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Chapter 5

Warning, This story contains dark scenes with graphic detail that some readers may find distressing.

“Lilly??”

I turned around and saw Victoria furiously walking towards me. “How did you get here so quickly?? You should still be in the streets wondering where the fuck school is!”

I smirked at her, the look of confusion and frustration on her face almost had me doubled over with laughter. Restraining myself, I smiled, “Hello there, Victoria.”

“Did you get a ride here or something? The money my mother gave you is only enough for at least one meal for the rest of the week!” Victoria exclaimed as she eyed me suspiciously.

The door to the school’s office opened and Taylor came out with a huge grin on her face, handing me a piece of paper. “We have three classes together. Three!”

I grinned back at her excitedly and looked over at Victoria, who was looking at us with a bewildered look.

“Who are you??” She asked Taylor. Taylor gave her a side glance, her excited smile quickly turned into a mean, savage look. I couldn’t help but look at her surprisingly by how fast she could turn from a sweet, bubbly girl to a fierce mean one.

“I’m Lilly’s friend, Taylor. And I’m your neighbour, but obviously, you wouldn’t know that. You’re always out of your house.” Taylor replied as she looked her down with a smirk.

Victoria’s brows gave her a challenging look as she folded her arms across her chest. “Are you stalking us or something, weirdo?”

Taylor’s brows went lax as she took a step closer to Victoria until she was a few inches from her face. “I keep her company when you and your folks are out of the house, leaving Lilly to do the housework. And that says something about who you are as a person. Tsk. Not a good image for this school.”

“And who are you to accuse me of that bullshit?” Victoria was already fuming, cheeks red and jaw twitching.

Taylor could only look at her with a smirk, unfazed by the anger boiling in Victoria’s blood. “Once again, my name is Taylor, Taylor Stevens. If my last name rings a bell, you’ll know who my brother is.”

And with a wink, she took my hand and led me away from a confused-looking Victoria who still stood on the spot with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open when I looked behind me. I frowned as I stopped Taylor in our tracks once we were far away from Victoria and out of earshot from other students.

“Whoa, was that you??” I asked incredulously with a slight laugh.

Taylor only shrugged as she flipped her dark shoulder-length hair proudly. “Maybe. I just hate it when I see people bully others, you know?”

“True,” I replied. “Anyways, what’s the big deal about your brother?”

Taylor looked at me and took in a breath. “It doesn’t matter. Just that he’s in a very popular group.”

“Oh, like a band?”

Taylor giggled and shook her head. “Cute, but no. You’ll see him around campus.”

The school bell rang, signalling that the first class was about to start. The subjects I shared classes with Taylor wasn’t going to start until after lunch, so she decided to escort me to my room for today’s class and we both agreed to meet up at the cafeteria for lunch.

The hours went by surprisingly quick. I was free from the prison I called home, and there were no chores or Uncle Robert insight. Today I was an average school kid, my past buried and moving on. Man it’s a breath of fresh air after being suffocated in that damn hell.

I tuned in to every lesson, took note of them, and without even realizing the bell had rung for lunch. I packed up my things and left the room, deciding to follow the flow where most students were heading, hoping it would lead me to the cafeteria.

And I was right.

The cafeteria was already packed with students. Some were waiting in line for their food, and some were already sitting at tables seated as a group. I looked around, hoping to find familiar brown hair with a lilac top. After a few more minutes of scanning the area and being certain that Taylor wasn’t here yet, I decided to sit at a table and wait a little more.

The tables seemed to be full, except for one in the middle of the cafeteria. I shrugged and decided to sit there. It would be easier for Taylor to find me.

I sat down and felt several pairs of eyes watching me, looking at me with bewildered looks. I frowned. Did I smell bad? I subtly sniffed myself. I smell fine. Was it my hair? The way I dressed? I decided to shrug it off and continued to look around the area for Taylor. But nothing.

The stare continued to bother me while some students began talking to themselves as they eyed me. Did Victoria put a spell on them to make them look at me like this?? Oh no, panic gripped my chest. What if she’d told them about my parents? My life was over. Not that I had much of one.

My thoughts were disrupted when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned around and—

Holy shit.

He was tall—probably six feet—and he had messy black hair and green eyes. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt underneath a denim jacket. And all I can say is, man he is drop-dead gorgeous. “C-Can I help you?” I stuttered out, giving him my best straight look as I eyed him up and down to assert dominance. But deep inside, my insides were screaming at how handsome and fit he was.

“You’re at my table.” He simply replied.

I frowned. I looked around the table before looking back up at him innocently. “But I don’t see your name here,” I said. If this guy thought I was going to move, he had another thing coming. I was not moving.

That remark earned a few snickers coming from the students nearby who were listening to us. That’s when I noticed that the room had gone silent. I watched how his cheeks blushed a deep shade of red as he looked around before looking back at me with an annoyed look. He looked even more irritated when he saw the smirk on my lips. His jaw twitched and his golden eyes darkened.

“Listen here,” he grumbled as he took a step closer and leaned down closer to my face. My eyes went wide. Pine and vanilla, the smell of him invaded my senses. “I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but you’re at my table and you’re in my fucking way. And people around here know all too well what happens when someone disrespects me.”

Okay, now I was starting to freak out. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I wanted to flee and run away. But I couldn’t because why should I? He’s just a bully and I shouldn’t give my power to him. It’s bad enough I get pushed around at home, I wasn’t about to let it happen at school too. This was supposed to be my safe haven. I was no longer that weakling that hid in my room all day just to avoid someone. This guy might have bigger muscles, but still he wasn’t going to bully me into moving.

“Listen here,” I continued, using his previous words against him. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I’m not moving, and that’s that. Now will you please leave my table?” I asked firmly. Putting emphases to My.

But that just made his expression become angrier “Move.” He growled.

“Or what??” I spat at him. “I’m tired of people pushing me around and bullying me and I am not going to let myself get bullied by you, you giant baby. You think you can get anything you want just by scaring people off with your looks?” A burning anger built up inside and exploded.

His eyes were wide at my sudden outburst. Then I added, “Well I’m here now, Mister Whoever The Fuck You Think You Are. And you can’t make me run away from you scared shitless.”

He looked so angry as he looked around and saw students with shocked faces, surprised that I had the guts to stand up to this boy. I don’t even know who this boy is, yet everything was telling me I was playing with fire.

“You’re going to regret doing that,” he whispered to me with furious golden eyes. “You better watch out, you brat.”

“Hey, hey!” A familiar voice echoed around the cafeteria and we both looked to see Taylor running up to us with a frown.

“What’s going on here??”

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