Trophy: High School Bully Romance (Kennedy Academy Book 3)

by Mae Doyle

  It’s better than the alternative of helping Jeremy, no matter what it is that he thinks he needs from me.

  A few more steps. Risking a glance behind me, I’m not surprised to see that Jeremy is staring at me, but he’s fallen behind me a little. He’s exhausted, dead on his feet, and I imagine that walking is getting harder and harder without rest.

  I think I can make it. As soon as I step out from under the bleachers, I start running.

  Past the cheerleaders sunning themselves on the track. They won’t be any help anyway.

  Past the coach blowing his whistle at people straggling around the track.

  Past the gym and through the bushes that are planted by the front entrance.

  “Get back here!” Jeremy’s voice cuts through my thoughts, driving me on. I have to get away from him. I don’t know where to go, or where I can hide, but if I can just get away from him and maybe find Teague, then I’m not going to have to worry.

  Teague will take care of me.

  I hope so, anyway, since everyone else is just looking at me with mild interest as I run past them. My shoelace comes untied and I trip, skidding across the pavement in the parking lot. My hands burning, I pick myself up and start to run again, leaving behind bits of skin.

  No matter how fast I run, Jeremy is right behind me. He must be exhausted, but the same adrenaline coursing through my veins and spurring me on has him gaining on me.

  “Nora!” His voice sounds strangled and I glance back in fear. I know that it’s a mistake, but I can’t help but turn to look where he is.

  I have to know how much of a chance I have of really getting away from him.

  That’s my mistake.

  I trip again, this time falling harder on my knees and face since I can’t get my hands under me to protect myself in time. Gasping and panting, I try to push myself up, but not before Jeremy wraps his hand in my hair and yanks me to my feet.

  “No!” Hair pulls out of my head as I twist away from him and try to break free, but he grabs my arm with his free hand, pulling me to his chest and wrapping his arms around me so that I can’t get away. “Let me go, you asshole!” Screaming as loud as I can, I hope that someone will hear me, but Jeremy just laughs, his mouth close enough to my ear to make me shiver.

  “Shhhh, Nora. You don’t want people to get worried, do you? We’re just going to take a little ride together, you and I, okay? Didn’t you have fun the other night when I picked you up? I loved that it was just the two of us, and I want to do that again.” He runs one hand down my side, resting it on my hip. My skin crawls at his touch, and I try to squirm away from him, but I can’t break free.

  His voice is calmer than I’ve heard before, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. There is no way that I want to get into his car and leave school right now. He has to know what was in the storage building and now he wants me to take him there.

  It’d be stupid to go with him.

  “Oh, and if you don’t go with me then we’re going to have problems, Nora.” It’s like Jeremy can read my mind and knows exactly what to say to make me do what he wants. I don’t know that I have a chance to get out of this, and he knows it.

  Before I can answer, I feel a sharp point dig into my side and I cry out, trying to pull away from him. He doesn’t let me go, but he doesn’t have to. I can feel the little trickle of blood down my side.

  “You bastard,” I breathe out through clenched teeth, but Jeremy just laughs.

  “Sure, Nora, you just tell yourself that if it makes you feel better. But remember, your precious little Teague is no better than I am. Now, let’s go.” The point of the knife is digging into my ribs, but at least he’s not pushing it hard enough to cut deeper right now. Gritting my teeth, I start walking.

  His car is parked in the back of the lot, and we have to pass Teague’s truck to get to it. I consider making another break for it while he fumbles with his keys, but he finds them and unlocks his car, grinning at me the whole time. “Ladies first.”

  Once I climb in, he leans over me and buckles me in. His smell is almost overwhelming and I have to hold my breath to keep from gagging. This close to him, I can see just how bloodshot his eyes are and how tired he really looks.

  Jeremy is not healthy.

  “Get out of the car before I get in and I swear to you I will do more than just poke you and make you bleed, you got it?” I nod, holding my breath, and he leans down to kiss my forehead. Clenching my hands so that my nails dig into my palms, I fight the urge to wipe it off, and simply watch him helplessly as he walks around the front of the car and gets in.

  Thoughts of escape race through my head, but I know that there’s no way that I can get away from him right now. Something’s seriously wrong with him, and if I try to make a break for it, I’m only going to get caught. And then things will be worse.

  We’re out of the parking lot in just a moment and on the main road before he turns to look at me. “You know, Nora, I always thought that you and I would be a good pair, you know? We both love art.” He frowns for a moment, obviously trying to think up more ways that we’re alike.

  When he can’t think of any more, he frowns and turns back to the road.

  I stay silent, trying to think about how in the world I’m going to get out of this. He’s driving fast, even faster than Teague normally does, both of us silent. It doesn’t take me long to realize exactly where we’re going.

  The Safe and Secure.

  Jeremy must not know that Teague and I already cleaned it out.

  He’s going to be pissed.

  Shivering, I try to move away from him, pressing myself up against the door of the car. If we weren’t flying down the road, I’d consider opening the door and throwing myself out, but there’s no way that I can do that without getting seriously injured.

  I have no choice.

  I’m just going to have to wait and see this through.

  Teague

  Lunch is supposed to be my main break for the day. Not only do I not have to deal with any other students, but I’m supposed to be able to keep an eye on Nora without worrying about her being tormented too much by Bethany and her crew of skeletal bitches.

  But Nora’s not in sight.

  I guess that’s not totally weird, since for a while there she was coming to lunch late, but even then she usually showed up eventually. Robby and I are in our usual seats in the middle of the quad, but by the end of lunch she still hasn’t showed up.

  “Maybe she found someone to make out with.” Robby snorts a little as he finishes his sandwich. He catches the dark glare that I give him and, to his credit, tries to look somber.

  I don’t want to think about her making out with someone, but now that he’s put that in my head, I can’t seem to shake the image. “Like who? Have you heard anything?” If Robby knows something that I don’t about Nora, then I swear to God…

  He holds up his hands in a pacifying way. “I swear, I don’t know anything for sure, Teague. I’m just thinking out loud.” When he sees that I’m not going to kill him right now, then he continues. “But do you know who else isn’t at lunch today? That may tell you where she is.”

  I look around, scanning the quad for who may be missing, but it’s almost impossible for me to figure out who he may be talking about. At least Bethany is here, or I’d worry that she was trying to do something to Nora. She seems to have laid off of the bullying for now, at least, so that’s good.

  “I don’t know. Do you have any clue?” Robby joins me in looking, both of us craning our necks to see through the crowd.

  Suddenly, he slams his hand down on the picnic table. “I know. Jeremy.”

  Fucking Jeremy.

  My blood runs cold. I told Nora to stay away from him and what does she do? Disappear with the little asshole nerd during lunch. Without really thinking about what I’m doing, I stand, clenching my fists and turning in a circle to look for them.

  If I were an asshole nerd like Jeremy, where would I want to
hang out with Nora?

  The art room. Obviously. They both get huge boners for painting, so I bet that’s where they are. “I’m going to go find them,” I tell Robby, ignoring him when he stands up. After everything that I told her, it’s almost impossible for me to believe that she would fuck me over like this, but that’s obviously what’s happening.

  I wonder what he offered her.

  “I’ll help.” It’s tempting to have him come with me, but if it’s really Jeremy with Nora then I need to be able to handle this on my own and not drag Robby into it, so I shake my head.

  “No, you stay here and make sure that they don’t come back. If they do, give me a call.” I don’t even wait to see if he’s going to argue with me and simply stalk off to the building. Bethany catches my eye and raises an eyebrow, but I ignore her. I don’t have time for whatever she wants to know right now. I have got to find Nora and make sure that she’s not with Jeremy.

  At first, as I jog through the halls, it doesn’t occur to me that maybe Nora didn’t go with him on her own volition. Jeremy is a snake in the grass, and I’m sure that he somehow talked her into going with him, maybe forced her, even. The thought is sobering and I speed up.

  Even though that’s a possibility, I also think that she may have done this to me on purpose.

  She hates me. She’s made that clear a thousand times over, and what did I do? Hand her ammunition that she could use against me and my entire family. I slow in the empty hall, considering my options.

  No matter what, no matter if she went with him to fuck me over or if he didn’t give her a choice, I have to go find her. I have to stop her from doing something fucking stupid and ruining my family. The thought spurs me on and I enter the art room at a full run.

  It’s empty, well, empty except for the art teacher. Mrs. Carlson looks up at me from her desk in surprise, deftly moving her sketch pad out of the way to clear a space. “Is everything okay?”

  This is the first time I’ve ever set foot in here, and I’m as surprised as she is. There are huge windows along one wall, catching great light, and a line of easels set up in front of them with gorgeous paintings on display. I can’t help but wonder if Nora has a painting that she’s working on, but now is not the time.

  Rather than mooning over Nora, I need to find her and make sure that she’s not ruining everything.

  After a moment, I find my voice. “I’m looking for Nora. Has she been here?”

  The teacher frowns and looks off to an easel in the corner. My eyes follow her gaze and I catch my breath. This is clearly Nora’s. I recognize her style from the painting that I ruined in my room. It’s bold and bright, with dark slashes across it, and it takes me a moment to realize what it is.

  A portrait. Of me. I can’t help but walk closer to get a better look at it. She’s emphasized the angular planes in my face and given me deep pools for my eyes. My mouth is a hard and angry slash, but the bright colors that she mixed into the background and my skin give the painting a surreal and light feelings.

  I feel like there’s a lot that I can learn about Nora from this painting, but I have to find her first, and to do that, I need to get answers. Turning back to the teacher, I tap my foot on the floor.

  “She hasn’t been in today. Often she’ll come in during lunch for a bit to work on her piece, but not today, which is a little strange for her.” She shrugs, like she knows that it’s minorly concerning but as a teacher, she shouldn’t get too involved.

  “You haven’t seen her at all?” Even as I ask the question, I start walking towards the door. I know all that I need to, but it doesn’t get me any closer to an answer.

  “I’m so sorry, no.” She takes a breath like she’s going to say more, but I’m already out the door and into the hall before she can speak. Okay. Nora’s not in the art room, but then where the hell is she?

  I start walking down the hall again, quickly glancing in classes to look for her. Outside the girl’s bathroom near the office, I pause, considering leaning in and looking for her. Just as I’m about to push open the door, Bethany walks around the corner in the hall, a shit-eating grin on her face.

  “Teague! My favorite. What in the world are you doing skulking around the girl’s bathroom? You looking for some company in there?” She walks right up to me and twines her hands around my arm, pulling me close to her. “Because I know someone who would be happy to join you.” Her voice is a purr and she slides one hand down my arm, squeezing my waist, moving slowly to my cock.

  I take a step back and she pouts as her hands fall from my body. “Not a chance, Bethany. I’m looking for Nora – have you seen her?”

  She tilts her head to one side and snaps her gum before answering. “I have. What’s in it for me?” God, she is insufferable. I can’t believe that Kennedy Academy has made her their queen and put up with all of her bullshit for so many years.

  “How about this?” This time, I’m the one who steps closer to her. Slipping my arm around her waist, I pull her towards me. She steps forward, a sly smile on her face. “You tell me where Nora is, and I don’t kill you. I don’t tell your brother what a little whore you’ve become.”

  Her face pales and she tries to pull away. “Not fucking funny, Teague. Now you get to find the little virgin on your own.”

  Try as she might, I have my hand tight on her arm, and she can’t get away. “Not how this works, Bethany,” I tell her, squeezing harder. If she doesn’t answer me soon, then she’s going to have a nice little bruise on her arm. “Tell me what I want to know.”

  Bethany gasps and, at first, I don’t think that she’s going to answer, but then she shakes her head and does. “She left during PE with Jeremy.”

  A chill runs through my body and I feel like I’m stuck to the floor. I’m not sure that I could move, even if I had to. “She left with him?” The words feel heavy coming out of my mouth, and I can’t believe them even as I say them. It makes absolutely no sense that she would want to leave with him, especially after I warned her about how much trouble he is.

  Unless she wants to fuck me over.

  I try to push the thought out of my head as soon as it’s entered, but it’s damn near impossible. That has to be it. She knows the truth about me and now she wants to ruin me, and working with Jeremy is, hands down, the best way to do that.

  I’d be lying if I said that this betrayal didn’t hurt, but more than that, it pisses me off.

  Bethany’s watching me this entire time, a grin plastered on her face. “I can’t believe you didn’t hear her screaming the entire way to the parking lot.”

  Screaming?

  “What do you mean?” I try my best to keep my voice as light and friendly as possible, but Bethany must be able to see the truth in my eyes of how pissed off I am because she takes a step back and the smile falls from her face. “Bethany, what do you mean that she was screaming?”

  She shrugs and I want to grab her by the shoulders and slam her into the wall, but instead I try to slow my breathing and stay calm. Hurting Bethany isn’t going to give me answers any faster than she’s willing to give them right now, and I have to chill out.

  “I just mean that she was screaming.” She bats her eyes and looks up at me. “While she ran to the parking lot.”

  “With Jeremy?”

  “Well,” she says, rubbing at the floor with her toe, “I wouldn’t say with. She was kinda running from him, you know what I mean?”

  “No, I’m not entirely sure that I do. Why don’t you take some time and explain it to me, Bethany? Make sure that I don’t miss one fucking detail.”

  She takes another step back from me and glances nervously around, but we’re the only two in the hall. The bell will ring soon for class, so she better hurry the fuck up.

  “He was chasing her, okay? And she was screaming. They ran to the parking lot, and then she stopped.” She shrugs, like what she’s saying is no big deal, but my head is spinning.

  She was running from him? Not leaving with him?
There’s a huge fucking difference between the two, and I need to know for sure which one happened. Did Nora leave with Jeremy to fuck me over?

  Or did Jeremy take her to fuck me over?

  “Bethany, you better be telling me the truth.” Rage courses through my veins. I have to find Nora. “Why didn’t anyone help her if she was screaming and running from him?”

  She shrugs, locking her eyes on mine, like a dare. “Because nobody fucking cared, Teague.”

  That’s it. I’ve heard enough from her. Turning, I start to walk down the hall to an outside door. I have to figure out where Jeremy took Nora. Bethany calls after me, but I ignore her.

  I know that I told her brother that I’d protect her, but you can’t protect someone toxic like Bethany. Not when she’s so determined to self-destruct.

  She can handle herself and has proven that time and time again. Now, I have to go find the person who I don’t think can handle herself, and I have to save her.

  And, if it’s not too late, I have to save my family.

  Chapter 11

  Nora

  We pull into the parking lot of the Safe and Secure and Jeremy parks right in front of Teague’s empty storage unit before killing the engine and turning to me. He held his knife in his right hand the entire time he drove, probably so that I could look at it and know that he would stab me if I didn’t anything wrong.

  “I think that you know why we’re here, don’t you, Nora?” His voice sounded tired before, but he must have gotten a second wind, because he’s sounding hyper and excited. I can’t help but wonder if he’s on something, especially with the way he keeps looking around us and how exhausted he looks.

  Trying to keep my voice light, I respond. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” It’s a lie, and I’m sure that he’ll be able to see right through it, and sure enough, he frowns.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me, Nora. God. You and everyone else at Kennedy Academy thinks that I’m just some stupid nerd, right? Well, guess what? I’m not, and you’re going to help me take care of everything, okay? Now, get out of the car, but don’t run or fuck this up.”