Crush on Mr. Bad Boy

by Lilly Purdon

  “How about we rewind the tape and watch that again? Yes Jaxon, I just called you an asshole.” I walked back into his bedroom and threw myself on his head hopelessly. How did they manage to turn my teeth pink in the first place?! I thought that was factually impossible.”

  He sat on the bed next to me, making it dip and wrapped his arms around me. “It’ll probably wash out soon enough.”

  “How the hell did they though?!”

  He just shrugged. “I have no idea. I just noticed your teeth when you woke up.” He patted my head like a child. “So what do you want to do now?”

  “Get the stupid pink off my teeth, go home and snuggle into my bed and lay there forever until I grow old and die.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sure about what?”

  “About snuggling into your bed?”

  I gave him a flat look.

  “I’m kidding.”

  I ignored him and shut my eyes.

  “You’re not falling asleep on me. Nope, not going to happen.” He hauled me up into a sitting position. “Go take a shower, you smell like dog shit on a hot summer day.”

  “You and your comparisons,” I snorted sarcastically. “One day all your fancy sentences will come back and bite you in the ass.”

  He didn’t reply as I got up and went to the bathroom. I stripped all the clothes off my body and got into the shower. I let the hot water run down my body as I hummed a melody. It was one of the most relaxing moments I have had so far.

  But of course like every other great moment, it had to end. When I got out of the shower, I realized there were no clean clothes around. In fact, there were no clothes at all except Jaxon’s. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. I called for my best friend multiple times, but there was no response, so I decided to slip out of the bathroom in only a towel.

  I held my towel tightly. I was incredibly insecure with people seeing my body, since no one had ever seen me in a bikini before, besides Jaxon of course. The last time he saw me in a bikini, we were only 11. It might’ve seemed weird, but that was who I was.

  Kasay had tried convincing me into wearing a bikini, but I refused. She said I had a killer body and I’d look hot in a bikini. I stepped back into his bedroom and grabbed a t-shirt lying on the ground. But right when I sniffed it, I literally died. It smelled so disgusting.

  I went through some of the other clothes in his bedroom, but they were too dirty, too wet, or too smelly. Overall, they were all disgusting. That boy had not a piece of clean clothing in his bedroom. I didn’t want to take the risk and try to put any pieces of clothing in there on.

  I stuck my head out of his door and called his name, but there was no reply. I tip toed through the empty hallway and tried opening his parent’s bedroom. Sure there must’ve been some clean clothes in there. But with my great luck ^note my sarcasm^ the door was locked.

  “Jaxon,” I called his name again, but there was no reply. I took a deep breath and tip toed downstairs. I made sure I was extra quiet just in case there were any guests downstairs. I wouldn’t want them thinking there was a random half-naked girl creeping around.

  I looked in the kitchen, but there was no one. I sighed in annoyance. Where the hell was my best friend when I needed him? I went into the basement to search for some clothes, but I had no luck. Karma was never on my side.

  After I searched pretty much the entire house, I slumped onto his couch. I threw my head back and sighed tiredly. When I opened my eyes, something outside caught my eye. My clothes were all hanging on a line outside along with some other clean clothes in his back yard.

  If only I could go out there without being seen… I got up and snuck out his back door. The moment I opened the door a blast of cold air hit me like a slap in the face. I shivered, hugging the towel closer to my body. It must’ve been about thirty degrees something since it was still early in the morning. And there I was wrapped in a towel. Boy was I clever…

  I took in a deep shaky breath.

  “Run Rosie run!” I sprinted towards the clothes line.

  With my first step, I tumbled down a short flight of stairs and landed in a puddle of muddy icy water. I got up quickly and ran straight for the clothes line. There were goose bumps on every inch of my body, but I refused to go back inside without my clothes. Right as I was grabbing my clothes from the line, I heard a window open.

  “Dude, there’s a naked chick outside!” Someone yelled. My head snapped in the familiar voice’s direction. Matt McCartney had his head hanging out of his window pointing straight at me. My eyes widened in fear. This was going to make the school’s paper front page.

  “Holy shit!” a blonde popped stuck his head out of the window too as he grinned ear to ear. “I guess today’s our lucky day bro!” he slapped Matt’s back.

  I grabbed my clothes quickly as two other guys stuck their heads out of the same window. I was so screwed.

  The guys were all gawking and pointing at me as I collected all my clothes and ran back inside. “Hey, I didn’t get your name!” Matt yelled as I slammed the back door. I clutched all my clothes to my chest, panting like I had just ran a marathon.

  After a few minutes of me leaning against the door shaking, the front door flew open revealing Jaxon. “What the hell happened to you?!” he slammed the door and rushed over to me.

  “M-M-My clothes were gone and I-I c-c-couldn’t find you and a-any clean clothes s-so I looked and f-found them outside. Then M-M-Matt and his buddies-s saw me half naked.” I stuttered because I was shivering from the cold.

  “And why are you covered in mud?” he raised an eyebrow at me.

  “T-Tripped.”

  He pinched his nose bridge before looking up at me again. “Go put on some clothes then we’ll talk.”

  ~*~

  “I’m so sorry we turned your teeth pink Rosie, I really am.” Kasay apologized for the thousandth time.

  I scoffed.

  “I really am, it was just-”

  “I know, I know,” I sighed. “My braces were ‘invisible’-” I quoted with my fingers. “So your partner pulled some witchcraft and turned my teeth pink, because he said it was the normal thing to do. This is the fifteenth time you’ve tried to explain-”

  “Sixteenth,” she corrected.

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “So am I forgiven?” She asked hopefully.

  “Of course not.”

  “Why not?!”

  “You turned my teeth pink with god knows what, dumped me at Jaxon’s place without making up an excuse for my stepmother, Matt and his buddies saw me running outside half naked covered in mud-”

  “That was actually your fault you didn’t wait for Jaxon,” she interrupted me rudely.

  I glared at her. “Not the point.” I huffed before I continued. “I almost freezed to death running outside to get my clothes, and I fell in a frozen muddy puddle-”

  Rex interrupted me. “No wonder your hair looks better.” He cocked his head to the side. “You look better with dark hair.”

  Kasay turned to me with a mysterious grin on her face as Jaxon looked between us confusingly. “Oh god,” I muttered. Whenever Kasay had that look on her face, she was planning something evil in her head. And this time, her evil plan had something to do with me.

  ~*~

  Chapter 6 JAXON’S NEIGHBOR

  We suddenly heard someone knocking on the front door. “I’ll get it!” Jaxon called out as he jogged to the door.

  “Hello, Smith.” Matt’s tone was threatening.

  All our heads snapped in the front door’s direction. Matt stood there, tall, strong, and proud with his cronies behind me. His brown hair was disheveled and he had his cocky signature smirk on his face.

  Behind him stood Trent- a silly and at times an annoying blonde who pretty much hung out with everyone, Justin and Dustin- the identical twins who nobody could tell apart, and last but not least Ricky. Ricky was the one I dealt with the most, and the one I had the most hatred for
. Sure, I hated Matt, but with Ricky it was on a whole other level.

  Matt looked over Jaxon’s shoulder over to us, trying to find something- or might I say- someone. “Where’s the chick?” Matt questioned.

  “What chick?” Jaxon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

  “The hot chick.” He replied, still searching for that someone.

  “What hot chick?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Matt said in such a threatening tone, shivers ran up and down my spine.

  “The one who ran half naked across your backyard,” Trent said.

  Jaxon glanced at me through the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the jocks. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jaxon lied smoothly.

  Matt stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Jaxon. “Oh I think you do.”

  “We all saw her!” Trent exclaimed.

  “Maybe we should just leave.” One of the twins suggested. I couldn’t tell whether it was Justin or Dustin. The other twin nudged him, telling him to shut up.

  “Look,” Matt started. “I know you’re hiding a really hot half naked chick in here, and I want to know where and who she is.” He flashed a fake smile.

  “There are no other chicks in here besides from us,” Kasay gestured to me and her.

  Ricky stepped out from behind the other guys. “Hey there, babe” Ricky cooed as he stepped around Matt and brushed passed Jaxon to get to me. He stood there right in front of me, eyeing me up like a juicy piece of steak.

  I once thought Ricky was the perfect guy for me… but boy was I wrong.

  I gave him everything I could- at least I gave him a lot of things I’d never give anyone else. I let him copy my homework, I spent time outside of school hanging out with him, heck- I even went to watch stupid action movies with him, but he still wanted more. He wanted more than I could give him.

  When I didn’t give him what he wanted most, he dumped my sorry little ass.

  He seemed so sweet, so fun, so loving at first, but his true colors finally showed. His lips were dripping such sweet honey, but he stung me like a bee. He dumped me for a girl who would spread her buttery legs for him.

  Then he ended up joining Layla in tormenting my life since I refused to give in. Both him and Layla did the same amount of damage to me. The funny thing was, those two actually dated once, but Layla broke it off because he cheated on her too.

  I did one thing I never thought I’d have the courage to do. I flipped the bastard off. He faked a gasp. “Damn you’ve grown a backbone,” he laughed. “Since you’re so confident now, wanna’ fuck?”

  I tried to walk away from him, but he grabbed my upper arm roughly. “Not too fast, Kitten.” I turned around so quickly my head ended up smacking his chest.

  “Let. Her. Go.” Kasay growled.

  “What are you going to, Little Punk?”

  “This,” she said as she kneed him in the balls. He groaned out in pain and fell to the ground. All the jock’s eyes went wide as Ricky cupped his groin and cried out in pain. Anger flashed through the jock’s eyes except one of the twin’s eyes. The twin was the only one who looked like he felt Ricky got what he deserved.

  I knew they could make my life hell, even though it was bad enough already. Matt stared at me coldly. “Get em’.”

  ~*~

  “Matt’s your neighbor and you never freaking told me?!” I yelled at Jaxon.

  “Well you never asked me!”

  “Cut the crap guys!” Kasay cut in.

  “Or what?!” Jaxon and I asked in sync.

  “You guys argue like a married couple,” Kasay laughed. Jaxon’s cheeks flushed bright red before he excused himself to the bathroom. Since Rex left after the jocks tried chasing us; that left only me and Kasay. “You’re going to that dance.”

  “No I’m not.”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not.”

  “I’ll buy your ticket!” she offered.

  I still refused.

  “Come on Rose.”

  “You know I don’t do dances.”

  “Live a little.”

  “That saying never ends well,” I replied.

  “Well, I could make you go.”

  “How?”

  “You won’t like it…”

  “Just tell me.”

  “You’re giving me no choice but to-”

  “To what?!”

  “Just let me finish!” she snapped. “You’re giving me no choice but to step over your head.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She answered by pulling out her phone and tapping on it like a pro. She put her phone up to her ear and waiting for it to ring.

  “What are you-”

  “Hi Cleo, this is Rosie’s friend, Kasay.” She said into the phone. My eyes widened in shock. She did not just do that.

  “Stop-” Kasay covered my mouth with her hand. I licked it, but she didn’t even flinch.

  “Yes, I would like Rosie to go to the school dance-” Kasay said as she ran away from me with her phone up to her ear.

  “Kasay! Get back in here!” I chased her down the stairs and into the basement. Before I could step foot into the basement, she slammed the door in my face and locked it. I banged on the door over and over and used the most colorful language I had ever used in my life, but she continued on talking to my stepmother about the dance.

  I finally gave up and slumped against the door, exhausted from all the events. Luckily this was the weekend and I had time to rest. “What’s going on down here?” Jaxon asked as he walked by.

  All I could do was point at the basement door since I was too exhausted to reply. He gave me a questioning look before trying to open the door I was leaning against. The door was locked, so he couldn’t open it.

  He put up his index finger telling me he’d be right back before tip toeing off. A few minutes later, he came back with a key in his hand. He inserted the key in the hole and opened the door. I of course, fell backwards and landed on the first step going down. Kasay was fast asleep on the washing machine, clutching onto her phone.

  I rolled my eyes at the sight before me. Kasay would pull something like that. My phone started vibrating and ringing in my pocket. I pulled out my phone and on the street it read ‘CLEO’ in bold letters. I answered the phone, preparing for the worst.

  “Hello?” I said to the phone.

  “I need to talk to you. Come home now, because it’s urgent.” She ordered icily before hanging up. What a bitch.

  ~*~

  Chapter 7 MAKE ME

  “Let me guess,” Jaxon held his chin like he was thinking. “She wants you to come home so she can force every little detail of your day out of you.”

  “That too, how’d you guess?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Well it’s not really hard since she pretty much controls your life.” He said as he hugged me from behind. I wiggled out of the hug and turned around so that I was facing him. His perfect red hair was falling over his hazel eyes. There was an emotion in his eyes and I couldn’t tell what it was.

  “I should go.” I backed away from him.

  “Want me to take you home?”

  “It’s fine, I’ll walk.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” he offered.

  I chuckled nervously. Something about him was a little off. “It’s okay, I’ll walk alone.”

  He chuckled along too. “No, I want to walk you home.”

  He was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. “I want to walk alone.” He frowned at my statement. “I need some time to think.”

  “You can’t walk home alone. Matt and his gang are still out and about.”

  “I’m sure they’ve given up, I can walk alone.”

  “No you can’t. I won’t let them hurt you.”

  “That’s very sweet of you but my house is less than a mile away. I’ll manage.”

  “But Rose…”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I’ll be f
ine you old-”

  “Codfish,” he finished for me.

  “So now you’re finishing my sentences now too?”

  “That’s what best friends are for,” he grinned. The unknown emotion in his hazel eyes was still there, but I shrugged it off.

  ~*~

  “But Cleo!”

  “You want to change, I’m giving you a chance to change!” she said sharply. “You’re going to that dance no matter what.”

  “But I don’t do dances!”

  “You do now.” She glared down at me.

  “There’s no point in going,” I sighed. “I’ll just end up alone like always.”

  “You won’t be along, Kasay accompany you to the dance.”

  “But knowing her she’ll probably ditch me the moment we get there-”

  “You are going and that’s final.” She interrupted me. “Besides, it will help with your pathetic social skills.”

  The words cut me like a newly sharpened blade.

  “How am I supposed to go when I don’t have a costume?” I asked.

  Of course, my stepmother always had a plan. “You’re going shopping this afternoon.”

  “But-”

  “I could get you a date if you really want one.” She interrupted me again.

  “No thanks, I’d rather go alone.”

  “Fine, but I do know one thing.” A small cold smirk appeared on her face. “I do know you have your eye on someone.”

  I froze up immediately. There was no way she could’ve known-

  “I don’t know who it is.” She said. I sighed in relief, but she wasn’t done. “But I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.” I fiddled with my fingers on my lap. “Whoever it is, he must be going.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. I knew Axel never did that kind of stuff. And these were the reasons why:

  He called dances ‘Assholes Seizures Night’.

  He got in way too much trouble.

  He hated pretty much everyone at school.

  He’d never wear a lame Halloween costume.

  He claimed to be ‘too cool for that bullshit’

  School spirit to him was like a llama taking a shit, it didn’t matter.