The Bully's Possession

Chapter Three

            Every girl in my class stared at me as I entered the room. I had never had this much attention on me before. Honestly, it terrified me, giving me the sensation as if I were about to hurl all over the place. The moment I took my seat, I closed my eyes and tried to gather myself as quickly as possible. Hopefully, Cole Parker would get preoccupied with someone else and leave me alone. Yeah, that was it. He would because of who he was. Because of who I was, he would get bored easily with me.

            “Hey, new girl,” the girl to my right whispered. Her name was Caroline. Caroline was a beautiful blonde with perfect light blue eyes to match. She was beautiful, more than I could say for myself. Caroline was the most popular girl in our school, so why was she talking to me?

            I turned my head to the right slowly, lifting my eyes to meet her gaze. “Yes?” I asked, dumbfounded as to why someone like her was talking to me. I have been here for two weeks now, and not one person has tried to engage in conversation. My first thought was that she needed someone to copy off for tests, but I decided it wasn’t right for me to judge her.

            She peered around her, making sure no one else was listening. “Are you with Cole Parker? Is he like your boyfriend or something?”

            My nose scrunched up while my heart soared to a height it has never reached before. “No. Why do you ask?”

            “Just wanted to warn you about him, is all. I know being at a new school with new people can be rough on someone. Someone should look out for you around here.” She shrugged her shoulders and turned her head straight ahead as the teacher walked into class.

            My mind wandered as I tried focusing on the lecture for today, but I just couldn’t get her words out of my head. I didn’t know whether to take her seriously or not. Caroline has never bothered to talk to me before, so why would she feel the need to suddenly look out for me? It made me think that Cole’s reputation was a lot worse than I knew.

            After a few more of my classes, it was time for lunch. I nearly fainted when I came out of my classroom only to find Cole leaning up against the wall with his eyes glued to his phone. He had to be here for someone else, right? Because even thinking of the possibility that he was here for me made me sweat profusely.

            “About time,” Cole said as he pushed his phone into his pocket and made his way over to me.

            Caroline gave me the eye as she exited class but scurried away as fast as she could the closer that Cole got to me.

            He didn’t move, only standing there like a statue. What was he waiting for? I rolled my eyes, fully aware that he couldn’t see me as my head was too focused on the ground. In my mind, I was cussing him out and telling him to leave me alone. However, this wasn’t only in my mind. This was real life, and it was happening to me. I quickly tried to think of a way to get out of this mess but came up completely empty. Even if I wanted to avoid him, I had a strange feeling he would follow me. Plus, with his reputation of bullying people around the school, I was fearful of what he might do if I told him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

            I tried to get around him, but when I moved, he would move to block me. Cole chuckled every time that I tried. “Are you done? I’m starving and would like to eat sometime today.”

            “I’m not h…hungry.” My god, get it together, Mia! I could hardly speak when I was around him and probably seemed as pathetic to him as I did to myself.

            Cole just stood there, staring as I was struck with fear. My body felt like it was in a tub of ice, completely frozen. My bones felt like if I tried to move again, they would break at any given moment. He crossed his arms as I stared at his chest. I closed my eyes and thought what I wouldn’t give to have someone come and rescue me.

            As I was getting ready to head to lunch with Cole, given no other choice, someone approached us. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me toward his body. “Hey, babe,” he said as he kissed my cheek. If I wasn’t red in the face already, I surely was now. “You ready to eat? I brought us some lunch today. Come on.”

            Deciding that whoever this guy was, he was probably the safer bet. I started to walk alongside him, giving him my best fake smile when Cole put a hand to his chest, stopping him in his place.

            “Yeah, that isn’t going to happen,” he warned the guy grasping my shoulder. “She is with me.”

            “That’s funny because the last time that I checked, this was my girlfriend. Feel free to shop around the school for one of your own. There are plenty enough girls for you to go after.” He eyed Cole up and down, measuring him but not backing down like so many other guys I have seen cross paths with Cole.

            I was taken aback when Cole removed his hand from our path and let us continue to walk down the hall and toward the cafeteria. When we were a safe distance away from him, the guy holding onto me tightly removed his arm from around me.

            “Sorry about that. You looked like you were in extreme discomfort. I thought I would lend you a hand.” I dared to look up to him, astonished as to what I saw. This guy didn’t look familiar at all to me. Maybe he was new here, but he was something to look at. Strangely, I found myself comparing him to Cole. This guy standing in front of me was soft on the eyes, but Cole was sweeter. Oh my…did I really just think that? All I wanted to do was facepalm myself but thought it might scare the crap out of my savior. “My name is Gavin.” He stuck out his hand.

            It was so formal that it made me chuckle. I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Gavin. My name is Mia, Mia Bexley. Thank you for saving me back there.”

            Gavin smiled at me, a smile so bright that I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “I figured I would get you away from that guy. He kind of seemed like a d**k, if I am honest. Is he your boyfriend or something?”

            I shook my head violently. “No, not at all. Wait a minute. You don’t know who Cole Parker is?”

            “Oh, so that would be the infamous Cole Parker. Um,” he hummed and shook his head as if it didn’t bother him one bit. “I guess I better watch my back then. Anytime you need me, just ask, and I will be there to steal you away.” He winked at me then walked into the cafeteria.

            I chewed on my bottom lip as I watched him take a seat with a bunch of other guys. How have I not seen this guy before?

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            My knuckles were bleeding from the harsh blow to the side of the brick building. I had stepped outside to have a cigarette break, hoping it would calm my nerves, but it had the opposite effect. I wanted to know everything there was about this guy who stole Mia away from me! He wouldn’t live to see another day if I had anything to say about it. His girlfriend, my ass!

            “Joel!” I tried to control my breathing, but my voice continued to grow higher and higher. “Find out everything you can about that guy. I want answers. Now!”

            “You know when you call, you can at least say hi, Mr. Grumpy Pants.” My jaw clenched, unable to handle Joel’s persistent need to piss me off. “Why does it even matter, Cole? This girl means nothing to you anyway. Just let it go, and we can go out tonight and find you someone much hotter to get in between the sheets with.”

            f**k him! I ended the call abruptly, taking another drag of my cigarette before throwing it to the ground, using my boot to put it out on the cement. I didn’t think jealousy existed for me, but right there in front of my face, there it was making fun of me. Jealousy was dancing around in front of my face as if it were asking for it. I was Cole Parker. I didn’t get jealous, ever! My breathing became ragged, and I knew as my temper rose that I was close to losing it. No! I couldn’t lose it, not here, not right now.

            I pushed my foot off the side of the brick building and began walking toward the cafeteria. Something was off about this guy, and I was going to find out what. He might not know who Cole Parker was, but he was surely about to find out.

            As I was making my way inside, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned the corner in time to see Mia heading off toward the football field. Where the hell was she going? I followed behind her, close enough not to lose her but far back enough that she wouldn’t notice me. Mia took a seat at the top of the bleachers. She then unfolded her arms to reveal a book pressed closely to her chest. Suddenly, I was now jealous of a f*****g book! When she began reading, I found myself watching her closely. Mia would go from teary-eyed to open-mouthed within seconds of each other. I found it amusing to watch.

            Figuring I had enough stalking, I made my way over the same bleachers she was sitting on. I had that same nagging feeling in the back of my chest that pushed me to be closer to her. Mia lifted her head to see who was stalking toward her. The moment she realized it was me, she cast her eyes back to her book. It bothered me more than I cared to admit seeing her like this around me. Hell, I hardly knew the girl at all, and yet this is how I was feeling. Get a grip, Cole!

            “Boyfriend, huh? Didn’t care to share that with me, say I don’t know, yesterday?” I stood in front of her, now blocking the sun from her. “Answer me.” When I noticed she shrunk in size at my tone, I added, “please.”

            Bewilderment crept upon her face, even though it was partially hidden from view. I really wished that she would stop doing that. “Never crossed my mind,” she lied. Man, was she obvious? Without even telling me, she said exactly what I already knew.

            I took a seat next to her, making her jump, and she slid inches away from me. Wow. Did I really scare her that much? “I was thinking about paying your little boy toy a visit.”

            “No, please,” she begged before I could even finish my sentence. She chewed on her bottom lip, and my heart stilled.

            Oh, how I wanted her to do that again. “Look at me, and I will forget all about it.” Slowly, Mia lifted her head. She truly was beautiful. I took a minute to appreciate her beauty. Mia was a small girl, even though she wore clothes too big for her. Her brunette hair blew in the wind and shown me her gorgeous hazel eyes. I gulped back thoughts that I shouldn’t be having. “That’s it, princess.”

            “What?” She asked, staring at me dumbfounded. Had she never been called anything besides her name? Mia was scared, slightly shaking, but something in her had gained some courage over the last hour. “Why are you here?”

            A playful smile soon took over without even realizing it. “Let me ask you a question first. Tell me why I scare you, and I will answer anything you want to know about me?” I pointed my long, boney index finger at her. “But you only get one.”

            She audibly sighed, her eyes staring right past me. “I have heard the rumors. Just because I am new doesn’t mean that I haven’t been up to date on your reputation.” Oh, brave girl, I see. Now, I was intrigued by her even more. “Now, back to my question. Why are you here?”

            “As I told you before, I like you, Mia. When I find something that I want, I go for it.” Her sudden gasp of air made me smile yet again. “By the way, you shouldn’t believe everything that you hear about me.” With that, I got up from the bleachers, deciding to give her some time to dwell on our short conversation.