Collide: A High School Bully Romance - Madison Falls High Book 1

by K. Walker

  “I hope you don’t think you’re going anywhere tonight,” he called. “It’s a school night.”

  I stepped out of the shower and the water rushed down my body and trickled to the floor. “What?”

  “You heard me!” he shouted. “You’re grounded.”

  I walked to the door and pulled it open, my hair still wet and my body still naked. “You can’t be serious.”

  “This thing with Cheryl has to stop!” he chided, and his lips trembled when he spoke.

  I narrowed my eyes that looked exactly like his – seafoam green – and at his sandy brown hair that was slicked back and had a more distinguished look. He was a realtor after all – he couldn’t go walking around looking unprofessional. But the worry lines at his eyes were new – those must have come with trying to constantly please, Cheryl. That’s what happens when you run off with a skank that is half your age. Good luck trying to keep up.

  “What thing?”

  “You’re always being disrespectful.”

  “Me? I’m the disrespectful one? Not you? Or her? The only person who got disrespected was Mom! Anything that happens after is inevitable,” I spat.

  I watched as his face tightened, and his lips thinned. Probably exactly how mine looked at that precise moment. It was almost as if I was looking at my future self.

  “I’m taking the keys!” he growled and walked off.

  “No way! Dad! Dad!” I called as he walked away.

  I stepped back inside my room and slammed the door shut. “Fuck!” I yelled. I reached for my phone and dialed Deven.

  “I’m going to need a ride. My dad’s being a giant ass right now. He took my keys.”

  “Shit. Is this about Cheryl again?”

  “You know it,” I told him and walked to my closet. “Gonna have to start keeping the damned thing chained to my cock or something. Bet he wouldn’t go there,” I laughed.

  Deven laughed, too. “You’re such a slacker. You ready?”

  “Yeah. I’m good to go now.”

  “Be there in five.”

  I slipped on a black tee, black jeans, and a pair of black and white Air Jordans. I grabbed my wallet and slipped it into my pocket, sprayed on some of my Burberry cologne, and ran a hand through my already tousled hair. All set.

  On the way out, I noticed the skull head ring I usually wore, and I backtracked, grabbed it and another with the letter C on it, and slipped them on.

  Dad and Cheryl were still in the kitchen, like they were camping out, waiting to see if I would pass.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Out!” I snapped and headed for the door.

  He stood quickly. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  I glared at him. “Or what, Dad? You’ll put me out too?”

  His lips trembled again, and I walked out without him saying another word. That would always be the card I played, because it would always sting.

  “You need to do something about him,” I heard Cheryl telling him when I was closing the door. I was tempted to go back inside, but it wasn’t worth the hassle.

  I walked down the driveway just as Deven’s pearl-white Range Rover rolled up. He honked and I climbed in. “Let’s go fuck this party up!” I hollered, my insides burning with rage, anger, and confusion, all sweltering in my internal furnace.

  I needed something to drown out the noise.

  Something to cool the burn.

  Chapter 6

  I didn’t know I would actually be at the beach for the bonfire party. Several times I had attempted to leave, but Amanda wouldn’t let me.

  “It’s your first bonfire party while at Madison,” she had said.

  I had protested. One party was as good as another, but she wouldn’t let it happen. So, once again, my arm was twisted into doing something I would rather not be doing.

  But I wasn’t planning on copping out just because I was new. It was because of the drama I knew would unfold – with all the girls vying for Chad’s attention. My stomach already felt funny thinking about it.

  I had to let Mom know I was still at the beach.

  Sophia: Still at the beach. Girls roped me into staying for a bonfire thing.

  Mom: Oh, that’s nice. I just got home. Was just about to call you.

  Sophia: I figured. So I’ll be home about ten. I hope.

  Mom: Lol. Quite the social butterfly already.

  Sophia: Don’t start. See you later. Love you.

  Mom: Love you too, honey. Wait! Did you eat?

  Sophia: Yes. Don’t wait up. Bye.

  “That was your mom?” Amanda asked as soon as I slipped the phone into my bag.

  “Yeah. She’s very overprotective,” I replied with a smile.

  “Yeah, at least you have that,” she said wistfully.

  I looked across at her. “No,” I said sympathetically, when I realized what she was hinting at. “How long?”

  “Since I was ten. Died in a car accident. I still miss her every day,” she said with sadness in her voice and kicked the sand with her sneaker.

  I didn’t mean to pry and wanted to know. “What about your dad?”

  She shrugged. “He’s all right, I guess. I mean, he’s a businessman, and we do okay in terms of money, but I’m mostly home alone.”

  “Which is why all the parties are at her house.” Stacey grinned and hugged her.

  “I’m so sorry, Amanda. I know I’m a couple of years late, but this is new to me. You can always share my mom.”

  Amanda looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Sophia. That was a really nice thing to say.”

  And just like that, I got a sister. I couldn’t say why I had felt that way since she had come up to me in the cafeteria. She was like a soulmate friend – something like what Rachel had been to me. That instant connection you feel with someone close.

  “I mean it, especially considering I’ll be a part of the group when I make the team.” I laughed and nudged her shoulder.

  “Yay!” Liz screamed and hooted. “You’re already one of us, by the way.”

  “Yep,” Stacey chimed in and took my hand. “Now let’s go have some fun.”

  And with that I was whisked away to a different part of the beach about four hundred meters away and around a bend. The bonfire was already blazing, even though it wasn’t that dark yet.

  “Yeah, don’t ask,” Amanda laughed without me asking the question. “I wondered the same thing too when I first came to one. Who the hell lights a bonfire before the sun goes down?”

  The girls laughed. “Madison Falls idiots,” Stacey suggested and spun around in a circle with arms spread out like an eagle.

  The space was already abuzz. Teenaged boys without shirts sat on the hoods of their cars, or in the sand. The beach chairs were heavily laden with girls spilling over the backs and sides as besties and groupies piled on to remain together.

  Several large kegs were placed alongside the wooden fence and a small crowd was gathered by them. This was crazy for a school night. Specifically for a Monday night, but Amanda and the girls had explained that this had been tradition for as long as they could remember in Madison Falls to commence the first day back at school.

  “Come on,” Stacey said and pulled me over to them. “Punch is usually good.”

  “I’m not so sure I…”

  She stopped and looked at me like I had a large zit on my nose. “That one isn’t spiked. The other one is.” She pointed to a huge bowl with oranges floating on top.

  “Okay, cool. I’m not about to start drinking and driving.” It had been a really long day. And it was only day one. I didn’t think I should end the day buzzed.

  “Come on.” Amanda nudged Stacey with her shoulder.

  I watched as they both grabbed the spiked punch and I grabbed the non-alcoholic punch.

  “Yep, that’s how it always starts.” Liz grinned and looked at Amanda and Stacey. “With a red cup.”

  “I know, right? I don’t want to be that chick that is hungov
er on the second day of my senior year at a new school. Or have a picture posted on the locker doors of me lying in the sand with a cigarette up my nose and my arms slung over some guy I don’t know,” I said, glancing at all of them with a grin and held up my non-alcoholic drink. “Cheers!”

  “Jeez!” Amanda laughed. “That’s quite an imagination.”

  “But not at all impossible, so I’ll keep my guard up thank you very much.” I smiled as we moved toward the kegs.

  “Hey, it’s the new girl,” a blond-haired boy in a white tank shouted as he turned and consumed all of my personal space. “How about you ditch these…girls, and come hang with me, beautiful?”

  “No, thank you,” I replied. I could tell he was going to say something other than ‘girls’ just now – maybe something more derogatory.

  “You sure?” he asked and flung his arm around my neck.

  My skin burned. I had endured a lot that day, but everyone had limits. I took his fingers in my palm and squeezed tightly and heard him wince before I removed his hand. “I said no!”

  “Ow!” he yelped and flashed his hand after it was freed. “Damn girl. You’ve got a grip. I like. Wonder what else you got tight like that,” he said suggestively and wiggled his brows.

  My face lost all its former emotions as I stared blankly at him. I was tempted to practice one of my kickboxing moves on him – a front kick, or a hook. He got the hint. He held his hands up and backed off, and I turned around.

  Maybe I should have grabbed a spiked drink after all, to take the edge off.

  “Damn, Sophia. What did you do? Connor doesn’t usually back off that easily,” Liz said in amazement as she watched him walking off, only to stop by another defenseless girl who was more than willing to fall for his bullshit.

  “I gave him the touch-me-again-and-I’ll-break-your-arm look.” I laughed and picked up my cup. They were all staring at me with googly-eyes when I turned. “Kickboxing classes. You should try it.”

  “No shit,” Liz replied. “Sign me up.”

  They all laughed as a loud uproar was heard. We turned to see some of the kids making asses of themselves around the fire. I scanned the crowd, knowing for sure Chad was around somewhere. But I didn’t see him or any of his boys. Weird. Maybe they we’re planning a fashionably late entrance.

  And why the hell do I care?

  We walked up the beach to find a spot. It was crazy the number of couples we passed along the way – boys with their hands up skirts and their tongues searching for treasure in many places. A loud moaning sound caused me to glance toward the water where two were practically fucking right there on the sand.

  “Right on, Jamie!” someone hooted.

  “Skank bitch,” a girl hissed.

  At least she isn’t pretending to be decent and then have all kinds of dicks down her throat when no one was watching, only to have the pictures posted on social media.

  I shuddered at the memory from my old school – teenagers could be so cruel.

  “Let’s go this way.” Amanda steered us away from the wildlings in the sand.

  We were barely past the bonfire when bright lights flooded the already lit space. “What the hell?”

  “Yeah. The goon squad is here,” Stacey said and rolled her eyes.

  My heart skipped a beat. Make that started racing. And I wasn’t sure why. Okay, that was a lie. I had an idea. It was because Chad Minor was smoking hot. I would have to be blind not to see that. But he was the kind of boy girls like me admired from afar, get curious about, and then got over.

  It had happened to me several times before, all the way back to elementary school. Yeah – I had been admiring hot boys a long time. I was proficient at finding them and emotionally stalking them. But I had never been with one. Would never be with one. They were just eye candy, and that was all the feasting I would do.

  “I don’t get it,” Stacey grumbled. “He’s not even all that.”

  Three other pairs of eyes found hers immediately. “You didn’t just say that, right?” Amanda asked.

  “There’s no question he’s hot. It’s the fact that he’s a douche that’s the problem,” Liz added. “But he is hot as hell.”

  “Okay, I don’t think I want to be at this party talking about Chad Minor. Let’s get dancing,” I interrupted and held my hands in the air as the sound of Taki Taki Rumba bellowed from the speakers.

  “Yeah, that’s my girl,” Amanda laughed and started to grind against me.

  “Shit, now that’s what I’m talking about,” a dude said and got up from his resting place on the sand. “About time the party started up in here.”

  And that was how the conga line got formed, with me right there in the front. I was shaking my shoulders, enjoying my new friends and the night, when I saw Chad with his arms around some chick, squeezing her ass.

  I looked away as quickly as I could, seconds before my heart started racing again. The line was going around in a circle, so I had passed by that side again. I groaned and tried to focus on the hands on my waist, Liz’s hands, as we circled the bonfire.

  When we came back around, he was grinding against her so hard I choked. It was as if I could feel the bulge in his pants pressing against me. I assumed there would be a bulge. The girl had her legs wrapped around him, and his back was turned, so he couldn’t see me.

  “Get a room!” someone shouted.

  No! The voice screamed in my head. A room meant he would be able to do more than just dry-fuck her. She would be another notch in his headboard. Why the fuck do I care anyway?

  “I think I’ve had enough,” I told Liz and branched off.

  “See you on the other side,” they screamed and continued their fun. I was too distracted to enjoy it any more. I had to get away from that area, maybe find another place that was quieter and with less Chad.

  I hugged myself and wandered down the beach, allowing the wind to whip my hair every which way as I looked out at the dark horizon. My legs stopped moving, and I stood, staring at the water, missing it and dreading it at the same time.

  “What you doing down here all by yourself?” a voice asked.

  I turned quickly, because I hadn’t seen anyone following me from the group. The voice came from a stony ledge that jutted out into the water. The figure rose and hopped from the rock onto the sand. I couldn’t make out the face in the pale lighting, and I started to inch backwards, the warning bells in my head blaring the closer he got.

  “I’m not alone,” I said and cleared my throat.

  “I don’t see anyone here,” he replied as he walked closer.

  There was no way I could take him on solo – he was tall, like about six feet, and muscular, like he worked out at the gym a lot. When his face appeared in the dim lighting, I saw the scar under his right eye. He was ominous and gave me a bad vibe.

  I had to get out of there. “I think I need to get back anyway.”

  “Don’t let me scare you,” he replied.

  Too late. I smiled weakly and started walking back, when I noticed that his pace had quickened. How brave of him to try something on a crowded beach. What kind of a psycho is he?

  I started walking faster, almost running, when I felt his presence behind me like a thick cloud. I started running, when I heard a shout.

  “Hey, what’s going on?”

  I looked to my right and saw one of Chad’s friends. He was also my friend at that moment. I veered to my right and jogged over to him. When I looked back, the man was halfway back up the beach.

  “You okay?” he asked with concern. “Sophia, right?”

  “Yeah. And you’re Cody?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.

  “That’s me.” His eyes returned to the beach and the man. “Who was that?”

  “I have no idea,” I admitted, thankful he had been that close. “Some psycho. He was sitting on the ledge and came down when he saw me.”

  “That’s the one thing you gotta be careful of, you know,” he advised. “Psychos and losers.”
He took out a box of cigarettes as he spoke. He held it out to me. “You smoke?”

  “No,” I told him. But I was tempted to try. My hands were still shaking and I hugged myself tighter.

  “You’re here with the volleyball chicks?” he asked as he lit the cigarette and puffed into the air.

  “Yeah. Think I better get back to them. They’re probably wondering where I am.”

  “You do that,” he said and walked back to a dark section under a thatched gazebo.

  “Hey, where were you?” Amanda asked when I finally returned to them.

  I wasn’t going to tell them what happened to worry them. I hated sympathetic eyes as much as I hated feeling like a charity case. Cody was bad enough – I didn’t need the girls panicking when they should be having fun.

  “I went for a walk,” I told her. “Now I’m feeling tired. All that fresh air has gotten to me.”

  “Aww,” Stacey groaned. “But the party’s just getting started.”

  “I know, and I hate to be a party pooper, but I think I should go. I think I’ve had enough for my first day.”

  Their faces fell. “And Alexi isn’t even here yet,” Liz complained. “You sure you can’t stay a while longer?”

  I’d had my fill of following orders for one day. And I was sure tomorrow would end up being a continuation considering I had cheer tryout.

  “I’m sorry, but this is it,” I had to tell them. “Not like it’ll be my only party, right?”

  “Okay,” Amanda said as her face fell. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Yes. I have a long and exciting day and I have to get my beauty rest. Wouldn’t want to show up for tryout with bags under my eyes, would I?” I snickered.

  She laughed, and so did Liz. “No, you don’t.”

  “Okay. See you guys tomorrow. Thanks again for inviting me.”

  I hugged them and walked off towards the bar and grill where we had entered the beach. I was still a little paranoid from my earlier encounter, so I kept looking back, the feeling that someone was right behind me too real sometimes.

  I didn’t see him until I bumped into him. “This is the second time you’ve done that,” he said.

  “Chad?” I looked up from his chest and stared at the perfect smile on his face.