Surrendering to the Bad Boy

Chapter 6

Walking into my closet, I pushed gowns upon gowns aside till I reached the ones mother deemed appropriate. Almost mechanically I slipped out of my floral gown, slipping on my underwear, tracing the bruises Jason had left on my hips, a shiver went through me as a flash of last night crossed though my eyes, his hot breath on my neck, his fingers digging into the flesh of my hips as we partook in a rite as ancient as time.

Sighing I blinked the memory away, mentally preparing myself for brunch. I pulled on the knee length pale pink Gucci gown which had a simple cut and was extremely flattering to my figure, smoothing it over my body. I sat on the bench of my makeup station and got to work on covering the hickies. I applied very light makeup, and some jewellery that screamed understated wealth and elegance. I quickly worked my hair into a French chignon.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I was no more Anna. I was Annalise O'Malley, only child and heir to the O'Malley Fortune. Pride and joy of her parents. I observed myself, wanting nothing more than to be someone else.

I stood from the station and slipped into a pair of sensible Gucci heels. Grabbing a bag from the bag stand, I placed my phone into it and made my way out of the room. Mother was waiting by the stairs, her perfectly lined eyes staring far off in the distance, a lost look on her features. It was something she did a lot, I had once asked her about it when I was younger, the look she gave me taught me never to inquire about it ever again.

"I'm ready." I announced. She blinked, coming back to the present before glancing at me and nodding in satisfaction at my dressing.

"Alright then. Best we get going." She turned and walked down the staircase, I followed her at a respectable distance. The black Mercedes Saloon car was waiting by the entrance. Adolfo, mother’s personal chauffeur jumped out of the car and opened the back door. Mother slid into the car while I walked around and waited for him.

“Good afternoon Ms O’Malley.” He greeted opening my door. “Good afternoon Adolfo.” I replied getting into the car. He closed my door gently before getting in.

“We are heading to LaBrioache” Mother instructed, “Yes Ma’am.” He nodded and put the car in drive. The entire drive to LaBrioache was a quiet one, mother was never a fan of small talk and even if she was, I was certain I was the last person she would engage in with.

I looked out of the window wondering what Jason was probably doing; maybe he was at the garage. I decided to text him, pulling my phone out of the bag; I tapped on the message icon.

A- Hey

When he didn’t reply immediately, my earlier assumption was proven right, he was at work. I let out a sigh; I would do anything to spend the entire day with him in his element. I had never actually been to a garage before, Adolfo and Pierre; father’s chauffeur was the ones who dealt with the mechanics and the garage. Mother would die before she stepped her Louboutin clad feet in a garage and Father simply did not have the time.

The car came to stop at a one storey black building with LaBrioache written in gold accents. Adolfo opened our doors and I waited till Mother was in front before I followed her in.

“Reservation under The O’Malley’s” Mother supplied to the Maître, a hint of pride evident in her tone. If there was anything my mother was proud of it was The O’Malley name, her surname was powerful also but this was Vermont not Havana, no one knew The Sinclairs over here.

“This way Madame” The man said in a clearly fake but surprisingly believable French accent. We followed him up the stairs to a table smack-dab in the middle of the restaurant. The Mayor’s wife and Derek were already seated; they stood as we approached the table.

My eyes met his and he smirked, I found myself unconsciously caressing the scratch on my wrist, moving closer to Mother.

“Melissa” Mother greeted with faked enthusiasm, “Alice” Melissa replied leaning over to press a kiss to my mother’s cheek, she was a petite woman like Mother with pretty blue eyes and brown hair, and she was very beautiful. “It’s so good to see you.” Her eyes moved to me and I smiled.

“Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon Annalise.” She replied hugging me gently “Look at you; you’re becoming such a beautiful woman, a mini of Alice.” She praised as Derek greeted my mother. I forced a smile at her, there was no way I was becoming my mother, we were two different people. The only two things I had in common with her was my gender and our hair colour.

We settled down, I was seated opposite Derek, with Mother by my left and Melissa by my right. The waiters came over with the appetizer and I half listened to the conversations between Mother and Melissa. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Derek staring at me, well not me to be specific but my wrist. Our eyes met and he flashed me a wicked grin, he was not sorry that he had hurt me, he looked damned proud of his actions.

I looked away, moving my injured wrist under the table away from sight.

“… Derek got into Princeton, I mean we were expecting it but we had hopes for Yale and out of nowhere we get a call from the Dean of Student Affairs, they are dying to have Derek in their school.” Melissa continued no one needed a second opinion on the fact that she was bragging.

“How delightful.” Mother stated, I could tell she was not impressed, nothing really impressed mother, she had seen and experienced it all. “Is Derek graduating early too?” Melissa blanched, clearing her throat, faking a laugh

“No, there’s no rush; he wants to graduate with his mates.”

It was a lie, the only reason Derek was even graduating this year with us was due to his father’s influence. Derek was not book smart, he was good at sports but he was dumb as a door knob, preferring to spend his time skipping class and chasing skirts.

The conversations seemed to dry out as we moved to the main course, it was pan seared salmon and with asparagus. The rest of brunch went by fast; soon we were walking out of the restaurant with Melissa and Mother in front of us. I did my best to stay out of Derek’s way but the slimy snake grabbed the strap of my bag, I gasped as he tugged me closer to him.

“Hope you had a nice time at the lake.” He whispered, my entire body went rigid and my eyes darted to my mother but she was distracted by Melissa.

“I… I don’t know what you are talking about.” I whispered back, my heart beating at an irregular pace.

“Don’t play dumb O’Malley, it doesn’t fit you.” He murmured.I tried to tug my strap out of his grip but he grabbed unto my arm, tightening his hold.

“I take back my earlier statement, you are no prude or are you only a slag for lower Vermont. I wonder what Mr. and Mrs. O’Malley would do if they knew how much of a dirty nasty slut their daughter was for the town’s nobody.” He mused. My eyes widened and I found myself trembling at the thought of what could happen, not to me but to Jason.

“What do you want?” I asked as we neared the exit of the restaurant. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out pretty soon.” He replied letting me go and walking ahead of me. I lifted a shaky hand to my chest, trying hard to appear calm and collected but I was terrified. I needed to talk to someone.

Adolfo brought the car around and Derek being the ‘gentleman’ he was leaned over and opened my door. I could hear his mother cooing about what an absolute gentleman she had raised. I stared at him; his grin reminded me of a shark, all teeth, no kindness.

“See you in school Annalise.” The way he said my name had my skin crawling, I forced a smile that looked and felt more like a grimace before getting into the car. The entire drive home was spent in silence with me almost having several anxiety attacks at once.

“Stop with the incessant bouncing of your leg.” Mother snapped, I jolted and looked down to see my right leg bouncing of its own accord. I placed a hand on my thigh and brought the shaking under control.

“Sorry.” I whispered, meeting Adolfo’s gaze through the rear view mirror, I could see the sympathy in his eyes; I gave him a half smile. I was already used to her temper flaring at random times due to insignificant things. Just two months and I will be away from all these.

I was out of the car, the moment we got home, I had important things to do like call Janice. I was not about to tell Jason, knowing him, he would put two and two together and kill Derek and be done with it. Janice was the safest option of the two. I ran up the stairs not caring that Mother would probably yell at me later for behaving like a child.

I dialed Janice’s number before I reached my room, she didn’t answer. I groaned and tried again, she didn’t pick up the call. I tossed the phone on the bed, running my fingers through my hair, taking out the pin and letting my hair tumble down my back in the process.

I could go over to Janice’s place but I had a feeling Mother was already angry and it was best to avoid her for a few hours. I took a deep breath, rationalizing my thoughts. Derek was afraid of Jason, he would be insane not to so he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

Everything was going to be okay. With that cemented into my heart and mind, I walked to my closet and changed into something more comfortable, wiping the makeup away, feeling a sense of satisfaction at the sight of Jason’s hickies on display. I threw my hair into a ponytail and grabbed my drawing pad and my collection of pencils. I had a drawing of Jason and I wanted to complete it as soon as possible.

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Adolfo dropped me off at school the next day; I rubbed my eyes off the sleep. I had spent all night applying the final touches to the drawing and it was finally done, I couldn’t wait to show Jason. Speaking of which, I looked around the parking lot but his truck was missing, he was probably running late.

I headed into the school, stopping by my locker to get my Calculus note.

“Hey Lover girl.” Janice greeted bumping my hip with hers.

“Hello Janice, thanks for calling me back.” I said rolling my eyes. She gasped, slapping her forehead with her palm.

“I knew I was forgetting something. I am super sorry.” She apologized. I sighed turning to face her, I couldn’t stay mad at her, heck I couldn’t stay mad at anyone. It was a very annoying trait of mine.

“It’s fine.” I replied smiling, she smiled back looping her arm around mine.

“So what did you want to talk about?” She asked. I shook my head looking around.

“Not here. I’ll tell you after school.” She let out a groan.

“But that’s like in so many hours, just tell me, the anticipation is already killing me.”

I laughed “You should have answered your phone or called me back then” I quipped. She rolled her eyes at me and I giggled. My happy mood was cut short when I raised my eyes and met Derek’s cold blue ones. He gave me a knowing smile and a wink as we passed by.

“Looking mighty fine today O’Malley.”

“Piss off Derek.” Janice snapped glaring at him. “Stop it.” I whispered to her not wanting anything to trigger him into spilling the beans to my parents.

“That’s better, keep your b***h under a leash.” He jeered at Janice, she made a move to him but I grabbed her.

“Let’s just go, please.” I pleaded with her; she glared at him “asshole.” She snapped shrugging my hands off her before storming off. I ran after her not sparing him a glance. I found her by the stairwell, facing the window.

“Why didn’t you let me hit him? He called me a b***h!!!” she questioned angrily. I closed my eyes, massaging my temples, it was early in the morning and my head already felt like exploding.

“I just don’t want you to get into trouble.” I answered, it wasn’t a total lie, punching him would have gotten her detention and Lord knows no one deserved detention. She was about to reply when the bell rang signifying the beginning of first period.

We walked to class together and sat in our usual seats. I glanced over and smiled when I saw Jason walking into class, our eyes met and he offered me a smile as he brushed past me.

The class went by pretty fast, Janice was still annoyed so I let her be, deciding to head to the art studio. A hand shot out and pulled me into an empty classroom, I gasped preparing to fight whoever it was until the familiar scent enveloped me. I relaxed and looked up into a pair of amused grey eyes.

“Hello Princess.” He whispered.

“Hey” I replied wrapping my arms around his neck, he leaned down and kissed me. My eyes fluttered close and I kissed him back, relaxing against his firm body, all negative thoughts flying away especially regarding Derek.

DEREK!!!

I immediately pulled back; Jason frowned as I looked around before sighing and resting my forehead on his chest.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked. I shook my head looking up at him. “Nothing just tired. I should get going.” I said moving away from him, I didn’t want to give Derek more ammunition to use against us.

Jason frowned at my actions but nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you at lunch.”

I left the classroom and headed to the art studio, I had a free period and 5 minutes before my next class. The art studio was in another building and it was almost loft like with high walls and it had a minimalistic style to it.

The smell of paint and charcoal seemed to permeate the entire room; it was perfect and my sanctuary. I got a new drawing paper and set it down, arranging my pencils and I got to work on duplicating the drawing of Jason I had completed last night.

Time flew by as I fell deeper into my drawing zone, I was almost done when my phone let out a beep, it was time for History. I packed up and headed to class, it was the only class I took without Jason or Janice and I was honestly glad Derek was also not in the class.

I walked back to the main building and headed for the History class, sitting at the front, with my books arranged. Mr. Perkins came in and we launched into World History.

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I bumped into Janice after class and we headed to the cafeteria, she was back to her usual cheery self. Joining the queue, I hummed along with her as we waited for our turn. I looked around wondering where Jason was, I missed him and all I wanted to do was curl up in his arms and talk about everything and nothing.

The line finally got to our turn and I grabbed a tray of food and waited for Janice, I wondered whether I should get one for Jason but decided against it, he could always eat from mine. We walked to an empty table and sat, Janice immediately tucking into her chocolate pudding.

A sudden commotion had most of us looking towards the door; a 9th grader ran in, wide eyed.

“Jason Dames and Derek Hall are beating the s**t out of each other at the field!!!”

My heart stopped all together, shock and fear freezing my joints. I couldn’t move.

“Anna!! We have to go” Janice cried snapping me out of my shock; I looked around to see students rushing out of the cafeteria not wanting to miss the fight. I jumped into action, using my petite body to my advantage; I squeezed in between people, pushing others out of the way. I had to get there before it got worse or the police are called. I ran down the hall, across the school to the field. I could see a few students gathered around.

“Jason!!!” I screamed running past the students just as his fist flew into Derek’s nose. I flinched at the sight of blood, the 9th grader had lied, this was not a fight, it was a beating. Derek staggered back, shaking his head dazed, he growled before charging at Jason, swinging his fist at him.

Jason ducked and drove his fist into Derek’s stomach, before sending a swift kick to his knee. Derek let out a cry as he fell to the floor. Jason moved to hit him again when I launched myself onto his side, grabbing a hold of his arm.

“Stop!!!” I cried out. Jason looked down and I almost flinched at the anger blazing in his eyes. I knew he had repressed anger from all the bad things that had happened in his life but this was scary.

“Why?!” He snapped “He thinks he can touch my girl and get away with it?” he snarled.

“Please Jason, please, for me.” I pleaded cupping his face; I just wanted to leave before any teacher came or before the crowd got bigger. He looked down at me before sighing, glaring at a whimpering Derek one last time before grabbing my hand and walking away with me.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he took a turn, heading to the school parking lot.

“Away from this place because a part of me wants to go back in there and kill that son of a bitch.” He growled. I wanted to argue that skipping school was wrong but something told me it was best to keep my lips shut.

We got to his truck and I got in, he also got in, switched the engine on, before peeling out of school. Looking through the rearview mirror I could see Janice standing by the entrance of the school. I made a mental note to text her.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was him?” He asked his eyes on the road, his jaw clenched.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” I replied. He slammed the brakes, turning his stormy eyes on me.

“It doesn’t f*****g matter? Don’t test me Princess, I am very close to losing It.” he snapped. I could feel tears pricking the side of my eyes as a sense of helplessness took over.

“It doesn’t!!!” I cried out.

“Goddamn it Anna stop saying it doesn’t matter!!!” He shouted.

“Because it doesn’t!!! Derek knows about us, about the lake!!!” I cried out slapping a hand over my mouth when I realized what I had done.

Oh God…

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A/N

Dun dun dun!!!!

How do you guys think Jason's going take this new development?