Chapter 3

|I have more scars than friends|

It had been two days since her meeting with Peter. She liked him. He seemed like a nice guy. They had exchanged numbers and he had also taken the initiative to text her first. Annalise liked this little gesture.

Currently, she sat on her bed and was binge-watching some Asian dramas. Annalise loved K-dramas and K-pop music. She was a big fan of Black Pink and Red velvet. Like every other teenager out there, she binged on Doritos, goldfish, and pretzels while watching her favorite dramas. She was watching Park Seo-Joon's What’s wrong with secretary Kim. It was one of her favorite shows and every time she did, she couldn’t help but drool over Seo-Joon.

She did have homework to catch up to, but that could wait for another ten minutes, or that’s what she told herself. Considering she wasn’t a smart kid, she did put in extra effort, just so she could make it into a good college. But now that her wedding was set and there wasn’t any college in the picture, she just studied to get decent marks for her graduation. She was hoping for at least a 2.5 GPA.

Annalise, tutored 10-12 years old’s for her monthly allowance. She didn’t ask her mother for money and believed that women should be financially independent. Her mother was her biggest role model. Despite being a single mom and having two young girls, she didn’t abandon them but took their responsibility and raised them up.

With her long socks still on and her knapsack laying on the other side of the bed, she was caught up munching on Doritos and watching the show. She was quite invested actually. Hadn’t even bothered to take off her uniform. Her grey school skirt, which just ended a few inches above the knees, had ridden up, showing off her milky thighs and a very prominent ass. Her black jacket was laying next to her tie hung loosely around her neck and the collar button of her white school blouse was undone.

Today was the first day of school after the fall break. Today was usual, where she minded her own business and stayed away from her bullies.

Annalise studied in one of the well-reputed private schools in her town. Eastwood high. Annalise had been a scholarship kid and had been studying in Eastwood high since fourth grade. She was an average student who just knew how to manage her scores for scholarships funded by the school’s trustees each year. She was just another nail in the crowd.

She had only one friend and that was Liam. Liam lived four blocks away and he was the most bad-ass person Annalise had met. Liam didn’t care about anything or anyone. Liam was the star football player and he was a hottie. Girls swooned over him but he wasn’t really looking for a relationship. Liam was also super protective of Annalise. And if anyone tried to hurt her, he was quick to stand up for her.

Liam was supposed to meet her today as both of them decided to watch some good ol’ horror movies together. Annalise wasn’t a great fan of the horror genre but anything with Liam made it so much fun.

Liam was aware of her getting married and was totally against it, even so, decided to confront May about it but Annalise stopped him. Despite her pleading to him that she would never deny her mother, he didn’t like the idea of his best friend getting married so soon. He wanted her to study further.

“Boo!”

“Ah…” Annalise screamed loudly, clearly scared out of her wits as Liam made his way into her room and she couldn’t quite catch on to it because she was too caught up in watching the television show.

“Liam!” She yelled, gathering herself and throwing a pillow at his face. She placed one of her palms on her chest, trying to calm herself.

“Ouch!” Liam said dramatically catching ahold of the pillow. Liam was dressed in black pants and a white shirt. He had topped it off with a peach sweater and black vans sneakers.

“What’s up Annie-bear?” Liam asked with a bright smile on his face as he sat down beside Annalise, looking down at her laptop screen.

“Omg! Stop with K-dramas!” He said rolling his eyes off. Liam wasn’t a big fan of Korean dramas or music like Annalise was.

“I have a taste, unlike someone,” she said smoothly rolling her eyes off. Liam instantly hugged her from the back and kissed her temple as both of them chuckled.

Annalise and Liam met in fourth grade when she joined Eastwood high. Liam, unlike Annalise, was from a wealthy household but not once did he let that get to him. He was a humble and sweet guy. His parents adored Annalise too.

“Do you have a movie on your mind?” Liam asked her pulling away and settling on the bed, comfortably next to her.

“Umm…no,” she said with a slight pout.

“Okay. Let’s watch the new conjuring movie then,” he suggested and Annalise agreed quickly.

“Let me fix some popcorn.” She said as he pushed herself off the bed and held on to her nightstand. Liam was quick to help her as she settled on her wheelchair. He wheeled her out to the kitchen and stood by the counter as he watched her place the microwave-safe popcorn in the microwave that, her mother had left for them on the counter. She pressed a few buttons as she turned around to face Liam.

“So how was he?” Liam asked and the little disappointment in his couldn’t have been missed.

“He was nice,” Annalise blushed a little.

“Woah— hold up? Did you just blush?” He quirked a brow up in curiosity and amusement danced in his eyes.

“What is his name?” Liam asked as he stepped closer to her and crouched down right in front of her.

“Peter,” she said. He held both of her hands in his as he looked at her seriously.

“Annie-bear, are you sure about this? You are barely out of high school and you have a beautiful life ahead of you. You can study and with the GPA you have, I’m sure you will get into a good state university. Please think this through. You are just eighteen and you don’t have to sit in that guy's house while he goes out working. You don’t even know that guy. What if he isn’t what he appears to be?” Liam voiced out his opinion carefully. He had to make sure Annalise thought about this and not decide randomly because her mother wants her to get married.

“What are you suggesting, Liam?” Lise asked, not understanding where this conversation was headed.

“All I’m asking you is to make a wise decision for yourself. Push aside your mother’s happiness. Think about yours. In the long run, will you be happy? Can you see yourself married to a random man and maybe in the near future, bear his children? Is that man worth sacrificing your dreams for?”  He said softly, trying to make her understand that her selflessness will get her nowhere and she will land up destroying her life for someone else.

“Liam, I am happy with what I have decided. I won’t argue or deny my mother of anything, she means more to me than anyone else.” She said in absolute finality pulling her hand from his grasp. As if on a cue, the microwave beeped and Lise turned to the microwave to pull the bag of popcorn out.

Liam sighed in defeat. He didn’t know how to make her understand anymore. He knew better than anyone that, Annalise was an extremely beautiful girl and sometimes could be naïve as well. Due to her lack of exposure to the outside world, she didn’t have any idea as to how bad and cruel people out there were. He just didn’t want her to be used by Peter or whoever this guy was. Liam knew he had to check up on this guy because there was no way that Annalise was going to change her decision. For her, her mother meant everything and she would do anything for her in gratitude and love.

Liam had spoken to Mila about it and she did try to convince Annalise otherwise but, who were they kidding, Lise was a stubborn teen. Liam would often try and use his parent’s money and influence to look out for Lise’s family. And he was going to do the same now. He was going to get a background check on this Peter or whoever he was.

He wasn’t going to let Annalise ruin her life. And the fact that he was interested in Annalise, didn’t settle well with him. No matter how beautiful Lise was, people always rejected and looked down upon her for being crippled and Peter could be a rapist for all he knows. He couldn’t deliver Lise, who is inexperienced about so many things in the hands of the devil.

And remember that this book is a little bit on the darker side as there isn't a hero, but a villain. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book. And the more likes and comments, the faster the updates.