by Harmony Grey
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but Kane is basically a God in this school.” Her voice is soft, barely a whisper but I hear her clear as day, and even though she scowls and narrows her eyes in the general direction of where the two popular tables are positioned, I can’t help but detect a trace of awe in her voice. “Most of the girls would die to be in your shoes, and that’s no joke. Now he’s back on the market you’re going to be enemy number one.”
A cold shiver runs down my spine at the thought. I don’t want to be enemy number one. I just want to get on with my studies, make a friend or two and experience what High School’s supposed to be like. Without any of the added drama along the way. Obviously, the universe thinks I’m asking for too much.
“Okay. A deal’s a deal.” I remind her and she reluctantly tears her brown eyes away from the tables that seem so far away. “I’ve told you everything I know, so now it’s your turn.” This is my only chance to take the heat off me and I’m going for it. “What’s the history between you and Taylor?”
“Ha… now that’s along ass story.” Bailey tries to divert me. Sure, she’s a stubborn one, but so am I and I think today could just be the day that she finally meets her match.
“Fortunately for you I’m a really good listener and I’ve been known to have the patience of a saint.” Bailey doesn’t say anything right away. Instead, she sags her shoulders and leans back on the chair before offering me a small smile. I still don’t know her all too well, but my guess is if I took a shot in the dark, I’d find anything to do with Taylor makes her feel a little uncomfortable. But if I’m going to be enemy number one then I need to be prepared. I need to arm myself with the facts.
“The only thing I can tell you is that she is the mother of all bitches. I think you’ve already picked up on that, huh? She’s made it her sole mission to make my life a living hell for years…”
“I’m sorry.” I don’t know why I’m apologizing but it kind of feels like the right thing to say.
“Oh, don’t be,” Bailey shrugs away my concern and she sounds a whole lot happier than I would have expected her to after such a somber confession. Having the likes of Taylor going after you day after day for years on end must be an absolute nightmare. Bailey takes me by surprise when she suddenly reaches out and takes my hands before holding them tight, like I’m something special—the answer to her prayers.
“You’re gonna have to give me a little more than that because you’re kind of freaking me out.”
Bailey cackles, her hand still clutching mine. Her big brown eyes lock onto mine as she says, “thanks to you and your little thing with Kane, I think Taylor will forget all about her issues with me. She might actually leave me alone.”
“Gee, thanks.” The sarcasm falls freely from my mouth. “Always happy to be of service. Just give me a shout whenever you need me. But just so we’re clear… there’s absolutely no thing going on between me and Kane.”
“Hey, you tell yourself whatever you have to if it makes you sleep easier at night. Either way, make no mistake—I promise you will be her next victim. I’m sorry to tell you that I don’t even think Kane will be able to protect you from her wrath.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KANE
I couldn’t wait to get out of math and away from Olivia.
I don’t know what it is about her, but she has me feeling on edge like I’ve never experience before. Whenever she’s around me I feel like I’m suffocating under her presence.
I know I should keep my distance from her, but I can’t deny the magnetic pull which keeps drawing me back towards her.
Olivia Greendale gets under my skin. She’s like a persistent itch that won’t disappear. She’s the only girl who’s been brave enough to brush me off and shove me to the side like I don’t have the tiniest effect on her, and it infuriates the hell out of me.
I’m Kane fucking Egan.
I’m the king of this school, and this new chick has the balls big enough to walk around this school acting like I’m a fucking no body. Like I’m something she’s just stepped in. I call bullshit. Every single girl in this school would love me to notice them, even for a second and show them some attention—but not Olivia fucking Greendale.
She obviously thinks she’s better than me, yet she doesn’t know the first thing about me, so who the hell is she to judge me? She’s the nobody around here and the sooner she wakes up and realizes that the better.
I decided to go against my own rules this morning and play the nice guy. I can kind of understand why she’d be so hard-faced. She is the new girl in town after all. When I walked into math and saw her next to Brainy Bailey I tried to step in and pull her out of that mess. Hell, no one wants to endure an hour of that. Everyone knows Brains is a weirdo. I guess I thought I was doing her a favor by offering a rare way out. I don’t think it’s ever been known for me to invite an outsider and I won’t be doing it again. The stupid bitch looked me up and down like a I was a piece of crap and thought it would be a good idea to show me up and make a fool of me in front of the whole class.
Little does she know that was a wrong fucking move.
No one openly denies me and gets away with it.
“Egan, where’s your head at?” Coach’s voice booms right through my thoughts of Olivia Greendale and brings me straight back to the here and now—in the middle of the changing room and all eyes are on me.
“My bad, Coach.” I mutter and he throws me a warning look.
“Hey, if you don’t want to be here then you know where the door is, kid. But just remember, once you’re out of it there’s no way back in—even for you.” He growls. He’s a big man. Around 6ft 7 and he’s made of nothing but pure muscle. He’s a man of few words but when he does speak, you can be sure that he means every single one of them.
I know the rules.
Like fuck I’d be stupid enough to walk out of here. It doesn’t matter how angry or frustrated I get in my life; football is the only thing which keeps me almost sane right now and if I didn’t have this outlet then I’d be left with nothing. Coach knows it too—only he refuses to give me any special treatment. No matter how hard I’m finding something, he treats me the exact same way he’d treat the other guys.
I need to be here.
I need to stay here.
We both know how hard I fought to stay on the team. Fuck, when my whole world was crumbling around me and I couldn’t see a way passed it, I always knew that I had football.
“As I was saying…” his voice booms again and he finally takes his black eyes away from mine. “We’ve got a new player on the team.”
“We do?” A couple of guys shout out, confusion etched onto their faces as they look around the room and don’t see anyone different standing around us.
I take one look at Coach’s set face and already know what he’s going to say before the words fall from his mouth. Obviously, the motherfucker wasn’t lying last night.
“We do. He’ll be joining us from across the river…” a loud rumble erupts all around us and the rest of the team are keen to hear all about it. “unfortunately, he can’t be here today…” my mind flashes back to Billy’s last night and images of me pummeling him into the ground are fresh in my memory. A sweet rush of victory burns through my veins. Sure, it might well be short lived because I didn’t hurt him enough to leave any lasting damage and soon enough Rodriguez Marquell will be in my face day in day out…”but I’m sure you’ll all welcome him with open arms when he starts with us next week.”
“That’s if I don’t snap his fucking legs off first,” I mouth to Ryder, and Chase—the backstabbing prick quickly drops his eyes to floor. Fucking pussy.
“Kane, we need to talk.”
Taylor is on me the second I arrive at the boys table in the cafeteria. She’s like a savage little puppy who’s refusing to take no for an answer and she’s really starting to piss me off.
Wasn’t it clear enough that I had nothing to say to her when I re
fused to return a single one of her million missed calls?
“You can’t ignore me forever, you know.” She hisses down my ear which only gets my back up some more. Taylor really isn’t doing herself any favors by trying to push this.
“I can,” I round on her and I can feel the heated stares of my peers, but I really couldn’t give a damn what any of them think. This is my fucking life and I’ll live it however the hell I want to, and they can continue to watch me from the peasant stands. “And I will…” I bring my face close to hers, my eyes wide and my nostrils flaring, yet she doesn’t falter. If anything, I’m starting to think she finds it funny. “Now leave me the fuck alone.” I bite out, emphasizing each word so she knows how pissed I really am.
“Whoa… what’s up with you and your shitty little attitude?”
A wild laugh rumbles deep within me and an instant loathing simmers deep within me towards the girl who was always by my side. Well, always until she decided to fucking betray me—the same way everyone else who’s close to me does over time.
“Are you really asking me such a dumb fucking question? Bitch, you’re fucking crazy,” I snarl, unable to control my emotions. I shake my head in utter disbelief and disappointment while struggling to rise above the reaction she’s so desperate to get out of me.
“Yes, and I’d like to think I deserve an answer too.” Her face is impassive and it’s almost like she doesn’t even realize what she’s done. I’m fairly sure if it was the other way round and I’d gone behind her back then she’d have my balls on a hotplate right now.
“I can’t even deal with your bullshit right now, Taylor.”
“Oh, quit with the dramatics, Kane. So, I made a mistake. One fucking mistake. Big fucking deal. Tell me someone who hasn’t fucked up somewhere along the way.” Taylor demands. She pouts her lips like she hasn’t done anything wrong, and she’s feeling a whole lot more confident than she should, but then she’s always felt more superior when her trusted sorry-ass minions are by her side. “I mean, it’s not like you’re innocent in all of this, are you?” My jaw clenches and I grind down on my teeth. I’ve never wanted to hurt Taylor so much in all my fucking life and if she carries on with her bullshit then I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hold myself back.
“I’d quit it if I were you…” I warn her on a grimace but as usual, Taylor chooses not to listen. Taylor always thinks she knows best.
“Ah, I get it now. Everyone can hear about the things that I’ve done but you’re trying to keep your dirty little secret covered up. But why? Do you feel like you need to protect her?”
Taylor just doesn’t let up. She’s relentless. She just keeps on pushing and pushing. This girl seriously doesn’t know when to quit. I try to focus on breathing deep through my nose while trying to calm the inevitable storm that’s brewing between us, getting ready to unleash on everyone around us.
“Quit with the drama,” I warn her. I reach out for the chair, spin it around and fall down into it so my chest is flush against the plastic and I can feel the wild, erratic thud of my heart pounding against it as adrenaline begins to work its way around my body. “What I do and who I do in my time has nothing to do with you anymore. You saw to that when you decided to hook up with Rodriguez.”
A few fake gasps sound out around is as the rest of the cheer squad try their best to sound shocked, but we all know what really happened. Taylor hasn’t exactly been shy when it comes to her betrayal. She was making out with him for the whole damn town of Manorcroft to see. I think her minion’s knew exactly what was going on as it happened.
“Like I already told you, it was a mistake. But what about you and that new girl, huh? That didn’t look like a mistake to me. Actually, it looked pretty intentional to me.” Her voice rises with each word and it takes everything I have to keep my composure and my ass firmly rooted to the chair. I swear if Taylor was a bloke then I wouldn’t think twice about taking her out and shutting her annoying mouth for good. “I always thought you had taste, Kane. But guess what everybody,” she shouts and spins on her cheer pumps as she turns face the majority of the cafeteria and they all look eager to hear what she has to say, and just as I thought it would, the whole place falls silent, awaiting an announcement from their Queen. Only she’s no longer Queen. There’s no way I’m going to allow a cheating whore to share my crown. No way.
“Taylor…” I warn, my hands fisting together on the table. “I wouldn’t…”
But she doesn’t listen to me. Taylor is trying to prove a point, only it won’t change the outcome and she’ll only make a fool of herself in the process. The latter is on her.
She narrows her eyes at me, and I can see a wicked glint in her eyes. “Your favorite guy here… your trusty superhero isn’t as clean cut as he’d like you to believe. Oh, no… while you’ve all been bowing down and worshipping the ground he so recklessly walks on, he’s been busy getting down and dirty with our very own new girl.”
Taylor’s voice breaks, laced with raw and heated emotion as she tries to fool her crowd into feeling sorry for her. Only I’m not stupid and I’m not falling for it. I know what she’s like and this is nothing more than one of her many games she likes to play. It’s all an act to make everyone in this school feel sorry for her—like she’s the goddamn victim in this mess.
“How about you quit while you’re ahead?” I mutter the words through puckered lips, but I know she’s heard me. My voice holds so much rage that I barely recognize it as my own.
Once again, she chooses to ignore me, and her voice grows even louder. “Don’t look so surprised.” She cries out, dramatizing everything like it’s a goddamn play. “I don’t see why it needs to be kept a secret. I mean Kane Egan loves to let you know how amazing he is at everything so why should this little side hustle be any different? Allow me to enlighten you. Kane, my was boyfriend has been getting down and dirty with that piece of trailer trash over there.”
I slam my fists down on the table before I can stop myself as a wild, heated rage consumes me. I can feel my whole-body trembling from head to toe. I’m really struggling to rein in the beast. It’s proving harder to stop it from erupting and unleashing hell on anyone close to me. Taylor always has to be extra and take everything a step too far. “Enough.” My voice bellows across the hall, but once again the stupid bitch won’t listen to me.
Instead, she’s zoned in on her prey and a savage look creeps onto her face. Taylor’s possessed as her eyes widen. “Hey, trailer trash…” she calls over to where Olivia is sitting minding her own goddamn business next to Brains and my chest rises as falls rapidly as my anger surges to an all-time high. Who the hell does she think she is? Talk about double fucking standards. I can’t believe Taylor is trying to bring someone down just so she doesn’t end up being the one being painted in a bad light.
“You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“So…” she mouths in my direction before focusing her attention on Olivia again. “You’re welcome to him. But judging from the look of you it’s easy to guess he’ll be bored before long and he’ll come scurrying back to me.”
“Shit, man.” Ryder mutters beside me, totally living his best life while he stuffs a handful of fries in his mouth like it’s fucking popcorn. “You’ve sure got a way with the chicks, bro.”
“Fuck you.” I hurl back at him, but my eyes never leave Olivia’s. Taylor has just brutally ripped her apart in front of the whole school and she looks like she’s about to breakdown and cry. But when she catches me watching her, her big hazel eyes snap straight to mine and she narrows them. And although they’re bloodshot and threatening to spill her unshed tears, I can tell that they’re tears of anger and frustration over tears from being upset.
My cock chooses this moment to come to life in my shorts.
I faintly hear Taylor huff next to me, probably half expecting me to apologize and beg for her forgiveness but that ain’t ever going to happen. Eventually, when she realizes that she isn’t going to get a re
action from me she mutters loser down my ear before storming passed me in a full blown diva tantrum.
It’s crazy, but right now it kind of feels like Taylor has never existed. All I can see is Olivia Greendale looking back at me, and it’s driving me insane. I never asked for her to climb into my head, yet there she is, and I can’t get rid of her—no matter how hard I try.
I’m not a soft touch by any means, but Taylor acted like a spoilt brat. She didn’t even have her facts straight. Should I have stood up and corrected her in front of the whole school? Maybe… but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to.
The fact of the matter is Olivia doesn’t know me and I sure as hell don’t owe her anything. It’s clear to see that she’s already made an opinion on me and she hates me with a passion. Deep down that feelings mutual, yet at the same time I’m always ready for a challenge.
Toying with Olivia’s emotions will not only be epic payback for Taylor’s betrayal, but it’ll be heaps of fun to watch Olivia squirm too, and god knows I could really do with a distraction.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
OLIVIA
“Hey, baby. How was school?”
My mom’s voice sounds out somewhere in the distance the second I step through the door to this massive mansion that we now call home.
“It was fine,” I lie as I call back. I doubt my mom would ever be able to pick up on any change in my mood because she’s far too self-absorbed to notice anything about anyone else.
“Excuse me, lady. What’s the rush?” My mom asks and she suddenly appears in the entrance hall while I’m trying to escape up to my room upstairs, away from her and plainly out of sight. Hiding out in my new room seems to be my favorite thing to do right now—my new norm, but tonight it seems that my mom has other plans for me.