I THINK I KNOW WHO

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

17. I THINK I KNOW WHO

Well, there’s no convincing Chloe then I guess. We walk into school and someone grabs me by the waist and pull me into his embrace. I squealed, looking up to see Andrew grinning at me. Why was he always doing this ? He’s face is still bruised and there are stitches on his face too but he was still as handsome as ever.

“I missed you. You weren’t picking my calls”, he says.

“Oh yeah. We overslept. Her drunk ass wouldn’t let me sleep. ” I looked at Chloe.

“Yeah pin it on me.” Chloe sighs and waves me off. Saying she’d meet me in the cafeteria for lunch.

“How are your wounds?” I reach up to feel if his face is still swollen, but I realize a second too late that I’m caressing it instead.”

“I got stitches yester-night and Coach nearly shit a brick during practice this morning.” He laughs and my heart breaks a little at the fact that I don’t have morning practice any longer. But I shove that feeling deep down to never rise again.

“It’s sweet that you care about me though. So, did you dream of me or I’m alone in that area?” He asks.

“Why are you being so cheesy? It’s so not you.” I laughed.

“But I’m not. I’m just stating facts.” He says.

“Want to go to somewhere together after school?”

“Umm… I have to pick my little brother right from school and then wait for his nanny to come before I can go. And we have a family dinner with the Castles tonight too.”

He grimaces as I mention the Castles. Yeah, Kieran wasn’t anyone’s favorite here.

“I want to not go so badly.” I huffed in frustration.

“Then don’t go.” He holds my hands and looks at me, and I remembered how he’d asked to kiss me yesterday and my heart pounds faster.

--Kieran—

I stand at the first floor’s foyer, looking down at Jezebel’s own daughter, Aali, and Shit-faced Marin, who is currently looking at her like he wants to bend her over and take her right there as she looks up at him innocently and lovingly. Something about it made my stomach churn.

Every guy in school knew she was off-limits. Andrew Marin had it coming for him. He was openly defying my rules.

-And before you think I’m pining for her like a loser who can’t go after what he wants, then you’re fucking delusional.

I only placed that rule there because I didn’t want her naïve heart to get broken. She’d only end up crying to mommy and daddy and I’d have to sit through it. Or worse, be asked to go talk to her because we are age-mates. Our parents were blind to the fact that we couldn’t stand each other.

She liked to put up this strong. I’m the boss and I don’t take shit from anyone façade but I knew her more than anyone and that wasn’t her. She was easily breakable. I even saw it as a burden having to protect her idiot ass from guys in school. I bet she was still a total virgin who had probably never even kissed anyone.

Well, that was also my doing, of course, but she’d never know.

In freshman year, Lance Neelan had told the guys in the locker room that he was going to ask her out and date her. She was seen as unattainable because everyone thought she was too nice, too pretty and, in honesty, just too good for them. And fuck if they weren’t right. He just wanted to brag about bagging her, which hadn’t stood well with me at all. I hated her fake and prissy with a pom pom ass but I just couldn’t let her fall for it.

He’d taken her out on a date, and I’d followed them like the creep that I am. When he went to the washroom, I’d gone to warn him to stay away and then beat his ass for emphasis. He had left her there and gone back home. I had pretended to run into her by accident and the fact that I was holding a take-away helped my lie. I drove her back home and she cried all the way, as I told her she was stupid and to not trust guys again.

Yeah, you're probably thinking 'what a douche bag'. Well, don't worry. I'm a total douchebag. I already know.

That was when I made the rule that she was off-limits and it was boy-code to not show an iota of interest in her.

Yesterday, after seeing her videos uploaded online, she ran back home. A few hours later, her lights were off, but her curtains were opened and I could see her sleeping peacefully on her bed. She could literally be an angel if she could just shut up. .

I saw that her little brother wasn’t back yet. He’d be playing in their backyard pool with his Nanny if he was. His Nanny had arrived and I asked her and she confirmed it. I had her stay at my place to wait for him and promised to come get her when Kieran was back. I knew Aali had only gotten the car with the excuse of helping out by picking Kirk to and from school. If she didn’t go to pick him up, then her car might have been taken away.

She was always groveling and complaining that she wanted a car and now she was being irresponsible. Our families were always in each other’s business and I didn’t want another phase of crying and begging Aali. It really didn’t suit her.

She liked to do that a lot in front of my parents to emotionally manipulate her's and make them feel bad.

“It’s always, but Kieran does….. But Kieran is allowed to go….. But Kieran is this, Kieran is that..”

I huffed and called Kirk’s school. No one had come for him, so I went for him.

She’d even promised to take the kid out for ice-cream and then gone AWOL on him.

I took Kirk to get ice-cream at a parlor. I was talking to the little kid because he was funny and I was invested in his stories about school, but then the conversation had somehow turned to us talking about his sister.

When Aali’s minion of a friend had come to take him home, I’d gladly agreed. I wasn’t going to gossip about her with her little brother when information might get back to her. I refused to be that guy.

Someone slaps me on the shoulder and I turn, ready to throw the stupid fool over the railings. Maybe that would cause enough commotion so he could take his filthy hands off her.

Ryan Crest, one of the few friends I have, throws his hands up and laughs.

Ryan is the director’s son and I wasn’t really an example of a well behaved student, so my parents were always meeting his dad and we first hated each other, but our mutual love for tech brought us together. I hadn’t met anyone who could rival me in coding and hacking but he could give me a run for my money. And I respected that. We got along after he tried to hack into my computer because I’d thrashed the school library. He’d been able to reach my last wall before I noticed that someone was trying to hack my computer. Which was damn impressive. I’d located his Ip address at his house and we beat the living shit out of each other and then just lied on the floor talking for hours before a maid saw us and called the ambulance. We’d just become friends after that. Just like that. That was during freshman year.

“Whoa easy there man, you look like you’re about to drag someone out in a body bag.”

“I think I know who,” Tyler Myers says, looking at Andrew and Aali.

“Fuck off!” I said to him.

He was friends with Ryan and was always being annoying, like right now.

“Was this why you had Nora get Emily to come downstairs? Don’t deny it, bro. She told me. And before you say anything, Emily is not my girlfriend.” He says, looking at Marin and Aali. She’s on her tippy toes saying something into his ears. Her skirt goes up, exposing her smooth and fair skin, nearly teasing the curve of her butt and I grip the bars tighter. Maybe I could throw Tyler down there instead.

“I know she’s not.” I shrug.

“So why’d you let Nora think that?” Ryan sighed.

“Maybe because I wanted to see that girl whoop his pussy ass. The evening was getting boring.” I said and looked at Tyler so he knew I was referring to him.

“Or maybe you just wanted to bring Waters downstairs and away from Andrew Marin. Everyone knows he stole her right under your nose and they went upstairs, together in his shirt.” He stressed the last words with a smug smile and that does it.

I walk up to him and grab him by the shirt but Ryan quickly pushes us away from each other.

“Everyone needs to take a chill pill. Especially you, Kieran, and stop provoking him, Tyler.”

I’m about to retort but small fingers tap my back. I turned to look at Aali looking at me with a sneer on her flawless face.

“Let’s talk.” She huffs.

“Good,” I replied.

I had a lot of pent up energy that needed release and she seemed to always catch me in a bad mood. She was the perfect victim of my anger.