I stop at the edge of the crowd, eyes searching for a girl with black hair. I find her against the wall, talking to a guy. I rush to her and drag her away, ignoring her protests. I stop in the middle of the floor, surrounded by all the other bodies. I turn to face her with an excited smile on my face, and I start to dance. I don't ever get to do this. I don't go to parties and drink. I don't dance. And I'm forever regretful for not going sooner. I wave my hands in the air, fingers wiggling. I have amazing spirit fingers. "Are you drunk?" Ivy laughs. She starts to sway her hips, her arms raising, and she looks sensual. The twinkle in her eyes is mesmerizing, and she seems so different from her usual self. More lively.Her allure is instant, and it's no wonder she went from dancing with a female to talking to a male. "Yes! I played beer pong with King!" I shout. I turn around and start to grind my hips into hers, just as I saw her doing with the other girl earlier. Ivy's hands fin
I remember the way Kingston stared at Ivy and me, the dark look in Stone’s eyes."Wha-" my sentence is cut off with a moan."Such a pretty sound from even prettier lips," Haeden murmurs. He bites and sucks on my neck some more, the assault sending shivers of pleasure through me."What’s happening?" I gasp out, my head tilting back against the fence."You shouldn't have come to this party, Ariella. I'm going to devour you." A shiver runs down my spine at the darkness that drips from his tone.Before I can open my mouth, maybe say something to embarrass myself, we hear a crash and a shout sounds from inside Stone's house."God damn it," he grumbles, pulling away. He grabs my hand and drags me behind him back towards the party. "Come on." Dazed and breathless, I follow him.When we're inside, there's a circle that’s formed in the living room."Get off me you crazy bitch!" A girl screeches from within. "How many times do I have to tell your skanky ass?" I gasp at Ivy's familiar voice. H
STONE POVWatching Ariella walk into my house wearing a summer dress that barely reaches her knees almost makes me bust a nut. I forget all about the girl sitting next to me, my eyes glued to her milky thighs hidden behind that swishing skirt. She always knew how to pull off the teasing-daughter-of-a-pastor look.Imagine my fucking surprise when he turns out to have a thirst for taking away a life.I didn't know anyone personally that was murdered. My family never went to church. Sure, my dad is religious, but his self-absorbed ass is too busy to attend a weekly gathering of the community to praise the god he worships. While I wasn't directly affected by the incident, Haeden was. An old family friend of his was among the people her father killed. The confusion he's feeling now - whether he still wants her or hates her entire existence solely for being related to the man who caused his pain - is eating away at him. Either way he's still obsessed, and one is more dangerous than the oth
I've heard hangovers are the worst aftermath of a night of drinking. I've especially heard of the strange concoctions people swear by to get rid of it. Waking up to a door rattling as the person behind it pounds their fist into it while having my first hangover just makes the entire situation worse. It sounds like the banging is in tune with pounding in my head. The sound and feeling so in sync that it’s driving me crazy. I grab the nearest thing to me, a pillow, and hold it over my ears "Get the fuck up!" The angry voice shouts on the other side. It's a familiar deep tone that has my brows furrowing. With a groan, I press a hand against my temple and roll over. "It must've been a good lay," someone else chuckles from outside the room."Shut the fuck up!" the first one snaps back.Once the voices register in my head, my body jumps up out of instinct, eyes wide. I'm full of instant regret as the ache in my temple worsens. I recognize both of those voices. Stone is probably angry tha
On Monday, I wait for Stone to leave first. I can't run into him after seeing what I did. How can I face him after that? Would we just ignore it and never bring it up? I would, but I don't know if he'll want to talk about it. Accuse me of being a pervert for just standing there, watching. Just like the girl in the library when I found her with Haeden.I liked watching.I shake my head and peek through the window once more, stiffening when I see him walk out. Once his car is out of sight, I begin my walk to school. I never realized how many students walk the same path I do, but now that they all throw different things at me, rocks or rolled up paper, it becomes clear that quite a few people walk to school. It's hard to ignore them when we're walking to the same place, but when I don't react, eventually most of them get bored and stop. Luckily I don't see Haeden, Kingston, Ivy, or Stone. I may not have seen Kingston or Ivy when I left yesterday morning, but I'm sure they were brough
Seeing the courts empty, I smile. It brings a little peace knowing I’ll be alone. And if not that, there's not enough people to drive me away. I walk under the bleachers, avoiding the mass collection of gum in one particular spot, and take off my sweater. I lay it on the ground, tossing my bag to the side and sitting down. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I set an alarm twenty minutes from now just in case I fall asleep again.I take out the project I worked on at Lucas' yesterday and continue on with my essay. We agreed to work on the presentation together once all our essays are finished. The more I do as soon as I can, the less time I have to spend with Lucas. Especially at his house.Loud laughter pulls my attention from the paper on my lap, and I cringe. Damn it, so much for being by myself. I glance up, squinting as the sun glares at me from above. My heart picks up pace when I see Stone, Ivy, Haeden, and Kingston making their way to the other bleachers across from me. “Plea
TRIGGER WARNING!!I drift back and catch Kingston looking at me. I freeze, is he upset at me for witnessing that? Is he going to come over here and demand that I mind my own business? However, he doesn’t move. He smiles, except it isn’t a nice smile. It sends shivers down my spine.“Ariella.” I stop walking down the hall, my shoulders slumping because… fuck, I'm just a few steps away from my locker when Mr. Williams calls from behind me. I hold in my groan and turn around, a fake smile lighting my face. “Yeah?” I ask, glancing back at my locker. He can take a hint right? “Step into my classroom for a minute.” He nods to his open door, strands of his brown hair falling into his face. And no, of course he can't take a hint, who am I kidding? This is the guy who gave me the word psychopath to define in front of the whole class. His glasses sit high on his face, and I tense. Looking around me, I hesitantly step inside. He doesn’t close the door all the way, much to my relief.“I want
TRIGGER WARNINGLupe and Maribel don't let me go, and they stay exactly where they are. If anything, their grip on me tightens.Kensey smirks. “Psycho or not, even you can’t overpower them. They are them, and you are…” She pauses and gives me a once over. “Well you’re you.” Her nose scrunches up in disgust. “Are you, perhaps, offering yourself up to them? Did you suck their dicks in exchange for one night of protection? To get away from your shitty life? Honestly, I'm just trying to understand because it doesn't make any sense."My face burns, from both embarrassment and anger. She doesn’t know anything. She doesn't know that Ivy came to me and offered her help. She doesn’t know that the guys want nothing to do with me. The image of me and Haeden kissing comes to mind, but it quickly burns away.If anything, he was playing with me. Why not mess with the vulnerable girl who's desperate for positive attention again?“It’s not like that,” I attempt to say, but pain explodes in my left ch
TRIGGER WARNING PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION***I gasp for air, my hands clawing at his neck. "I'm going to ease off, okay?" He stares at me, his eyes dark. "If you scream again, I'll just knock you out and take you that way." He must see the horror on my face because he smiles. "You wouldn't want that, would you?" I shake my head, a sob escaping me. I don't want him touching me at all, but the thought of him doing that to me, limp and unconscious, sends cold ice through me."Good." His hand slowly releases my neck, as if testing to see if I would scream again. Satisfied with my silence, he lets go fully and trails his hand over my chest. "God damn rats, can't believe you let them defile you." He shakes his head at me like he's disappointed. His nose is on my neck again, his hands trailing over my waist and hips. With shaky breaths, I slowly lift my hand and reach into my back pocket.
TRIGGER WARNING! TRIGGER WARNING. PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION***The drive to his house is short, however every once in a while, I feel his gaze on me. It's unnerving. Usually he's spewing hateful words to make me feel like shit."What? If you have something to say, fucking say it." I eventually snap at him. Lucas isn't one to hold back, he isn't afraid to speak his mind. So what the fuck has got him so silent.He chuckles, the sound foreign to my ears, "Relax, shit. I was just gonna say you look like your in a 'fuck it all' mood." I snort."How'd you guess?" I droll out, turning to glare out the window. What I would give to be anywhere but here. I wonder what Ivy is doing? She's probably with the guys. I wonder if the missing item has anything to do with why they're not around."Your shit attitude." Lucas snorts back, bringing me from my thoughts.He pulls up into his driveway and turns off the engine. "Let's just hurry up, I need to get home after this." I slam his car door shut an
I wipe at my tears, all my woes replaced by suspicion. I grab a notebook and pen and begin to write down all I know about the notes. They are always left at school, in my locker. I haven't found them anywhere else.Everything about this stalker is led by the school. Then whoever is giving them to me must go to school there too. But it still doesn't make sense. Why are they sending me these notes? Because they're fans of my dad? Because they want to scare me? Or is this just all some stupid prank? So someone can get their kicks out of making me paranoid?I tap my pen, which is it? Finding myself going no where, I grab all the notes from the drawer, completely ignoring my dads letter. I lay them out on my bed, side by side and evaluate them. The hand writing is all the same, so I know its all from the same person. I go through everyone who hates me, and list them down as potential suspects. Starting with the same people on my revenge list; Kensey, Lucas, Henry and Melanie. I think
The drive to my house is quiet. I glare out the window with my arms crossed, and Kingston doesn't try to talk to me. Which is fine by me. There's so much shit I want to say to him, but I keep my mouth shut. He pulls up to the side of the road when we reach grandma's house. "When the others are back with us, we can clear up exactly what it means when we say you belong to us." Kingston tells me, his hands tight on the wheel. There's no apology for asking a question that is beyond personal. There's no apology for holding me against him even though I fought it. With a huff and a roll of my eyes I leave the car and slam the door shut. I don't care if it's the most expensive car that I've ever seen. I hope I chipped something.He doesn't leave until I'm inside, I can hear the screeching tires through the closed door as he takes off down the road."Stupid jerk," I mutter."Ariella, is that you?" Grandma's voice is firm. I hold in my groan, and walk into the living room. She sits on the so
"Yeah." I murmur as I take in huge green hair. "He's not my favorite topic right now." I shrug. I walk along the walls, looking from one poster to another. "I'm surprised." I laugh, "This wasn't what I expected. I figured you were more of a sexy model guy." Kingston chuckles, "Don't get me wrong, I am. But I can look at a woman's body anytime I want too." He shrugs.I frown, can't get myself to turn around and face him. Of course Kingston can look at a woman's body anytime he wants. Anyone with eyes would jump at the chance to be with him. I'm sure his phone is full of lady’s numbers. There's a knock on the door, pulling me away from my bitter thoughts. Armin comes in with a platter full of finger sandwiches. "Couldn't she have made just regular ones?" Kingston frowns as he sets it on his desk. "I refuse to tell her to remake them. Shall you?" Armin raises a thick eyebrow.Kingston pales and shakes his head, "I don't have a death wish." "Smart boy." Armin replies before leaving.
I peek up at Kingston, is this guy a freaking prince or what?"Good evening Sir King." The man is posh, with his nose turned up and his arm tucked to his torso like he's in a place of royalty. His jet black hair is slicked back, shiny with product. "Sir King's guest." He nods at me, takes in my cut off jean shorts and black T-shirt before looking away with a wrinkle in his nose.Judgemental much? It's like a complete turn from the judgemental eyes at school. They disliked me for my dresses and collared shirts. And now I'm being judged for wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I can't please everyone."Armin, this is Ariella." Kingston introduces me. "Ariella, this is Armin." I give a wave and he simply nods at me without sparing me another glance. "Can you have Betha make us some sandwiches?" Kingston asks. He tightens his hold on my hand and leads me to the stairs. "Thanks!" He shouts behind him."Thank you!" I call back, not wanting to make my first impression any worse. I glance back to
After school, I open my locker and go through it. When I find my essay inside, I sigh in relief. After the class ended, I searched through my bag and couldn't find it. I was about to flip my shit if it wasn't in the locker.I grab it and put it into my bag, but frown when I see the yellow sticky note stuck to the back of the locker. Another note? My brows furrow, fingers twitching as I glance down the hallway, eyes darting from one face to another as I try to guess who was giving them to me. Except no one is looking at me right now. No one gives a hint that it could be them.I bite the inside of my cheek and turn back to it. With a shaking hand, I reach inside and pull the sticky note out.'I see you've made some friends. I'm not sure if your father would approve of you interacting with sinners. I'm disappointed, Ariella.'My breath quickens, as I reread it over and over. Sinners?Don't be a sinner, Ariella.My dad's voice whispers in my head."Hey, gorgeous." I jump, crushing the
It's too late to back out now. I won't let myself."You look excited." Haeden lazily smiles at me. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards him."I am," I confirm, cheeks flushing red when I'm pressed against him. I glance around the hallway, noticing that there are too many eyes on us. Watching how we stand so close together.His hands rest on my hips, and I curl my fingers into the sides of his shirt. I turn my head to Stone, expecting to see anger or maybe jealousy, any kind of wishful thinking that showed he liked me, but he just scrolls through his phone. Is it not weird for him to have his friend be so handsy with me after we had a moment the other night? "Hey." Haeden rests his finger beneath my chin and turns my head so I can look at him again. His green eyes shine at me. "Maybe we all should talk later, hmm?" I frown, my brows furrowed. "What about?" "I don't think you understand what we mean when we say you belong to us," he says, fingers flexing on my hips. His eyes drift o
He wants me to suck on him? My face bursts into flames, and I quickly shake my head. Oh no. I've never done that! I've never thought about doing that! I've never even seen one! Well, I watched porn one time, and it was weird, so I turned that shit off fast.He thumbs my bottom lip, saying "I'm not surprised you've never sucked cock before." His dark eyes connect with mine. "It's a damn shame, though. I bet your wet mouth feels heavenly." My breath grows heavy as he talks. The roughness of his voice carries tingles down to my belly, and it's suddenly so hot in the room."I think about you on your knees way too often," he whispers. He slips his thumb past my lips and settles the pad on my tongue. "Fuck." Daring to push further, I lightly bite the tip of his thumb, watching in delight as a shiver runs through his body."You're a bad influence on me," I murmured into the air. "If you don't want me ripping these shorts off, I suggest you get up." His voice hardens, any playfulness is n