All Chapters of THE GOLDEN BOY'S TARGET: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I hear my bottle still rolling down the steps, but I don't take my eyes away from the boy. His phone sits broken in a small pool of juice, a step below us, from when he must have dropped it.He calmly moves his head, accessing the damage. His white T-shirt is now stained a light purple. I see him glance at his wrist and stop.I watch as a look of mania clouds his green eyes. He springs to his feet. There's a sense of urgency in his movements as he yanks his watch off. He's breathing hard, frantically wiping it against his shirt. His brows are drawn together, as if pleading as he taps the face of the watch with his finger.I hear people begin to hurriedly climb the stairs. By the time he slides his watch into the pocket of the pair of jeans he's wearing, wet at the crotch and down one leg, a small crowd has gathered around me in a semi-circle.He looks up and his eyes zero in on me. The expression that takes over his face as he advances makes me shrink back; they’re cold, sharp and full

(Ellie 's PoV)The video has gone viral in school. One of the most embarrassing, degrading moments of my life captured in stunning clarity and different angles.Silly me. I thought that maybe it would blow over, that if I just went home, ate something warm, hugged my mom very tight, that it would just . . . disappear.It didn't. Why would it? Shame sticks.I sat awake yesterday, reading through all the comments, watching all the edits already made from the original video until I felt like I was going to throw up in my bed. A lot of them were cruel, some of them were inappropriate, a handful of them blamed me and all of them were deeply hurtful.And now I'm standing in front of these school doors again, the feeling of déjà vu sitting heavily on my shoulders like a boulder. Carter's in there. He’s behind those doors, breathing, walking and talking like he hasn't now become the embodiment of terror I see when I close my eyes. And I'm supposed to go in there too.I hate the fact that he ha

Ellie’s POVI couldn’t breathe. The world had shrunk to this cramped bathroom. The cold tile pressed against my palms as I leaned over the sink. My reflection looked back at me, wide-eyed and panicked, like a stranger wearing my face. Every part of me ached with humiliation. My hair stuck to my damp forehead, and my fingers trembled as if they had a mind of their own.The hallway outside buzzed with faint sounds of students. Their laughter and chatter made my shame feel louder and sharper. I swallowed hard, trying to steady my rising panic. I needed to disappear. If I could just vanish into the walls, maybe I could escape the burn of Carter’s gaze. It had followed me relentlessly, like a predator’s glare hidden behind his smug, unreadable mask.I pressed my back to the door and closed my eyes. His face floated in front of me, calm, arrogant, mocking. I hated that my stomach twisted at the thought, that a part of me still cared what he thought.A knock at the door startled me.“Ellie?”

Ellie's pov-------School had closed a few minutes ago, Bethany had literally ran home to prevent her siblings from eating her mango sorbet — seriously you could kidnap her just with the promise of a mango. Anyways I was part of the few students still packing up, I was almost happy that today's misery was over—Then my blood went cold as I remembered that Carter had asked me to stay after school.A few students passed and one snickered at me - I heard them mention my name as they were pointing at me "bed-wetter" I heard them say. I was wondering what they meant when Carter walked up to me in all his glory "Hi little miss clumsy" he said. Honestly that sentence made me wanna punch a hole in his fucking head . “You’re late,” he said, voice light and casual. “Traffic in the hallway?”“Maybe I stopped to admire the peeling paint,” I said as I maintained distance from himHe grinned. “Still sarcastic. Good. I’d hate for you to lose your charm.” “Thanks for staying,” he said. His

Ellie’s POV******The cafeteria smells like grease and fearor maybe that’s just me projecting againeither way it’s too bright, too loud, too full of eyes pretending not to lookI keep my head downpretend my tray is fascinatingthe mashed potatoes have formed a shape like a frown and honestly I get itBethany sits across from me picking at her fries like they’ve personally offended her“You can’t just keep hiding,” she says finallyher voice is low, tired, like she’s already lost this argument before starting it“I’m not hiding,” I mumblewhich is a lie so bad it deserves a standing ovation“I’m just… adjusting my routes”She lifts a brow“Adjusting your routes? Ellie, you’ve been taking the long way to class like you’re avoiding landmines.”I stab a piece of chicken with my fork, watching the gravy bleed out“Landmines would be easier. At least they don’t smirk at you afterward.”The table goes quiet except for the sound of someone laughing three rows downCarter’s laughsharp, cl