Romance: The College Bad Boy: A Young Adult Romance

by Veronica Cross

  “Y-yes,” Ella managed to stammer.

  “Are you in there?”

  Lucas slowly moved into her again and Ella’s head rolled back. She knew he was doing it on purpose.

  “She’ll be out in a moment,” Lucas replied loudly. Ella wanted to reprimand him for making the situation obvious but she didn’t have the strength too.

  When they exited the room, Ella felt lightheaded. The manager didn’t mention her brief disappearance. Ella smiled inwardly. People should get used to it.

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  A Rose by Any Name

  A Billionaire Romance

  Veronica Cross

  A Rose by Any Name

  Copyright 2016 by Veronica Cross

  First electronic publication: July 2016

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: Due to mature subject matter, such as explicit sexual situations and coarse language, this story is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older, and all acts of a sexual nature are consensual.

  A Rose by Any Name

  Prologue

  How did I end up here?

  These words ran through Rose’s head hundreds of times during her time at Georgia University. Presently, she was mulling over the same mystery again. It isn’t that Georgia University wasn’t prestigious enough for her; it was; it really was. Aside from the children of the elite and political class, Georgia university accepted very few students based on credentials. Rose Price was one of the lucky ones. Or was she one of the unlucky ones?

  Georgia was filled with students who knew that their futures were set. Most of their parents were major corporate and estate owners. Some were the kids of politicians and senators. Others were from families of celebrities and businessmen. These were the children who ruled the university. And since they were so incredibly influential, even the teachers faltered under their wishes. Georgia was still considered extremely prestigious since all major companies offered jobs to its graduates; after all, everyone would love to offer a job to the daughter of the governor or the son of a senator. But the good part was companies didn’t know who Which students were rich and which ones weren’t. When they were offering jobs, it was probably with a hope that the employee turns out to be from a well off family, which happened more often than not. Rose knew this was an opportunity that would be hard to come by. Upon her parents’ insistence, she was pushed into attending Georgia. The unusually huge tuition fee was being covered by a partial (and generous) scholarship and a part time job. Offering scholarships to a tiny amount of students at Georgia was their idea of giving back to the community.

  Rose had grown accustomed to the place but always felt slightly out of place. She never made any friends since the rich kids preferred to hang out with each other and Rose would feel like an outsider amongst them anyway. Plus, they weren’t exactly what she would call ‘nice’. Since none of them had any studying to do (courtesy of their future being set), they spent most of their time bullying and picking on the ‘lesser’ students. You’d think people grew up after high school. These children were worse. Up until her junior year, Rose had managed to stay out of their way. It wasn’t that she was scared; she wasn’t. She just wanted an uneventful university life, graduate quickly and move back home to reunite with her family. The loneliness at Georgia was purely based on her financial background and she hated it. She was counting down the days until her graduation. Up until the middle of her junior year, it was all good. She was invisible and hence, no one bothered her.

  But one day, because of a spilled cup of coffee and a scared transfer student, Rose Price’s life was changed forever. She was no longer invisible. And eventually, she was no longer lonely either.

  Chapter 1 – The Big Day

  Normally, your big day would be your birthday. Or your graduation. Or your wedding. Any important event that can change your life forever and turn it around. Rose Price’s big day, however, was slightly different from a normal person’s.

  It started off like a normal, uneventful day. Rose woke up in her small, one room apartment and grudgingly dressed for classes. She had a packed schedule on Tuesday’s so she wasn’t expecting any free time on her hands. After she was done with classes, she had to fulfill her duties as a part time waitress at The Four Stars, a tiny but cozy coffee shop nearby her apartment. The only friend Rose had in the city was her colleague and fellow waitress, Marlene Brown. Slightly older than Rose, Marlene had already graduated. In the mornings, she worked at a small start up with a friend. In the evenings, she worked as a waitress to help make ends meet. Marlene had no family except for a younger sister and had to look out for the both of them.

  And so Rose planned on meeting Marlene after work and unwinding. But how different can life turn out to be from the way we plan it. Or even a single day. And how much influence can a single day have on our whole lives. Rose was only just about to find out.

  A cancelled class led to a bit of free time opening up in her packed schedule and so Rose found herself in the library as she often did when she had free time. She preferred to avoid the general population of Georgia. It was during her time at the library that she stumbled across the first aspect that would change her life forever: a transfer student.

  Aveline Rousseau was a blonde, French girl who had transferred to Georgia from a university in Paris. In terms of classifying her within the student body, Aveline didn’t fit in anywhere, much like Rose. But unlike Rose, it had nothing to do with Aveline’s financial background. Aveline, like most other students, was rich and well off. However, being a transfer student in the middle of her junior year had left her lonely as well. And so Rose found her clumsily stumbling through the library, trying to find some book or another.

  “Need some help?” Rose asked as Aveline walked through the shelves looking flustered and clutching a piece of paper with some book names scribbled on it.

  “Oh yes, thank you!” Aveline eagerly handed her the paper.

  “Hmm,” Rose glanced down at the paper. “Looks like you’re in the wrong section…”

  After they had located Aveline’s books, Rose offered to share her table with her to which Aveline happily agreed.

  “You’re Rose,” Aveline remarked after settling down which was surprising because Rose wasn’t the kind of person most students knew of. She was in fact, quite the opposite. “We have Advanced Calculus II together.”

  “Yeah I know,” Rose replied. “I didn’t think you would notice me though.”

  “You’re the one who always sits in front of the class and answers all of Professor Pakpen’s questions. Who wouldn’t know you?”

  “That’s not really what people are known for here at Georgia.”

  “True,” Aveline nodded understandingly. “But I’m observant about such things.”

  Rose discovered many things about Aveline that day, including the fact that she lived in a big and fancy house which was a ten-minute drive from Georgia. Having your own houses was the norm at Georgia, for the rich students. There was a small town next to Georgia called Efe Tur, where all the rich kids had big villas and mansions. The café where Rose worked was located inside this little town too, so she had experie
nced her share of elite arrogance. Aveline didn’t seem to care that Rose was a scholarship student for which Rose was grateful; it was rare to find someone in Georgia who didn’t care. Sometimes, Rose thought that Georgia was a magnet for arrogant brats from the elite class.

  And this is how Rose became acquainted with the transfer student.

  They decided to get lunch together and headed for the Kale Café, named after Kale Conner, the mother of a student (Kan Conner) who built the café. Ever since Kale’s generous donation, Kan had become somewhat of a hero for the university administration.

  While they had lunch, Rose silently observed a rowdy group of boys dominating the hall with their jokes and laughter. In the center was Ethan Reed, one of the richest students of Georgia. His father was running for senator and his mother was the owner of Dostlar which was a bus company providing services in over 15 countries and reaping more money than Rose could imagine. Though Rose had never spoken to Ethan, she had leveled him from a distance quite often and decided that she did not like him. Ethan Reed was a senior at Georgia. He was often found bullying other students, making rude comments and laughing at things beyond people’s controls. He did this for his entertainment since he had way too much free time on his hands. Along with him were George Gamez, Kan Conner and Jih Beton. George Gamez was the son of a rich businessman though Rose wasn’t sure what the business was. Kan Conner’s mother was the owner of a chain of hotels, restaurants and cafes based in several countries. Jih Baton was Japanese American, with rich Japanese diplomats as parents. Of the four, Jih Baton was the quiet and mysterious one. Though he never stopped his fellow friends from bullying the ‘lesser’ students, he never took part in it either, usually standing by the side, looking bored. Jih Baton had mysterious grey eyes, hair that fell to his shoulders and a tall demeanor. The strange Japanese exoticness made him even more alluring. Rose frequently observed him from a distance, admiring his good looks.

  Ethan Reed was your tall, dark and handsome typical American boy. He had an extremely charming smile which had girls swooning over him. He wasn’t usually interested, preferring to stick with his other three friends though frequently, you could find him extremely intimate with one girl or another, with no respect for privacy. Ethan was also extremely brilliant, doing well in classes despite all his indifference.

  Kan Conner and George Gamez weren’t too brilliant or too good looking but you would always find them with a couple of girls at their arms, courtesy of their money, Rose supposed.

  Aveline saw Rose observing the group as Ethan cracked a joke, raising laughter from the onlookers.

  “Like what you see?” Aveline asked.

  “Ethan?” Rose was surprised. “Who would like Ethan?”

  “He’s gorgeous.”

  “And a terrible person.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I’m observant.”

  Aveline shrugged. “He’s beautiful, though.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Try not to get in his bad books then.”

  “What do you mean?” Aveline seemed genuinely ignorant to Ethan and his friends’ horrible acts on people who failed to enter their good books.

  “They’re terrible to people who… piss them off,” Rose tried to explain. “This one time, a boy accidently stepped on Ethan’s shoes. Since Ethan was bored, he made a big deal out of it. Insulted him in front of everyone. Nobody talked to the poor boy for weeks. If you’re in Ethan’s bad books, you’re in the whole university’s bad books.”

  “Why didn’t the boy try to do something?”

  “What could he do?”

  “Report him for bullying.”

  “Ethan’s father is on the board of advisors of Georgia. Any complaint will fall on deaf ears. Plus, I think the boy just wanted to go back to being invisible. His name is Yalova by the way.”

  “Going back to being invisible?”

  “Yeah,” Rose replied. “You’re either invisible or rich at Georgia.”

  “Why didn’t this Yalova answer him back?”

  “Everyone is scared of Ethan. He’s too influential. And too rich. He can do anything; to your family. Or to your job.”

  “Has he ever done that?”

  “From what I’ve heard, yes. A boy once stood up against him and the next day, he had lost his job which was the only thing helping him stay in Georgia.”

  “That’s terrible,” Aveline said, sounding shocked.

  “You really haven’t heard of Ethan, Kan, George and Jih? You’ve been here for quite some time now.”

  “Three months,” Aveline replied glumly.

  “Don’t worry,” Rose comforted her. “You don’t have to be invisible. You have money.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Aveline replied at once. “I don’t want to befriend people like these. I like you. You’re different.”

  Rose was touched by her words. It was rare to hear something like that here.

  “But Rose,” Aveline continued. “I’m scared now. What if he does something to me?”

  “He won’t. Just stay out of his way.”

  However, as fate would have it, Aveline couldn’t stay out of his way. As they walked out of lunch, they had the misfortune of passing right next to Ethan’s table. Just as they passed his table, Ethan pushed his chair back to stand up. He turned and bumped right into Aveline, who panicked and spilled the coffee she was holding- on Ethan’s shirt. The laughter erupting from the table suddenly died out as everyone watched for his reaction.

  Aveline looked scared as she stammered to apologize. “I-I’m s-so s-sorry. Didn’t see you there.” She grabbed a tissue from the table and tried to wipe Ethan’s shirt but he stepped out of her reach.

  “Your sorry isn’t going to un-spill your coffee,” he said, maliciously.

  “Let her go, Ethan,” George said. “She’s cute,” he added with a wink at Aveline.

  “I will decide who I let go,” Ethan deadpanned but George looked unperturbed. Ethan turned back to Aveline. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

  “I d-didn’t s-see you,” Aveline was sobbing now. Rose was beginning to think it wasn’t such a good idea to tell Rose about Ethan’s past acts.

  “Clearly. Why don’t you wear another pair of glasses, four eyes?” Ethan said.

  Rose was torn between defending her friend and staying invisible and out of Ethan’s bad books. Aveline had been extremely sweet. But Rose couldn’t afford to lose her job or her mental peace as those were the two things getting her through university. Ethan would ruin them both if she spoke up.

  “What am I supposed to do?” Ethan demanded.

  “I-I’m sorry-” Aveline stammered again.

  “This is the tenth tim-”

  Rose made up her mind as she watched Aveline sobbing. “Leave her alone, Ethan. You heard her. It was a mistake.”

  Ethan paused and turned to look at her, sizing her up.

  “Well, well,” he began. “What do we have here?”

  Rose stood her ground. “Leave her alone,” she repeated.

  “And you are?” Ethan replied.

  “She’s the teacher’s pet,” Kan Conner drawled. “The one with all the answers.”

  Rose was surprised once again. She didn’t think any of them knew her.

  “Well then, answer this. What am I to do with this spilled coffee?”

  “Buy a new shirt, Ethan,” Rose replied, rolling her eyes. She knew the repercussions would be tough so she might as well get everything out. The other boys hooted and clapped at her answer.

  “What’s your name?” Ethan asked. His voice was quiet but his eyes were lit with fire.

  “That’s irrelevant,” Rose replied.

  “She works at The Four Stars.” George added.

  “Scared of telling me your name?” Ethan smirked at her.

  Rose shook her head. “I’m not scared of your idiocy, Ethan. I’m Rose.”

  “Well, Rose. I’ll make sure you’re scared soon.” His voice was
deadly as he said it. With a last glance at Rose and Aveline, Ethan left the hall.

  Rose sighed and took Aveline by the arm, guiding her outside. Aveline was hysterical by now. “He’ll ruin my life,” she wailed.

  Rose wasn’t sure why Aveline was so worried. It was Rose who needed to be worried. She was the one who had spoken up and she was the one with a job that she needed in order to complete her degree. Aveline had just cried and apologized. Plus, she had rich parents too. There was not much Ethan could do to her.

  “He won’t ruin your life, Aveline,” Rose said patiently.

  “You said he ruins everyone’s lives. I should have stayed out of his way.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  But Aveline kept crying. After half an hour, Rose escorted Aveline to her car which had a driver waiting. Aveline was relatively calm by now. As Aveline was driven away, Rose waved, only half attentive. It was she who should be worried. Ethan wasn’t likely to forget this.

  Chapter 2- The Repercussions

  Rose walked into university the next day and the first thing she noticed was a group of giggling girls throwing her furtive glances and whispering. That was normal; every time Ethan deemed someone unworthy of humane behavior, his fan girl group decided to humiliate the person by their stingy comments. Ethan had been intimate with every one of these girls, or so rumor had it, and probably kept them all hinging on hopes of more which explained their obsession with him.

  “Hey Serving Girl!” one of the girls called. Rose figured they had seen her working at The Four Stars. Or maybe, everyone knew that now owing to her outburst the previous day.

  “Thought you could get away with answering Ethan back because you’re a girl?” another one called. “Have you forgotten Ethan has all of us? Even if he’s too gentlemanly to say anything to a girl, we’re still here.” They burst out laughing at that. Rose kept walking, too annoyed at their stupidity. It was very much like Ethan to set a few girls to torture her instead of doing it himself. He had never had an encounter with a girl before so no one knew how he would react.