by Lylah James
“What did he do this time?”
Riley and I settled down, cross-legged, on the cold grass. I handed her the sandwich my grandma packed for us this morning, Riley’s favorite. Turkey, lettuce, cheese and homemade smoked mustard. We bit into our sandwiches while I recounted what happened in class.
“Are you pissed that he was right and made a smarter analysis than you… or, are you pissed that he called you out in front of the class?”
“I –” My mouth snapped shut because Riley…was right. She knew me so well. I’d always been competitive by nature.
I made an aggravated sound at the back of my throat before admitting the truth. “Okay, fine. I’m pissed he had a better analysis, and I’m annoyed he called me out like that. And, he called it constructive criticism. Maddox can shove it up his ass. He was trying to embarrass me.”
“We’ve established that. You’re on his shit list, but you’re letting him get to you, babe.”
I chewed aggressively around my last bite. “I’m not.”
Riley was right, though.
Maddox Coulter, with his pretty smirk, pretty eyes and surfer hair, was having the time of his life messing with me, and I was letting him.
I clenched my fists on my lap. Not anymore.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lila
First, I heard my mom scream.
Then, there was silence. It happened within a nanosecond.
The world tilted suddenly, my vision blurring, before everything went black. I sunk into a very dark place. For the longest time, I stayed there… awake… fading… heart beating… numb… lost…
The silence slowly faded away, a buzzing noise replaced it, filling my ears. It felt like the only thing inside my head was static.
My throat was dry, scratched raw from the inside, and I couldn’t make a sound.
Mommy? Daddy?
I couldn’t see anything. Everything was so dark… so empty…
I remembered the sound of crushing glass, mixed with the distinct cracking of bones breaking. I remembered my mom screaming, and my dad… I remembered…
Pain came next.
My bones and fragile organs felt like they were being crumbled and smashed into a tiny, suffocating box. I couldn’t breathe. It hurt so much. My torso burned like acid was being poured on it. There was a knife dug, painfully, into my chest… no, not a knife… I didn’t know… but it hurt. It felt like a knife or a hammer being pounded into my chest.
I blinked… forcing myself to breathe. I couldn’t. My lungs contracted with such force that I was afraid they would fold into themselves. When I coughed, agony strummed through my body, and my cracked lips parted with a silent scream.
Mom… Dad…
I couldn’t speak. The buzzing noise wouldn’t stop in my ears.
The taste of coppery blood pooled in my mouth; it tasted bitter, and I could feel it soaking my tongue and the inside of my mouth. Blood…?
No…
How…
What…
I remember…
The fight…snow outside… in the car… mom… dad… me…
I remember the screams…
My bones felt like they had been mangled together, and my chest, it was being carved open. I lifted my head up a bit and looked down at my chest to see… blood. Everywhere. So much blood.
I sucked in cramped air and tried to scream, tried to breathe, but my lungs refused to work.
No. No. No. Please. No. Oh God, no.
MOM, I wanted to scream. DADDY.
The pain never ended. The darkness never faded away.
I woke up with a gasp, my mouth open in a silent scream. Drenched in a cold sweat with my heart beating way too fast, I tried to suck in desperate breaths.
Ten. Inhale. Nine. Exhale. Eight. Inhale
I didn’t die. I wasn’t dead.
Seven. Exhale. Six. Inhale. Five. Exhale.
It was only a dream, I told myself.
Four. Inhale. Three. Breathe. Two. Exhale.
My chest hurt; the pain was almost crippling.
One. Breathe, damn it.
Hot tears stung my eyes as I held them back from spilling over my cheeks. I rubbed my chest, trying to alleviate the hammering ache. A whimper escaped past my chapped lips, and I choked back a sob.
Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry.
I breathed through my nose, the fear slowly receding back, and I locked a cage around it. The pain and the taste of coppery blood faded away, and my senses came back to me.
Just a dream, I told myself.
Except…
My eyes closed, and I sniffed back my unshed tears. I did as my therapist had trained me to do--count backward from ten and breathe. So, I did, and while doing so, I locked the memories away.
Once my racing heart calmed to a soothing beat again, I got off the bed and started my morning routine.
While combing my hair, my eyes fell on the picture frame on my nightstand. A picture of me on my thirteenth birthday. I stood in the middle with my parents on either side of me. We were laughing; our faces smudged with cake icing.
My lips twitched at the memory, a phantom of a smile as I reminisced our time together.
I laid the hairbrush down beside the small frame. My fingers slid over the picture, caressing their faces. “I miss you,” I whispered to them. “But I’m okay. I promise you. I’m okay.”
They kept smiling back at me.
“Lila!” My grandma’s voice broke through the moment. “Breakfast is ready.”
“Coming!”
I grabbed my bag and strode out of my room. Sven Wilson, ex-military man and now a retired veteran, my dearest grandpa sat at the breakfast table. With a newspaper in his hand and Grandma Molly making us pancakes, it was a typical morning.
“Good morning,” I greeted them with a smile.
“Sit, sit. You’re going to be late.”
“She’s fine. Lila is rarely late for her classes,” Grandpa said. He winked before taking a sip of his tea.
I winked back because I knew he had my back. Always.
Grandma handed me a plate and patted me on the cheek. “How’s school, sweetie? You’ve been holed up in your bedroom or the library. We haven’t had time to talk.”
“It’s going good,” I replied around a bite of my pancakes. “I like my teachers. Do you guys need help at the store? I can come over during the weekend.”
Grandpa waved a hand, shaking his head. “No need. We can handle it.”
I held back a smile. He refused to acknowledge that he was getting older, and they did, in fact, need help. Both of them were in their seventies, and they could no longer run the grocery store on their own. But Sven Wilson was stubborn.
“How about we put a hiring sign up? I’ll do the interviews and even train them for a few days.”
“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Grandma agreed, a tender smile on her lips.
“Got it. I’ll put the sign up this weekend. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of students who want to work part-time.”
I quickly finished my pancakes and stood up. “Thank you for breakfast.” After quickly pecking them both on the cheek, I waved goodbye and ran out of the house.
The cold breeze of October hit me, and I breathed in the morning scent. It poured last night. The smell of grass after the rain teased my nostrils, and it soothed me.
If it were any normal day, I’d say today was going to be good. But my days were no longer normal. Not since Maddox decided I was his plaything.
It’d been a week since the Medusa argument, and Maddox was still irritating as always, if not worse.
God give me patience.
***
I was standing in line in the cafeteria, waiting to get my food, when I saw him. Our eyes met, and Maddox stalked closer, as if he was on a mission. Shit.
I quickly put my earphones in and stared hard at my phone. Maddox came to stand behind me, the heat practically rolling off him. I could sense people staring at us, again�
� waiting for another dramatic scene. I’d quickly become everyone’s favorite joke.
Berkshire Academy was a shark tank.
You see, in Berkshire, only the strong survive. The weaker are preyed on, chewed up, and spit out like garbage.
Maddox was on the top – the pack leader. He was the King, and he wore his crown with a cocky grin. He was untouchable to his rivals, and he was every girl’s favorite dick to ride.
And I wanted nothing to do with him.
His body brushed against mine as he slid closer to me. Maddox nudged me with his elbow.
I ignored him. "Hey, Garcia."
I scrolled through my playlist, refusing to acknowledge him. "Damn, are you ignoring me?"
When I didn’t reply, Maddox let out a mock gasp. "You wound me."
I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time but continued to ignore him. I didn’t expect him to be so bold, but when he reached forward to pull my earphones out, I released a low frustrated growl.
My body swiveled around, and I faced him. The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing his full Berkshire uniform today. The navy blazer molded to his chest and shoulders like it was tailored made, especially for him, and the beige slacks didn’t hide how strong his thighs were. Instead of putting his hair into another messy man bun, he left it loose today. The tight, blond curls ended up a good inch above his shoulders.
"Do you know that when people have headphones in... it means they don't want anyone to speak to them? That's the universal sign for Stay-The-Fuck-Away-From-Me-And-Don’t-Speak-To-Me,” I snapped, loud enough for the people around us to hear. Ugh.
If looks could kill, he’d be seven feet under right now. Irritation bubbled inside of me at the fact that I had been checking him out.
Yeah, he was hot. So what? Maddox was a fine specimen to look at. Too bad, he had an aggravating personality.
Maddox leaned closer, a little smirk playing on his lips. His hot breath feathered over the skin of my exposed neck, and when he whispered in my ear, his voice was low and deep. “I'm not everyone though. I'm special.”
He pulled back, his blue eyes glinting with mischief. “And I know you want me to talk to you. We didn't see each other yesterday, and I wasn’t in class today. Miss me, Sweet Cheeks?"
Ha! I had two very peaceful days, and I wasn’t complaining.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I let out a laugh with absolutely no trace of humor. "Cocky much?"
"I love the sound of that word coming from your lips." His gaze shifted to my lips for a second, watching them with rapt attention before he met my eyes again.
I felt the blood rush between my ears. and I attempted to hold back my growl.
“Say it again,” he calmly demanded, which pissed me off even more. “Slowly this time.”
I took a deep breath before letting it out. I was trying so hard not to punch this dude. "Listen, Coulter. You need to back off, or I'm going to do something really bad.”
“Like what?” He was testing me, pushing and pushing – waiting for what I’d do, or what I was capable of.
"I don't know. Maybe punch your dick so hard it'll retreat back into your asshole. Have you ever heard of personal space?”
My body was tight as a bowstring. He was too close to me, so close I caught the scent of his cologne and aftershave. He smelled clean and…
I didn’t like the way my body suddenly decided to appreciate the way he looked or what he smelled like. “Take a step back. Now,” I growled.
Maddox took a step forward, crowding into me and forcing me against the wall. His blue eyes darkened and all signs of mischief were suddenly gone. "I don't listen well to demands. I think you know that already. I always do the opposite. Did you, by any chance, want me closer?"
I brought my hands up and pushed against his chest, but he wouldn’t budge.
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“You could be full of me. Time, date and address. You choose, Sweet Cheeks,” he rasped in my ear, his lips whispering over my skin.
What… the… fuck?
A voice interrupted us before I could explode. “Next."
The lady at the end of the food line called again. “Next!”
Maddox pulled away, and I could finally breathe again. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath or that my heartbeats had been strangely irregular.
I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I wasn’t weak.
No, in a tank full of sharks – I would not be preyed on.
Straightening my spine, I pushed past him without a second glance.
Fuck you, Coulter.
And game on.
CHAPTER FIVE
Lila
“Do you want to go to the haunted house this year?”
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a haunted house. I hated them as a kid, but my dad would always hold my hand through them. With him, I was safe, and nothing about the haunted houses scared me.
Every Halloween, Berkshire Academy builds its own haunted house on the school grounds. It was a tradition that started a whole decade ago, and to this day, we still honored it.
I took a bite of my pizza, chewing while I contemplated Riley’s question. “I guess we could check it out.”
She clapped her hands, her face lighting up with excitement. “I heard it’s scarier than last year. They’re going all out this time. It’d be fun! How about some girl time? We go to the haunted house then a sleepover at my place? Movie and pizza?”
Riley continued to chatter with enthusiasm while I tried to ignore all the eyes on me. It was difficult when they made it so obvious. The cafeteria had become a nightmare now. I could have tucked my tail between my legs and made a run for it; I could have hidden – but I was never one to accept defeat.
Since Maddox had made me his prey, I’d been the center of attention. A year ago, when I enrolled at Berkshire, I got used to all the judgmental eyes.
Lila Garcia, the ‘poor’ girl. I didn’t have Louis Vuitton shoes or Chanel bags or the latest iPhone. I didn’t prance around with a kilo of makeup on my face nor was I a cheerleader who constantly rubbed herself against the jocks. I wasn’t a follower.
I’d always been the outsider, but after a few months of critical eyes on me and their constant judgment, they had forgotten about me. I blended into the crowd and soon became invisible. It made life easier.
Until Maddox.
Now, the girls looked at me with contempt, like I was the dirt under their feet. They gawked at me with envy because I had Maddox’s attention while the boys stared at me with obvious interest.
None have made a move though.
Riley said I was Maddox’s trophy. Nobody would dare to approach me. The moment he laid eyes on me, I became untouchable to the rest of Berkshire Academy.
Ha, lucky me.
Riley snapped her fingers at my face, causing me to flinch. She smiled sweetly. “Ignore them, Lila.”
I hummed in response before taking another bite of my cold pizza.
“So, haunted house and then sleepover?” Riley asked again.
“Okay, I like that idea. I’m not a big fan of haunted houses though.”
“I’ll hold your hand. It’ll be romantic! Me and you, walking through the dark. I’ll protect you from the bad guys.” She cooed, like a romance hero – way too dramatic.
“Funny. Very funny. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were into pussies.”
She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “I kissed a girl once. A few years ago. It was a dare, and I liked it. She had really soft lips, and she said I was a good kisser. Wanna find out?”
When she leaned across the table, puckering her lips up, I let out a small laugh. “Um no. Stay away from me, Riley.”
“I’m disappointed,” she said with a cute pout.
Riley’s gaze landed behind my shoulder again, before she blushed and quickly looked away. “Okay, that’s it. What’s going on?”
“What?” She feigned innoc
ence, batting her long lashes at me.
I half-looked over my shoulder before facing her again. “Him. You keep looking at him and blushing. What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She was too quick with the denial. I call bullshit.
“Riley, who is he?”
I saw the moment she gave in. Her eyes softened, and she chewed on her bottom lips. “That’s Grayson.”
“And?” I kicked her under the table, demanding more answers.
“I heard some whispers in the hallway. They weren’t really nice. He was bullied a bit last week. Jasper and his friends were being assholes, but Grayson just ignored them and walked away. Apparently, he was living on the streets for a while before he was recently adopted by a famous lawyer and his wife. They can’t have kids. We don’t know much about him yet, but he’s in two of my classes.”
I looked over my shoulder again, finally taking a good look at Grayson who was sitting at the far end of the cafeteria in a corner by himself. “I didn’t know you were into nerds.”
Grayson wore a black pair of glasses perched on his nose, and he was reading a book. I could see the appeal and definitely understood why he caught Riley’s eye.
“He’s a nerd, but did you see him? He’s hot with a capital H O T. But he’s kinda moody. He doesn’t really talk to anyone. Typical loner. But he’s smart and we bumped into each other last week. Remember the bruises on my knees? Yeah, Grayson took me to the infirmary after I fell down, and he noticed my knees bleeding.”
Aha… I remembered that incident. I had found Riley in the infirmary; she was alone, but now that I remembered – she had been blushing heavily and was a stuttering mess.
“Well, at least he’s not an asshole.”
Riley let out a dreamy sigh. “He’s sweet. Except he barely spared me a glance. I said hi to him a few times, and he just…ignored me. Apparently, he doesn’t like when people talk to him.”
“I didn’t think the nerdy ones were your type…”
The last boy Riley dated was a jock and an asshole. After Jasper, it made sense why she’d swear off all the guys like him.
“Fine, I’ll confess my secret. I like nerds. There’s just something attractive about them.”