Broken: A High School Bully Romance (Athole Academy Book 1)

by Vi Lily

  Ben pulled her into his arms. He was afraid that memory would trigger more, and she’d suddenly remember the rape. That was really the last thing he wanted. No way did he want her reliving that.

  Thankfully, her remembrance seemed to stop there, because she didn’t elaborate. After a few long moments, she asked in a quiet voice, “Then who put the cameras up?”

  Ben sighed against her hair and he kissed her. There was only one person who could have.

  “Gwen.”

  Chapter 5

  Beth

  I ’M A little shocked that Ben thinks his little sister is the one who released the video. I can’t understand why anyone in his family would have willingly subjected themselves to the crapstorm that followed that. But then, they weren’t attacked like I was. In fact, it seemed like the Academy had sort of rallied around Ben and Gwen, feeling sorry for them, treating them like they, too, were victims of the whore who ruined their family.

  Even as that bitter thought flits through my mind, trying to poison my brain, I realize that there’s no way Gwen would have known that the town wouldn’t treat them badly. And she had to have known that her dad would be fired and all.

  Then again, maybe not. She is only sixteen. Maybe she doesn’t know how the world works.

  We decide to wait until Gwen gets home and confront her. But first, I have to put Ben in a better mood, cuz he’s about ready to commit sistercide.

  It gives me a warm feeling to know that he wants to defend me, even if he spent more than a month looking the other way when everyone was attacking me. I shove those feelings down though. I don’t want to spend any time at all holding grudges. I have a life to live and I want to focus on that, on being happy and succeeding, rather than dwelling on the garbage.

  I wrap my arms around him and snuggle close, burying my face in his chest. He always smells so good, but after our time in the cabin and not being able to shower — or even bathe regularly, thanks to it being such a chore — his smell isn’t the best. I know mine isn’t either, especially after all the sex. Yuck.

  “Can we take a shower?” I ask and he stiffens against me. Yeah, stiffens. I smile, knowing what the answer is going to be.

  He practically drags me into his bathroom while I laugh. The laughter stops though when he strips me faster than I could have done it myself. He’s a little… anxious.

  When we’re done in the shower — which involved getting clean after getting downright dirty — we get dressed and I head down to the kitchen to find something for us to eat. Even though we stopped for fast food just a few hours ago, we both worked up an appetite.

  Ahem. I’m totally grinning and probably blushing right now.

  As Ben sits at the kitchen island while I brown some ground beef for tacos, I think about how long it’s been since I cooked. I don’t count the cans I opened and heated up at the cabin. That wasn’t cooking; that was just surviving. The last time I’d made a meal was…

  That night.

  I shake myself out of my thoughts then as I season the meat and put the taco shells in the oven to toast. Ben is dutifully grating cheese for me and I laugh at the giant pile he’s made.

  “Are we having cheese tacos?” I tease. He looks at me with a grin.

  “No, but I’m planning on eating like a dozen.”

  I smirk. “There are only a dozen shells, and I’m hungry too, so you better limit it to ten.”

  He isn’t kidding, because he easily — and rapidly — eats ten tacos and eyeballs my second one while I’m still working on my first.

  “You know,” I drawl as I hand my taco over to him, “you really should breathe when you eat. And chew.”

  He makes a “hmm” sound as he inhales the last taco. “Starving,” he says around the last bite. I cock an eyebrow at him.

  “Still?” he nods, and I laugh.

  “Guess I’ll find something else to make then.”

  He laughs. “Nah, I’ll survive until dinner. But some hot chocolate would be good.” I agree and he surprises me by heading into the pantry. I really didn’t think the guy cooked at all. But when he comes back with a box of instant hot cocoa, I laugh.

  I’m cleaning the island counter as Ben heats the water in the microwave. I’m watching his bare back and the way the muscles shift as he moves.

  I’m practically drooling and ready for another round of dirty shower sex when he turns with a cup in his hand.

  “Whipped cream or marshmallows?”

  And my world tilts.

  Chapter 6

  Ben

  B ETH’S FACE had such a look of horror that he almost dropped the cup of cocoa. Ben quickly set them down and hurried to her, reaching out for her but she jumped back. He frowned; she’d never turned down a hug from him.

  She shook her head then as if trying to clear it and the far-off look she had faded as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she stepped forward and into his arms.

  “I just suddenly remembered. Everything.” Ben didn’t need to ask; he knew what she was talking about.

  “That night, I came over and your dad answered the door. He offered me hot cocoa. Asked me if I wanted whipped cream or marshmallows. When you asked me that same thing, standing in the same place he had, it… triggered the memories,” she choked out on a sob. He tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her damp hair.

  “Shh, you don’t have to talk about it,” he told her as he rubbed her back.

  “No, I do. I want to get it out, now that I remember.” He started to pull back so they could go somewhere more comfortable to talk, but her arms tightened in response. Ben figured she didn’t even want to wait a few minutes to get it all out.

  “I was freezing, so he suggested we go to the study, where he had a fire going. I remember him closing the door; I told you that part already. He told me to sit by the fire and then he took our cups to the desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a flask and a bottle. Said it was salted caramel that he wanted me to try.”

  She laughed then, a bitter sound. “I didn’t want to be rude and tell him I hate salted caramel. All I wanted to do was go home. I had a meatloaf in the oven, and I needed to finish making dinner. Plus, I was really uncomfortable with him, especially closed up in the study like that. But I was trying to be the good little girlfriend.”

  Ben was surprised Beth wasn’t crying, but then he figured she’d shed enough tears over the past several days that maybe she was past the heartache. He would never be past it though. She was stronger than him, apparently.

  “We sipped the cocoa and then I started to feel weird, like really relaxed. All of a sudden, I didn’t care about dinner, about getting home. I was perfectly content to sit in that chair in front of the fire and sip cocoa all night, even if it was with a man I was freaked out with.”

  She moved away then, sitting on one of the stools at the island. Ben moved with her, pulling a stool close so he could cage her legs in with his. He wanted her to feel safe, protected, even though she was in the house where she’d been raped and was unfortunately remembering it.

  Beth sighed then and stared at her hands that she clasped in her lap. “Things are a bit fuzzy after that,” she says. “I remember him pulling me up from the chair and taking me to the desk. He wasn’t being rough or anything, but it was like… like I wanted it.”

  Her voice trailed off into a whisper at that and Ben reached out to take her hands in his. He wasn’t going to say anything, wouldn’t interrupt, until she said what she needed to. He knew this wasn’t easy for her.

  “At first, I fought him, argued. But then… I guess the drug took over and I didn’t try to fight him off anymore.” Her big green eyes met his then and if it were possible, he’d swear she got even paler.

  “I even wanted to, because… I thought it was you.”

  Ben reeled back at that, before reminding himself that she’d been drugged and wasn’t in her right mind. He had read about the date rape drugs and knew the effect they had, m
aking a person really susceptible to any stimulation, uncaring of consequences and out of touch with reality.

  And, he thought to himself, maybe that would explain why she seemed to enjoy it. He almost rolled his eyes at his out of control ego.

  “She called your name a few times,” a quiet voice from the doorway to the kitchen said. Ben turned and saw Gwen standing there, tears running down her face. He hadn’t heard her come in.

  She was trembling as she stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes darted between Beth and him and she swallowed convulsively. She then stared at Beth.

  “You moaned Ben’s name before he… before he, uh, started. He… my dad… got mad. He got… rough then.” Gwen burst into tears.

  Ben’s instinct was to console his sister. He really hated to see a girl cry. But he wasn’t going to leave Beth to go to her, especially since his sister was responsible for putting the video out.

  At the moment, he wanted to strangle her, not hug her.

  “I’m so sorry… I just… it was just…” Gwen started sobbing in earnest then, her face in her hands as her whole body shook. She was incoherent, rambling, but he could make out enough of what she said to know why she’d done it.

  And he’d never wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill his dad at that moment.

  Raped me

  I was eight

  Wanted it to stop

  Hurt him back

  Their pathetic dad was not only a serial rapist, but he was a child molester. An incestual one.

  Beth apparently had more kindness in her than he did, because she jumped off the stool and rounded the island to pull Gwen into her arms. Ben sat helplessly, watching as the two girls clung together, trying to console each other over the loss of their innocence.

  He now knew why his dad had never come home. The coward had to have figured out that it was Gwen who’d released the video. He probably knew that his daughter was out for revenge.

  Maybe he also knew that his son would pound him into the ground.

  After Gwen calmed a bit, she told them the whole story. How she’d edited the video so that any fight Beth had put up was erased. That she’d done that because, despite all the crap their dad had done to her over the years, she didn’t want him going to jail for rape. She just wanted him gone. And she knew he would leave once he was found out, because she’d heard their mom threatening him one night after she’d caught him with another young girl, telling him that if she ever caught him again, she’d make sure he did “serious time.”

  That after the first week when she’d seen how much Beth was going through, she’d broken down in one of the girls’ bathrooms. Raine had walked in and in a moment of weakness, Gwen had told her what she’d done and that was going to come clean and release the unedited version. Raine had talked her out of it, though, telling Gwen some garbage about being an “accessory” and that she’d “do time with her old man.”

  The bitch had scared his sister out of coming forward.

  And she’d been blackmailing her ever since. It was why Raine suddenly knew his schedule, how she’d kept showing up wherever he was. When he went MIA up on the mountain, Gwen said she’d told Raine that he’d gotten the flu, just so she wouldn’t go looking for him herself.

  Gwen said that Raine had some dirt on Aleen too and had used it to get her to turn on Beth. She also said that Aleen had called the house the evening after the field trip, wanting to tell Ben about leaving Beth on the mountain, but that Gwen told her he’d already gone after her.

  The fact that Aleen cared made Beth feel better, he knew. And knowing that she was risking the wrath of Raine to do so earned her a few points with him too.

  But he was really starting to worry about Raine’s dirt-digging abilities. And her sanity.

  The chick was a serious psycho.

  Once Ben and Beth assured Gwen that she wouldn’t suffer any consequences for the video — other than with the Academy, since she’d sneaked into the office and used the computer to send the video through the messaging system, and Ben had made a mental note to change his password, since he used the same password for everything and Gwen knew it — she gave them the USB drive that had the original, unedited video.

  After getting Beth’s consent, Ben planned on sending a new video out from school in the morning — one that had Beth’s beautiful body blurred this time, because as far as he was concerned, he was the only one who should be looking at it.

  There would be no doubt what had happened, since, after watching the original video, you could see Beth’s reluctance to be in the study, how his dad had drugged her cocoa and how she’d tried to fight him off at first.

  And how she’d called Ben’s name.

  His dad was going to prison. Good riddance. Of course, they had to find the jerk first.

  Chapter 7

  Beth

  W E DON’T GO to school until Monday, after spending a very nice and relaxing weekend at the local hotel. We managed to get adjoining rooms, with Gwen spending most of her time at the indoor pool, or in our room watching movies.

  Gwen’s different now, not so shy and a lot more relaxed. I can only imagine what she’s gone through over the past eight years, with her jerk dad molesting her. She was probably freaked out most of the time, never knowing when he was going to attack her. I can’t even imagine living like that. No wonder she was always so nervous.

  But we’re planning to get some vengeance for her… and me.

  Ben swiped his mom’s laptop and used the video editing software she had installed to blur out my naked body on the video. He said he doesn’t want anyone to see my body but him. Which is sweet. And caveman-ish. But hey, still sweet.

  The day at school started out almost the same as every day had for the past two months… crappy looks, whispered comments made behind hands, and one dude even shoulder-checked me into some lockers.

  And then Ben returned the favor.

  He actually stood in the middle of the hallway, his arm thrown over my shoulders and said — loudly — “Beth is my girl. Any of you buttwipes even so much as look at her funny, you’ll be answering to my fist in your face. Got it?” I’d laughed and asked him if he was going to beat his chest, which earned me one of his smirks and a seriously hot kiss.

  But just like that, the bullying stopped.

  A handful of words, and the torment was over. If only he’d stood by me when it started… No. I have to shove those thoughts aside. I can’t go back, can’t change what happened. From this moment on, I’m moving forward.

  I’ll keep reminding myself of that for as long as I need to until I get it.

  We head to first period — Web Design, a class we have together, thankfully — and are sitting in the back when Raine walks in. It’s only one of two classes I have to share with the bitch, and I’m glad I have Ben by my side after she’d plotted to let me die on the mountain.

  Ben sees her before she spots us, so he pulls me to him and slants his mouth over mine. I know he’s only doing it to get Raine riled, but dayyy-ummm, this boy in a man’s body can sure kiss. I quickly forget that we’re in school, in class with a dozen other kids, and that there’s a bitch in the room who wants my head on a pole as I give in to the love he’s making to my mouth.

  “That’s enough, Romeo,” an amused voice calls and Ben pulls back, breaking the kiss. He doesn’t take his eyes off mine and runs his hand gently down my face. I know the look of love in his eye isn’t for anyone’s benefit but mine.

  “Sorry, Ms. Holstead,” Ben says as he turns in his seat. “Can’t seem to help myself. I love this girl too much.”

  Um, WOW!

  PDA and a love declaration. Holy crap. I hear several breaths get sucked in, and I’m sure the loudest comes from Raine. She’s probably out of her freaking mind over the fact that I’m not only still alive, but that Ben has just declared his love for me.

  Ms. Holstead grins at us. She’s the only teacher in the entire school who didn’t treat me like crap after the v
ideo came out. In fact, she had taken me aside one particularly bad day when I’d hit my nose after getting body slammed before school and told me that if I ever needed to talk about it, to see her.

  In hindsight, I probably should have taken her up on it.

  “Well, I’m glad you two finally worked things out. I have never seen a cuter couple, honestly.”

  Ouch. That was a long, spiky nail in Raine’s Wicked Witch coffin. My lips twitch as I fight back a grin. I glance over at her and see that she’s furiously texting, before Ms. Holstead tells her to put her phone away.

  After that, I don’t even look the bitch’s way. I’m afraid if I see her making any kind of crappy face at me that I’m going to jump up and beat her face into her desktop. Sooo freaking tempting.

  We’re maybe ten minutes into class when we’re interrupted. “Bethany Hanson, report to the office immediately.” The voice coming over the PA system makes my heart rate kick into overdrive. I can’t imagine why I’m being called to the office; Ben hasn’t sent the video out yet and my parents don’t give a crap about me or if I’m at school.

  Ben stands with me. “Going with,” he tells the teacher, who just nods as her own lips twitch.

  When we walk into the office, all talking ceases. Ben has his arm in its usual place across my shoulders and he’s got me tight up against him. I feel really safe… and invincible, despite the pounding in my heart.

  He walks us to the back of the office, bypassing the receptionist. She frowns at him, but then shrugs. I figure that since he works in the office, they give him leeway. Of course, I’ve noticed that everyone gives Ben leeway.

  Ben knocks twice on the principal’s door, then opens it without waiting for a response. Mrs. Giuliano glances up from her desk and scowls, then sees Ben walk in behind me and her scowl turns to shock.

  Yeah, suck it, bitch. This is the woman whose freaking job it is to make sure all students are safe, yet she told me when I came to her for help with the bullying that it “served me right.”