Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)(51)

Luke took a drunken step toward Noah. “Yeah, go, Echo.”

This was not happening. Luke didn’t stop his advance. In fact, he picked up speed and slammed into Noah. The two of them crashed into the wall. “No!”

Luke punched Noah in the jaw. Blood trickled from Noah’s lip as he drove his fist into Luke’s stomach and pushed him away.

“Come on, man,” Noah said, wiping the blood from his lip. “You don’t want to do this.”

“I warned you to stay away from her,” Luke yelled as he rammed into Noah again.

Prepared this time, Noah punched Luke in the gut and pushed him to the ground.

“Stay down, Manning,” he hissed.

Luke staggered up, staring at Noah. I raced toward them. This had to stop. Only I was a little too late. Luke launched himself at Noah at the same exact moment I stepped between them. Cement hit my stomach. I lost the ability to breathe, followed by massive amounts of pain.

“Echo!” multiple voices yelled from various parts of the hallway.

My stomach hurt way too much to move, open my eyes or speak. Oh, God. Absolutely no air entered my body. I forced my mouth open and fought to suck in oxygen. Nope, nothing. One more time … yes. Not much, just a little, but it was air … regardless of how much it hurt. The cold floor touched one of my cheeks and my hair touched the other. Crap. It had taken me an hour to get all of my hair in that clip. Dear Lord, I think I broke something, like my liver.

“Jesus … Jesus, I hurt her,” Luke mumbled from close by.

“Get away from her, *,” Noah barked. Warm fingers touched my face, brushing back my hair. He lowered his voice. “Echo? Are you okay?”

Those warm fingers left my face and then covered my hand. I focused all of my energy on exerting pressure onto Noah’s. He applied pressure back. “I’ve got you. I promise.”

“What’s going on out here?”

I moaned, not from the pain, but due to the person who entered the hallway—Mrs. Collins. “Echo? Echo!” Heels clicked rapidly toward me. Another hand, colder and delicate, touched my face. I forced my eyes open and blinked the double vision away.

“Are you okay?”

No. “Yes.” Against the scream of every muscle in my body, I picked my head off the floor. Noah placed his hands on my back and helped me sit up, hovering centimeters behind me.

Mrs. Collins’s kind eyes softened. “What happened?” She checked out the hallway, taking stock of the situation. Funny thing, Luke’s friends had disappeared. “Noah, you’re bleeding.”

Noah wiped his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re Luke, correct?”

Luke sat at my feet, eyes wide. “Yes.”

Mrs. Collins sighed heavily, shaking her head. “I’m not going to like this at all, am I?”

“Nope,” answered Noah.

“I tripped,” I said.

Mrs. Collins’s lips tightened into a thin line. “And Noah’s mouth?”

“Me, too.”

She stared at Luke. “And the nice bruise forming on your jaw is from?”

Luke absently rubbed his jaw, but he kept his eyes locked on me. “I got into a fight earlier tonight.”

“But not here, right?”

“No, not here.”

Mrs. Collins closed her eyes and sighed again. The three of us held our breath, waiting on her verdict. Finally, she reopened them. “Luke, why don’t you return to the dance? I’d like to speak with Echo and Noah.”

Luke continued to stare, as if he physically couldn’t take his eyes off of me. My dazed mind began to function. He wasn’t staring at my face, but my arms. The glove on my right arm no longer protected my scars from the outside world. It hung limply around my fingertips. Before my eyes, though, it suddenly slipped back up my arm. Noah mumbled several words directed at Luke as he placed an arm over the glove he straightened.

“Echo,” Luke said. I forced myself to look at him. “I’ll be waiting.” His eyes flicked back to my arms, the disgust clear. Somehow, he walked into the gym without stumbling.

Mrs. Collins sat on the floor beside me, kicking off her heels. “Guess I’ll need to dry clean this dress. I hoped to avoid it. I have a habit of forgetting my clothes there and they end up chucking them.” She produced a tissue from the small purse hanging on her wrist. “Here, Noah. No need to bleed all over the place.”

Noah settled against the wall, pulling me into his chest between his legs. He took the tissue from Mrs. Collins while keeping a protective arm on me. Too tired to care what Mrs. Collins thought, I rested my head against him.

“So, Noah, Echo’s the coat girl.” I had a nickname?

Noah chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Echo, is your father aware of this relationship?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I didn’t know about it?”

Her eyes laughed. “Yes.” She stared at us like we were rats in a maze. “I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. So much for my intuitive powers. Anyhow, let’s get the two of you to the nurse’s office. She’s here tonight in case of sudden illness or accidents.”

Noah startled me by saying “No” at the exact same time as I did.

“I’m fine,” he said.