The Bully's First Love

The Bully, His New School

"You left the cat."

"Hey, Rohan. What's up?"

"You left the f*****g cat, Skull!"

Rohan was watching the traffic from his window, trying to stay calm. He'd woken up that morning with the white cat lying on his stomach. If his brain hadn't quickly caught up to reality, he would have swept the cat off his body and chucked it to the wall. That was how startled he was.

Said cat was now purring against Rohan's leg. His body went stiff. Then he let his gaze drop to glare down at it.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" The jackass said into his ear. "She's a gift to keep you company."

"She?" Rohan asked, his fingers tightening around his cell phone.

Silence for a long moment then, "The cat. It's a girl. I didn't name her yet so you choose whatever you want to name her. By the way, I put her stuff in a bag in your supply closet. Did you already feed her?"

"I'm not keeping a cat in my apartment, Skull."

"Shh. She'll hear you. You'll hurt her feelings."

"Skull-"

"I'm driving!" Skull cut him off. "Call you later. Bye."

The line went dead and Rohan fought the desire to throw it through the window. Gritting his teeth, he looked at cat again. It was mewling loudly.

Damn it. Damn it.

He couldn't even take care of himself. How the hell was he going to take care of a f*****g cat?

Looking at the clock on the wall, Rohan noted that he could still make it to second period. Scratching his head, he walked out of his bedroom and went to the supply closet. Sure enough, the bag was there. Inside were cans of cat food, food and water bowls, a litter box, a bed and some toys, and even a grooming kit. The numbskull clearly had this all planned out and knowing him, this was his payback for keeping everything a secret from him.

The cat had followed him down the hall, still mewling loud. Picking up the bag, he nabbed the cat off the floor and went to the kitchen. He set both down, got the food and water bowls, filled them up and watched the cat eat for awhile.

Then what?

He sucked on the piercing on his lower lip, mulling over what the hell he was going to do with this cat.

He'd never had a pet before. His second stepfather had a dog but it was a Rottweiler so he stayed well away from it.

Going to his room, he turned his computer on and did a simple Google search.

Then, completely forgetting about school, he spent the morning looking up how to take care of the damn cat.

**********

"Oh, no, you aren't."

A hand latched on my back collar, pulling me away from the stairwell. I almost lost my balanced but the person who held my blazer hostage righted me up before I could.

"Let go," I snapped.

When I was released, I turned to see Anna looking down at me with a fierce frown on her face.

Dang.

I thought I'd tricked her when I said I was going to the toilet after lunch ended.

"Don't you feel sorry for Christine?" she asked me. "She already got scolded by the junior year rep because of what you've done yesterday."

Giving her a sullen look, I reminded her, "I got scolded by a lot of people yesterday too, you know."

"Christine's a scholarship student. You're not. And the newly elected class president also got scolded so please, for the love of chocolate, give everyone a break."

My shoulders fell. "I'm not doing this because I want trouble, Anna."

"I know." She put her hands on my shoulders and squeezed. "But that's exactly what you're doing."

"I'm worried about Rohan. He hasn't come to school."

"Did he even go to school everyday when he was still in East Private?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Yes, he did! He never missed a single day even when he got sick. And even if he did miss it, it was only because he was... he was..."

Anna narrowed her eyes on me. "He was what?"

I shut my mouth. I couldn't tell her.

Pushing her hands off me, I turned to go back to class. "Nothing. You're right. Let's just go back."

Anna groaned behind me and I walked faster, knowing she was going to throw me more questions if I let her.

I knew I was persistent. I knew I was being troublesome.

But with Rohan, you had to strike hard to get results.

We went back to our classroom and I went to the window to stare out of it. Anna began to talk to Cassie about soccer practice beside me and I let their words fade away.

Staring at the campus, I wondered if Rohan had already adapted to life at North High Academy. It may have only been his second day but Rohan was smart like that. I was pretty sure he'd already toured the campus anyway since the Student Council always made grand tours for new students.

North High Academy was the most high-achieving and the most prestigious private school in the city. Having a pristine 40-acre campus, it includes modern classrooms and buildings, spacious studios and state-of-the-art digital equipment, a 400-seat theater as well as the largest recreational center in the city. It was renowned for heavily investing in its music, arts and sports programs. Students spend their mornings learning their academics while varying afternoons were spent honing their talents and skills under the programs they have chosen. There was also an academic track offering university preparation to students who aren't under any program. Most of these students were usually seen in the library in the afternoons with their private tutors.

Now North High Academy may seem like a school for only the filthy rich but it wasn't. It had countless scholarship students coming from all over the country. But just because they were on scholarships didn't mean they were looked down by those who weren't. Their success meant everyone's success. Anna, who'd emigrated from Finland when she was young with her family, was a scholarship student. Cassie was too. Still, they were very well respected by our peers.

Briefly, I wondered if Rohan had entered into any of the programs offered. But knowing him, I was sure he wouldn't. As far as I knew, he never participated in any extra-curricular activities in his former school. Here in NHA, academic students were generally frowned upon by the others because if they weren't going to be in a program they might as well have enrolled in East Private School, which was renowned for its great academic curriculum. I didn't want Rohan to be picked on but who would anyway? He can take care of his self and anyone who would try probably had a death wish.

Still, why would Rohan transfer here if he wasn't going to be under any program?

The question instantly disappeared from my mind when my eyes spotted the object of my thoughts.

Rohan was walking towards the school building. I narrowed my eyes at him, watching him until I no longer could.

I knew I shouldn't be even thinking of this but I wasn't gifted with much intelligence. I was all guts and no brains, as my sister likes to fondly tell me. Maybe this was why I was so reckless.

"Where are you going?" Anna was giving me a suspicious frown when I started to creep away from them.

I looked at her over my shoulder. "The music room," I said with all innocence. "I'm going to practice piano."

"Do you still even need to practice, Emmy?" Cassie asked. "And we have the homeroom meeting soon. We all need to be here."

"Even Beethoven practiced, Cassie, and he was already a virtuoso," I pointed out as I retreated. "And I'll be back for the meeting, alright?"

Before they could respond or catch me, I was already running away from the classroom.

**********

It was the afternoon when Rohan arrived at school.

He would have completely ditched classes if he hadn't got some more transfer papers to submit to the records section.

Still, when he was still in East Private, he hardly ever skipped school. A part of it was because he didn't want to linger in a house that wasn't his. Another part of it was because he needed to be in school to keep Skull out of trouble and keep him in class. But for the most part, it was because he liked hanging out with his friends.

Rohan was putting his bag down on his desk when somebody approached him.

"Ehem."

A tall, slim, blond-haired and blue-eyed guy was giving him a hopeful expression. Rohan ignored him and took his seat.

"You still remember my name right?"

He didn't answer, just sat back and stared out of the window, crossing his arms.

"I'm Finn Goodall. And I'm also your designated school guide. I told you all of this yesterday, right?"

He still didn't answer.

Finn must have lost his patience because he put his hands on his desk and leaned in. "Dude, you have to cooperate with me alright? The Student Council is a vicious bunch and they'll strangle me if I don't do this."

Rohan finally looked at him. "And I should care because?"

"I helped make Emmy leave you alone yesterday, remember?"

He frowned.

Right, this was the guy who told Emilia he wasn't her brother, the guy who sat in front of him.

"You could just tell them you've already shown me around," he suggested coldly.

Finn leaned back with a mock aghast expression on his face. "Are you suggesting I lie?"

Fuck him, this guy was also crazy.

"I won't take much of your time. I swear. Just... just fifteen minutes will do."

"No."

"I'm not leaving until you come with me," he announced, sitting on his desk.

Rohan narrowed his eyes at him. "I can think of a lot of ways to get you off my desk, Goodall."

Finn gave him a mournful look. "Don't you think I know that? You're badass Rohan Kane. I'm wimpy Finn Goodall who's not even a regular on the swim team. You can probably knock me down with just a flick of your finger or something."

Scratch that, this guy was crazy and dramatic.

"Will you please just come with me? I swear I'll never bother you again."

"Do you have a cat?"

Finn blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Do you have a cat at home?" Rohan repeated.

Pause then, "I don't but my best friend has one" Finn slowly said, looking at him with confusion. "If you have questions about... cats, I can introduce him to you. He's actually the guy who sits beside you."

"The guy who slept the whole day yesterday?" He raised his brow. "That guy?"

"Yeah."

Rohan thought about it for a while.

He'd actually already toured the school with his mother before the transfer. And what he hadn't seen he searched on his computer like the school layout, the upcoming school activities, when to disappear and where to get away.

But what he didn't know was how to deal with these people. From what he'd seen so far, they were different, too different from the easy-going students of East Private.

And frankly, it wasn't a bad trade. He'd learn more of the school, he'd get rid of Finn, who seemed to be the annoying type, and he'd learn how to take care of the damn cat. John had also told him to play nice with these people, to stay out of trouble as much as he could, and unless he wanted to rule the school, to keep his head down.

So Rohan told Finn, "Fine. But only fifteen minutes, Goodall."

"Alright." Finn grinned widely at him and Rohan immediately grew suspicious. "Let's go."

**********

Ten minutes later, Rohan deeply regretted this decision.

"Okay, you're new here in school so you might not know a lot of people," Finn was saying as Rohan followed him into the junior student lounge.

The crazy bastard had him speed walking all throughout campus, taking seriously the fifteen minutes that he was only allotted. North High Academy was a large school, larger than East Private, but the two of them actually toured the entire campus in under ten minutes.

Rohan was now thirsty, tired and pissed.

But Finn didn't look like he was as he constantly chattered away.

Wimpy, his ass.

He didn't even break into a f*****g sweat.

"So, since I'm done showing you around, it's time to tell you everything you need to know about the student body," Finn was saying.

Rohan glared at him. "You don't really have to."

Finn looked at him and gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't be shy, man. Ask me anything."

"Can I go now?"

Finn laughed. "You don't look like it but you're actually funny. Now come."

Rohan looked to the heavens for patience. Then he followed Finn because aside from beating him up there was s**t he could do. And somehow, Rohan knew that if he tried to walk away, Finn would follow him and badger him endlessly.

"It's time you know about this school's social order," Finn declared, sweeping his arm around. "First, you should know the upperclassmen and underclassmen almost never mingle except in their selected programs. Seldom will you see them sitting together in the pavilion, eating together in the cafeteria, gossiping together in the halls or hanging around the campus unless they're real close. Most of the students religiously follow this unspoken school rule because they like feeling superior. And yeah, you can't be rude to an upperclassman or it's an instant social death. Or so I heard."

Unbelievable. Like this school wasn't already pretentious enough.

Finn walked in further and Rohan let his eyes wander around the luxurious and large student lounge.

"Time to introduce you to the different stratums of the school," Finn said with a s**t-eating grin on his face. "Over there, we have the delinquents listening to crappy music as always."

Rohan turned his head to see some students listening to classical music while plucking on their instruments by the window. His brows drew together in confusion and he stared at Finn in astonishment.

What the hell was he talking about?

"Over there we have the nerds."

His head turned again to see another group of students sketching and laughing at each other's portraits at the tables.

"That group over there is the jocks."

Rohan watched a group of girls who looked like they were practicing ballet or gymnastics on the mats, a muscle on his jaw twitching from clenching his jaw too hard.

"And over there we have the gangsters."

Rohan glared at the couple of boys who were lacing their basketball shoes while their teammates were walking out the other door, yelling at them to hurry up.

"And there-"

"Will you cut the bullshit?" Rohan clipped, finally having enough.

Finn laughed again. "I'm sorry. Your expression was just too funny."

"Social order, my ass. This isn't High School Musical."

"Ah, but we do have a Sharpey. Although she doesn't sing."

"What?" Rohan gave him another astonished look.

Finn pointed at the girl sitting on a chair at the corner of the room. And Rohan sucked in a breath.

It was April Locke.

"Meet the reigning queen of North High Academy," Finn whispered to him. "And just a little warning, Rohan, but do not anger the queen. I repeat, do not anger the queen. She's scary when mad."

Fuck. Now he wanted to get away.

He wanted to avoid April as possibly as he could.

But before he could, Finn grabbed his arm and steered him to a table where a black haired guy was sleeping, his cheek on his arms.

"Hey, Ashe. Open your eyes. Say hello to our new classmate."

"Hello," Ashe mumbled but what he didn't do was open his eyes.

"Come on, man." Finn kicked his chair. "Stop lazing around."

"What part?"

"What?"

"What part of your messing-with-the-new-kid speech are you in right now?"

Finn grinned at a scowling Rohan. "The monarch part."

Ashe opened one eye to look at Rohan. "He doesn't look happy."

"That's already his happy face actually."

Ashe yawned as he sat back. Still eyeing Rohan, he said, "I think I'd have to cut in, Finn. If you continue to yap he might disembowel you."

"But we were only getting to the good part!" Finn exclaimed, pushing Rohan down on a chair before sitting next to his friend.

"Finn has a crush on Locke which is why he makes that part of his speech pretty long," Ashe was telling Rohan. "Be glad I'm here or you'll be at the hearing end of a very long fairytale."

Rohan kept scowling at a grinning Finn. Then his gaze landed on Emilia, who seemed to be looking for him from the door.

Shit.

"Heard you're Emilia Schuyler's brother?" Ashe asked, his gaze also on her.

"Stepbrother," Rohan growled. "But not anymore. Our parents had already divorced."

Finn studied him. "You don't look like the, and I quote, the most caring, the most loving and the kindest brother in the whole wide world."

Rohan whipped his gaze back to him. "She said that?" he asked in disgust and disbelief.

Ashe nodded. "Emmy's pretty popular around here. She's real friendly."

"Even Martha Duke, who used to be queen before April dethroned her, couldn't rain on her parade," Finn said, tapping his fingers on the table. "And we've seen her try."

"I thought this school has a hierarchy?" Rohan asked with a grim look. "How'd you know her?"

"Like Ashe said, she's real friendly," Finn answered. "And she doesn't really care if you're an upperclassman or not, she'd still try to talk or befriend you. Everyone just gives up because they can't keep up with her. She's actually the only student in North High who has this privilege."

"I don't want to gossip anymore," Ashe said, putting his head face down on his arms. "I want to sleep."

"Stop sleeping, you- hey Emmy."

Rohan's whole body tensed. Twisting his neck woodenly around, he saw that Emilia had found him and was standing next to him.

"Hi," Emilia said to Finn without taking her eyes off Rohan.

"I see you're in the junior student lounge. Again."

"Can we talk, Rohan?"

Rohan turned his head around. "No."

"Please?"

"Emmy, you're going to get into trouble again if you don't leave," Ashe was mumbling into the table.

"I just want to talk to my brother. And if you say he's not my brother one more time, Finn, I'll scream," she hurriedly and irritably said when Finn started to open his mouth. "I'm not leaving until he talks to me."

"God, you're stubborn," Finn muttered, shaking his head. Then he gave Rohan an apologetic look like he was sorry he couldn't help.

Rohan started to get pissed.

Why the hell can't she just leave him alone?

His savior came in the form of a red-haired girl, whose hair bun had numerous pencils sticking out, holding a sketchpad.

"Let's get you out of here, Emmy," she murmured softly, touching Emilia's shoulder.

Emilia looked stubbornly at her. "He won't talk to me, Blanche."

"I know. But you're not doing yourself and him, for that matter, any favors if you get the two of you in trouble."

Emilia stared at Blanche, biting her lip. Then her head started to turn towards Rohan and Rohan slid his gaze away from them.

"Rohan, please," he heard her whisper with a tremble.

He didn't say a word and refused to look at her any longer.

"I'll be waiting for you in the stairwell after school, Rohan. Please, please, stop avoiding me."

Silence.

He waited for her to leave. Then he heard her sigh followed by Blanche telling her, "Come on, Emmy."

When they were gone, the silence went on around the table.

Then Finn cleared his throat, breaking it.

"That was Ashe's girlfriend," he told Rohan. "She's in the same art class with him." Then to Ashe, who still had his face buried in his arms, he asked, "Are you two fighting?"

Ashe mumbled in reply, "She understands I want sleep so she left me alone. Clearly, you are not that understanding and suck at this best friend thing."

Finn clicked his tongue at him and turned to Rohan again. "Why does she want to talk to you so badly anyway?"

Rohan shrugged in answer.

"She looked really sad, you know."

He glared at Finn to mind his own damn business and Finn quieted.

Then, kicking Ashe's shoe under the table, Rohan asked when he lifted his head, "So Finn said you have a cat."