The Bully's Possession

Chapter Two

            My mind had to have been playing tricks on me. For some strange reason, I had to be fantasizing about Cole Parker because there was no freaking way that he was standing in my kitchen right now. I closed my eyes, shutting them tightly, then opening them again. Nope! He was still there standing in front of me, clutching onto the waistband of my sweatpants.

           “See you tomorrow,” Cole winked at me, then let himself out.

           Uh, uh! No way! Nope! I knew that I was never coming out of my house ever again. I would end up on one of those criminal shows, my body being the one that was discovered in a shallow grave. Somehow, I would need to convince my parents that moving again was a good idea. I knew they wouldn’t, but they didn’t know the predicament I had gotten myself into. It was only the second week of school, and here I was going from the invisible girl to the girl that caught the attention of the one guy she wanted to avoid in this school. How old was Cole anyway? He didn’t look like he belonged at our school. Actually, he looked a lot older. Maybe college, I thought.

           After fixing myself some dinner, I tried to lay down to sleep, but all I did was toss and turn all night. Those light green eyes showed up every time that I closed my eyes. I sat up in my bed, turned to the right to turn my lamp on. It had been a long time since I had trouble sleeping, but right there in the drawer of my nightstand was a reminder. The little orange pill bottle rattled as I opened the drawer. I hopped out of my bed to run downstairs to grab a glass of water. Once back in my room, I hesitantly reached for the bottle. I haven’t had to take these pills for a few months now. Everything was better-ish. Trazodone read in big, bold letters on the front of the bottle. I haven’t needed to take these for a few months now. Part of me wanted to throw them back into my nightstand and forget that they were ever there, but if I wanted any sleep at all, I would have no other option but to take one.

           It didn’t take long before the pills kicked in, and soon, I was fast asleep.

           The sound of my alarm woke me. In a sleepy haze, I reached over and turned it off before tossing over in my bed. I would just have to blow off school today. In all the years I have been going to school, never have I ever pretended to be sick, but today I would.

           There was a light knock on my door, which surprised me. My mother peeked her head in my door, giving her flashy pearly white smile as she did. “Wake up, honey. If you want time to eat breakfast before school, you need to get up.”

           “I do not feel that well this morning, mom. Do I have to go?”

           “If your father and I have to go to work, you have to go to school, young lady.” She padded over to my bed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “You took one of your pills last night, didn’t you?”

           It was like this woman had eyes in the back of her head. Even when she wasn’t here, she still knew everything I did. “Yeah. I had trouble sleeping last night.”

           “I see,” she said with a grimace look on her face. “Was it nightmares again or something else?”

           Nightmares. My nightmares were terrible, all from one night of immense pain. It was the night that my cousin passed away in a car accident. Only I was in the car with her. I survived, she didn’t, and I have been guilt-ridden ever since.  Mostly in my dreams, she would be there, begging me to help her. When I reached out for her, she vanished, and my nightmares would start up all over again. Those nightmares stopped a few months ago, but the visions of that terrible night still loomed in my head.

           I offered her a smile that wasn’t sincere at all, but one good thing about mom was that she never pressured me into talking with her. “Something else, but I will be okay.” I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. “Hey, what are you still doing home?”

           “Your dad is outside, warming the car. Anytime now, he will be beep…” Right on cue, my dad laid on the horn outside, startling me a little. “We stayed in because of a meeting this morning. I did not see the point of going in early all to leave again. Our trip is a three-day trip, so we will not return until Sunday. Will you be okay here by yourself?”

           Whenever my parents went out of town, I enjoyed myself tremendously. What was not to love? Having an entire house to myself was more than enough of a mini-vacation for myself while they were off taking care of business. “Yes, mom. I have your numbers shall anything happen. I know to come straight home from school and not to open the door for anyone.”

           “Good girl.” She placed a kiss on my forehead and left my room.

           After my parents were gone, I got out of bed and began getting ready. As much as I loved to fantasize about skipping school, I was a coward who would never go through with it. My parents would receive that dreaded call they never hoped they would receive, and I would never hear the end of it.

           After getting ready, I was in the kitchen, making myself a bagel for school, when my door suddenly opened, in walked none other than Mr. Rude himself. I choked back the need to cuss him out, though I have never cussed a day in my life. Something about him made me want to be courageous even though I knew that I never would be.

           Cole rested his arm slightly above his head on the archway to the kitchen. “Coming?” I had no idea what he was thinking, mainly because I was too afraid to look at him.

           Deciding that it was best not to get on his bad side, which I knew he had, I nodded my head. I grabbed my bagel and book and was out the door, locking it behind me. Cole led me out to his car parked right in front of my driveway. I was surprised he didn’t show up driving a motorcycle or something and expect me to get on the back of it.

           He didn’t even open the door for me before he went over to the driver’s side and hopped inside. The engine roared to life, frightening me and making me jump. I was so going to regret this, but what choice did I have? I valued my life well enough to get in this car and suck it up so that I didn’t anger him. I desperately wanted to be one of the brave female characters from my books and tell him where to stick it, but every time that I tried, the words mushed around in my brain, and I began shaking.

           On the car ride to school, I noticed that Cole wasn’t much for conversation, not that I tried to engage in conversation with him. Why was he even doing this to me? Embarrassment crept upon my face the more I thought about it. Thankfully, the school parking lot soon came into view. My mood shifted the instant that I realized how crowded it was. People everywhere stopped to stare at us, whispering as I got out of the car. However, it didn’t seem to bother Cole. He kept his same ice-cold stare that sent shivers down my spine.

           Cole stopped and rested against his car once he closed his door. “Let’s go, Mia,” he ordered. I gulped, standing frozen in place as the whispers around me gradually got louder. “Mia!” Cole snapped.

           I turned my head to him, careful not to look him in the eyes. I have already made that mistake once and would not be doing it a second time. My heart was racing, like literally threatening to beat out of my chest as I approached him. Cole put his arm around my shoulder as we walked, and my heart sunk deep inside my chest.

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           People were staring at us as we walked by, but I could care less. Their stares and whispers meant nothing to me, much like the girl on my arm. I was only interested in her because I figured I could tease the hell of her. Besides, I was bored out of my mind with the same old routine day in and day out.

           I would always meet up with my boys after school to shoot some pool and have a few beers. Girls usually flocked to our sides, but I have been a little short in that department lately due to the incident that happened a few weeks ago at school. That prick, Mr. Andrews, had it coming. No one, and I mean no one, told me what I was going to do and how I would do it. Not since….no! I wouldn’t let my mind wander there again.

           Mia was shaking in my grasp, which only made me press her closer to my body. Call it for what it was, but the innocent girls always were the best to mess around with. She probably had never had a boyfriend before, let alone been touched by one. That right there was where all the fun was. Innocent girls were an excellent way to pass the time. Since I didn’t have much going on as far as work goes, I figured why the hell not? Besides, she was the new girl and has not been tainted by my reputation…yet.

           We stopped by her locker first, letting her gather her belongings for class. She wouldn’t even look at me. At least some of the rumors seemed to get back to her about me. But for some strange reason, having her not look at me bothered me.

            As she shut her locker, she began to walk off. I put my foot in front of her, stopping her before she could move any further. “Why do you not look at me?”

            “You…. scare me.” She recoiled. Usually, this would satisfy me, but again, not with her. What was with this nagging feeling in the back of my mind?

            “What is so scary about me, Mia?”

            “Cole,” she sighed. Right there, my heart nearly stopped. Hearing my name come from her mouth had me losing my f*****g mind. It was a sweet tone and one that I strangely enjoyed hearing. “I have to get to class.”

            I removed my foot from out of her way and replaced it with my body just as she got ready to move. Mia collided with my body for the second time in two days. “Aren’t you going to give me a kiss?”

            Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. I could hardly contain my laughter. Once she heard me chuckling at her, her face turned bright red with embarrassment. It was cute.

            “Relax, I was only joking.” Her body relaxed from my admittance. Seeing her body stiffen then go relaxed the moment I told her I was joking pissed me off. It wasn’t like I expected her to kiss or, more less, even want to kiss me, but that nagging feeling returned.

            I stepped to the side, letting Mia pass. She clutched onto the book in her hand like it was her lifeline and strode away silently. I leaned against her locker, watching her backside as she walked away. What can I say? I just couldn’t help myself.

            “Yo, Cole!” I turned to see my best friend Joel running down the halls after me. I instantly rolled my eyes, turned my back to him, and started walking in the other direction. “Hey, man, wait up!”

            Joel was soon walking beside me, breathing heavily. “Damn, you couldn’t wait on me, asshole?”

            “What do you want, Joel?”

            “Who was that girl you were talking to?”

            I swiftly turned my head to him, giving him the bite me glare. “None of your f*****g business, so stay out of it!” Then, I continued to walk off, back in the direction of the parking lot.