Falling in love with the bully * Awsten Knight

13)

My eyes widen at awsten's comment. Oh no. What if.... What if he bullies me in his own now? The ache in my hips tells me I couldn't possibly take any more.
As he approaches me I scoot up into the tree. I look up at him as he strides towards me in his trench coat. He bends down to pick me up.
"Wait!" I say. Stopping him in his tracks. His eyebrows furrow together.
"What?" He frowns.
"I don't want you to take me home!"
"Why not?" He asks.
"Because.... Because I don't want you to hurt me again!" I explain.
He sighs, and slides an arm underneath my legs and puts another behind my back to support me. He starts to stand up, and I rise upwards in his arms. I feel giddy all of a sudden.
"Put me down!" I say, shivers going down my spine at the thought of me being in his arms.
"Why?" He constantly questions.
"Put me down now!" I say, thrashing my arms about. I'm starting to have a mini panic attack now.
"Not until you tell me why," he says.
"Um...." I say, then he cuts me off.
"You're just scared of me," and with that, he starts to stride off down the banking.
I start pounding his chest frantically with my small fists, but it doesn't seem to affect him, really.
"Would you quit that? Gee, I have the decency to carry you all the way home, and you repay me by punching me! Not that it hurts or anything, it's just plain annoying - and ungrateful," he adds.
"I'm sorry, but maybe you deserve to be hit! Actually, how would you like it if 3 older, stronger, faster, bigger people came into you, huh? It's the least you deserve, to have a couple of harmless thumps off a girl!" I backfire.
He looks awkward for a minute. Ha, he knows I'm right now.
"Lilly, what do you want me to do, hmm? Drop you here and now?" He threatens.
"If you like. I'll ring my sister to come and give me a lift," I say.
"Oh yeah, and what would you tell her? Oh sorry, but I can't walk because these horrible, awful bad boys came and beat me up? And then I got stuck in a tree and very nearly displaced my hips'" he puts on a girlish voice trying to imitate me. I fold my arms across my chest admitting defeat, and frown realising he's my only means of getting back home today.
"Exactly," he says trust him and his big headedness, "you know, you could say thank you"
"Excuse me?" I say in disbelief, "I did say thank you!"
"No, for carrying you hike, not for me getting you out of the tree," he replies smoothly, his eyes locked on the direction on which we are going.
"I'll say thank you when you get me home. That's IF you get me home. Where are you planning on beating me up to, Awsten?" I snap.
"Beat you up? What makes you think I'm going to beat you up?"
"Well, I'm clearly an easy target now I can barely walk because of my dead legs. Of course you're going to take advantage of that," I say.
"You're an easy target anyway. I could beat you up whatever state you're in. And anyway, I was just planning on taking you home. Now where do I turn from here?"
I crane my neck to see where we are. Awsten is a fast walker. "Left," I say, "and why would you want to do something nice for me?"
"Did you honestly think I'd leave you lying all helpless and defenceless at THAT football field? All sorts go there. Anything could happen"
"You mean you'd care if anything happened to me?" I say, confused.
"Of course I would," he says, then I can't help myself. I laugh at him.
"What's so funny?" He asks, looking down at me laughing.
"You don't half lie!" I giggle.
He looks hurt all of a sudden, "I'm not all bad, Lilly. Even though I hate you, there is some tiny part of my small good natured side to care about you, I wouldn't want you to like, get murdered or anything"
"Of course you wouldn't. Then you wouldn't have any entertainment, would you? God, you and and your little click would be bored out of your heads with your little toy gone"
"Toy?" He frowns.
"Yes, I'm the toy"
"How are you a toy to me?"
"You trest me like an object"
"How?"
"Well, you hit me, and, like, play mind games with me"
"You're not a toy, exactly. You know, it's a good thing you're so light, because if you were heavy I think I would have dumped you half way  down this street because you're so annoying"
"Oh, charming!" I say.
"And since when did you get so confident being around me? I don't like it. Just remember the current situation you're in," he says, there it was, the slight threatening tone comes back.
"I - I'm not at all confident around you," I say. How could he think I am? "Don't you see? I'm scared stiff  of you!"
"On a scale from 1 to 10, how scared are you of me?"
"Doesn't come into the scale," I say smartly.
"You're such a klutz, Lilly. How the hell did you get yourself lodged into a tree? If you hadn't, I wouldn't be in this position right now," there it was. Another insult.
"Well I didn't mean to! One of your little sidekicks was chasing me, and then I fell, hit a rock, and went flying through mid - air and into the tree!"
He laughs, "trust it to happen to you. How typical. You're so clumsy. And don't talk about Geoff in that way. You wouldn't have the guts to say it to his face"
"You're right, I wouldn't. He's scary just like you"
"What is it you find so scary about me exactly?"
"Where do I begin? Your strength, your speed? Your awful gang of horrible friends, your intimidating height, your voice, your threats, and all the things you've done to me in the past - to name a few"
"You missed one"
"What?"
"The power I have over you"
"What power? You have no power over me!"
"I'm Mr Popular. It's because of me people don't like you, I sort of control your school life. If I wanted to, I could make everybody like you. But I'm not going to do that, sorry. I have power over you, Lilly, face it, I can do whatever I like and nothing you say or do will stop me"
"You're such a bully"
"I know. Where to now?"
I crane my neck again and when I see where we are I tell him to go left. We're in the lane which leads to my place now. Then l cod it's not far.
"Where do you live exactly?" he asks.
"On a farm"
"A farm? Really?"
I nod. "I never had you down as a farm type. Saying that, I can see where you're coming from. Which room is your's, Lilly, the pig sty?" He asks. A tear trickles from my eye at his harsh words, and then I can't stand it any longer. I reach up and I slap him across the face, oh no. His eyes turn darker again, like they always do when he's angry. I push against his muscular chest to get away from him and I land on the floor,I scramble to my feet and begin to limp away from him as quickly as I can.
Suddenly an arm wraps around my waist and swings me up into the air. He puts me over his shoulder. How dare he man handle me like this!
"Put me down, I demand you!" I sat, thumping his back with all my night, he ignores me.
"This must be your place," he says, and he sets me down onto the floor. I fall back into the gate and graze all my back which makes him smirk.
"Bye, Lilly,"he says, raising a hand as he walks back down the lane.
I'm a very polite person with good manners but I don't say thank you. He doesn't deserve a thank you. He only volunteered to carry me home so he could have his bit of fun insulting me. How I hate him.