Louis' POV
I fucking hated her! Every fiber in my body wanted to make her suffer, break her down, and destroy her. Her presence drove me crazy, but sometimes not in the way I'd like. But that didn't matter. She had the bitch's blood in her veins. Her bitch of a mother was the reason mine was depressed and hurting. The woman without a status dared to destroy the person that held my family together. That woman bewitched my father to dance to her tunes. Now he barely spoke a word to the woman who had loved him for decades. Now the woman's daughter was in my school?
The moment I saw her with her unruly brown hair and determined jade eyes, I knew I had a mission to see her mangled and helpless, totally at my mercy.
My sister joined in, and being in the same economic class as the rest of the school helped. From her first day, it was either she submitted or she was punished; either way, she was the loser. She had not one friend after two years. All the other scholarship students had transferred, but she had hung on anyway.
I despised the fact that she had earned a bit of my respect by doing that. I had eyes on her at her workplace and home. And other times, I did the monitoring myself. I just needed to catch her lacking, but everything I had seen had proved me wrong about her. It was so fucking annoying.
She was resourceful despite the eyesore she called home. She was indifferent towards her elder sister but seemed to adore her nine-year-old brother. The boy looked nothing like her, with his brown eyes and red hair, and knowing what their mother did for a living, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine why.
I hardly saw her interact with her mother or the shabby-looking man named Todd. She was a loner. I loathed that I knew so much about her, but she intrigued me.
The bitch bruised my ego by daring to tell me she hadn't needed me. I just wanted to tease her, but I got too close. She had an earthy fragrance that intoxicated me into delving further into the mystery of Zoraya Carter. The way she had pushed against me drove me wild. I needed to taste her, even if it had consequences like a forbidden fruit.
Her lips were parted ever so slightly, beckoning me to meet them. I thought I was going to drown. I needed to hear her whimper, moan, or something. I grazed her lips with mine, forgetting why I was doing all of that to her in the first place. It was to tease her and not the other way around. But that had changed; it was now about me, her, and my craving.
The moment she moaned. It was soft and pleading. It mirrored my own desire. If I had kissed her, I would have reached the point of no return. But I didn't. I remembered who she was and on which side I belonged. I was the victim's son, and she was the tramp's daughter. And she was an enemy.
*****
“The party was amazing!" Jennie squealed.
"Yeah, it was, but it was probably amazing to you because Louis was there," Franky shrugged, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"No, it was probably for the party," Sandra's unsure voice spoke out.
"Girl," Franky snarled. "Who asked you?" Before she turned to Jenny. "I told you not to invite her, but you did anyway, and now she thinks she can speak without permission."
Turning her attention back to Sandra, who was already regretting opening her mouth. "Don't even think you are on our level yet; remember your dad is just a former deputy governor."
Jenny seemed preoccupied and added nothing to what Franky said.
"Lisa's father owns a law firm, but even she kept quiet." Franky gestured toward a contemplating Lisa, who, just like Jenny, was paying no attention to the topic of discussion.
She was thinking about what she had seen when she skipped physics class. She had planned to wait it out in the girls' bathroom. Instead, she went to the Elites' classroom. The room was less of a classroom and more of a hangout for the richest kids. Not the rich kids, the 'richest.'
The students who did not make the cut could only be allowed in by invitation. But those were rare. Even after six years in the school, she had only been invited four times.
She had been a low-key part of Jennie's friend group as one of the servants, of course. Despite that, she had not been boosted at all in the school's student hierarchy.
She peeked through the window of the class to take in a little of the room. It was big, like a mini-hall. The curtains looked like the ones used by royals; heavy and regal. The loudspeakers for music and a 70-inch flat-screen TV. The three expensive vanity makeup tables. Games for the guys. It was heaven.
She tried the doorknob, and her mouth nearly hit the ground when it was a mystery not locked. She entered it without a second thought. Taking it in now that she was alone in it, she used makeup, and threw some hoops that she missed.
She even took pictures of everything there. She went to the toilet and used it. No invitee had ever been allowed to use it. But today was her lucky day. Or was it?
After she had inscribed her name on the wall where all the 'richest' had written theirs, Lisa's heart almost jumped out of her throat when she heard the door open. She hid behind one of the heavy curtains that were obscuring the sunlight.
If they caught her, she would be dead. It would lower her already low student hierarchy. What if they start treating her like a scholarship student? It would be over for her. She said silent prayers as she waited.
She did not peek until she started to hear voices. She saw Louis with a girl. The surviving scholarship student. Zoe Carter. The first time the girl had been here, Louis strangely invited everyone to watch her get humiliated in the worst possible way. Lisa didn't understand why the girl had not withdrawn after that day.
She switched to video recording on her phone and started to film them. Louis was the hottest and richest student, along with his younger sister, and Jennie had liked Louis for such a long time everyone knew. He was off-limits. So this would interest her.
From what she heard, Zoe owed Louis something which she denied. He seemed angry and started to laugh. The next thing he was up and pinning her to the board, he insulted her, and what happened next almost made Lisa drop her phone.
He was kissing her neck. He wasn't just teasing. No, he was doing it. It looked like he was forcing her until Lisa heard her fucking moan. He pulled away and made fun of her again and left.
As Lisa looked at her phone now, she knew she had something that could make Jennie favor her more and even upgrade her level. Who would care about how she got it? They would be too preoccupied with making Zoe pay. And it would be good for the girl if she left anyway, so Lisa believed she was doing her a favor. Lisa made her decision.
“Jennie." She tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"What?" Jennie snapped.
“I guess I spoke too soon." Franky rolled her eyes.
Lisa ignored Franky, and with her attention still on Jennie, she said, "Sorry, but I believe there is something you might want to see."
Zoe's POV “Shit!“ I basically yelled at my reflection. On my neck and jaw, were hickeys. Conspicuous hickeys lined the places his mouth had touched. I had already missed a class and I am about to miss lunch. The thought of walking through school with them was enough to drive me crazy. “Ptttts, ptttts Zoe.“ I heard someone call me. I turned to see a student I didn't recognize. She had red hair that reminded me of Andrew. She flashed me a gummy smile and waved at me. I waved back and returned a limp smile. She walked out of her hiding spot. In her hand was a tube of foundation.“You might need this.“ I immediately used my left hand to cover the hickeys which made her giggle. “Don't worry, I already saw it.“ She put the tube into my hand wrapping my fingers around it. “I came to help.““Why? I don't even know you.“ “I am two grades ahead of you, call me Sandra.“ As she put out her hand for a handshake which I took with some trepidation.****I walked back to class. Every step was de
She was joking, she had to be. I turned to her. She had a hopeful, nervous smile forming on her quavering lips."You want to waste my time so bad," I scoffed and watched her smile disappear. "You would make up some shit and expect me to believe it like the idiot you take me for!" "I... but... I," she stumbled over her words as tears welled in her eyes. By now every one had eyes on us. Wondering what two school girls were discussing that led one to cry. "It's probably about a boy," I heard a woman murmur.I almost cringed at her words. A boy indeed! "Ok, ok," I finally said after a moment. "I'll listen." I took her by the hand and led her to the place we were before. Well,l she did help me, I reasoned inwardly.Once we settled, I waited for her to spill her guts."I know it's hard to believe," She whimpered wiping her tears. "Sometimes it feels like a dream even to me." "But how have they not snuffed you out." I was choosing to go along with her story. For now."I had planned it f
Mum had not been home for a week now. It was the weekend already. Andrew was at a friend's place, Regina was where she always was and Todd could go to bloody hell. It was lonely being in the house all by myself. I skimmed through the pages of my biology note. It was boring to be honest because I had read it a zillion times already. “… the human heart is divided into four major parts…” I read out loud hoping it would reduce my boredom but I was only disappointed to find myself getting tired with each word. “…the left auricle, right auricle, left ventricle and right auricle. They…” I pushed on, my eyelids getting dropped. “Zoe!“ I heard someone call me, jolting me awake. I heard the horn of a car too. The room I shared with my sister had no windows so I got up and went to the cramped living room. I peeked through the window to see an unfamiliar car. It looked like one of those cars whose days of vogue had passed. It had a tinted window so I could see neither the driver nor the passen
I froze. This was new ground. "Uh yeah... She is..." I lowered my head and because of the awkward silence, I raised my head slowly to see her looking thoughtfully at me."There is no need to be ashamed of that." Was she joking or was she mocking me?"We all have to survive somehow," She reasoned. "Dignity is nothing compared to that."I should have felt offended because she was inferring something that should have made my blood boil but surprisingly I felt consoled and as though someone understood that some people have no choice. People like my mother."And I find it blatantly unfair that she gets called names when the man is also willingly involved gets called a victim but that's just the life we live in." I nodded and smiled ruefully. It was hopeless because she was right; that was just how the world worked. I took another munch of the sandwich satisfied at least that I could talk to someone about the issue without being judged. "What's your sister's name?" I asked"Sarah." She r
Zoe's POV "We found it," The men were back. "We took a picture. We figured it would suffice." "Let me see it," I said, ignoring the man berating me. "Here," He brought his phone closer and allowed Sandra and me to have a look. It had diamond patterns on its back. "God!" The girl named Lucy exclaimed clasping her hand over her mouth. "It is a diamondback!" I looked up at Lucy and asked. "How deadly is its venom." "Extremely," She told me. Luck was nowhere near our side. "How long did they say they will get here?" I asked the driver. "Twenty minutes," He answered, looking as panicked as everyone else. About five minutes had passed already. I examined Sarah again. She was slowly losing consciousness, her eyes fluttering. They would not be able to get here in time to save her leg or her. "How will the ambulance make it here on time?" Someone finally asked the obvious question. "Why don't we go and see what the problem is all about first?" The two men once again sprint towards t
Zoe's POV I squinted as I tried to adjust my eyes to the bright rays of light. It took a while but once I could keep my eyes long enough to know where I was, I realized that was in a hospital. I raised my head in a bit of a rush and startled the person whose head was resting on my bed. "Zoe," The person was Sandra. "You are awake." She said, gleefully. I was disoriented and asked her. "What are you doing here?" I looked around my white surroundings. "What am I doing here?" "You don't remember," She asked as she got up. "I am trying to..." It was coming to me in flashes but still nothing distinct. "Sarah..." I groaned as I held my head in pain. Gosh! it was spinning. "She is fine," She told me "I will call the doctor and dad." she headed out. Did she just say 'dad'? It was coming back now in slower flashes. The snake, Sarah, the ambulance... But how did I end up as a patient? Sandra came back not too long after with a doctor and a tall, middle-aged man in a suit. "How do you fee
Zoe’s POVWhen we got home, Andrew was sitting on the stairs waiting for us. Once he saw us highlighting from the taxi, he ran up to us and held on to my leg.“Don’t disturb her, Andrew,” Mum scolded. “She needs to rest.”Andrew looked up at me worriedly and I gave him a wink just to assure him that I was fine. Mum unlocked the door and we all entered. Regina and Todd were at their usual hang-out spots and were not at home. Mum led me to my room and sat me down on the bed. There was long awkward silence since being as caring as she was now was very uncommon. “How are you feeling,” She asked as she sat on the bed with me. I shrugged. She sighed. “What were you doing with that girl?” She asked. I frowned at her question, hurt. And to think she actually cared when all she wanted to do was to interrogate me. “We went to the park,” I told her. “She is my friend.” “You are friends with a Callahan?” “So?” I moved away from her to look her in the eye. She had the same look of horror sh
Zoe's POVI did not know exactly how unstable I was until I stumbled. Luckily, Mr Callahan caught me before I hit the ground. “Easy there,” He sat me down on one of our lumpy couches. He knelt in front of me. “Zoe, I…” My mom stuttered. “I am sorry,” I could not even react to her apology because I was still busy trying to make sure that my brain did not fall out of my ears. “Are you okay?” Mr Callahan asked me with a gentleness that no man had ever awarded me with. It was the way I imagined a father would talk to his daughter. “Yeah,” I assured him. “I just need to sit for a while.” He looked at me, disbelief very well apparent in his brown eyes, “You should not be up,” He criticized, his voice hard. “Sorry…” I found myself saying. He smiled warmly. “No worries. Have you taken your medication?” I nodded. He turned to Sandra, who was still standing there with her palms covering her mouth. “Take her to her room.”She did as told and assisted me to my room. Once she had me lying