Savage Lessons: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance (Vicious Boys of Marter High Book 1)

by Elle East

  Adalee drops me off at my foster home after it’s already dark. We share a long hug in the car and she tells me to call her if I need anything. She also says that she can’t wait to get out of my neighborhood, and I can’t disagree, it’s pretty scary.

  I get out and walk up the driveway. Adalee watches until I’m in front of the door with my keys in my hand, then when I turn and wave to her, she waves back and takes off.

  “Have fun?” a dark voice asks from the shadows and I violently jump, scratching the keys against the door. There’s a long gash in the paint now, but it’s already chipped and peeling so it’s not like it matters.

  I can see the glow of a cigarette and smoke gathered around a face in the darkness. I recognized Brax’s voice and I say angrily, “You scared me practically to death.”

  I hear him laugh quietly, but there’s not a lot of humor in it. He steps out of the shadows next to the front door and into the pale glow coming from inside.

  “Was thinking you were on a date or something,” he says as he steps closer to me.

  “No, just a friend.” I don’t want to talk to him right now. I just want to go inside and go up to my room to be alone.

  “You should have told us. We had no idea where you were and something could have happened to you.” He’s very serious.

  “I was just out with a friend. I don’t need to tell you guys everywhere I go.”

  “It’s dangerous. You don’t even know half the things we have to do to protect you. You should be a little more grateful.”

  “Are you serious?” I ask incredulously. “What is it you do to keep me safe? If anything, you guys are the ones who pose the most danger to me. The safest I am is when you are far away from me.”

  Brax’s eyes glow like burning coals in the dark. “You have no idea.”

  I throw my hands up in exasperation. I’m so fed up and over it at this point.

  “Well, it doesn’t seem like you’re going to explain it to me so I’m not going to waste my time. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.”

  I try the door and it’s unlocked. I go in and shut it, leaving Brax on the outside.

  17

  Two days later I’m still thinking about the ridiculous thing that Adalee said. I’ve managed to avoid both Daire and Brax, but Theo’s been driving me to school in his vintage hearse. I can’t deny that I kind of like the weird looks we get from the people we drive by. It’s kind of fun.

  I know that I’ll eventually have to talk to Brax, but I just can’t face it yet. I don’t know how he feels about the whole make-out session, but I know that it was a mistake. I’m sure I was just one of a dozen girls he made out with that week and it was no big deal to him, but just in case it was then I’m not looking forward to letting him down. I’ll have to tell him that it didn’t mean anything and I just got caught up in the moment and I don’t think of him that way.

  I still don’t know what he was talking about when he said they have to do a lot to protect me. I assume he was just being dramatic—he probably thinks that the Vicious Crew not hurting me themselves is going out of their way to protect me. I’m curious, but not curious enough to talk to him. He probably wouldn’t tell me, anyway.

  I’m walking down the hall to my next class, when I see Cherry walk up to Brax. A surprising and painful lump forms in my gut. Brax is leaning casually against a locker but when she comes up to him he looks visibly uncomfortable and becomes stiff, straightening up slightly.

  She’s pretty in her red skirt, black tank top and with her red lipstick. She’s smiling and talking, but I’m too far away to hear what she’s saying. Brax is looking at her warily.

  I don’t like seeing him talking to her—and that’s when it hits me like a tidal wave.

  I like him.

  “No!” I say quietly in horror. “Please, no.”

  Cherry reaches up to touch his arm and I need to get out of here. I rush out a side door and burst outside. I take large gulps of fresh air to calm myself.

  This is bad. This is so bad. How could I possibly like someone like him? There must be something wrong with me. Sure, he’s cute and can be nice sometimes, but he’s also part of the gang that almost drowned me. He grew up in Marter and he’s everything I hate about this place. How could I possibly be in to him??

  But now that I’ve realized it, there’s no going back. For the rest of the day, whenever I see Brax in the halls, my heart flutters embarrassingly and I have to get away.

  It’s during one of my embarrassing escapes, when Brax is walking my direction down the hall and I dash down another one, that I run straight into Alec.

  “Hey, what’s up?” he asks. “In a hurry?”

  “No—I mean, yes. I got to go.” I rush past him.

  “There’s a party tonight. I’ll pick you up at nine.”

  That causes me to stop in my tracks. “What?”

  “You haven’t been to any parties since you got here. Ever wonder what a Marter party is like?”

  “Not really, to be honest. I imagine they’d be loud and dangerous.”

  He laughs. “You’d be kind of right. They are also a ton of fun and I don’t want to go alone. So, pick you up at nine?”

  “I can’t,” I start.

  “Why not?”

  I think about it for a moment. Maybe a party would be a nice distraction. Brax will probably be there, but maybe seeing me with Alec—given their history—will ruin any chance of him liking me. I know that we can’t be together and so in order to get over this dumb little crush I have, one of us has to stop liking the other—and since I can’t change my feelings, maybe I can change his.

  “Ok,” I finally say.

  “Seriously?” Alec asks. “I thought you’d fight this a lot harder.”

  “I need to try to have some fun because my life has been really serious since I came here. Plus, I’m curious.”

  “You won’t be disappointed. See you tonight, Highness.” He uses the nickname Brax uses more than anyone and I get a twinge in my gut.

  Nine o’clock rolls around just as I finish getting ready. I’ve taken the twins’ advice and gone heavy on my makeup—while heavy for me, for a normal Marter girl this is a natural face. I’m wearing one of the outfits Daire added to my pile and I have to give him credit where credit is due. It’s a long black dress with slits going up both sides all the way to practically my hips, but the top part is more covered so I don’t feel so exposed.

  I’ve put my dark hair up in a curled updo and even painted my nails black to complete the look. I’m not sure what to wear for shoes, but I eventually opt for delicate red flats with studs on them to match my red lips. I chose flats instead of heels in case I have to run.

  Alec texts me and I head out. I knock on my sister’s door to say goodbye for the night and tell her where I’m going. She doesn’t answer. Hm, that’s odd, she’s usually home by now. I send her a text and then continue down the stairs.

  Brax is coming up at that moment, a piece of pizza in his hand. He stops dead in his tracks, eyes bulging out of his head. If I wasn’t trying to avoid liking him, then I’d be flattered.

  He whistles. “You look awesome.”

  “Thanks,” I say. I feel myself smiling so I force a frown.

  “You’re going to that party tonight?” he asks.

  “Yes… Are you?”

  He shrugs. “Yeah, I was planning on it.” He’s in sweatpants and a t-shirt and holding a piece of pizza, it doesn’t look like he was planning to go out tonight.

  “Ok, well, bye,” I say and walk down the stairs and out the door. It was so much easier to talk to him when I didn’t know I liked him. Kissing him has complicated everything.

  Alec is waiting, leaning against the SUV that we’ve used in the last couple jobs. He looks good, like really good. His hair is slicked back but with a slight pompadour on top, like usual. He’s wearing tight black jeans and a burgundy sweater that brings out the amber of his eyes. He has on a gray overcoat that looks casual an
d yet expensive. He’s dressed like how the boys at Sheltered Glen dressed when they weren’t in their uniforms—except there're tattoos peaking out of his clothes and he looks a million times cooler.

  I’m definitely happy with how my non-date looks, and the way his eyebrows raise in appreciation when he sees me tells me he’s happy with how I look too.

  “Your car?” I ask and he nods.

  We get in and head off. We’re driving towards a part of Marter that I’ve never been to before. The shops and the houses start getting larger and nicer—but they are all abandoned. They look like they haven’t been empty for very long, but there’s clear signs of damage and all of them are dark inside.

  “What is this place?” I ask.

  “This is the rich part of Marter,” Alec answers. “No one lives here anymore. The only people left in Marter are the ones who couldn’t afford to leave.”

  I let that sink in.

  “Your family could afford to leave,” I say.

  “For our family, money isn’t the reason we can’t afford to leave.”

  Soon we start seeing more cars on the road, which is weird for such a desolate place. I’m able to see inside some of the beat-up cars and they are full of other students from school. We turn into a large parking lot that’s already half full. Alec’s car is by far the nicest one and when we park, I ask if he’s not worried about it.

  “Everyone knows it’s mine, and they’d be stupid to mess with something that belongs to the Vicious Crew.”

  I leave my coat in the car, but Alec doesn’t. I grab my purse and we start walking towards the building. The parking lot is dark but loud because of the music shaking the asphalt beneath our feet. We join the stream of people going inside.

  The place looks familiar but I can’t place my finger on it, until I see the outline of letters that have long since been removed, and then it clicks.

  “I’ve been shopping here before!” I tell Alec excitedly.

  This used to be a mall full of luxury stores. A long time ago I went shopping here with my mom and sister. I never really cared for shopping that much and I remember this place because I complained about how far we had to drive to get here—which in reality was probably less than half an hour, but that seems like an eternity when you’re a kid.

  “Of course you did,” he says with a good-natured eye roll.

  It’s crazy to see how quickly things can go downhill when no one cares about them anymore.

  We walk inside the building and I’m hit by a wall of noise. The windows must be blacked out because this place looks dark and abandoned from the outside but inside it’s a proper club. The huge multistory entrance to the mall is full of people. It’s dark but there’s different colored strobe lights and smoke hanging in the air.

  I’m nervous—the building is full of people who’ve threatened to kick my ass—but I’m with a member of the Vicious Crew so no one would dare fuck with me.

  “Want a drink?” Alec asks.

  “Uh, maybe just something non-alcoholic for now?”

  I have to keep my wits about me. I can’t risk not being able to react if something happens.

  We walk through the crowds of people. The shops lining the huge main area serve as private spots for people to gather, and it looks like they just use them to make out in. There’s a few large tables set up throughout the room. We wander over to one of them and see a couple bottles of cheap hard alcohol and not much else.

  “Come on,” Alec says and reaches out to take my hand.

  I pull mine back as if it’s been burned. Alec pretends he doesn’t notice and we make our way through the party and then down a narrow hallway. We have to dodge entwined couples who are hardcore kissing, but we make it to the end. In a little alcove there’s a soda machine.

  “How did you know this was here?” I ask.

  “You aren’t the only one who shopped here.”

  “Seriously?” I ask in surprise.

  He gives me a half smile, like this is an inside joke between the two of us. His straight, white teeth gleam in the glow of the machine, showing that he definitely had access to dentists growing up. I can’t help but smile back.

  He hands me change from his pocket and I get a soda. Most of the selections are empty, which makes sense because who would refill a vending machine in an abandoned mall. Once we both have one, we head back into the party. The music is so loud I can barely hear myself think, but I attempt to start a conversation with Alec. I’m genuinely curious about him and about the Vicious Crew—the whole rest of the crew, not just one person.

  “You don’t drink?” I ask as we walk past one of the liquor tables.

  He scoffs. “I drink, but you couldn’t pay me enough to drink from one of those. Who knows what people have put in them.”

  “Like what?”

  “Bath salts, piss, laxatives, you name it.”

  “What the hell?” My lip curls in disgust.

  “Yeah, people are assholes,” he yells over the music with a laugh. “Especially around here.”

  “People are assholes everywhere. They were assholes at Sheltered Glen too, but they were just sneakier about it. Here everyone’s asshole tendencies are out in the open and plain for everyone to see. It feels more honest somehow.”

  “You turning in to a Marter girl?” he asks with a smirk.

  “Hell no. I don’t fit in here.”

  “Well, at least you look like you do now. That’s an improvement.”

  He steps back to look me up and down. The dress is tight and I can practically feel his eyes caress my whole body. A warm rush flows through me under his appreciative gaze.

  “Let’s go this way,” I say quickly and we continue exploring the party.

  The songs have all been hardcore rap and heavy electronic, but suddenly it changes to a dance remix of my favorite song.

  “I love this song!” I shout in Alec’s ear.

  He smiles devilishly and takes my hand. I’m about to rip it out of his, but it’s too awkward and I just leave it—I also don’t really want to take it away. He grabs my waist and pulls me in close.

  The song is fast and dance-y, but we still manage to move to the beat together because Alec is an amazing dancer. I’m kind of in awe because I never would have expected this from him.

  The beat sinks into my core and I don’t think, I just move.

  He controls my body while also giving me enough freedom to move how I want. I’ve always enjoyed dancing but I’m not great at it or anything—but Alec makes me feel like I am. He moves against me and I can feel all the lean, hard muscles of his body. His hands graze my waist, my hips, my back. We are way closer than we should be.

  We move into the next song as a heavy beat takes over. He doesn’t stop and I don’t want to either. I’m having too much fun.

  The deep base pounds against my eardrums like a monstrous heartbeat. It’s so loud it’s almost disorienting. I grab on to Alec to ground myself and he grabs me back. The crowd swells around us but I don’t even notice. There’s just the two of us, moving together.

  His hard thigh slides between my legs and my breath catches in my throat. He pulls me forward slightly so I’m resting on him and I can feel his rough jeans through my thin dress, rubbing against my core. I have to stifle a moan. He then leans me backwards so he’s dipping me.

  My heart is hammering as he holds me. There’s sweat on my back from dancing and I’m breathing heavily. His body is so close to mine that I’m surrounded in his scent. Musk and oranges. He smells like musk and oranges. It’s like an expensive cologne, but I know it’s just him.

  That’s when I finally notice the change in the crowd. The dancing has stopped and everyone around us has gotten noticeably tenser. I grab Alec’s biceps, pull myself up from the dip, and look around.

  The lights and the music are still going but something’s happened. The crowd is parting slightly near the entrance, but it’s dark and I can’t see who’s there.

  As they come c
loser, I see Seth’s neon hair when it catches the light. He’s here with his gang. I feel Alec shift next to me as he goes from having fun and dancing into Vicious Crew mode.

  Another man steps close to me and I turn in surprise to see Daire. Where did he come from? I look behind me and there’s Brax and Theo. When did they get here??

  Brax is purposely not looking at me.

  I turn back to the East Marters as they come closer. Suddenly, I recognize my sister with them. What the hell?

  Without thinking about the danger, I rush towards her. The four guys behind me move to stop me but it’s too late, a protective sister can’t be stopped. I walk up and grab her arm.

  “What the hell are you doing, Olivia?” I have to yell over the music to be heard.

  “What do you mean? I came to a party. That’s what I’m doing!”

  She looks at me angrily like she can’t believe I’d embarrass her like this. I don’t care.

  “You came to a party with him?” I gesture at Seth in disgust. “Are you serious, Olivia? What is wrong with you?”

  “Me?” she shrieks incredulously. “You’re here with the entire Vicious Crew. You’re banging all of them and you have the nerve to get upset at me for walking into a party with a couple of guys?”

  My mouth drops open. “I’m not banging anyone!”

  “Oh yeah? Then what was that on the back porch the other day? I saw you!” She’s shouting, but I don’t know if anyone else can hear us over the music. All I care about at this moment is getting my sister to safety.

  “You’re such a hypocrite!” she yells, and I realize she’s right.

  I’ve made out with Brax and was just dirty dancing with Alec. The Vicious Crew are just as dangerous as the East Marters, and even though I could use the excuse that I was forced to hang out with them, it wasn’t the full truth. I came here tonight because I wanted to. I went down to talk to Brax because I wanted to. I like these dangerous boys just as much as she does.