Noble Savages: A Dark High School Bully Romance Box Set

by Rina Kent

  “Oh, boy or girl?” Mom sat taller in her chair, eager for my answer.

  “Boy…”

  She smiled. “Is he cute?”

  Dad gave her a look that could have shot a bird down from the sky.

  “He’s gorgeous,” I sighed all dramatic like.

  “What’s his name?”

  “Judas Barron,” I replied flippantly, scooping up another bite of unwanted pasta.

  Echoing silence blasted through the air. I glanced between the two of them as some silent communication went down.

  “I told you,” Mom said suddenly.

  “Told me what?”

  “She was talking to me,” Dad replied. “Are you sure he’s the best person for you to be hanging out with, sweetheart?”

  I fought to keep my expression neutral. If his grip on the fork was anything to go from, he wanted to say something much different than he just had.

  It was the little things about people you had to pay attention to. Body language. Words could be dipped in sugar and smiles were forced at the drop of a dime.

  “We aren’t ‘hanging out’. He gave me a ride home.”

  “So, then you gave a complete stranger our address?” Mom checked.

  Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t told Judas where I lived. He just knew. Furthermore… “Wait. You were just excited that a cute boy brought me home. An actual cute boy did bring me home but this one is a problem because…?”

  “Don’t get smart with me, Rhiannon.”

  Oh, so that was the card she was going to pull. They’d both unknowingly confirmed what Judas had said. They knew the Barrons’. How, was what I wanted to know. Not once had they ever mentioned them.

  I was going to let it go, play up the scolded adolescent. My mind had already leapt to them not being my birth parents and I wasn’t ready to go down that road. How could Mom not be Mom? Dad not be Dad?

  “Of all people, why a Barron?” Mom asked.

  “Is there something wrong with them? Something I don’t know about it? All I ever hear is anything good. What’s so terrible about Judas and his family? Is it because they have money?”

  Dad’s fork clattered to his plate. “Is that why you like him? Do we not provide for you well enough?”

  What the hell? “I didn’t say that.”

  Mom steepled her fingers beneath her chin and stared up at the ceiling. “Then why would you whore yourself out?”

  If it wasn’t my mother across from me, I would have a great response for what she’d just said. Like, knocking her ass out of the chair. But it was, and I couldn’t believe she had. I mean, ouch. Did she really think I would do that?

  “Evie, that was unnecessary,” Dad reprimanded, his voice gruff.

  “Well, Marcus. She is a little more developed than most teens. Maybe she’s taken notice.”

  That comment hurt ten times more than the last one. She knew how I used to struggle with my body image. That was a low blow. “Maybe? My ass is huge, Mom. Half the girls around me are the same size as you. Of course, I’ve taken notice.”

  She simply stared at me, no apology or restructuring of what she just said coming forth.

  “She didn’t mean that the way it sounded. You know you’re beaut--.”

  “It was exactly the way it sounded, Dad. Don’t stick up for her. She’s in control of her own words. I don’t care. Someone clearly has a body complex and I promise it’s not me.”

  I stood up and left the room before whatever bullshit she had to say could be spewed next. There wasn’t an apology for the truth, sometimes that shit had to hurt.

  I locked myself in my room, taking in the pastel colors. They weren’t really me, but they helped me feel better about the shit inside my head sometimes. I’d acted on my urges only once. Two years ago. Funny how everything kept coming back to that night. That specific person.

  I couldn’t even say why I did it, only that it felt right in that moment and I’d never regretted it.

  I grabbed my cell off the nightstand and flopped down onto my bed, propping my chin on a balled-up pillow. Scrolling through the contacts, I found who had to be Judas under a simple letter J. I hovered over the message box a few seconds. Did I really want to bother him and start a conversation?

  Did he not just have his fingers inside your pussy and make you come? My inner voice snarked.

  Touché to that.

  * * *

  Monday, August 12th, 2019

  Me: U were telling the truth. 6:45 PM

  I went to toss the phone aside, but it pinged back instantly.

  J: I would never lie to you. 6:46 PM

  No idea what I was supposed to say to that. Somehow, for whatever insane reason, I believed him. I didn’t understand his motive. It’s not like he owed me anything. What we had between us was the furthest thing from a relationship. It was a screwed-up mess of emotional turmoil.

  Me: Why tell me at all? 6:46 PM

  He didn’t text back that time. I sent a quick message to Audrey saying I needed to talk to her, and then sat the phone to the side.

  I woke up fifteen minutes later than I should’ve and when you needed to primp every minute was precious. I went for the same style uniform I had the previous day, knowing sooner or later I would have to wear the dreaded white one. I only had four.

  My mother called for me as I was racing for the door, I ignored her. I wasn’t in the mood and I didn’t want to hear any apology she might’ve had. Not right then.

  I hit the clicker for my Soul to unlock the doors, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. Judas sleek Mercedes was at the end of my damn driveway.

  After yesterday, I would not be getting back in a car with him. It had nothing to do with Mom or Dad and everything to do with my desire to ride him in his front seat.

  I pretended not to see him, going right to the dark green cube on wheels that was waiting for me to get in it.

  Once I did, I didn’t bother reversing, I knew he wouldn’t let me out. I went straight and circled around the house, cutting through the field. A smile pressed to my lips as I drove away from him.

  When his car flew up behind me, I laughed. He was such a drama queen. The laughter died as he got even closer. His front bumper nudged my rear, not hard enough to make me go coasting off the road, but hard enough that my tiny car jolted a bit.

  “Freaking psycho!” I yelled, immediately pulling over. I was not about to play twisted metal with him. He’d win.

  His car pulled in front of mine at an angle, so that if I wanted to go anywhere, I’d have to reverse. Then he was at my door pulling it open just as I undid my seatbelt. He didn’t yank me out though.

  Doing the opposite of what I expected, he reached down and took hold of my hand, gently tugging me from within the car. I shook his touch off and shoved him the second I was all the way upright. Course he didn’t go anywhere.

  “Don’t overreact, you’re fine, and so is this ugly thing you call a car.” His response coupled with his calm demeanor only heightened my anger. How did someone casually attempt to drive another person off the road? Judas would know.

  The word psycho resounded in my head again as he regarded me clinically. As if I were the one with the problem.

  “Isn’t this what you wanted? Me to chase you?”

  My lips parted in shock. “No! What is wrong with you? Do you want to kill me?”

  He stepped forward in one fluid motion. Capturing my face on either side, forcing me backward so that I was pressed against my car. “Principessa, death will never come to you by my hand. Not when keeping you will be so much more fun.”

  I tried to push him away, but he held tight, his grip firming. “I’m not a pet. I don’t want to be kept. I can’t be,” I rasped.

  He clicked his tongue at me. “I know this is hard to accept, but you don’t have a choice. We haven’t even gotten started yet. Sooner than later, we’ll be leaving this place behind us, and then the real fun can begin.”

  Feeling tears of frustration
gather in the corner of my eyes, I diverted my gaze so he couldn’t see them. How did one night of freedom result in this? I should have never gone to that damn party. Either of them.

  “I’ll never willingly go along with whatever it is you want.”

  He forced me to look up at him. “Again, you don’t have a fucking choice.”

  “There’s always a choice and if you think bullying me into submission will work, you’re wrong. You may be dangerous, but I can be too.”

  He laughed, sinister and low. “I thought you didn’t want to play? You think you’re any match for me, bambina?”

  “You don’t know me, Jude.”

  “We already established that I did, that I do, but you’re a very stubborn girl.” His forehead lowered to mine and he stared straight into my eyes. “I’ll bully you and you’ll still spread your legs and let me fuck you sore. I’ll flip your whole goddamn world upside down and make you love me as I shatter it into pieces.”

  I stared at him, rendered speechless by him once again, swallowing when his lips skimmed over mine.

  The sound of an approaching vehicle had him moving away. I stood rooted in place. Without a word to me Judas bent down and retrieved something from my middle console.

  “What are you doing?” I questioned when I saw what it was.

  “You a favor.” He wound his arm back, bringing it forward to release my key fob. The black clicker sailed through the air, landing somewhere in the surrounding field behind us.

  “Why would you do that?” I yelled, spinning to scan the offending area. From my peripheral, Judas rubbed his chin as if contemplating something.

  I cast a helpless gaze back to the field, knowing my key fob could be anywhere.

  He recaptured my attention with a gentle hold of my jaw, forcing me to meet his stare. “Consider this a lesson learned. If you run from me, I will do whatever is necessary to catch you and bring you back to me. And I do mean whatever is necessary.”

  As I was ushered into the passenger seat of his Mercedes, I knew I wouldn’t be testing that theory anytime soon.

  The morning was a precursor to how the rest of my day would go.

  Apparently, news had spread that Judas and I were officially an item. Showing up with him further cemented this belief.

  Walking into the school was like walking into a pride of pissed off lions. The pettiness jumped out of these girls in full force.

  The words fat and ass were thrown around quite liberally, one of the worst insults ever. I wasn’t fat, not even a little. My ass, however, that couldn’t be helped.

  Lewd remarks and dirty looks kept coming, all things that I’d never had to handle before, should have been no problem to handle, but were now grating on my nerves and defenses.

  The last straw was the food court when some giant ass jock thought it would be cute to shoulder check me. He knocked into me so hard I lost balance, gritting my teeth to lock down a yelp. My knees hit the marble sending another lick of pain through my legs.

  “You’re an ass, Erin,” I heard some sensible voice reprimand from the crowd of students watching us.

  Most agreed, more than that didn’t. Erin stared down at me with a humored grin on his face. “Damn, new girl, you trading your crown for blow-jobs?”

  My crown? I had no idea what that meant. I began to get up and he attempted to stop me.

  “No, no. Stay there. Why move when you’re in perfect position?”

  One of the volleyball chicks laughed a little louder than anyone else, seeking extra attention. I decided right then if murder were legal that I’d kill her first.

  Erin shook his head at me and turned to walk away, stepping right into the palm coming at the side of his face. A loud smack was accompanied by the usual oh’s and ah’s.

  “Stupid fucker!” Audrey’s voice rose above the noise, and a teacher suddenly appeared. He took in the situation and immediately got between both, Audrey still cussing Erin out.

  Brianna made to help me, but I didn’t want her assistance. I picked my own damn self-up and walked away, dusting off the imaginary crown I supposedly had.

  I was insane to think math would be any better, but the students in there were the most chill and laid back. Gabby Dawson was in there, the pretty redhead I’d seen Judas talking to my first day after English. So was her twin brother Gabe, the pretty boy from their boat.

  There was a test coming up that Friday on the first segment in the textbook and we were given free rein to study in the class or the library, most opted for the library, so I stayed in the classroom to try and actually study.

  So did Kelly.

  Yay me.

  “You know he’ll never be fully yours,” she snipped five minutes in.

  I shut my eyes and released a silent sigh. “Maybe not, but we both know he’ll never be yours ever.”

  She didn’t like that little jab.

  “He was with Gabby for a while, you know. Was all sweet and charming with her too.”

  That shouldn’t have bothered me. So, of course, it did. A small trickle of possession wormed its way into my psyche. And Judas sweet and charming? I found that hard to believe. Furthermore, I wouldn’t want him that way. Not that I wanted him at all.

  I liked the slightly psychotic Judas with a fucked-up moral compass. He fit me better than a sweet saintly boy would.

  “He’s the king of this school, this town. Always has been. And Maisie will always be the queen. So, just know when she returns, you’ll be back to being a nobody, except now you’ll be tainted by Judas Barron.”

  I half scoffed half laughed. I had never been a nobody and regardless of if I ever was with Judas or not, I never would be.

  These people seriously had life all screwed up along with their priorities. As for this Maisie chick, this wasn’t my first time hearing that name today, but I’d never heard it at all until I came to Pesadilla. I wondered if she was like, Judas’ best kept secret or something.

  “I’ll be sure to send Judas back to her when I’m done with him,” I replied with extra pep in my tone.

  I was totally screwing with her, and while it would be all too easy to splinter her precious ego, I had better things to do than sit around and discuss the one topic I couldn’t escape these days. Since the teacher seemed inclined to keep out of our conversation and not make her shut the hell up, I stood up and grabbed my stuff.

  I guess the library was a better option after all. It was just my luck to see volleyball girl coming up the hall as I was heading down. A catty grin was on her face, promptly disappearing when I shoulder checked her like the stupid jock had did me, knowing it was her who put him up to it.

  My arm screamed at me the moment it connected with her. She yelped, going down hard. Perhaps to some that was wrong and petty, but to me it was worth it to see the bitch on her back. If one of us belonged down on the floor, it wasn’t me.

  I left her, not uttering a single word as to what I thought about her shitty judgement. Continuing on my way to the library, I text Audrey to make sure she was good. There hadn’t been enough time to do so when I finally made it to class.

  I slipped inside the book haven as quietly as I could.

  The level of conversation had me worrying about disrupting others for nothing. Gabe spotted me and flashed a friendly smile, I returned it and went to sit at the table with him, his sister, and a dark-haired girl.

  I set my stuff up and spent the next ten minutes pretending to know what was on the page in front of me.

  “Hey, Rhiannon,” Gabby’s soft voice broke through my bubble of concentration.

  I glanced away from the portion of text I was reading and realized the other girl was gone. Clearly, I was doing something right if I hadn’t noticed her departure.

  “What’s up?”

  “You and um, Judas…you’re okay?”

  For a second all I could think was, Jesus, not her too. But then I noticed the genuine concern in her eyes and determined that was an odd question to ask someone. In m
y opinion, anyway.

  “Me and Judas are complicated, but I’m fine. Are you okay?” It seemed only right to make sure she didn’t have a bleeding heart or something after what Kelly told me.

  “Yeah. I’m great now. It took me a minute to get over him. He’s so intense and consuming, you know?”

  “Mhm,” I hummed, suddenly wishing I never asked her anything. I knew that about him all too well.

  “Under all that pretty exterior is something flawed and dangerous. He can be a bit…manipulative. Hot and cold too. He kinda used to have my head all over the place.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, and so did her brother. This girl was really forthcoming and…sweet.

  “I think you’ll be good for him Rhiannon, and I really hope it works out for you two. I know a few other girls he’s been with and it always ends up the same.”

  “Mandy was probably the worst since she never came back after their break-up.”

  That was another nugget I hadn’t had before. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “Because I worry about him still. I’ve known him a long time and at this point If you don’t love him, who will?”

  Wow. That was sort-of deep. But did she just say love? That was crazy talk. Loving Judas would be like agreeing to slice yourself open and bleed just to see the color of blood. Painful and beautiful, but ultimately deadly.

  Needing a quick change of subject, I looked at Gabe and gave him a much-needed distraction.

  “Do you get any of this for real? It’s all numbers and lines to me.”

  Gabby sighed as her brother jumped at the opportunity to ignore everything she’d just said. And for the next twenty minutes Gabe made me see math in a whole new light.

  “You’re amazing at this,” I mused. “I need to hire you as a tutor.”

  “I’m free on Thursdays.” I could come by your place?”

  I’d been partially joking. I mean, I would actually like to have a tutor, but that’s not all he wanted. I’d just spent twenty minutes dodging all his flirtations.

  “Do you have a death wish?” Gabby interrupted with a glare aimed at her brother. “Do you know what they would do to you? What Judas would do to you?