Hating Flex

Chapter 1 Maya’s POV

I have known Flex since we were in nappy’s. His mum used to drop him at our house all the time when she needed to work or for any reason she thought of really. He was what mum used to call a troubled kid. But for mum, he was always respectful and polite. But to me he was a bully, a monster and I f*****g hated him. His dad had split from him when he was young, it was just him and his mom. She worked a lot of hours and had a tendency to bring home the wrong type of guy, or the guy that wouldn't stick around, or the guy that ignored flex's existence .

Not one that wanted to help raise a kid anyway. When my mum's back was turned he’d call me names , pull my hair or push me over. If I told on him, he would only become worse . Tell me I was ugly. That was as we got older. Mum said we were best friends when we were toddlers. I think his being mean to me started when we were maybe eleven. I can remember when we were friends , we used to do everything together. You see they lived next door.

We would ride bikes , climb trees and he’d comfort me if I’d had nightmares or one of the other kids picked on me. Until we turned eleven. Then it was like he hated me. His mom seemed to settle down with a new guy who was actually quite decent. So he didn’t really come round much anymore from the age of maybe twelve. Now we were eighteen , and he still hated me and I him.

He made school a nightmare for me. All my friends fancied him and he knew it. He’d messed around with them all. No matter how many times I told them he was the devil reincarnated. They couldn’t help it , girls just seemed to flock towards him. He had become popular, as soon as he hit puberty he had filled out. His skin cleared up and he became gorgeous. I’d think that was the right word to use for a boy, a stud. I don't know , but he had this aura about him. Like the bad boy that everyone wanted a piece of , it intrigues them for god only knows what reason why. To me he was arrogant, his ego was the size of a house and he was cruel. He only cared about Flex. No one else's feelings mattered , but Flex's.

His mom's new boyfriend had a bit of money too. He took care of him and his mom. Flex started wearing new and nice clothes. But that didn’t take away the fact he was a dickhead and I hated him. I hated the fact he wasn’t my best friend anymore and I hated that he hated me. I hated that I still remembered the old Flex, that stupid silly smile that would make me smile.

I can also remember how sad he used to be. He used to sneak into my bedroom on nights because I had a nightmare. But I never bought it. I think it’s because he used to have nightmares. He was a fixture in our house. He now only comes around to drop my mum a birthday card off. That’s the only time he ever stepped foot in anymore. Or to bring mum a Christmas present.

He was, Mr popular now, and I was the geeky girl in the geeky girl group of friends. It’s why I didn’t understand why he’d messed with my friends. He had all the popular girls after him. He had his way with them too, the man w***e he was. But it’s like it had been a mission for him to go through all my friends. When he had, he never spoke to them again. I think he took the virginity of four out of the six of them. They’d been heartbroken.

All the while I’d been standing there screaming I told you so in my head. Of course, I didn’t say that to their face. His behaviour towards me made others act that way too. His friends and the popular girls all mimicked his hate towards me. So as I was saying. He made my life hell, and I definitely wasn’t kidding. I’d begged mum to move my schools . But she didn’t see the Flex I saw, she saw the polite one.

The son she never had , but kind of adopted for a while. No matter how many times I told her how mean he was now. She said it might be because he likes me. Likes me , pffttt he hated me. She didn’t understand. No one understands how much he broke my heart when he stopped being my friend. I think it’s because no one understands how much I loved him as a kid. Not as my bestie, but I actually loved him.

I idolised him and thought he was my hero. Often I’d think I was sick in the head. My mum had said we were like brother and sister and that made me feel sick. Because I didn’t see flex that way. When he used to hug me on his chest at night, I used to dream of him one day when we were old enough confessing our love for each other and becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, then eventually getting married and having babies. I had it all planned out. How wrong was I ?

I can remember the exact day it happened. Like it was scorched into my memory for life just so it could torture me. Flex had been acting a little off for a few weeks before the incident. On a morning, he would jump out of bed and disappear before I even had the chance to say hello , instead of slowly waking up like we used to, and I had to basically throw him out the window, still half asleep, before mum caught us . Then he stopped hugging me , he'd come over still but he would face away from me. I tried to ask him what was wrong , but he'd started getting stroppy with me , he would grunt nothing and tell me to go to sleep.

Then we went on a bike ride to one of our favourite spots. It was at the edge of the big park , there was a tree and if you climbed it high enough you could see nearly the whole little town we were from. We would sit in that tree until it was nearly dark, then we would climb down and head home. Splitting up in our paths for him to sneak over a few hours later.

But that one day , he was the one to suggest we go there. I'd been ecstatic, after weeks of him being in a fowl mood, I'd thought this would cheer him up. We rode our bikes there , climbed up and then he'd sat close to me. Wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, then I rested my head on his shoulder. He had been quiet for a long time. Both of us were just taking in the view that we both loved. Then he asked me a question , one I didn't understand.

" Maya ?" his voice had been soft. " Mmmm " I had answered. He was fidgety and quiet for another minute longer. Then he asked it. " What do you plan to do when you get older ?" I'd furrowed my brow , he knew this. We had spoken about this before. " Go away to college " I answered. He was quiet again for a second. " What about me Maya ?" I'd pulled off of his shoulder and looked at him. He looked uncomfortable, unsure. " You'll come with me, silly " I said, laughing. His brows furrowed and he looked down at his hands in his lap. " No Maya , I won't. My mom won't afford that." His new stepdad at the time didn't have the job he had now , the one where they had a bit more money, plus Flex at the time thought he'd be another guy that would leave soon.

I didn't understand, in the past he had always said we'd go away to college together. " What we promised , you said you'd go to whatever college I went to. " He looked up at me , he almost looked angry and it took me back a little. Flex had never looked angry at me. " Childish dreams Maya , my mum can hardly afford food most weeks. How could she afford to send me to college?" He snapped at me. I felt tears start to sting my eyes. It only seemed to piss him off more that I was about to start crying. " I'm sure if we asked my mum and dad they'd help your mom. My mom loves you and so does dad ".

He rolled his eyes at me and looked away. " I'm not a charity case Maya. Plus, I can't leave as soon as I leave school. I'll have to get a job and help mom. The last dickhead she had around stole her savings and hit her. My mom needs me"he said. My heart was breaking , he told me this when it had happened. I cried to dad about it and dad said he would help his mom. " Dad helped though, right ?" I asked. His head snapped up to me. " What ?" He shouted. I shrunk back and moved away. I'd never seen Flex mad. " Your dad helped with what, Maya ?"

I didn't understand why he was getting so upset. " He gave her the savings money. I told dad what had happened and he gave her the money ". That was it. He flew off the handle , he climbed down the tree and started marching back and forth underneath it. I was a little hesitant to climb down , but I did. He didn't talk to me or look at me. " Flex " I whispered. My voice broke his silence. " We are not a charity case, Maya. You shouldn't have told your dad. You shouldn't have. We don't need your family's money. I don't want your family to pay for me for college. I don't want anything from your dad, Maya. Is that how you see me , a boy that you need to take pity on because you're a spoilt princess? Because I'm poor. You think you live this perfect little f*****g life, Maya. News flash you dont. Your dad may earn lots of money but ".

He paused , his hands balled into fists at his side. " But what ?" I asked, tears streaming down my cheeks. " But I'm not a boy that needs your pity " he says and gets his bike. He climbs on it and looks at me , he shakes his head and then rides away from me. Leaving me there. He didn't give me a chance to say I didn't pity him. Not one bit. I waited that night for him to come so I could tell him and he didn't turn up. Not the next night or the next night. When I did see him at school a couple of days later, he did something that broke my heart in two.

He was standing with a group of boys. I'd walked up to him wanting to pull him aside so we could talk. I'd grabbed his hand to get his attention as his back was to me. When he turned and saw it was me, he'd snatched his hand away in disgust. All the boys he'd been standing with had gasped. Everyone knew us as inseparable, he had beat boys up because they had taken Micky out of it in the past. They'd all watched on with interest. " Don't touch me" he snapped. He looked around us and saw we were gathering a crowd. The other kids stopped playing to watch the scene. " Flex " I said , but he shut me down. " Dont talk to me either. Don't even look at me. Who wants someone that is scared of the dark and a nerd touching or talking to them? If you look at me, I might get loser germs on me ."

Everyone laughed at me. Pointed and joined in, starting to call me a loser too, chanting I was scared of that dark. I had stared at him in horror as the boys around him had started patting him on the back. But he'd started at me, as I'd started to cry. He glanced around at everyone laughing at me and my humiliation. For one split second, I saw the hurt in his face when he looked back at me , remorse. But it had gone quickly and he turned away. I had waited expecting him to turn back around and tell them all to shut up. That if they carried on he'd beat them up. But he didn't. He walked off with his new group of followers and left me there in the playground.

My social status among my classmates from that day dropped dramatically, and his sky rocketed. I didn't try to talk to him after that. In fact, I did everything I could to avoid him and even now, all the way through high school, I do the same. My only saving Grace was we leave in a year and I get to go away to college away from here.

Walking to my locker, I stowed my books away and then stood and waited for Sara. We always meet here in the morning. She was one of my friends that took my warnings about Flex and took them seriously. She was my best friend. I loved all the girls but Sara was my closest. She despised Flex as much as I did. And he didn't stand a chance of getting anywhere near her. I loved her dearly for it. I see her coming down the hall and my morning gets better immediately. She had her hair in her usual ponytail and her black-rimmed glasses sat on the top of her head. She had long brown hair all the way to her bum, but she very rarely let her hair out of its band. She was a geek like me, we loved to learn. But she also had a f**k off aura. Her mouth was quick witted and she never let anyone get the last word in if they tried to belittle her.

The one time Flex did approach her , damn I wish I had been there to witness it. She said she told him to stick his little pecker in one of the school furnaces. Then throw salt on the wound. He hated her now as much as me. She was tall and lanky and towered over my five-foot frame. I had long blonde hair that hung down my back and muddy brown eyes. My pixie nose was a little pointy and my lips a little bit pouty. Then my glasses that I only used for reading or looking at the white board were in my bag. I looked a lot like my mom , but my dad's nose. Mum's nose was more straight and pointy. No little flick at the end like mine.

She sees me and smiles. Heading over, she rolls her eyes. " Douche bag patrol has just pulled up in the car park. He nearly took my front end off, stealing my spot, the asshole " she growled, opening up her locker that was at the side of mine. I already knew she was talking about Flex. A commotion at the top of the hallway told me he had arrived at school too. He always had an onterage. I plaster my back to the locker as I see him coming down the hall. Nikki dangling off his arm, this weeks trophy, she would be gone by next week.

Flex had really grown up well, his sandy brown hair was styled perfectly. His blue eyes had only gotten brighter and more pigmented as he got older. Then his naturally olive tanned skin made them pop more. He had gained muscles from doing football and wrestling for the school and, not to mention, he was already six feet. His favourite color to wear was black and he was the only kid in school to have a tattoo , a dragon that wrapped around his biceps and then a lip ring that he often played with. Yep , the cliche f*****g bad boy.

I pray that today he just walks on by. But Sara didn't have that " Ey d**k for brains watch my f*****g car in the future . " I hold my breath and shrink back as his steps stop and his glare turns in our direction. His groupies stopped too. Sara stood tall and glaring right back. He glances at me and his stare penetrates my whole soul and hatred wafts off of that glare in spades. His lip curls up in a sneer and I'm the one to break. I look away first, just like always when his attention comes on to me. " Look guys, it's the f*****g freak brigade " he spits out. Sara laughed humorlessly " that is the best you've got s**t for brains. What did you do get your license out of a cereal box or did you bone the chick at the driving license place? I mean that's all you've got going for you, right ? Because you certainly don't have brains ".

I looked up in time to see his jaw clench. " Get in my way again Sara and I'll ram that piece of s**t, you drive off of the f*****g road, but then again I wouldn't want to dint my car and lower it to touch such an abomination ". His stepdad had bought him a nice car, a truck again cliche. Where as Sara drove a beat-up old Volkswagen. " over compensating with that big truck of yours for the fact you have a tiny weenier flex ?" She says. And he laughs and looks back at me " that's where you are wrong , no compensation here. Just ask your friends. I remember them screaming my name quite clearly. " he was talking to Sara but he said it to me, it was meant to hurt me. All his groupies laugh and then he walks off. His mission done , to hurt me at least once a f*****g day. our friends, in mention, come walking over to us guilty looks on there faces that he can use that against us. Sara huffs " tosser " under her breath. She looks at Alanna , Beth , Georgie and Louise in disgust. The only other one not to sleep with him was Marie and that is only because she likes girls. " See what happened when you sleep with the devil girls, I hope you all learnt your f*****g lesson " she says, slamming the locker closed. They all mumble their agreement and my day had started just as shitty as the rest, it's like he isn't happy unless he ruins it.