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

by K. Walker

  Sheesh! Once was good enough for me.

  I got to the car, and she was dragging herself over to the parking lot. I opened the door and got in. She still hadn’t increased her pace. I started the car and drove off. I wasn’t going to play her game. She could be spoiled all she wanted.

  She was standing in the middle of the parking lot when the car turned onto the street. I didn’t want to deal with the drama. I had enough at home, and currently, I had to pick up my little sister from her ballet class.

  Sylvia was sitting on the steps when I drove up. “What took you so long?” she asked as she slid inside the car. “You went surfing again, didn’t you?”

  I looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah. So, what? Ballet was that boring today?”

  “I was sitting there for like, fifteen minutes. You could have called.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. But that’s kinda hard to do in the water,” I teased.

  “Whatever. Can we get pizza?”

  “Syl, you can’t eat pizza every day,” I told her, cocking my head to the side. “That’s all junk food.”

  “Like you’re better,” she complained. “All you eat is…come to think of it, what do you eat?”

  “A-ha,” I laughed. “Not pizza every day.”

  “Seriously, Chad, what do you eat? Because since Mom left, I don’t remember seeing you eating anything other than sharing pizzas with me.”

  “I eat,” I told her. “I have to. I’m the QB, so I have to keep my strength up. Work out, get rest…”

  “Bullshit!”

  “Sylvia?” I said sternly. “Watch your language.”

  “But you say curse words all the time,” she complained.

  “I know, but I’m not twelve,” I replied. “You know how Mom feels about stuff like that.”

  “Well, you know how Mom feels about you smoking and staying out late and drinking, and you do it anyway,” she pouted.

  I reached over and rubbed my knuckle over her forehead. “Don’t get too lippy with me lady, or I won’t even get you that pizza.”

  “I have my own money, so,” she gloated and stuck out her tongue.

  “We’ll see about that,” I said and dipped to get her purse.

  “No! Chad!” she screamed and clung to the thing like it had gold or something in it. She tucked it under her right arm, furthest away from me as I laughed in amusement.

  “Make sure you don’t spend it all in one place,” I joked as the car turned into the driveway. Our faces dropped when we saw Cheryl’s car already parked there. Except this time, she wasn’t in my spot.

  I smirked as I rolled up into the spot and Sylvia climbed out.

  “Hi, Sylvia,” Cheryl beamed as soon as we hit the front porch.

  Sylvia glanced back at me before she nodded and walked by her and into the house. I stared at Cheryl until I passed, neither of us exchanging any words. I scoffed and took my phone out of my pocket.

  Chad: Brody, take Sophia home.

  Brody: On it.

  I dialed another number, then slipped the phone back into my pocket and headed for the den.

  Chapter 13

  You’ve got to be kidding me!

  I stood in the open parking lot looking like the girl Chad Minor had just dumped. He had scooped me up from school, took me to the beach, and then he just up and left?

  What the fuck? I swear to God, I’m being punished for something.

  I glanced around at the curious eyes as I balled my fists against my side. Now what?

  I looked around as I tried to get my bearings. That’s when I saw Brody jogging over to me. “Come on,” he told me and motioned for me to follow him to his car.

  “What?” I asked rooted to my spot.

  He stopped walking and turned around, his brown eyes reflecting in the afternoon sun. “You want to go home, don’t you? Because I don’t mind staying here.”

  “Did Chad ask you to take me home?”

  “Why? Does it matter?” He wrinkled his brows and stared intently at me.

  “It kinda does. I’m not his play thing, and I don’t want him to get it in his head that he can just treat me how he wants and…”

  Brody grunted and turned around again. “I’m beginning to see why he left you here.”

  I stopped talking. What? “Excuse me?” I asked and ran after him. I caught him just as he was opening his door.

  “Get in, Sophia. Stop making this so complicated. You need a ride home, and I’m going to give it to you. Now just stop talking.”

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I snapped. I wasn’t usually much of a talker, but Chad had gotten deep under my skin, and he wasn’t there for me to collect my frustrations – the ones he had earned. Instead, he had left Brody to be his shield while he ran off to probably meet some other girl.

  I didn’t even know where my thoughts were headed until I was there. Was that really what was bothering me? That he left me, or where he might be now?

  I got into the car and stared out the window. “What about my car?” I asked when Brody entered the main road.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t mention that,” Brody replied and gunned his car down the road. “Would you mind if I make a quick stop?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I replied. “I should have been home already.”

  “It’ll only take a minute,” he replied, obviously not giving a shit what I said and turned onto a narrow street.

  “Brody…” I started, and sighed. It was no use. These guys did what the hell they wanted to, when they wanted to, and they didn’t care about how anyone felt about it. I wished I was like that – King Kong of the world. But then, did I really want to be another Callie Humpry? Not!

  He stopped the car next to what looked like a factory, or warehouse. I craned my neck to see, but there wasn’t much I could detect.

  “Be right back,” he said and rapped his knuckles on the door.

  “Brody! What am I supposed to do out here? Brody!”

  He skipped to the metal door in the side of the building and disappeared inside. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” My day couldn’t possibly get any worse. I wondered if it was too late to change schools. Or towns for that matter. Maybe Mom would be up for moving again.

  It was worth a shot, I scowled and reached for my phone.

  Sophia: Is it too late to move again? You don’t like Mr. Humpry too much, do you?

  Mom: Why? What happened?

  Sophia: Ugh! Just teenagers. Sooo annoying. I’m sitting in this dude’s car.

  Mom: What dude? I thought you would be home by now.

  Sophia: Long story. Fill you in later. Here he comes.

  Mom: Okay. Call me when you get home.

  Brody came out of the building, but he wasn’t alone. An Asian dude smoking what looked like a joint was right behind him. I shifted in the seat as the two approached the car.

  The other guy bent over and grinned yellow teeth at me. “Hi there beautiful.”

  I checked Brody, who was barely getting into the car. A billow of smoke greeted me when I turned around again, and I coughed as my eyes watered. “Dude!”

  “What the hell, man!” Brody shouted. “Get the fuck outta here.”

  “Make sure you have it next time,” he said as he stood and Brody started the car. “And don’t be late.”

  “Who was that?” I wanted to know.

  “None of your business,” Brody replied and clenched his jaw. “Hey, don’t tell Chad I took you down here, okay?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, why did you bring me to begin with? You could’ve done whatever after you dropped me off.”

  “No, I couldn’t. Just don’t say anything.”

  “Why would I say anything to that ass anyway?” I grumbled and looked back through the window. “Such a jerk.” Brody’s chuckle caught my attention. “What’s so funny?”

  “You like him, huh?”

  I almost got whiplash when I turned to him. “I do what? Are you kidding me? What’s
to like?”

  “You tell me,” Brody said and laughed. “You have that classic look – the I-hate-him-so-much-I-could-fuck-him look.”

  I felt my cheeks burn. “I suggest you stick to backdoor deals.”

  “If you say so,” he replied and started whistling.

  It annoyed the hell out of me. Why did he think I liked Chad? How could I like Chad? He was rude, and…maybe kinda nice sometimes. But the way he had just left me in the parking lot, like I was a forgotten meal. Sure, he had sent Brody to take me home, but…

  “Hey, earth to Sophia,” I heard Brody saying.

  I blinked a couple of times and looked into his curious face. “Where did you go just now?”

  “Nowhere,” I replied. “Oh, could you check to see if my car is still at school?” I had almost forgotten about it, and about the fact that it was covered with paint and tissue. I was reminded of how much I wanted to kill Callie.

  “Sure,” he replied and swerved the car so sharply my head hit the window.

  “Ow!”

  “Oh, sorry. But I couldn’t help it. Had to change lanes suddenly.” He grinned.

  I could tell he was the kind who liked to walk on the wild side – the kind who would rather do a tight rope walk at the circus than stroll arm-in-arm through the park. And the kind who did shady deals that he hid from his friends. I wondered what that was about, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me. He didn’t know me from Adam.

  My heart beat steadily against my chest when we neared school. I would have to stop at a car wash. Somehow, I was going to get that money back from Callie if I had to rip it out of her perfectly manicured, diva nails.

  “What the hell?” I exclaimed and sat upright, digging my nails into the dashboard when I saw no trace of the car. I got out as soon as Brody stopped. “Where is it? This isn’t a tow zone.”

  “You sure this is where you parked it?” Brody asked as he placed one foot on the road, while the other remained inside.

  I pointed on the ground. “I can tell by the tissue still on the street.”

  He scratched his head. “Okay. Let me take you home and then we can figure that part out.”

  “I’m going to kill Chad if my car was towed,” I said glumly and crossed my arms.

  “Relax,” Brody said without a hint of concern in his voice. “I’m sure your car is fine. If not, he’ll buy you another one.”

  I gasped and looked across at his grinning face. “This isn’t funny, Brody.”

  “Hey, I’m just saying. He could buy you the town if he wanted to. That’s not a secret.”

  “I don’t want another car. I want my car.” That’s why he got away with everything. And Callie too. But not with this. If my car got impounded, I was going to have his ass.

  I fumed all the way home, tightening my fist around the straps of my purse, releasing and squeezing it like a stress ball. My jaw dropped when Brody turned onto my street, without me telling him where I lived nonetheless, and I saw my car outside my gate, and a suave Chad leaning against it like it was just any old ordinary day of the week.

  The door popped open before Brody stopped the car. “Chad!” I covered my mouth when I saw there wasn’t a single piece of toilet paper or paint on it.

  He held out the key for me. “Took you long enough to get here.”

  Of course, he had to say something shitty. It must come with living in a fancy house. Pick up your serving of douche by the door. I snatched it from his fingers and looked inside.

  “Everything is all there,” he smirked. He rocked off the car and walked to his that was parked behind it. “Brody, let’s go.”

  “All right. See ya, Sophia.”

  “Yeah, thanks Brody.”

  Chad didn’t look back all the while he walked to his car, but when he rolled by me, he had a look in his eyes I didn’t understand. He was a ball of confusion, and I wasn’t going to get an aneurysm trying to figure him out.

  I chalked it up to him buttering me up for me to be one of his lackeys down the road. Or his girl. The cackle in my head got louder, just before I sputtered and choked on a laugh. Yeah, right. Me and Chad.

  Me and Chad.

  Why was the thought lingering? I wished I knew him a little better. I felt like there was more to him than the cold façade he displayed to the world. How many layers did Chad Minor have? I wasn’t about to start peeling that onion!

  The phone started ringing in my pocket and I fished it out. “Mom?”

  “Are you home yet?”

  “Uh, yeah. I just got here. Why? What’s wrong?”

  I opened the car door and got in as I fixed to park it in the driveway. “Nothing. I forgot my sodium chloride injection solution. Would you mind dropping it off? I can’t leave. I don’t know where my head was. I thought I had it.”

  “No, it’s okay, Mom. You don’t have to lament and beg,” I giggled. “I’ll drop it off. Is it in the blue case with the rest of…?”

  “Yeah, same one. Thanks, sweetie.”

  “No problem.” I ended the call and then it hit me.

  It took me all of five seconds to realize I had just agreed to deliver medication to my mother.

  Where she worked.

  On the other side of town.

  On the same property where Callie Humpry lived.

  Fuck!

  I flung my head against the headrest and groaned. Maybe I would be lucky and I wouldn’t run into her. My mom surely wouldn’t be on the same wing as her.

  My breathing became ragged as I remembered how she had trashed my car. All the way inside the house and back, my hands shook, and I anticipated what I would do when I saw her again.

  The ‘Hill,’ which was the most prestigious area in Madison Falls might as well exist in an entirely different dimension from the rest of the world. I frowned at all the ostentatious mansions, gated properties, and glitzy fountains as I drove deeper and deeper into what I had dubbed as 'no man's land.' It didn’t take long to arrive but what I wasn’t expecting was how freakin’ huge the house was. Even bigger grounds than Chad’s.

  Damn! No wonder she walks around acting like a celebrity.

  I was once again transported to a different time and place when my car rolled through the gates that started what seemed like a half-mile drive to the house. I was reminded of all the parties again, all the ones I had hated where Dad, I mean Jack, had wanted us to produce the perfect family façade.

  I sighed and tried to imagine something else, but it was hard to do that in this current environment. I stopped my car at the steps of the circular driveway and reached for my phone.

  “Mom, I’m here.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you in the foyer. Just come through the front door. Tell Simon you’re here to see me.”

  “Who’s Simon?” I asked.

  “Doorman.”

  “Oh.” How could I forget?

  I didn’t see Callie’s car, so that was a plus. But that could always be in an underground garage somewhere, or on the roof. I lifted the case and wheeled it through the huge oak doors with gold accents and pulls.

  “Hey. I’m dropping this off for Sandy,” I told Simon when he opened the door.

  “Very well, ma’am. Will she be meeting you?”

  I wanted to puke again. I hated being around the rich and stuffy, and everything that represented them.

  “Ma’am.”

  I mentally shook my head so he wouldn’t see me doing it.

  “She said to wait in the foyer, so…”

  “Okay. Through there,” he said and pointed through a glass door.

  “Thank you.”

  “Do you need help?”

  “No, I’ve got it.”

  He smiled and nodded and resumed his former position. I wheeled the case through the door and entered a large room with a vaulted ceiling. My footsteps echoed on the marble tiles and I saw several archways that led to different rooms. I felt myself getting lost and I walked around, poking my head through the different openings, anxious for Mo
m to appear through one.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” I heard Callie ask, and I turned quickly, words of hate and spite ready to spill. My heart started to pound in my chest and I thought I would have a panic attack right then and there.

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Chapter 14

  My lips were already opened, and my hands tightened on the handle of the case. But she wasn’t there.

  She hadn’t been speaking to me.

  “I have an appointment, honey,” a woman replied, and footsteps echoed to my left. I shifted and tried to appear inconspicuous as the footsteps neared.

  I thought, too late, to sneak into a different section until they passed through the lobby. Clearly, someone was leaving. My heart thumped in my chest, and I felt like I was trespassing.

  “Come on, Mom. Where are you?” I whispered as I stood awkwardly in the large, empty space.

  “You always have an appointment,” Callie yelled. “When do you think you’ll ever find time for…”

  “Callie, stop! Oh, hello,” the woman said.

  That must have been directed at me. I had been trying to look the other way. I turned and saw a woman who could have been Callie’s doppelganger, except older. “Hi.”

  I saw Callie’s brows dip as she came up behind the woman. “Sophia,” she murmured cheerfully, like we were old friends. “What a surprise.”

  “Oh. Are you here to see Callie?” the woman asked as she walked over to me. She was beautiful. Her skin was flawless, and she held her hand out to me. I saw bright red nail polish on soft hands, and porcelain skin that extended to her pumps. She had long blond hair and looked to be in good shape. Callie was the spitting image of her mother.

  I took it, and it was like holding onto a bird’s leg. She was fit but delicate. “No, I’m actually…”

  “Sophia,” Mom called out as she breezed into the room. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  “Nurse Sandy? Is this your daughter?” Mrs. Humpreys asked.

  I heard Callie gasp and when I checked, she was staring at me, amusement and mockery in her eyes and then her lips upturned into a wicked grin. I wanted to kick her. I just might have if she said anything to me.