Being the Bad Boy's Victim (8 page)

As I woke up with a start, a wave of nausea took over me. I barely made it to the bathroom before I emptied out my stomach.
Gross, I know!
I slumped against the wall, feeling the beginnings of a migraine.

“Bella, are you…?” My mum’s eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw me. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the scolding.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, rubbing my back soothingly.

Twenty minutes later

“Take this,” she ordered, holding out two aspirin.

The brightness in the room hurt my eyes when I opened them, causing me to wince. Nevertheless, I followed her instructions and took the pills, finishing the cup of water.

“Now drink this,” she said, holding out a mug filled with a dark brown, almost black, liquid.

“What…?”

“Just drink,” she insisted, holding it out to me.

Immediately, I grabbed the mug, hesitating a bit before taking a sip. I nearly gagged at the taste. It tasted like black coffee that had been experimented on, mixed with a bunch of other liquids.

“It’ll help with your hangover,” my mum said, leaning against the counter. “Pumpkin, I could smell you from a mile away when you got home,” she said when she noticed my questioning look.

I groaned and pressed my cheek against the cool tiled wall.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, not looking at her.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I get it. Kids these days drink a lot. Hell, all kids drink a lot. Let me tell you something,” my mum said, pausing, “I drank a lot when I was younger. A lot! That’s how I ended up creating a little remedy for it.”

“Oh God, Mum, please tell me I’m not the result of one of your drunken mistakes,” I said, looking up at her.

She looked at me, completely surprised, then started laughing. Soon enough I joined in, and we laughed for a good five minutes.

“Mum, what time is it?” I asked, standing up slowly. Whatever had been in that mug had worked, I was already feeling better.

She checked her watch and told me that it was 4:00 pm. My eyes bugged out and I looked at her, astonished.

“Pumpkin, you fell asleep as soon as you got upstairs while you were hungover. Of course you were going to sleep for a while. And don’t worry about school. You can skip tomorrow, too, if you want,” my mum casually said with shrug.

“Thanks, Mum,” I murmured, yawning a bit.

She smiled and started cleaning up the bathroom. “Go, get some rest. You need to get your strength back,” my mum said as she took out the Febreze.

“Thanks, Mum,” I said again, slowly exiting the bathroom and heading to my room.
Tomorrow’s Friday,
I thought to myself,
I guess it wouldn’t matter if I skipped.

If only I knew what Connor had planned.

Eleven hours later

My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest and a thin layer of sweat coated my body. Everyone has that one nightmare—that one bad dream that they will always remember. Yeah, well, I just had that.

Calm down. Calm down, Bella,
I chanted in my head, rocking my body back and forth. I squeezed my eyes shut, continuously telling myself that I needed to calm down.

After a couple of minutes, my heart returned to its normal pace, and I was able to move around. I glanced at the clock—2:49 am. I groaned, lying back down on my bed.

Screw school!

Oh, Bella, if only you could predict the future.

Eight hours later

“And it feels like I am just too close to love you.”
[1]

My eyes flew open at the sound of my ringtone blaring from my nightstand.

I didn’t bother checking the screen as I answered. If I had, I wouldn’t be nearly deaf right now.

“Hu——”

“Bellatrix Annaliese Brown! Where the hell are you?” Jessica’s shrill voice screamed straight into my ear.

“Owww,” I complained, holding the phone far away from my ear. I glanced at the clock, it’s 10:37 am.
Stupid Jessica, interrupting my beauty sleep.

“Jess, did it ever occur to you that I was at the doctors?” I asked, trying to sound stern and somewhat annoyed. There was a slight pause before she spoke.

“I, well… um… I’m sorry.”

“Meh, it’s okay, I was not actually at the doctors. Just didn’t want to go to school today,” I said, curling up in the warmth of my blanket.

“Bella!”

I muffled the rest of Jessica’s screams by pressing my phone into my pillow. When I thought I had waited long enough, I put the phone to my ear again.

“… and so I was like, ‘Bella’s sooo not preggers.’ But you know, word spreads quickly at Wilson,” she finished saying.

“Yeah, I know. Wait…what?” I shrieked, her sentence finally sinking in.

“Bella! Were you not lis——”

“Jess. What the fuck did you just say about me being pregnant?” I asked, fear sinking into me.

“I… said… you… weren’t…” she said slowly, as if she was talking to a four-year-old.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

“Jess, who’s been telling people that I’m pregnant?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. There was a pause. And just before I could ask if she was still there, she spoke again.

“I was walking towards AP U.S. History, and there were a bunch of people talking, and I heard them say ‘pregnant’. So, of course, I started listening—fine, eavesdropping—and then they were all like ‘Connor said she was okay in bed, but a bit too easy.’ And then another girl was all like, ‘She skipped school today because they didn’t use a condom and she’s now preggers.’ And then I was all like, ‘Bella’s sooo not preggers.’ But Bella, what the fuck really happened?”

I felt my temper flare as I tried to calm myself down.

“Bella, you there?” Jessica asked, sounding worried.

“Listen, I’ll explain later,” I said, getting off my bed.

“What do you mean ‘later’?” she asked, confused.

“I mean that I’m coming to school. It’s time Connor gets put in his place,” I said, hanging up.

Watch out, Connor!
Actually, forget that. You are fucked, asshole!

I tossed all my stuff on my bed, packing everything neatly. I glanced at my closet. Now, for the hardest part—picking out my outfit.

Surprisingly, I’ve never been one to stress about what to wear. But like before, I had a motive. So this outfit had to be absolutely perfect.

Yes, I had decided to get my revenge on Connor. The problem was I just didn’t know how. The way I saw it, I had two options:

1. Call Connor out and insult him repeatedly until he maybe regret the shit he had put me through.

2. Go along with his act. Then, start a huge rumor that I got an STD from him. That’ll keep the girls away. The idea was to get Connor to crack under the dry spell and admit we didn’t have sex.

But how do I know we didn’t have sex? Simple. I had missed it before, but I realized, I wasn’t sore at all. I mean, for someone as popular in bed as Connor, he must be pretty big. Anyways, I didn’t feel a single thing—not even a slight bit of pain. Therefore, there’s no way I could have slept with him. Trust me, I would have remembered.

I sighed and checked the clock—11:45 am. I quickly went to my closet, trying to pick out the perfect outfit. In case you were wondering, I chose number two. Why? Well, I knew I would have a better chance of getting revenge with it. And I had a feeling that Connor would just make everything much worse if I tried to outrightly tear him down. No, no! That would just be setting myself up. By choosing option two, I knew I had a chance—a chance to get my revenge on Connor.

12:10 pm

I stood outside of the loud lunchroom. It was now or never. I looked at my reflection in the glass.
Damn, Bella!
I smirked at my reflection. I chose to wear everything that would make up the perfect schoolgirl outfit. Then, I just toned it down a bit, but kept the slutty look. I took a couple of deep breaths before I entered the lunchroom. And the second I walked in, everything went silent.

Just kidding.

Sure, some people stopped talking and a lot stared, but it was not like everyone had stopped what they were doing to look at me. Then, I scanned the lunchroom until I spotted him.

Perfect. He was sitting with James and Matt at their usual booth.

Showtime!

“Connor!” I squealed as loudly and high-pitched as I could. Everyone was definitely watching me then. I pranced my way to him, giggling and flapping my arms around like a typical girly girl.

“Bella?”

I stopped and gave a cute wave to Jess and the girls, still giggling. “Guysss, I’m going to sit with my boo!” I shrieked, making my way to Connor.

“Boo! That was amazing!” I squealed, hopping onto his lap, fiddling with the hair at the back of his head.

“Bella?” Connor asked, shocked.

Matt and James were staring at me, their jaws dropped.