Reckless Hate: A Bully High School Romance (enemies-friends-enemies-lovers-enemies) (Westbrook Blues Book 1)

by Thandiwe Mpofu

  “The girl thinks we murdered her twin brother, of course she will go off like a damn firecracker on steroids.” Noah adds as we walk.

  “Alex! Wait baby.”

  I groan as I hear the pitter patter of high heeled shoes tapping the floor, knowing exactly who is behind me. I ignore her. I’ve never liked Brittney since Star became friends with her, but as always she never believed me when I tried to warn her, thinking I just wanted to isolate her.

  Well, I did want to do that but her choice in friends was questionable, still is as far as I can tell.

  “Did you find anything on the girl, Noah?” I ask referring to the so called Kimberly Allory. W.B.H never, and I mean never gets new students, especially at senior year. Combine that with the fact that the girl lives in the valley and not anywhere near the mountains, it all just reeks to me.

  The waiting list alone for getting in to W.B.H is super long. Parents have to give their organs just to enroll their toddlers for high school here, and that’s usually for the wealthier folks.

  This Kimberly girl doesn’t strike me as one that has such a background. Who is Kimberly Allory and what does she want with my girl?

  “I’m on it. She’s clean so far.” Noah says with a whistle as he watches a girl, probably one of the legacy bitches, strut before us. And that isn’t a coincidence either.

  “Alex!” The whining starts again.

  “Oh shit, she thinks you two are a thing, huh?” Em questions with an eye roll of his own but Noah hates her the most for past dues that she tries to ignore.

  “Get lost bitch! No one wants you here.” Noah vehemently tells her as he turns back. I do my best not to laugh or turn to look at Brittney because I know her claws are out already.

  Then there is the thing where Star pushed her out of her way like a fucking badass wet dream—fuck, I’m hard again.

  “I wasn’t talking to you, Noah.” She says but her voice doesn’t carry that much weight.

  The entire cafeteria heard Noah and begins to laugh at Brittney. It’s not often that we embarrass people, that shit was done in middle school, high school is a whole different ball game. We don’t necessarily have to make a fool out of people unless its required. As for Brittney, I don’t care what happens to her. She chose the wrong team when she came for Star on Monday, thinking that will get a reaction from me.

  It did yes, but only towards the fire that I saw in Star’s eyes that day.

  “Go cry someone else a river, we wouldn’t want your makeup to ruin and your ugliness to show now, do we?” Noah smirks, then turns to follow Em and I out the door, leaving the rest of the cafeteria in an uproar of hyena kind of laughter. Noah just made a fool out of Brittney, right after Star did. Can’t say it bothers me at all.

  “Urgh, she grates on my nerves.”

  “Yeah and you just made her shit list.” Em informs with a light chuckle as we walk down the hall, ignoring the wondering eyes that follow us as we go.

  “She has a shit list?” Noah gasps dramatically. “So fucking sue me, I don’t give a damn about her. You know, I think she had something to do with Raea’s attack.”

  I tense as soon as the words leave Noah’s mouth. By then we have already left the school buildings. We head for our parking spot at the other side of the school, away from the regular parking that is usually so damn crowded.

  But our reason for having our own parking space is much more than just that though. It’s hereditary

  “Noah.” Emmett chides.

  None of us like to think of that day, four years ago. The night Star was attacked in her home by some robbers, they beat her up pretty good. The fact that I found her that night, her face beaten, her whole body bruised with blood everywhere, a dislocated arm, fragments of glass everywhere—destroys me.

  Each time I close my eyes to sleep, whenever that is, it’s her that I see, Bloody, bruised and barely moving.

  Fuck. I don’t need this right now.

  “I know you two have questioned it. I mean, who else would have had the codes to Raea and George’s house besides her? You remember how she always, fucking always, liked to come around just to be near us?” Noah continues as we walk towards the cars.

  I fucking hate that night. I hate that we all decided to go camping outside of town that weekend. I hate that she didn’t fucking listen to me and stay away from that damn party. I fucking hate myself for not being there to protect her. Fuck!

  “We don’t know that for sure.” Emmett, always the voice of reason states, “But did you see that gleeful smile on her face when the news spread that the Fields home burned down and that Astraea went away to recover?”

  “I remember that. I bet she is the one that convinced Raea to leave!” Noah bursts and begins pacing the length of a car parking spot and back.

  “Sorry man, it’s just seeing the pain in her eyes, the way her entire body was shaking and then blaming us for what happened to George, it’s messing with my head. It’s messing with me big time.”

  “Yeah, no shit.” Emmett says, looking down.

  “I just wanted to scoop her tiny frame up and tell her that we are working on it. Just to ease that pain but fuck, I’m so mad at her for what she did!” Noah says, punching the air. “You know what, I’m done with school, I’m going to get some valley pussy. I’ll see you assholes later.”

  And with that, Noah walks over to his Ferrari and jumps in. Within a space of five seconds he’s already through the school gates, on his way to create pandemonium and mayhem wherever he is going. And who can blame him.

  “I won’t lie, she’s got me fucked up too. Can’t fucking breath just seeing her.”

  “I know, brother. But she left.” I remind him, my words come out as a growl that I never intended. I don’t want him to know just how messed up this whole thing has been.

  “It makes me want to go out to Springs and pound some shit out of my system.”

  “We can’t be seen in Springs and most importantly we can’t leave her.” Emmett says with a sigh and I shake my head.

  “How did she come to the conclusion that we killed George though? That was never the plan.” Emmett questions, leaning over his car with his arms folded. “What did that fucker Dereck say to her?”

  “Not much but I think he plans on making his move.”

  “There is a party tomorrow night, we need to scout that shit up.”

  “You got the team on lock?” I question him because like he said, we can’t be spotted just about everywhere these days. We are keeping a fucking low profile, doing as much research as we can.

  “Yeah, they’ll be ready. What are you planning on doing to Dereck?” Emmett questions as I walk to my own car, ignoring the names that have been painted in front of each parking space. I don’t like those but she is back and there are things she will soon find out. It’s just a matter of time.

  “It’s his move now. I’ll wait on him.”

  Truth is, I want to pound the shit out of Myers with my bare hands, but I can’t do that either. I can’t be thrown in jail again, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

  The police here like to feel like they can assert justice and ease the worry of the population of Westbrook. Telling them lies like no one, especially no family, is above the law, not even the Kings, but we all know the truth.

  Besides all that though, I have different plans for Myers. He was the last one with George the day he died and he has managed to evade us but I saw the look of fear in his eyes, he knows we are coming.

  It fucking doesn’t help that Star is snooping around a guy with his share of sexual assault reports, theft, possession of hard drugs—just to name a few of his crimes—in his arsenal. But of course, clouded by vengeance and suspicion, she can’t see that yet.

  “Whatever it is bro, remember he is an asset.”

  “Yeah for now. Until he decides to suspend his subscription to life, in that case, I’ll be waiting.”

  I get into my car as Emmett walks over to his and without a wor
d, I track where Star is. I find that she is nearby at an ice cream shop. I text the location to both Em and Noah, knowing that they will go and make sure that she is alright and that she gets home safe.

  They might be mad at her right now, but I saw the way they were stealing glances at her during the week. They want to talk to her, want to be near her. It’s that fucking compulsion of hers, the way she would draw the boys in that I fucking hated from the beginning.

  I will never allow anyone to have such control over me, not ever again. Not even for her.

  “And you?” Emmett says as he rolls down his window. I roll mine down to respond.

  “I have a four-year old case to revisit.”

  And with that, I back out and make my way the opposite direction of where I really want to go but what Noah said before made me pause.

  All I remember from that night was finding Star, crying her heart out with ugly sobs, covered in blood. I remember she didn’t want to go to the hospital but she also didn’t want to be in that house at all. I made a quick and irrational decision that I shouldn’t have acted on that night.

  She literally hated being in that damn house any second longer so before calling the police or calling ambulance at least, I made sure to start that fire and burn the shit down, then ran in to get her. George already knew that I was responsible for the fire but didn’t say a word.

  Maybe I should have waited for the police to come and investigate the robbery but I couldn’t stand the pain, the blood. . .

  Thinking back to that night though, she moved different. She looked different. She hated being touched by anyone, not even the paramedics and now that I think of it, the way she vehemently refused to be touched by anyone but me. . .refusing to be moved by anyone-that wasn’t normal.

  But then, she was just caught in a break-in and they fucked her up in the process but could there have been more to it than that?

  I think back to George’s funeral and the way she didn’t shake anyone’s hand and would stiffen when anyone, even my mother—touched her. She still doesn’t like to be touched. But why?

  What happened that night?

  What didn’t she not tell me about?

  And why did she leave so suddenly?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ASTRAEA

  I’M NOT SO SURE HOW Kim and I managed to skip classes for the rest of the day but for whatever reason that Kim came up with, I’m glad and relieved.

  We are seated at the back hidden booth of an ice cream parlor and I sip my water as I blankly look out the windows, seeing absolutely nothing.

  “So, you are not going to try this sundae?” Kim prompts after a while. Hell, I have no idea how long we have been in here or which number of Sundae she is currently consuming.

  “Seriously, you are going to get sick from all that.” I say but my voice is still hoarse. I can’t wrap my head around everything that happened today but the tightening in my chest tells me that I need to dig further. I can’t shake this feeling at all. I just can’t kick it and I need answers.

  “Nah, I’m good but you on the other hand, you look a hot mess.” She says as she gestures at me with her dessert spoon.

  “Gee, thank you.” I say with a half there chuckle.

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me, I’m just keeping it real.” She says with a laugh and shoves a spoonful of sugary delight in her mouth, making a sound that has the guys at a near table turning to gawk at her. Yeah, she’s been getting that a lot.

  “Thank you.”

  Kim drops her spoon back into the bowl and then turns to look at me with eyes filled with a confused kind of sympathy. I’m sure she is questioning everything but it’s the fact that she doesn’t rush me that I appreciate more than anything.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know.” I truthfully admit. I have no idea where I stand in all the emotional capacities of a human being. I feel like I’m at the precipice, the very edge of it all. And it’s all because of this place.

  “For what it’s worth. . .” She says with a pause as a huge grin fills her face. “You were totally badass back there. I mean, if only you could see yourself!” She gestures with awe in her voice.

  “Yeah, I had something I needed to get off my chest.”

  “And boy did you get it off and out there! I mean, you scared me for a small fraction of a second, the way you just stood up from the chair like a freaking robot answering to a mission to eliminate!” She claps her hands in glee as if describing her favorite movie. “Then, you had the entire cafeteria on standstill but that was just. . .I think I have a crush on you.” She says and I eye her.

  “I didn’t think you had it hot for the other team, Allory.” I say to her with a chuckle.

  “Me neither.” A voice interrupts and we both look up to see Dereck standing there with a small smile on his face. “Sorry to just come up to you like this but I was just walking past and saw you through the window.” He explains.

  “Isn’t it still class time?” Kim questions, eyeing Dereck.

  “Well, for the next fifteen minutes yes but I had a free period so. . .” He answers then looks at me, “May I?”

  “Yes of course.” I say as I scoot over to make room for him. “Tell me you didn’t see that.”

  “Uh, you owning those entitled, snobby rich boys? I didn’t see anything.” He says and I laugh.

  “Okay, it wasn’t that bad. And I’m sure they are out for my ass right now.” I say as a chill races down my spine, remembering the dead look in Ace’s eyes when we locked gazes.

  “Oh no doubt. You just declared open hell on them.” He says with a tight expression on his face.

  “Say. . .” Kim interrupts, looking at Dereck as if she forgot his name when I know she hasn’t. Hmm

  “Dereck.”

  “Yes, say what happens when someone publicly challenges these golden boys?” Kim questions.

  “You mean the Blue Boys. Well, I can’t really be sure since no one and I do mean no sane person has ever done what you did today before.” Dereck says as he looks at me with worry. It’s kind of cute.

  “Well, there goes my life.”

  “Oh, don’t be so dramatic.” Kim says as she waves a careless hand around.

  “Easy for you to say since they are not after you.” I shoot back.

  “Well. . .” Dereck starts uncertainly. “They do have a reputation of destroying their enemies and anyone else that is associated with their so called enemies. So, you are both kind of in it now.”

  “So, they are coming after us now?” Kim questions, affronted by what Dereck is revealing.

  “Not to mention their entire fan club, which is all the cheerleaders, the legacy princesses and any other girl or guy that kisses their ass.”

  “Wait? Who are legacy princesses?” Kim questions.

  “Haven’t you noticed them by now?” Dereck questions. “They really do stand out.”

  “Wait, I think I know them. Are they the ones always dressed like they are about to go to a slutty board meeting and then they head to the Blue Country Club for a solid session of margaritas and gossip by the pool straight after?”

  “Well, now that you pointed that out, yes. Those are the legacy princesses.” Dereck says with a chuckle.

  “And let me guess, they are the ones that stand to inherit all the wealth from their families?”

  “Yes and no. Some of them are set to have arranged marriages to keep the legacies alive or some shit.”

  “That’s some bougie ridiculousness.” Kim points out.

  “Tell me about it.” I say as I sip my water.

  “So, where do you stand in all that? Aren’t you an ass kisser as well?” Kim questions with suspicion as she looks at Dereck. Somehow, I feel like she doesn’t like him at all.

  “Oh no, not at all. I want nothing to do with those guys and I really don’t like them.” Dereck explains as he looks at me. “I guess that’s why George and I were friends.”

  “Wait, w
hen did you and my brother become friends? You never really explained.” I rush to ask. If I have a shot at ever getting the answers I need, then Dereck is my ticket.

  “Uh.” He says, his gaze now focused outside the window. I turn to look at whatever has caught his attention but I see nothing but parked cars.

  “Dereck?”

  “Uh, I have to go now. I forgot I have a lot of things to do.” He says as he hurriedly gets up and is about to dash for the entrance.

  “Wait.” I call out and he stops. “I need to talk to you. I have questions.”

  I watch as he glances to the large windows and then back at me with unease written all over his face.

  “Come to the party and we’ll talk.”

  “Party? What party?” I question as my palms begin to sweat. There is no way I’m going to some damn party where there is nothing but teenage and youth recklessness. No way.

  “A friend of mine from the valley high school is throwing a party tomorrow night. If you can come, we can talk there.” He explains as he rushes back to our table but his movements are unsteady and rushed. “Give me your phone so I can put in my number.”

  Shit, Ace still has my phone locked in his damn lair somewhere. Fuck.

  I hesitate, how do I explain to them that Ace has my phone? As far as I know, Kim and Dereck only know that I just recently interacted with Ace, Noah and Emmett. I don’t know if Dereck noticed anything at the funeral but if he does, he doesn’t show it.

  “I think I left my phone at home. I’m such a klutz that way.” The lie falls from my tongue but I ignore it, hoping that my voice is convincing.

  “Here, jot it down on my notepad.” Kim says as she hands Dereck a pen and the notepad which he quickly jots his number down.

  “Thank you.” He says to Kim and then to me. “Just call me and I’ll give you the directions. We can talk there. I have to go now.” And with that, he is gone.

  “That guy is strange as hell.” Kim points as soon as Dereck is gone. “And shady as fuck.”

  “Why do you say that?”