Pariah: A High School Bully Romance - Bridal Creek High Book 1

by K. Walker

  I just wanted to go…should I even say home? I just want to get to that place where they lived and where my misery would continue.

  He started walking towards his car, and I walked up, like an obedient puppy. He derived some measure of satisfaction from that as I sank into the leather seat of his Range Rover.

  I said not a single word to him all the way home. I wasn’t sure if he ever looked at me. What did I care? I didn’t expect that he had anyway. I got out as soon as the car stopped outside the garage. He didn’t go in, which meant he would be leaving again. Great! I didn’t want to see his face anymore today. I had had enough bullshit for one day.

  I slammed the door shut, hiked my backpack further onto my shoulder and walked off. I didn’t check for Aunt Celine or visit the kitchen like I would normally do. I just went straight to my room. I threw myself onto the bed and waited until I was sure he was gone. He must want to go to the beach or something.

  I was yet to go there – I wasn’t allowed as of yet. I felt like a prisoner. Tyson had made sure that I couldn’t go anywhere without someone harassing me, which would make him my rescuer every time. He had a hero complex that wasn’t in the least bit attractive.

  But if I couldn’t make it to the beach just yet, not that I had tried anyway, I still had the pool and a good book.

  I got up off the bed, stripped out of my jeans and tee, and slipped into a one-piece with a cut-out in the side that made me feel sexy. I admired my form in the full-length mirror, turning around to survey my ass when I felt eyes on me.

  I wheeled around, and there he was, standing in the doorway.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” I barked at him. I was already as mad as hell that he was taking over my life. I was entitled to my room, at least.

  His eyes were dark, and his muscles flexed and danced as he kicked the door shut and sauntered over to me with an air of indifference. He acted like I wasn’t even there. He walked over to the closet and pushed the hangars to and from like he was searching for something.

  I folded my arms and tapped my feet. “Find anything in your size?”

  “This must be a lot for you,” he said without turning. “Did you even have a closet before?”

  “Wow. I guess you’ve run out of new ways to belittle me, huh? You’ve used that line a couple of times before – kind of takes the sting out of it.”

  I was through with his shit and ready to challenge him on whatever. I even forgot about what I was wearing until he turned and his eyes lingered on the swell of my breasts. If I were at the poolside, I would have felt perfectly fine. But in my bedroom, with just him, I felt naked, and I reached for the sheet to pull it over myself.

  He chuckled, but I saw something in his eyes when he walked over to me. “I think it’s about time you paid up, trailer park.”

  “Paid-up? What are you talking about? What do I owe you?”

  “This,” he said and tugged the sheet away. “This soft, white, Egyptian cotton that you like so much. This house, that car in the garage.”

  “Like you had anything to do with that,” I hissed and folded my arms across my chest, the sheet pulled away from me in his little demonstration.

  “And all the shit that didn’t happen to you because of me,” his voice was low and gruff as he stared me in the eyes.

  He was an inch away from me, and my space was again flooded by his commanding presence. It was really hard to ignore his masculine prowess, and I felt myself salivating as much as I wanted to hurl. It was a bittersweet feeling that left me heady.

  He gripped both of my arms and ignited the spark that had been lit when he had walked in.

  “If you wanted some, all you had to do was ask,” I teased, hoping that basic level of reverse psychology would work.

  He thrust his head back and laughed, a sound so pure and filling it consumed me. I wanted to reach up and kiss his Adam’s apple as it stuck out. I wanted his hands all over me at that moment.

  He pushed me back onto the bed and came down over me. “Do you really think you’re the one giving me anything? I take what I want,” he said in a wicked tone and lowered himself so that my breast was touching his chest.

  I started to heave, and I could have easily slid from under him or pushed him back, but I was paralyzed.

  His eyes flashed with need, and it caught me by surprise. “I’m taking this because it’s all you have to give.”

  And then his lips crushed mine. He didn’t kiss me in the soft sensual way. Instead, he seemed to possess me. His tongue pressed my lips apart, and I found myself succumbing to his forced entry.

  It made me giddy, yet so fucking good. I curled my hand around his head and gripped a fistful of his hair. My body arched as his hand moved down over me. My breathing elevated and my legs parted in anticipation of receiving him.

  I didn’t know what about him being on top of me made it feel better than any other sexual encounter I’d had. It may have been the way he took control of me, the way his hand cupped my center that made it pulsate hard and fast.

  None of it was real to me. This was Tyson Pierce – enemy extraordinaire. Yet, I didn’t want him to stop. His head dipped and licked the soft spot at my neck, and I slipped my hand down his center and groped his hard manhood that was pressing and twitching against my stomach. I remembered how it looked, still, and I was desperate to feel it inside me.

  I started to push his shorts down when he grabbed my hand. “What the fuck are you doing?” he growled in my ear.

  “I was…”

  “I’m the one in charge, Quinn,” he retorted harshly.

  The fact that he called me by my name and not trailer park was a vast improvement. Maybe he was starting to see me as a person, and the thought went wild in my imagination.

  “Okay,” I whimpered under him. I would have said anything so he could trail his tongue over my hardened nubs. He wasn’t as sensitive. He squeezed and kneaded my body into submission, and I gladly surrendered.

  I had totally lost my senses and given my will over to him when I felt him move. My eyes were closed, and when I opened them, he was heading towards the door.

  What the fuck!

  He walked right out, leaving me on such a high I had to climb my way back down. It took a couple of minutes to wrap my mind around what just happened. It had felt good, but in the aftermath, I didn’t think it won me any points with Tyson. Even my fucking sexuality was his to do as he wished.

  He was lucky he was so damned good at it. I heaved a sigh and rolled off the bed. I desperately needed a swim to cool down, and I was glad I was already dressed for it. My legs wobbled on my way down to the pool. I could still feel him on me, and I still smelled like him, too.

  His musky smell clung to me like Velcro and followed me for the rest of the evening. As inviting and cool as the water was, it did nothing to level my head. I mentally kept searching for him, and when I returned to my room that night, I kept looking at the door, half expecting him to come in.

  I was pissed when, by nine, there was no sign of him. I didn’t think there were any more ways for me to hate him. I had a good mind to go to his room and…

  That was exactly what I should do. I was brave in my head, but I was nervous as hell as I stepped into the hallway. With each step I took closer to his room, my heart pounded louder in my head.

  I could hear the blood rushing, and my palms got clammy. He’d probably say something shitty, but there was no way he was going to turn me on like that and walk out.

  The only satisfaction I derived from it was that he would be in as much misery as me since he didn’t finish what he had started.

  I was close to his room when it dawned on me that he might not even be in his room, but I was already there, so what did I have to lose but a little bit more of my dignity.

  My hand was raised to knock when I heard voices. He was definitely there, but he wasn’t alone. I stepped closer and pressed my ear to the door.

  “Fuck, yeah!” I heard a girl say,
breathlessly.

  “Like that?” Tyson replied.

  And my breath caught in my throat when it became clear to me – he was in his room fucking someone else.

  Chapter 17

  I pulled back and covered my mouth in horror. What else did I expect from a shithead like Tyson Pierce? I balled my fists against my sides and stalked back to my room, cursing under my breath all the way because I had willingly given him a piece of me, and it didn’t mean shit to him.

  The door slammed shut behind me, loud enough for the entire west wing to hear. But I was sure no one cared.

  I threw myself onto the bed, face down and buried my screams into the pillow. The high I had been on for the last couple of hours died the second I heard those moans.

  But it didn’t help that I could barely sleep afterward, and my mind reflected on the little box in the closet.

  And my mom.

  She always knew what to say. Tyson wouldn’t be the first boy who had let me down. The difference was that I had walked right into this one hook, line and sinker, just like the idiot that I was, and Mom wasn’t here to make me feel better about making a shitty decision. I was supposed to be getting smarter.

  But he had played me. Or did I play myself? I wanted him. I could have stopped when he’d given me that small opening before he crushed his lips to mine. I could have slapped him, and he would have walked out, and he’d be angry. But that was his resting face.

  And I’d still have a shard of my dignity left.

  Sleep evaded me. At eleven, I was still tossing and turning, and you’d think I was laying on a bed of sharp rocks and not downy-soft pillows wrapped in Egyptian cotton. I had taken the pill, but it did nothing to quell the disappointment I felt.

  But the mind always had a way of making you feel worse when you’re already feeling like shit, and all I could think of were crappy memories and that night. I touched the scar on my shoulder and winced like I could feel the pain all over again.

  Like it was yesterday.

  The scream that ripped my lungs apart was not for the wound on my shoulder. My throat constricted when I saw him…holding my mother.

  It couldn’t be happening. The fish-breath man still pinned me to the wall, but I was more afraid for her. I could see the fear in her eyes as I kicked my attacker in the groin. His blade came down on my shoulder as I tried to run away. I hit the pavement hard, and my elbows cracked against the alley street.

  “Mom!” I screamed from a parched throat as I scrambled to get away. I knew I’d been cut. I could see the blood, but the adrenaline coursing through my body wouldn’t allow the pain to register just yet.

  I didn’t want to walk that way. Mom had insisted, but it wasn’t until that black SUV pulled up and the two men jumped out that I really realized just how dangerous our nightly treks had been. It was only a matter of time before we got jumped – and we wouldn’t be the first ones.

  But I couldn’t think about that then. My eyes peeled as I tried to see around the man, and he flung his arm around my neck and tightened his forearm at my throat. His hairy arm rubbed against the fresh wound, making it feel like sandpaper. It burned like hell!

  “Mom!” I cried again.

  “Let her go!” she shouted at the man who held her as she continued her desperate attempt at freedom. We knew better than to call for help – none would come in this neck of the woods, even though chances were, several peepers were hidden behind barely-drawn curtains and cracked window shades.

  “Where’s the money?” the man barked in her face.

  “I don’t have it,” she cried. “I’m trying.”

  “You’re not trying hard enough,” he growled and slammed her against the wall. Her body shook like a rag doll while I watched helplessly.

  “Please!” she begged. I didn’t know what they were talking about. “Trevor is the one who owed the money. I…”

  She didn’t get to finish the statement. He slapped her across the face and her head twisted awkwardly to the left. The tears ran down my cheeks as I realized what was happening. I had no control over the situation.

  “I’m trying,” she whimpered, and the fear that gripped me got worse when I saw him pull the knife from his waist.

  “Well, I just have to make a statement then, huh?!” he snarled, seconds before he landed the first blow and I watched mom’s eyes pop out of her head.

  “Mom!” I screamed as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

  I flew awake, not realizing I had fallen asleep after all. The tears were real and I brushed them away as the same fear I’d felt that night revisited me.

  “Quinn?” Liv asked as she pushed the door open.

  Usually, I’d be sort of happy that she was the one coming to me, but not after the way they treated me. With my luck, this would wind up being the school news the next day.

  “You okay? I heard you scream!” she said and approached me, not waiting to be invited. It was her house after all and she obviously didn’t care who’s room it was.

  “I’m fine,” I sniffled. “Just a bad dream.”

  She didn’t buy that for a second as she sat next to me on the bed. The only light in the room was that which was reflected from the hallway, but even in the dim lighting, I could see the genuine concern in her eyes.

  And I gushed, like a god damned burst pipe, like I had wanted to release on someone. Maybe I had. I hadn’t really grieved for my mother – I had just shut down and gone numb ever since I had watched her get stabbed repeatedly until the life was sucked from her.

  The tears started running, and I was alarmed when Liv pulled me into her body, hugging me tightly.

  “Shhhh. It’s okay.” She hushed, trying to calm me down.

  Her genuine sympathy pushed me to confide in her, and I told her every gut-wrenching detail about that night, about the walk home with my mother, the attack, how I watched my mother die in that alley, how no one came to help, and how I was stuck with a debt from some shady characters I didn’t have a clue how to repay.

  I didn’t want to leave Miami Dade, but Aunt Celine had been afraid they would find me and kill me too. I choked on those last words, and it surprised me when I saw a tear roll down Liv’s cheek.

  She quickly brushed it away and then replaced her frown with a smile. I could tell she didn’t allow herself to be vulnerable around anyone. Maybe just her brother.

  “You know, we aren’t so different after all,” she said and sighed.

  I chuckled softly and cleared my throat. “Not from where I’m looking.”

  She smiled, too, but I could see the sadness take over her features. “There isn’t just Tyson and me, you know. We had another brother, Preston.”

  My brows furrowed. I was shocked to learn this new piece of information. “What? What happened?”

  I expected a story about a young child dying during infancy. Rich people didn’t die – not the way poor people did. They could afford to get rid of every problem they faced and if Mom had money, she could have covered dad’s debt, and she wouldn’t have died. We wouldn’t have lived in a trailer park since dad died, and I certainly wouldn’t have needed to move to California to be everyone’s joke.

  She sighed and rolled her tongue around in her mouth, like what she was preparing to say still left a bitter aftertaste. “We were at a party, end of tenth grade. Preston was fifteen at the time. Tyson was upstairs with some friends, and he was downstairs, messing around with some bad people – drinking and smoking.”

  I didn’t breathe as I waited for her to get through her story at her pace. I hated the word ‘death,’ and I felt sad that she’d had to experience it, too. It left a dark hole inside that nothing could fill.

  “He was doing drugs in a den. None of us knew about it, not until after. Ty was, being Ty,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes. I knew what that meant – probably fucking someone. “Anyway, by the time we found him, he was knocked out. We couldn’t revive him. It turned out someone had given him a bad batch laced with carfentanil.
”

  “Omg!” I said, knowing the name from some people I used to know back in Miami. It was called gray-death in some circles because that was exactly what it did. Whoever gave that to Preston knew it would kill him, or was too damned stupid to trust that what they had was just regular drugs and not laced with something so strong.

  “He technically died that night, but he was hooked up to life support for a month,” she said and chuckled nervously as she stood and hugged herself. I had the feeling she hadn’t spoken with anyone about that night, either. The pain was still raw, and she trembled in the dark. “We watched our brother die – for a fucking month!”

  I got up and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Liv.”

  She hugged me back. “I know. I’m sorry, too,” she murmured as we both sniffled, bonding over the loss of someone we loved deeply.

  “Anyway, that’s enough for tonight,” she pulled back and said. “We should get some sleep.” She walked off and then she turned around. “I know Ty can be a jerk sometimes, but he blames himself for Preston’s death – if he hadn’t been upstairs – if he had been paying closer attention – a whole bunch of what-ifs. That’s why he walks around like he’s pissed at the world. Cause he is.”

  “Well, that clears up why he always seems to have a chip on his shoulder,” I smiled at her.

  She nodded, and then she walked off, and I was left alone in the dark again. I curled up in bed immediately and pulled the cover over me.

  The heaviness remained, but I totally got why Tyson was angry – it still didn’t explain why he was a jerk to me. Liv lost a brother, too. But I guessed boys processed their pain differently.

  I was a little better off when I fell asleep again, and my eyes flew wide open when I heard banging on my door the following morning.

  “Quinn!”

  “Tyson?”

  “I’m leaving in five minutes!”

  “So?” I asked loudly. “I have a car!”

  I didn’t hear anything more, but I knew his level of douchery – if that was even a word – too intimately. He would probably hide my keys and made sure I was left stranded.