FIERCE: A High School Enemies to Lovers Romance (Rosewood High Book 4)

by Tracy Lorraine

  Pulling my keys from my pocket, I jump in my car and start the engine the second I’m inside. I need to get away from here right now.

  I can’t deal with all of them, and I certainly can’t deal with her right now.

  My head spins as I drive and I have no clue if I run any lights or almost kill anyone at the intersections I pass through. I have no fucking idea how but somehow I manage to get myself to the beachside parking lot by Aces in one piece.

  The piece of paper on my lap flutters and catches my eye. Any chance I had of this being a really bad joke stares back at me.

  Grabbing it once again, I shoulder the door and climb out.

  I’m on the sand in seconds and I take off running until I find a secluded dune in the distance.

  It’s only then that I stop, fall to the sand and hold the poster up in front of me.

  The wording at the top taunts me and I make quick work of ripping it off and stuffing it into the soft sand beside me.

  I don’t need a reminder of the doubt over this. I don’t need a reminder of the person almost everyone else thinks Chelsea is.

  Or is she?

  “Fuuuuuck,” I scream into the surrounding silence.

  I’m so fucking confused.

  Is this a game? Has she been playing me this entire time? My heart constricts as I even think about that possibility. Everything felt so real, so raw. When she told me last night that she loved me… fuck.

  My fingers tighten on the paper and it crinkles in my hold.

  With my heart pounding and my head warring, I look down at the image on the paper.

  My breath catches as I focus on the small black and white person in the middle.

  “Fucking hell.”

  A ball so fucking huge clogs my throat and my eyes burn.

  Is this mine? Did we fucking do this?

  My hands tremble as my eyes remain locked on the small person before me.

  Everything is so clear, I can make out all the important parts.

  Then I spot the date printed in the corner.

  Last Tuesday.

  I think back to my visit to the hospital to make sure she was okay.

  Did she know then?

  Has she known all along?

  Is that why she sent me away?

  My teeth grind as all these questions fill my head.

  Only one person can answer all of them. But right now, the last thing I want to do is look at her.

  I’m fucking terrified. Although I’m not sure of what.

  Her telling me that this is real. That it’s mine and that our lives are about to change forever. Or that it’s not, and it’s someone else’s.

  That thought is like a knife straight through my heart.

  I want to believe her. That she’s only been with me, that it can only be mine. But for years the evidence has pointed toward her being much less innocent. Should I believe her, or the gossip from the locker room?

  Falling back on the sand, I use the paper to block the sun as I continue to stare at it.

  If this is mine, if this is really happening, what does that mean for my future? A future that was already up in the air and surrounded by arguments and disagreements. What’s going to happen now?

  I lie there for hours running everything over in my head again and again desperately trying to come up with answers that continue to elude me. Only one person holds the answers, and I have yet to decide if I can trust anything that comes out of her mouth.

  Eventually, clouds gather overhead and everything darkens, much like my mood.

  Knowing I need to move before I get soaked, I carefully fold the paper and slide it into my pocket before climbing to my feet.

  Every step is hard work as I make my way back down the beach.

  My stomach grumbles as the smell from Aces hits it telling me that it’s now long past lunch.

  What happened to Chelsea? Is she still at school lapping up the attention from all of this? Something tells me that she’s not.

  A huge part of me wants to go and find her, to see if she’s okay, to hear her out. But then I remember everything, and I change my mind. She might just fill me with more lies. How am I supposed to know?

  “Shouldn’t you be at school?” Bill chastises when I walk inside the diner and take a seat at one of the stools at the bar.

  “Yep.” I don’t even bother trying to hide the truth.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Oh yeah. Perfect. That’s why I’m here in the middle of the day,” I mutter.

  His eyes widen at my attitude. He’s used to getting shit off the rest of the guys, but not from me.

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “Not really. Just a girl.”

  “Isn’t it always?” He chuckles. “What did you do?” I look up at him and he must read the truth in my eyes. “Oh, what did she do?”

  “Made me trust her.”

  “Ouch.” He must know who we’re talking about. He was here last night while she sat beside me with my arm wrapped around her. “Maybe things aren’t as they seem.”

  “Yeah, maybe. Any chance of takeout?” I ask, already fed up with talking about this.

  “Sure thing, you want your usual?”

  “Please.”

  Thankfully, Bill takes off to place my order before a group of what looks like college kids pour through the doors and take him away from me.

  The second my food is ready, I’m out of there.

  I eat it in the car while the rain pours down around me.

  I watch as the small rivers of water pour down the windshield and I can’t help but compare their descent into nothingness to my life.

  I’m drowning right now. It was bad enough with just the bullshit with my dad, but now this.

  Fuck. I don’t know which way is up.

  I should probably drive home but the thought of bumping into that asshole puts me off immediately. I told him that I was done last night, that I chose Chelsea. Now look at me.

  Starting the car, I head for a house that I hope I’ll be welcome in and will give me the escape that I need.

  The driveway is empty but I abandon my car nonetheless and walk around the back.

  As always, I find a key hidden under a plant pot in the back yard and I use it to let myself in.

  Knowing where the alcohol is stashed in this place, I swipe a bottle of Jack and make my way toward the den.

  The guys are at practice, so I’ve probably got a little while longer with my own fucked-up thoughts before I get hit with a barrage of questions. I can only hope that when he gets home that he’s alone. I can’t be dealing with a team gathering this afternoon, that’s for sure.

  By the time I have company, half the bottle is gone and I’m half passed out on the couch with music pounding around me.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, Shane,” Zayn says, walking in, turning the music down and ripping the bottle from my hands.

  “What?” I slur. “I couldn’t stay there.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting you could. I was also wasn’t thinking that breaking into my house was the best idea either. If Mom came home first—”

  “Did she?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “But nothing. Give me that back.”

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Getting wasted and forgetting my problems. What does it look like I’m fucking doing, asshole?”

  Zayn drops down on the coffee table in front of me, the bottle hanging temptingly from his hands.

  “And what good is it going to do?”

  I blow out a breath. “It’s making me feel better.”

  “Do you think you should be sorting this shit out?”

  “Talk to her? No thanks.” An unamused laugh falls from my lips. “She’s a lying fucking cunt.”

  Zayn’s brow rises. “You really believe that?”

  “I don’t fucking know what to believe.” Pushing from his couch, I stumble over to the floor to ceiling windows that showcase h
is back yard. “I’ve spent years listening to you guys talk about being with her. Then she tells me that she’s not really been with any of you and that it’s all lies and bullshit.” I fall silent for a moment. “Have you fucked her?”

  “No,” he states, although I can make out a little guilt in his eyes.

  “She’s sucked you off though I’m assuming.”

  He hesitates for a second, and that slight pause is all the answer I need. “Motherfucker,” I shout, slamming my palms down on the glass before me.

  “It was ages ago, Shane. And it meant nothing. We were both drunk, one thing led to another.”

  “Did you touch her?”

  “W-what?”

  “Did. You. Touch. Her?”

  “Uh… no. I k-kissed her,” he admits with a wince. “But that was it. I fucking swear to you.”

  Although I’m fucking mortified, he’s just admitted to having his cock and tongue in her mouth, I must say I’m relieved it didn’t go any farther.

  “Shane,” he sighs. “As far as I know, none of the guys have actually slept with her.”

  “Bullshit, it’s all they brag about.”

  “Yeah, exactly. Brag about. Justin’s the fucking loudest but I know for a fact that’s bullshit.”

  I spin to look at him so fast that the room moves around me. “Fuck,” I bark, grabbing my head in the hope it stops the spinning.

  “Why does it even matter? Even if she has slept with the entire team, which she hasn’t,” he quickly adds. “All that’s in the past. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, man. She’s never looked at any other fucker like that. Well… other than Jake, but that’s old news. He’s so fucking smitten with Amalie that he’s never going to see his balls again.”

  Falling back down on the couch, I rest my elbows on my knees and hang my head.

  “She’s fucking pregnant, Zayn,” I admit out loud for the first time. “She’s growing a baby. A fucking baby.”

  “So I heard.”

  “This is so fucked up.”

  I look up at him. His usual easy-going smirk is long gone as he stares back at me looking deadly serious. It’s an unnerving look on him.

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Reaching for the remote, I turn the volume back up and reach for the bottle he’s placed beside him. He doesn’t even try to stop me this time.

  I lift the bottle to my lips and fall back on the couch.

  “I’m going to get fucked up.”

  “Fair enough. I just so happen to have the exact thing you need.”

  Standing, Zayn reaches into his pocket and pulls out a blunt quickly followed by a lighter.

  Lifting it to his lips, he lights up and takes a pull.

  I know the rules of this house, and I know he’s breaking the biggest one by doing this but I’m so relieved to have his support right now and so desperate for the escape that I don’t say a word.

  He passes it over and I waste no time in taking a hit.

  I’ve only done it a few times. It’s not something I want to make a habit of, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

  “All right, calm down. You’re meant to be sharing,” he says, snatching it back before falling down beside me.

  I pass him the bottle and he takes a shot after having another pull on the blunt.

  “To worrying about our issues tomorrow.”

  “What the fuck are you worrying about?”

  “Whose pussy I’m claiming Friday night.”

  “Oh to be you,” I mutter, trying to push images of Friday night’s winter formal out of my head.

  School dances are not my thing, but I was intending to ask Chelsea. I guess that’s off now.

  One song rolls into the next as we sit here passing the alcohol and weed back and forth. That is until a shrill voice cuts through the bass.

  “Mom is going to fucking kill you, asshole.”

  Looking to the door I find Harley, Zayn’s little sister standing with her hand on her hips and drilling Zayn with a death glare.

  “Oh look, the goody-two-shoes and her friends have arrived.”

  Looking behind Harley, I find Ruby and Poppy, Jake’s cousin, loitering behind her.

  “No weed in the house, how many times?” She marches in and makes a show of attempting to take it from him but he’s not interested, he’s got his sights on someone else.

  He dodges Harley and she crashes to the couch beside me, growling in frustration as he stalks toward the door.

  “Hey, baby,” he coos at Ruby who shamelessly arches her back to push her tits in his direction. He wraps his hand around her bare waist and pins her to the wall, lowering his head but not enough to kiss her. She stares up at him as if he just hung the moon. It’s sickening.

  Poppy watches with her top lip curled in disgust.

  “Careful, Ruby. That mongrel has probably got fleas, or worse.”

  Zayn glances up at her and blows a kiss in her direction. She shudders before turning her back on the two of them.

  “Get your fucking hands off her,” Harley snaps, physically pulling her friend from Zayn’s clutches. “Cut that shit out or I’ll tell Mom.”

  “Ohhh I’m so scared,” Zayn taunts.

  Harley rolls her eyes. “We’re going to do homework in the back yard.”

  Harley and Poppy march off but Ruby hangs back for a few minutes.

  “You’re more than welcome to join our party, baby.”

  “Ruby,” Harley calls.

  She bites down on her bottom lip and lets her eyes roam down Zayn’s body. “Maybe next time, big boy.”

  Zayn groans as if in physical pain as she disappears from view.

  “Damn, that girl is a motherfucking tease,” he complains as he falls back to the couch and reaches for the bottle.

  “I thought you…” I trail off, vague recollections of that night last weekend filling my mind.

  “A guy never kisses and tells, bro. But Ruby and I, we’ve got unfinished business.”

  The three of them walk in front of the glass wall, Ruby’s hips swinging seductively purely for Zayn’s benefit. When she looks over her shoulder, she smiles and winks, but when I look back to Zayn, I swear his eyes are elsewhere for a second.

  “Poppy was right, you’re a fucking dog,” I mutter, reclaiming the bottle and draining what’s left.

  32

  Chelsea

  “Thank you,” I whisper as Ethan pulls up in my driveway beside Mom’s car.

  I barely looked up the entire journey here, not even the fear of being followed by my past was strong enough to drag my eyes up.

  “Do you want us to come in or…” Rae asks.

  “No, it’s okay. You head back to school. I don’t need to drag anyone else into this disaster.”

  “If you need us,” she says, turning to look at me. “We’re only a phone call away.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  Part of me wants to walk around the side of the house and go and hide in my little sanctuary, but it’s the other part of me that wins out, the part that desperately needs a hug from Mom.

  Slamming the front door behind me, I race toward where I expect her to be.

  I’m right, because as I turn the corner into the kitchen, she stands from her stool.

  “Chelsea?”

  A sob rips from my throat as I run to her.

  She gathers me up in her arms exactly as I need and she holds me so tight. Almost as tightly as Shane did last night when he found me mid-freak-out over the ghost from my past. That thought has my cries getting louder and my tears flowing faster.

  “What on Earth has happened?” she asks once I’ve calmed down a little. “Is everything okay with the—”

  “H-he found out, Mom. Shelly told the entire school and totally ambushed him. God, it’s such a mess. You should have seen his fa–fuck,” I say when I pull back and find Maddie sitting on the stool opposite where Mom was when I rushed in.

  “U
m…” Mom says, looking between the two of us.

  My heart swells with the knowledge that she’s kept my secret from her best friend, her friend who just so happens to be this baby’s other grandmother.

  “What’s happened with Shane?” Maddie asks in a rush, standing with us and correctly guessing who we’re talking about.

  “You might want to sit down,” Mom suggests, reaching out and taking my hand for support.

  I really want her to say the words, but I know that this needs to come from me. Someone needs to hear it the way it should be said.

  “I’m…” My voice trembles, giving away my fragile state. Maddie’s eyes bore into mine, fear and apprehension lacing through. “I’m p-pregnant.”

  “What?” she asks on a gasp.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” My tears reappear and I furiously wipe at my cheeks getting fed up with my overflowing emotions.

  “I’m assuming you’re telling me this because it’s Shane’s.”

  “Oh my god, this is such a mess.”

  “Sit down, I’ll get you a drink,” Mom says, pushing me toward an empty stool.

  Maddie’s eyes don’t leave me as I move and after sucking a deep breath, I turn to her.

  “Yes, it’s Shane’s. He didn’t know. It happened before I went away, I found out while I was there. Then I came back and we reconnected in a way I never could have imagined. I should have told him right away, but I was so scared I’d lose him. I’ve wanted to tell him so many times but things between us have been so incredible that I just couldn’t ruin that.”

  “What did Shelly do?” she asks hesitantly.

  “I-I think she snuck into the pool house last night and took a photograph of my ultrasound picture. She stuck these all around the school.”

  Not wanting to hold anything back, I pull the poster from my purse and slide it over so they can both look at it.

  “What a bitch,” Maddie mutters.

  “It can only be Shane’s; I swear to you. What she’s implying. It’s not true.”

  They both nod at me.

  “Where is he?”

  I blow out a breath, pulling the poster back and staring at my baby once again.

  “I don’t know. He ran. His car was gone from the lot by the time I got there.”