26. I’m all alone. It’s just the two of us now.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
26. I’m all alone. It’s just the two of us now.
Was this even legal? What was he doing? Because this wasn’t basketball. I don’t know what the hell it is but it wasn’t basketball for sure. I watch with tears in my eyes as Chloe holds my hand, trying to comfort me. Why did Kieran have to be so wicked?
Was this the price he had to pay for a kiss? Come at me instead of him, Ass bag!
The medical team rushed onto the court as they put Andrew on the stretcher and began wheeling him out. An ambulance was already wailing in the background.
I ran to him.
“Andrew.” I called his name and his hands held mine for a second before he released it.
“Stay away from me.” He says, but I don’t leave. I know he doesn't mean it. I grab onto his hand again, instead.
I opened my mouth to tell him no and that any deal he made with Kieran could go to hell because I didn’t care nor was I an object to be won.
“Andrew, I..” A hand lands on my shoulder and I recognize his spicy cologne before he even speaks.
“Get well soon, Marin. Everyone will miss you. Let’s play again sometime. It was quite fun.” He smirks.
“And Aali, Stop being pathetic and let him go already.” He says and pulls my hand from Andrew’s.
I swing, aiming for his jaw, but he dodges, making me stumble forward from the force i used. Damn his quick reflexes. He scoffs and grabs my arm so I don’t fall face first onto the nearest seat like a loser. I jerked my arm out of his, fuming. It was embarrassing that i couldn't touch him at all.
“You’re an animal! How could you do that to him? It’s sickening, Kieran.” I yelled into his face as people stared and recorded us.
“Fuck off, Nosey cunt bitch.” I said to the nearest girl recording me and when she ignored me, I threw my shoe at her.
She had the audacity to act offended.
Kieran pushes me into the seat and I shift around in discomfort. My butt was still sore. Damn it.
“Its rare for you to be cursing like that. What happened to your prim and proper non-hood behavior?” He teased as he goes to retrieve the shoe.
I scoff in response
He kneels before me and puts the shoe back on my feet.
“What are you doing?” I asked confused. I thought he was going to get violent again. Rip off a few blonde strands or something.
“He challenged me knowing very well he would get hurt. I never touched him and he got hurt all by himself. All the moves I used are legal. If he can’t handle it, then maybe basketball is not for him. I always play like this anyway. Everyone knows my basketball is brutal. You don’t complain when I play against other schools. You cheer for me. So stop being a hypocrite.”
“It’s different. The worse they get is a broken ankle. He’s leaving with a broken leg, knee, wrist and ankles.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have kissed him.”
“Is this jealousy I sense?” I quirk a brow.
“Yeah right.” He rolls his eyes at me.
“Then what has me kissing him got to do with this?”
“I just don’t like seeing you happy.”
“Yeah, that’s more like you.” I get up and head to my class. He lets me.
During classes my mind wanders off to Andrew, seeing him lying there with his broken joints. God, I really hate Kieran. Classes take forever. I wanted to see Andrew at the hospital but I didn’t want to skip school again. It was a habit at this point. I intended to curb it.
By the time school is over, news have spread on campus about the game. Andrew had become the laughing stock and once again, so was I. And it was all because of Kieran. Since he had openly stood against me, my downfall was spiraling and I just couldn’t find any way to get back at him. Did he have to win at every turn? Chloe tried to cheer me up during lunch break but my mood did not improve. How could it?
A video of me crying in the gym is the third on the list of top trending, and an edit of all the times Andrew had fallen was the second most trending. The top most trending was Kieran being announced as the winner and therefore captain of the basketball team.
I hurry out of the school with Chloe at my side. She was driving me to the hospital first. I was going to see Andrew and talk to him. Kieran couldn’t control our lives. We were meant for each other and he wasn’t going to stop this. I bit my lip, remembering our kiss. I was not going to let Kieran take this from me. At least not without a fight.
I get into the passenger seat after Chloe and shut the door, but a hand stops it from closing. I look up to see Kieran.
“Let go.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Since when are you accountable for my life. Leave me alone.” I sneer at him and try to shut the door but he holds it harder..
“Want to go on a date?” He smirks and I open my mouth in disbelief.
“She’s not going anywhere with you, Castles. So just leave her alone already. Haven’t you done enough?” Chloe says with her chin held up high and I love her even more. Not a lot of people would stand up to Kieran or talk to him like that. My bestie had balls.
This guy was just unbelievable.
“You’re delusional. Get help already.” I roll my eyes.
“But trust me, you’d love it.” He persists, totally ignoring Chloe.
“You don’t actually think I’ll go with you when you just nearly killed the guy I like. Do you?”
“You’re exaggerating, Aali.”
“Its Miss.Waters or Aaliyah. I’m not overreacting, Kieran. Stop trying to gaslight me.”
He leans into me and I refused to fold and move back. He doesn’t faze me.
“Someone has logged into the computer, same Ip address and all. So, want to go play detective in the hood, pretty princess?” He speaks against my lips and it sends little shivers down my back whenever his lips brush mine. I fist my hands till my acrylic nails dig into it, refusing to show that he was affecting me.
Chloe clears her throat and starts typing on her phone and I push him back. Well, I did want to catch the culprit.
“Get in the back seat. We’re driving you. Just so you know, it’s not a date. We are literally three people now and we are all going there together so don’t pull any tricks.” I say to him, flipping my hair and acting like my heart wasn’t pounding.
Yes, I hated him but he was hot and I was a virgin who just had her first kiss this morning.
It’s not him in particular. I would have the same reaction towards any hot guy. The only difference is I would probably smile at them.
Kieran grabs me by the hair suddenly and jerks me out of the car. I scream in alarm.
Chloe moves to help me but one look from Kieran keeps her in her seat.
“I’m beginning to think you have some hair pulling Kink.” Someone says from behind and I turn to see Tyler smirking at us.
I didn’t even notice he was watching us and Kieran growled in annoyance. I guess he didn’t know we had another audience.
“Fuck off, Tyler.” Kieran says to him and something about him cursing made me flinch.
“Ryan asked me to tell you that your guy is wrapping up his stuff and if you don’t go now, we may never know who it is. The address would expire soon.”
Kieran releases me with a sound of frustration.
I fix my hair and try to get back into the car but he holds my hand and drags me along.
“Aaliyah.” Chloe gets out and comes towards me but Tyler steps in between us.
“I’ll take care of her.” Tyler says to Kieran, nodding towards Chloe, and Kieran nods back in agreement.
“Hey! Dude. What the hell?” I heard Chloe say to Tyler but she’s not able to break free from him.
I’m all alone. It’s just the two of us now..
He drags me along and I protest, pulling my hand back and scratching his arm with my free one. He can’t tell me what to do.
“Let go of me.” I yelled to draw attention from others. He’d have to let go if everyone was staring and making assumptions.
I feel his rough hand grab the back of my neck and jerk my head up to look at him as he looks down, so we are staring right at each other.
“It seems your ass is already healed and is ready for another spanking. If you continue with your little bratty attitude, the whole school will witness it this time.” He whispered into my ears and my tense muscles relaxed and went slack as I complied. He’d do it without hesitation. God, I hated him.
