Unlucky for me, we were sort-of neighbours, and ever since my uncle had divorced my aunt and left us to fend for ourselves more or less, she and Carter’s parents had struck up a friendship. They lived in a huge mock-Tudor mansion on the corner of one road, and my aunt’s and my smaller house was also on the corner of my road, meaning our houses were perpendicular to one another.
Carter seemed to take personal offence at their friendship—I guess we weren’t his kind of people, or something. Or at least, I wasn’t. I wasn’t rich or popular or outgoing, and I didn’t care about impressing the in-crowd. I remained invisible to most of them, but Carter? There was no avoiding him. Especially not now.
“I’m good, thanks,” I bit out, swiping my bag from the floor before he could grab it. My head was a mess, thanks to our earlier interaction at the lockers, but right now, my strongest emotion towards him was anger.
“What’s the matter, Laurent? Too high and mighty to allow me to carry your bag now, huh?”
“I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own bag, thank you.” I turned my back on him.
That was my first mistake. He spun me around, ripping the bag from my hands, inserting himself into my personal space without a second’s hesitation.
“It wasn’t a fucking question, Plain Raine.”
I set my mouth in a flat line, refusing to let him see how he affected me, even though every part of me trembled with awareness at his presence. His body heat made me suck in a breath, his hard muscles pressing into my breasts, his black-and-green football uniform a dark contrast against the crisp white of my school blouse. He was all hot and sweaty from his training, and that should’ve been enough to make me take a step back, but no. Instead I found myself breathing him in, mesmerised by the rise and fall of his chest, the way he stood tall and unyielding, feet planted on either side of mine, as he looked down at me.
His eyes. There was no warmth in those autumn depths as he took me in. “Come on.”
Sighing, I followed him towards the car park. There was no point in refusing.
Why? Why did he have to be my neighbour? Why did I have to be on his radar, now? All exacerbated by this completely ridiculous arrangement that meant I had to rely on him for a lift home—to say it was torture for both of us wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
It had all started last month, at the beginning of our final year at school. I’d mentioned in passing to my aunt that the after-school drama club was looking for students to work on costumes and set design. The next thing I knew, my aunt and Carter’s mum had come up with this plan which forced us into riding back from school together since he had football training after school on Mondays. So, while I was grateful that I got to be a part of the drama club and do something I loved, my one highlight of the week was always tainted by the fact that I knew I’d end up in some kind of confrontation with him.
It was clear that Carter’s parents felt some sense of duty towards me—pity, even. I hated being a charity case, but I sucked it up so I could get to do something I loved, and with the threat of his allowance being cut, Carter had to play chauffeur to me every Monday. We were both bitter about it, though.
The drive home was silent. My mind replayed the moment when he’d held me against the lockers earlier. The dark look in his eyes as he’d effortlessly gripped my throat, the fear, immediately followed by the completely unexpected jolt of lust and excitement that had shot through me, shocking me into silence… The entire duration of drama club had flown by in a blur as I struggled to process my thoughts and my reaction to him.
I’d liked what he’d done to me.
What was wrong with me?
I couldn’t take my eyes off Carter’s hands flexing on the steering wheel, the way he held the tension in his body, his jaw set as he stared straight ahead. The low autumn sun streamed through the windows, the trees either side of us a riot of rich browns and golds, but the beauty didn’t penetrate the darkness surrounding us inside the car.
We turned onto my road, and Carter pulled up at the bottom of my driveway. Looking out of the windscreen, I noticed the front gates were closed, which meant my aunt was out at work. I sighed. Not that I wasn’t used to spending time alone, but I could’ve used some company, a distraction from the thoughts running through my mind.
“Problem?”
I jolted out of my thoughts at Carter’s impatient tone. “No problem.” Swiping my bags from the floor, I fumbled for the door handle. Then I paused, briefly closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to steady my voice. “There is a problem, actually.”
His gaze swung to mine, and he raised a challenging brow. “You…” I swallowed. “Why do you hate me so much?”
The darkness surrounding us grew thick and suffocating, reflected in his eyes. He reached out his hand to my face, and then he suddenly gripped my jaw, his fingers digging into my skin.
“You know what my feelings are towards you? Indifferent. In order to hate you, I’d have to care about you. You’re nothing to me. Insignificant.”
Nothing to me. Insignificant.
I should have been glad of his words, but to my horror I felt tears pricking my eyes, and my lip trembled.
Tearing away from his grip and yanking my door open, I fled the car.
He roared away from my front gates, turning the corner and disappearing from sight before the first tear fell.
That night, my dreams were haunted by emotions and memories I’d done my hardest to suppress. Even though I’d put my past behind me, Carter’s words had pierced through to the part of me that was still a small, scared little girl who felt worthless and unloved.
2
“Listen up.” I was in the cafeteria with my best mates, Xavier and Kian. “Why don’t we make Fright Night more interesting?”
After the annual tradition of trick or treat pranks got way out of hand and ended up with the tragic death of a student, this year the county council had organised a massive Halloween carnival they were calling Fright Night, in the vague hope we’d hang out there rather than terrorise the locals. Everyone expected Kian, Xavier, and I to plan something, and we weren’t going to disappoint.
“What you thinking?” Kian turned to me, interest sparking in his eyes.
“What if we add some stakes to this game?”
As I outlined my idea, identical devious smiles spread across their faces.
“I can’t fucking wait.” Kian rubbed his hands together.
As he and Xavier began arguing over mask colours, my attention was diverted by a lone student entering the door—Raine Laurent. Anger burned through me as the memory of what had happened yesterday overtook my mind.
I rolled to a stop in the garage next to my dad’s Bentley. That meant he was home. Which meant my English teacher, who just so happened to be one of his old school friends and golf buddies, must’ve contacted him about my grade. Fuck. I’d hoped I might be able to fly under the radar, but I guess not.
Sure enough, when I entered the kitchen, there he was.
“Carter.” So much disapproval dripped from that one word.
“I’ll try harder.”
“That’s not good enough. This is the third time this has happened.” He stayed calm and collected, too composed to show any outward signs of anger, but it was all there in his clenched jaw and the frustrated hand he was running through his hair. “Need I remind you that your future is at stake, here? I can open some doors for you, but without that degree, you’re not going to last five minutes.”