“Nice to meet you, I’m leaving,’’ I tell him, earning a chuckle from a few people around me.
He reaches out grabbing my hand to stop me from leaving and I feel like all the air is being sucked out of the room.
“You’ll regret that,’’ he hisses under his breath.
People are still chuckling when I hear him say something to them that shuts them up, but I don’t turn to see his facial expression, I can tell by the vibe he’s sending off that it’s not going to be good. Making my way over to the other side of the room, I manage to get past everyone without banging my bag across the back of their heads.
As soon as I reach the desk my shoulders slump when I notice the girl has her bag on the chair also. She must feel me standing there because she looks up at me confused. Once she sees the bag I’m holding she looks behind me, her eyes hardening before looking at me with soft eyes. I sag with relief when she moves the bag under her chair making room for me to sit down. She then removes the headphones from her ears that I didn’t notice were there before.
“Hi I’m Harlow,’’ I whisper.
“Miss Evans?’’ The teacher shouts.
“Yes?’’ I say standing up quickly. Is he going to shout at me for switching chairs?
“Just calling the register,’’ he chuckles before moving on to the next name. Sitting back down, I slump further down into my chair feeling my cheeks redden as everyone openly laughs at me.
“Seems like the new girl loves the attention to me. I know what else would love to give you attention,’’ the Craig guy I moved away from sneers from across the room crudely. Everyone erupts with laughter making me want to die with mortification.
“Hey Harlow, I’m Denny. Ignore that jackass, I do. He thinks he rules the school just because his older brother is in a gang,’’ she says rolling her eyes.
“Is he in the gang?’’ I whisper horrified as I lean in closer, my eyes scanning the classroom. My eyes freeze once I see a lad with light brown shaggy hair. I can only see the side view of him, but even then I can tell he’s completely hot. Like smoking freaking hot.
Bloody hell, my question earlier about something being in the water pops into my mind again and with all the adrenaline running through my veins, it nearly has me blurting the question out to Denny.
The lad is larger than any teenage boy I’ve ever laid eyes on, including the Max guy that I met earlier. He turns his head, his eyes freezing when they land on mine. His eyes are so dark, so dark in fact that I swear they could be mistaken for midnight black as he continues to stare at me with an intense expression. His shoulders are large and without his school blazer on I can see his muscles stretching the white shirt he’s wearing and again I wonder what the hell these boys drink in order to be this fit.
His attention averts back to the person next to him. He laughs at something they say and it makes me go all lightheaded. The sound is like music to my ears, covering every inch of my skin with goosebumps. Yeah, I know, I sound really fucking cheesy, but he has a great laugh. It sounds husky and so unbelievably sexy. Then to top off his model, movie star good looks, he has freaking dimples, like sexy ass freaking dimples, and those pearly whites when he smiles, damn that boy must floss.
A smack to my arm shakes me out of my hunk daydream and has me sitting up straighter in my seat. My hand instantly goes to my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling before I turn to face Denny.
“Hey what was that for?’’ I snap rubbing at the place she slapped on my arm.
“Well I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes. I realised two minutes in that you weren’t even listening. To your earlier question, there are rumours he’s in the gang, but it’s high school,’’ she says like that explains everything. “It was only last week that someone spread the rumour of Jake Kingston getting Julie Constant pregnant.’’
“And it wasn’t true?’’
“Fuck no. He’s the one sitting next to the boy you were just eye fucking,’’ she says bluntly. “He’s another one of the bad boys in the school.’’
I look back over to see who she’s on about and notice the boy Jake who ‘hunk’ is sitting next to, is in fact good looking too, just not as good looking as the hunk next to him. No wonder I never noticed him till Denny pointed him out. His beauty has nothing compared to the devastatingly good looks that ‘hunk’ has.
“I wasn’t…. I mean…. I wasn’t eye fucking him,’’ I tell her feeling my face flame.
“Girl, you totally were, but it’s okay, a lot of girls in the school do. Only some actually do fuck him, or so they say. I heard a rumour before we broke up last term he was caught having sex with the P.E. teacher Mrs. Priest in the supply cupboard. Lucky bitch. Why he would go with a hard ass like her is anyone’s business. Unless he only fucked her to see if it would put a smile on her miserable face.’’
“I guess that was a lie then too,’’ I say, my stomach tightening at the thought of the boy sleeping with a teacher, or anyone really.
“Oh, no, it was most likely true. Everyone wants a piece of the Carter brothers. You should meet one of their older brothers Mason, he’s completely gorgeous and without a doubt the hottest of them all. I wouldn’t mind getting to know him a little bit more if you know what I mean. He was in my brother’s year, so I heard a lot about his reputation through his friends and girlfriends. I also see him a lot as I live near them and their Granddad.’’
“Wait, what’s his name?’’ I ask, gesturing towards the good looking one, who I can’t seem to keep my eyes from. Even now, they turn in his direction on their own accord.
“Oh, he’s Malik Carter.’’
“Carter? Like he has four other brother’s Carter? Live with their Grandpa Mark?’’
“Yeah,’’ she says, her eyes wide. “How the hell did you know that? I thought you’d only just moved here?’’
“How did you know I just moved here, this is my first day?’’
“Oh my nana works in reception.’’
“Miss Jean?’’
“No, Miss Jane, but close,’’ she smiles. “I help out at the church group your nana goes to. She told us what happened and that you’d be moving here.’’
“Oh my God,’’ I groan, feeling my worst fears coming true. My breathing starts to come in quick heavy pants, worried that she’s already told everyone how I lost my parents and that I have to take medication just to sleep at night because I have bad nightmares. What else did my Grandma tell people? “What else did she tell you? Have you told anyone?’’ I say through gritted teeth, ignoring the bell when it rings.
“Hey, breathe in and out deeply, okay? Your Nana didn’t tell me much, just that you lost your parents tragically, and that you’d be moving here and most likely starting here. I swear to you, I might listen to people gossip, but I don’t join in or start them myself Harlow. I promise you. I haven’t even told anyone you were coming here.’’
“So she never told you how they died?’’ I ask her, feeling my eyes water.
“No. I’m sorry,’’ she says looking at me sadly.
“It’s okay. I just hate being caught off guard is all.’’
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have mentioned I kind of knew who you were before huh?’’
I laugh, but even to my ears it feels weak. Don’t get me wrong I’m not mad at her knowing how my parents died; I just don’t want everyone to know about them. They always give me pity looks or use it as a weapon to hurt me. One of the girls in my old school even went as far as to stage a mugging at the school in the hallway, getting one of her boyfriend’s friends to pretend to stab her and her boyfriend. That was the last day I showed up at school because after passing out and everyone recording my reaction then posting it on the internet, I was mortified. What hurt the most were the rumours about me pissing myself, trying to slit my wrists and shit afterwards. How people could be so cruel about something so significant is beyond me. The wetting myself thing was kind of true, but there was no way anyone but me could have known that
. It wasn’t like I had a full bladder.
“Come on, the next class is waiting to come in. You’ve got English with me first then it’s break time, we can chat then.’’
“Okay, sorry for freaking out on you like that.’’
“It’s okay. We all have our demons.’’
“I guess,’’ I mumble as I follow her out of the classroom. We walk along the halls before coming to Denny’s locker. She exchanges her book to another one, which I know I haven’t got yet, so I don’t bother detouring to my own locker. She links her arm through mine before pushing her way through the mass of students.
“So, you never told me, how do you know who the Carter brothers are?’’ she whispers, making sure no one is in earshot of hearing our conversation. They must be the popular boys of the school or something, so I can see why she wouldn’t want to be caught talking about them. God only knows what boys like them would do to us if they caught us talking about them.
“Oh I don’t. I’ve never met them before, but I met their Grandpa a few times since coming here. He came over to get the casserole my Gram’s cooked for them. I only met him for a few minutes at a time before I made myself scarce. He and my Gram’s have no tact when it comes to flirting. I had to swallow sick more than once,’’ I laugh.
She laughs with me before pulling me closer towards her, “You looked like you were going to be sick when you sat down next to Davis earlier,’’ she chuckles, a few students stop to stare and I can see why. Denny has a beautiful laugh; she’s beautiful too with her shoulder length blonde hair, nearly the colour of white, and her dark green eyes and her stunning figure. She’s nothing like my hourglass figure. She has curves in all the right places, but she’s also stones lighter than I am. It looks good on her and thankfully she doesn’t seem to be one of those ‘how many calories are in this’ type of girl.
“Oh my God, I really nearly did. I had to move quickly before I vomited and made an ass out of myself,’’ I laugh, finally relaxing into our newfound friendship.
I’m not usually one to trust so easily, I’ve found out the hard way most people have a hidden agenda, but with Denny I can see us becoming best of friends.
“You do realise you made a mistake by moving away from him the way you did?’’ she says seriously. “I only noticed a bit as I was engrossed in my book, but still, mistake.’’
“What do you mean?’’ I ask curiously.
“Look, Davis isn’t a good guy,’’ she says stepping in front of me, halting my footsteps outside what I presume is our English class. “I know this is just another rumour, but it’s one I believe. It’s never been proven, but I’ve known him a long time to know deep down in my soul what was said about him was true.’’
“Tell me,’’ I beg, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand on edge.
“Well, there was a new girl transferred from an all-girls school a few years ago. We were like 15 I think at the time. Anyway, word got round about her being in an all-girl school and Davis started a bet on who could break her in the quickest.’’
“Break her in?’’ I ask, already knowing I’m not going to like where this conversation is heading. My stomach is turning and I know for a fact this morning’s coffee is about to come up. Thankfully I’d been too nervous to eat anything this morning due to my first day nerves.
“Break in her virginity,’’ she whispers, her eyes looking distant and sad like she was remembering. “She was such a quiet girl, just wanted to get on with her school work and get out of here. I can say this as we were best friends for a while before everything started happening and she pushed me away, but she was really nerdy. Like really nerdy. I don’t even know how she got caught on their radar as she wasn’t their usual type. Anyway, she started getting bullied and I tried to help her, get her to report it, which she did, but only after someone attacked her. She was so scared that I went with her to tell her parents, but they didn’t seem bothered.
“She wouldn’t tell me who it was that did what they did, but I knew deep down it was Davis. I saw the way he would act around her at school, the way he would look at her or go out of his way to torture her. I also noticed how she stiffened whenever he was around. He didn’t even have to be close by,’’ she says, her voice still a whisper.
I want to scream at her to hurry up, but something deep down is telling me I need to hear this full version, or the version she’s willing to share with me. I need to know what I’ve just gotten myself into. Something is screaming inside me, telling me I just made the worst choice ever by switching seats.
“Go on,’’ I tell her feeling sick to my stomach.
“She must have had an argument with her parents that night because the next day she told me to leave her alone, that it was all my fault for making her tell them.’’
“You were trying to help her,’’ I state shocked.
“I know,’’ she says sadly. “I tried every day to make it right with her, but every day she would look more withdrawn, and in the end she just stopped looking at me. She’d lost a lot of weight, she’d come to school with bruises….’’
“Miss Smith, are you and your friend coming into class or are you going to stand outside and gossip all day?’’ the teacher snaps from the door making us both jump.
“Sorry Miss Rose. This is Harlow Evans, the new girl. I was just trying to catch her up on our class,’’ Denny lies.
“I bet you were,’’ she replies snidely. “Come on then, I’m not standing here for my youth,’’ she snaps.
We both rush into the classroom and I hear Denny mutter, “Fat chance of that you old bat,’’ under her breath, but still loud enough for me and another student who snickers to hear her.
“So, tell me,’’ I beg her once we’ve taken our seats at the back of the class again. Denny really must like being tucked away. I’m usually one of the ones who sits closest to the teacher so I can hear above all the kids who act like clowns and play up in the class.
“Right, well, one day I was in the principal’s office and overheard ….’’
“Miss. Smith, Miss. Evans, would you like detention on your first day back?’’ the teacher shouts getting everyone’s attention on us.
“No thank you.’’
“Well be quiet. You’re here to learn, not to gossip, you can do that in your own time.’’
“Sorry Miss,’’ we say simultaneously.
When she starts up her lesson again, Denny gets out her notepad, writing something down before passing it over.
She’s one to read it aloud if we pass notes to each other, so wait until break and I’ll fill you in.
I write okay, before turning my attention back to the front of the class, although my mind wasn’t really on the lesson, but on the events of the morning so far.
Thinking back on my morning, I’ve managed to be hit on and I think insulted at the same time, made an enemy and made a friend. One I can already see me coming closer to. We’ve known each other less than an hour and already I feel like I can talk to her about anything. My mind also goes back to the boy Denny called Malik, which has me searching the room for him. Oddly I feel disappointed when I find he isn’t in this lesson, but also relieved because English is kind of my favourite lesson next to History. If he’d been in this class I would never have been able to concentrate on anything but his godforsaken beauty.
I’m just hoping the rest of the school day isn’t as eventful as this morning.
Chapter Two
The rest of the day has been mostly uneventful. In each lesson I had been given curious glances, but it was at lunchtime that it really started to strike a nerve with me. I had a few girls make fun of me for reasons I will never understand. They didn’t even know me. I bit my tongue and carried on with my lunch like I didn’t hear the vicious remarks they were saying. Denny had given me a curious look when I first sat down at the table she was at with a group of her friends.
My first thought when I had met her this morning was that she mu
st be in the popular crowd, but sitting down at lunch with her friends had me realising I was way off the mark. All her friends were pretty average students. Not popular, not unpopular, and none of them cared they weren’t either which I liked about them. Although I did find Denny didn’t talk to them as much as she did me. With me she seemed to be this outgoing bubbly girl who is friends with everyone, but at lunch she… well, she looked kind of bored if I’m honest.
Heading to my last lesson of the day, I drag my feet slowly. I wish I could skip and go home, but I’ve never skipped a day in my life. I just wish I didn’t have to take my next lesson. I hate math. It’s not that I need help with it or anything; I just find it completely boring.
Walking into the classroom the teacher doesn’t even glance my way, so I take the only desk that is empty, the one sitting towards the middle of the room. Once seated I feel more than one set of eyes on me, so curiously I look up to find in fact a few girls and boys are looking at me with either amused or shocked facial expressions. Wanting to avoid their stares I take out the math book Grandma had bought me from the list of textbooks the school had given her prior to my arrival.
I don’t really take notice of what’s on the page as I wait for everyone to walk in and the teacher to begin the class. It’s only when I hear a book slam down to the side of me that I snap my head back up, ignoring the chuckles from other students.
“You’re sitting at my table,’’ a husky voice says and time freezes when I raise my eyes and come eye to eye with those hypnotising dark brown eyes that captivated me this morning. He’s staring at me with an intense expression, a frown creasing his forehead.
“I’m sorry?’’ I ask, looking around to all the full seats. My cheeks flush when I find everyone’s eyes on us and I look back down to the table avoiding them and Malik’s eyes.
“You’re sitting at my table,’’ He repeats, his dark eyes boring into me, and my assumption from earlier was right, they are closer to black than they are to brown. His voice alone has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge, but his eyes have me feeling something else entirely.
Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1) Page 2
