by Ivy Blake
“I don’t have a type.”
“Yeah you do- pussy is your type!” Ross laughed at his own joke while me and Nate rolled our eyes and shook our heads.
“What about that new girl, do you think you’re gonna try and tap that?” asked Nate. I froze for a moment, feeling my heart in my throat- a reaction that cost my avatar his life in the game.
“Are you asking me because you’re trying to tap that?” I shot back in the most nonchalant way I could, but Nate and I were basically brothers, so of course he saw straight through the façade.
“She’s hot but I bet she’s more into you, plus I kinda like the girl I’m seeing right now.”
“I’ll take one for the team,” said Ross smugly as he glanced up from his phone.
“Leave her alone,” I growled. Ross’ eyes flashed with mischief. But he didn’t challenge me like I expected he would.
“Fine, her sister is just as hot- hotter in my opinion,” said Ross with a shrug.
“She has a sister?” I asked, taken aback.
“The girl who was sitting near us at lunch, the one who Ross was flirting with before we left- you must have seen her, great boobs,” said Nate with a big smile on his face. I cast my mind back to lunch and vaguely remembered the girl they were describing.
“Her name is Lola, and she seems pretty easy if you ask me- I know she’s a lot of fun,” said Ross. With that comment I knew that they’d exchanged numbers and that Virgin’s sister was going to go through hell if she did hook up with Ross. While he was my friend, he could be a real scumbag- but who was I to judge?
“As long as you stay away from Megan, I don’t care who you fuck,” I spat.
“Sounds good to me,” said Ross. “It’s gonna be go time at Nate’s party then.”
“Sure,” I said. If Steven didn’t kill me first.
Chapter Six
Megan
“So are we going to talk about the fact that everybody thinks you’re a loser?” asked Lola as we pulled up to school. I rolled my eyes and parked the car perfectly between the lines.
“Are we going to talk about you flirting with that senior yesterday?” I shot back as I took my seatbelt off. A smile broke across Lola’s face, and she pocketed her phone before turning to me.
“What is there to talk about, sis? Are you jealous?” she taunted me.
“Why would I be jealous?” I said hotly, even though deep down the knots in my stomach suggested something different.
“You saw how hot Ross and his friends are, and they are your age. Shame, I guess they can just tell who the superior sister is.” Lola shrugged with faux innocence, but I could tell that she was having a power trip.
“Just be careful,” I spat out hastily, not quite sure why I suddenly felt protective. “Don’t let them take advantage of you just because you’re younger.” Lola scoffed.
“Why would I take advice about boys from you, Virgin? Damn, I find your nickname so funny,” she chuckled.
“Stop calling me that, or you can walk to school,” I warned my sister.
“I’m sure I’d find a new ride pretty easily.” I wanted to hurl, but I didn’t have the energy to fight any longer.
“Whatever, just don’t be late and don’t do anything stupid.” Lola and I climbed out of the car, slamming the doors behind us before turning to walk in different directions. It was dumb since most people had realised that we were sisters by simply paying attention to our last names and the fact that we had arrived on the same day, but we still had a silent agreement to keep our distance from each other.
Last night, as I tossed and turned in bed, fighting the memories of my horrible first day at Valley High, I’d sworn to myself that I’d give Austin a piece of my mind if he tried anything again. As expected, 24 hours wasn’t enough to clear Valley High’s halls and students of my cruel nickname and social status. I still had to deal with the frequent stares from students as they nudged their friends, whispering together before pointing and laughing at me. I clenched my jaw and kept my head up to try and maintain my dignity even though I wanted nothing more than to run away.
As I sat in my various classes, I rehearsed all the ways I would cuss Austin out in different scenarios- a few ending with me kicking him in the balls. He was the one responsible for all of this, for my misery. That asshole had started the name calling and the school had followed suit. He was their king after all and I could only dream of knocking him off his throne. Of course I wouldn’t do that, or maybe I couldn’t bring myself to do that, not because I liked him but because I’d be too scared to get in trouble. There was no harm fantasising about it though.
Despite these fantasises, I didn’t see even a glimpse of Austin until lunch, where I spied him sitting at the table that I’d now come to realise was his territory. Sophie and I chatted away and were joined by some of her bandmates who were also as lovely as her. Unfortunately, there were too many similar sounding names to remember, so I made sure that if I was talking to anyone directly, I’d use eye contact to signal that I wanted their attention.
While I was fully invested in the conversation and glad to be surrounded by people that weren’t taking the piss out my, my eyes kept floating back to Austin’s table, specifically Austin. While Ross and Nate were deep in conversation with Lola and her friends, who were giggling as required, Austin’s eyes were fixed on me. He glared at me as if I was nothing more than gum on the pavement. I swallowed hard as I forced myself to look away and pay attention to Sophie and her friends, who actually wanted my company and didn’t see me as lesser (or at least didn’t make it as obvious as Austin did.) Despite looking away, I could still feel Austin’s eyes on me, so much so that Sophie began to notice.
“Why is he looking at you like that?” she whispered to me as the rest of the group caught up on last night’s episode of Love Island, which Sophie and I hadn’t seen yet.
“I don’t know,” I hissed back, becoming fidgety in my seat. It was one thing if he wanted my attention, but the dude was just looking at me, and now other people were starting to realise it. All of my rehearsed lines had gone out of the window and my body decided to do the only thing it knew how.
“Hey, I gotta get something from the library for my next class, so I’ll see you guys later,” I said apologetically as I rose from my seat with my tray.
“No worries,” called the table in unison.
“Text me if you need anything,” said Sophie with a pointed look. I nodded and waved goodbye to the table before I put my tray away and beelined towards the exit furthest away from Austin. As I left the lunch hall, I realised how breathless I’d become. My heart was pounding in my chest as I reached the doors of the library. Books- that’s exactly what I needed, they’d always been my safe space, and were now the perfect place to hide from Austin’s hateful looks and whatever confusing feelings they conjured up inside of me.
The library was huge, bigger than anything I’d seen before, with more than enough spaces for the whole school to be seated at once, if they wished. There was no way that a guy like Austin would step foot in a place as quiet and orderly as this, which made it the perfect place to get away from him.
I selected a space near the back that was hidden by the bookshelf filled with Women’s Fiction and took respite there. I pulled out my laptop and scrolled through the news, which was an odd way to calm myself down, but it worked for a bit. But no matter how crazy the story was, I couldn’t be free from thoughts of Austin. I realised that I needed to stimulate my brain a bit more and pulled out my English homework, which wasn’t due until the following week, but since I had nothing better to do, I decided to get started on the essay now. I put my earphones in and pressed play on my study playlist.
I found myself lost in my essay, which was unsurprising because it was on my favourite play, Macbeth. My fingers flew across the keyboard with such swiftness that I didn’t notice that I was no longer alone at my table until it was too late. The prick was sitting opposite me, leaning back in his ch
air with his hands behind his back as if nothing was amiss. My heart stopped in my chest as my eyes traced up Austin’s torso before landing on his smug face. I ripped my earphones out of my ear, annoyed that my hiding place had been infiltrated. Was there no respite for me in this gargantuan school?
“How long have you been sitting there?” I hissed at him. Austin’s eyes were hard but contained a hint of mischief.
“Long enough,” he growled. “you’re hiding from me, aren’t you, Virgin?” he taunted in his silky voice.
“You’re following me, aren’t you, asshole?” The words leapt out of my mouth without my permission. Austin raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
“It’s my school. I can do what I want,” he shot back as his eyes lowered to my mouth before meeting my eyes once more.
“So what do you want?” I breathed. Austin’s lips curled into a smile, and he glanced at the chair beside him.
“Come here and I’ll tell you,” he growled.
I scoffed and remained seated. Who the hell does he think he is? A growl escaped from Austin’s perfect pink lips; clearly my response had made him angrier.
“You better sit where I tell you to, bitch or things are gonna get a whole lot worse for you around here,” he spat pure venom. Austin’s eyes flashed, signalling danger. “And I’ll make sure of that.”
I gulped, and I wasn’t sure if it was fear or resignation that propelled me to stand up and join him on the other side of the table.
“That’s a good girl,” he purred, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I suddenly realised how close we were, his leg was grazing my bare thigh. I couldn’t help but wonder how his bare skin would feel against mine…
I shook my head free of nonsensical thoughts and turned to my tormentor.
“Now will you tell me what you want?” I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice as best as I could. Austin pretended to think for a moment before he took his phone out of his pocket.
“A picture,” he said with a wolfish grin.
“A picture?” I spluttered, my brain racing at a million miles an hour. What the hell did he want a picture of me for?
“Did I stutter?” he scoffed, “yes a picture.” Before I could respond, Austin was holding his smartphone in front of us, displaying his smug face and my bemused one. “ 3,2, 1-,” he counted and once he stopped counting, instead of taking the picture of our faces, quick as a flash he grabbed my skirt, pulled it up and took a picture of what remained instead. Horrified, I jumped back as I tried my best to quickly fix my modesty.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed, not caring who heard my cries.
“What?’ asked Austin lazily as he scrolled through the pictures he had just taken. My cheeks burned with fire and I hatred as I spied my lacy underwear on his phone.
“Delete that right now!” I shrieked as I fumbled for the phone. Austin held it out of my reach, his chiselled face betraying not even a hint of sympathy- in fact he looked thoroughly proud of himself.
“Sit down and lower your voice,” he ordered me. I made to swipe for the phone again, adamant to not give up, but this time Austin grabbed my wrist and forced me into my seat. I squirmed against his grip, but he refused to let go, his eyes hard as steel. “Unless you want me to send this to everyone?” he asked coyly.
“No!” I exclaimed. Austin raised an eyebrow. “No,” I whispered, and to this he nodded with approval at my calmer tone.
“Good girl,” he said, releasing my arm. “Now, Virgin, I’m gonna tell you what’s going to happen here.” I stared at him as I realised that Austin was about to blackmail me. Fuck my life.
“What do you want?” I sighed.
“I want you to tutor me,” said Austin simply.
“What?”
“Tutor me in English.”
“You don’t even know what grades I’m getting,” I scoffed. Even though I knew that English was my best subject there was no way that Austin would have access to that information- I hadn’t even been at Valley High for two days! Unless he had inside sources, which wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
“I could be dumb as shit for all you know,” I said hotly.
“I thought you were a virgin, not stupid,” he chuckled darkly.
“I’m not a virgin,” I whispered as I racked my brains for a possible way around this. Austin growled and I looked down at the table to see that his hands had curled into fists. “Austin?” I whispered. I could see his eyes were full of fury and that there was nothing I could do about it. Austin stood from his chair and pocketed his phone.
“After school, right here, and don’t be late,” he said through gritted teeth, “and if you don’t show up, remember I’ve got this.” Austin tapped the blazer pocket that held his phone, and without so much as a backwards glance, he left me sitting alone wondering why he was so concerned with my virginity. He couldn’t be jealous, could he? But in more pressing news, what the hell was he expecting me to teach him?
* * *
Austin
I walked into the locker room and punched the first locker I saw, leaving a deep dent right in the middle. I couldn’t give less of a shit. It belonged to one of the new freshers anyway. I was seeing red, and knew if I didn’t let off some steam that I was going to kill someone.
I changed out of my uniform and into my workout stuff, glad to see that the school gym was empty. I stepped on the treadmill and slowly began to increase the speed, my feet pounding loudly as I replayed what Megan had just told me. She wasn’t a virgin, she’d been touched before, by someone who wasn’t me. I couldn’t understand why I’d reacted so badly, considering that I’d slept with so many girls and knew that many of them had been fucked by plenty of other guys, but this time was different. I was meant to be the one to break Megan, and knowing that someone else had beaten me to it pissed me off beyond belief. She was my toy to mess about with, but this was something outside of my control.
I jumped off the treadmill, sweat dripping down my body, and decided to tear off my shirt before migrating to the boxing bags. I put my gloves on and started pummelling the bag, imagining it to be the face of the guy that had taken my toy before I’d had the chance to. My mind raced as I thought about the way her legs would have parted for him, how she would have clung to his back as he drove himself deeper inside of her and I wanted that to be me. My punches became quicker and sweat dripped into my eyes as my heart raced in my chest.
I would make Megan submit. That way she would truly know her place. Right now, she had something over me. Fucking her senseless would ensure that she knew her place, beneath me, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. After I was finished with her, she’d beg for more and I’d deny her. I stopped punching the bag as I felt my dick press against my shorts. A growl escaped my throat as images of Megan flashed through my mind. I remembered how she’d obeyed me in the library, fearful that I was going to release those pictures, but for now, they were my property. I took off the gloves and opened my gallery, ready to see the pictures I’d taken earlier when Steven called. This was exactly what I didn’t need. I hung up, but he called back straight away. Fuck this prick! I pressed the green answer button and raised the phone to my ear.
“Do you know how disrespectful it is to not answer when I call you?” Steven yelled down the phone.
“Hello to you, too,” I said sarcastically.
“Your mother is back and we’re going to have a family dinner tonight, you better not run away to your little stupid friends’ houses, you understand me boy?” spat Steven. I hesitated, because that’s exactly what I’d planned to do after my tutoring session with Megan.
“Listen here, you fucking bastard- I will come to that school and-”
“I’ll be there,” I said quickly. There was no way I was going to let Steven come here and embarrass me in front of everyone. “Can you pass the phone to mom?”
