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

by K. Walker

  I folded my arms and stared at her.

  “What? A good cheer can dance and move to anything,” she said and smirked at me.

  “This isn’t Step it Up, Callie,” I shouted to her, and gasps erupted around the room. No one dared talk back to her, I assumed. “How the hell am I supposed to dance to this? You didn’t give the other girls this crap.”

  “But you aren’t the other girls, are you?” she asked and then flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder.

  I couldn’t help but feel like she was punishing me for last night – because she had seen me walking with Chad. She only made me want to rock that song, so I stepped out in front of the other girls waiting behind me, like a model.

  I kept my eyes glued to hers, determined to show her she couldn’t best me. One foot in front of the other, I dipped my body and brought it up back up slow, my ass in the air, and my hands trailing up my legs and over my chest, my breasts, and into the air.

  I backed it up a couple of times, lifted my leg and did a split in the air before jumping and twirling and landing on the ground, sliding on my knees and coming up right in front of the desk.

  Then I placed my arms backwards and touched my palms to the ground, bringing my body into the air as I did a hand stand. The uproar from the crowd was deafening as I resumed a standing position and walked off. I smiled at everyone that sat in the bleachers as some of the guys whistled at me and I just continued to walk out.

  I was done. I wasn’t interested in making a point anymore and I knew it would piss her off more than anything. I held control. Not her.

  “Get back here!” Callie cried out.

  I stopped and turned. “I don’t think you wanted me here, anyway.” And then I turned again. The oohs and aahs that followed me out of the gym was enough satisfaction for me, but I knew I hadn’t made things any better for myself. Callie would be out for blood, but let her bring it on! I was done playing nice, and it was only day two.

  The door banged behind me and I hurried off to the lockers. I just wanted to go home. I was a couple of steps away when I heard the door again, and I walked faster, thinking it might be Callie coming to order me back into the gym.

  I’d wanted to play games with her, but it had backfired.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Stacey called and I could hear her running to get to me. She jumped right in front of me and stopped, holding her hand out in front of her to stop me.

  “Home,” I told her and tried to go around.

  “Okay,” Amanda said from behind me. “Let’s go home.”

  I paused and looked suspiciously at her. “That’s it? No, ‘Callie’s going to make your life hell now’ speech?”

  “Not today.” Amanda grinned and threw her arm around my shoulder. “I just feel like celebrating.”

  I laughed at the way her face suddenly looked like a cherub. Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind us. We turned and saw students pouring out of the gym. I stopped walking.

  “Is it over?”

  “Maybe,” Amanda replied. “There were only two girls after you.”

  “Hmm,” I mused when I saw Chad and his posse walking towards us. He winked and walked right by us and out the door.

  “You’re now officially on his radar and his target,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes with disgust. “He’s just like Callie. One pretty new girl comes to school, and all of a sudden, it’s a game. Who will get her first – cheer or Chad?” She was tightening her fist as she talked, and her face had changed to a shade of red.

  “Forget about them, Amanda,” I told her. “I make my own choices.”

  “That’s what you think. Just wait. You’ll see,” she said in an ominous way that sent chills down my spine.

  Do I really have something to be afraid of where Callie or Chad was concerned?

  “Right now, they don’t matter. Let’s all go to my house and chill for a while, okay?” Stacey suggested.

  We nodded, closed our lockers and started for the parking lot. That idea sounded like heaven. I quickly texted Mom and learned that she had to stay late at the Humpreys, so I took up Stacey’s offer to have supper at her house.

  That entire evening felt surreal to me. We watched movies and hung out for a couple of hours and just relaxed with not a worry in the world. It was like I used to do back in Santa Monica, and I began to miss my girls again.

  By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep.

  Sophia! Help! Sitting on my surfboard wading in the water, I watched as the ocean blue waves slowly turned to a crimson red. It was everywhere around me. I screamed out for her again.

  Rachel! Where are you? I can’t find you.

  Sophia, why didn’t you save me?

  Sophia!

  I sprang out of my sleep, and a cold-sweat washed over my body as my hair stuck to my forehead. My chest heaved and I pressed my palm against it and relaxed against the pillow. It was dark and I reached for my phone next to me on the bed.

  It was 1:22. I sighed and rolled over. I was still wearing the jeans and sweater from the day before, and I rubbed my eyes and got up. I stripped out of my clothes and headed for the bathroom.

  I dreaded going back to sleep. I’d had the same nightmare since Rachel died, and Mom was trying to force me to go get therapy. I was beginning to think I should take her advice, or I would end up on sleeping pills. I turned on the shower and watched as the water cascaded to the ground and trickled down the drain.

  “Sweetie, you okay?” Mom asked groggily as she entered the room.

  “In here, Mom,” I called and poked my head through the bathroom door.

  She padded over quickly, pulling the robe tighter around her. The concern in her eyes was evident, and heart-wrenching. I hated that she had to worry about me, after everything she had already gone through.

  “You okay? I heard the water running.”

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I lied. I had to. She had enough on her plate to worry about.

  She cocked her head to the side. “Did you have a nightmare again?”

  She knew me too well. “Mom, it’s nothing. You can go back to sleep.”

  She reached out and took my face in her hands as she forced me to look at her. “You’re not fine. You’re not sleeping well. I hear you every night, Sophia.” I looked down, since I couldn’t move my head. “You can’t go on like this, honey.”

  “I know,” I said softly.

  “So will you consider what I’ve asked? Will you get counseling?”

  “Fine,” I conceded. “I’ll go.”

  “Good,” she said and kissed my forehead. “Now, how was your tryout?”

  “Mom, really? You want to talk about that now?”

  She laughed. “Not really, but I foresee that I’ll hardly get to see my little girl. Mr. Humpry is a very time-consuming patient.”

  “I bet. Listen, Mom,” I said as I removed her hands. “I love you and all, but I really need to shower and get some sleep. I don’t want to show up for school tomorrow looking like something from The Walking Dead.”

  She laughed. “Okay. Love you, baby, and I won’t even ask why you’re just now taking a shower.”

  “Good, because I won’t tell,” I teased.

  I sighed when she left the bathroom. The prospect of going to counseling was just as daunting as going to sleep. But who knows? Maybe it would work.

  Twenty minutes later I was back in bed. I checked my messages, sent a few late responses and struggled for two hours to go back to sleep.

  By the time I was supposed to get up, I was dead tired. I groaned, then I kicked and flailed with the covers, and finally screamed at the ghosts that refused to leave me alone.

  “Seriously, Rachel, if you were alive right now!” I said through the pillow I clutched over my face.

  I tossed the pillow off the bed and got up.

  Time to face the music.

  Day three in hell.

  As if I hadn’t been anxious and nervous befor
e, add my lack of sleep to that, and what you had was a hot mess. I parked my car in my undesirable assigned spot and waited. What was I waiting for? I wasn’t sure.

  Maybe for the world to end. Or anything to give me an excuse to not go inside that building and have to face Queen Cheer.

  The bell rang, and I knew I had run out of time. I picked up my purse and weaved my way through the cars.

  I hadn’t seen her, but when I felt the tap on my shoulder, I knew it was her. I tightened my fist before I turned. She was with Paris and Christine, the dark-skinned wonder. She was actually quite pretty – she didn’t need Callie. I wondered if they realized that much, that they could have their own light, instead of adding to hers.

  “What?” I asked and turned.

  Callie gasped. “Excuse me?”

  Shit! That didn’t come out right.

  “Callie,” I said and tried to look past her human wall. “I didn’t realize it was you.”

  She stepped closer to me. “I see,” she said, her perfect smile painted on her face. “You left the tryouts early. Thought you would like to know you made the team.”

  “I, what? Callie, no!”

  “Sophia, yes!” she said mockingly. “The girls and I thought you were great, so, you’re on the team.”

  I lowered my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. When will it end? “Callie, I don’t want to be a cheerleader. I want to be on the volleyball team. That’s my thing.”

  She raised her index finger, and I saw her pointy nail aimed at my face. “You are what I say you are.” She smiled. “That team is trash. But then, if that’s what you want to be.”

  I groaned. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to cheer.”

  It was hard not to notice the ever-expanding crowd that had gathered around us when they should be going to class. She was like a people magnet – everyone wanted to know what was going on with her.

  Madison Falls very own Kardashian wannabe.

  She stepped right up into my face so that if I stuck out my tongue, I would be licking the cherry off of her lip gloss. “Listen to me, bitch. I don’t know who you think you are, but let’s get one thing straight. You came here as a nobody and I’ll let you leave like one. Got it?”

  “Is that so?”

  She tapped my chest with her finger. “You better believe me.”

  Deep breath, Sophie, deep breath, I just kept saying to myself like a mantra in my head.

  “You should listen to her,” Christine poked her head around her and added.

  “Christine, shut it! I don’t need an interpreter,” she growled without batting an eye. Christine recoiled, and I scoffed.

  It was too early for this level of drama. “You know what? I don’t have time for this shit. I have to get to class.”

  “Don’t you walk away from me!” she hurled, but I kept walking anyway. “Sophia!”

  I kept my fist clenched against my purse as I pushed the heavy doors in and entered the lobby. I saw Amanda as she was walking toward me.

  “Sophia, hey.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “What happened?”

  Her words got lower when I saw her eyes dart behind me. “Guess!”

  “Uh-oh,” she whispered and grabbed me by the wrist. “Let’s go.”

  She scooted me out of the hallway and down another, until we ducked inside a bathroom next to the gym.

  “What the hell?” I asked her.

  “Just stay here for a minute, will you?” she asked. “And for once, just listen to me.”

  I was about to reply, but I closed my mouth before I said the wrong thing. I leaned against the wall, my eyes cleaning the stains from the paint, while I kept thinking I was going to be late for class.

  “Okay, this isn’t going to work. I’m not camping out in here, like this makes sense. If she’s such a badass, she’ll find a way to get to me anyway. But I’m not going to hide from her,” I said and tapped my chest for emphasis.

  “Fine,” Amanda said resignedly and threw her hands in the air.

  I walked out of the bathroom and headed for class. She went the other direction. I appreciated what she was trying to do, but I was no coward.

  If Callie wanted a fight, then let her bring it on.

  Chapter 9

  I walked on eggshells for the rest of the week. At every turn, I expected to be mauled, or to have cake thrown in my face, or to trip over an extended foot. So I stayed as far away from Callie as I could.

  She shot daggers that could kill. And I had flinched at a few of them, but so far, she had been more bark than bite.

  It was finally Friday, and I had survived one week.

  “So, how was your first week, missy?” Alexi asked as she placed her tray on the table and slid into her seat.

  “It was all right, I guess,” I replied and slurped. I looked past her and at the table with the cheer squad. They were talking and laughing, like I didn’t exist. I didn’t know if I should be relieved or afraid. Alexi must have followed my eyes, because she turned and then nodded.

  “Ignore them. If you don’t know how to do that, I’ll teach you.”

  I smiled. “Thanks. But she’s not done yet. I can’t believe that she’s given up on tormenting me.”

  “She hasn’t,” Amanda added.

  Stacey gawked. “Amanda, just…not now. We know how you feel about her, but she’s still only human. Only so much she can do. Besides, Sophia can handle herself.”

  “Thank you, Stacey. And I can. You worry too much Amanda,” I said and touched the back of her hand.

  “Hey, watch it, man!” someone shouted on the other side of the cafeteria.

  “Or what?” Chad asked and shoved the guy in his chest. “You want to do something about it?”

  “Not again,” Stacey lamented and returned to eating.

  I couldn’t. I was fixated on him in the act of fighting another student, which might land him in detention, or expelled.

  The boy looked around, nodded like he was about to walk off, and then charged into Chad, knocking him to the ground. Instantly, Chad was back on his feet, and he punched the boy in his face.

  “Ooh,” I said and winced, like I had gotten the blow.

  Deven, Cody, and Zeke jumped off the table and grabbed the boy. Zeke locked his arms behind him as Chad walked up to him, wiping his hand under his nose.

  “This doesn’t happen again, Malcolm. Next time you fuck with me, you’re dead!” he said and turned around. “Let him go.”

  Malcolm shrugged when Zeke let him go, and he added his own touch to the fight as he shoved the boy as he was leaving.

  He knew he couldn’t take them on, so he grimaced and clenched his entire face as he exited the cafeteria. I was engrossed with the fight, and how fucking sexy Chad looked. Yeah, I know, it was painful to watch. And rude. But it didn’t take away from how hot it was.

  “Does this happen all the time?” I asked the girls, looking at each one.

  “What? You mean Chad beating up on anyone who gets in his way? Looks at his girl? Forgets to get him lunch?” Alexi asked plainly. “Pretty much. If you think Callie is the one to worry about, think again.” She pointed her fork at their table. “That’s who you don’t want to mess with. Chad fucking Minor.”

  I shuddered inwardly at the way she said it. But it only intrigued me more. To be so intimidating and so gorgeous at the same time.

  “Okay, you can close your mouth now,” Alexi laughed. “Show’s over, and so is lunch.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, and looked down at my half-eaten salad. “Time to get to class.”

  I didn’t see Chad for the rest of the day, but I had the feeling he had left after lunch, to avoid the principal. That was, if anyone was brave enough to report him. Not Malcom, I was sure of it. Nor anyone who had been in the cafeteria.

  There were whispers of a party happening that evening, but I wasn’t sure where, nor did I want to go. Callie would be there, and if she was, I didn’t want to be.

  I fished my purse from my locke
r when I saw her staring at me a few lockers down. I sighed and closed the door, and made every effort to go the other way. She came up behind me anyway, and cleared her throat.

  “I hope you’re not thinking of going to that party later,” she said in the process of folding her arms.

  And there we have it. She had made her move. “I’m sorry, will it be at your house?”

  “No,” she said and squinted. “But it’s for the popular kids. You’re not popular, are you?”

  I stared blankly at her and turned around again. I didn’t have to stand there and listen to her and her bullshit. I swear to God this chick was a control freak.

  “I’m not done talking to you,” she screeched and her two bodyguards rushed in front of me to block me in.

  “Yes, you are,” I told her. “I go where I want to. You might run their lives, but you do not fucking run mine.”

  I walked off again, and I heard her huffing. I could see her narrowing her eyes at me and plotting her revenge. I hadn’t been going to go to the party before, but after that, count me in. I would go just to spite her. And I wasn’t usually confrontational.

  “Yo, that was hot,” a male voice said from behind me.

  I sighed and turned. It was Cody.

  “Hey.”

  “About time someone showed her up.” He grinned and walked up to me. “You wanna get out of here?”

  I raised my brow. “What?”

  “No, it’s not what you think. Just that I’m having a little thing over at my place, and I was told to ask you to come.”

  So, that’s where the party is.

  “Told? By who? Chad?”

  “Yep. He’s already there.”

  “I wasn’t planning to go,” I stated factually and raked my long chestnut hair behind me.

  “I’m afraid that’s not an option.” He grinned and stepped in front of me. “I’m not trying to scare you or anything, but…don’t make me have to throw you over my shoulder and all of that cowboy shit.”

  He was threatening me, but it was kinda cute and I laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “There she is,” I heard Amanda shout from down the hall. I turned to see three of them hurrying toward me.