by Bella King
I leaned against the wall and pulled the glass from my sock, tossing it back into the pile on the ground. I rolled my socks off and tossed them in the pile too, examining the damage to the underside of my foot.
The glass had pierced into the center of my foot, cutting deep enough to draw blood but not deep enough for me to panic. Glass was pretty clean, right? I mean, it wasn’t like I was going to get hepatitis from it. The worst that would happen was that it would hurt to walk for a few days.
I retreated to my bathroom, where I had supplies to clean wounds with. I tended toward clumsiness, so the place was stocked with bandages and rubbing alcohol in preparation for my next injury.
I poured half the bottle of rubbing alcohol over my stinging wound while holding my foot over the bathtub, watching it fizz and bubble as it reacted with my blood. The pain almost made me forget about the present Apollo had supposedly left in my bed. I placed the bottle of rubbing alcohol on the side of the tub, swinging my foot back over and limping back to the bedroom without bandaging myself up. My foot had stopped bleeding for the most part, anyway.
I carefully walked to the bed, scanning the carpet for glittering pieces of glass on my way there. I arrived with no extra injuries and flopped over onto my bed. It was then that I felt a lump under my blanket. I rolled over, taking the sheets with me, and peered over at what I had uncovered.
It was a pair of boxers that could only belong to Apollo. I picked them up between two fingers, afraid off what could be on them. There was no telling what Apollo had gotten up to in my room, especially since he snatched a pair of my panties.
I tossed them into the pile of glass. Maybe I would trade him back for my panties, giving him a crotch full of broken glass for him to enjoy. I bet that would keep him away from me. Nobody is getting fucked with a bloody cock.
I laughed to myself but knew I wouldn’t have the guts to do something like that. Apollo had never physically hurt me, so doing that to him would feel wrong. Hell, even if he had, I wasn’t that kind of person. I would probably toss his boxers in the garbage.
I picked up my phone, punching out a text to Apollo about how nasty he was and that I didn’t want my panties back from him. I blocked the number before he could respond. Cora had been right. Talking to him only sucked me deeper into his crazy world. The best thing I could do was to forget about him, to pretend he never even existed.
I fetched a vacuum from downstairs, my parents still too consumed in argument to notice that I was home. If they kept arguing, they would probably end up ordering a pizza for dinner instead of cooking. I was alright with that. Shitty parents sometimes led to nice treats.
I was looking on the bright side, but my parents’ arguing had gotten worse in the past year, becoming such a regular occurrence that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had enough and left. I just wanted to see my parents happy again, and if that meant separating, then so be it. We shouldn’t be with people who we despise.
It looked like pushing Apollo away was the right choice. I didn’t want to end up like my parents.
Chapter 12
The fun and games are over.
After filling my stomach with pizza, I stacked a few chairs by the window to cover it, closing the curtains tight as to not let too much cold air in while I slept.
I arranged my sheets on the bathroom floor, locking myself inside. Even if Apollo managed to get into my room, he still couldn’t get to me. I felt safe in there by myself. I couldn’t even hear my parents arguing into the night with several doors separating me from the noise. It was peaceful.
I put my hand over a pack of cigarettes that lay beside me on the edge of the tub. I wondered if they would be able to smell them if I smoked in the bathroom. Would they even care? Would I even care?
Fuck it. I grabbed the pack and flipped it open, pulling out a slim white stick and placing it between my lips. The saliva on my lips soaked into the paper, gluing it to my mouth. I brought out a lighter and flicked it on, lighting a few lavender candles around the tub before lifting it to the end of my cigarette.
I took a few puffs and then a slow drag, letting the harsh smoke fill my lungs. For some reason, the uncomfortable sensation of a foreign substance in my lungs felt satisfying. It was like the burn after a shot, signaling that you had achieved something that would soon feel good.
I climbed into the bathtub with my cigarette. It was large enough to fit two people, and I found it comfortable sometimes to sit and think there. I watched the smoke rise gently into the air as I took another drag. Smoking indoors was more pleasant than it was outside. You could watch the smoke float around in front of you.
I closed my eyelids halfway, sliding back in the tub several inches. I tried to think of nothing. I could fall asleep this way, totally content with a cigarette between my lips and the dim flames of lavender candles flickering in the room.
I almost drifted off but awoke myself to ash my cigarette in the sink, running cold water over the end of it. I flicked it in the drain. I could toss it tomorrow. Finally, I collapsed into the pile of blankets on the floor and slept surprisingly well for someone who was afraid of an intruder.
I woke up with a sore back and a mouth that tasted like ash, but I hadn’t been visited in the night, and for me, that was a win.
I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and sprayed enough perfume around the bathroom to smother a grown man. That would cover the stale scent that clung to the walls.
I fished the soggy cigarette out of the sink drain and took it into the bedroom, tossing it out of the hole in the window. I needed to get that fixed, but it would have to wait until my parents had chilled out a bit. I didn’t dare show them a broken window when they were pissed at each other, and the sickening smell of smoke and perfume slipped beneath the bathroom door.
I was sure that today Apollo would confront me, but I was prepared for it. I had decided that this time was the last time he terrorized me. No matter what he did or said, I was going to act like he was nothing more than a gust of air down the hallway. Winterlake was better off without him.
I hadn’t seen my parents at all last night, save for the pizza order, but they were out this morning, sipping on coffee with bloodshot eyes. Perhaps Thursday night hadn’t been the best time to stay up arguing. They both still had work today.
I really wished that my parents would just go to counseling already. I didn’t think I could take much more of their arguing. It was background noise that I didn’t need. The constant back and forth between them was grinding at my sanity. That. Coupled with all the shit I was going through now, and it was no wonder that I was smoking.
I sighed and tucked myself into the sheets on the cold hard floor, trying to fall asleep quickly so that I didn’t have to deal with the torturous thoughts that danced in my cranium. It wasn’t much fun to be trapped in my own head like this in the dark. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t sleep soon.
Thankfully, my brain was too exhausted from the day before to keep me awake, and I drifted off in good time.
Chapter 13
Some things are impossible to ignore.
A pair of pink panties. That was all it took to turn the school against me.
The second I stepped foot into Winterlake Prep School, the other girls were shooting nasty glances at me, and the boys were laughing and jeering as though I had walked into the building butt naked.
I passed a group of girls by the lockers, and they huddled together as if to protect themselves from some horrible disease. I wasn’t exactly popular here, but this was a new level of rejection by the other students. Something was up.
“What’s up, Patricia?” I asked, approaching the one girl whose facial expression wasn’t as if I was a steaming pile of shit.
She stepped back. “Stay away from my boyfriend, fucking slut.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, shaking my head. I couldn’t wrap my head around what was going on here, but I figured it might have something to do with A
pollo. Whenever there was trouble, he was usually behind it.
Patricia crossed her arms and crinkled her nose. “Don’t act stupid, Georgia. Everyone at the school knows what kind of nasty slut you are.”
I had a strong urge to punch her in the face, my fist balled in frustration. “First of all, shut the fuck up before I ruin your face. Secondly, tell me what the fuck is going on,” I said, smacking my fist against the palm of my other hand for emphasis.
Patricia’s eyes widened. “I was just saying that because you left your panties in the men’s locker room last night. I heard you were giving blowjobs to whoever came in, so stay away from Andrew. He’s a good guy.”
I groaned loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear me. People were staring anyway. I was a spectacle at the school until this bullshit got cleared up.
“Thanks, Patricia. I obviously wasn’t sucking dicks in the locker room. Maybe you went overboard on the sleeping pills and didn’t remember what you were doing. It happens,” I mocked, patting her on the shoulder.
“I would never. Unlike you, I’m a virgin,” she replied, puffing out her chest and throwing her shoulders back.
And so was I, but that didn’t matter to anyone here anymore. I shook my head, turning away from her. I needed to find Apollo before this got any more out of hand.
I knew that the football team usually met in the locker rooms in the morning to change for training. They came to school early most of the time, cramming in practice before and after classes. The team was well known, and now that Apollo was back, morale would have returned.
I figured that if Apollo could get into the school early enough to drop my panties off, then he was going to be at football training. It was worth skipping a class to confront him.
I rushed to the men’s locker room, knowing full well that this didn’t improve my image. There were audible gasps behind me as I took confident strides through the open arch. I didn’t care what people thought about me, but it would be more than nasty thoughts if I didn’t make this situation right. Sluts get bullied at Winterlake, and I didn’t want to be lined up with the enemy.
“Apollo,” I shouted, anger in my voice as I entered the locker room. It was empty, save for a messy arrangement of bags and sports supplies. They must already be on the field. I looked around, searching for Apollo’s locker. Nothing was labeled.
Frustrated, I exited the room through the back door, which led to the football field. The sun was already warming the air and felt prickles of heat beneath my sweater. I removed it before I broke out in a heavy sweat. That wasn’t a good look for someone trying to get their way.
I squinted down the field, spotting Apollo running down the line carrying a football. Being the captain of the team, he was also the best player, and it was undeniable that you didn’t want a man with as big a frame as he's charging at you. He could, and he would knock other players out cold.
I knew that he saw me because he turned his head and gave me a curt nod before continuing his run down the field toward the touchdown area. I didn’t know jack shit about football, but I knew what a touchdown was. Apollo scored a lot of those.
I waited with arms crossed, and my sweater strewed on the ground beside me for Apollo to finish with practice. I got the feeling he was drawing it out, biding his time before he had to face me for what he had done. Maybe it was imagination, but I was growing increasingly irritable as I waited anyway.
It was unusually warm today. This past week it had been frigid, but that may have just been a cold front. Now that it had moved out, I found myself wishing I had put on more deodorant. My underarms were sweating like some squeezed a sponge full of saltwater, drenching my red blouse beneath the arms.
Apollo finally finished his game and jogged toward me slowly, waving at his teammates to go ahead without him. A few of them jogged past me, winking and whistling before Apollo got there.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I asked Apollo once he had come up to me.
He had that same stupid, arrogant smile on his face, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. He seemed to be in an awfully good mood for someone trying to ruin my life. I guess that gave him joy.
“You can’t ruin my reputation like that, asshole,” I shouted, punching him in the shoulder. My hand hit his plastic shoulder pad, hurting my knuckles. I winced but straightened myself up and tried not to show any weakness or pain. That’s what he wanted.
“I have no clue what you’re on about. I assumed you came here to watch me practice,” Apollo replied, winking.
“No,” I said, stomping my foot into the grass. “I came here because you put my underwear in the locker room, and now there’s a rumor going around that I was giving blowjobs last night.”
Apollo raised an eyebrow. “Fuck, I missed out on that. Maybe you can get me later.”
“I’m serious, Apollo,” I said, waving my hands around wildly. “You can’t tell people shit like that. Why would you do that?”
“I must have left your panties in there by accident. Big deal,” Apollo said, holding his helmet at his side lazily.
“You told them that I was sucking dicks, you dumb fuck. I hate you,” I shrieked, throwing another punch square and center at Apollo’s chest. My fist bounced off like I was hitting a tree.
“I’m not the one in charge of what you do in your free time,” Apollo said with a shrug. “Maybe you should stop being a slut. Then nobody will call you one.”
I wanted to punch him again, but that would do me no good. He was deflecting every accusation, but I knew that he could be the only one behind this mess. Now, I was stuck with a horrible reputation that I had to fix, and Apollo wasn’t even flirting with me anymore. He was just a jackass.
“You’re a fucking bully,” I spat.
“Serves you right, Georgia. I tried being nice to you when I came back, but you want to act like you’re better than me. We’re in the same boat, bitch,” Apollo said, sounding angry this time. I hadn’t seen him like this.
He pushed past me, nearly knocking me over. I looked back, throwing up a middle finger as he left. “Fuck you, Apollo,” I shouted.
He didn’t react. He just kept on walking.
Chapter 14
Second impressions matter more.
I wasn’t going to get mercy from Apollo now. He was pissed off at me, probably because I wasn’t humoring his requests to hang out. It wasn’t my fault that he was too toxic to be around. He didn’t have to retaliate like that, but that taught me a lesson. He really was bad news, and no matter how much he turned me on, I wasn’t going to like him.
It’s not easy to shake a rumor. Apollo had made it stick, making sure that the students that lived off gossip were the fist to hear the fake news about how I sucked of guys in the locker room. I couldn’t think of a more disgusting thing to do, but I had to convince a whole hell of a lot of people of that. This wouldn’t be easy.
It’s easier to destroy the credibility of others than to raise your own. I learned that from watching politicians tear each other down each election cycle. The best thing I could do was to return the favor to Apollo.
We’re faced with issues every day. There are challenges that creep up on you and present themselves to you at the most inconvenient of times, and it’s up to you to decide whether the battle is worth the effort. Sometimes, like in the case of my parents, their battles are other small things, never address the root problems and what causes them to share mutual dislike. None of the battles they fight are ever worth it, because being right or wrong, winner or loser, decides nothing. Failed marriages and relationships don’t have winners, losers and broken hearts, hurt feelings, and drama.
In other cases, the battles that come up are well worth the blood sweat and tears required to fight them. In the case of Apollo, things had been largely avoidable until now. He had been the one to fire the first bullet, and I would be met by furious opposition by me. There was no other way.
My reputation was more important
than the brutality that would follow by waging war on Apollo. Money was never an issue for me. Looks? I was a hot bitch, and I knew it. But reputation? That was something already hanging by a thread. I was never popular at Winterlake Prep, and with Apollo holding so much power and influence, keeping my head down wouldn’t work anymore. I would be ruined, pushed into a corner, and that wouldn’t stop at high school. It would follow me to college, clinging to my skin like a leech, sucking any chance of a happy life out of me.
Dramatic? Maybe, but that was how things were in the rich hills of Winterlake, where everything was hinged on what other people thought of you.
Apollo was attempting to take that from me. He knew damn well that it could destroy me, and that’s why he had done it. It wasn’t a playful but crude prank when he broke into my house and snatched my panties. It was a lot darker than that.
Cora was a sweet girl, a friend for a long time. She could hold her own, but she never hit first. She had never done anything to interfere with someone’s life, and she had never stepped out of line. Hell, she refused to use profanity. That wasn’t exactly the kind of person suited for war. Unfortunately, I would need to leave her out of this.
Fuck, I didn’t want to tell her what I was planning to do, but I owed her my honesty. She wouldn’t approve of my next move, but she didn’t have to. I was the one in charge of my life, and it was time to take things into my own hands.
I didn’t need to go looking for her. She found me, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me back into the building.
“What’s going on? Were you having sex with Apollo last night?” Cora asked, her eyebrows squiggled in a frantic manner.
“Please,” I said, smacking her arm lightly. “I would never. Apollo is out spreading rumors.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Cora breathed, placing a hand over her heart. “I thought I had lost you.”
I pulled my head back, scrunching up my face. “No way in hell I’m fucking that asshole after what he did. He fucking broke into my house, stole my damn underwear, and put it in the locker room, telling people I was in there giving out blowjobs to anyone who happened to waltz in.”
