Collide: A High School Bully Romance - Madison Falls High Book 1

by K. Walker

  I’d forgotten about the girl who had made a fool of herself chasing after Chad until I saw her returning, her face on fire like he had lit her up.

  “He said there’s a bonfire party later. He invited me. Can you believe that?” she gushed, and it made me want to throw up again.

  “Lucky you,” her friend drawled. “I bet you were the only girl he invited.”

  I wanted to laugh at the heavy sarcasm in her voice. She was a girl after my own heart, and I wanted to turn and give her a high-five. Instead, I glanced over at Liz and snickered.

  I tried not to look at the small horde that continued down the beach before a hooting sound was heard and they rushed into the water.

  “He’s so damned hot I could eat him alive,” the girl continued. “I heard he fucked Annabelle, and if she got to feel his cock inside her, I want a piece of it, too. No way she’s going to be the only one to fuck the hottest boy in Madison Falls.”

  Are you kidding me? Isn’t she the ambitious one?

  I hated hearing her talk about him, and in a sexual way. She was drumming up all kinds of curious images in my head – images of Chad I would rather not be seeing. I had already seen him with his tongue down a girl’s throat. I didn’t need to see him fucking a girl on the hood of his car at a bonfire party.

  “I think I’m going to take a walk,” I looked over and told Liz.

  “Gee. I wonder why,” she remarked sarcastically and stuck her finger inside her mouth.

  I laughed. She knew why I was leaving, and I bet she wanted to leave too, if not for the fact that someone had to watch the bags.

  “Sorry. I don’t want to leave you here alone. I’ll just be a minute.”

  “It’s okay. Oh, here comes Stacey anyway.”

  I looked over my shoulder and saw Stacey shaking her hair as she alighted from the water like a Bond girl from the movies, her red bikini causing a few heads to turn.

  “Good.” I didn’t feel so guilty anymore leaving her alone.

  My phone started vibrating again as soon as I walked off. “Hey Mom.”

  “Hi, honey,” she said in a concerned voice. “Are you home?”

  “No, I’m at the beach with some friends,” I told her and kicked up some sand as I walked.

  “Oh, making friends already I see,” she said gleefully. “Still want to do K-12?”

  “Very funny. I still might. Met my share of jerks today, too.”

  “Uh-oh,” Mom replied knowingly. “Not too bad, was it?”

  “Not really. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Oh, and guess what? I’m trying out for the cheer team tomorrow.”

  “What?” she laughed. “How did that happen?”

  “Queen cheer ordered me to,” I replied and looked around as I continued to walk.

  “Ordered? You?”

  “I was trying to be nice. That’s required when you’re a senior at a new school. I didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention. But guess how that worked out?”

  She laughed. “So who’re you at the beach with?”

  “Some girls from the volleyball team. Now that I’ll actually tryout for with a little more oomph!” I said and upper-cut the air with my left hand. “But enough about me. How did it go with Mr. Humpry?”

  “It wasn’t so bad. Mrs. Humpry was actually pretty nice. Her daughter is a senior at your school. Maybe you two can be friends.”

  Of course she is.

  “She said her name is Callie.”

  I stopped walking. “Queen cheer?”

  “That’s her?” Mom asked, her voice dripping with disbelief.

  “Great,” I replied, and once again my senior year started to look dismal again.

  Chapter 5

  “Chad! What the fuck?”

  “Stop bitchin’, Deven!” I laughed as he tumbled off his surfboard and landed in the water. “It’s not like you can’t swim.”

  He gurgled and spat before he wiped his hand down his face. “You’re always doing some bullshit!”

  “It’s in my nature,” I laughed. “Anyway, the waves are getting lame. Think I wanna head home before that bonfire thing.”

  “It’s almost dark. Why you gotta leave anyhow?”

  I had a perfectly good reason for wanting to get home. Her name was Sylvia. She was only twelve, and no way was I leaving her for too long with shitty parents.

  I didn’t answer him. I paddled closer to the shore and hopped off the board where the waves broke and rolled onto the beach. I turned to look back and saw Cody splashing his way over to me, his board tucked under his arm.

  “Thought you were gonna leave me.”

  “Nah,” I replied and kept walking. “But you’re driving back here. I’m not going to be babysitting your ass or waiting on you to finish getting your cock sucked again.”

  “That was a good night, bro,” he laughed and slapped my back.

  I laughed too. “I bet. You’re still on your own tonight, though.”

  Cody looked back and shouted, “Hey, Jake, you wanna give me a ride back here later?”

  “What the fuck’s wrong with your car? Why do we always have to be driving your spoiled ass everywhere?”

  “Because, you know, I like to have fun and—” He shrugged, expecting us to understand. And we did.

  Cody was one crazy ass mofo. He partied hard, and Zeke and Brody kept facilitating him with the latest scores. Weed. Molly, and sometimes coke or ‘shrooms. All of the party enhancers— and he always went overboard.

  “One of you need to pick him up,” I told them as they walked up to me. “You know if he drives here, he won’t be able to drive back anyway.”

  “Exactly.” Cody grinned, like it was something to be proud of.

  “I’ve got him now. You’ll have him later. One of these days he’ll take us all to school and wherever the fuck we wanna go for all the shit we’ve had to put up with over the years.”

  “No fuckin’ way!” Cody protested as we walked up to our cars.

  “Well, drive your own car!” Zeke scoffed. “Tired of you messing up my seats with your stray pussies.”

  Cody grinned again and rubbed the back of his neck. “That was just one time. And you’re not seriously going to hold that against me, are you? Or should I start talking about that skanky bitch you had up in my crib…”

  “Whatever!” Zeke deflected and waved him off. “I’m not picking you up.” He walked off toward his Dodge and popped the trunk. He tossed his gear inside without looking back.

  “That leaves the rest of you. Figure it out,” I told them and opened my trunk too.

  Cody turned around with wild eyes. “You all gonna do me like this?”

  We all laughed as none of us committed to taking him to the party. Maybe that would force him to drive his damned self.

  “Get in, before I change my mind.”

  He was sulking as he tossed his bag onto the back seat and climbed into the car. The spider doors were just closing when someone shrieked.

  “Chad!”

  The door slowly lifted as curiosity got the better of me. I saw a blond princess waving at me, her long legs extending to a bathing suit that barely covered anything – only her nipples were covered. I bet the bikini bottom was a thong.

  I licked my lips and called her over. “Hey.”

  “Hi, yourself,” she replied, her blue eyes flashing at me. “Will you be at the bonfire party later?”

  “Most definitely,” I told her and pulled her onto my lap. “You got a girl for my man here?”

  She giggled and leaned so she could see Cody. “Oh, for sure. I’ve got a few girls. Promise to be mine, later?”

  “I’m all yours,” I said and slapped her ass. “Now get the hell outta here.”

  She stood and my suspicion was confirmed – she was wearing a thong bikini, and I squeezed her firm ass when she shook it in my face. She turned and winked and quickly walked off.

  “Man, I don’t get it,” Cody complained as the doors came down again. “You don�
��t look better than me. I have money too. Why do girls keep throwing themselves at you like that?”

  “As if you don’t get your fair share of that,” I scoffed and pushed the starter button. The engine hummed quietly and I rolled out of the parking lot, right behind Zeke and ahead of Brody and the others.

  They had been my boys ever since we were in kindergarten. It still amazed me at times that we had all made it so far. After all the shit we’d done and been through. A smile played across my face as I started to remember one wild party after another and a few close calls.

  Cody lived closest to me, which automatically made me the one to watch his sorry ass all the time. And to give him rides. The others – they would do what they’d always done. Walk away and wait for him to grovel.

  I just couldn’t get why he never drove his car. It wasn’t like he didn’t have one. He had an Audi R8, just like mine. But unlike me, he was hardly in it.

  “What’s up with that, though?” I asked, forgetting he couldn’t read my mind until I saw the confusion on his face. “Do you hate driving or something?”

  He looked out the window. “Not really. But what’s the point of all of us driving to the same place?”

  That was the reason he had always given, which made sense. But I believed there was more to it than that.

  “Okay, get out, asshole,” I told him as I pulled into his driveway.

  “I’ll see you in a minute.” He grinned and walked off.

  “Tell Annie I said hi,” I teased.

  He turned and showed me his two middle fingers, and I laughed as the tires squealed on my way out the gate. His maid, Annie, had an ass for days. I had seen her in her little outfit on several occasions, and no way could Cody tell me he wasn’t tapping that ass.

  I grinned and gunned the car down the road, the smile slowly disappearing the closer I got to my house and completely gone when I realized Cheryl was home. Her white Porsche was parked in the spot she knew I had marked out.

  I grinded my teeth, the temptation to smash into it drummed inside me. I gripped my hands on the wheels and revved the engine so loudly she had to come running.

  “Chad? What’s going on?”

  “Move it!” I told her and glowered at her. My blood was boiling at the sight of her. She was wearing all white – off the shoulder shorts romper, sandals, and a hat, like she was either coming from or going to the Country Club. But she was a nobody, even when she tried to dress up. She was a classless bitch!

  Any woman who would come between a man and his family had to be the greatest of whores. I kept revving my engine.

  She folded her arms and stared me down. “Chad, I live here, too.”

  “Unfortunately,” I snapped. “Now, move it, or I’ll move it for you.”

  She stood with her arms still tightly folded over her chest, and I reversed a little way down the driveway, positioned my car exactly behind her, and revved again.

  “Last chance.”

  “Ugh!” she huffed and hurried to the car. “Why do you have to be like that?”

  I watched as she hopped into the Porsche, the one my dad had bought her, and painfully maneuvered it to the other side of the driveway.

  “I don’t see what the big deal is,” she complained as her perfectly manicured fingers, the ones attached to hands that apparently did nothing but stroke my dad’s cock, fell to her sides when she got out of the car again.

  I rolled my car into the spot and got out. I sauntered over to her and looked her up and down like she was garbage. Well, she was. Maybe better smelling, but garbage anyway. I sneered and walked past her, lightly bumping into her as I did. I knew that would get a rise out of her.

  “That’s it! I’m calling Derek!”

  I laughed as I entered the house. Like Derek could do shit about it. He couldn’t make me like her. I never would. Not the woman who had caused my mother to move out. Now she lived two hours away. Sylvia only saw her on weekends. And I was supposed to smile at the bitch and play house with her? No fucking way!

  I tossed my keys onto the entrance table and made my way to the den. I saw Sylvia’s mop of hair as soon as I hit the landing above the three steps leading down to my safe haven.

  “Who told you to come down here?”

  She groaned. “Sue me.” I walked over and grabbed a cushion that I used to knock her over the head with. “Ouch! Chad!” she wailed and reached for another cushion.

  “Uh-uh, you know you can’t win,” I teased.

  Her eyes lit up. “But I can try!”

  She tossed her laptop aside, the one she was probably using to do homework, and jumped up. “You’re dead.”

  I squinted at her. “Uh, I don’t think so. I’m the QB, remember? I’ve got the arms.”

  She grabbed my hand and kicked me in the shin. “And I’ve got the legs,” she laughed and shuffled back.

  “Ow! I thought this was a pillow fight. You play dirty, Miss Minor.”

  She stuck her tongue out at me. “So do you, Chad. Are you going to the bonfire thing later?”

  I raised my brow. “What do you know about that? Aren’t you in elementary school?”

  She blushed. “You’re such an idiot. I’m in middle school now, FYI, and I heard one of my friends talking about it. Her brother’s going. You guys get to have all the fun.” She pouted and crossed her arms before falling back into the sofa.

  I laughed. “You’ll soon be old enough to have your own fun. In the meantime, you can just keep watching Dora or Barney.” I knew she hated when I talked to her like she was five, but I would always see her as my baby sister.

  “Ha ha…very funny,” she mocked. “And just so you know, I have a party this weekend, and you’re going to take me.”

  “What? Whose party?” I dropped into the seat next to her and ruffled her hair.

  “Stop,” she said and shook her head to get free of me. “And it’s Sky, and Dad already said I could go.”

  “Long as I have nowhere better to be. Wait. Will there be any boys there?” She rolled her eyes at me. “What? I don’t want any boy taking advantage of my sister.”

  “You mean like you take advantage of girls?” she fired back.

  “Ouch!” I feigned sadness and clutched at my heart with both hands. “First of all, I don’t take advantage. It’s rude to say no when someone offers you something,” I grinned. “Now, finish your homework. I’m gonna get something to eat.”

  “Can we order pizza?” she asked excitedly. “I don’t want Cheryl’s food.”

  “Neither do I, so pizza it is. I’ll order it right now.” I called in two large pizza’s, one meat lovers and just pepperoni and cheese. I looked at Sylvia and smiled. “All set. It’ll be here in thirty minutes. Be right back.” I hopped over the back of the sofa and was on the third step when Dad rounded the corner.

  “What’s this I hear about you and Cheryl again?” he blurted out in a pissed off tone.

  I gave him a blank stare and walked past him. After Mom, I couldn’t look at him the same way. Couldn’t say I respected him like a son should either.

  “Chad! Don’t you walk away from me!” he bellowed.

  I walked faster toward the stairs. Cheryl stood by the breakfast bar, far away from me like she was afraid I would hit her. I scoffed and started up the steps.

  “You will respect Cheryl!”

  “Respect is earned, Dad,” I shouted back without looking.

  “Get back here!” he bellowed.

  I pretended not to hear him like I had done countless times before in the last year. I reached my door, pushed it open and slammed it shut. I fell on my bed, face first, and let the pillows smother me.

  I waited for him to come banging on my door. It usually followed something like this – I do something, Cheryl complains, he comes back from wherever and we have a fight. I walk off, he comes up and ‘grounds me’ and I sneak out and go where I want to go anyway.

  Not like he could stop me, short of tying me to my bed. And he wouldn’t
dare. He knew he had fucked up by ripping this family apart. The Audi R8 was part compensation for that, but he would have to pay with more than a fucking car.

  I waited a good ten minutes, but there was nothing. I turned my head and listened. “Strange,” I said to the room. Oh well. I checked my watch and realized it was already a few minutes shy of seven. I got up and stripped out of my clothes, and then I noticed the tattoo on my arm.

  I turned and looked at it, and absent-mindedly touched what lay beneath. The scars. The long indents that ran down my arm, covered by a mask of swirling colors.

  Why the hell didn’t you get the seatbelt unlocked?

  I couldn’t…I tried…it happened so fast.

  It’s all your fault!

  I shuddered as my phone vibrated, and my hand left my skin abruptly. My jaw tightened as I forced back the memories, hidden behind the wall in my mind and the art on my skin. If I could’ve helped it, I would have taken off my entire arm.

  I would have taken out my heart, if it meant saving him.

  I sighed and reached into my pocket. It was a text message from Gwen.

  Gwen: Where are you?

  Chad: Home.

  Gwen: When are you getting here?

  Chad: Soon as I can. Make sure to keep those lips warm for me.

  Gwen: I’ll do that!! XOXO!

  I tossed the phone onto the bed, stripped off the rest of my clothes, and headed into the bathroom. My eyes were closed as the water from the rainfall shower beat down on my face. And then, out of nowhere, Sophia’s face came to mind.

  My eyes popped open and I wiped down my face. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something about her. She seemed familiar—like I had always known her. And yet, she also seemed different.

  “Fuck it!” I said to the water.

  I wasn’t interested in anything deep with anyone. Not after Callie. She had been a bitch for most of the time that we had been together. I would spend the rest of my high school days fucking whoever I pleased. No strings attached.

  “Chad! You in there?”

  I groaned. It was Dad. And he was pissed. Shocker.

  “I’m in the shower!”