AELLA
"Roman Montgomery, 25 year old masters student, and the star in every females fantasy and nightmare." a voice startles me out of the staring contest I has with the shadow.
"Huh?" I ask, while turning towards the owner of the voice.
"I'm just offering helpful information." she says while nodding at the wrangler jeep guy.
"Oh, uhhh….. I didn't really need to know that." I say more than self-conscious, not willing to come off as desperate for his attention.
"I don't think you have a choice in that." she says drily while staring pointed behind me.
I turn to see who she is staring at, and I gasp lightly. Roman, as she had called him, had come out of the shadows and now stood in front of me.
I couldn't help but marvel at his beauty, at 6'4 with dark haired and a chiselled face, he was by far the sexiest male in the room, and he stood with the confidence of one who knew it.
"Gossiping me, I see." he says in a raspy voice that would make millions if he ever decided to go into audio book recording.
"You wish." the girl says with a steady blush rising up her cheeks.
'Hmmmm', definitely history there.
She turns around and leaves me standing there, not knowing what the hell I'm to do with this god's attention.
"How about I get you a drink?" He words in the form of a question but grabs my hand and leads me towards the area that was sectioned as the bar without waiting for a response.
I look around the party and see that almost everyone's eyes were on me. Those that didn't have the gall to stare openly, stared from beneath their lashes and when my eyes meets with those of Ashley, I almost rip my hands out of his grasp, but couldn't as he made his fist tighter around my wrist.
We don't seem to encounter the same trouble of too many people and no space to pass. The students clear the road for him like he was their king. He picks up a red cup and hands it over to me, and out of compulsion, I receive the cup and take a sip in order to avoid saying anything.
However, before I could take another sip, someone pushes me from behind, and the drinks pours on my chest, ruining my dress and flashing my breasts to the whole student body.
The music gets turned off, and everyone starts staring, some with pity and some with malice.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." a shrill voice says behind me, and when I turn around, I realise it's Kylie that had pushed me.
I notice the evil intentions in her eyes and hear the sarcasm in her tone when she continues to apologise.
Ashley pushes her way through the crows in order to get to me but I couldn't focus on her, all my attention was on Roman who was currently clenching his teeth and not doing anything to help me.
To be fair, it was all his fault, if he had left me alone for the remainder of the night, I wouldn't be on the receiving end of Kylie's wrath, she would never had seen me as a competition in clamoring for his attention.
I push through the thrum of bodies, not caring who I hit on my journey to the bathroom. When I get inside, I shut the door behind me and lean on it.
I close my eyes for a while trying to stay in control of my emotions, I've been through worse in the hands of Kate, my stepmother and her children so I couldn't and wouldn't let this get to me.
I cut a large amount of tissue from the tissue roll, and I dab stiffly at the front of my dress, but I know full well that I was wasting my time.
While after I had finished dabbing, the dress might not be as wet, the color stain will still be there, and unless I planned on walking straight out of the party right now with my breast on display the only other option was waiting till the party was over, before sneaking out and taking my chance with the football players.
I groan while closing my eyes, trying to gather up enough courage to walk out of the party right now as that was my best option.
I pull open the door with determination and stop short when I come face to face with Roman.
I never got to ask the girl what she meant when she said he was the star in most females' nightmares, but now I think I understand what she meant.
I move to the side, trying to side step him, but he holds out a Blackwood letter jacket at me successfully blocking my path.
"Thought you might need this." he says in a way of explanation.
"No, thank you, you can give it to Kylie, I think she needs it more than I do." I say sarcastically.
"Let me rephrase that, 'take the jacket cause I don't want you flashing my goods to the entire student body.'" He says with an almost glare.
My eyes almost fall out of my face with how wide they are in shock."You know what, this is all your fault. If you had left me alone in the party, Kylie wouldn't have thought to come at me."
"And that wouldn't happen again. She's out of the party and wouldn't be attending any in the near future." he says to me.
"Look, I don't care that you think you're defending my honour, but I want to be left alone. Please leave me alone." I say while folding my arms under my breast, and when I see it draws his attention there, I quickly put my hands down.
"That's going yo be a tough request considering the fact that I intend to see you a whole lot." he says while eyeing me.
"You know what?, I don't have the strength for this." I say as I snatch the jacket out of his hands, and I put it on, hoping this would get him off my back.
I put my phone into the pocket of the jacket before staring at him again, "Now, I've done what you said. If you will, please excuse me, I would be on my way."
"I don't think you understand me. We are hanging our tonight, either in the party or any place of your choice." he says while taking a threatening step towards me. It doesn't help my cause that he is way taller than me, I barely come up to his shoulder.
"Is everything okay here?" A hesitant voice says from the end of the hallway.
When Roman turns to the direction of the voice, I see that as my cue to leave, and I almost escape unless I don't bargain for Roman to be reflexively quick. He grabs me by the neck of the jacket and pulls me back towards him.
"Everything is good, James," he says snarkily to the big guy, I'm sure, is also a football player.
James nods and turns to leave not sparing me a glance, however a door bangs shot at the other end of the hallway and this time when Roman let's go of my jacket to turn to see what had caused the noise, I don't wait for any cue, I bolt down the stairs not caring if I pushed James out of the way or not.
I barge into the party and I'm almost out the door when I get this irresistible feeling to look behind and when I do, I spot Roman standing in the exact same spot he had been standing in earlier that night, the only difference was that he had a sinister look which obviously didn't bode well for me.
I don't wait to tell Ashley I was done with the party, I rush out of the frat house, and soon enough, I'm on my way back to my dorm.
When I get to my room, I spend the rest of the night googling Roman Montgomery and while I couldn't get any kind of ammunition against him, I rest easier knowing I know a lot about my newest enemy.
—–——————––—
I yawn for the fiftieth time, as I try to write what the professor is saying. I had worked all through the day yesterday, and when I wasn't working, I was worrying about when the other shoe would drop and Roman would come for my head.
"Had a long night, it seems." a voice says from my right, and I nod indulgently.
However, I almost fall out of my chair when I see the owner of the voice who just sits down smirking at me.
I look around, half expecting people to pop up with their phones and cameras ready to video whatever evil prank this god had in store for me.
When I find no one watching, I become a little bolstered, and I say to him, "I thought I told you I wanted you to leave me alone?"
"Yeah, I never asked what you wanted." he says with that devilish smirk he's always wearing.
"What generation are you from?" I ask in a very shocked tone.
He rolls his eyes at me and doesn't bother responding.
"Is this a game to you?" I ask angrily.
He gives me a dark look, and I have this weird notion that I had touched a sore spot.
ROMAN
She doesn't know how right she is. While it was a dare to get her to fall in love with me, I didn't count on the fact that I would enjoy every second of it.
These days, nothing could get to me, and feeling the thrill of a pursuit was a feeling I would happily drown in.
When I continue to stare at her, she starts to squirm in her seat, and I almost laugh out loud.
It's funny that I'm the one she makes nervous, but yet she's squirming.
"What time does your class end?" I ask her.
"Why are you asking?" She says, looking at me like I had grown two heads.
"I want to take you somewhere." I respond
"Well, I don't want to go anywhere with you." she says with a huff.
I've never had to work this hard for a females attention, and to be fair, I wasn't actually working for it, just demanding.
"I wasn't asking." I say while leaning back on the chair.
She closes her book before she turns back to me. "Are you always this insufferable?"
I don't bother answering as her class was over, and I saw this as an opportunity to have her alone with me.
She packs her things and makes a beeline for the door, probably hoping to lose me in the crowd, but I don't give her that opportunity.
I drag her back to me and make her wait for the crowd to clear out before I move us out the building and towards my car.
She digs her foot into the ground and refuses to move forward, making me to physically move her. "People already staring Roman."
The sound of my name on her lips gives me a shiver which goes straight to my groin and I almost groan out loud.
"Let them stare." I say to her.
"This must be so convenient for you, I mean with your popularity and all" she says with a bite in her tone.
I don't bother responding as she climbs into my jeep.
I go round to the driver's side and soon I'm pulling out of the parking lot.
AELLA We drive around the city in an uncomfortable silence. At least it was uncomfortable for me. I make it my mission to take note of the major roads we pass in case I need to make a run for it. "Relax…., I don't bite." Roman says with a smirk, "at least not hard enough." he completes under his breath. "That's not helping. What if you want to kill me?" I say, shaking slightly. "Don't stress, I bury most of my bodies deep in the woods." he says with a pokerface. If there was a way for me to turn whiter than I already was, then I would have. I clasp my hands together and close my eyes and pray to whatever God there is, that if he were to save me, I wouldn't enter cars with strangers again. It's not like I had a choice this time. We get to a deserted dirt road, and he makes a turn for it, and then we are descending a little hill. He parks the car on the corner of the road and steps out to my side, and soon he's leading me out of the car. He still doesn't say a word to me as he s
ROMAN The drive back into the city was quiet as fuck. I swipe my hands across my face, trying to chase away the drowsiness that comes from hours of swimming. For me, it was more a sport I had to be good at than something I did for fun. "What's your class schedule for tomorrow?" I ask Aella. She straightens her dress with a scoff, "Surely, you do not believe I would tell you." "I have other ways to get it, I was just giving you a chance to tell me yourself." I say. "I don't have any classes tomorrow, just work." She eventually responds in anger. I don't bother responding to her lies, I knew for sure she had classes and I wonder what she hoped to achieve with those lies. My phone vibrates from the pocket of my jeans and I take it out only to see a message from my shitty friends. "Eyes on the road." Aella practically screams in my ears. I look at her and notice her near panic expression and I wonder what that's all about. When I had read her files, there was no mention of anxiet
AELLA I barge into the kitchen of the restaurant I'm working at and fling the half-filled tray on the counter. 'I wonder why the customers today were being extra bitchy and insensitive.' "Is everything okay?" Greg the restaurant's chef asks. "She said the egg was too salty." I respond angrily referring to one of our customers."It's a paprika-fried egg, it's supposed to be salty." He says while filling up another tray. I grab the tray and move towards the door, "Yeah, tell that to her." "Chicken and fries coming right up." I say with forced cheerfulness to my newest customer. After serving, I look at the clock and notice its time for my thirty minute break and I don't hesitate in heading out the back with a burger. I sit down on the back porch and groan into my hands at the unreleased tension in my lower back. Last night had been too much, we had watched movies and drunk a cheap bottle of tequila until we literally passed out. And then I had to wake up early this morning for my
CHAPTER SIX "Sip that slowly, because that will be your last glass for the night." Roman says, interrupting my line of thought. I glare at him and gulp down my drink at record speed, feeling lightheaded at my little act of defiance.I smile again at yet another faceless stranger I know I will never see again. After Roman had forcefully taken me for the primping required to attend an event of this magnitude, he took me back to his car and gave me a tablet which contained valid, strong and convincing reasons why I should attend his stupid ball without making any fuss. I had seen tons of pictures of both my dad, my stepmother, and my step-siblings. In those pictures, they were doing the most mundane things, like walking to the park, hanging out with friends, and even sleeping. There were also pictures of my friend Ashley, both in the dorm and at home. The message was very clear, and he didn't have to say anything more. It was clear that if he wanted to hurt them, he would've.While
"Just one instruction, Aella, just one. Don't get drunk, just that, but you still couldn't keep to it." Roman says with a clenched jaw. I look at him. Like really looked at him. I observe his features, tightened by anger, and can't help comparing him to a fallen angel. I lean all my weight on him, not particularly concerned about how crazy I might look. "It's not her fault, I got the drink and forced it down her throat." Georgia says, slurring on the words. "Noooo, that's not true, I was a willing participant." I manage to squeeze out in my drunken state. "And trust me, princess, you will pay for it." Roman interrupts."Why do you always have to be a killjoy? Who gave you the right to tell me whether or not to drink?" I ask angrily, probably jumbling all the words due to alcohol influence. "No one." "Absolutely no one gave me any right, I took it for myself." Roman says, "And the sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you." "Why can't you just be like every other
After we had successfully gotten rid of most of the flowers, keeping just a few, Ashley refused to let me go to my classes without telling her all the details of the ball. I told her everything that happened but kept some details to myself, mostly my conversations with Roman. I didn't know whether she would appreciate his arrogant and highhanded nature. "So what? Are you guys like dating now?" Ashley asks me. "No, we are not." I say strongly. Ashley packs her stuff into her drawer before turning back to me, "But he's called you his girlfriend on countless occasions." "And yet, he still hasn't asked me out. Heck, we've barely even gone on a date, excluding the ball." I say to Ashley. "Would it be so bad to date him?" Ashley asks me. I'm quiet for a few minutes, pondering my answer. No. It wouldn't be so bad to date him. Beneath the bad boy exterior lies a very caring young man, which I won't stick around long enough to acclimatize myself with. I flop back on the bed, not concern
Roman rushes towards us, and with his hands on the professor's collar, he violently pulls him off me and starts pummelling his face. He throws well-landed punch after well-landed punch and ignores my pleas for him to stop."How dare you?" "How dare you touch what's mine?" Roman asks the professor in between choking and squeezing the life out of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was with you!" The professor says while clawing at Roman's hands around his neck. One look at him and I knew for sure that if Roman didn't stop now, he was hoping to have a murder on his hands.The professor's face was a mixture of blood, snot and tears. His screams resounded in the hall, and soon students rushed in, watching from the sidelines. "Roman please I'm begging you, I'm begging you to stop." I say desperately while carefully tugging at his shirt. Rather than respond, he shrugs me off and continues punching the professor, only with reduced intensity. After what seemed like years but could only be
"Don't answer that." Roman says to me as he gets off the bed and heads towards his mother. "There is a lock on my door for a reason mom." "What do you mean by that? There's a strange girl in your room, and no one is saying anything." His mom says in a stern tone. "Come on, mom. Let's talk outside." Roman says before pulling his mom out of the room and locking the door behind him. Left to my own devices, I have a lot if time on my hands and I decide to use it to explore Roman's room cum lair. I limp off the bed and search the drawers, finding absolutely nothing in there. Now that I pay good attention, I notice that most of the room is just plain bare without any trace of personal possessions. Further exploring proves this theory to be right, apart from basic items like clothing and shoes as well as a first aid kit, the room seemed very bare. However what it lacked in personal items, it made up for with its sheer grandiose. A floor to ceiling window took up one entire side of the