The Bad Boys Saw Me Naked

(12)

"Daddy  I wanna go on the swings!" I swing my father's hand in mine, high up in the air, as we walk past the park.

"I'm busy, shut up." My Father growls, not looking up from his phone.

"But Daddy!" I whine.

"Shut it!" He says, giving me a swift slap on my butt. "It's your fault I had to pick you up early from school, and I have plans. You're not that sick."

"But I wanna-" But I don't finish my sentence, as I see the fist, flying towards my face.

<><><><>

I shoot up in bed, wheezing. I calm myself down, turning on the light. This happens once in a while. It's become pretty regular. I can deal with it, but sometimes they get bad. And my Mom would have to calm me down. 

I look at the clock, to see that it's six o'clock. I won't get back to sleep now. I slip out of bed, and open the door quietly, seeing no one around. I wander into the kitchen, to get a drink of water. I down it, wiping it off my chin. 

"Thirsty?" I jump, dropping the plastic cup in the sink.

"Zane!" I groan, glad that it wasn't glass. He snickers, drinking straight from the juice carton.

"Nice pyjamas." He grins. I blush, realising I'm wearing small, SMALL bike shorts and an oversized top. Oh God. 

"Shut up." I mumble, pulling my shirt down. 

"Don't sweat it." He says. "We can show some skin." With that, he rips his shirt off.

"What are you doing?" I cry, covering my eyes. 

"Showing some skin!" He laughs. 

"What's going on here?" I peak, to see the twins, and Cole walk in, also shirtless. 

"Does anybody wear clothes around here?" I groan. 

"You can't talk." Alex grumbles, walking in. "Seriously, no one wants to see your fat-"

"Hey!" Coal growls.

"Whatever." He says, pouring his cereal.

"I'm going to go get dressed." I fake a smile. I run up stairs, saying hello to the rest of the boys on the way up. I quickly get dressed, simple jeans and checked shirt, with boots. I don't even bother to try and tackle my hair, I just tie it up, in one curly big mess. I text Bianca, who finally got her phone back, she'll be home in about a week.

"HARPER, YOU READY?" 

"Coming!" I call. I head back down the stairs, catching the apple Jake throws at me. "Thanks." I smile.

"Alex, are you taking Harp?" Cole asks, wiping Will's breakfast off his chin.

"No." He says bluntly, disappearing out the front door. Cole sighs, looking at me apologetically.

"No problems." Jake smiles. "I can take you Harp." 

"Thanks." I smile. 

"Can you still help me after school Harper?" Vincent asks, bouncing his basketball.

"Of course." I grin. I say goodbye, and follow Jake out the door.

<><><><>

I take a deep breath, swallowing my nerves, before walking through the front doors of the school, beside Jake. The whole 'I swam naked and got caught' thing, still hasn't really died down, thanks to Evan and his cronies, so I still can't really show my face without getting some public humiliation thrown back at me.

"You ok?" Jake asks, seeing my nervous expression.

"Yeah." I fake a smile. "See you later." We part ways, and I head to my locker. I pull off yet another picture of me naked in a lake, and throw it away. I open it, and start to sort out my day. I'm a bit behind, and need to catch up pretty quickly.

I'm such a nerd.

"The skinny dipper returns." I turn around to see Evan, and quickly turn back to my locker, ignoring him.

"Go away." I mumble. His friends laugh, and pull my arm around, facing him. 

"Just letting you know I haven't forgotten about you." He smirks.

"Nice to know." I growl. "Leave me alone."

"No." He says simply. "You really pushed your luck getting those River boys involved." My eyes narrow and I growl.

"You got those River boys involved when you left me alone naked in their lake." I spit. I pale, when I realise what I said. I shut up, and take a small step backward. He chuckles darkly.

"You'll pay for that." He says smiling. "Just you wait." They disappear around the corner, and I let out a breath, relieved.

"That was a first." I jump, as I see Alex pop up beside me, smirking.

"What?" I ask confused. 

"You stood up for your self for once." He muses. I sigh, agitated.

"Yeah." I snap. "And I'm sure I'll pay for it later. Not that you care." I slam my locker, and hurry down the hall way, before he can stop me. He needs to make his mind up. He either hates me or not.

<><><><>

You never really know how much of a loner you are, until you have to spend a day at school without your best friend.

Bianca and I are together in every AP class, and we have never bothered to involve ourselves with others really. Not from a lack of trying. It's just that nobody wanted to involve themselves with those two geeks who took their SAT's in their freshman year and spend their lunch times in the library arguing about Newton's theory. So yeah. It's kind of our fault.

And that's why everybody was so surprised when Evan asked me out. Nobody really knew who I was. Suddenly people I didn't even know were saying hello to me in the hallway. The cheerleaders invited me to sit with them. I politely declined of course, because they wouldn't except Bianca. That just goes to show. Popularity by association. 

I even noticed a change amongst the teachers. They actually started to remember my name, instead of the girl who sits at the front, secretly looking up the latest celebrity gossip because they're seven chapters ahead in the textbook.Evan even had the lunch ladies wrapped around his little finger, and I have several free juice pockets up my sleeve to prove it.

It's interesting to see the amount of privileges you can get from dating the boy who everybody adores.

Nobody really cares about his intentions.