CHAPTER 1NOTE TO READERS: THIS BOOK CONTAIN OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND BULLYING WHICH MAY SEEM OFFENSIVE TO READERS. #SayNoToBullying - IT ALSO CONTAINS S*X SCENES***CLASSROOM***"Did you see the way she flinched when Caleb got in her face?" Maddie's words dripped with wicked enjoyment as she took her normal place in the back of the English classroom.Trent snickered and slumped down alongside her. "Like a scared little rabbit." "You'd think the mute freak would be accustomed to it by now."Their laughter sliced through the dull roar of student talk, with an edge sharp enough to pierce even the toughest exteriors. Not that their intended target could answer with anything other than a pained expression.Lila kept her gaze fixed on the blank notebook before her, her hands clutched tightly in her lap to conceal a tiny trembling. She strained to block out the vicious remarks, to build the invisible walls that were her sole defense against the barrage of heartless words."Seriously, how doe
CHAPTER 2The final bell rang, signaling the end of another exhausting day at Willow Creek High School. Lila Emerson rushed down the corridor, head dropped, attempting to avoid the sneers and taunts that appeared to follow her like a dark cloud. "Hey, mute girl!" Caleb's nasty voice cut over the din of students. "Why don't you open that pretty little mouth and say something for once?"Lila increased her speed, her heart beating against her ribs. She could feel their gaze on her, burning into her back like hot coals. A nasty chuckle rang out behind her, followed by a chorus of giggles from Caleb's buddies.Pushing through the double doors, she sucked in the fresh air, hoping it would calm her racing heart. The taunts faded into the distance, but their pain persisted, like a constant aching that refused to go away.Mia's house was a few blocks away, a haven from the nastiness that seemed to follow Lila everywhere she went. She headed out down the usual walk, her thoughts going to her b
CHAPTER 3LILA POV: Lila pulled open the door to her father's workshop, where she was met by the familiar fragrance of sawdust and varnish. It was a smell she had remembered since she was a youngster, a constant companion amidst her life's ever-changing currents.Ethan Emerson stood slumped over his workstation, his broad shoulders straining against the tightness of his well-worn shirt. The rhythmic rasp of sandpaper against wood filled the air, interrupted by her father's grunts of stress. Lila lingered in the doorway for a time, her fingers twitching with the want to announce her arrival. But something was holding her back, a tension that appeared to crackle in the air between them like static electricity.Finally, Ethan looked up, his brow furrowing as he noticed her there. "Lila," he grumbled, his voice rough. "Didn't hear you come in."Her hands moved smoothly, each gesture precise and purposeful. "You were focused on your work."Ethan grumbled again and dropped the half-sanded
CHAPTER 4With a tremulous smile tugging at the edges of her lips, Lila went forward and carefully pried the dirty paper towels from her father's white-knuckled hands. Ethan winced as the improvised bandage ripped away from the sharp wound, revealing fresh blood and flowing scarlet rivulets down his forearm.Lila's breath caught in her throat, but she refused to let the sight of her father's wounds upset her newfound determination. Her actions were smooth and sure as she gently rinsed Ethan's hand under the cool water, removing the congealed blood and dirt.Ethan growled through gritted teeth, his face contorted into a pained expression. "Son of a b*tch," he snarled, his words full of hatred.Lila gave him a severe look, waving her fingers in a stinging reproach. "Language, Dad."To her surprise, Ethan's lips twitched into a ghostly smile. "Yes, ma'am," he said, grudgingly respectful.Lila worked quickly and expertly to clean and treat the wound, her experienced hands belied her youth
CHAPTER 5As they arrived home, the steady throbbing in Ethan's palm served as a continuous reminder of how quickly things may go wrong. Each throb of anguish served as a flashing neon sign, telling him not to take the delicate calm he had discovered with Lila for granted. He flexed his tightly bandaged fingers, wincing at the strain of torn tissue and muscle beneath the bandage. An accident like this could have been terrible for someone who relied on his hands to make money. As it was, the forced idleness and reliance on others irritated every fiber of his steadfast independence.But as Ethan watched Lila painstakingly prepare his antibiotic prescription, he felt a weird sense of serenity. The awkward, stiff quiet that had existed between them for so long had ended. In its place was a newfound ease, an understanding rooted in shared vulnerability.Lila looked up, her beautiful eyes searching his face as she extended the small paper cup containing capsules. _"Time for your meds,"_ sh
CHAPTER 6Willow Creek High's hallways buzzed with the familiar thrum of teenage chaos. Bodies pushed and rubbed against one another in a turning sea of hormones and indifference. While banging lockers and wild laughing, Lila Emerson's Absence went completely unnoticed.To most, she was nothing more than a silent shadow on the outskirts of their awareness. A mystery cloaked in the impenetrable cloak of her silence. Caleb Matthews, on the other hand, saw her as a strange form of entertainment—a punching bag on which he could unleash his cruelest jabs and most savage derisions.As he swaggered into the crowded corridor, a malicious smirk formed on his lips, his alpha pheromones billowing through the air like a toxic cloud. Beside him, Yuria, his fiancée Miranda's best friend, was practically crazy with excitement, her anxious eyes flitting over his carved features."Heard the mute freak decided to play hooky today," Caleb snarled, his words oozing with contempt. "Lucky bitch gets to ski
CHAPTER 7The final bell rang, echoing through the now-empty halls like a starting pistol. Yuria ran out the front doors, her pulse pumping with nerves and excitement. Caleb's beautiful sports car was already idling on the curb when she arrived. He cranked the engine anxiously as she got into the passenger seat, and the roar sent shivers down her spine. Without saying anything, he stepped away from the school, one hand firmly operating the gearshift.The short journey to his house was spent in tense quiet, the tension building with each sidelong glance and half-smile they shared. By the time Caleb pulled into his vacant driveway, Yuria could not breathe from her need for him.He turned off the engine but did not make any attempts to exit the car. They locked eyes and stared at one other for a passionate minute. With an animalistic grunt, Caleb surged across the desk, smashing his lips against Yuria's in a searing, desperate kiss.She gasped into his mouth, grabbing his shirt, as need
CHAPTER 8Caleb appeared to figure out the direction of her thoughts. He leaned in close, his lips brushing against the soft skin just behind her ear. "Don't overthink this, babe," he said in that deep, gravelly voice that never failed to pique her interest. "We both got exactly what we wanted today. There's no need to ruin the mood with unnecessary details."Yuria shuddered as his husky tenor caressed her senses, making rational thought difficult. Perhaps he was correct; why concentrate on possibilities that could go nowhere good? For the time being, she should simply enjoy the private conversations they had while Miranda was away.Yuria turned in Caleb's arms, determinedly ignoring her anxieties, until she was straddling his lean hips, her tumbling hair creating a leather curtain around them. "You're right," she whispered, laying a line of feathery kisses across his muscular chest. "No need to ruin the mood with unnecessary drama."Caleb gasped in approval, his hands finding grip on
The library had settled into its usual afternoon lull, the air thick with the musty scent of aging paper and the soft rustle of turning pages. Lila sat hunched over her laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard as she transcribed her latest research notes. So engrossed was she in her work that she failed to notice the looming presence approaching her table until a shadow fell across her screen.Glancing up with a start, Lila found herself face to face with Caleb's towering bulk. Her muscles tensed instinctively, body coiling as if readying for fight or flight. The last encounter with this lumbering bully still burned fresh in her memory - his sneering disdain, the casual cruelty as he'd snatched away her notebook filled with painstaking calculations and schematics.But something was... off. Instead of the usual sneer twisting his features, Caleb's expression seemed almost sheepish. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his varsity jacket as he r
The echoing silence stretched unbearably as Caleb's hulking form loomed over Lila. She remained frozen, muscles coiled tightly, awaiting the inevitable belittling remark or physical intimidation tactic from the lumbering brute.Instead of lashing out verbally, Caleb simply stared her down, pale eyes drilling into her with an intense, unblinking glare. The seconds ticked by agonizingly until Lila had to fight the urge to squirm under his domineering scrutiny. Finally, he broke the oppressive silence by jutting his thick neck forward, the cords of muscle straining beneath his skin as he fixed her with a callous sneer."Give it here," he growled, the gravelly timbre of his voice reverberating through the stillness.Lila's brow furrowed slightly as she met his imperious glare, refusing to be cowed so easily despite her growing trepidation. She tilted her head in an exaggerated questioning expression.Caleb responded by leaning down until his meaty face filled her field of vision, hot bur
The library had settled into an industrious hush, the only sounds the occasional creak of chair legs against tile or the muffled clacking of Lila's fingers flying across her laptop's keyboard. Dylan pored over a sheaf of printouts, lips pursing in concentration as he made notations in the margins with a stubby pencil.Mia broke the silence with a jaw-cracking yawn, slumping back in her chair as she stretched her arms overhead. "Well, I don't know about you two, but my brain feels like an overstuffed piñata about to burst after cramming in all those thermospheric equilibrium models."Lila shot her a sidelong glance, the ghost of a smirk playing about her lips as her hands articulated a response. Dylan watched the deft weaving of her fingers with a hint of envy, wishing he could fully grasp the nuanced expressiveness of that rich, silent language.Mia snorted, translating Lila's gestures with a rakish grin. "She says no one ever claimed saving the world would be easy, especially when th
CHAPTER 73Mia studied a stack of printouts and sketchy diagrams, her brow wrinkled with concentration. Lila's fingers flew across the screen of her laptop with fluid ease, signing a complicated stream of gestures interspersed by brief bursts of typing. Dylan watched the spectacle with a genuine sense of pleasure and satisfaction. Just a short time ago, this ragged company was on the verge of implosion, split between petty power battles and pointless outbursts of ideological grandstanding. However, once their focus moved to actual, concrete goals in pursuit of the Scholsemann Sustainability Scholarship, a perceptible rebirth of synergy emerged.Dylan felt the same explosive spark that had first attracted them together rekindle as he assessed his co-conspirators' single-minded focus on the mission at hand. He cleared his throat, the gravelly rasp cutting through the charged silence like a tuning fork vibration. "Alright, people - I think it's time we regroup and see what kind of big-
CHAPTER 72***NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL ***The library's hushed ambiance felt like a taut wire, barely containing the simmering tensions that crackled between them. Lila swept her gaze across the secluded study nook, taking stock of her unlikely crew bound together by shared trauma and a singular purpose.Mia radiated tightly-coiled fury, her lithe frame tensed like a spring awaiting release. Though defiant fire still burned in those dark eyes, the mottled bruises marring her skin served as a visceral reminder of the price they'd paid for resistance. Beside her, Dylan settled into his chair with measured movements, as if afraid any sudden gestures might rekindle the powderkeg hostilities. His jaw was clenched, eyes tracking the others with a wariness born of recent betrayals.The heavy tread of boots against tile announced Caleb's arrival. The towering jock swaggered in exuding nonchalant arrogance, but the corded muscles bunching along his thick neck betrayed the menacing undercurrent sim
CHAPTER 71The front door let out a deep, familiar groan of protest as Lila shouldered it open and stepped across the threshold into the Hawthorne home. The entrance stretched out in front of her, tiny but neat, a true reflection of her father's practical principles and workmanlike pride.She scuffed her trainers against the bristly welcome mat, releasing the grit and debris that had gathered throughout the day on their rubber soles. The regular shucking noises resonated hollowly along the front hall, as Lila went about her daily practice of making herself at home.Her backpack thudded on the floor with a muffled whump, spreading its contents in a tangled sprawl of notebooks, textbooks and stray pens. She'd worry about resolving that issue later; for now, the enticing draw of escape into the digital ether called with its siren song of consequence-free distraction.Lila retrieved her smartphone from the chaos, flicking her thumb across the lockscreen in a single practiced flick. The sc
CHAPTER 70The bell, which thankfully signaled the conclusion of another academic assignment, rang out in a strong dismissal tone that cut through the noise of the packed corridor. Students rush out of classrooms, eager to get away from academic duties for a few hours.Lila stayed there for a few lingering seconds, watching the storm swell and fall before getting up. She gathered her belongings with deliberate, precise care, her actions honed over years of discreetly traversing a world practically devoid of noise disruptions.As she lifted her bag and turned towards the exit, a familiar figure appeared at her side. Mia fell into step, her face a mix of affectionate irritation and lingering uncertainty."You sure you're okay heading out alone?" She asked, narrowing one eye as she examined Lila. "After this morning's...events, I wouldn't blame you for wanting someone to walk with."Lila's hands moved in a flurry of familiar gestures, her agile fingers articulating the response with prac
CHAPTER 69Miranda and Yuria paused in mid-torment, their savage sneers temporarily easing as the sound of an adjacent classroom door smashing open reached their ears."What in the name of blessed reason is going on out here?"The authoritative scream of a male faculty member pierced through the tense atmosphere like a hot knife as Mr. Levinson's towering form approached the corner. The hefty, barrel-chested History teacher stopped short, his already florid cheeks purpling even more as he took in the chaotic sight."Miss Miranda!" "Miss Yuria!" His blustering tones cracked like a whip as he focused on the perpetrators. "Release those young ladies this instant and explain yourselves!"For a brief time, it appeared that Miranda might dig in her heels and refuse the teacher's intervention. Her clean features distorted into an ugly grimace, and her grasp on Lila's hair tightened violently until the mute girl wailed. Then, just as swiftly, the mutinous fury subsided into calm, lazy apathy
CHAPTER 68The heavy wooden door bashed shut behind Caleb with a resounding finality that echoed along the empty hallway. His footsteps sounded like sledgehammers, propelled by a spinning whirlwind of embarrassment, rage, and disbelief.How dare they? How can those small little insects defy him so shamelessly, removing his legitimate claim to power with their pathetic insurrection? As the images repeated in his mind's eye, he let out a low growl from deep within.Those losers and the freak raised their betraying hands in arrogant, coordinated rejection. Dylan, the overhype little b*tch who had fooled himself into thinking he could steal Caleb's natural leadership. A strong shudder shot through the jock's titanium-hewn frame as he pictured wrapping his hands around that thin throat and squeezing until those mutinous lights went out for good.His fists squeezed till the knuckles turned white, tendons cording against the skin like high-tension cables. The abrupt jarring blast of his ring