*Some sexual content*
"I don't think anything of you."
Those words drew the bad boy of Thornhill High to good girl Anatolia like a moth to a flame.
Anatolia Gunn is liked by almost everyone. She's a school prefect and a model student. People find...
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"Snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches."
I glance out the window on my right. The grounds of Thornhill High are looking very autumnal now that it's mid-October. Leaves are falling majestically from the trees, and pumpkins are materialising in the patch created by my own biology class.
"Stop it, Lucy," Olivia chastises.
"I'm just saying," Lucy defends, "you're playing with fire if you go through with this."
The three of us are gathered in the middle of an empty corridor that leads to the principal's office.
"That's the problem," I state. "No one ever stands up to them, because everyone's too scared of what comes after. So they're able to get away with murder."
"It's just a bit of graffiti," Lucy dismisses. "Writing on a wall."
"They vandalised one of our town's oldest buildings for fun," Olivia counters. "I agree with you, Ana. You need to tell Principal Hopkins."
"I think you ladies best follow me into my office," a sharp voice suddenly sounds behind us, causing us all to jump.
I spin around to find Principal Hopkins. She's clutching a mug of coffee, and surveying us over her thin spectacles.
"Well, that decides that, doesn't it?" Lucy chides.
~
I'm jogging to independent study, a book in hand.
I'm a few minutes late, so I'm relieved to see a group of people standing outside the classroom still.
Until I get closer and realise none of them are my classmates, and all of them are part of River's gang.
I slow down to a walk, hoping to tred quietly past them since they're not exactly facing me. Unfortunately, I underestimate the noise of my heeled loafers.
They all turn. Their wary expressions tell me they expected it to be a teacher approaching them.
"Look who it is," Talon smirks, detaching himself from the group, and moving to block my path. "The goody two-shoes that can't keep her mouth shut."
Snitches get stitches and end up in ditches.
"Don't you have mopping to do?" I casually reply, despite my racing heart. "The school pool could do with a good clean too."
Principal Hopkins didn't just issue them detentions for the grafitti. She's also forcing them to carry out maintenence across Thornhill High's grounds for the foreseeable future.
Talon narrows his eyes. "You have a big mouth for a small girl."
"I don't think it's in your best interest to start criticising size."
The guys behind him all burst out laughing.
Talon looks about ready to strike me, when the door to the classroom bangs open.
River steps out into the corridor, looking momentarily surprised at the sight that greets him.
I notice he's wearing a small, gold hoop in one ear today. And a navy jumper that looks like it's been plucked straight from a Burberry campaign.
River rolls his eyes, before slamming the door closed again. An irritated expression remains on his face.
"Is there a problem here?" His tone is serious, if not slightly threatening.
Talon instinctively steps away from me.
"Blondie here thinks she's invincible," he spits. "She needs to be taken down a notch or two."
River's eyes meet mine. It's the first interaction we've had since that day in the courtyard.
"I'll take care of her," he promises. "She's not your concern."
He then walks forward, takes hold of my arm, and begins dragging me towards the stairs.
"Get off, River," I order, trying to yank my arm free from his grasp. "You might not have class anymore, but I do."
River ignores me, and pulls me closer to him, as we make our way down the stairs.
Only once we're at the bottom, does he stop still and let me go.
"Are you quite done?" I glare.
"Are you?" He hisses back, towering over me. "You're picking fights with the wrong fucking people, Anatolia."
"I didn't start that," I reply, "and I'm not the one that grafitied a gang tag on our school's wall."
"You're so insolent," he replies, frustrated. "How do you think things are going to end for you if you keep looking for trouble?"
"That's rich coming from you."
Am I looking for trouble? A part of me screams yes, you are. After all, I let myself become suspecticble to River Kavinsky's charm.
He closes his eyes for a second, and forcibly exhales.
When he reopens them, he nonchalantly asks, "Do you want to go to the beach?"
"What?" I furrow my brows. "Are you insane?"
"Possibly, but I'm serious about the beach. And it's not like you've got anywhere to be. Mrs Reid will tear you a new one if you try to enter her class this late."
I turn the idea over in my mind.
"This isn't part of some elaborate plan to get rid of me, is it? You're not going to launch me off a pier?"
"Get rid of you?" River chuckles. "If only I could, Angel."
~
"Are you going to the Halloween formal?" I ask, glancing at River.
We're strolling along the sands of Long Sands Beach.
The sun is out, but the air is frosty and the wind is harsh against our skin. It's a far cry from the warm, leather seats of River's ferrari.
It's a strange being alone like this with River. But I don't feel uncomfortable.
"Depends on the theme," he says, tossing a shell into the air and catching it.
"It's Spooky Shakespeare."
"Could be worse," he smirks. "So who are you going as?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
"You're not going to tell me?" He raises a dark eyebrow at me. "Are you sure, Anatolia?"
"Uh huh."
"How sure? Because I've got ways of making you talk."
The sun hits his face, and his dangerous, green eyes glint in its rays.
"So make me talk," I dare, playfully.
River looks momentarily taken aback.
But his devilish smirk soon finds its way back to his lips.
"Name a time and place, Angel."
A/n. You guys are the best! I can't believe I was thanking you for getting me to 1k a few chapters ago, and now we're almost at 20k. ❤️
PS.
Sorry to anybody that got a notif when I accidentally published this chap before it was finished (butter fingers lol).
