by Kent, Rina
“Xander, p-please,” she whispers.
He slams his hand on the wall, and Kim flinches. “You don’t say my fucking name.”
“That’s enough.” I level him with a hard glare.
“Stay out of it, Frozen.” He’s speaking to me, but his entire attention is on Kim and her bowed head.
I’m about to pull her into a seat when Silver barges through the door, carrying a coffee cup. Her minions follow after, flipping their hair and making a show of their entrance.
Great.
Silver hits my shoulder and spills her cup of coffee on Kim’s front.
I gasp as Kim’s white shirt, jacket, and even the skirt soak in caramel coffee.
Kim closes her eyes and a tear rolls down her cheek.
The rest of the class snickers.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Silver?” I’m about to lunge at her, but Kim digs her nails into my arm, stopping me in my tracks.
“Oops.” Silver holds the empty cup. “Go change, Berly. While you’re at it, lose the whorish skirt. It doesn’t suit your fat hips.”
Her minions chuckle and everyone in the class follows suit.
Everyone except for me and the four horsemen.
My gaze snaps to Aiden. He’s twirling the ball on a finger, but he’s not watching the scene.
He’s watching me.
Despite my resolution to not get stuck in his games, I meet his glare with one of my own.
For a moment, it’s as if only the two of us are in the class.
He’s surrounded by his murderous demons while I seethe for what his minions do.
Since that first time he announced he’d destroy me in front of the entire school, I’ve become RES’s outcast.
He doesn’t even have to do anything. He just sits like a king on his throne and watches what his loyal subjects do.
The bullying and the rumours that I slept with professors for my grades never fazed me because I know who I am.
Who Aunt and Uncle raised me to be.
Every day is a battle in this war Aiden created.
Sometimes, I get weak and hide in the library or cry by myself in the bathroom.
However, I never show weakness in front of him.
Not when I’m almost sure he gets off on it.
He’s usually sitting there, relaxed, watching intently as his minions turn my life into hell.
Only there’s nothing relaxed about his expression. I swear if demons can spill from someone’s eyes, they’d be crowding his space.
When he plays football or when he’s in class, Aiden is every bit the golden boy.
Excellent grades.
Elites’ ace striker.
Contagious smile.
But with me?
Aiden King is one dark fucker.
He only gives me murderous glares as if my mere existence offends him. As if I’m the reason for the world’s endless wars and famine.
That arsehole ruined my fresh start in this school.
My dream.
My new page.
I hate him.
Kim releases me and runs out of the classroom. Xander starts after her with wide strides.
I attempt to follow, but Silver blocks my way with a plastic smile. “She doesn’t need a maid, Frozen.”
“Get out of my way,” I grind out. When she doesn’t move, I push her and throw over my shoulder to no one in particular. “Oh, and if you have to bring someone down to feel so good about yourselves, then I feel sorry for you.”
I don’t wait for a reply as I run down the hallway.
It’s a trip to the back garden where Kim usually hides — or finds peace, as she calls it.
After a minute of full-speed running, my heart’s palpitations skyrocket into an irregular rhythm.
I stop at the corner of the third tower to catch my breath. My palm clutches my heart as sweat breaks over my brows.
Breathe in. Blow out.
Inhale. Exhale.
In.
Out.
My nails dig into my chest over RES’s logo as I exit the building and head to the back garden.
With every step I take into the cut grass, a weight crushes my chest. My breathing becomes irregular, too.
A sliver of panic lodges deep within. My hands tingle and that familiar urge to scrub them clean takes over my senses.
I can’t think past the sensation that my hands are dirty. They need to be scrubbed clean.
The pain in my chest is like tiny needles, tirelessly prickling my heart, even when I walk as slow as possible.
My heart condition can’t relapse.
It simply can’t.
Being able to run again didn’t come easily after the surgery. There were Nazi-style rehabilitations and a complete change in my lifestyle.
The nightmare can’t be back.
I need to run.
If I don’t purge my energy and stress into running, I’ll go crazy.
Kim and Xander’s silhouettes appear in the small cabin house on the outskirts of the garden. She’s crying and yelling, but I’m not close enough to hear what she’s saying.
That and my ears are buzzing so loud, I can barely hear my own breathing.
This is bad.
I blink twice and breathe through my nose then my mouth.
Xander pushes into Kim, imprisoning her against the edge of the cabin. Her back hits the wooden pole and her eyes widen.
It could be because I’m disoriented.
It could be that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Or it simply could be that I’ve finally had enough.
I’m done with these arseholes ruining mine and Kim’s life.
I pull out my phone and record a video. Xander grips her by the hips pulling her into him. Although I want to cut off his dick for putting his hand on my best friend, I know that will bring nothing. The video, however, will.
I can see Xander Knight’s fall in sight. Either he leaves Kim alone or I’ll blackmail him with sexual harassment. RES might be under his father’s command, but the press isn’t.
They’d be delighted to hear how sick and entitled a minister’s son actually is.
I’m in the mood to ruin his future like he’s been actively ruining her life.
Once I have enough footage of him manhandling her, I stop the video and smile in triumph. Even my heart problem fades away.
I start towards the cabin to stop Xander.
A shadow blocks my way.
I cease to breathe when I stare up at my nightmare.
Chapter Three
Aiden hates me.
He loathes me.
I can imagine him playing my death in the back of his mind.
Why?
I don’t know and I never asked.
Because I have a rule: Never try to understand bullies.
They’re entitled arseholes who use their power to humiliate others, what’s there to understand about them?
But as I stare up at Aiden’s punishing eyes, my earlier thoughts shrink behind my trembling, defective heart.
He scares me.
Call it instinct or an intuition, but something terrifying lurks behind that easy-going smile and football star image.
“What did you just do?” His voice is calm and quiet with a slight huskiness.
An outsider would find it welcoming, but I know it’s one of his multiple façades.
The voice the devil would use to lure his victims.
I lift up my chin, even though my hand clutching the phone trembles. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He extends his palm in front of me. “Give it.”
I start to bypass him. Aiden sidesteps in front of me. He’s stupid tall. Stupid broad. Stupid everything.
He blocks my vision of Kim and Xander.
But he’s not done.
Aiden advances into my space. He’s so close that I can make out that small beauty mole at the corner of his right eye.
> I instinctively step back with every stride he takes forward. My throat dries, and I hate how I shrink in front of his attack.
He’s just too damn tall and has this unreadable mask on his face. The only available image of Aiden is the one he shows to the outside world. Aside from that, he’s… nothing.
A dark secret.
A deep hole.
An endless abyss.
My back hits a tree trunk, and I wince. When I attempt to walk past him, his arm shoots up and slams on the tree by the side of my head.
I’m imprisoned, just like the first damn day I met him.
Since then, Aiden has never gotten this close. He’s the ‘King’ after all. All he has to do is issue a decree and the entire kingdom would bow. People do his dirty work for him – including bullying.
He still smells of body wash and something entirely his. It’s strange how certain things never leave our memories.
He extends his hand again. “Give it, Frozen.”
Frozen.
I’m just that nickname to him. It’s another form of bullying and intimidation.
But I’ve already decided that I’m done with being a victim to Aiden’s unjust war. I’m tired of being the one who always breaks eye contact first and hurries in the opposite direction.
We should give back.
Kim’s words play in my mind.
If it were the old me, I would’ve done everything in my might to avoid confrontation with Aiden and stay as far away from his vicinity as possible.
I’ve always tucked my ghosts between my defective heart and my ribcage, but he needs to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around his stupid last name.
I fold my arms over my chest and jut out my chin. “No.”
He narrows his left eye. “Who do you think you are, Frozen?”
“Just a human being who deserves to be left in peace.”
He cocks his head to the side, watching me with his demon eyes. “Not all human beings are in peace. Why should you be?”
“Are you freaking serious?”
“Give me the phone. I won’t repeat myself another time.”
“No.” I mimic his tone. “I won’t repeat myself another time.”
He does something unexpected then.
Something I would’ve never seen coming.
His fingers wrap around my wrist that’s clutching the phone.
Something in my stomach twists in a painful, strange kind of way.
Aiden never touches me.
The last time was two years ago when he wrapped his hand around my throat.
His touch is still… the same.
Calloused. Rough. Smothering.
He’s not cutting off my breathing like the other time, but the air around me crackles and then ceases to exist altogether.
He reaches towards the phone, but I’m out of my stupor before he manages to snatch it.
We struggle for a few seconds. Or more like I struggle to block him. He’s like a bull going after the red cloth.
An unstoppable, murderous bull.
Panting, I yank the phone close and hug it to my chest.
Aiden doesn’t waver and shoots for it.
Why the hell had I thought the arsehole had boundaries?
Trying to block him with one hand, I loosen my ribbon enough to have an opening then tuck the phone in my bra.
I smile in triumph, tipping my chin at him.
Aiden’s smoky eyes glint with something unreadable. “You had to screw up.”
“What?”
“You really think that will stop me?”
Aiden dives straight to my shirt and undoes the first button. I’m so shocked that I stare with parted lips without reacting. It’s not until he gets to the second button that I push at his chest.
“W-what the hell are you doing?” I shriek.
He pauses, tilting his head to the side with that manic expression. “Are you going to give me the phone?”
“N-no.”
He continues his ministrations with the buttons of my shirt. My throat closes and I feel myself about to start hyperventilating. I push him, but his hold is steel. Impenetrable, hard steel.
“S-stop!!”
There’s a strange rush flowing through my veins and tightening my muscles. I have no idea how to explain it except that Aiden needs to get his freaking hands off me.
I push at his chest again, but he already has the three first button opened so the edge of my bra is visible.
My lips part when I realise what else is in full view.
My surgery scar.
For years, I did everything in my power to make sure no one saw it. I never wore low-cut shirts. I bought one-piece swimsuits that hid my chest. I don’t even like showing it to my aunt. Kim probably saw it twice and even then, only by accident.
And now, Aiden is staring at it.
No. He’s not only staring. He’s devouring it with his gaze as if it’s some sort of wonder.
He stops unbuttoning my shirt, but he hasn’t removed his fingers from the fourth button. In fact, he undoes it so the shirt is open to underneath my bra and he has a full view of the diagonal scar at the top of my left breast.
Ugly.
Long.
Faded.
The reason I started hiding it is because of the pitiful looks people gave me. Even Aunt Blair gives me that look sometimes.
However, Aiden’s expression is anything but pity.
I didn’t expect such emotion to exist in his black soul, but I thought there would at least be a softening of his devilish heart.
I couldn’t be more wrong.
His eyes were murderous before, but now he seems like he wishes he had a knife to slice my scar open and rip out my heart.
Twigs crush underneath nearby footsteps.
I shake myself out of my stupor, push him away, and turn around to re-button my shirt. My breathing shortens despite my attempts to regulate it.
Behind me, I can feel his unwanted heat near my back. One step closer and he’d be breathing down my neck — or probably chopping it off.
“Mate.” Xander’s cool voice sounds from behind me. “You caught yourself an ice princess?”
“Actually, the ice princess is for you. She has something of yours.”
Once my shirt is buttoned — with the phone still tucked in my bra — I whirl around. Getting on my tippy toes, I peek around Xander but there’s no sign of Kim.
Xander appears victorious like he just did something to be proud of.
If he hurt Kim in any way, I’ll ruin his face and pluck out those stupid dimples.
“Something of mine?” Xander’s gaze bounces from me to his arsehole friend.
“She recorded you.” Aiden doesn’t spare me a glance. “I’m sure she’s thinking of using it against you on social media and the press to ruin yours and your father’s future. That sort of thing.”
I couldn’t keep my jaw from dropping even if I tried to. Aiden figured out my plan to a T.
Am I that obvious?
Xander bursts into laughter like he actually finds all of this funny. A cruel smirk tugs Aiden’s lips as if this is some inside joke.
“All right, Frozen.” Xander faces me, his laughter disappearing. “It’s so cute that you think you can hurt me and all. Now that you’ve had your fun, give me the video.”
Barely-concealed fury erupts into hot, scorching flames. It could be because I saw this same arsehole harassing Kim or because of how Aiden touched me like he had every right to.
I widen my stance, glaring up at Xander. “You’ve ruined Kim’s life for freaking years for no reason. It’s time someone puts a stop to your spoiled, rich arse. I don’t care if you’re the minister’s son or if you’re bloody royalty. If you don’t stay away from her, you’ll regret it.”
Silence.
Long, thick, fog-like silence.
Xander studies me with a raised eyebrow while Aiden remains poker-faced. If he weren’t so close, I would’ve though
t he hadn’t heard me.
The more they remain reaction-less, the harder my pulse pounds in my throat. It’s a miracle I’m not fidgeting.
“The phone is in her bra.” Aiden breaks the silence with a levelled tone. “You want me to get it, or will you?”
“I don’t know.” Xander ponders. “Let’s toss a coin.”
“How about you hold her for me?” Aiden’s gaze strays to my breasts.
I instinctively cross my arms over my chest.
Xander doesn’t say a word. He yanks both my arms behind my back. He’s so arrogant that he locks both my wrists in one hand. My chest pushes forward for Aiden’s eyes.
Dark, metal eyes.
Demon eyes.
I try to struggle, but Xander tightens his hold until it’s almost impossible to move, let alone fight.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I hiss, voice plagued with tremors.
Aiden’s punishing gaze meets mine.
There’s so much in there.
So much hate.
So much cruelty.
So much… evil.
He doesn’t break eye contact as he rips the ribbon from around my throat. I gasp as the cloth falls to the ground.
“I will scream!” I yell with strain even though I know no one would hear me out here.
“We love screams,” Xander whispers in my ear. “Scream, Frozen.”
The corner of Aiden’s lips curves in a smirk as if he’s agreeing.
We love screams.
I think I’m going to be sick.
How could I not think of that option when I put myself into this situation? I should have known nothing good would come out of a confrontation with Aiden and Xander. Their brand of unhinged doesn’t care about moral lines or societal standards.
They were raised to think they were above everyone else.
If they got into trouble, their parents’ influence got them out of it unscathed. Like in Levi King’s case, the school apologised for something he had done.
Their moral lines are screwed up and blurred. Hell, they might not even exist at all.
How could I so foolishly assume that they have the same moral line as mine?
Stupid, stupid me.
If I want to get out of this with minimum damage, then I need to lower myself to their level and try to see this from their warped perspective.
They’re bullies which means they get off on their victim’s struggle.
I swallow my pride and quit trying to squirm free.
