Jenna, as usual, was not paying any attention to her lesson. Instead, she scrolled through funny videos, being careful to keep the sound at a minimum and not to laugh out loud.The ding of a message made her jump, dropping the phone.It skittered across the hard flooring, landing in the middle of the aisle. With an annoyed sigh, Mr Burton bent and retrieved it."No phones in my lessons," he stated. "That's the rule."Then he glanced down at the screen, read the message and made a face.'What?' Jenna thought, becoming panicked. 'What does it say?'The teacher's face gave nothing away as he slipped the phone into his desk.The rest of the lesson dragged on for what felt like days. She actually had to concentrate on the work, which wasn't easy. Once the bell went the students piled into the hallway. Jenna lingered at the teacher's desk, hoping he would take the hint and hand her the phone.Instead, he just gave her a creepy blank stare."Can I have my phone, please?" she asked, making
Jenna bounced the baby on her knee as Jacob fiddled with bottles. He took a handful from the fridge, reading the dates."I guess this one," he murmured. "This is so gross.""It's natural," Jenna said, raising an eyebrow. "You drank this you know—""Eww, yeah, no, don't," Jacob interrupted, waving his hands at her. "I don't know why she can't just give the powder stuff.""Well, it costs more," Jenna pointed out.'Am I being too argumentative?' she wondered. 'I don't want him to feel like I'm not on his side.'"We need to heat up some water," she said, changing the subject.Jacob flipped the switch on the kettle. It lit up with blue light as it heated the water."Why does it seem to take longer when the little bugger is crying?" he complained. "Hey, it's coming, Jeff," she said, bouncing the little one in her arms. "It's coming soon."It didn't stop his crying, but at least she was trying. When the bottle was warm enough, Jacob passed it to her. "Here. You can feed him."She found his
Gordon ducked under a fence lined with barbed wire. The sharp edges caught on his rain jacket, ripping the fine fabric.'Great... mum's gonna kill me,' he thought. Why she insisted on buying him expensive hiking clothes was a question he pondered a lot. Did she want him to get bullied? Could she not just buy the cool branded names?To be fair to the woman, his clothing wasn't the main reason he got picked on. It was his brain. 'Which I also inherited from her,' he realised. His mother worked for one of the leading pharmaceutical companies, designing new drugs.Yeah... so she might cure cancer... but would it kill her to be a little bit less of a dork?It occurred to Gordon that he was thinking about his mother while on the way to meet a hot girl--a hot girl he'd slept with.'Maybe I'm the problem here,' he thought, self deprecating as usual.He strode through long, uncut grass and brambles that tore his coat even further. "Damn it," he muttered.In the middle of the overgrowth was a
Kai sat in Connell's living room, thinking up a new way to torture her. It was getting boring, mainly because she had stopped reacting. Her eyes would glaze over, becoming dark and blank, and she would obey his every command without question.That wasn't what he wanted. He liked seeing the panic in her eyes and hearing her desperate pleas. 'But what can I do to break you?' he wondered.Nothing seemed to phase her. He had forced her to do the most humiliating things, but she had not batted an eyelid. He'd made her masturbate in front of him. He'd tipped over the bin and made her eat rubbish from the floor. One time he told her to go to school with no underwear and take a picture.She did it without so much as a word.'What will she refuse to do?' Kai wondered. He wasn't willing to go as far as forcing sex on her. That would be rape. Being a bully was one thing. Being a rapist was a whole different ball game.'But why?' Kai wondered. 'Why aren't I prepared to go that far?'He looked
"Well, that was a massive failure," Damien stated, staring down at Jacob. He seemed pretty pissed about it, but it was hardly Jacob's fault. "Maybe Kai really has grown a conscience?" Gordon piped up. He immediately regretted it when the others stared daggers at him."Well, I will beat up Jacob, but we need Kai to beat someone up," Damien said. "And he won't fight me. Not after that time I kidnapped him."Gordon blinked and did a double take. "Huh?"From the corner of his eye, he saw Jacob shaking his head and mouthing, "Don't ask."Remembering poor Ronnie's face, he heeded the warning and closed his mouth."So it is up to you, Gordon. All you have to do is roll your eyes at him and he beats the crap out of you," Damien said.Thinking back to the last time, to the humiliation, he didn't want to volunteer."Come on," Charlene pressured. "I swear I will make it worth your while."At this, Damien and Jacob both made scoffing noises. "Charlene and Gordon? Who would have thunk it?" Damie
Jenna couldn't stop thinking about Jacob.After failing to pluck up the courage to ask him out in person, she had gone down the coward's route and texted him."Want to hang out after school?" she had asked."Sorry - I can't," was his reply.After an hour or so he had texted again, promising they would do something soon.It had been an hour of moping and crying, but everything was okay now. Now she was over the moon and nothing could bring her down. On the way to school Kai did not speak to her. He was still angry at her, but for whatever reason, he was yet to take any sort of revenge.Or so she thought.Then she spotted Jacob sitting alone by the bins."Oh my God," she muttered, making her way over to him.As she approached, their eyes met, and he looked away."D--did Kai do this?" she asked. Jacob twisted his head, avoiding her eyes. "Oh, God I'm so sorry," she cried. "This is all my fault."Her hands shook as she stormed back over to Kai. She shoved him square in the chest but he
Trigger warning - rapeCharlene didn't want to admit it, but she was afraid. She was afraid of Damien, and she'd invited him to hurt her. After watching him beat Jacob, she wished she'd taken up Jacob's offer to be the one. The one to abuse her.They were going to go to the police and accuse Kai. Jacob would do the same, and then Kai would look guilty, even though he'd done nothing to them.'He's done enough to other people over the years,' she thought, justifying it to herself. Her jaw tightened as she tried to force the guilt away. When Damien arrived, all thoughts of guilt vashinsed, replaced by cold, sick dread. It filled her stomach up to her throat, making her feel physically ill.He was scary. Much scarier than Kai."I... I don't think I want to do this anymore," she muttered, avoiding his intense gaze."Oh," Damien said. He plonked himself down next to her and turned to face her. That look in his eyes was so creepy she felt like something was stuck in her throat. She swallowe
"I can't see him again," Charlene insisted. "I just can't.""This is his place," Gordon reminded her. "Besides... if we cut him out... how long do you think we are going to survive. The guy is more of a danger to us than Kai ever was.""Please," Charlene cried. She shifted over to Jacob and grasped him, snuggling into his side. "Don't let him come here."Seeing her all over Jacob made Gordon's heart sink in his chest. But he wasn't surprised. Jacob had marked her card... and he always got his man... or woman, in this case.There really was no competing with the guy. With his perfect face and perfect body and perfect... everything. Plus... he knew how to talk to women. He knew what made them tick.It was very hard for Gordon not to hate him.Why did he have to take Charlene when he could have any girl he wanted? Any girl at all. And he just had to take the only girl Gordon had ever cared about.It made him want to cry, but for now, they had to focus on staying alive."I think we just h