It was Zack. Of course. He pushed me up against a large tree. My heart jumped when I saw a dark blue Mustang convertible not far from where I was pinned. Quickly, I was already thinking of ways to escape when the devil himself stepped out of the car. Jasper was not far behind him, mocking me.
“Cute puppy, right? It’s my sister’s,” Zack told me.
“You guys are pathetic!” I snapped. Poor puppy. Poor me.
“You think that was funny, Sam?” Aaron asked as soon as he joined his nitwit friend. He looked as if he was ready to smack me down. I looked around, and my heart sank when Zack and Jasper blocked my sides, leaving me no chance of escape.
“And do you think it’s funny to use a defenseless, scared little puppy as bait?” I could feel my own anger building up. How could they use an innocent creature to do the dirty work for them? Had they not have any morality left? Had they sold their souls and went completely to the dark side?
“Leave us alone,” Aaron ordered. And before I could even protest, he had already enclosed me. He was so close that I could feel the air coming out of his nose. He towered over me, and the smell of nacho cheese and onions from his mouth was disgusting.
What did this idiot have for lunch?
No matter how desperate I was to punch his face, I had to control and lower down my fist. There were three of them. I would never win. I was feeling both angry and scared. The only thing I could do was fix him a death glare.
“Am I making you nervous now, Banks?”
“Nervous? In your dreams. You don’t scare me, Lanter.” I lied. Every inch of my body was afraid like a mouse in a cat litter box.
“Ass,” he snarled.
“Prick,” I snapped back. I thought he was going to hit me or murder me, but for a moment we just glared at each other hatefully. As the clock ticked, I finally realized what was happening; he had not quite planned the part where he finally caught me. Typical. He was all that—imposing threat and then nothing after that.
Our glaring contest stopped as soon as we heard a loud honk. We all turned to the same direction. I felt a sudden flush of relief as my favorite teacher’s car came into view. Aaron instantly stepped back. I quickly grabbed my backpack from the ground and dashed to Ms. Penny’s car.
“Do we have a problem here, gentlemen?” Ms. Penny asked and then looked up at me. “Are you, okay, Sam?”
Aaron flashed her a smile that had half of the female population at school mooning over. “No problem here, Ms. Penny. Sam found Zack’s puppy. She was just returning it.”
I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t believe how natural he was at lying.
“Here?” But Ms. Penny couldn’t be fooled.
“Well, I may sound like a total jackass, but I can’t be seen with her, Ms. Penny. I didn’t want anyone from school to get any funny ideas about us. People talk, you know.”
“Really, Aaron?” The slight disgust on Ms. Penny’s face was pretty obvious. But, Aaron didn’t really care, he instead just continued to smile.
I didn’t want Miss Penny to interfere with my personal business, so I cut in. “I have to go, Ms. Penny.” The last thing I wanted was for Ms. Penny to pity me. I could handle Aaron and his hound dogs on my own. I didn’t want to end up like Shelly Brown.
I walked to the puppy and gave it a quick, tender hug before picking up my bike. “See you tomorrow, Ms. Penny.” Without looking back at them or waving goodbye at Ms. Penny, I rode my bike and took off. I couldn’t let any of the teachers interfere and become another Shelly Brown. Teachers and parents alike thought they had the conundrum of bullying figured out. They were wrong about what they thought.
Shelly Brown’s parents were wrong when they acted irrationally. They thought stepping in strongly would stop the bullying, they couldn’t be more wrong; the bullying intensified, and Shelly’s struggles worsened. Everyone ended up blaming themselves when Shelly couldn’t take it anymore and, using her dad’s gun, shot herself before her fifteenth birthday.
If you enjoyed this sample, look for
After School with Mr. Obnoxious
on Amazon.
BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY
PSYCHO BILLIONAIRE
Kashmira Kamat
Life couldn’t be more mundane for sweet, kind, and naïve Kiara Reeves, who has been bussing tables to make ends meet.
Until she unexpectedly finds herself in the arms of a handsome billionaire.
Blue-eyed, dark-haired, and enigmatic, Jasper Lockhart comes from a world of wealth, power, and sophistication.
Despite being worlds apart, Kiara is drawn to him, enthralled by his presence. And soon, their friendship blossomed into something more.
But fate has other plans for them…
…and now Kiara is knee-deep in trouble.
And like a knight in shining armor, Jasper comes to her rescue.
But little does Kiara know that Jasper’s help comes with a price…
BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY
PSYCHO SITTER
Alexandria Ayers
Cassandra, a 17 year old girl dreams of becoming a therapist for troubled children one day.
Cassandra's parents job takes them away from their two children. Cassie's father gets a call for him and his wife to take a trip to Australia, thousands of miles away from their children. They accept the offer but know they can't leave their seventeen and eight year old home alone for a week so they call a sitter.
Little did they know they hired a dangerous psychopath killer. Will Cassandra and Ben escape the harmful hands of their psychotic sitter? Or has he already set his eyes on the young and pure Cassandra?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing this book was not easy and I want to thank the hardworking crew at Typewriter Pub who pushed me to make it better – one revision at a time. I’d also like to give an extra shoutout to my editor, Karen Genevieve, for sharing her awesome editing skills.
Many thanks again to the one who introduced me to the awesome world of books and movies, my mother. And my deepest appreciation to my sister, Gina, for inspiring me to write better.
To my partner in life, Ron, and God’s greatest gift to us, Hans, thank you for reminding me that I am awesome… every single day.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading Considerably Wicked! I can’t express how grateful I am for reading something that was once just a thought inside my head.
Please feel free to send me an email. Just know that my publisher filters these emails. Good news is always welcome.
[email protected]
Sign up for my blog for updates and freebies!
leigh-frankie.awesomeauthors.org
One last thing: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book. Please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads because I just love reading your comments and getting to know you!
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Leigh Frankie
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leigh Frankie lives in Cebu City, Philippines with her partner and son. Before becoming an editor by day and a writer by night, she worked as a talent acquisition officer. Leigh grew up reading historical romance novels, Sweet Valley High, and Sidney Sheldon books. When she’s neither at work or playing with her son, then she’s most probably in front of her laptop, creating worlds and writing about characters that often do not get the spotlight in the real world.
Leigh wrote her first published novel, After School with Mr. Obnoxious, when she was a rookie straight out of college and based some of the characters she met at work.
class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance Page 35