The School Bully

The Call

I'd never wanted to kill anyone in my entire life until I met Leon Gage.

I threw a side glance at him and wished murder was legal. He was eating the burger I made for him and I wished he'd choked on it.

Or he could just drop dead.

I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming as the series of yesterday's events played in my mind. I squeezed my eyes tight as the memory resurfaced against my will.

I was never, ever going to read again!

I should have not read Fifty freaking Shades of Gray in school. God, I should not have brought it in the first place! But I got bored waiting for Leon and it was the only book I had in my desk.

All throughout the drive home, his body kept on shaking with suppressed laughter and I had to resist the urge to jump off his motorcycle and kill myself. And before he left, he kissed me with a smile on his lips and he kept chuckling and shaking his head. God, how much I wanted to kick him. He was such a jerk.

Then I remembered how he looked when he laughed and my heart squeezed painfully.

Leon's smiles were rare but whenever he did smile, he was absolutely gorgeous. But his laughing face was even more beautiful. Even through my mortification, I couldn't help but stare at him, so stunned by what I was witnessing.

Honest to God, all I could think about then was how I wished I could fall in love with him.

But when he wouldn't stop laughing, I began to wish I was capable of murder.

I sighed and nibbled on the end of a cucumber stick. I was hoping Leon would play nice with me today but the word was apparently not in his vocabulary. When he came to pick me up, he kept grinning and although the sight made me weak to my knees, I still wanted to kick him on the shin.

I tried giving him the silent treatment the whole day. I didn't think it worked because reason number one, I was always quiet around him and reason number two, he wasn't a person you could ignore.

Leon knew he was irritating me and he seemed to enjoy it. I tried not to let him get to my nerves but he was seriously straining my patience.

"I have a gift for you," I heard him say and my spine straightened at the laughter in his tone.

I twisted my body to look at him. He placed a paper bag between us, his mouth twitching suspiciously as he did.

"What is it?" I asked, staring at the package.

He tipped his head to it and said, "Open it."

I gave him a wary glance before I did what he told me. I opened the bag, took a peek inside and immediately, my eyes went wide and my breath started sticking in my throat.

Oh, God, oh, God, oh God.

It was The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. It was an erotic novel, the first of its trilogy, infamous for its hardcore pornography and b**m of every flavor, making Fifty Shades seem like a Disney fairy tale.

Considering the fact that I read two erotic novels as an experiment to see if I could handle them and then decided I couldn't after the second one, (Fifty Shades was tamer than the other one and really, I didn't reread the novel because of the dirty scenes), I was not interested to read this kind of books ever again.

I sucked in air as I squeezed the bag close.

"Leon," I wailed on the exhale.

"What?" His face was impassive and cool yet his silvery-gray eyes held a mischievous glint. "I saw it in the bookstore and instantly thought of you."

I said nothing but glared at him. How could he be so obnoxious to me?

His brows furrowed as he stared back. "Are you mad at me?"

The glare disappeared and I giggled nervously as I looked away.

Uh-oh.

"So?"

My eyes went back to him. "So, what?"

"Aren't you going to thank me?"

I sighed, then said, "Thank you."

He inclined his head, his eyes mirroring amusement, and my hand began to itch to slap him. "Thank you for what?"

He really was enjoying this.

"T-thank you..." my voice sounded choked so I swallowed then started again. "Thank you for the book. Now, let me just put it away—."

He leaned in close and I stifled a gasp. "I want you to read it to me."

I gaped at him. No freaking way!

"You'll read it to me, won't you?" he went on.

"What!" I exclaimed.

"You." He pointed at me before pointing at his chest. "Read it to me."

"You have got to be kidding me!" I burst out. "I don't even like-"

I shut my mouth when his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "You know, I'm not the kind of person who gives gifts just to anyone," he said low and I winced. "If this is the response I get from you every time I gave you something, maybe I shouldn't f*****g bother anymore."

I wanted to tell him his gift was meant to embarrass me, not to make me happy like how gifts should but the anger radiating off him made my shoulders slump in defeat.

"I'm sorry," I whispered in an attempt to placate him.

"You're sorry?" he asked, his tone hard.

"Yeah," I said in earnest. "I truly am."

"Well, I'm still f*****g pissed," he declared.

He turned away from me and I began to panic. An angry Leon was not good for my health, mainly because I did not want to lose my life.

I placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off. I slid my chair to get close to him but he moved away. I watched him continue to eat, my anxious heart pounding away.

Then my eyes caught the book on my lap. I bit my lip as a ridiculous idea popped into my head.

Hmm...

"He mounted her, parting her legs, giving the white inner flesh of her thighs a soft, deep pinch," I started reading on a random page, blushing and wincing at the graphic details. "and, clasping her right breast in his left hand, he thrust his—."

The book disappeared from my hand. I blinked at Leon who was scowling down at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Why the f**k are you reading it?" he demanded.

"You said you want me to read it! I was trying to show my appreciation of the gift you gave me. But if this is the kind of response I get..."

His face registered surprise at my impertinence. I bit my lip to stop the smile threatening to come out.

Take that, you big jerk.

"Are you f*****g with me?"

All amusement fled as I was instantly reminded who Leon Gage was.

How could I have forgotten?

Oh, no. He was going to give me hell for this.

"No," I answered.

He leaned in, his hand cupping the back of my head, and he pulled me to him.

I panicked. "What? I—."

The words died on my throat when he kissed me, hard and wet. When his mouth released mine, his hand disappeared and he went back to eating, as if he didn't just maul me outside the cafeteria where the other students kept wary glances at us.

"Why did you kiss me?" I hissed, feeling the blood rush to my face. "I did not tell a lie!"

He shrugged. "I wanted to kiss you. Problem?"

I stared long at him.

I give up, I thought with a sigh.

I thought throwing his words back at him would make him back off from teasing me all the time but it backfired on me. It was stupid of me to think I could take him on anyway.

Stupid, stupid me.

He glanced at me, picked up my hand and put it on his lap. He gave my hand a squeeze and I sighed again but for a different reason.

Then I continued to eat my lunch.

**********

Terry kept throwing me nasty looks as we worked on our project. As luck would have it, our English teacher chose our partners and I got stuck with the girl who disliked me the most. A collective sigh arose from the class after she finished announcing my partner, and I realized they had been dreading being assigned to me.

And here I thought they had gotten over their fear of me, I thought glumly.

Terry threw me another glare and I ducked my head down low, trying to ignore her while I scribbled ideas on my paper.

From what I heard and knew about her, Terry was one of the brightest students in our year. She was not only the class president but also our year's representative. She was unsmiling, almost stern-looking, unlike her best friend Hannah, who was always cheerful and energetic. She was half-Japanese with long, straight, jet black hair and slanted brown eyes. She was also seriously beautiful.

"How about this?" I finally spoke, presenting her my paper.

"It sucks!" she snapped after she read it. "Everything you wrote sucks! Tell me, Sophia. Do you have crap for brains?"

I swallowed an angry retort. Without even letting me explain, she just shot down all of my ideas. I glared at Hannah's direction. This was all her fault. All her fault. Hannah, catching my gaze, gave me an apologetic smile and shrugged. I huffed and turned my gaze back to Terry. She was staring at me, her lips in a firm line.

I leaned forward and asked quietly, "What is your problem with me, Terry?"

Her brows lifted in mock confusion. "I just told you your ideas suck. Why do you think I have a problem with you?"

"Oh, just tell me already," I hissed at her.

"Do you think you can order me around?" she bit off. "I'm not afraid of you just because you're dating him. Should I bow down to you, your royal highness? Should I just shut my mouth and let you use stupid ideas for our project?"

I sat back, hoping the distance would calm me down and stop the urge to get into a smack down with her. "This is about Hannah, isn't it?"

I watched as her angry look fell and her eyes slid to the side.

"Of course, it is," I muttered.

"Leave Hannah alone." She scowled at me. "Stay away from her."

"Shouldn't you be telling her that?"

"I did!" she said in exasperation. "But, Hannah is—"

"Hannah," I inserted. "She's Hannah. You may have known her for years but in the short time I've known her, she does what she wants to do. She came to me and talked to me even when I made it clear she was annoying me."

She snorted. "Yes, that's Hannah. She explained to me about your situation with Leon but I don't give a crap about you. I care about her. God, can't she see how dangerous you are? Did she forget what he is capable of? I don't want her to be hurt because of you."

I forced air into my lungs, my eyes starting to sting at the harshness of her words. I slid my eyes downwards, blinking rapidly.

"And you!" I shot my gaze back at her. "You should know better than to be dating him."

"I don't have a choice," I told her softly. "It's not like I jumped his bones and made him go out with me. I thought Hannah told you."

Her lips curled in distaste. Then she wrote a big X on my paper.

"She did," she replied through clenched teeth. "But still, I don't like Hannah hanging out with you. You understand, right?"

I bit my lip and nodded. Her calculating gaze ran over me and I tried not to flinch under it.

"Good. I'll keep convincing Hannah not to hang out with you. You try to keep yourself and Leon away from her." She handed my paper back to me. "Your ideas still suck, though."

I sighed. "Then, let's use your ideas."

"That's the plan."

I called her another term of a female dog in my head then resigned myself under her snooty instructions.

After a while, I began to admit she was right.

My ideas were crappy. And I was sure to get an easy A because of her. 

**********

I was dead tired as I switched the lights off and crawled under the covers of my bed. Leon's teasing coupled by Terry's accusations exhausted me. I cuddled my pillow close and sighed deeply. Tomorrow was Saturday and since Leon didn't tell me anything about going out with him, I intended to catch up on reading and just laze around the house.

My eyes were drooping when my cell phone began to ring.

I blew out a sleepy, irritated sigh and retrieved my phone from the top of my bedside table. I grew even more irritated when I saw the display. It was an unknown caller. The unknown caller.

God, could this day get any worse?

I debated answering it. The person on the other line wouldn't answer but hung up anyway. But I still slid my finger across the screen and put it to my ear. Who knows? Maybe somebody would speak this time.

"Hello?" I said in a drowsy tone.

No one spoke. Again. I sighed and was about to end the call when I heard something. Frowning, I pushed the phone closer to my ear. Then I realized what it was. Breathing. Someone was breathing heavily on the line. It sounded masculine and irregular, like he was running or something.

"Hello? What do you want?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

"Hello?"

He suddenly groaned. The sound turned my blood into ice. Then the line went dead. I sat up slowly, with alert wakefulness, staring at my phone all the while, my brows knitted together.

What the heck was that all about?

My phone rang again with the same unknown caller on the display. Goosebumps trailed over my skin and my hands began to tremble. He never called twice on the same night. Never.

Stupidly, I answered it again. "Who is this?"

He answered with a groan which sounded eerily like he was doing something pleasurable. I instantly hung up, my body tight with terror. I jolted when it rang again but this time, I didn't answer. It kept ringing and ringing and ringing. I fumbled with the buttons of my phone to turn it off, my heart pounding, when the noise stopped.

My hands froze. My body was still tense, uncertain if I should relax or not. And just when I thought it was truly over, it rang again.

I clenched my fists, the fear sliding away and anger snapping right into place.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed through the phone.

My breathing was hard as I waited for an answer.

"What the f**k, Sophia?"

Sudden relief flooded to me and tears welled up in my eyes. It was Leon. And hearing his voice made everything better all at once.

"Leon?" I asked, making sure.

"Yeah, it's me. What the f**k was that?"

I snapped on the light of the table lamp, blinking back the tears. "Nothing."

"Sophia."

"How did know my number?"

"I'm your f*****g boyfriend," he answered with impatience. "Of course, I know your number. Now tell me—"

"So it wasn't you?" I could hear my voice breaking and knew he heard it too. I cleared my throat. "You haven't been calling me until now?"

"No, this is the only time I called. What is going—?"

"Then it wasn't you," I whispered.

"Sophia, answer the f*****g question!" he shouted. "What the f**k is going on?"

"I've been getting creepy calls," I answered shakily, wiping the stray tears with the back of my hand. "I thought it was you. I'm sorry I shouted at you."

"When has this s**t started?"

"A few weeks after school started I think," I replied, fear pumping in my veins, finally realizing the kind of danger I was in. "It used to be one call every night and no one would speak on the other line when I answered. It stopped the day we met but tonight, he wouldn't stop calling. And—"

"How did you know it was a guy?"

"I heard him," I whispered.

"Heard? I thought no one would answer?"

"H-he was breathing hard on the phone. And, he groans like he's... doing something good. I don't know."

"f**k, you've got to be f*****g shitting me. Did you give anyone your number when you moved here?"

"Only Hannah."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes," I bit my lip to stop a sob from coming out. "But I made sure to lock all the doors and we have a security system."

"Are you alright?"

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. "Yeah."

"Sophia."

"Really, I am."

"Damn it, Sophia," he barked over the line.

"I was scared. God, I was so scared," I admitted, reacting to his anger. "It was really creepy. But it'll pass."

A lengthy pause. Then, he said, "Okay. Go to sleep."

He hung up before I could say anything. My lips trembled as I rolled over and put my phone back on the table, disappointment washing over me.

Then I immediately burst into tears.

**********

Leon was rigid with anger, fighting for composure. He started to pace. But he couldn't get Sophia's words out of his head and the quiver in her voice.

He closed his eyes.

I was scared. God, I was so scared.

Those words seared into him, brutalizing his brain and he could not control his anger anymore.

"f**k!" Leon threw his phone across the room, surprising the couple making out on Skull's sofa and causing them to run out. "That dumb f**k!"

"What is it?" Rohan asked as he appeared by his side. John was behind him. "What is it, Leon?"

"He has her number." His voice was low and tight with anger and anxiety. "How the f**k did he get her f*****g number?"

Rohan's jaw tightened. "Maybe she gave it to him?"

"She didn't." Leon ran a hand over his hair. He wanted to break something, wanted to hurt somebody. "She said he was calling her long before I met her. He wouldn't speak but tonight, f**k tonight, she heard him."

"What did he say?" John asked.

Leon whirled at John. "He didn't say anything!" he barked. "She said he was breathing and groaning on the line. She didn't understand why but I f*****g did!" He leaned back and roared, "The motherfucker was f*****g himself to Sophia's voice!"

"Jesus," Rohan muttered.

"Yeah," he snapped back immediately. "Jesus. That's why I'm f*****g asking how he could have been gone this far without us knowing."

"Calm the f**k down," John said quietly.

He lifted a hand and jabbed a finger at his phone which luckily ended on the carpet. "She's scared out of her f*****g mind, John! s**t! And, you want me to calm the f**k down?"

"Hell," John mumbled with a shake of his head. "Rohan," he turned to their friend, "Get Skull and tell him party is over. Ask him if he still got the bastard under radar."

Rohan nodded. Leon tried to power through his fury as he watched Rohan leave them. He felt John put a hand on his shoulder and his eyes snapped to his.

"s**t, Leon. You've always been f*****g cool with everything. But with Sophia..." He trailed off and removed his hand. "Go to your girlfriend, man. I'll take care of everything."

He was solid for a second. Then he moved. Leaving John where he stood, he raced outside to his bike. He didn't bother putting his helmet on before he sped out of Skull's place.

Memories surged into his brain as he drove, memories he thought he locked away in the deep recesses of his brain. Memories of blood, open wounds and bruises. Memories of screaming and laughter and the pain of it all.

Fuck. Not now. Not f*****g now.

He pushed it out of his head with great difficulty. He was not going to dwell in the past. They would never happen ever again and he was going to make damn sure they wouldn't.

As he made his way to Sophia's, he realized he was becoming ruled by his feelings and not his head. He thought he decided he wasn't going to be dragged deeper into Sophia. He thought he was going to stop doing unnecessary things anymore.

But, f**k, he couldn't just sit and leave Sophia alone. He cared for her, he finally admitted to himself. But that was all he was going to feel for her. After all, she was an important part of the plan, to ferret the f*****g asshole they were after. He was right to be concerned.

He knocked on the door hard. He saw the rustling of the curtain at the window of her house and then the door was open wide. She appeared, standing in the darkness of her house, dressed for sleep in a thin shirt and leggings, her hair in a messy knot on top of her head. Leon didn't realize he was holding his breath until he released it.

She was okay.

He tried to calm his racing heart as he stared down at her form.

She was in one piece.

His breathing finally evened.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, stepping out into the small circle of light cast by the porch light, her eyes lifting up to meet his.

Then he saw she was not f*****g okay.

The tone of her voice was hard, dead. Her face was void of expression, her eyes red and her cheeks tear-stained. Her face was white, her lips pale. His gut tightened and a wave of fury rose up inside him and he struggled against it, trying to keep his calm. He didn't want to scare her even more.

"I was just in the neighborhood," he lied.

Her eyes dropped. "Oh."

"Close the door and come here," he ordered gently, the need to touch her and feel her overpowering.

She didn't ask why. She was always like this, doing everything he told her to do without asking questions. He wasn't sure if he liked it. He wasn't f*****g sure about a lot of things anymore.

Without another word, he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her flowery scent. He heard her exhale shakily before she clung to him and burrowed deeper. They stood like that for a while, just feeling each other.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked after a while.

She turned her head up to look at him. "Now?"

"Yeah.

Leon watched as she made her decision. His gut loosened when he saw she lost the blank expression from her face. It did not suit her. Even when she didn't speak, Sophia was expressive and under the timidity she portrayed, she had quiet strength and guts she rarely showed. He was damned if he let her alone now that he saw her.

"Okay," she finally answered with a nod. "Let me just go get a jacket."

Instantly, Leon slid his jacket off and put it on her. She watched him, wide-eyed as he zipped her up.

"So where do you want to go?" Leon asked again, pulling her back into his arms.

Sophia tilted her head as she thought about it. "Can we go get ice cream?"

Leon stared at her. She wanted ice cream when it was freezing outside. f*****g adorable.

The corner of his mouth lifted up and he began to reply, "If that's what you want..."

"There's a nearby convenience store," she interrupted. "We could walk there. And the park is close by too."

She looked excited about it he didn't want to deny her.

"Okay. Let's go."

Her smile appeared, like the sun rising on the horizon, lighting her face in a way he hadn't seen. After seeing her smile, the clutch he hadn't notice that had a hold in his chest disappeared.

They walked to the store, Sophia tucked underneath his arm, her arm around his waist. He bought her ice cream, and the anticipation she showed made him grin. They went to the park, his eyes scanning the semi-darkness for possible danger lurking around but it was safe. Sophia wanted to sit on the swings and while he didn't like the idea, he still did it for Sophia.

Fuck, if one his friends saw them, they were sure to give him s**t.

He assisted Sophia first on the swing before he took his place by her side. He stiffened as his movement caused the swing to sway violently but Sophia's soft body pressed to his side while his arm was wrapped around her shoulders caused him to loosen up a bit. Every movement jostled the swing and his stomach started to heave.

He was uncomfortable as hell but he didn't care.

"About that call..." Sophia spoke, breaking the silence.

"Don't think about that crap anymore, Sophia." He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder. "Just block the number from your phone."

She lifted her head up. "You can do that?" she asked in wonder.

He stared down at her. "You didn't know?"

She lowered her eyes and played with his thumb. Even in the dark, he could she was blushing. "No. I'm not really a techie person."

He shook his head in disbelief and plucked the dripping ice cream cup from her hand before she could ruin his jacket and threw it on the trash can a few meters away. Sophia looked impressed.

"I'll take care of it," he told her curtly.

She gifted him with another smile which shot straight to his chest. "Okay."

Sophia put her cheek to his chest and shifted, the action jostling the swing. He flinched and he heard her soft laughter. He squeezed the breath out of her and she squeaked.

Yeah, she really had guts alright.

Then he heard wailing coming out of his pocket. He slid his phone out with his free hand and glanced at the display before he answered.

"Yeah?"

"All's good, Leon," John told him.

He let out a long sigh, the residual anger in him melting away. "Right."

"You still with her?"

"Yeah."

"Is she okay?"

"Seems like it." He saw Sophia yawn and decided to head back. "I'll call you later, man. Sophia's wiped out."

John chuckled on the other end. "Did you f**k her?"

He didn't answer but hung up. Stupid f**k. Sophia yawned again and he rubbed his hand up and down on her arm.

"Let's get you home, Sophia."

"Okay," she mumbled, tired and drained.

He helped her out of the swing and tucked her under his arm before they started to head back to her place. When they were at her doorstep, Sophia removed his jacket and gave it back to him. Leon slid it back on, smelling her scent on it. f**k.

"Good night, Leon," Sophia told him.

Then he watched as she stood up in tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss. It was the first time she ever initiated a kiss and f**k, if he didn't like it.

"What was that?" he asked gruffly when she pulled away.

Sophia frowned at him. "A good night kiss?"

"No, Sophia. This is a good night kiss."

His arms closed around her tight, his mouth opening over hers, and then he kissed her, very soft, very wet and very deep. Chocolate. She tasted like chocolate, so sweet and so delicious. She touched his tongue to his and he groaned against her mouth.

Fuck, she was killing him.

She was soft, her body pressed against him, making his d**k hard and he knew if he didn't stop then he never would. He lifted his head and shoved his face in her neck, breathing her in.

He'd do anything for her.

The realization was swift. He pulled away and let her go, trying not to stagger from the truth. Sophia didn't notice the change in him, still dazed by the kiss. She turned and touched the knob, her hand slipping twice before she could open it, then she twisted her upper body to look back at him.

"Thanks, Leon," she whispered with a smile before she entered and closed the door.

He knew it the moment she spoke those two words. He knew it the moment she smiled. Hell, he knew it when he was rushing to get to her to make sure she was alright.

Fucked. He was officially f****d.

He waited until the lights in her room went off. He waited until he was sure she was sleeping. He waited until one thing became crystal clear in his head.

"Damn it," he breathed out, closing his eyes. "I f****d up."

He liked Sophia.

He f*****g liked her.