Crush on Mr. Bad Boy

by Lilly Purdon

  He smirked and draped an arm around my waist before dragging me into his hard rock chest. “I think you do, Princess…” he said with his nose buried in my hair. It surprised me a little how I could hear him over the Justin Bieber they were blasting.

  I felt a tug at my free hand. “Excuse me,” a little voice called out from below. I looked down and saw an adorable little girl with midnight black hair and large round grey eyes stare up at me. I just couldn't help myself when a huge smile spread across my face.

  “Hi there!” I said in the friendliest voice I could.

  “Get lost kid,” Axel glared at the little girl.

  I nudged him in the ribs. “Be nice,” I scolded.

  “Why?”

  “Because, she's so little and adorable.” I grinned at the little girl in adoration. “I just wanna’ take her home and pinch her cheeks all day long!”

  “That doesn’t sound wrong at all.”

  The little girl tugged at my hand again reminding me she was still there. I wiggled out of Axel's iron grip and knelt down so that I was at the little girl's level.

  “Can you please help me,” she asked.

  I just couldn't say no to something so adorable, “of course! What do you need help with?”

  I could feel Axel cringing from behind me.

  “Can you please help me draw a picture of Cinderella?” the little girl looked at me up through her lashes.

  I froze at her request. I had never drawn for someone, in fear of getting insulted. It was my little ounce of freedom from time to time.

  “I can't draw,” I laughed nervously.

  “Yes you can,” the little girl beamed at me.

  “I really can't, I’m sorry,” I scratched the back of my neck and got up slowly.

  “She’s lying, she can.” Axel had to say. “I’ve seen her draw.”

  What? Since when?

  The girl's eyes started to water. “I asked my mommy and she said the exact same thing, I just want someone to draw Cinderella for me.”

  “Um, little girl, please don't cry,” I said awkwardly.

  Tears started to pour of out the little girl's eyes.

  “Shit,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Great job, now you've made her cry.” Axel watched with amusement.

  I just didn't know what to do with an adorable little girl crying in front of me. I mean I would’ve drawn her a picture, but I was too afraid of Axel teasing me or calling me untalented and telling me to give up.

  “Princess, you better fix this I think her mom is nearby.” Axel said gesturing to an older version of the little girl who was standing at the counter while ordering ice cream.

  I really didn't want to do it, but I had no choice. I knelt down to the little girl and patted her on the shoulder. “I'll help you draw Cinderella,” I offered.

  She sniffed away her tears. “Really?”

  I nodded. “Sure, it can't be that hard, right?”

  I heard Axel snort behind me. The little girl beamed at me before grabbing my hand and dragging me along the shop. She pulled me up to a table and pointed to a piece of paper and a pink crayon on the table.

  “So you want me to draw with a crayon?” I asked.

  She nodded in reply while grinning at me. I laughed nervously. I had never drawn with crayon before.

  “Hey Princess, you owe me more,” Axel laughed while tossing a pen to me.

  I tried catching it, but of course it fell to the ground. I fumbled to pick it up, “thanks.”

  He just laughed at the fact I couldn’t catch.

  I started to draw what I thought was the real version of Cinderella. She was in a large puffy dress and her hair was up in a high bun. It was just a special sketch, nothing special. I heard a gasp from behind me and turned around.

  “Oh my gosh!” the girl's mother squealed at me, both her eyes were fixed on the paper on the table. “That’s amazing!”

  I tried to hide my blush but probably failed epically, “thank you.”

  The little girl looked at the picture and squealed before hugging my waist tightly. “I LOVE IT!”

  I laughed before hugging her little frame. “I’m glad you do!”

  Axel grabbed my waist from behind. “Now draw me.”

  Did he have a habit of touching me or something? Because he was really making me nervous.

  “I really can’t-”

  “I’ve seen you with your little notebook or occasional scrap piece of paper sketching away.”

  I was shocked- he noticed?! “W-When?”

  “Doesn’t matter, you can draw. Don’t put yourself down.”

  The little girl and her mother left, taking the picture with them. I smiled at myself. Finally, I could be proud at myself for something.

  Axel bought us both an ice cream cone, he bought me vanilla, which was my favorite by the way, I had no idea how he knew and bought himself strawberry. Wouldn't really imagine a bad boy eating a strawberry ice cream...

  “Axel?” a low pitched woman’s voice called out from behind us.

  What the-

  “Axel! Oh my gosh it's you!” the voice called out again.

  He grabbed waist faster than I could say ‘shit’.

  I heard him groan before he turned us both around. The action brought me flying unicorns to my stomach, but I concentrated on the Barbie before us.

  She had dyed blonde hair, you could tell from the roots of her hair that she wasn't a natural blonde, her lips were far too large to be natural- they were so puffy you could tell she had lip injections, boobs the size of watermelons, a butt the size of the lid of my washing machine and a few pounds of makeup on her face.

  She looked so fake.

  “Axel! What are you doing here?” she asked Axel while attempting to bat her heavy eyelashes at him.

  “None of your business,” he growled at her.

  Woah! What was that? His arm tightened around my waist and pressed me harder against his body. I looked up at his face to see him glaring intensely at her. She put her hand over her heart like he had hurt her feelings.

  “Ouch!” she faked a gasp. “Don't tell me you’re still mad about what happened.”

  He didn't reply, but he just kept his intense glare on her.

  “Aw, come on babe you know you still want me,” she winked at him seductively.

  I really needed a bucket. I felt like throwing up. She was flirting with him knowing that he had his arm draped around another girl's waist. The other girl was going to do something about it!

  “He doesn't want to talk to you so I think you better leave him alone.” I told her bitterly.

  She sent me a death glare. “Stay out of this bitch. You’re just a little slut he's playing around with-”

  “Debbie, shut your whorish mouth and fuck out of here.” He had said it so loud, kids were watching, and parents had their mouths hanging open in shock.

  The kid who dropped the ice cream earlier grabbed Debbie’s hand, “Mommy, what does whorish mean?”

  Mommy?!

  “It's nothing Damie.” Debbie glared at Axel before grabbing the little kid’s hand.

  Axel crouched down so that he was at the same level as her kid. “You want to know what that word means?” The little girl nodded eagerly waiting to hear his answer. “It means your mom,” he replied with a smirk plastered on his face.

  We heard the whole crowd gasp before angry parents started to yell at us.

  ~*~

  “I can't believe we ran into her,” Axel groaned throwing his head back.

  I played dumb, “Who is she anyway?”

  Axel hesitated before replying, “my ex.”

  I had to block out my jealously. “Why did you guys break up?” I already knew the reason via stalking though.

  “She fucked the football team, and then got knocked up by our rivalry team coach.”

  I didn’t know she got pregnant!!

  “What a-”

  “Slut, whore, slot machine? Yeah,” he la
ughed. “Thank god that’s over with.”

  “You really hate her,” I concluded.

  “Of course I hate her,” he scoffed. “She made all the footballers laugh and spit in my face by letting them all bang her. She cheated on me in the worst way possible. I mean, I didn’t give a flying fuck at first, but I was lonely. I wanted something like in the movies, a partner in crime, Bonnie and Clyde type of shit, you get the picture?”

  I nodded. I wanted that too, except a Cinderella and Prince Charming version.

  “After getting beat senseless by my stepdad, I’d go to her. I trusted her with my problems. All I was asking for was someone to be there for me, and vice versa. She was always pushing for sex, but I wasn’t ready- I mean, my life was way too fucked up to think about stuff like that.”

  I almost sighed in relief. At least he didn’t sleep with her.

  “She was the first person I decided to trust. She told her about her issues, how she felt insecure and she was jealous of the other girls on the cheer team. I trusted her, I really did. I guess that’s the part that fucks me up the most. I chose one person to trust, and she stabbed me in the back.”

  “Not everyone’s like that…”

  “Almost every single person I met is no different.” He was on the edge talking about this sensitive topic, “I never wanted to move here. I wanted to go live with my dad in California, but my mom won me over so I only got to see my dad in the summer.”

  I knew that from stalking him. Summer was the time of year I felt love sick, and pained. I only wanted to go to school to catch a glimpse of him.

  “Mom remarried an asshole who took all his anger out on me. He beat me till a couple years back. I was finally big enough to beat him. He was rushed to the hospital.” His jaw was clenched; I desperately wanted to hold him.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “That day I finally snapped. What's pathetic is my mom has always been on his side. She always says that I’m the one to start all the fights and arguments because I’m immature. She even hired a new psychiatrist not long ago for me.”

  “Psychiatrist?”

  “Some bitch named Cleo.”

  Yep, definitely my stepmother.

  “My mom’s tried everything. Everything to bring me back to the ‘person I was before’. She always reminisces about the times I was innocent and sweet,” he laughed without a trace of humor, “the little boy who’d smile and crack jokes all the time. But she was manipulated by my step dad. She chose him over her own son.”

  “D-do you still want to go back to California?” I asked him quietly.

  “I did,” I felt a pain in my chest, “until about… two weeks ago.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  He shrugged, “guess I found something worth staying for.”

  “Which is…?”

  A small smile appeared on his face, before shrugging.

  “Come on, tell me.” I nudged his shoulder playfully.

  “Pissing teachers off?”

  I was kind of hoping for a different answer, but the least I could do was appreciate his answer because he didn't mention anything about another girl. We both laughed along from his answer.

  “I still don't get how we managed to get ourselves kicked out of a freaking ice cream shop,” I laughed.

  “We got kicked out cause we're both too bad ass.”

  “Yeah, like I could pass for anything bad,” I rolled my eyes. “What you're looking at here is all goody two shoe material.” I gestured towards my body.

  He checked me out from head to toe, “not really.”

  Surprised by his answer, I raised both eyebrows.

  “Would a goody two shoe risk her well being and stand up on a motorcycle when Mr. Bad Ass himself wouldn't dare do that?”

  “Not really,” I grinned sheepishly.

  “Yeah, so you're nothing close to good. I think you're pure bad ass, to be honest.”

  “How?” I scoffed.

  “You’re patient on a badass level.”

  “Patience isn’t badass at all.”

  “I find self control to be.”

  I laughed, “whatever, Mr. Bad Boy.”

  He looked at me, “I can be anything you want me to be.”

  Be mine.

  “So,” he started another topic, “heard you have a stepmom.”

  I nodded.

  “Is she my psychiatrist by any chance?”

  “Yes…” I admitted, unsure of his reaction.

  “Thought so.”

  “She’s terrible.”

  “I know exactly how you feel.”

  “You do know I’m supposed to be grounded right now.”

  “Really?” He grinned, “Like I said, you’re nothing close to good.”

  “I’ve been avoiding her. If she sees my face, she’ll murder me. I know for a fact she’ll ground me for a year.”

  “Want me to help you?” he offered. “I mean, for the convenience of you being able to help me.”

  “How could you possibly help me?”

  “Trust me.”

  ~*~

  Chapter 29 MR. BAD BOY’S HELP

  “So what's the plan?” I asked Axel as we walked out of the electronics store.

  I slept over at Dustin’s in order to avoid my stepmother. I snuck in at 4AM to pack my clothes in a suitcase. The twins had helped me; when Justin was on h is own, he was far nicer than I had expected. I was surprised Cleo hadn’t called the police up and report me missing yet. I’m sure she must’ve been planning something big.

  Since it was Saturday, I didn’t have to worry about missing any school.

  Axel had told the clerk that we wanted a high quality camera that was unnoticeable to make a porno. Creative much? When I got mad at him his excuse was 'So they won't get suspicious'.

  “Be patient, Princess.” Axel replied walking over to his motorcycle. “Hold this?" he passed me the bag with the video camera. I grabbed the bag from him.

  “Can't you at least give me a hint of what we’re about to do?”

  He shook his head, “you’ll find out soon enough.”

  ~*~

  We sped into the gigantic driveway of his mansion before he slowed down and stopped. He didn't bother parking his 'baby' in his garage. He snatched the bag with the camera from me and motioned for me to follow him.