She snorts. “Save it, girl, I know a crush when I see one.”
Now I wished I hadn’t gulped down that Coke because the bile is rising in my throat already at the thought of someone catching me staring at Cole fucking Travis … and thinking it’s a crush.
“I don’t have a crush,” I explain.
She holds up her hands in surrender. “Relax, I won’t judge you. You aren’t the first.” She rolls her eyes. “And you definitely won’t be the last.”
Jesus. Are there so many girls pining over a guy like him?
Mel takes a sip of her Coke before continuing. “But I need to warn you. You really don’t want to go there, trust me. Last year, he had a huge falling out with his ex because she accused him of cheating.” She searches the crowds for someone. “She’s not here, but she has one of her friends spy on him and tell her everything he does.” She points into the crowd at a blonde, swaying back and forth to the filler music. “Right … there.”
“Kind of obsessive,” I reply.
“Word,” Mel says, taking another big sip. “Boys like that are nothing but trouble.”
“Right,” I mutter as I move my hand until the Coke begins to swirl in the glass. Still, my eyes can’t stop trying to catch a glimpse of this same bad boy. Like a cigarette—a dirty, filthy addiction that I can’t say no to. Occasionally, anyway.
Chapter 6
Monica
When I drop onto my bed, I breathe a sigh of joy. It was such a long night with Mel, and I enjoyed every second of it. Dancing, drinking, partying … staring at a forbidden boy.
I roll around on the bed and bury my head in my pillow, forcing myself to forget, but no matter how hard I try, his face keeps drifting to the forefront of my mind, along with vivid imagery of every single kiss he gave to that girl … and how I wished I was her instead.
Fuck.
I’m really done for, aren’t I?
Nothing sadder than a girl with a hopeless crush.
Especially when that girl should not be anywhere near boys right now, let alone falling for them.
Shaking my head, I open my drawer and take out my vibrator. Better take care of this craving right now before I do something I’ll regret tomorrow at school when I’ll most likely see that handsome face again.
But even as I bring myself satisfaction, I can’t stop thinking about those sinful green eyes and that sexy glance he shot my way as he kissed someone else. Something about that turns me on like nothing else, and I moan out loud and whisper his name while I come.
I lie down on the bed with my hands to my side and stare at the ceiling, wondering if I’ll ever stop crushing on the wrong guys.
Probably not.
I get up and clean the toy before burying it deep in my drawer again. I brush my teeth and throw on some pajamas before hopping back into bed. But even as I drift off into sleep, I dream about Cole and all the dirty, filthy things he’ll whisper in my ear if I ever let him get near.
Back at school, I try to blend in as well as I can while still trying to find the way to all my classes. It takes some time to get used to the layout as well as the amount of time I have to find the next class. But I have Mel to help me out when needed now. We don’t share all our classes, but I can text her anytime and ask for directions. She even offered to help me catch up on homework and topics, which is really nice of her.
The bell rings, so I hastily search for my math books in my messy locker. Right then, two girls position themselves right beside me, one of them opening up her own locker.
“Were you at that party last night where TRIGGER was playing?”
“Fuck yes, of course I was there,” the other girl replies, rummaging in her locker. “Cole was soooo good. I can’t believe he goes to our school. We’re so lucky.”
I try to pretend I don’t exist while still listening to the conversation.
“Did you hear? That girl he was kissing there was invited to the back,” the girl says. “Apparently, she gave him …”
I peek from the side of my locker door and watch the girl make a back and forth motion with her hand in an O-shape and her tongue pushing against her cheek. And it makes my eyes widen.
“Noooo, really?” the other girl slams her locker shut, and I quickly hide behind mine again. “Shut up.”
“Yes, really,” the girl says, “I saw them go backstage myself.”
“You have to tell me more,” the other one says, and the two lock arms and march off.
I nudge my locker door aside and let it shut slowly as I stare at the girls walking through the hallway. I’m completely dumbfounded by what I just overheard. I mean, I saw him kiss that girl, but I didn’t think he was gonna invite her to the back … Let alone that she’d suck his dick.
Even though these boys are sexual devils, and they often do these things at concerts, especially when there’s a popular band playing, rage still bubbles to the surface, and I close my locker with a little too much fury.
“You look cheerful.”
I shriek but then cover my mouth with my hand to stop the rest from escaping. It’s only my cousin. “Jesus, you scared me.”
“Sorry.” Ariane snorts. “I wasn’t like, trying to.”
“I know,” I reply. “I just …” I sigh and throw my bag over my shoulder.
“Something wrong?” she asks. “You seem off today.”
My lips part, but I don’t know how to respond, so I stutter a little, “No, yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
She narrows her eyes. “Are you sure? You sure gave that locker door a piece of your mind.”
“I hate math. That’s all,” I lie.
“Oh! I completely forgot!” She places her hands against her cheeks. “Math!”
“What?” I mutter.
“We share this class together!” she squeals and grabs my shoulders, hyping it up like it’s a big deal when it’s just math. “Ooh, I’m so excited to have my cousin in the same class as me!”
She hugs me so hard she almost squishes me, and I struggle to breathe. That’s when I notice him; Cole Travis. He marches through school in his tattered down black-and-red striped school outfit that’s ripped in several places, and when he runs his fingers through his slick dark hair, almost all the girls in his path swoon against the lockers.
A cloud hangs above his head, and the look on his face predicts thunder. But the worst part is that he’s walking straight toward us.
With those ice-cold green eyes, he’s glancing back and forth between us, and now I can’t tell who he’s coming for. But one thing’s for sure—shit’s going to hell.
The closer he gets, the taller he appears, and it almost feels as though he’s going to barge straight into us before he comes to a full stop, towering over us.
“What the fuck did you do?” Cole barks, pointing at Ariane. “Or was it you?” When he directs his full and utterly fierce attention at me, I’m at a loss for words. “Which one of you was it, huh?”
“Cole, what the hell are you talking about?” Ariane asks.
“Shut your damn mouth,” he snarls.
Ariane leans away in disgust. “Jesus, tone it down a little. The whole school can hear you rant.”
“I don’t fucking care!” He’s so enraged he’s on the verge of violence. “One of you spread those rumors.”
“What rumors?” She folds her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Was it you then?” He looks at me again, and I feel like a goddamn homing beacon.
My lips part, but I don’t know what to say. No boy has ever made me stutter before. But this boy … damn near every time he looks at me, I get choked up as though he has his hands wrapped firmly around my throat.
“I … I …”
He cocks his head. “Well?”
“She doesn’t know what you’re talking about,” Ariane says, grabbing his arm to push him away.
“Bullshit.” He shoves her away and lunges at me, cornering me against the lockers behind m
e. “I saw you there. At the club. With that girl … What’s her name?”
“Melanie,” I mutter, clutching my own damn clothes as if they’re my only saving grace… because they’re quite literally the only thing hovering between him and his hands right now.
He’s all up in my face, practically sniffing me to catch me in a lie. And it works because I’m already sweating heaps.
“You two did it, didn’t you?” he says through gritted teeth. “You don’t even know me, and you already start telling people what went on behind the curtains?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, my lips quivering.
“Cole! Leave her alone!” Ariane says, tugging at his shoulder, but it’s no use. He’s far stronger than she could ever be.
He completely ignores her and slams a hand on the locker beside my head. I try not to jolt up and down when he leans in closer, our faces mere inches away from each other. “I saw you looking at me on stage when I grabbed that girl and kissed her. It was you, wasn’t it?”
“No one spread any rumors!” Ariane growls at him.
“Stop fucking lying!” he yells in her face, and he whisks his phone from his pocket and holds it up for us both to see.
It’s a text from one of his buddies from the band with a picture of the girls’ bathroom attached. Someone wrote on the stalls with big fat letters the name of the girl who sucked Cole’s dick and that she liked it … and that she’s a whore.
My phone suddenly bleeps.
“Go on then … look at your phone,” Cole challenges me.
There’s a pause as he cocks his head and waits. I reach for my phone and check it out. It’s Mel.
Mel: OMG, did you see this? See, I told you not to get close. This girl just got named! I’m so glad this wasn’t you.
The text has that same picture attached. A picture like this easily turns into rumor, spreading through the school like wildfire.
“Do you get it now?” Cole growls at me. Then he pushes himself off the lockers. “That’s what happens when you play with fire.” He makes a face and shakes his head at both Ariane and me before storming off.
But his behavior and the forced proximity to the worst bad boy at school certainly left its mark on me.
“What just happened?” I mutter, completely dumbfounded by what just went down.
He managed to get some girl on her knees for him, and now the whole school knows. Not only that, but he parades around like it’s his goddamn school, and no one does anything to stop it. Is this normal here? Or is this just because he’s in a band and popular?
He sure seemed pissed that everybody knew.
Ariane grasps my arm, and says, “Ignore him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You weren’t even there. He’s always trying to start some shit.”
For a second there, I almost tell her, but then I remind myself she wouldn’t take it well if I went somewhere without asking her to come too. So I keep my mouth shut and let her accompany me to class.
“I know you’re still thinking about him,” she says.
My lips part, but I don’t get the time to form an answer. “Don’t. He’s not worth your time. When I see him again, I’ll give him a big ole slap to teach him a lesson not to threaten women.”
She makes an obvious fist even though I know for sure that if she did manage to muster up the courage to do it, he probably wouldn’t even flinch.
“He knows he’s bad, and he doesn’t care,” she says. “Now you know why I said what I said.”
“What’s that then?” I ask as she throws her arm over my shoulder.
She smirks. “That Cole Travis is a giant fucking bastard.”
Chapter 7
Cole
I readjust my mic and fiddle with my guitar, but it won’t tune the right way, and it’s pissing me off to the point that I tear it off my shoulder and throw it on the stage.
“Cole … really?” Tristan sighs.
“Yeah, fucking really,” I growl back. “Nothing works.”
“Maybe if you focused, it would work,” he says, running his fingers through his ruffled blond hair that always looks like he just rolled out of bed. “Look, just because it’s just the two of us today since Michael’s still in class and Benjamin had to go to the hospital with his mom doesn’t mean you can slack off.”
“I’m not slacking off!” I snap. When the look on his face changes, I sigh, and say, “Sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you.”
“I don’t think you’re here, to be honest. Is it because of those texts?” he asks, sitting down on the stage.
I nod and sit down beside him. “Yup. You know how it goes. One minute, I’m flirting with some girl, and the next thing you know, it’s all over social media and the entire school knows.”
He pats me on the back. Not gentle, more like a slap. “When are you gonna learn to ignore all that noise?”
“Never,” I say, glancing at him over my shoulder. “It’s impossible.”
His brows rise. “Because you play into it.”
“Do they ever write about you like that?” I ask, throwing him the same look back.
He knows damn well it’s a rhetorical question, yet he still answers. “No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what it’s like to be in the spotlight. I’m in this band too, remember?”
“I know.” Rolling my eyes at his obvious dig. “Forget it.” I avert my eyes.
I can’t say it to his face, so I won’t say it at all … but we’re not alike. People look at him, and they see a cute drummer. People look at me, and they see a rock god. Someone they want to get to know just to feel good about themselves. Not to really know me … but to be popular, and I fucking hate it.
Maybe that’s hypocritical of me.
I’m a douchebag, and I enjoy it most of the time.
But sometimes … I just wish girls would want the real me. The guy underneath all that fame.
I sigh to myself and get up from the stage. Right then, I notice that same girl from the concert, the one I made out with, standing in the room. She’s been watching us … or me … but for how long?
“Wait a minute,” I mutter. Her eyes widen as I march toward her, and she tries to flee, but I’m quicker than she is, and I block the door with my body. “Eavesdropping?”
“No, I swear, I wasn’t.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “I was just … looking for you, that’s all.”
My eyes narrow. “Why? What do you want?”
“Nothing, I just … I wanted to tell you how much I liked being with you after that concert.” Her eyes trail off. “You know, the kiss.” A blush grows on her cheeks.
“Okay,” I reply. It does nothing for me. That kiss meant nothing to me except a momentary distraction from what was really on my mind … the new girl. And I honestly do not care about this chick. “That’s it?”
“Yeah,” she says. “If you want, I can come see you again.” Oh God. I don’t like where this is going. “Maybe we can—”
I hold up a hand. “Look, I’m gonna say it up front. I don’t date.”
Her eyes widen, and she looks around as though she’s seen a ghost. “I was … I thought—” she mutters, stumbling through her words.
“You thought what? After one kiss?” I frown.
“Well, we had such an amazing time backstage, I figured—” She starts to blush, which is my cue to put a stop to this nonsense right this minute.
“No, sorry,” I say, averting my eyes. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was drunk on the music … and on the need to kiss someone instead of that girl staring at me from the crowd.
Monica.
Just thinking about her makes me want to storm out of here and find her.
And I don’t know why.
Why the hell am I so obsessed with a girl I don’t even know?
I shake it off when the girl in front of me sighs. “And here I was, thinking I could tell everyone.”
I frown. “What do you mea
n?”
“Well, you know, you … the greatest rock star in school and little ole me.” She giggles with a slight uptick in her tone halfway through. “It would surely be a good story.”
My eye twitches, and my lip curls up. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“I just … like you a lot, you know. Everyone does.”
“So that’s it, huh?” My fist balls, and I lower my head to hide my rage.
“No, not all, I mean, you’re good looking, you’re sexy, you’re popular.”
“Popular,” I repeat. “That’s why you wanted me to kiss you?” I look at her. She’s smiling gently, unaware of the coils inside my heart, twisting it into a knot further and further until no one can break the bonds. “Because I’m popular?”
She tries to grab my hand, but I pull back.
That’s when it hits me.
The rumors.
They weren’t started by Ariane or her friends.
They were started by her.
“It was you,” I growl.
“What?” she mutters.
“You spread those rumors,” I growl.
“Rumors?” She gasps. “But I—”
“Don’t,” I hiss. “I don’t wanna fucking hear it.”
“Cole,” Tristan mutters from the back, trying to intervene, but I don’t even care anymore.
Yes, I’m a fucking hypocrite. I fuck and kiss girls for fun, but for them to go around my back and spread rumors about shit that didn’t even happen takes the cake.
“You wanted everyone to know, didn’t you? To be popular,” I spit. “Get out.”
That kiss didn’t mean shit to me. It was just a fun thing to do. But these girls … they’re only in it for the fame.
“But I can give you what you want. I know you like them easy, and I’m always available. I don’t mind sharing, and—”
“GET OUT!” I yell, pointing at the door.
She sucks in a breath and immediately runs off.
“Cole!” Tristan barks, sighing out loud.
I turn my head toward him. “What?”
“Really? Maybe tone it down a little?” he asks. “Every fan we lose is one we won’t get back. You know that.”
Rowdy Boy (A High School Bully Romance): Black Mountain Academy Page 5
