4

Over the course of the weekend, I mostly just sat in my room, not doing anything in particular. I curled up in my bed with a book and I read. But my mind was in a totally different place.

After the events that took place at the party, I was beyond distracted. The fact that some man cornered me in a bathroom and tried to do God knows what to me... it was terrifying. I didn't know what he would have done if I hadn't hit him with the beer bottle.

What were his intentions? He said that if I had screamed, it would be more painful than it was already going to be. What did he mean? What part was going to be painful?

I hoped that I never ran into him again. I never wanted to see his disgusting face again.

After I ran down the stairs and smacked right into the most notorious bad boy in the school, I choked up so bad that I almost fainted on the spot.

The whole group of them were there, including the one who had beaten up that kid the day before in front of my locker. They all watched me as I couldn't speak to answer the question that their friend had asked me.

"Are you okay?" He'd asked.

I was shocked. I'd heard all the rumours about those dangerous boys. I'd heard the rumours about them being gang members or part of the mafia. I'd heard the rumours about them being part of a cult or even having gone to prison.

When he'd asked me if I was okay, I was shocked. He'd just broken all the rules of being a bad boy by asking me if I was okay. Did bad boys have feelings? I'd never heard of one having any.

All the books that I'd read, the bad boy was always a dick and incredibly blunt. Why was the most angry and violent bad boy in the school asking me if I was okay instead of beating me up for crashing into him?

"Hello? Are you okay?" He had asked again when I didn't respond.

I didn't know how to answer. I couldn't help but stare at the guy who I was told was a monster. I didn't know any of their names. But I had such an image of who they were and what they did outside of school.

I didn't know them, but I was still petrified of what they might do to me.

They were bad guys. They hurt people. I didn't like that.

"Do you think she's off her face on something? I've been hearing about where to find good ecstasy lately," one of them questioned.

Another slapped the back of his head and scowled at him.

"Maybe she's just stupid," another suggested. He was slapped too.

Then I remembered that I was running from someone. I looked back over my shoulder, and my eyes caught sight of the man. His face was covered in blood, but he'd already seen me and was making his way towards me.

I didn't have time to stop and stare this time.

I ran. I pushed past the group of monsters who were holding me up and sprinted out the house. I didn't care that I looked insane running down the street. I just ran.

My adrenaline and anxiety fuelled me and I ran. I ran and I ran until I find myself standing out the front of Stanley's Italian restaurant.

Stanley helped me inside, gave me food and then he took me home. No one questioned why I was being dropped off and no one questioned where Mia was. I didn't even get a call from her asking to be driven home.

I didn't care anyway.

"Nevaeh Wilson! What the hell do you think you're doing? Sitting on your ass! As always," Gregory burst into the room. His yells shook me from the memories that I was replaying in my mind.

"What?" I asked softly as I sat up. Gregory was swaying, obviously drunk.

I hated when he was drunk. He was violent, aggressive. I was unsure of how he passed for an eligible care taker for children who'd come from broken homes.

He was only ever nasty to me anyway.

Mr Jefferson always said that if it got too much for me to handle, then I could ask him to place me in another home. But I didn't want to go anywhere else. I didn't want to make new friends and change my whole life again.

I'd been moved around so much as a kid and I didn't want to face it again.

"God damn... you're such a lazy brat. You don't know how much effort we put into making sure you're happy," Gregory hissed out at me.

He swayed some more and it made me think of my father. He was always drunk. He would always only yell at me whenever he got angry. He hated me.

It was my own fault.

I shuddered as Gregory came forwards. I backed up until my back hit the wall. I didn't want him to hurt me.

"You're disgusting. It makes me sick just to look at you. Get up and do something," Gregory said before he turned and left the room.

He slammed the door shut behind him. It shook the room and me.

I didn't want to cry, but I did. I crumbled like the pathetic person that I was.

When I was done, I got up and I cleaned, just as I was told.

///

I traveled to school alone the next morning. Mia was sick with a hangover from the party. I was sure she was exaggerating it though. The boys had doctor appointments as they'd all gotten some sort of food poisoning from the chicken they'd eaten on the Saturday.

I didn't feel bad for them at all. I actually sort of hoped that they were hurting real bad.

I pulled my car into its park and sighed as I looked out at the rain. It was pouring and it made my mood even more sour.

I pulled my hoodie up over my head and grabbed my bag. I got out the car and shut it. I felt a little strange getting to travel to school in the car. When Mia didn't go to school, Greta never usually let me take the car by myself. This morning, she said she didn't care. So I took it.

I rushed into the building and pushed back my hoodie. It was crowded and uncomfortable as I made my way through the hallway. I didn't like how crowded it was on days where it rained. No one wanted to be outside and crowded the hallways like sheep.

I heard a loud bang from in front of me. When I looked up, to my surprise, there was a guy being thrown against the lockers by one of the school's bad boys. This time, it wasn't my locker. I was glad.

Well, I wasn't glad for the kid getting beat up, but I was glad that there wasn't going to be any blood on my locker.

"Get me my money," the guy hissed out before slamming the kid against the lockers one last time.

The bad boys turned and left again. My breathing hitched as I remembered how they tried to help me at the party. I wondered if they'd remember me if they saw me. Probably not.

"They're so dangerous. It's such a turn on," I heard as I approached my locker. The cheerleaders were back to gossip again.

"Tell me about it," another said.

"Please, none of you would ever approach one of them. We're all too scared that they'll beat us to pulp if we do," some said.

I listened to their conversation carefully. The bad boys had been so nice to me at the party. It was strange that they were mean to everyone else.

Did they just not want to upset me?

"True. I heard that they're all in a gang where they beat up anyone who talks to them," one said.

"No way! I heard that they were kicked out the mafia for being too dangerous," one commented. I knew that was fake.

"You're all wrong. I hear that they've all gone to prison at least twice," a girl said.

I tuned out as the bell rang. I grabbed my things from my locker before I headed to class. I had Math class first, and I wasn't looking forward to it. It was never fun in Math class.

When I arrived to the classroom, I found that it was oddly quiet. I raised my eyebrows at the whispers and looked around, only to find one of the notorious bad boys sitting in the seat behind mine.

I wasn't sure which one he was, but he was still scary as ever.

I kept my head down as I made my way to my seat. I sat and didn't move as other students filed into the room. Each of them tried their best to avoid the seats surrounding the bad boy's desk, but eventually the unlucky ones had to take a seat beside him.

I knew that the Math class was no longer going to be as loud as it used to be.

///

"No, doc, I'm fine. I'm not dying. I'm not sick. I'm just tired. I'll still see you tomorrow though," I told him. I heard his light laughter over the phone.

"Okay. Fine. Tomorrow. Meet me at our normal spot at four," Mr Jefferson said. I nodded and hung up the phone.

As much as I liked Mr Jefferson, he was very consistent with our phone calls. He was only so concerned because he knew about how little it would take for me to go spiralling back into a dark pit.

But I was going mostly okay. I think.

I grabbed the car keys from my pocket. The parking lot was mostly empty as I was late. I got caught up speaking to Mr Ashby about one of the recent assignment he'd given.

I wondered if Greta would go off at me for being late. She never liked me being late. She never liked me at all, actually.

Regardless of the parking lot being mostly empty, the only occupied parking spaces left were taken up by the popular kids. For some reason, they thought it was cool to hang around for half an hour after school ended. I didn't quite see the point, at all.

I got into my car and sighed as I placed my school bag on the passenger seat. I turned on the car engine and placed the gear in reverse.

As I pulled back, I heard a loud bump. I slammed to brakes and jumped out the car.

Oh God no. Did I just kill someone? I did, didn't I? I just killed someone. I bet their guys are splattered all over the floor.

I rushed around to the back of the car and I watched as the victim of my awful deed stands up and wipes his pants.

I gaped at him.

Mother of God. I almost killed him.

"Do you not check your mirrors before you reverse?" He asked me with a scowl. He had a graze on his elbow that was lightly bleeding.

My heart came up in my throat and I swallowed hard. I couldn't believe I had just hit a well-known bad ass with my car.

I was dead meat, for sure. I suddenly wished he'd been worser injured so he couldn't hurt me. Why did I have to forget to check my mirrors?

"Nevaeh Wilson," he said my name.

My name rolled off his tongue like it fit perfectly for him. The next thing I thought was about he hot he was.

He was a devilishly handsome devil. That was for sure.

His broad chest and shoulders, tight muscles, tattoos covering his arms and peaking out from the top of his shirt. He was dark haired, and his eyes were deep green.

He was gorgeous. It was a shame that I wouldn't be able to see him after he beat me to death.

"I am so sorry," I managed to choke out. He stared at me for a moment before he crossed his arms.

"I like you," he said simply.

I frowned at him and if I were eating, I'd have choked. His eyes look me in, staring at every part of me until his eyes met mine again.

I didn't even know his name.

He was terrifying. After all the things I'd heard about him, even the things that could have been true, I was still scared shitless. I still couldn't grasp that I was speaking to a monster.

"You're mine," he said.

His words were all that more terrifying that I thought I was going to faint. I stared at him, shocked while he stared back.

"Fuck, you're making this hard," he sighed out, rolling his eyes.

"W—What?" I stammered.

My heart was in my throat again. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, who I was talking to. It was all so crazy that I couldn't think straight.

Surely, I was going mad.

"You, Nevaeh Wilson, are now Ace Braxton's girlfriend, and I'm Ace Braxton."