All Chapters of The Bad Boy’s Regret: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

MONICA The stadium was half empty, the bleachers creaking under the weight of the few students who came here just to skip class or scroll through their phones in peace. The air smelled like sunburnt metal and the faint tang of sweat. My backpack sat beside me, half open, spilling papers I didn’t care about anymore. My phone kept buzzing nonstop, like it was mocking me. The school group chat was blowing up again. [Havenstone Talkies] Ava: so he just said it like that? She’s mine? ༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽ Olivia: girl I thought I was watching a kdrama Josh: ngl respect Gabriel for that though Zoey: RESPECT? she’s a gold digger wtf Josh Liam: can we talk about how she bagged BOTH Andersons?? legendary Zoey: legendary in hell maybe. She's a cheap slut. Ava: lowkey jealous tho ngl Liam: bro Damian left like he wanted to kill someone lmao I scrolled until my eyes blurred, with tears I didn't want to fall. The rumor fire was spreading faster than I could even think about putting it out

MONICA With that he turned and went back into the room. I waited patiently for him and when he came back, he was holding a small shopping bag. I didn’t expect him to drop it on the bed in front of me like it was some kind of peace offering. I blinked at it, then at him. He looked suspiciously proud of himself, which was never a good sign. “What’s that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Something for you,” he said, and the grin on his face told me this was either going to be very sweet or very stupid. Probably the latter. I slowly pulled the bag open, half-expecting a prank, but it wasn’t. Inside was a folded piece of fabric, bright teal and unmistakably… swimwear. I stared at it like it had insulted me personally. “Gabriel,” I said slowly, “what the hell is this?” He ran a hand through his hair, laughing. “Okay, so don’t freak out, but I kinda got that earlier, just in case you wanted to swim.” “Just in case?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes. “You mean you premeditated peer pressu

MONICA I didn’t look up at him. I just stared at the puddle of water around my bare feet, at how pathetic it looked, and before I could stop myself, the tears started again. I didn’t even feel them coming. One second, my throat was tight, and the next, I was sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe. “I just—” My voice cracked in the middle of the word. “I just want to go home.” Gabriel moved instantly. He crouched in front of me and he tried to help wrap the towel tighter around me. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he whispered. “Let’s get you changed, okay? I’ll grab my keys, and we’ll go home.” “My home,” I mumbled through tears, looking up at him for the first time, my lips trembling. “Not yours.” He smiled faintly, that almost broken kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, your home,” he said quietly. “I promise.” I nodded weakly, and he stood, helping me up. His hand hovered near my arm like he wanted to hold me but didn’t want to overstep. “Thank you,” I whispered. He shook his

MONICA“I was just at Jules’,” I lied before he could say anything else, sliding my backpack off my shoulder like it was poisonous and trying to make my voice sound casual when my insides felt like hot glass. “He just dropped me off from his place. We were studying. You can call him if you want.”He didn’t look relieved. He looked smaller somehow, like the news I’d just fed him wasn’t a distraction but a crack appearing in something he’d been propping up for years. “The principal called me from the school,” he said, and the words came out flat, like a script someone else had written for him. “They said your grades are slipping, Monica. You were absent for a week, and now detention. What’s wrong with you?”I stared at him for a few seconds deciding if I should give into my psychotic brain and burst out laughing because of how absurd it sounded, like a teacher had lined up a list of my crimes and recited them in an empty, accusatory voice. “I—” My throat tightened. How do you explain

MONICA Gabriel’s hand caught mine first before I could even offer it. “You okay?” His voice was soft but tight, like he was trying not to lose it. Damian’s jaw flexed. “Stay away from her, Gabriel.” Gabriel turned to him slowly. “You don’t get to tell me that.” Zoey’s smirk faltered, realizing the storm she’d started. Phones were already out. People stopped and gathered to gossip, someone even muttered, “Oh my God, it’s happening. The cousins are fighting.” Damian got closer to Gabriel with a challenging stance. “You should walk away.” Gabriel didn’t flinch. “Actually between us, you need to take a thousand steps back. Don’t pretend you’re the hero now.” For a split second, I thought they’d swing at each other right there in the middle of gym class. The tension was thick enough to choke on. I got up fast, putting myself between them, my arms out. “Enough!” I snapped, my voice louder than I expected. My chest rose and fell with every breath. “Both of you, stop acting like idiots.