is being towered over by some guy in a
hoodie and baseball cap. I can tell just by looking that she’s uncomfortable,
trying to put quick distance between them. But this asshole won’t quit.
    He trails her,
following her down the crowded hallway without leaving any room to breathe
between their bodies. As I watch, he frees a hand from his long sleeve and
places it on the small of her back. She flinches away at the touch, and he
raises his hand just a hair to lay a slap against her ass.
    My body unfolds
in one motion, and before I know what’s hit me I’ve got the guy up against the
wall, my hands around his throat. He wheezes, surprised by my interference. I
watch him recognize me, and as he does, his surprise turns to terror.
    Good. He’s heard
of me.
    “Keep your God
damn hands to yourself, you filthy son of a bitch,” I growl, tightening my grip
on the prick’s windpipe. All around, people start to take notice of us, hooting
and carrying on like this is some kind of damn prize fight. They circle around
us, rubbernecking to get a better look. I ignore them, obviously. I’m not much
a showman, this shit is personal.
    “I was only
messing with her,” he gasps, trying and failing to get away from me.
    “Messing with
her means messing with me,” I say to the punk ass. “And you don't want to mess
with me. Do you motherfucker?”
    “Trace...” I
hear Nadia say softly. “Trace, let go.”
    “No way,” I tell
her.
    “You’re going to
hurt him,” she says, imploringly. I feel her hands close around my arm and tug,
but I can’t stop now.
    “This little
bitch needs to know his place,” I snarl, “And what’ll happen to him if he steps
out of line again.”
    “Come on,” Nadia
pleads, “If you don’t stop, someone’s going to see—”
    “Mr. O’Connor,”
says a familiar voice from down the hall, “Get off of him. Now.”
    With a stifled
groan, I let go of the asshole’s throat. He slides down the wall, coughing, as
I turn to face the interrupter. Mr. Sanders—or The Colonel, as I like to call
him—plants his hands on his hips and looks at me with something that’s half
disappointment and half resignation.
    Sanders is my
guidance counselor, or at least that’s what it says on his pay stub. Can’t say
he’s done much in terms of guiding me, but I don’t hold it against him. No
one’s ever been able to get through to me.
    “Hey, Colonel,”
I smile, stuffing my hands into