by Bella King
I didn’t try to talk with him on the way to school. He had my number, but he hadn’t sent me a text message yet. He would have to talk to me eventually if he was going to get a new car. I wouldn’t buy one for him if he was going to flip his shit on me and get violent.
When the taxi pulled up to the school, I paid the driver and got out. Dylan raced ahead of me, dashing to the entrance of the school and letting himself in without holding the door open for me. He wasn’t much of a gentleman, at least not toward me. I shook my head as I followed him in.
Down the hall, I spotted Maddie waiting for him. She seemed to still be really interested in him despite them having been broken up. She must have seen a different side of him if she would wait patiently by his locker for him to arrive. I wouldn’t do something like that after the way he treated me.
I must have looked for a moment too long because Maddie shot me a nasty look, her eyes flaming with resentment toward me. If both of them hated me, I wondered why that was. I hadn’t done anything wrong. The only thing I had done wrong was today, but it seemed like they both didn’t like me long before that had happened.
I wanted to know why, but I wasn’t in the position to talk to them about it now. I would have to talk to Maddie at the creek this weekend if I wanted any insight. As it stood, I was even more confused by both of them then when I knew less about them. I hoped talking to Maddie would prove to be enlightening.
I shrugged it all off and tried to think about something else. I was sure that my father would be pissed at me for wrecking the car, but I could probably lie and tell him that I hit something other than Dylan’s car, and that’s why insurance wouldn’t be covering it. If I hit a tree or something, he would just pay for the car to be replaced.
I decided to go with that story, but I would still need more money to replace Dylan’s car. His old beater couldn’t have cost him more than a thousand dollars, but I wasn’t even going to be able to find a car that cheap to replace it with. I would need to spend at least five thousand. I could probably shave that off my personal savings without breaking a sweat. I could just say it was for a new computer or something needlessly expensive like that. My parents would believe me because they didn’t know anything about my personal life.
I passed the glaring Maddie and went to my own locker, unpacking it and getting things ready for the school day. I still had a lot of energy because I hadn’t gone to self-defense practice, but I was starting to think I didn’t need it anymore. What good was it when it proved to be useless against someone like Dylan. It was silly to think that I could defend myself. I needed mace or something instead.
I made a mental note to resign from the class and learn something else. I was certain something would be more useful than that for me. Maybe running would be a better idea. I could sprint away from an attacker that way.
I pulled out the books I needed for my first class and turned around, only to find Maddie standing right in front of me. I jumped back, surprised to see her here. “Uh, hey,” I said nervously.
She crossed her arms, continuing to glare at me. “Dylan said you drove him to school today,” she said, her lips thin and her eyes bulging like a fly.
I shrugged. “Yeah, he needed a ride.” I didn’t tell her why, but that wasn’t important. I didn’t want people to know about the crash.
She squinted her large eyes at me. “He’s a nice guy, isn’t he?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The contrast of her statement with the reality of the ride to school was amusing. Either she was out of her mind, or Dylan was treating her a lot better than he treated me.
“What’s so funny?” She asked, her voice getting louder.
“Nothing, but I don’t think Dylan is that nice,” I said honestly.
Her expression relaxed a little. “Really?”
I nodded. “He’s a bit rude, don’t you think?”
“Maybe to you,” she said sounding noticeably more cheerful.
I wanted to roll my eyes, but I kept it inside. At least she didn’t think I was trying to steal her man. He may have been cute and all, but I wasn’t interested in a guy who thought that slamming me into my car for mentioning his father was an appropriate course of action. She could have him.
I smiled at her, but my smile was clearly fake. She could probably pick that up, but I didn’t appreciate her attitude toward me. “Enjoy Dylan. He’s a real piece of work,” I said, sidestepping her and walking off to class.
I only made it a few yards when I was stopped again by another person, but this time it was someone who I knew and liked. His name was Jonathan, and I had known him for years. He was a good friend.
“Hey Scarlet. I heard you were hanging out at the creek this weekend,” he said, smiling with rows of abnormally large teeth. He was a bit of a geek, but he fit in with the more popular students at the school somehow.
“Yeah, it’ll be nice to catch saw rays and dip my toes in the water,” I replied.
He nodded, then looked over my shoulder, something catching his attention. I started to turn, but he placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “No, don’t look. Maddie will see me,” he said in a hushed voice.
“And?” I asked, wondering if he had an issue with her as well.
“And, she’s super cute. I don’t want her boyfriend beating me up though. He looks like he could do some serious damage. Have you seen those biceps?”
He could only be talking about Dylan. Who else in the school was as jacked as he was? Boy, did I have some news for him. “They’re not dating. Maddie is single, I believe,” I informed him.
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “Really?” He asked excitedly.
I nodded.
“How do you know?”
I took a deep breath. “I talked with Dylan this morning. I asked him the same question, actually.”
“Oh?” Jonathan said, smiling and raising his eyebrows at me.
“Ew, not like that,” I said. “I’m not into Dylan.”
Jonathan chuckled. “Don’t try to hide it. Dylan looks like he belongs in an action movie. I know you’re into that kind of thing.”
Damn, he knew me better than I knew myself. I had always had an affinity for muscular guys. A lot of women insisted that too much muscle was a turn-off, but to me, the more the merrier. I liked a man that looked like he could break me like a toothpick. I found it sexy, so sue me.
I rolled my eyes anyway, crossing my arms in a defensive manner. “He’s kind of an asshole, but he’s definitely not dating Maddie. They used to be, but not anymore.”
Jonathan seemed satisfied with my answer. “I should talk to her then, right?” He asked, looking for support.
I didn’t think Maddie was terribly likable either, but I wanted to be a good friend for Jonathan. He had always been nice to me, which was more than I could say about some people. I glanced at Dylan, who was leaving his locker and walking off to class. “Yeah, you totally should. She’ll probably be at the creek later. Bring her a drink or something,” I suggested.
“Great idea,” he said, smiling with those large teeth of his again.
I was too distracted to listen to him. I was too busy watching Dylan disappear into the crowd of students. I turned back to Jonathan only when the last bit of Dylan’s shirt disappeared from my view. “I have to get to class now,” I said.
“You and me both,” he replied, and walked off to his first class of the day.
I followed suit, walking briskly toward my classroom so that nobody else would hold me up. I didn’t want to be late. As easy as school was, I wasn’t interested in getting my grades dropped for missing too many classes. My parents seemed to think that school was more important than it actually was. I was pretty sure my own mother had never even finished high school.
All I knew now was that the weekend couldn’t come soon enough. I would still have to deal with Dylan tomorrow to get him a car, but after that I didn’t plan on talking to him anymore. He was too stressful of a guy for me. I needed s
omeone calmer, who didn’t get violent with women for no reason.
Chapter 8
Dylan
It was hard to control my temper. Scarlet frustrated me to no end. She was so beautiful, yet so ignorant. I couldn’t stand her, but at the same time, I would have loved to fuck her brains out. The combination was killer, and if I was going to survive this year, I had to figure out how to gain the upper hand on her and get revenge. At the end of the day, that was the only thing that really mattered.
Maybe I should try to hang out at the creek after work on Saturday. People would be drinking and smoking, having a good time, and I would be able to get more information out of Scarlet, especially if I could get her alone. The only issue would be Maddie, hovering around me and bugging me the whole time. It would be nice to find a distraction for her. Maybe another guy would work.
I thought about it in class, spinning around a few scenarios in my head. The first was talking to Scarlet at the creek, getting her to have one too many drinks, and getting personal information that I could hold against her and make her life difficult. Nothing would be too evil for what her family had done to my father. Nothing.
The second option I had was to get her talking when we went to get a new car for me. She was nice to be doing this, so perhaps she would be nice enough to spill a few personal secrets that I could use against her. It was worth a shot.
The third option was a little more devious, but it would take a lot of work. I sensed that Scarlet might be attracted to me, at least from a physical perspective. I had seen her eyes staring at my muscular physique. One thing about working as a mechanic’s assistant is that you end up doing a lot of heavy lifting. It aided me in charming women, even if that wasn’t my goal.
I could try to be a little nicer to her, and eventually drive her to do some pretty wild things for me. Women were sluts like that. They would do anything once you got into their heads. Maddie was the same way. She would do anything I told her too, no matter how embarrassing, if it would mean that I would fuck her harder that night.
This was a fantasy more than an actual option, but it appealed to me more than the others because of how fantastic it would be if I was able to pull it off. I couldn’t deny that I was viciously attracted to Scarlet’s beautiful eyes and wide hips. Ever feature she had was stunning, and I wouldn’t mind getting a turn with her, as long as I was able to ruin her in the end.
I was getting hard just thinking about it. I wasn’t interested in my teacher noticing my boner, so I crossed my legs under the desk while I waited for the lesson to end. Scarlet had an effect on me like no other, and I couldn’t help it if I wanted to have sex with her. I bet a lot of other guys did.
That was enough fantasizing about Scarlet. The fact of the matter was, she was going to pay for her family’s treachery one way or another. My father didn’t have to die. Just remembering the day that I found his body at home, slumped over in a chair with blood sprayed across the wall behind him made me livid. I would never forget that day.
I was younger back then, and far more innocent. This was a month after my father lost his business, and subsequently, everything he owned. I remember that the house felt different the moment I stepped inside after school.
The lights were on, but it sounded like nobody was home, which I thought was awfully strange because my father usually worked from home. Even if he was busy, he would come out of his office to ask me how my day was. I waited for something, anything, but after ten minutes of eerie silence, I decided to peek into his office to see if he was home. Maybe he was listening to music and hadn’t heard me arrive.
I crept up to the door, where the light was one. I could see it shining underneath, making the carpet glow a pale yellow, but I thought it could have also been the sunlight coming from the window in the room. Sometimes my father would open the curtains and let the natural light in at the end of the day.
I knocked on the door first, but there was no answer. I tried the doorknob and found that it was unlocked. It was when I turned it that I felt a feeling of dread deep in my gut. I knew that something was wrong, even before I saw the blood. My body pumped adrenaline through me as my heart started to beat faster. I was scared and I didn’t even know why.
When I opened the door, I didn’t see anything unusual at first. Then, in a moment that would stain my memory for the rest of my life, I saw the crimson blood on the wall. It was a wide splatter, stretching across the white paint like someone had dipped a paintbrush in red and flicked it across the wall.
The next thing my eyes found was the blown-open head of my father. After that, I must have passed out. My brain couldn’t handle it, much less understand how this had happened. When I awoke, my first thought was that my father had been murder. My mother later told me that he had killed himself.
This was the fault of Scarlet’s family, and I would get revenge for it. My mother was never the same after that, and neither was I. Something inside me died with my father’s spirit, and it was never coming back. I was certain of one thing, and one thing only. Scarlet Verity Porter would pay for this.
“Homework is due, so hand in your worksheets at the front of the room when you leave,” the teacher said from the head of the classroom, breaking me out of my tragic thoughts.
I looked up at him, then around at the students getting up to turn in their assignments. Shit, I forgot to do the homework last night. I had been so tired that I fell asleep, and this morning I was too occupied to do it either. A few more missed assignments, and my grade would drop a full letter. That wasn’t good.
I got up, shaking my head as I began walking toward the exit. This was another thing that I could blame on Scarlet, and I would. It felt better to do that than to admit that my own failures were my fault. It was those rich people. They didn’t know how much damage they really caused.
I was almost out the door when the teacher called my name sharply, causing me to halt at the doorframe. A student pushed past me as I turned around, dreading having to confront my teacher about the homework.
“Dylan, I want to speak with you,” Mr. Smith said, looking at me from over the tops of his thick lenses.
I walked up to him slowly, unsure of what to expect. I didn’t get called to talk to a teacher often, but when I did, it usually wasn’t something good. I tried to be a good student, but I wasn’t always that way. It was hard to juggle working with school.
“I noticed you didn’t turn in the assignment,” Mr. Smith said tapping a nail on the desk in front of a messy stack of papers.
“No sir, I didn’t,” I replied, making no excuses.
“Would you like to tell me why?” He asked expectantly.
“I forgot,” I said.
“Well, Dylan. I might just forget to give you a passing grade if it happens again. You’ve been pretty consistent with your forgetfulness in my class.”
Shit, he was right. It was always his class that I ended up missing the assignments for because his was the first class of the day. If I forgot to do the homework for another class at home, I would usually remember it before class and have time to complete it in the class before that.
I didn’t forget to do my homework that often, but it almost always ended up being Mr. Smith’s class that I failed to turn in the homework for.
I sighed, looking up at Mr. Smith’s wrinkled face. “I won’t forget it again.”
“You’d do well not to. I don’t want to have to hold you back a year,” he said, waving a finger at me.
I couldn’t afford that. I could barely scrape by this year as it was. Another year would leave me with no money for college. I had to do better, or I would lose everything. My world was so close to collapsing as things were now.
I looked at Mr. Smith, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. When he looked down at the papers in front of him, I took it as permission to leave. I didn’t want to be in his class, but I had to listen to him if I was to stay at this school. I didn’t pay for this just to be thrown out.
/> Still, I was frustrated, and the circumstances weren’t making things any better. I could blame Scarlet as much as I liked, but it didn’t take the struggle or the pain away. That remained throughout all of this and would likely stay within me even once I got through it. Some things never change.
I fished around in my pocket for the little white napkin with Scarlet’s phone number printed on it in such perfect lettering. She was too perfect sometimes, and that annoyed me. It was more difficult to hate someone who was like that, but I had to.
I looked at the numbers on the napkin, scanning them into my brain before pulling out my phone. I refused to keep her as a contact in my phone, but I had already memorized the number. I was good at that kind of thing, but having a good memory was a gift and a curse. It made getting over my father’s death a lot harder because I remembered every detail of the state that I had found him in.
I punched in Scarlet’s phone number on my glowing screen, then held up the cold phone to my eye, pressing the glass hard against the side of my head as I listened to the phone ring. Two tones in, and Scarlet picked it up.
“Hello?” She said, not knowing that it was me who had called.
“Hey, it’s Dylan,” I said.
“Oh, hey. We can actually go to the car shop tonight if you want. My father is going to cover my car tomorrow, but I’m borrowing his right now,” she said cheerfully.
I was impressed by how diligent she was about this. “Yeah, I think that will work for me. I was going to ask you if you could give me a ride home, you know, since you totaled my car,” I said, driving in the fact.
She giggled, as though I had been making a joke. I suppose she thought I was funny, but I wasn’t laughing. “Of course, that’s no problem. I had my mother leave the car in the school parking lot, so I’ll drive you in that. I’m assuming you want to stop by home before we go to the car dealership?”