4. Spicy little thing, aren't you

Adeline liked her new school despite the unpleasant encounter with that jerk, Damien. Everyone else seemed nice. Even the girls in her classes were friendly.

Girls in her old school never liked her and always made snide remarks about her looks. They were angry about all the attention she received because of it. They called her a slut behind her back, just because she had a nice body. It wasn't like she wanted the boys to lust over her! She never even understood what the big deal was. When she looked in the mirror, all she saw was some average girl with long brown hair and blue eyes. To her, she looked like all the other girls. Nothing special. She wished the boys at school didn't look at her like she was a piece of meat.

The bell rang for the last class, so she hurried inside. Hopefully, Damien wasn't in it, she thought to herself. She entered the classroom and looked around. No sign of Damien Sky. Good.

"Hi, I'm Mandy," a girl with a cute round face and button nose smiled at her.

Adeline smiled back. Mandy looked friendly. "Hi, I'm Adeline."

"This is your first day, isn't it? You must be nervous!" Mandy chirped.

"I'm okay, I guess," Adeline shrugged.

Mandy fidgeted in her seat. It looked like she wanted to ask her something, but she hesitated.

"Is there something wrong?" Adeline asked.

"Eh...it's nothing, but..."

"What is it. Tell me!" Adeline looked at Mandy curiously.

"It's just that, I know it's none of my business, but I saw you were talking to Damien Sky earlier," Mandy let out a nervous giggle.

Oh great, is she one of Damien's lovers? Adeline stiffened at the mention of his name. "Yes, I was talking to Damien, so what?" she asked.

Mandy bit her lower lip and cleared her throat. "I just wanted to let you know that you should be more careful around Damien. He has a reputation in this school and not a very good one."

Adeline scoffed. That wasn't news. She knew Damien was a piece of work. "Don't worry, I know. I have no desire to get to know him," she reassured Mandy.

"Good. You seem like a nice person, so I didn't want you to get involved with him," Mandy added. "Besides, he is dangerous."

Curiosity crept up inside Adeline. She didn't want to show any interest in that creep, but she felt like she wanted to know more. "What do you mean by dangerous?"

"This school is full of wannabe gang members," Mandy leaned over and spoke in a hushed tone. "The Irish, Italian, and Russian gangs have sort of a turf war in this high school, and Damien is part of it."

"Are you serious?" Adeline rolled her eyes.

"Yup. And they are always competing and fighting over stupid things, so try not to get caught in the middle of it," Mandy said.

"Thank you, Mandy. I appreciate you looking out for me," Adeline smiled appreciatively. Mandy looked like she wanted to talk more, but the teacher walked in, so she turned around.

After the last bell rang, Adeline rushed to the bus, although she wished she didn't have to go home. The school was the best part of her day.

Someone grabbed her arm before she made it to the bus and pulled her away.

Ugh! Is it that asshole Damien again? she thought as she glimpsed at her kidnapper. The boy dragged her behind the school and cornered her into a wall. Adeline finally had the chance to take a good look at him.

No wonder she mistook him for Damien. This guy looked very similar to Damien, only younger. He had the same brown hair, blue eyes, and jawbones to die for. The only difference was his nose, and he was slightly less muscular than Damien.

"What the hell do you want?" Adeline snarled. The Damien look-alike stared at her for a minute then let go of her arm. She finally noticed two other guys standing behind him and they didn't exactly look like they belonged in a church. One of them took a long puff of his cigarette and blew a smoke at her face.

"Thought I'd introduce myself to the hot new girl. I'm Nikolai Sky, but you can call me Nik," Nik smirked. "This here is Max, and the one with the black hair is Adrien." He introduced his other goons.

Oh great...another Sky I can't escape, Adeline thought to herself.

"I don't care if you are Zac Efron. You are making me miss my bus," she barked.

"Easy there, Tigress. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna get to know you more," he picked up a lock of her hair and ran his fingers through it.

"Don't touch me, asshole!" Adeline pushed Nik then tried to leave, but Max grabbed her shoulder then pushed her toward Nik. Nik quickly wrapped his arms around Adeline, so she doesn't escape.

"Spicy little thing, aren't you," he whispered.

Adeline squirmed in disgust as Nik's lips were almost touching her neck.

"Hey, let her go!"

Adeline looked ahead when she heard another boy's voice. A tall and skinny boy with light blonde hair was running toward them. He had a scowl on his face as he watched Nik harassing Adeline.

"Seriously, Nik, do you have to go after every girl in this school?" the boy looked annoyed.

"Fuck off, Robbie. This is none of your concern," Nike hissed.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your bus." the boy, whose name is Robbie, extended his hand toward Adeline.

Nik let go of Adeline and grabbed Robbie's shirt. He roughly pushed him against the wall, much to Adeline's dismay. She felt scared for Robbie. She didn't want him to get hurt because of her!

"How dare you meddle into my business, you wimp. How about I break your nose?" Nik snarled and raised his fist to hit Robbie. Robbie prepared himself for the pain. Nik never liked him even though he was his brother's best friend.

"Nik, don't!" Adrien said.

"Why the fuck not?" Nik barked.

"You don't wanna hurt your brother's little pet. Damien will kill you," Adrien replied.

"I don't care what Damien does," Nik remarked, but his grip already loosened on Robbie's shirt.

"Well, we care. I don't wanna get beat up by him again," Max added.

Nik spit on the floor then let go of Robbie. "You are safe for now, you little bitch." He turned to Adeline. "Don't worry, buttercup. I'm not through playing with you."

Adeline cringed as Nik blew her a kiss before walking away. Robbie sighed, then straightened his shirt. "Sorry about that. I'm Robbie," he looked at her.

"Yeah, I know. That was pretty dramatic," Adeline scoffed. "I'm Adeline, but you can call me Addie for short."

"Adeline, that's a pretty name," Robbie smiled. "Let's go before you miss your bus. It's about time for them to leave, so we better run," he said and pointed at the bus lot.

Adeline ran alongside Robbie to catch the bus and stopped in front of the same bus.

"You don't need to ride with me. Your job as my bodyguard ends here," Adeline commented.

"This is my bus too, smartass," Robbie chuckled. "I live on the main st."

"Oh, me too! Are we neighbors?" Adeline asked.

"looks like it," Robbie shrugged.

Thankfully, there was no more drama on the way home. Adeline said goodbye to Robbie and headed towards her house. She watched him going inside from the distance as he only lived two houses down.

She opened the door and sighed at the unsavory sight of her mother sprawling across the couch, passed out. She was still holding an empty whiskey bottle in her hand.

Typical, Adeline thought bitterly.

"Oh, look who's home, it's ms. Priss," her stepbrother remarked.

"Not now, Jimmy. I had a long day," Adeline sneered.

"Don't talk to your brother that way," her stepfather looked her up and down. His eyes were burning on her. She shifted her foot uncomfortably. "What the hell are you wearing? You wore those tight little jeans to show off your ass to them boys at school?"

Adeline looked away to avoid his nasty gaze. She headed upstairs without saying another word. She just can't escape hell today.

A/N: Poor Addie can't seem to escape these boys 😖. What are your thoughts on this chapter? Do you think Nikolai is the worst brother? What about Robbie? Should she trust him 🤔