Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1) (27 page)

“Hey,’’ everyone greets us once we sit down.

Denny is sitting next to Myles, so Malik and I take a seat opposite them. There’s another lad I’ve seen with Myles a few times called Drew. I think someone said it’s short for Andrew.

“Where’s Max?’’ I ask everyone.

“Oh she misses me,’’ a voice booms behind me making me giggle. Everyone in the cafeteria stops to look over, but once they see Max thrusting his hips like he’s humping thin air behind me they turn back to their food.

“Sit down dickhead,’’ Malik demands.

“Okay boss,’’ he salutes, taking a seat on the other side of me.

“So, you’re ready to ditch the boring brother to finally have some fun, huh?’’ Max teases me.

“Max, there is nothing
boring
about your brother,’’ I tell him, emphasising the word boring.

“Oh do tell Miss Evans.’’

“Leave her alone,’’ Denny chuckles. “Plus, I want to know how the fuck you knew about... you know,’’ she whispers, leaning across the table so no one can hear her.

“I didn’t know,’’ he laughs loudly. “I couldn’t believe it myself when someone tagged me in the video on Facebook. Poor woman! I reckon that chick Lilly is using him for his money because there is no way anyone would willingly want to sleep with Mr. Haynes,’’ he says shuddering, not caring who hears him. “For fuck sake, the dude farts after he cums,’’ he says more quietly.

We all burst into a fit of giggles, more so when Myles and Denny make jokes up about it. They obviously spent all of last coming up with them.

We’re all still laughing when a shadow moves across the table.

“I’m asking nicely for you to step back,’’ Max says seriously, all humour leaving his face.

“Huh?’’ Hannah says scowling and I inwardly groan, too tired for a confrontation.

“I don’t have a cross oh evil one,’’ he shouts then does something I can’t help but laugh at. He grabs the salt shaker and starts flicking it at her. She squeals stepping back away from him. When he sets down the salt shaker on the table, he turns back around smiling brightly at her.

“That’s better. Now, what can we do for you?’’

“Dickhead,’’ she snaps before her beady eyes turn to me. The evil gleam in her eye has me sitting up straight. Malik must notice too because his whole body tenses.

“What Hannah? I really want to finish my food and I’m having trouble digesting with you near me,’’ Malik snaps sounding bored.

“I just want to speak to Harlow,’’ she says sweetly, so sweetly that it makes me want to vomit. I can tell she’s up to something and whatever it is I know it’s not going to be good.

“Well instead of looking at her like a clown with a forced smile, talk,’’ he barks making Max and the rest of the table chuckle.

“I just wanted to say how sorry we are. If we knew how unstable you were we would never have spoken to you.’’

“What are you talking about Hannah?’’ I growl, finally speaking up. The game she’s trying to play isn’t lost on me. I can tell she wants to run a mind game with me. The smug expression on her face is full proof of that and it’s starting to piss me off.

“When those pictures were posted around school I got so worried,’’ she fakes dramatically, her hand over her black heart. “So I thought, hey, let’s see if we can do something to help her. I’m a giver you see.’’ Her voice is really grating on my nerves. If it wasn’t for the look on her face or the sarcastic bite to her tone, I’d actually believe she was generally concerned. Luckily I know better.

“Funny, I heard you lay down on your back like a sack of potatoes.’’ Max’s comeback has a few people around us laughing, even my lips twitch, but I’m too on edge to crack a smile.

“Fuck you Max.’’

“Spit it out already,’’ Malik barks sounding angry now.

Hannah and her friends jump, and I actually find a little satisfaction in it. She looks at Malik giving him a seductive smile, well, what I think is meant to be one anyway. He just glares back at her and her smile slips.

“We wanted to help you so we spoke to your old friend,’’ she says confidently looking straight into my eyes and my face pales. Her smile brightens when she knows she’s gotten to me, looking at me like she just hit the jackpot. Which to her I’m sure she feels like she has. Why would they talk to Lilly? How do they even know about her? I’ve only ever spoken about her to Gram’s, Malik and Myles.

“What?’’ I whisper, not able to wrap my head around this conversation.

“Yeah, we told her about what you were going through here at your new school and that we wanted her to work with us to help you get better. I had no idea what a freak you were until she told us.’’ Her voice is louder, more confident, the fake concern now gone from her voice and replaced with venom. “She told us how your parents were murdered, that you should have died too. Even about him going back for you. Is it safe to be around any of us? You’re putting Malik’s and everyone’s life in danger.

“She told us a lot more. That everyone in school picked on you. That the nightmares you had made you piss the bed,’’ she laughs and Malik jumps up getting in her face, but I feel like my whole world has just stopped. Everyone knows about my parents. Lilly told them everything. I did wake up one night after a nightmare to find I had indeed wet the bed. Fucking seventeen and I had wet the fucking bed. It was two nights after they were murdered and the nightmare I had felt so real.

What else did she tell them? My throat feels like it’s closing in on me, and I struggle to catch my breath, but no one pays attention as Hannah keeps spitting out her poison.

“Hannah, you want to stop spreading lies like you do your legs. I mean, wouldn’t want mommy and daddy finding out about your weekend activities now would you?’’ Malik sneers.

“What are you doing with her? She’s a freak,’’ Hannah points at me while she screeches at Malik who is still up in her face. “She can’t even sit straight look at her. What are you going to do Harlow?’’ she sneers. “Have an anxiety attack and piss yourself?’’ she laughs.

My vision blurs from the tears falling down my face and my breathing starts to escalate.

Please no. Please not now. Not now,
I chant, knowing a panic attack is coming. I know my face is bright red right now, but that’s not what’s bothering me, it’s the fact the whole cafeteria is watching silently and listening to everything Hannah is shouting at me.

Everyone knows.

Everyone!

“She was nobody at her old school. She got bullied because she was a geek, a nerd and only had two friends because no one liked her. I also spoke to a Melisa Bright,’’ she says.

Oh God no. I say to myself as I rub at my chest furiously, the pain there overbearing. Thick tears fall from my cheeks, and down on to my skirt.

Melisa is the girl I had grown up with. She lived next door to us before they moved house. We stayed at the same school and she bullied me along with all her friends every day. Malik is going to know what a loser I am. I know he’s shouting things at Hannah, telling her to get out, but my mind is reeling with images of the past and my vision is blurring. My whole body is burning hot, sweat dripping from my forehead and my hands are shaking.

“Guess what she had to say? Miss Evans here isn’t just a school loser, the virgin, but she was also caught trying to kiss one of the popular girls,’’ she cackles. “There’s even a photo.’’

That’s when everything happens. My head begins to pound remembering Summer Pearce trying to kiss me back in year ten. Before I knew what she was going to do, she asked me to look at her textbook, so I leaned in just as she turned her face to me and at the same time someone had taken the photo making it look like I had tried to kiss her. They had planned the whole thing brilliantly. The picture ended up posted on FaceBook and every other social networking site. The whole school knew about it by the end of that day. It had been one of the worst times of their bullying.

I can’t take this anymore. I can’t! Everything is spiralling out of control and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

A noise to my right startles me and in my blurry vision I see a figure jump over the table with a scream. My mind registers that the sound is coming from Denny, but my whole body shakes, too weak to move. Then a sound of a hard slap fills the room before I hear Hannah howl in pain screaming at Denny.

It doesn’t make anything better though. They know. They all know about my parents. That I should have died with them. I wanted to stay at home to finish my homework that night instead of going out to their work dinner. We had all been invited to attend, but with my course work having to be handed in the next day, I played up to stay at home to finish it.

“You okay?’’ I hear in the background, along with someone shouting Malik’s name, but it’s too much.

I can feel myself swaying and before I can stop myself from falling, I try to grab a hold of the table, but my hand reaches something else and instead of helping, it falls off the table smacking me in the face as my body continues to fall, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

The shouts coming from around me hurt and I scream out in agony as I hold onto my head in my hands, praying for them to stop.

The screams still ring in my ears, but they sound distant. I think they’re from me but I’m not too sure. Nothing is registering. Not the hands at my waist or the hands running through my hair, none of it. It all feels like a dream.

*** **** *** ****

I wake up to loud beeping next to me and to my body aching painfully. Slowing opening my eyes, I groan in pain and I have to shut them tightly closed. The bright lights above me burn my eyes and my head starts to pound harder.

Where the hell am I? Where ever I am, the bed is seriously uncomfortable. It’s seriously not doing my aching muscles any good and I’m pretty sure my legs have lost all feeling from the blanket that is covering me. Someone has taken their duties of tucking me in really fucking seriously.

The blanket issue and where I am question disintegrates. All at once everything comes back to me in flashing images. The lunch hall. Hannah and her spiteful comments. My parents. The bullying and the lengths they went to, to hurt me. It all hits me like a ton of bricks, weighing my chest down making it hard to catch my breath.

“Hey, calm down sweetie,’’ a smoothing soft voice belonging to my Gram’s whispers softly in my ear. I feel her move before she reaches out for my hand, bringing it up to her chest and resting it above her heart. I can feel the beat of her heart thumping in her chest. “Match your breathing to mine honey.’’

I do what she says, taking in a lungful of air before slowly letting it back out. Once my breathing matches hers and I’ve calmed down, tears fall from my closed eyes, too scared to open them.

“Hey, don’t cry. Everything’s going to be okay. Can you open your eyes for me?’’

“The... the lights,’’ I croak, my throat feeling sore and dry.

Gram’s moves again, this time letting my hand go. She’s not gone long, maybe a few seconds before she returns.

“Open your eyes now dear.’’

Slowly I open my eyes, letting them adjust to the now dim lighting. ‘
Why am I in hospital’
is the first thought I have when I take in my settings.

“Why am I in hospital?’’ I ask Gram’s, looking into her sad eyes for the first time.

“You had a nasty fall at school sweetie, and they weren’t sure if you had banged your head or not. They have to call an ambulance or school nurse in certain situations anyway, but when you wouldn’t wake up they called an ambulance straight away. They said you can go home when you wake up, so I’m going to go talk to the nurses then I’ll be back. Malik should be back... speaking of the devil,’’ she smiles when Malik walks into the room. He’s looking down, but when he hears my Gram’s his head shoots up startled. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging wide open. He doesn’t move at first, he just stands there staring at me in shock before he finally snaps out of it and rushes over to my bedside.

“Oh thank God, you’re awake,’’ he rushes out, his hands running down my face. His eyes are glazed over and they look red like he’s been crying or trying not to. “I got so scared when you wouldn’t wake up. I’m so sorry.’’

“Sorry? Why are you sorry?’’ I ask confused. I’m the one who’s the freak. I’m the one who has anxiety or panic attacks, whatever the hell you want to call them, not him.

“I should have shut her up or got Max to carry her out of there before she spat all that out at you.’’

“It’s fine. It just surprised me is all,’’ I smile.

My Gram’s coughs grabbing my attention and I turn to her smiling softly down at me. “I’m going to talk to the nurses. Be back in a little while,’’ she says giving me a kiss on the forehead.

I watch Gram’s leave before I turn back to Malik, “How bad was it? Was everyone laughing at me?’’

“Yes and no. When you fell I couldn’t get to you in time. God Harlow, it felt like I was stuck in slow motion while everything happening to you felt like it was on fast forward. As for the rest of the school, you’ll be pleased to know they literally chucked food at Hannah and her friends until they left the cafeteria. They all shouted abuse at them, calling them sick. Your parent’s death isn’t something to be ashamed of. I know you don’t want people knowing how they died because you hate answering questions, but everyone is sticking by you. Hannah just lost any street cred she had doing what she did to you in there.’’