The Complete Rockstar Series (2 page)

E
llie

M
y new school
hasn’t been as all together awful as I expected. Moving suddenly from our nice flat in Shepherd’s Bush to our shabby council flat in the East End was traumatic, but when dad lost his job in construction management and our money ran out, well… we had no choice. Hackney is scary, full of crime, graffiti, and abandoned buildings that are rife with shadowy figures. I spent the entire summer hiding in our dismal new home for fear of getting jumped.

A nice boy in first period, Callum, showed me around the school and introduced me to his mates at lunch and I met a girl named Kate in one of my classes who seems okay. The only embarrassing thing that’s happened to me so far is when I found someone sitting in my seat and complimented his drawing. He acted like I was mental and couldn’t get away from me fast enough.

I noticed him in several of my other classes as well, and how could I not? It seems all the other girls were noticing him too. They’re always surrounding him and vying for his attention, practically begging him to choose them. Not that he pays them any bother. I’m sure he gets his pick of them. He’s tall and gorgeous, with inky black hair and hazel eyes, and he makes my pulse race just from being in his vicinity. The gossip I accidentally overheard lets me know that he gets around, and never with the same girl twice. Figures.

Oddly, it seemed as if every time I glanced in his direction, it felt as though he had just been staring at me, even though I never once caught him doing it. I’m sure I’m just imagining things. The hot guy that can’t be tamed sneaking looks at me… yeah, right.

The last bell finally rings, and I got through the day in one piece. Tired, I gather my books, sling my bag on my shoulder, and head into the hall.

“Ellie, I can walk you home.” Surprised, I whip around and see Callum leaning against the wall outside my final class, eyeing me thoughtfully.

How did he know where I’d be?

Intimidated by his presence, I feel the familiar rush of blood in my neck and cheeks and focus on my winter boots so he won’t notice how red I am. “Okay,” I mutter, just loud enough for him to hear. Callum begins to walk, so I follow, and we head out into the bright January sun.

“So, where’s your place?” He taps a pack of cigarettes and pulls one out, lighting it by cupping his hand around the flame to deter the cold wind.

I squint in the bright sun, wrinkling my nose at the smell of the smoke, and zip up my overcoat when another blast of icy air hits me. “Off Well Street.”

When Callum raises his eyebrows at the location of my crappy flat, I have to look away. It’s just about the worst part of town, littered with drugs and prostitution. “What?” My defenses are up, I’m angry and embarrassed by his reaction. I want to chew on my thumbnail, a nervous habit that I can’t seem to ditch, and end up with the fabric of my winter glove in my mouth.
Shoot.
I lower my arm uselessly.

“I’m surprised you live down there, that’s all.” His eyes rove slowly up and down my body, giving me chills, and not the good kind. “You’re too good for this place.” Callum turns away and sucks on his cigarette, letting the smoke trail back out of his pursed lips slowly as we trudge along.

“Yeah, well, all of us are too good for
this,
aren’t we?” I reply with a huff, waving my arm in the direction of a blighted building that’s covered in graffiti.

“No, not really.” He lets another wisp of smoke out deliberately and meets my gaze. “Some of us belong here.”

Something about the way Callum speaks, calm, cold, accepting, makes my heart stutter. Suddenly, I’m afraid to be alone with him. I study his face and a frigid chill goes down my back, one that I’m not sure is caused by the temperature.

How did I not notice how empty his eyes are?

I have no response to his comment, so I hike my bag further up on my shoulder and cling to it as we continue to walk past a bunch of run down, detached houses.

“Where are you going?” Callum reaches out and grabs my coat, pulling me back toward a broken chain link fence that circles an abandoned property. He gestures for me to duck through the small gap and tosses his spent cigarette on the ground.

“Home, which is this way.” I point down the road in the direction I had been going, away from the creepy lot he’s pointing towards. Callum is good looking; big and muscled, with sandy hair and full lips, but his eyes are creepy, dull, and lacking life, which makes him quite unattractive. I realize much too late that he makes me very, very uncomfortable.

“Nah, this is a shortcut.” He smirks and uses his chin to motion towards the empty semi-detached houses in the derelict yard.

Even though I’m wearing a thick parka, I shiver and wrap my arms around my chest, holding myself together. That yard isn’t somewhere I want to go. It’s not somewhere most people want to go, and with my newfound revelation about Callum, there is nowhere else I’d rather
not
be than in that yard with him.

“I don’t mind taking the long way, Callum, really. It’s no bother.” My voice wavers as I attempt to convey indifference to his short cut, wispy puffs of steam hitting the icy air with each rapid breath I exhale.

“C’mon. It’s not as scary as it looks. I cut through here all the time.” He grins like a Cheshire cat as he walks backwards toward the hole in the fence, his empty eyes not leaving mine until the last second when he spins and ducks through the fence and into the yard.

I hesitate, looking up and down the street to see if I can run away and not be caught by Callum before I get home. Even if I do get away, if I don’t follow him I have no doubt that tomorrow at school won’t be as pleasant as it was today, so I inhale and press my cold lips together, forcing my feet forward by sheer will.

The sound of footsteps approaching from a nearby corner jolts my already pounding heart and I leap headfirst through the gap in the fence without thinking.

“Bloody hell!” I drop my bag on the ground and clamp my gloved hands around my calf. There’s a two-inch gash in my flesh where I caught my trousers on the edge of the metal fencing. I’m so busy cursing my wound and my stupidity that I don’t realize how close Callum is until his feet are less than a meter from mine.

I flinch back, my heart racing. “Callum! You frightened me!” For a moment, I forget about my injury and take a step back to put a little more distance between us.

The fence behind me creaks and I pivot my head just in time to see another boy from school entering the desolate courtyard.

Oh shit.

“Caaaalllll, why didn’t you tell me you were going this waaaaay?” he says in a singsong voice that lets me know his presence here is anything but a coincidence.

“I t-t-think I’ll just walk home the usual w-way.” I try to speak in as bright a manner as possible when I’m about to collapse from fear.

“What? Why would you do that?” Callum says, his dark, lifeless eyes studying my expression carefully as he cocks his head, a delighted spark forming behind his cold stare.

He wants me to be afraid. He likes it.

“Cal, I thought you said this one would be fun,” the friend whines in a mocking manner.

“Ryan, she is fun.” Callum swings his black gaze back to me and steps forward. “Right Ellie? You’re a fun girl, aren’t you?”

Swallowing loudly, I take another step back, my heart pounding so fast that I think it may explode in my chest. The fight or flight response we learned in science class last year is not something I ever wanted to experience firsthand, but here I am, trying to decide if I should claw and kick and scream or turn and run as fast as I can.

I’m not stupid though. I know I have zero chance at either overpowering Callum and Ryan or outrunning them. I am thoroughly and properly fucked. The only way I’m getting out of this yard in one piece is to talk my way out.

“Of course, Callum, I’m loads of fun.” I know I sound completely unconvincing. Damn my nerves! I take off my gloves and clench my hands into fists, digging my nails into my frozen palms in an attempt to use the pain to focus on staying calm.

“See, Ryan,” Callum steps even closer to me. “I told you.”

I resist the overwhelming urge to throw up as he lifts his hand and drags a frigid finger down my cheek and trails it between my breasts, tugging the zipper on my coat down as a grotesque grin spreads across his face.

I can’t let him see fear, so I meet his cold eyes and smirk.

Big mistake.

The smile drops from Callum’s face and turns into a truly frightening scowl. Before I see it coming, his arm swings up and backhands me across the cheek, the explosion of white-hot pain causing me to stagger sideways from the blow.

“I think I liked you better when I thought you were an innocent little girl,” he snarls, his body so close that I can feel his hot, angry breaths on my skin.

I put my hand to my face and drag it over my mouth, wiping a smear of blood from a split on my lip. “Bastard,” I hiss before I can stop myself.

Callum’s dead eyes go wide, then light up with perverted delight. “I quite like a fighter.” Quicker than I thought possible, his hand shoots out and grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking my head painfully to the side. I can’t help the cry of pain that slips out as he pulls me to him, forcing my body against his. “We’ll see how feisty you are when I’m done with you, love.” His whisper caresses my ear in a manner reminiscent of how lovers would exchange tender words.

“Jesus Callum! Stop fuckin’ about and get to it! Someone could come by and see us,” Ryan says as he fidgets behind Callum, blowing on his hands to warm them up.

“Alright, get her arms, then.” Ryan moves to Callum’s side.

My blood runs cold as I finally realize that there is no way out of here. My whole body starts shaking uncontrollably from fear. No amount of soothing thoughts will stop the frantic drumming of my heart or the massive amounts of adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“Oi! Back off Murray, and I’ll let you live.” Startled, I attempt to turn my head to see who’s speaking, but Callum’s hand is wound too tightly around my hair to move even a fraction of an inch.

“Leave, Davies, or you’ll end up worse than her, I promise,” Callum hisses. His eyes flash toward the newcomer and I see a flicker of doubt in them.

“Don’t leave me!” I plead with whoever is here. I hate to drag someone else into this, but my overwhelming sense of survival overrides everything else.

“Shut it!” Callum shouts. He brings his leg up as he yanks my head down and knees me in the diaphragm, knocking the air out of my lungs with a
whoosh
. I start to collapse, but Callum holds me up by my hair as my legs give out, sending another streak of pain across my scalp.

I haven’t yet caught my breath when I’m suddenly released, left to crumple to the ground in a heap. I immediately curl into a ball, groaning in agony, and squeeze my eyes shut. I’m in too much pain from the blow to my abdomen to get up and run, even though every cell in my body is screaming at me to get out of this place.

Helpless and gasping for air, I listen to the unmistakable sounds of fighting; the slap of skin on skin, the crunch of boots on gravel, the guttural grunts, and the cracks of fists landing on bone.

My tear-blurred eyes fly open when a large figure lands on the packed dirt next to me and smacks against it, hard. I focus through the tears and hair and see Callum on the ground a foot away, blood pouring from his nose and in rivulets down his cheek. A set of legs stands next to him, kicking his side repeatedly. Too weak to lift my head, I watch the stranger’s heavy soles as they make contact with Callum over and over.

“Don’t ever fucking touch her again!” the stranger shouts as his boots make contact with Callum’s ribs one final time, eliciting a pathetic whimper from the boy on the ground.

The scuffed black boots circle the injured Callum and stop next to my head, the frayed knees of his jeans coming into view as my savior squats beside me. “Hey, you alright?” He gently scrapes the hair off of my face so he can see me.

Still struggling to breathe, I wipe the tears and snot from my cheeks and have a go at sitting up. “Ow!” The pain in my stomach makes me wince as I shift sideways and look up at my rescuer. “You,” I whisper.

It’s the boy from my school, the one with the beautiful face and exquisite drawings.

“Adam, let’s go before the coppers show up,” his friend says.

Adam, that’s his name. Adam Reynolds. He was in several of my classes today.

Adam looks towards the voice and frowns before turning back to me on the ground. “Here.” Adam extends a shaky hand to help me up. “We need to go.”

I take his hand and he gently pulls me to my feet, making sure I’m steady before releasing me. I get a good look at him and stifle a gasp. He looks upset, murderously upset actually. I’m about to ask him why when a large figure appears behind him and I instinctively take a step back, cowering in fear.

“Don’t worry,” Adam says, recognizing the anxiety I’m projecting. “That’s just Dax, my mate. He took out Mason while I dealt with this asshole.” He jerks his thumb toward Callum, who is still writhing and bleeding on the ground. “Lucky for me I surprised him. He’s a huge bastard and I’m not one for fighting,” Adam attempts a grin, but it’s weak considering the situation. “Not like Dax here.”

“Sorry to frighten you, but we really do need to get out of here,” Dax says, wiping his hands casually on his jacket, as if this is nothing new for him. I notice that his knuckles are scraped and bleeding and there are drops of blood on his clothes. He moves gracefully around the two of us and disappears through the hole in the fence. I blink and look at Adam’s shaky hands. His are bloodied, the same as Dax’s, but one is also swollen and red.

“Your hand.” I swallow down the nausea that threatens to surface.

“Never mind that.” Adam reaches down and grabs my bag, taking my hand in his good one. “C’mon, we’re leaving.” Tugging gently, he leads me over to the opening in the fence, holding back the twisted metal until I’m safely out of the abandoned yard.