After Burn (High School Bully Romance) (Diamond Lake High School Book 1)

by K. L. Middleton

  Recognizing it as Mattie’s, my stomach tightened. I turned around and saw her standing there with two of her friends. All three of them were glaring at me.

  “Chill out, Mattie,” Sonny said, sounding more amused than anything. “I invited them.”

  She looked at him. “Chase won’t like it. This is supposed to be a private race.”

  Considering the amount of people in the parking lot, I knew she was full of shit.

  “He was there when I invited them,” Sonny replied.

  Annoyance flashed in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to change her mind.

  “Speaking of Chase – where is he?” asked a voice behind me. “I tried texting him but haven’t gotten an answer.”

  I turned around and my stomach dropped. It was the guy who’d touched my ass earlier. Our eyes met and he smirked. I quickly looked away.

  “I’m sure he’s busy inspecting his car and getting it ready. Don’t worry, Bruce. He’ll show.” Sonny pulled out four red cups from the bag and handed them to us. “Beer is free. It’ll go quickly though so get it while you can.”

  We thanked him and took the cups. Sonny told us where the keg was and as I turned to follow the other girls toward the beer, Mattie stepped in my way.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Damn, something smells like rotten fish. That must be you, Bait Girl.”

  I glared at her.

  One of her friends burst out laughing. A girl with long red hair. “Bait Girl?”

  “Yeah. She works in her Grandma’s bait shop. God, what’s it like always smelling like minnows and leeches?” Mattie asked, her eyes wide. “I guess you probably get used to it.”

  Humiliated, I clenched my fists, ready to punch the bitch. “Considering how awful your breath is, you may as well ask your friends how they handle it.”

  Mattie’s face turned red and she looked like she wanted to kill me.

  “Leave her alone,” Kara said angrily, moving to my side. “I mean what the fuck, Mattie?”

  “You should consider who you make friends with. Something tells me you’ll regret it later,” Mattie replied.

  “You should reconsider how you treat people. Something tells me you’ll regret it later,” Kara countered.

  Mattie grunted. “Whatever.”

  Suddenly, a group of guys started cheering on the other side of the parking lot.

  Sonny jumped back up onto the pickup and looked down the road. He grinned and hollered, “Chase is here!”

  11

  Chase

  As expected, there was a big crowd gathered to watch the race. Most of them I recognized from Diamond Lake High. Normally, seeing so many people supporting me would have pumped me up, but I wasn’t in the mood for racing. I was still in pain and reeling from my old man’s right hook. He’d gotten a couple punches in before the housekeeper had rushed into the kitchen to see what was happening. If she hadn’t walked in when she had, I don’t know what would have happened. I’d been two seconds away from losing my shit and finally fighting back. I’d been taught all my life to respect my elders. Not anymore. Not when it came to him. He didn’t deserve it.

  After June had entered the kitchen, my dad miraculously became the calm, cool asshole he normally was. I ended up giving him my keys and he took off to the gym. Fortunately, I had another set and blew off his orders. Instead of staying home, I took a shower, packed a duffel bag, and took off. Not only was I leaving, but never coming back.

  Fuck him and his psychotic shit.

  I was eighteen now. I didn’t need his permission for anything. I had a job and some money saved. I’d find a place to stay and figure out what I was going to do about school. Part of me wanted to drop out and get my G.E.D. Fuck the college plans. HIS college plans. I could go to school for auto-mechanics and continue working at the shop. It was something I was definitely going to consider.

  I pulled my Mustang up next to Gus’s (AKA Scott Jackson) souped-up 1970 Chevelle S.S. I had to admit, his car was pretty sweet but the guy was a condescending prick. He was his biggest fan and constantly bragging about the races he won in Lancaster. If it had been anyone but him, I’d have rescheduled the race. But, I’d been dying to beat the fucker and wasn’t going to let a few bruises stand in the way. I noticed that Gus wasn’t in the vehicle but there were two guys from Lancaster keeping a close eye on it. There wasn’t a lot of trust between our schools. In fact, there was nothing but bad blood. The kind that had started when our parents had been in school. It wasn’t just rivalry, either. I once heard that it had something to do with a factory being closed down in Lancaster. Hundreds of people had lost their jobs and it was believed that a wealthy family from Diamond Lake, had something to do with it.

  I turned off the engine and slowly got out of my car, trying to ignore the pain in my ribs, where my old man had slugged me. I didn’t think anything was broken but they sure hurt like hell.

  “Woah. Dude, what happened to you?” Sonny said, walking up to me and staring at my black eye.

  I shrugged. “Got into a fight.”

  “With who?” Sonny asked as Tyler, Bruce, and Mitch joined us.

  “Just some douchebag. I really don’t want to talk about it. Hey, guys, what’s up?”

  “Not much. You okay to drive?” Mitch asked. “Your eye looks pretty swollen.”

  “You kidding me? I’m fine,” I replied.

  “You should ice it,” Sonny said, frowning.

  He was probably right, but the race was about to begin. “No time. I’ll be okay.”

  Bruce stared at me with concern. “What the fuck happened?”

  “Like I told Sonny. Just a fight. Nothing I feel like talking about.”

  “Just answer me this – did you beat the other guy’s ass?” he asked. “Or do we need to go and find the fuck who did this and lay down the hammer?”

  I forced a smile to my face. “He’s a hurtin’ unit right now. You know I would never let anyone get the best of me.”

  Fortunately, they accepted the lie without doubt. I’d been in fights before. Some were not my fault. Some were. I usually walked away the winner and they knew it.

  Mattie jogged over to me, with Audra and Celine following behind. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw my eye. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

  “He doesn’t want to talk about it,” Sonny answered for me.

  She ignored him. “Chase, who did this to you?”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” It was then that I noticed Gus walking from the pavilion. Not only was he surrounded by his usual posse, but the new girl was beside him and they were smiling and talking.

  “What the fuck is that all about?” Sonny said, noticing it too. “Conversing with the enemy. I mean what the fuck?”

  Sonny despised Gus more than any of us. He’d stolen his girl, back in our sophomore year. The only chick he’d ever been serious about.

  “I told you she’s a little slut,” Mattie said. “She doesn’t belong in our school. This just proves it.”

  “No shit,” Celine said, shaking her head.

  “Maybe she should be going to Lancaster. Not Diamond Lake,” added Audra.

  “Exactly,” Mattie replied.

  Normally, this kind of thing wouldn’t have bothered me, but she was fraternizing with the enemy. And I knew he was loving every minute of it.

  Gus and his group approached us. Seeing my face, he smirked. “Look what the cat dragged in. You walk into a wall, Adams?”

  I ignored him and stared at Mackenzie, trying to keep my cool. As irritated as I was, I had to admit, she was gorgeous and made the race much more interesting. I couldn’t exactly blame Gus for wanting a piece of tail, which was only part of his motive. He got a kick out of stealing the girls from Diamond Lake. Fuck if I was going to let that happen again though. Not on my watch.

  “Mackenzie, right?” I said, addressing her directly for the first time.

  Looking a little surprised, she nodded.


  “Whose side are you on?” I asked.

  Gus burst out laughing. “What is this, grade school?”

  I glared at him. “You know what I mean.” I looked at Mackenzie again. “Who do you want to win?”

  She was silent for a few seconds and then shrugged. “I’m just here to watch. I don’t really care.”

  Mattie laughed coldly. “Right.”

  Mackenzie told her to “fuck off”.

  Mattie’s eyes flashed angrily. “Mess with me one more time and I’ll-”

  Mackenzie glared back at her. “Bring it on.”

  “Don’t let her talk to you like that. Kick her ass Mattie,” Audra said.

  Mattie started toward Mackenzie, but I grabbed her arm. “We don’t have time for this shit.” I looked at Mackenzie and wanted to tell her to get the fuck away from Gus, but stopped myself. I’d sound like a jealous asshole. Honestly, I didn’t care if the chick fucked the entire football team. As long as it was ours and not the one from Lancaster.

  “You’re here to support Chase,” Sonny said, an edge to his voice. “Like the rest of Diamond Lake. That’s why you were invited.”

  “I do support him.” Mackenzie looked at me. “But, that doesn’t mean I can’t support Gus, too.”

  Celine snorted. “Wow. So, you want to support a total stranger? A guy from Lancaster. That’s fucked up.”

  Gus spoke up. “We’re not strangers. My family and hers go way back. I’ve been over to her grandmother’s for dinner. Technically, we have more of a history together then you all do.”

  “Maybe so, but we invited her tonight. She’s part of our school. Our town. She needs to understand where her loyalties are,” Sonny said crossly. “Or, should be.”

  Gus chuckled. “Damn, talk about controlling. Now I know what Mattie meant about all of you.”

  Mattie tensed up. “Excuse me, what?”

  Gus took out a cigarette and lit the end of it. “Last summer at that beach party. You were talking about how the guys at your school were manipulative and controlling. Of course, you were pretty hammered may not remember much. I, on the other hand, remember… everything.” He smiled wickedly. “It was an interesting night.”

  “Liar. I never said anything like that and I never ran into you at a party.” She looked at me. “He’s making that up.”

  I didn’t know if it was true or not. I’d caught her in some lies before, so anything was possible. Funny thing was, she was more manipulative than anyone I’d ever met.

  “Whatever.” Tired of the bullshit, and ready to get this race going, I checked the time on my phone. It was almost ten. “Let’s get the show on the road.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Gus took another drag of his smoke and then put it out. “What’s the wager?”

  “Two hundred,” I reminded him. We’d agreed on it earlier.

  He reached for his wallet and pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. “Who’s acting treasurer tonight?”

  “Me,” Mattie said.

  “Well, hell. I think we should use someone more neutral.” Gus smiled at Mackenzie. “Like you.”

  Mackenzie’s eyes widened. She looked like she wanted to crawl under a rock. “Let Mattie do it.”

  “He’s right. You should hold the money.” I pulled out my wallet and took out my share. “Here,” I said, holding the bills in front of Mackenzie.

  She stared at it.

  “Come on. We don’t have all night,” I muttered more harshly than I’d meant to. But, I was exhausted and pissed off. I’d had a shitty day and the only thing that would make it remotely better was wiping the smug look off of Gus’s face by beating him.

  Mackenzie gave me a dirty look. “Why don’t you just stick it up your ass instead?”

  Not used to a chick talking to me like that, I stared at her in surprise.

  “Asshole.” She turned on her heel and stormed away.

  “Mouthy little bitch,” murmured Mattie, with a gleam in her eyes. “I told you she was trouble.”

  I handed her the money instead and looked at Gus. “Mattie is treasurer.”

  “Fine.” He handed her his bills too.

  I pulled me keys out of my pocket and headed over to my car. Before I got in, I looked to see where Mackenzie had disappeared, but couldn’t see her in the darkness.

  Fucking, who cares, I told myself. I had enough of my own problems.

  “Hey, wait!” Mattie ran over to me. “Quick kiss for good luck?”

  Too tired to argue about it, I nodded. “Sure.”

  Smiling happily, she closed her eyes and pulled my lips down to hers. She tried kissing me deeply but I broke it off.

  “Sorry, everything hurts,” I explained.

  “Oh, you poor baby. Maybe I can make you feel better later?”

  Shit.

  She kissed me quickly again. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Gus got into his vehicle and we lined them up at the orange cones. People gathered around us - Diamond Lake kids on my side and Lancaster on his. As we waited for the flashlight, I could hear people chanting my name and screaming for me to win. Hearing that was an adrenaline rush in itself.

  Gus revved his engine.

  I looked over at him and he pointed toward Mattie. He raised his fingers into a “V”, flicked his tongue, and then grinned wickedly.

  “Like I said – interesting night!” he hollered.

  I clenched my jaw. The fucker was going down, one way or another.

  12

  Mackenzie

  I heard the engines revving and rolled my eyes as I headed in the opposite direction. I was so over Chase, his girlfriend, and the rest of the Diamond Lake assholes. With an attitude like his, no wonder he had a black eye. He deserved it.

  And who were they to tell me who I could and couldn’t cheer for?

  The squeal of tires told me that the race had started. I hoped that Gus left Chase in his dust.

  “Mackenzie, wait,” Sara called out.

  I turned and saw her walking toward me with Kara and Maya. I was a little frustrated with them as well. They’d pretty much abandoned me after I’d started talking to Gus by the keg.

  “Where are you going?” Kara asked when they caught up to me.

  “Anywhere but here,” I muttered.

  “Are you mad at us?” Sara asked.

  “Well, you kind of ditched me after I started talking to Gus,” I replied.

  “He’s bad news around here,” Sara replied.

  “She’s right. I mean the entire school pretty much hates him,” Maya added.

  I couldn’t figure that one out. Gus’s mom and my mom had been close friends growing up, which is how we’d met. Every summer his family and mine would get together for a barbecue. He was a nice guy and we’d always had fun together. I didn’t think it was fair how they were treating him.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “He has a bad reputation,” Maya said.

  “Apparently, he stole Sonny’s girlfriend a couple of years ago. That’s why the A-squad hates him so much,” Kara said.

  “And because of that, we’re supposed to treat him like shit?” I asked dryly. “Just because Sonny lost his girlfriend?”

  “That’s not all. He and some of his friends wrote graffiti on the school one night,” Maya said. “Insulting all of us.”

  “She’s right,” Sara said. “He wrote a bunch of lewd shit.”

  “They also think he and his friends were the ones who burned down Old Man Jenkin’s shed last year,” said Kara.

  This just didn’t sound like the guy I knew. He’d once told me that he wanted to be a cop and I couldn’t imagine him committing those crimes.

  “How do you know it was even him? Obviously, he didn’t get arrested for anything.” I would have heard about it from my grandmother.

  “Bruce and Sonny told everyone. They’d heard about it from someone else who goes to Lancaster. Apparently, Gus was bragging about it,” Kara said.

  I st
ill didn’t believe it. “Gus isn’t like that though.”

  The other three didn’t say anything.

  “Seriously, you guys. I’ve known him for years and he might be a flirt, but he’s not into arson or spraying graffiti onto buildings,” I said. “He’s also not stupid enough to go bragging about it if he did.”

  “It doesn’t matter anyway. If you’re seen around him, you’ll get shunned by everyone at school. It’s better to just avoid him and anyone else from Lancaster,” Maya said.

  “Yeah, our schools hate each other,” Sara added.

  I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry but I’m not letting anyone decide who I can or cannot talk to. If you’re that worried about getting shit from the A-squad, because I’m friends with Gus, then maybe you should avoid me too.” I turned around and started walking down the side of the road again.

  “Wait,” Kara said.

  I turned around.

  She gave me an apologetic smile. “We’re not going to avoid you. If you think Gus is cool and wouldn’t do those things, then I believe you.”

  “Me, too,” Maya said.

  I looked at Sara.

  She cleared her throat. “I guess there really isn’t any solid proof.”

  I relaxed. “You know, the A-squad could just be spreading those rumors to make him look like an asshole. Just like what Mattie did to you.”

  She sighed. “Good point.”

  “Fuck the A-squad,” Kara said.

  “Yeah, fuck them,” Sara said.

  “You guys want to wait around and see who returns first, or just get out of here?” Kara asked, looking back toward the parking lot.

  “I seriously don’t care who wins,” I told them.

  “I vote that we just get out of here,” Sara said.

  “I second that,” Maya said.

  “Okay, I say we go and grab something to eat at Herschel’s,” Kara said, pulling her key fob out of her purse.

  Maya’s eyes lit up. “I could go for a malt.”

  “Me, too,” Sara replied. “Have you ever eaten at Herschel’s, Mackenzie?”

  I shook my head.

  They all stared at me like I was an alien.