Corrupting the Good girl

Chapter 13

"Let me guess this is the first time you've been drunk?" Grant asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Maybe!" I replied trying my best to avoid playing up to the 'stereotypical good girl'. He shook his head and smiled at me.

His face was only a few inches from mine now and with one final look in my eyes Grant closed the distance and crashed his lips into mine. I was completely taken by surprise and just stood there not moving. He bit my bottom lip and I whimpered in pain.

Suddenly from nowhere, a strong arm grasped Grant by the shoulder and ripped him off of me, throwing him to the ground. Grant let out a muffled cry as his body smacked the ground.

A familiar voice moved through my ears. "If I ever see you even lay a finger on her again-" Before he could finish Grant was off the ground and running.

Ethan turned around to look at me, his fists still clenched in anger. I moved my hands to his and tried to soothe him. He moved forwards and leant his forehead against mine.

"Are you ok?" he softly whispered.

"Yes." I replied. "Thank you." He gazed longingly into my eyes, I watched his lips as they drew ever closer to mine. Just a few more centimetres... 

A loud and shrill beep rang through my ears. My eyes snapped open and I clumsily threw myself over my bed, stretching my hand towards my alarm. I silenced the offending object and sighed loudly. Morning had once again come around too early.

I had dreamt of Ethan again last night. Crap.

I climbed out of bed and at a slow pace made my way to the bathroom. Before getting in the shower, I looked at myself in the mirror. My skin was pale and I had dark bags sitting beneath my eyes. I looked tired.

I took a shower, got dried and dressed, brushed my teeth and went downstairs for breakfast where I was greeted by our usual morning scene.

My father glanced up from his newspaper at me. "Fran honey, you never told me about that maths test you had a while ago, surely you've had the results by now?" He asked.

"Uh yes, sorry I guess it just slipped my mind." I began. "I didn't do as well as I hoped but I still get to sit the higher paper."

"Well how would you feel about us getting you a maths tutor, it could do wonders for your grade you know?" He said now having completely put the newspaper down.

"Oh I - uh - kinda already sorted that out." I said quietly, hoping he wouldn't be annoyed that I hadn't told him.

"And? Who is it?" He enquired calmly.

"Dan's friend Ethan!" I saw Dan shift in his chair at the mention of Ethan's name.

"Ah brilliant. He's a very intelligent boy you know, well judging from what Dan has told me!" My father replied sounding pleased with my choice. I smiled at him before grabbing an apple from the fridge.

I glanced at my watch and saw the time. "Hey Dan we should get going!" I said between bites.

"Oh yeah!" Dan agreed, standing up and grabbing his bag on his way out.

The drive to school today was spent in silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable however I knew something was bothering Dan.

"Dan, are you ok?" I asked softly.

"Yeah I'm fine." He replied blatantly. I accepted his answer and we resumed silence yet I couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't telling me something.

~

I was walking to my next lesson when I saw him.

"Um guys I'll catch you up in a minute!" I mentioned over my shoulder to Lily and Ella and I strode away from them towards a group of Sixth formers. As I got closer some of them noticed me and turned to look at me. I only recognised James and Dylan out of the group of six.

I stopped before them and James looked around at me, smiling when our eyes met.

"Fran hi!" He beamed.

"Hiya, could I talk to you for a second please?" I asked, motioning over my shoulder with my thumb.

"Sure." he replied briskly. We walked a few paces away from the group so we were stood by the door of an empty classroom.

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did on Friday!" I said smiling up at him gratefully.

"What thank me for getting you so drunk that you could barely stand?" He asked guiltily.

"No..." I replied louder than I intended to. "...for making sure I got home OK and also for that thing with Grant-" He cut me off.

"Ugh don't even mention that bastard's name to me!" He said snapped. I felt hurt by his tone of voice.

"Oh uh s-sorry." I mumbled, looking at my feet.

"No, I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped at you like that..." He said, rubbing my arm gently. "He just... ugh... it just makes my blood boil that he did that to you!"

"Look it was nothing OK! Honestly I'd rather just forget about it." I said.

"Of course." James said whilst nodding his head. "I was actually hoping I might see you at some point, I - uh - was wondering if you'd want to go out with me sometime?" His voice was soft when he spoke.

My breath caught in my throat. Things went silent for a few seconds yet it felt like hours had passed before I spoke. "Wow, um James I'm totally flattered but I uh don't think so... I mean you're great , you really are, it's just that I don't see you that way." I trailed off at the end.

I glanced up to his eyes and expected to see hurt but what I saw was anything but that, in some ways he appeared more like this was just an inconvenience to him. He shook his head lightly and chuckled.

"Don't worry, it was worth a shot right." He said it as more of a statement than a question. I felt relief wash over me.

"So we're OK?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah yeah, of course. You should get going anyways, wouldn't want you to be late to lessons because of me."

"OK then, I'll see you round!" I replied.

"Bye..." His eyes glanced down me. "...shortie" He said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and walked away. 

The corridors were clear now, everyone was in lessons and I was late. I hastily picked up my pace and sped towards Biology, my mind still reeling from what had just happened.

Things have changed - I don't go out to parties, I don't get drunk and I most certainly do not get asked out by older boys. Why was all this happening?