“Do you have to get to this gloomy look every time you are alone for 5 minutes?”“What are you talking about?”Aaron tossed me a biscuit packet, his eyes on my face watching my features closely. He dug out a tub of ice cream from the fridge and dropped it on the counter.“I’m talking about that frown on your face and that look in your eyes.”“I didn’t know you were paying so much attention to my eyes,” I tried to joke.He glanced at me again not smiling. “I pay attention to things I like, Bianca. You were happy before I left you this evening now you’re moody. Does this have anything to do with Andre coming out of your apartment?”I tried to hide my shock and hopefully, I was successful. Aaron wasn’t looking at me anymore, he was digging out spoons from a drawer but I got the impression that he was aware of every movement I made.“He did come out of your apartment, didn’t he?”“Yes, he did. He wanted to talk.”He sighed and leaned one hip against the counter so that he was fully facing
“You thought we were what?” I pushed.She tried to smile it off and failed. “You know I was going to say never mind but…no. Siobhan and Andre look good together, don’t they? And you and Aaron really suit each other well.”Her voice was friendly but strangely measured, I found myself watching her closely as we walked toward the assembly hall. Her features were well hidden with her full black hair but what little I could see of her face got my guard up. I wasn’t fooled one bit by her smile. “I thought you didn’t like my friend?”She scoffed. “Well, she’s not exactly bad…uhm…I should get going.”I wanted to hold her back. Something about her wasn’t right but I didn’t get the chance to dwell on what it was. She walked faster from me and I didn't want to cause a scene so I restrained myself from calling her back.Everyone was already filling the hall so Aaron and I took our places at the podium.“Good morning, everyone. Without wasting your time repeating the rules and regulations of our s
The class gasped.Mr. Holden slapped his hand on the table. “That was too far, Bianca Davis!”“Excuse me?” I sputtered outraged at his reaction. “He started it first!”“His was a harmless joke, Davis, and refrain from raising your voice at me, please. I’ve known you to be a better student than this, that’s why you’re Head girl.”My frustration mounted because Mr. Holden was right, I never got into trouble, now Andre’s smugness was getting on my nerves so bad I wanted to punch it right off his face. “Mr. Holden you know that I have never been in trouble before. I’ve always been a good student…”“Until you bantered words with Andre in my class.”“That is the point! He is the problem! He should be the one punished not me.”Mr. Holden pinched the bright of his nose and for a moment the class waited with bated breath for his verdict. “Fine. Andre does have some fault in this. Will you come up here Andre and introduce yourself?”He looked shocked at the request but Mr. Holden wasn’t playing
I stared dumbfounded at the closed office door hoping Mr. Holden would come out with the cuff keys, unlock them and say it was all a joke and I could go back to class without worrying about my grades but all I had were hopes. That office door never swung open once in the 3 minutes it took me to stare in disbelief.Then I felt the tug on my wrist. I shot Andre a sour look.“Don’t give me that look,” he said putting his other unbound hand up in the air. “I was not the one who suggested this punishment.” He held up our cuffed hands.“You know I’m beginning to think you wanted this to happen!”He had the guts to look innocent. Putting his free hand on his chest he gasped like he was hurt by my words. “Would I ever do something like that?”“Obviously, I know you too well, this is the kind of thing you’ll like.”“You know me too well uhn?” he asked. “What am I thinking right now?” he asked, his eyes dropping to my lips suddenly. I tore my gaze from his.I searched around for a distraction a
“Until tomorrow!” Siobhan laughed as she fingered the plastic cuff. We had just gotten into class and told our curious classmates what happened. “That is actually funny. Let’s see if you both survive today without tearing each other apart.” She smirked and winked at Andre. “But this is an interesting thing though, are you getting any kinky ideas, babe?”He laughed. It was refreshing since he has been frowning ever since we came out of the lab. I couldn’t force myself to laugh so I just looked away and saw Aaron coming toward us. Luckily he wasn’t in class when Andre and I came in, he would have noticed the tension between us and the redness of my eyes which Siobhan for some reason couldn’t see.Aaron’s eyes dropped to the cuffs and he laughed. “What the heck is that?”I told him all about the punishment sparing as many details about the whole thing as much as I could.“Aww
RinggggThat was the final bell. I rubbed my wrist and sighed gratefully – partially grateful actually. To say today was the worst day of my life is an understatement of the century. Every teacher who came into the class for the next subjects took one look at the cuffs and thought the same thing.Kinky. Or weird.Even though they didn’t out rightly ask for the story behind the cuff, which I must confess I found curious, they all had that crazy, small smile on their faces. I wanted to die. It was bad enough to be tied up with Andre and be reminded time and again about his body pressed against mine when he pushed me up against his door and kissed me but it’s even worst when my teachers have to assume the worst about it.What’s more, everyone kept making silly jokes about it. They thought it was cool and were talking about experimenting with it when Andre and I are done with our punishment so I’m guessing they plan to become assholes in Mr. Holden’s class tomorrow or next. Even Aaron was
He didn’t speak to me anymore. There was no teasing, no false accusations about how I was lying to myself, nothing but silence from him which I liked by the way. Yes, I prefer that to him trying to make me doubt myself and my feelings. I don’t want any reminders that we have shared more than one kiss behind Siobhan’s back or that I met him first at the beach. It doesn’t matter anyway.We went for Prep to read. Since I had to stand to maintain order in the hall he had no other choice but to stand with me. We patrolled the hall together and when I had to sit down eventually we did it all together. It was all fine and good until it was time to go to bed.It started with Aaron and Siobhan coming to say goodnight. Andre and I were in front of my apartment trying to decide where we would sleep."You guys better be on your best behavior tonight," Janet teased as she opened her door.Adeline snorted. "With Bianca ogling him like that I don't see that happening." She's probably still pissed th
“What?”His suggestion caught me off guard that for a second I didn’t realize that it was in fact a valid suggestion.Andre turned a questioning gaze at me and realized that I misunderstood his suggestion. He snorted.“I am not trying to get you naked for sex, Bianca, so relax. If I wanted to do that I would have set up a romantic dinner date and seduced you like a gentleman.”My laughter bubbled out of me. I laughed so hard that I started to snort.“What’s so funny?” He queried.“You duh! You would set up a romantic dinner date without being crude about it? So what's your pick-up line? Wanna see my lines?”His face turned red with embarrassment and he laughed. “Oh my God, I will never live this one down!”“Never! I can’t believe you said that to me," I started to smile.“Well, what else was I supposed to say? You were mad at me for fixing your bikini and I was enjoying our banter.”It felt good to laugh with him especially before he moved over and our dislike for each other surfaced…
When I woke up it was the morning of the next day. My room was bright and I couldn’t open my eyes because of that but when I tried to lift my hand to shield my eyes I discovered there was someone holding it. For a moment I panicked thinking I was back in Mainland, restrained. But when I opened my eyes it was Siobhan and she had tears in her eyes.“Siobhan?”She threw herself at me and hugged me tight. “You are alive! I was worried. I was so worried I was never going to see you again.”I hugged her right back because I had missed her so much. My heart ached at the thought at I could easily have died and never seen her again. But when I released her and saw the bandage on her wrist my heart lurched.“Oh my God Siobhan, what did you do?!” I asked sitting up.She cried and told me what happened and as I listened I found it increasingly hard to believe what she was saying. There’s no way I can be Edna and Anton’s daughter. And Siobhan had tried to kill herself because of that?I felt so so
Andre’s POVIt was a lot of hours since we got the call from Carol. Anton already had the money ready. The rest of the group had gone to freshen up but I was told to stay back at the hospital.“But, Mr. Hayes, Carol wants me. That’s the only condition she offered for releasing Bianca, the money doesn’t matter.”“I will not leave you to her mercies. You are the only link I have to your father and if I must do something right, I will take you under my wings and look after you like a son. But I want you to stay here and look after Siobhan, make sure she doesn’t try to hurt herself again, and talk to her when she wakes up.”I nodded my head but I was still worried.“What if Carol doesn’t…”“I have enough money to bribe her to leave you alone. I can only hope she accepts it and leaves you alone for good.”Tears filled my eyes as I doved into his arms for a hug. He hugged me just as tight.“It’s the least I do for what happened to your father. Now stay back and keep Siobhan safe.”“Yes, sir
“I’ve got a call,” he announced to everyone else. We all gathered together, forming a small circle. He waited until everyone was there before picking the call. The phone wasn’t on loudspeaker but I strained my ears to hear what Carol had to say. Of course, she demanded money and made the request I knew she was going to make. Give me Andre Rios.When Anton dropped the phone from his ear he sighed.“Well?” Cole asked impatiently.“She will let Bianca go for a price and in exchange for Andre.”Four pairs of eyes turned to me, three of them curious to know why Carol would make such a specific request.It was Cole who voiced the question. “Why does she want you?” he demanded. “What do you have to do with this?”I started to answer truthfully but Anton interrupted me. “He has nothing to do with it but we will give her the money she wants and negotiate for him,” he pointed at me.Cole wasn’t convinced with his answer but the look in Anton’s eyes was one that demanded respect for his decision
Bianca’s POV“You said this was Siobhan Hayes!” Dez argued.“I said this is the girl, don’t put words into my mouth, Dez. And try not to argue with me. What did you learn?”Carol had sent Dez out early to scout for information around town. She wanted to be sure the police weren’t on their tail. But Dez didn’t have such good news.“The news is, one of the students missing from Edwin and Co., the Head Girl, is Bianca Davis and she was last seen in the company of a gang woman in Mainland.” Dez, though short had the build of a boxer and from the scars on him, I could see he has been in his own fair share of vicious fights. If I tried to escape how many steps would I take before he overpowered me?I didn’t even want to think about escaping. I just prayed silently that some miracle would happen and I would be allowed to go home.Carol listened to Dez for a moment and then nodding her head, looked in my direction.“Turns out you are causing a whole lot more trouble than I expected.” She turn
The next morning after a sleepless night I heard a knock on my door. I sat upright in bed thinking it was Siobhan. I was ready to confess now but first I needed to call Carol.But when the door swung open it was not Siobhan that was standing there, it was Edna. Her eyes were puffed and red and she looked extremely vulnerable.“Can I come in?”“It’s your house ma’am, you can,” I responded humbly climbing out of the bed. She walked over and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. I joined her not knowing what to say or do.“Do you think I am a monster?” she asked. Her hazel eyes stared into my soul. I know what color Bianca’s eyes are, they are hazel but they definitely didn’t look like this woman’s. Yet…the possibility was there. “You are Andre, right? My daughter’s classmate. Tell me, Andre, and be honest with me, do you think I am a monster?”“You did exchange a child for one of the craziest reasons I have ever heard, anyone would think what you did was insane. But you cared for Siobhan
“When we couldn’t have a child I resorted to drastic measures…”“Yes, you invited me to your mom, Mrs. Hayes, under the guise of a friendly invitation, drugged me, and assaulted me in the hopes of getting pregnant when you feared your husband was sterile. You almost destroyed my marriage!” Bianca’s dad yelled holding on to his wife protectively.Judging by Siobhan’s reaction to the news this was the first time she ever heard of it. Her mouth hung open and if Anton hadn’t been holding her she probably would have fainted.“I apologized for that,” Edna moaned softly, her voice croaked. “I know it doesn’t change what I did but I regretted my actions that day, I felt like a monster for almost destroying you, and believe me even now I regret that decision.”“Yet you made another terrible decision, Edna. When does it end? The lies, Edna, when do they end?”“They end now. I’ll tell you what happened.” She sniffed. “Years after we got over that unpleasant issue I found out why we couldn’t have
Bianca’s POVIt’s hard not knowing what your abductors want from you.Well, I wasn’t blindfolded so I could see everything going on and one thing I realized was there was no way out for me. There was nowhere to run to when we were on the road and when we bypassed security and got to Mainland, Carla pulled out a gun and made sure I kept my lips shut as we made our way to town to a house she said belonged to Andre’s dad. It was a nice house but as we walked past rooms and halls I could see that it was lacking financially.How many more lies, Andre?Thinking about him broke my heart because I didn’t know what to think. Just last night we confessed our love to each other and found comfort and pleasure in our bodies. What was he hiding even then? Why wouldn’t he tell me?Even though my heart fought hard against my doubt it felt like everything was a lie. He and Carla – if her name is Carla at all, had it all planned. The ease with which I was taken out of school shows careful planning. Als
“Who is he?” Was Anton Hayes’s first question as soon as we got into the house. Siobhan’s mom had grabbed her almost as soon as we came out of the car, hugging her and crying as she kissed Siobhan’s hair and face.I think that was about the same time Mrs. Hayes noticed me standing there with my small luggage. Her eyes were hazel unlike Siobhan’s and very curious as she took in my appearance.“He is my classmate,” Siobhan said. “He lives far away so I offered him a place to stay. He can stay here right Dad?”Anton was staring at me a little too closely and I felt uncomfortable but then he grunted and I guess that means yes. A housekeeper came to carry our bags and I suppose she was going to prepare a room for me too.“What happened?” Mrs. Hayes asked, going back to hysterical. “The school suddenly called and asked that all students should be taken out of school. It’s all over the news but no one is saying anything. What happened?”Siobhan shared a glance with me and as she had been doi
“Please don’t!” Carol cried, putting her hand up.to stop him. “I will go with him, Alex. I will go to Edwin and Co. with him and get Siobhan back.”Alex stopped moving. His eyes were glazed over and he continued to stare at my pathetic state on the floor with Carol cradling my head on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t look like he could utter a word as he stared in a trance. I coughed and blood sputtered out of my mouth. Carol cleaned it up her face etched with worry lines.“I d-don’t…” I managed to say.“You have to.” Her voice was firm, her tone strong. “Come let’s get you away from here,” she said as she helped me up. I took a few steps, grunting in pain as I did and came to stand in front of Alex. He didn’t move out of the way but Carol steered me away from him and helped me as I walked away from the room.I heard a thud and went I glanced back Alex was on his knees on the floor. I looked away but I didn’t hear his sobs as he cried and wondered how he could have beat