“Hey, you even listening to me?’’ she asks sounding hurt.
“Huh?’’ I ask not looking at her, my head feels sore and I want to reach out and rub it, but I don’t want to draw attention to the cut and bruise. My eyes sting with unleashed tears from feeling so alone. I just want to go home, I want my parents, but I can’t have any more time off and I’ll never be able to talk to my parents again. This is what my life is going to be like from now on. Will there ever be a time I’ll stop needing my parents? I don’t think there will be.
“I asked if you were coming tomorrow?’’
“Tomorrow?’’ I ask her confused, tomorrow’s Friday so where else would we be other than at school?
“Yeah, tomorrow night. You seriously weren’t listening to me were you,’’ she chuckles not sounding hurt. “They have a motocross race this weekend; I thought you would have known,’’ she asks sounding funny, but I still don’t turn to look at her fully.
“Oh no, no one’s mentioned it. Are you going?’’
“Um yeah, duh, the whole school goes. It’s five pound entry, but it’s worth it. Oh God, the lads that show up are to die for. We all go to a party afterwards at Chris’s. His dad owns the land the races take place on, so he lets us use the old Gunner house to hang out in, but if he’s away we use Chris’s home.’’
“The old Gunner house?’’ I ask wondering if it’s as haunting as the name sounds.
“Yeah, it was owned by Chris’s dad’s grandparents. No one has lived there in over eighty year’s cause of some fire they had a long time ago. To be fair the place is pretty stable. They only just got the electricity to work. Before we used to have to use candles, battery powered light etc, but then we only use it when Chris’s dad is in town, all the other times we just use his house,’’ she chuckles.
I go to ask another question when the bell for first period rings and my name gets called by Mr. Rogers.
“Uh-oh maybe you got detention after all,’’ she teases, but I just ignore her as I nervously make my way to the front, also ignoring Malik’s eyes on me. I’ve felt him looking my way throughout registration, but I didn’t want him to see the hurt in my eyes. Not from him not walking to school with me, but for the pain I feel from what that fucker has caused to my arm and head.
“Yes sir?’’ I ask once we’re alone and he closes the door.
“What happened to your face?’’ he asks getting straight to the point. I look up at him sharply wondering how the hell he could see it. My head tries to think of an excuse to use, but feeling under pressure I can’t think of any so I remain quiet.
“Don’t make an excuse up either, please, just tell me what happened.’’
“I bumped into my locker when the bell rang,’’ I blurt out, the lie falling easily from my lips.
Mr Rogers looks at me sceptically and although his eyes are still searching mine for an honest answer he sighs, nodding his head. I can see he doesn’t like my answer but knows he can’t argue with it either. Not without any proof anyway.
“Would you like to go to the nurse’s office and get that sorted? I’ll give you a late note.’’
“No, I’m fine thank you sir.’’
“Okay, but after lunch can you come by here to sign the incident form out for me please. It will need to go on school records,’’ he says sounding much like the teacher I’ve come to know.
I give him a smile before answering ‘yes’ and make my way out of the classroom, letting students lining up outside to come in.
I’ve not gotten far to my next lesson when a hand flies out from the boys toilets. I let out a scream, but it’s quickly muffled when a large hand covers my mouth.
“Shhh, it’s me,’’ Malik whispers, and my whole body sags into his with relief. Tears spill from my eyes, something I’ve been trying to keep in since the whole escapade with Davis half an hour ago.
“What’s wrong? You looked off this morning in registration?’’ he asks, my back still pressed against his hard front.
“Just tired I guess,’’ I tell him softly, which isn’t a lie, I am tired. My head is pounding and all I want to do is go home to bed.
Feeling his lips against my neck, I let out another sigh, loving the feel of his soft lips against my skin. I move my neck to the side to give him better access, wanting to feel more of his soft lips and he lets out a husky chuckle once he realises what I’m doing.
His hands reach around from my stomach to my hips, turning me around. I’m so lost in the bliss of his lips that I forget about how shit I look.
When I look up into his eyes, hoping to see them filled with lust and desire, I whimper when I find his hard eyes locked on mine.
“What the fuck?’’ he shouts making me jump. “Who the fuck did that? He did that didn’t he? I’m going to fucking kill him,’’ he says before punching the toilet cubicle door, making it slam against the wall.
Taking a step back, wanting to get away from his anger my back slams against the sinks making a noise to erupt from my throat, which diverts his attention back to me.
“Are you okay? Do you want to go home?’’ he asks, his voice softer as he walks over to me.
“No I’m fine. I can’t miss anymore school. I have exams to revise for.’’
“We need to call the police.’’
“No we can’t. What are they going to do Malik? There was a corridor full of people that didn’t even take notice to what was happening between us. Do you really think the police are going to take my word over his? He probably already has people willing to tell them it never happened. If he does it again then we can go to the police. I just don’t want to make things worse than it already is.’’
“Worse? Worse? He fucking hit you, I’m going to kill him,’’ he yells.
“Calm down, please. We’re going to be late to English,’’ I tell him.
“Come on, let’s go,’’ he says holding his hand out to me, shocking me. Placing my cold hand in his, he pulls me closer to him, my chest resting against his. “I can’t believe he did this in school,’’ he whispers sadly. “I knew I should have just seen the principal after school instead.’’
“Look, I’m fine.’’
“No you’re not, your eyes are squinting and you only do that when you have a headache babe,’’ he says shocking me how well he knows me.
Rolling my eyes I try to tug him towards the door not wanting to get a detention when he pulls me back to him. Detention seems like a great idea when he leans in kissing me. Automatically my hands reach into his hair, loving how soft it feels when I run my fingers through it. I also love the deep growl that he makes when I tug at it.
When the kiss ends we pull away from each other breathless, staring into each other’s eyes.
“Come on,’’ he smirks, pulling me to the door.
It’s dinner time by the time I finally get five minutes to myself. I’ve searched for Malik since lunch started twenty minutes ago, but I haven’t seen him, Max or Myles for that matter. I start to give up that I’ll see him when the door to the lunch hall opens with all the Carter brothers walking in one by one. All wearing serious facial expressions, but it’s Malik’s furious one that has me glued to my seat completely frozen.
I’ve managed all day to avoid people seeing my eye, no one other than Mr. Rogers or Malik have seen it, or if they have they haven’t mentioned it to me. So when Denny yells out my name making me jump, I advert my eyes away from Malik over to her and I really shouldn’t have been surprised by her reaction, but I was. Not even Lilly paid this much attention towards me and we’ve been friends years.
“What the hell happened to you?’’ she demands, her eyes hard as she looks at my head wound. It’s not that bad, it’s mostly sore from the bruising, but the actual cut isn’t that big. It’s more like a scratch to be honest. Oh no! I’ve turned into one of those girls who down play the big things. When did I become her? My mom would pitch a fit if she knew I hid something like this from her.
“Lo
ng story,’’ I mumble not wanting to get into it, but then I don’t have to when Max slams his tray down next to Denny.
“That fucker got to her this morning,’’ he growls filling her in.
“Davis did this to you?’’ she whisper yells, her eyes filling with tears, something I really don’t need right now, my head is still pounding after all. It’s not like I can go to the nurse’s office for some paracetamol. They can’t give them out without written consent from parents or guardian.
“Look, I’m fine. Please, just drop it until later,’’ I beg, gesturing to listening ears around us.
She nods her head stiffly, obviously not happy about not being able to ask questions. She always knows how the rumour mill works in this school, and that it’s better to talk when people won’t be eavesdropping in on our conversation.
“Hey babe,’’ Malik whispers in my ear making me shiver. He’s never sat next to me before, he usually sits across from me or on the other end by Myles, but today, he’s sitting next to me with his chair pulled up next to mine. His friend Jake takes Malik’s usual seat next to Myles, giving everyone a chin lift. Jake is the lad who sits next to Malik in registration. He’s also the only other person apart from a few of Myles’s friends that I see sitting at our table. I asked Denny once what his deal was, but she couldn’t give me an answer which is unlike her. All she could say is that he’s quiet, a man whore and doesn’t speak to anyone other than Malik.
No wonder they’re friends.
“Hey,’’ I whisper, feeling a blush covering my cheeks.
“How you feeling?’’ he asks, reaching out to move the hair away from my eye.
Turning in my chair I look at him with soft eyes, loving that he cares this much to ask me, “Still got a headache, but other than that I’m fine,’’ I smile genuinely.
“Good,’’ he says then does something else that shocks the hell out of me; he leans in and kisses me. It takes me a few seconds for my brain to catch up, but it’s not long until I’m kissing him back, ignoring the cat calls from all around us.
We pull away breathless like always, Malik is giving me his cocky smirk which makes me smile shaking my head. Giving me one last peck on the lips he turns to study his food, with his one hand resting on my thigh.
Still in my Malik bubble it takes me a few minutes to realise the hall sounds quieter than usual. When I look around I notice mostly everyone is looking at our table. Some are whispering and some look like they’re catching flies with their mouths hanging open. I’m feeling pretty uncomfortable, so I lean into the table.
“Um, why is everyone staring over here?’’ I whisper to no one in particular.
“Because oh-almighty-one over there just staked his claim,’’ Max grumbles with a playful smirk.
“Why do you sound so upset?’’ Denny asks before taking a bite from her apple.
“Cause I wanted to claim her,’’ he says so seriously it makes Denny spit all her apple out, all over the table.
“Charming,’’ I laugh, thankful none of it reached over this side of the table.
“He’s kidding,’’ she says to herself.
“I am not,’’ he mocks, faking that he’s offended. “I lay awake the whole night wondering how I could steal her back from my jackass brother.’’
“What did you come up with?’’ I ask curiously making the hand on my thigh tighten. Looking over to Malik I grin before leaning in to give him another kiss on the lips making him smirk back at me. His expression is playful, amused and relaxed which is so unlike the broody Malik I’ve come to know.
“Well, a McDonalds would have been involved, my bed and a pack of condoms,’’ he winks making me laugh. “Or two.’’
“So romantic,’’ I tease, holding my hand over my heart, sighing dramatically.
“I know, I can’t help it. Romeo hasn’t got shit on me.’’
“Obviously, he actually got the girl,’’ Denny chuckles.
“Hey, they also killed themselves, I’ve got skills just watch,’’ he smirks before getting up to walk over to a table of girls. They all look at him with wide eyes before the giggles start. Within two seconds of being at the table he has his tongue down some girl’s throat.
“Okay, he’s got mad skill. When he comes back with STD’s you guys remind him of that,’’ Denny tells Malik and Myles.
“We do, we even left health clinic leaflets with his and Mason’s condoms the once, I don’t think they were even opened,’’ Myles laughs.
We all laugh with him, but Denny’s laugh doesn’t sound real and I realise it’s because of them mentioning Mason. She really does have a mad crush on the lad. She’s always staring at him, her mind obviously picturing her future with him whenever he’s around. I’m also sure she has been texting him for the past week, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.
We talked about him once a few days after he dropped her back home from mine. She said he was so sweet, acting differently to the way he usually acts around girls. Even admitting she preferred the Mason he was when he was with her, which I could understand if what she said about him to me is true. I just hope he doesn’t break her heart. Even I’ve seen the way he looks at her and to be fair, it is different to how he looks at other girls. Not that I’ve actually seen him with loads of girls.
Last lesson is geography. It’s also my worst lesson here as neither Malik nor Denny are in here with me. But of course Davis is. I’d made sure to be one of the first in to class so that he couldn’t catch me out in the hall alone. I really don’t feel like adding more bruises to the ones he’s already inflicted on me today.
The classroom has a few students already seated, so I take my usual seat towards the front by the teacher. I’d learnt as soon as Davis would be in here to be as close as possible to an adult. Not that the geography teacher Mr. Haynes would do anything. He has to be one of the most laid back teachers I’ve met so far. He doesn’t shout when the class becomes too noisy, or confiscate a phone if someone has it on.
I’d even heard one of the girls in Hannah’s little group bullying one of the nerdy girls once and he said nothing. If I could hear them, then I know for damn sure he could have, which really pissed me off.
Davis walks in with his eyes to the ground, making my palms sweat. The teacher isn’t here yet, and although I know he’s a pretty shitty teacher, I’d still rather have him here when Davis was.
Thinking he’d forgotten I was in this class I sink back in my seat relaxing somewhat.
“What? She got them to hit you because you wouldn’t take her out on a date?’’ a girl says from behind me making my back straighten.
“Yeah, it looks like someone doesn’t like being told no,’’ Davis lies, his voice full of venom.
“Silly tramp,’’ Hannah sneers, butting her nose in. “Who does she think she is coming to our school thinking she’s all that? I can’t wait for someone to knock her down a peg or two.’’
“I know what I’d love to do to her, the lying bitch,’’ Davis growls making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.
The teacher walks in just as someone throws something at the back of my head. My head flies forward making everyone in the classroom laugh loudly. When my eyes land on the teacher he just looks at me like he’s looking through me, so I do the only thing I can do, I stand up, shoving my shit in my bag.
“Where do you think you’re going Miss Evans,’’ he asks piping up for the first time.
“Home,’’ I mutter.
“What, are you too good for school now?’’ Davis says amused.
I turn around to look at him for the first time, shocked slightly when I see his bruised face. Looking at his deep scowl immediately lets me know who used their fists to do that to him. He’s bullying me because he can’t pick on someone that can challenge him. I thought I would feel angry about provoking him more, but I don’t. I don’t agree with fighting, it doesn’t solve anything, but something tells me it’s the only thing Davis understands.
“Need a picture babe?’’ Hannah laughs.
“Why don’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want anything to do with you or want to listen to whatever shit you’re going to cook up next…’’
“Harlow, that’s enough,’’ the teachers firm voices cuts through my rant.
“No, what’s enough is you. You just walked in this classroom and watched them throw whatever the hell it was they threw at me and said nothing. When they sit there tormenting other students, you sit there and do nothing. Now that I’m speaking up for myself you actually decide to be a teacher? I don’t think so,’’ I snap.
“Go to the principal’s office right now,’’ he barks.
“Don’t worry, I’m going,’’ I snap grabbing my bag and ignoring all the other insults the class throws my way.
Chapter Nine
“What on earth were you thinking getting into trouble this close to finishing school?’’ Gram’s says.
Yesterday after storming out of geography, I’d gone straight to the principal’s office like I’d been asked to. I had told her what had happened and what always happens in his class, I even went as far as to tell her what happened to my face.
Then when I got called in today the principal said she had spoken to Davis and the teacher. Davis had told her he had no idea what happened to my face just like I knew he would. So, it’s his word against mine.
Whatever.
Mr. Haynes however, had basically pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. I swear to God, I’d love to go into his classroom and kick him in the shin. He had said I was being disruptive in his class, using bad language and using threatening behaviour towards him and other students.
I call bullshit, but whatever, the school will side with him. He’s a teacher after all. I heard adults turn around to other parents about how they couldn’t get paid enough to work with a bunch of teenagers, but what they don’t realise is that the majority of the time, it’s us who can’t put up with the teachers or their methods. They say respect your elders, but then, I could hold doors for old people and not even get a thank you. Sometimes it’s not always about respect but about treating people the way you want to be treated by others.
Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1) Page 13
