Chapter 4

AUTUMN POV

He was towering over me, with two of his minions on each side. Seriously, why do douchebags always have followers? I stole a glance at Jess but she was already passed out, her head rested on the arm of the couch and her lips slightly parted.

Everyone’s eyes were on him as they all waited for his so-called announcement. I bet it was something unimportant like how he finally managed to excel in the art of torturing innocent people or seducing some other girl to dump her boyfriend. Whatever it was, I didn’t plan to listen as I pulled out my phone, leaned on the back of the couch, and opened I*******m.

“I just found out that this girl,” he started. I didn’t notice he was pointing directly at me until I could feel everyone’s eyes making a hole in my head. I looked up at him and sighed, waiting for him to continue so I could get it over with. I doubted he could really ‘make my life a living hell’ as he’d said earlier. “Was the girl that slept with the admission board to get in,” he finally finished his big announcement. He looked down at me, those grey eyes glinted with excitement and something more. Something that made him look devilish. His eyes fixated on mine and I saw the cruelty beneath those chrome shades.

I rose from the couch, still keeping my eyes locked with his, unafraid of his cunning ways of payback for not saying yes to his earlier offer. If he looked so heartbroken, I would’ve felt bad and offered him friendship, but since this was the way he chose to go, I had to make my side of the story heard.

“What the fuck did you just say?!” I barked my words at him. I heard some people gasp, I bet no one dared to talk to him that way. Maybe that was why he became such an egomaniac asshole who thought he could do anything he wanted because the world evolved around him. “I got here by scholarship and because of my good grades. Not some sick ways like trading sex for a free passage, you nitwit!”

The corners of his lips twitched like he was about to smile, but his eyes were all about getting his way and right now he wanted revenge. “Oh, so you’re poor.” He let out a chuckle and the entire room followed with laughter. It was almost as if they breathed because he allowed them to. I wondered what he got in him that made everyone here willing to be his minions. “You traded sex for money then. So you don’t need to pay tuition.”

I felt that the more I argued, the more ridiculous I looked. It would look like a kids’ play. Everyone here was clearly stupid enough to believe the words he said, so why would I try to make a fool of myself by trying to convince them otherwise? I knew the truth, I knew that I got here because of my good grades in Carlton and as long as my friends knew that too, I was fine.

If only this happened in Washington, where people knew my father, Thornton Summers, the CEO and sole owner of the Summers Enterprises, they wouldn’t believe a word Frazier said. But this was New York and I didn’t like to boast about my father, so I was going to simply remove myself from this conversation and get to the door, where my amazing boyfriend probably has arrived to pick me up from this awful place.

I saw Colton walking through the crowd. He stopped by the couch and knelt beside Jess. “Babe, are you okay?” My friend answered him with noises unknown to humans. “Okay. Time to get you home.”

“Mate,” said one of Frazier’s friends whose name was Mateus, according to Jess’ words earlier about Frazier having two best men on his side: Mateus and Kennesaw. “Do you know this pauper girl?”

Colton followed his gaze and locked his eyes with mine. A frown appeared on his forehead. “Pauper? Do you know whose daughter she is?! She’s—” Colton was about to continue but I gave him a warning look that stalled him immediately.

“Come again,” asked Mateus, leaning forward so he could hear him better.

I fixed my eyes on Colton although I could feel Frazier’s gaze on mine. There was no way I would give him the satisfaction by looking directly at him. He just told the biggest lie I’ve ever heard since someone told me Santa wasn’t real. For the crowd, I had no idea who they were, and judging by how they hung on his every word like he was some Matthew, Luke, or John telling a prophecy, I wasn’t interested in making friends with them either. I only wished I didn’t see any of them in my class next week.

“Nothing,” answered Colton at last. He pressed his lips together and slid his attention back to Jess. He put her arm around his neck and carried her bridal style towards the front door. I followed closely behind them.

To my surprise, Tyler wasn’t there. He was nowhere to be found by the time we reached the front porch. “Do you want to ride with us?” asked Colton after he brought the car to the front and tucked Jess safely inside.

I shook my head. Tyler was probably on his way, I didn’t want to disappoint him by going with them. “No. I’m good. Ty’s coming.”

Colton nodded. “Okay. Don’t go anywhere until he shows up. New York is not a good place to wander carelessly at night.”

I rolled my eyes, listening to his lecture about safety as if I was a kid and not nineteen years old. “Just go and get her to bed. She’s gonna have a massive hangover in the morning.”

I watched the dark blue sedan drive away into the night and let out a deep sigh. I checked on my phone but there were no messages. I quickly typed a short message and hit send.

- Where are you? I’m waiting outside.

I moved to the wooden bench, took a seat, and waited. Ten minutes turned to fifteen and fifteen turned to thirty. Before I knew it, it was three A.M. in the morning and there were still no words from Ty.

I had two options: waiting here for another hour or going back inside. Noticing how a few people who came out earlier looked at me with a distasteful look on their faces, I had to scratch option two. I glanced at my phone screen, I had fifteen percent of battery left. It wouldn’t last more than an hour top.

“Gosh, where the hell is Tyler?!” I muttered to myself out of frustration. He usually kept me updated, even when he canceled, he always let me know instead of keeping me in the dark as he did now.

It was getting colder. My brown colored jacket hugging my body was not enough to keep me warm. I folded my arms across my chest and hunched my shoulders against the cold. My brain told me to be clever and crawl back inside but I refused to do that. The look everyone was going to give me would probably be colder than the night air.

Where the hell was Ty? Would he come? Or did he forget to inform me that he wasn’t coming?

“Prince Charming never shows up, huh? A case of mistaken identity?” A voice interrupted my train of thought. I cast a glance over my shoulder at Frazier, who had just come out of the door. Geez. Couldn’t he just leave me alone?!

Apparently, he couldn’t since he walked toward me and stopped right in front of me. His black leathered shoes were only five inches away from my pearly white sneakers. “I’ve told you I’m better. There’s no way I would forget to pick my girl from a party,” he continued his asshattery. “Why didn’t he come tonight? I wouldn’t have let my girl come to a party alone.”

I nearly groaned out of frustration. It was bad enough that I had to endure his presence and now I had to endure nonsense coming out of his mouth too. “If I wanted to listen to an asshole, I’d fart.” I hoped that would piss him off and he would run back into the house. But it didn’t.

Instead, he tipped his head back and laughed. Long and loud and attracting attention as if he thought something was really funny. If I knew I was this hilarious, maybe I’d become a comedian and save the money for tuition.

His laughter quieted down after several heartbeats. I watched his shoes move as he went and sat beside me on the bench. I turned and faced him, there was an amused smile on his lips. “How do I block you from my life?” I asked truthfully. I really didn’t know the reason for him to keep on bothering me. He acted like he didn’t hear my question at all.

A slight breeze lifted his lapels and teased the lock of dark hair touching his forehead. He slid one hand to the front of his coat and unbuttoned it despite the damp, chilly air. He shrugged off his coat. “What are you doing?” I looked at him with widened eyes. “Dude! I’m not fond of the strip clubs, could you please stop?!”

To my surprise, he put his coat around me as if he knew I was freezing to death. His gaze moved across my face as if he was looking for something but then he put both hands on top of his knees and pushed himself up. I watched him warily, not knowing what he was about to do next.

This guy was probably the weirdest guy I’ve ever met, there was no telling what he was up to. A few hours ago, he told the biggest lie, mocking me in front of everyone, and now he was giving me his coat to keep me from cold. “Do you want something to drink? I’m going to get a hot cup of tea,” he offered.

I didn’t answer until I realized he wouldn’t leave without it so I gave him a brief nod.

“Stay here. I’ll be back.” He clasped his hand on the handle, pushed the door open, and went out of my sight. I quickly dropped his coat on the bench and walked away. Considering what he had said earlier about revenge, I doubted he wouldn’t put laxatives in my tea.

TYLER POV

“I’ve done as you asked, can I please go home?” I glanced at the watch on my wrist. It was three in the morning. I hoped Autumn was already in bed or too busy partying up that she didn’t notice my absence. “Dude.” I tapped the Italian guy’s shoulder. I still had no idea what was his name and he didn’t bother to tell me.

“Shut up,” he shouted. “Open the package and follow me now.” He pointed at the package in my hand as he barked his order.

I quickly lifted the lid. I almost dropped it right here right now once I saw what was inside. It was a pistol. I shot him a wary look. “What am I gonna do with a pistol?”

He smirked. “Didn’t Mommy ever tell you that gun shoots? Now shut up and follow me. If this ends well, you don’t have to use it.”

I’ve never held a gun in my life but I pulled the thing out of the box and carefully placed my hand on the handle. I’ve watched many spy movies before so I knew it was Glock 22, the standard gun for police officers. I tightened my grip and hoped that no one died tonight.

AUTUMN POV

I took three steps off the porch when I heard a girl calling my name. I turned to watch a cute Indian girl standing on the porch.

“Yes?” I wasn’t sure how to answer her or how did she know my name when I clearly didn’t know hers.

She fled through the three steps of stairs and stopped in front of me. “Where are you going?”

I didn’t know why should she care but I answered her anyway. “Home?”

“Oh,” she nodded. “My name’s Ishita, by the way. That’s so cool how you stand up to Frazier, no one ever did.” She giggled nervously. “No one ever dared, to be honest.”

“Well, it’s about time. He’s an asshole and he will continue on being an ass if nobody told him what an ass he is.” I offered her a smile and looked past her shoulder at the front door. “Look, I gotta go now. It’s really nice to meet you. Have a good night.”

“Okay. You too!”

I turned and walked towards the front gate. My hand went to my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. I only had ten bucks with me, so there was no way I was getting a taxi. The good thing was, I had my Metro card with me so I could take the subway home. I wasn’t really familiar with the area but I remembered passing a subway station a few blocks on the right when we got here so that was where I headed.

I put the hood of my jacket up until it covered my head then zipped up my jacket. I would look weird if I was in broad daylight but now, at three A.M. on Friday, I wanted to be incognito. Not because I was embarrassed if anyone caught me but merely because I didn’t want any creep and possible rapist to know that I was a girl.

It was a quiet night. There was almost no one around except for a group of men who were smoking in the corner. I walked past them, keeping my head down and my mouth shut. This disguise would mean nothing if my voice was going to give out my gender. I managed to remain silent until I nearly knocked someone on my way. I let out a yelp but the person didn’t seem to notice so I quickly continued to walk.

I only had to take a left turn at the junction and then I’d be fine. There were cars and people walking a few meters away from me, where the tall buildings were. I quickened my pace, feeling more excited as was going to reach the station, but a hand on my arm stopped me from moving further. I swallowed hard as I braved myself to turn.

“Hey, little girl, you seem lost,” said a man with really bad breath. His nose was slightly crooked to the left and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. If someone asked me to describe what a rapist looked like, I wouldn’t waste my breath explaining and simply point at this man. “Want me to help you?”

I shook my head frantically. “No, thank you. I’m good.” I tried to rip my arm away from his grip but he was too strong.

“Are you sure? A girl like you could get into serious trouble walking alone at night.” He pulled me closer to him and I tried my best to glue my feet to the ground.

A blinding light filled in my vision. I heard the sound of a door being slammed. Before I knew it, my other arm was being pulled away. I looked up and my eyes met Frazier’s. “I told you to stay.” His voice was laced with anger. He moved his gaze to the man in front of us. “If you’re smart, you leave before I break your face.”

I didn’t know if the creepy man was scared of him, considering Frazier was taller and had more muscle, or maybe he just wanted to prove that he was smart. Whichever it was, he was out of our sight in less than a minute. I turned on my heels and ran the other way but his hand caught the back of my jacket stopped me. “Not so fast.” He tucked and I was slammed against the hard wall of his chest.

I tried to wiggle my way out and failed. “What?” I looked at him over my shoulder.

He finally let go. He walked to the black sedan next to him and opened the passenger door. “Get in.”

I rested my weight on one leg and folded my arms across my chest. “No.”

He groaned and scratched his head frustratedly. “Would you just do as you told for once?” asked him as he put both hands on his hips and looked down at me.

“I don’t get a ride from strangers.” I held my ground and locked my eyes with his. Although the creepy man earlier was enough to scare me, I didn’t get scared by assholes like him.

“Autumn,” he mentioned my name for the first time. “Get inside the car or I’ll carry you and dump you on your ass instead.”

Call me stubborn, but there was no way I was going to get a ride from someone I only knew existed today. Especially when that someone has sworn to make my life miserable. “I’d rather stick needles in my eyes.”

“We can do this easy,” He took a step forward as he continued, “Or we can go hard. You choose.”

I didn’t move but once he opened his arms and was ready to scoop me off the ground, I jumped back and held my hands up. “Okay. Okay. Fine. I’m coming.” I got inside the car.

He held the door and just before he was about to close it, he smirked. “Now you can go ahead and stick needles in your eyes for all you want, Summers.”