#I’m so sorry y’all for making Maxwell your ex

[faithintheunknownsblog]

A/N: Finally posting another chapter after months, sorry for the wait y’all

Chapter Summary: You wake up to a call that seems to be straight out of one of your worst nightmares, which forces to to visit an ex afterwards. But after a spiral down the slope of near insanity, you’re able to cheer up by going to the mall with your sister and her girlfriend.

TW: Semi-sexual Content, Drug Dealing, Toxic Ex

Master List

Red Ink

Chapter Three: Final Warning

Your eyes open as you hear your phone ring, seeing the time you realize you haven’t even been asleep for an hour. You answer the phone, not bothering to sit up to talk because you figured it’s just going to be a quick call and you’ll be able to go back to bed after. You manage to groggily speak, “hello?”

“Hello this is Off-” the man on the other end of the line doesn’t even get a chance to introduce himself.

You instantly can tell by the first word you heard from the voice on the other end of the line that you were getting a call from an officer from the police station that’s back home. You can tell it’s Penwood because you have dealt with him plenty of times in your youth and you both know each other all too well. You go into a panicked frenzy, jumping out of bed and your voice being an unreasonably high pitch when you say, “I’ll be there in two hours, Penwood!”

You hang up and turn on the lamp next to your bed, not giving a shit if it wakes your dorm mate. You grab your keys, put on your flip flops and sprint out the door, your light still on as you leave. You accidentally slam the door behind you but that’s the least of your concerns, right now you need to bail out whichever one of your siblings is currently sitting in a cell at the police station.

You drive like a maniac. Speed limits? Red lights? Stop signs? What are those?! You sure as Hell forgot on your way there.

You’re lucky that you were driving this reckless at 1 AM on a Wednesday morning because there was nearly nobody on the roads, including cops. Along with the roads were already plowed after the snow storm that lasted from Friday night to Monday afternoon.

So you easily got to the station, arriving at 3 AM in only an old t-shirt, boxers, and flip flops while it’s only 35°F (2°C) outside. You make eye contact with Officer Penwood who is standing there, waiting for you from behind the desk.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Officer Penwood asks with a chuckle, “it has been awhile.”

It has, it’s been years, nearly fourteen years since the last time you’ve had a run in with the law but this wasn’t a time to reminisce about the past. Right now you’re worried about your sibling. You walk up to the desk and Penwood lays out an evidence bag that has a hoodie in it that you instantly recognize, it’s your little brother Andrew’s hoodie. You curse under your breath, of course it’s him getting into trouble. You sigh and look back up at Penwood, “bring him out.”

Since you and Penwood have history he has no issue with going to get Andrew from one of the holding cells in the back of the police station. After a few minutes Penwood comes out of the door that you have been in and out of plenty of times. Andrew is following behind him with a scowl on his face and cuffs still tight around his wrist.

“Found him walking down the street, I was trying to stop to ask him why he was out past curfew, instead of answering he tried to book it.” Penwood pulled a tiny baggie of weed out of his back pocket, “he made it around the corner before we caught him so we can’t prove it’s his.”

You are angry, no, livid right now, and if looks could kill Andrew would be dead with the daggers you’re staring at him. When he makes eye contact with you he tries to speak but before he even has a chance to plead his lie of innocence you cut him off, “not. a. word.”

Andrew closes his mouth again and Penwood goes on to finish what he has to say, “I’m letting him off with a warning this time but next time he won’t be as lucky.”

“There won’t be a next time,” you state and watch as Penwood unlocks Andrew’s cuffs. You so badly want to leave Andrew there but he trusted you to get him out of this, so you will. This is the first and last time you will ever do it.

“If you say so,” Penwood says sarcastically, though he really hopes that you’re right. He doesn’t want to see Andrew end up like Steven, he knows you wouldn’t be able to handle that. Penwood was so proud when he heard through the grapevine that you cleaned your life up and that you made sure your family was well cared for. He never wanted to see any of your siblings' faces in here and the possibility that he’d have to go through with what he did with you with Andrew breaks his heart.

“Go get in the car,” you tell Andrew and he follows orders. He didn’t want to be in this place any longer than he already had to be, and as soon as Andrew is out the door you look at Penwood. You are forever grateful to him because there have been so many times that you could have been locked up and Penwood never let it happen, he has given you a million second chances. But you will not let him do it for any of your siblings, “never thought that picking someone up feels worse than being the one to get picked up… I was hoping I’d never have to find out either.”

“Hopefully this will be the last time you’ll have to deal with either,” Penwood looks at your sad eyes. You were born into a messed up situation and were going down the wrong path for awhile, but you finally got it together. He wants you to know that you’re doing good, so he pats your shoulder and says with a smile something he never thought he would, “I’m proud of you kid.”

You give him a smile back, you didn’t realize how much you need to hear that from someone who’s seen you at your toughest times and lowest points. “Thank you sir.”

Penwood gives you a nod and looks over to the desk, seeing Andrew’s hoodie still laying on it. He grabs it then hands it to you and says, “alright, you two need to get going.”

You nod back, taking the hoodie and head out the door but before you leave you tell him in a playful tone, “hope to never see you again.”

“Likewise,” Penwood chuckles and heads back behind the desk.

When you step out the door the cold air hurts as soon as it hits you, like a million needles stabbing your skin all at once. But that isn’t enough to cool the fiery rage that consumes your entire being when you see Andrew. Though when you get into the car you're silent, not speaking a word as you start up the car and begin driving with the evidence bag with his hoodie in your lap. You’re taking the long way home.

This is the one time that Andrew actually wants you to say something- anything- to him, you’ve always been the type to speak on an issue. So the quiet feels so ominous that it’s frightening. The only noise is the sound of the tires against the pavement and your old car’s engine humming as you take your good ol’ time with the drive.

You like to take drives to clear your mind, so you were hoping that taking the longer route would give you time to get all your thoughts together before speaking to him. You try your very best to keep a level head and when you get to a stop light you think you’re calm enough to speak. You keep a normal tone of voice when you ask, “who is your supplier?”

Andrew is surprised that was the type of question you were asking, and he was also a bit angered by it. It doesn’t make sense to him why that is what you’re worried about, and why it’s not him that you’re worried about. He gains a bit of an attitude, “nob-”

And like that, you snap, yelling so loud that you’re surprised that the windows didn’t shatter, “WHO IS YOUR BLOODY SUPPLIER?!”

This is the angriest you have ever been. Peter saying that you were like your parents is nothing in comparison to this. What Andrew did was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back and now over twenty years of pent up rage is being let loose. The only reason Andrew is giving you an answer is because he hates loud noises and doesn’t want to hear anymore yelling. Though he was going to be vague and lie to pretend he didn’t know much, he mumbles, “some bloke that my friends told me about named Erico.”

“Maxwell?” You ask in a low tone, you recognized the name as soon as you heard it so you didn’t need Andrew to confirm it. Though you get your answer because even though you’re staring at the road waiting for the light to turn green, you see his body language.

Andrew uncomfortably shifts in his seat and looks out the passenger side window. He’s nervous because you just somehow know who he’s talking about without him having him to tell you.

The car goes back to being dead silent because there is no more need for discussion. Andrew doesn’t know that you know that name all too well and you’ll have to pay Erico a visit when you get the chance. But for now you just continue to drive and since you got the answer you wanted you change the route you’re going to get home, now taking the quickest way from where you’re currently at. Not speaking a word until you finally pull up to the driveway.

“Andrew,” you keep your voice low but your tone is stern and threatening, “I ever find out- and trust me when I say I will find out- that you do any of this shit again I will personally get you locked up.”

You know you’re being irrationally angry and hypocritical because you were doing worse when you were younger than his age but you can’t help it. You’re angry that after all you did to keep them out of these types of situations it hasn’t worked.

Andrew takes your words with a grain of salt, if anything your threat just makes him want to do it more. He already had so much resentment towards you and since you screamed at him, he wants to piss you off however he can now. Besides you ratting him out, your beloved little brother? He’ll believe that when fat pigs fly.

You hand Andrew his hoodie and with a sad sigh you say, “I just want what’s best for you bud.”

Andrew says nothing, he just grabs his hoodie and steps out of the car, closing the door behind him without even saying good night. Andrew doesn’t care for what you have to say. How would you know what’s best for him when you basically abandoned him after Samuel was born? What makes you think you know him?

You’ve learned not to get hurt whenever Andrew is cold towards you, it’s been going on for awhile and you have no idea why. But you’ve just come to accept it and love him regardless of how he treats you. After watching Andrew get into the house you drive away, not bothering to look at the time because you already know you’re going to be late for class. You consider just taking the day off and decide that’s best, besides you need to take care of Erico.

It’s 4:52 AM when you pull up to the trap house that you haven’t been to since you were twenty, which was supposed to be the last time you’d ever visit it. But apparently Erico didn’t heed the warning you gave him the last time you were here.

You throw on a pair of sweatpants over your boxers before stepping out of your car and slamming the door behind you, locking it after. Then you march your way up the three front porch steps and fling open the door that you already know is unlocked. There are plenty of people in the hallway leading to the living room, some of the faces you recognize while others are new. Either way you push passed them, not giving a fuck who they are.

When you get into the living room you see Erico talking to someone with his back to you, which gives you the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. As soon as you're close enough to him you pull on his shoulder and when he turns he doesn’t even get a chance to realize it’s you because you use everything in you to punch him in the face. Your everything is enough to break his nose and send him stumbling backwards, dazing him for a moment.

When Erico stops seeing spots in his vision he looks at you, smirking while blood rushes out of his nostrils. It’s been awhile since he’s seen you last and he knows exactly why you’re here but is going to play coy. He chuckles and asks you, “now, what was that for?”

“You know exactly what it was for,” you growl, your knuckles turning white from how hard you're balling up your fist while fighting to urge to beat the ever living shit out of him. “I already told you to stay away from my family but apparently you still listen as well as you did when we were together.”

Yup, that’s right, Erico Maxwell is your ex boyfriend and another one of your biggest regrets. You might have stopped dealing when your brother died, but that didn’t keep you from giving years of your life to someone who does. And you two would have still been together if he hadn’t tried to keep you from working as a stripper.

You thought you saw the last of Erico after the breakup but then he sold drugs to Peter, who was only thirteen at the time. You found out right away because when you got home after work you found a baked Peter on the living room couch. You knew it was Erico due to the simple fact that- at the time- his dumbass used tiny blue bags when dealing.

So after that you gave Erico his first- and you thought it was the final- warning, you were angry with him but as civil as you could be at the time. He told you he wouldn’t deal to your family and he followed through with his word.

Until now.

“Well I must have forgotten then, since I’m such a terrible listener,” Erico said sarcastically. He thought he could be sneaky and sell to your family now that you’ve moved to a college that’s three and a half hours away.

“Well let your broken nose forever be a reminder to stay away from my family, this is the last time I’m telling you.” Next time you are willing to shut down his whole operation without a second thought, the only reason why you haven’t yet is because you know the struggle. You know there are some kids here that are just like you when you were younger. They’re working and selling drugs because it's the only way they can support their families.

Erico shakes his head and chuckles, you’re oblivious to what’s happening within your own family. He might have sold the weed but your brother isn’t exactly innocent in all this, “what makes you so sure he didn’t come to me?”

“I know Andrew, he’d never do anything like that,” you refuse to believe that you baby brother would risk his entire future just to get high. Besides, you know Erico is always willing to lie if that means he can save his own ass.

“Apparently you don’t know him enough,” Erico taunts you. He knows your family means everything to you and that your life goal is to keep them away from drugs, “because your precious little angel of a brother has been asking around for awhile. Before you even left for college.”

“What makes you think I’m going to believe a single word out of your filthy mouth?” You’re in denial, everything he is saying is coming straight from your nightmares.

“Because I’ve kept my promise for this long, no?” Erico chuckles, you’re trying to be blind to the truth because you built a bubble around your family and he is having fun popping it. “I told him I wasn’t going to sell to him because he’d get caught and get me in trouble with you. I still held off when he told me you were moving three hours away but he just begged and pleaded, and I finally gave in.”

“Shut up!” You shout at him, getting angrier with every word that leaves his mouth, “you’re lying!”

“Oh, but I’m not,” Erico says in a ‘matter of fact’ way because he is only speaking the truth. Everything he is telling you is nothing but facts, “I should have known better though, I thought I could trust the little twat not to rat me out. I guess I was wrong.”

“He didn’t rat you out,” you state, luckily you have one of the best poker faces there are. Nobody has ever been able to catch you in a lie if they didn’t have hard proof and even then you could talk your way out of situations most of the time. “I might be out of the game but I still have plenty of connections and I easily found out what street he was on, which wasn’t far from here.”

Erico wouldn’t doubt that you still have eyes and ears everywhere but that doesn’t stop him from looking you up and down. He’s searching within your face and analyzing your body language to see if you’re lying, deciding to take you seriously because there is no indication of any falsehoods. Since Erico has known you for so long he believes he knows what your tells are.

But that’s the exact reason you’re able to lie to people so easily, you’ve made them believe that you have signs that show you’re lying. Like with Erico, you’ve tricked him into thinking that when you’re lying your nose twitches. You’ve made other people think that you scratch the back of your neck when you lie, other people think that you bite your nails, and so on. It’s not that hard to pick up on things people do show when they are lying, then using those same tactics to pretend you’re lying.

“Very well,” Erico says and nods at a big guy that’s leaning up against a wall behind you, “let the word out for none of our people to sell to her siblings ever again even if they come looking.”

You look at the guy and he nods back, “got it boss.”

Erico looks back at you and smirks, “now if you find him with anything else you know it’s not my people.”

“Still won’t keep me from punching you in the face if I find any of my siblings with drugs-” you growl, now you don’t trust him as far as you can throw him, “-you already broke your promise once.”

“I’m sorry to tell you this babe but I’m no longer the only one dealing around here,” Erico says and pulls out a little book out of his back pocket then gives it to you.

You already know what the book is for, Erico always has one that he scribbles down dates, code names, sales, and profits on before he gets it written down in his files. When you open it you see that it’s brand new and only one side of the paper is filled out with names from Monday to today. Usually he fills in half the book- pages front and back- within a day, so this proves what he is saying to be true. You mumble under your breath, “fuck.”

Erico nods his head, “but if you still don’t believe me about selling you can come check the files from each week from now on. You know I’m serious about my money and don’t lie in my books.”

You close Erico's book and hold it out to him to take back, “that won’t be necessary, Andrew won’t be doing anything like this again.”

Erico takes it, shaking his head and chuckling. When you go to leave he says, “good luck, Riot.”

You flip him off as you leave, he knows damn well that you no longer go by that name because that was your street name that Steven gave you. When you cut everything having to do with drugs out of your life you stopped going by that name and Erico knew that, that’s the only reason why he called you by it. He just loves to piss you off.

When you leave to go back to school you get stuck behind traffic, so by the time you’re back to school it’s nearly 11 AM. You give up on going to your classes because it’s not like you’ll be able to pay attention anyway. There is a lot you can push through, but this isn’t one of them. You are completely out of your mind now, your nerves are shot and mental health down the drain.

You even call off work that night because you wanted a full night's rest for once, you can’t even remember the last time you had one of those. At least your dreams aren’t terrible, in fact they are the complete opposite. You dream of all the good memories you made with Andrew growing up. Like pushing him on the swing, and when you held him in your arms as you two went down the slide.

But when you wake up the next day you’re haunted by the sound of baby Andrew’s laugh in your ears, leaving your heart aching. You want all of that back, you want to make more treasured memories that you can look back on and smile. You want him to love you as much as he did before, not have all this hatred and resentment towards you. You having no clue why he hates you so much makes it even worse because you don’t know how to make it better.

After a few minutes of struggling, you manage to pull yourself out of bed and get ready for the day. At least that’s what you thought but when you get in the shower you just stand in there until the hot water runs out. Which is a surprisingly long time, you spend a little over three hours there without realizing it. Then you step out of the shower, spending another few hours just staring at the wall. You think about what you’re going to do about Andrew and how this is going to affect the rest of your siblings.

Your phone starts ringing, you see that it’s Peter and when you answer you don’t even get a chance to get a word in. He asks you in a panic, “what’s happening?! What’s going on?!”

“Huh?” You ask, confused of why your brother sounds frantic and why he’s asking you what’s going on. You know Andrew wouldn’t say anything and if he did then Peter wouldn’t need to ask you what’s going on.

“You texted me yesterday saying to call you when I got a chance but when I tried calling you didn’t pick up!” Peter thought something happened to you, “is something wrong?!”

You don’t even remember texting Peter, that’s how scattered your thoughts are. But you know why you needed to talk to him, you speak in a hushed tone and say “I need you to shoot me a text if any new faces start hanging around the neighborhood. But don’t say anything to anyone, including the kids.”

Peter is silent for a moment, he can only theorize what is going on because he knows you’ll never give him specifics. But that doesn’t keep him from asking anyway, he angrily asks you, “what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” you say in a reassuring voice, knowing Peter won’t believe you because he knows just the tiniest little sliver of what happened in your past. So you expected him to automatically assume you are the reason he now has to be in fear for your family’s safety and you prefer it that way.

Peter growls, he hates when you’re so vague especially when it comes to things like this, “bullshit, you wouldn’t say something like this unless you knew something was going on.”

Just because you prefer being the one in trouble doesn’t mean you like it but you prefer his anger at you than it being towards Andrew. You sigh, “I’m telling the truth but you can put the blame on me if that’s what makes you feel better. I just need you to promise me to act normal and not say anything.”

There is another long pause, Peter hates that you won’t give him any information but he knows it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to trust you. He once again needs to just blindly follow you into the dark and he accepts that. He sighs in defeat, “I promise to keep my mouth shut but if anything happens I’m never going to forgive you.”

“I wouldn’t want you to because I’d never be able to forgive myself,” you admit. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if something bad ever happens to one of your siblings and Peter knows that.

“I know-” he says and checks the time, his lunch break is going to be up soon, “-I need to get going.”

“Alright, love you and I’ll see you later,” you say because you never say ‘goodbye’ to them.

“Love you and see you later,” Peter says and hangs up.

You couldn’t keep yourself from breaking down, silently crying your eyes out as waves of sadness and anger crash over you. What could you have possibly done to make the world punish you like this? And why can’t you be the only one being punished? The world can beat you down until you’re nothing but a stain on the floor and you couldn’t care less. But could it at least leave your family out of this? That’s all you want. You want your family to be safe, you want them not to suffer, you want them to live in peace. And the world won’t let you have that. Why can’t you have that?

When you finally pull yourself together it’s almost past 7 PM and you haven’t eaten in nearly two days. You don’t want to leave your dorm but you have no food or snacks, so you have no choice. You put on a pair of jeans, a hoodie, some sneakers, throw your hair into a bun, and cover your scar. Then leave your dorm and walk to your car to leave campus.

First place you go is to the gas station because you realize your tank is almost empty, and why wouldn’t it be with all the driving you’ve done. You get out of your old and beat up car to pump your gas, the cold air feels like it’s cutting into your skin as you stand there holding the gas nozzles into your tank. You thought it couldn’t get worse but it does by starting to snow, making you let out an exhausted, “fuck.”

You planned on going to get some food but you’re going to scrap that now because with your luck the flurry will turn into a snow storm. After you get done with filling your tank and paying, you move your car and run into the gas station because you need to stock up on something to snack on.

First thing you go for is your Monster Energy but stop at the fridge that contains all the different brands of water in it. You think about how last Monday you didn’t have anything to drink with you and were dying of thirst. It seemed as if Professor Tepes read your mind because he offered you a few bottles of water that would hold you over until you could get to a vending machine. You didn’t give it any thought because you were going through caffeine withdrawal and just going about your days like a robot. This thing with Andrew snapped you out of your trance and made you feel like you’ve gained free will.

But now that you can think clearly, you decide the best thing for you is to get some waters because you felt better after drinking them. You still buy some Monsters but not as many, then you go over into the snack section, once again remembering how Professor Tepes offered you a granola bar and an orange one morning because he must have heard your stomach growling before class. After spending your childhood running off of junk food you never think to eat anything that’s even remotely healthy for you. It was easy to just go off of frozen tv dinners and fast food, but now that you have money to actually spend on healthier things it might be time to switch up your diet. Though you still have that immense fear that if something were to happen then you wouldn’t have any money.

You’ll attempt to go to the store tomorrow and buy some produce to last you a week, see how you feel after but for now you’re just going to buy what you can get from the gas station. Getting the small fresh fruit and vegetables cups, along with some of those parfait cups, and snack wraps.

When you get to the counter you look like you went grocery shopping in the gas station, but you need to make sure you have something for the weekend. After you’re done you walk out of the gas station and notice how the snow seems to be falling heavier, so you decide it’s best to just go back to campus. When you get back you decide to eat and go back to bed, which is exactly what you do.

You wake up at 8 AM and see how the flurry from last night hasn’t left any snow on the ground, so you decide that you want to go out on this beautiful but freezing cold Saturday morning. You get up, get a quick shower, do your morning routine, cover up your scar, and decide to go out.

Your plan last night was to go to the grocery store this morning but since you got some stuff from the gas station last night you decide not to. Though it does give you the idea to go to the mall, and makes you remember it’s your little sister Marie, girlfriend’s birthday is today. So you call up Marie and offer to take her and Julia to the mall, which they agree to without any hesitation.

You have to pick them up from Julia’s house and as soon as you pull into the driveway you hit the horn, chuckling when you see them run out of the house. They both get into the back seats together and you decide to make a joke about it. Looking at them through the rearview mirror and saying with a smirk, “better not do anything while you’re back there.”

“Oh shut up!” Marie says in mock annoyance, making you and Julia giggle. Once they are both buckled up you pull out of the driveway and begin the drive to the mall.

“So how’s school? Do they have you choosing your classes for next year yet?” You ask, it’s been awhile since you’ve been able to hang out with Marie and Julia. Well, it’s been awhile since you hung out with any of your siblings. You still have frequent Skye calls, but with everyone’s schedules it’s hard to get into depth about any topics, plus the youngest ones tend to take over.

“Not yet, but we're planning on continuing our advanced courses,” Marie says happily.

Marie is smart- all of your siblings are in their own ways- but Marie is especially bright. She is at the highest level that high school can provide and passes them all with ease. She is the one that’s going to make your family’s name actually worth something, and you’re so proud of her for it. You would get all sappy over this but you know they’ll just start cringing, so you give her a big smile and playfully say, “that’s not surprising.”

“Our study group has gotten bigger, so that helps,” Julia chimes in, they all meet whenever they have a big test coming. Marie and Julia are the ones who created it, which is what led them into dating.

Marie was very socially awkward at first and she still is, but Julia is extroverted. They met after Julia moved into town a few years ago and met Marie in the school library, they instantly became friends. As Julia’s friend group grew, Marie’s did as well and since all of the friends are academically gifted the study group came to be. But Julia’s and Marie’s bond was always stronger than the rest, eventually they were spending time outside of school together. They had a lot of one on one time together and Julia became Marie’s queer awakening, the rest is history.

The only reason why they keep it private is because first of all it’s nobody’s business, and the second reason is because of your homophobic parents that would kick Marie out in a heartbeat if they found out she was a lesbian.

At home your parents are mostly absent so Marie and Julia tend to be safe to show affection but there is that possibility. Plus with all the siblings running around they decide not to for the sake of not wanting to hear their comments. That’s why they tend to hang out at Julia’s place, her parents are accepting and make sure their home is a safe space for them. Plus there was only Julia’s little sister, Rachel who minds her own business. Julia also likes to make music so her room is in the soundproof basement, which is nice for Marie since it gives her a break from all the noise at home. At least that’s what she tells everyone, besides you. She spills all her dirty secrets to you because you’re her older sister who she tells everything to whenever you two have time to gossip.

But you are keeping secrets from her like you do everyone, secrets that you have been reminded of upon hearing that there are new people in their study group. You keep your composure and nonchalant attitude, “oh? Tell me about them.”

“There have been a bunch of new kids in the school and a few of them no one knows where they came from-” Marie says with a shrug, “-they keep it to themselves, like they’re trying to be mysterious or something.”

“More like suspicious,” Julia says with a semi aggressive tone, which says a lot because she is a social butterfly that likes to make friendly acquaintances with nearly everyone. So for someone to give her an off putting feeling is something to be wary about, “I don’t like them.”

Marie rolls her eyes and teasingly says, “you’re just mad that someone was asking about me.”

You tense up, squeezing the steering wheel tightly to the point that your knuckles turn white but you keep your eyes on the road and listen to them playfully squabble in hopes to get more information. When you get nothing you decide to ask a question, “did you catch this kid’s name? Or know what he looks like?”

“No,” Marie shrugs, she’s lucky to be so naïve of the reasons why someone looking for her could potentially end up very badly. “How come?”

You shake your head, “no reason in particular, just curious.”

It doesn’t take long to get to the mall and all three of you excitedly jump out of the car once it’s parked. Julia looks over at you and asks, “where to first?”

“It’s your birthday, so you decide!” You say and just follow behind them as they head to a store that is filled with alternative fashion. You don’t think much of it since you’re only at the front of the store but as you drift towards the back of the store the merchandise becomes a bit more concerning.

There are shirts that say some pretty obscure things that you wouldn’t wouldn’t expect to find at a store in the mall.

“Hey sis!” Marie says as she steps up to you and when you turn around you see her with a cheeky grin as she holds out a box out for you to take. “I found something for you!”

“Huh?” You say as you take the box and when you look down at it to read the label you nearly drop it. Marie just handed you a dildo, “Marie!”

Marie and Julia both burst out laughing as your face becomes flushed with red and you look for a place to set down the rather large box your little sister gave you. But Julia lets you hand it off to her and goes to put it back on the shelf that was only a few feet away from where you were currently standing.

“Why would you hand something like that?!” You ask Marie who is still chuckling, you’re dumbstruck by the fact that they sell such a thing.

“I figured you would like it,” Marie teases, “I mean you’re so stressed out with classes, you deserve a little release.”

“Marie!” You smack her arm, which only makes her laugh once more, “you’re such a twat!”

“Love you too sis,” Marie says with an eye roll. Her and Julia were planning on doing this as soon as you offered to take them to the mall.

“Hey babe!” Julia calls out, Marie and you walk around the corner, passing more of the merchandise that’s for the bedroom. Eventually being met with the sight of Julia playfully holding onto a stripper’s pole, “I think you’d look good on one of these.”

Marie laughs and walks over to the pole, holding onto it as well, “I don’t know. What do you think, sis?”

You stare at the both of them blankly and sternly say, “no, no sister of mine is becoming a stripper.”

This surprised them because you weren’t the type to talk that way when it came to such innocent jokes, they don’t know that the reason why you gained this attitude is because you’re a stripper. None of your family knows what you do for a living and Peter is the only one who knows about you being a dealer in the past.

Marie and Julia can tell by your tone that making a joke right now isn’t in their best interest, so they move on. All three of you circle back around the front, it’s easy to transition back to normal because of the ability to make jokes about all the lewd things the store sells.

“Julia, I think you need the one that says I heart MILFS,” you say playfully as you pull the shirt off of the racks and hold it out to her.

Marie looks at Julia and chuckles, “she’s not wrong babe!”

“Oh, whatever!” Julia rolls her eyes but takes the shirt, planning on getting it because they’re not wrong. Julia does love MILFs, she looks up at you and playfully asks, “you’re paying right?”

“It’s your birthday, so of course,” you say and look at a few other shirts, all of them being something you would never wear.

“Hey sis, you need this one,” Marie decides to mess with you again, showing you a shirt that she knows you’ll hate.

“I haven’t-“ you say the words out loud as your eyes skim across the shirt, “-lost my vir…”

When you catch on you stop reading the shirt and playfully hit her arm, “Marie! I’m going to make you wait out in the car if you keep this up!”

Marie bursts out laughing and so does Julia when she reads the shirt that says ‘I haven’t lost my virginity because I never lose.’ Julia decides to jump in on the teasing too but she keeps her voice down, “is that why you said she needs the dildo?”

Marie nods and your face burns with embarrassment, you didn’t need everyone to know that. Your voice nearly squeaks as you say, “we’re done here! It’s time to check out!”

Once Marie and Julia are done laughing so hard that they are crying they comply with the order, going over to the check out. You pay for the shirts and knick knacks they wanted then the three of you leave the store. You look at them and playfully say, “now that you two are done tantalizing me, where to next?”

They both shrug, they only care to go into the shop that they just left so the rest of the time it’s just window shopping. Eventually stopping at a bookstore to explore, which you are more enthused about than they are. You try to have them go in with you but they decide to go to the food court instead, leaving you to your own devices. Immediately you head for the *adult* fantasy section but not before passing a familiar figure that was in the history section, causing you to nearly stop in your tracks.

Alucard’s ears perk up, your footsteps he can always apart from all of the rest and he didn’t hesitate to look up at you and smile, “hello.”

“Hey-” you smile back, “-I know I shouldn’t be surprised seeing you but it’s always odd to see a teacher outside of school.”

Alucard chuckles, “it’s surprising how many students I see when I’m out but none of them tend to notice. Though I’m not complaining, I see my students enough at school.”

You know he’s only joking so you playfully put your hand on your chest and dramatically gasp, “well that hurt!”

Alucard shakes his head in fake disapproval of your theatrics and puts the book he was looking at back on the shelf then pulls off another one to look at. He playfully says, “well sometimes the truth hurts.”

“That’s an understatement,” you say and walk over to him, looking at the book he is holding. You see that it’s ‘The Last Days Of Socrates’ by Plato, “philosophy, eh?”

“I read a little bit of everything,” Alucard plainly says as he reads the back of the book. He likes to read about philosophers and think about how his morals can sometimes differ from theirs. “So do you mind me asking why you’ve been out of class?”

You were waiting for that to come up, “I had some family matters to attend to. Did I miss much?”

Alucard sets the book back on the shelf and looks at you once more, “nothing that you can’t handle catching up on. I hope everything is alright and it’s more than okay for you to miss some time in order to take care of your home life.”

“That won’t be necessary Sir, I should be back in class by Monday,” you reassure him. You aren’t completely back in the right headspace but you missed being in his class to get over it. “And I’ll have a water with me.”

“Oh?” Alucard was a bit surprised by that but happy about it because he was afraid your heart would explode with the way you overload your body with caffeine. “No more Monsters for you?”

“Oh no, I still need my Monsters but I’m going to try to drink less of them. I also plan on eating something every once in a while,” you say playfully. You know this is none of your History Professor business but it doesn’t hurt to talk to him in a friendly manner.

“Well that’s good,” Alucard says with a small nod. He’s thinking the same thing as you about how it’s a bit odd that you two are behaving in such a casual manner but that’s all it is, casual. “I expect those kind of eating habits from the ones fresh out of high school because their young bodies can still handle that type of thing.”

You dramatically gasp, “Professor Tepes, are you calling me old?!”

“Not old, just older,” Alucard chuckles, “but I can’t say much. I am getting up there at the ripe old age of forty-five.”

“Yet not a single gray hair,” you shake your head, “dealing with hundreds of teenagers a day. I can barely stand my little sister and her girlfriend who I brought with me.”

“Ah, I was wondering why you were here,” Alucard admits. Though you being here on your own makes as much sense as him being here on his own. But his goddaughter Seras told him about a bookstore in the mall, so he decided to give it a shot.

“It’s my sister’s girlfriend’s birthday and after dealing with another one of my little brothers I decided I could spend time with my sister,” you sigh. You didn’t even want to think about Andrew’s BS but here you are.

“Seems like you have a lot of people to keep up with,” Alucard says, thinking that it is only the three of your siblings and perhaps your parents you’re trying to keep in touch with.

You roll your eyes and playfully say, “that's an understatement when you have eleven siblings to worry about.”

Alucard’s eyes go wide and he pauses for a moment trying to think of something to say, all he could come up with is, “well, you’re right it *was* an understatement.”

“Heh-” you didn’t mean to reveal that much about yourself to him but at the same time; what does it matter anyway? What does he have to gain and what do you have to lose by him knowing that little bit of information about you? “Yeah, it’s a lot, especially when they range from eighteen to three, part of the reason why I’m so late getting around to college.”

“But at least you made it, no? You have great potential and it shows with everything you write.” Alucard compliments you and he truly means it. Every essay you've turned in seems like you’re majoring in the field you’re writing them for.

You can feel your cheeks burning, you’re not used to getting compliments so it’s hard to accept them without feeling awkward, “th-thank you professor.”

Alucard nods and can feel how you’re becoming uncomfortable so decides it’s best to end this interaction, “well, I should let you go, I hope you have a good time with your sister and her girlfriend, and see you in class tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” you nod, somewhat disappointed to stop talking to him so soon but somehow relieved at the same time. Besides you should be getting back to Marie and Julia, but first you’re going to get some books, so you head to the adult fantasy. Which luckily has rows of other genres between it.

You don’t get there because Marie and Julia stop you after you’re only two rows away from the one you were talking to Alucard in. They thought that would be far enough for him not to hear their whispers to you, but they’re louder than what they realize.

“He was handsome, you should have gotten his number,” Julia teases.

“Yeah, then you won’t need that vibrator,” Marie says with a smug grin.

Your eyes go wide in horror and immediately shoot down the thought, aggressively whispering, “that is my history teacher!”

“Well there is no need for role playing in the bedroom,” Julia smirks, her and Marie laughing at your misery.

Alucard can hear all the teasing and torment you're being put through and it’s enough to make his own cheeks go red as he becomes flustered as well. To think that two teenage girls could be so lewd… The newer generations absolutely baffle him with how openly they’ll talk about some topics.

“He looks like the type to tie you up-” Marie chuckles, “-you should test that theory, sis.”

“His hands are so big he’ll only need one to choke you-” Julia adds on, “-if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Oh, trust me, she is, and I know it because of what types of books she reads,” Marie states. “That’s the exact reason why she came in here.”

You don’t know what’s worse; their teasing, Marie knowing that you read erotic novels, or the fact that you want to ‘test that theory’ as your sister put it. You’re lying when you say that you don’t think of your professor in such ways. Alucard is undeniably handsome and if your life was any other way you’d have asked him on a date. But your life revolves solely around your family and nothing else.

“Aren’t you two lesbians?!” You hiss, “and you’re only seventeen! You shouldn’t be talking about stuff like this! Especially to an adult!”

“I’m eighteen now, thank you very much,” Julia states.

“And I’m going to be eighteen in a few months,” Maria adds on.

“Key word; is teen, you two aren’t adults yet!” You say, but no matter how old they are, they are still little kids in your eyes.

Marie rolls her eyes, “yeah, yeah, you’re old. We get it.”

You scowl, “you’re the one who's given me gray hairs and wrinkles!”

“Not uh! That was the rest of them! I was the perfect angel!” Marie says but after a moment of silence all three of you burst out laughing. That is until one of the workers approaches and politely asks to please quiet down, which you three do.

When you check the time you see that it’s almost 1 PM and that means it’s time to get going if you want to make it back to your dorm at a decent hour. So you leave the mall, taking Marie and Julia back to Julia’s house then head back to school.

It’s a little after 10 PM when you get back to school and you’re exhausted. You grab your hoodie that you threw in the backseat and hear the sound of a plastic bag. You look at it and see that it’s tied in a knot, not that you planned on snooping in it anyway. You text Marie to let her know that she left a bag in your car but she texts back saying that it’s for you with a smiley face. You shrug, thinking nothing of it and pick the bag up, taking it back to your dorm with you because you didn’t want to stay out in the cold any longer just to see what it is.

That was a mistake.

You open your door, happy to see your roommate isn’t there- like usual- and set the bag down on your bed then head to the bathroom to do your nightly routine. Once done with that you sit on your bed and open up the bag to see a few things. There’s two shirts, one with your favorite band on it, and the other has a Monster Energy logo. A pack of bookmarks, some weirdly shaped pens- you’re thankful that they aren’t lewd- then a stuffed animal.

Then at the very bottom was a small rectangular box with no label. You open the box and raise an eyebrow when you see it’s a lipstick, but when you open the lipstick the tip of it is rubber and there is a button. Your tiredness keeps you from catching on and when you push the button the lipstick starts vibrating. Then it clicks, your eyes going wide in horror and you nearly drop it.

You immediately turn it off and text Marie in all caps, telling her that you’re going to hurt her. She responds with ‘there is a no return policy so might as well use it’ and you want to kill her. But that’s illegal so you put the lipstick back in its box and put it in your suitcase under your bed then try to sleep.

=======

Like promised, you are back to class on Monday and are early as always but this time you came to class with water, a Monster, and a granola bar.

“Good morning professor,” you say with a smile as you sit down in the front row like usual.

“Good morning,” Alucard smiles, noticing a difference in your attitude. You’re usually visibly exhausted and he’s glad to see you’re starting the day off with a good mood, “you’re rather chipper.”

“I’ve found that eating every once in a while actually makes me feel good,” you chuckle and open your laptop to continue working on the stuff you needed to catch up on which you started on yesterday. Alucard was right, it’s nothing you couldn’t handle and after having a lot of rest you easily could work on what you missed. Though, your well restedness is going to end tonight because you have to start working again. One thing you’re grateful about when it comes to your job is that after working there for so long the owner understands that you aren’t the type to call out unless something serious has come up. But you feel like you already took advantage of that enough and even though you were told to take as much time as you needed, you decided that you were going back to work tonight. Until then, you need to focus on your school work.

Though you can sense a difference in the atmosphere, you’re not sure what it is but something just feels off. When you look up from your screen you see Alucard sitting at his desk like usual but he isn’t reading a book or looking at his computer, he's just blankly staring at nothing in front of him. You don’t want to disturb him but you can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking about.

Alucard is thinking about what your sister and her girlfriend said to you at the mall. It’s stuck with him all weekend because of how shocking it was to hear. Alucard isn’t oblivious to the fact that students of his have found him attractive but it’s still weird to hear. Not only that, what they suggested what he might be into, that truly caught him off guard because he didn’t know that he gives that kind of impression.

Alucard has had his fair share of partners, from eighteen to about twenty three he was a total man whore, always having one night stands and many friends with benefits. After that he had a few serious relationships, along with an ex wife that he hasn’t had contact with since he was thirty two. Then after that he tried dating again but couldn’t get into any serious relationships, so he gave up and has stopped looking for any kind of a relationship for the past few years. Which hasn’t been all too bad, yes there are times when he misses companionship but he gets over it.

And with all that being said, Alucard has never even once had a kinky or experimental partner. Nor has he ever put much thought into things such as bdsm, the thought has crossed his mind here and there but not enough for him to want to try.

Then hearing that you were into such a thing, he didn’t know how to feel about that and now that he thought about it he looks up at you. Only to see you looking at him.

You make eye contact with your professor and part of you wants to immediately look away but for some reason you don’t. So you hold your gaze, looking deep into his blue eyes as you ask him, “are you alright sir?”

“I am alright,” Alucard lies but it’s nowhere near convincing. He is somewhat torn between revealing that he heard the conversation in the bookstore or just keeping it to himself in order to keep the student/teacher relationship from becoming inappropriate.

“Well that’s good,” you say, not wanting to push him to reveal what is actually on his mind. So you guide the conversation to something else, “did you buy that philosophy book?”

“No, I did not. Did you buy anything?” Alucard is not sure if he wants to know the answer to that question, given that he found out you read erotic novels.

Alucard knows he shouldn’t find it that odd but he does because you don’t seem like the type to read those sorts of things, nor do you look like you’d be kinky. Maybe it’s because you’re so family oriented, or maybe it’s because of that reserved nature of yours.

You shake your head, “sadly no, I had to take the girls home so I could get back to my dorm at a decent hour.”

“That’s understandable, the mall is a good distance away from here,” Alucard says with a nod. After a pause he can’t stop himself from asking you, “what kind of novels do you read?”

“Just fantasy,” you say with a shrug. There is never a need to tell anyone that you read books that come with disclaimers and warnings about the graphic content that is held between its covers.

“No romance?” Alucard expected you not to reveal the nature of what you actually read but he doesn’t know why he’s asking questions.

You’ve been in this scenario before, where someone asks you if you read romance books. Whenever you answer ‘yes’ they connect the fact that adult romance novels tend to have adult scenes. Which leads them into asking you what type of things you prefer in the bedroom. So you’ve just realized it’s better to deny the fact you read romance novels, “nope. I don’t care much for them.”

Alucard nods and before any more questions can be exchanged between you two, other students begin to enter the class room. Not too long after the bell rings and it’s time for class to start, and that’s when Alucard reveals that some of the big tests are starting next week. Then he goes on to teach class as normal.

Now you’re going to be riddled with anxiety for the next few weeks, which is just great.

[drakeandkatherine]

The Royal Romance AU Fan Fiction- Drake x MC Trouble: Chapter 2  I Dare You

Finally! Chapter 2 is here! Catch up with chapter one here! (also made a couple small dialogue changes so feel free to read it again! also...cause its been months since i posted the first chapter I feel like a refresh might be needed)

Trouble will be completely different from my previous fic, Trouble Is.

As always, Drake, Hana, Liam, Maxwell, Olivia, Madeline, and any other characters from The Royal Romance belong to Pixelberry. My MC Katherine Delacroix is all mine and i love this bean.

Description: A game of truth or dare with a twist await Katherine and friends. What could go wrong? 

In this AU the TRR gang are in college and royal life never existed for them! As I write these characters, I am trying to think of how they would be and how they would act and talk, if they never had courtly manners and rules to follow. I want to keep them similar to TRR canon, but not so much that it isn't realistic with how they are without a royal life in Cordornia. So please bare with me!

Warnings: drinking/alcohol use, language, drug mentions, death mentions

Tags: @drakewalker04​ @burnsoslow​ @marshmallowsandfire​ @princessleac1​

“Alright! I think we have enough players. Let’s get this game started!” Maxwell smiled and looked around the small circle that had formed around the fire pit.

“What are the rules this time, Maxwell?” A blonde sitting across from Katherine asked. ‘He looks like a prince.’ Katherine thought. 

“Ah, good question, Liam. The rules tonight will be...” Maxwell took a minute to think. “Aha! If you pass a dare, you have to take a shot. Truths are free game, but you can’t pass a dare without taking a shot!” Everyone nodded. Just then, a platinum blonde came stumbling to the circle, sitting on Liam’s lap. 

“Are we really playing this stupid game again?” She asked, taking a swig of the bottle she held in her hand. Liam sighed, looking visibly annoyed. 

“You know, Madeline, if you don’t want to play, you can go back inside.” He said, clearly not enjoying the drunk girl sitting on his lap. Katherine couldn’t help  but stare. This girl, Madeline, was clearly wasted. Madeline noticed Katherine’s eyes on her. 

“What are you staring at?”Madeline’s eyes narrowed.  Katherine shook her head. 

“Just admiring how pretty you are.” Katherine lied. She didn’t say anything more. Drake leaned over and whispered in Katherine’s ear.

“That’s Madeline. Liam is her ex boyfriend, the one who’s lap she's sitting on. Liam is also my best friend, so I truly have a distaste for that bitch.” Katherine nodded, understanding. “They had a bad break-up, but every time Madeline gets like this she believes they’re still together.” Nodding, she turned her attention back to Maxwell.

“Okay, time to start! Hmm, I think I’ll choose the newbie first. What’s your name?” Maxwell looked to Katherine.

“Me? I’m Katherine.”

“Alright then, Katherine, truth or dare?” Maxwell smiled.

“I guess I’ll start off strong. Dare.” She noticed as some of the others in the circle smiled and snickered, possibly thinking she was a fool for picking dare on the first turn. 

“Oh, hell yeah! Starting the game off right! Okay, I dare you to stand on one leg until you’re chosen again.” Katherine groaned. 

“I’d rather take a shot, thank you.” She grabbed one of the bottles nearby and poured a shot. She tossed it bag, ignoring the urge to gag. ‘Ugh, vodka is not my thing.’

It was her turn to choose next, so she chose Madeline. “Madeline, truth or dare.” Katherine smirked.

“Ugh, if I have too. Truth.” She slurred.

“Why are you acting like a clingy, pathetic puppy towards Liam when he is clearly annoyed with you?” The group went silent. No one had ever stood up to Madeline before, much less insulted her. Katherine hated these kinds of girls, but never had the confidence to do anything about it. ‘Again with this weird confidence. Who am I?’

“Why you..” Madeline started to get up from Liam’s lap. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

“Speak to you like what? Like a normal, sane person asking why you’re being the exact opposite? Get a clue, dude. Stop acting like you’re still together with him, he clearly wants nothing to do with you. Anyone here can see it.” Madeline was seething now. She started taking steps towards Katherine, stumbling. Partygoers had begun to pull their phones out, recording what was happening.

“You’re going to regret th- ow!” Madeline tripped and fell onto the grass, the bottle in her hand dropping and spilling all over Hana.

“Oh my god!” Hana jumped up from where she was sitting, now soaked in the vodka Madeline had spilled. Some who saw what happened started to laugh. Some looked like they felt sympathy for Madeline. 

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Liam sighed as he went over and helped her up. “I’m sorry about all of this, excuse us.” He left with Madeline, nearly having to carry her into the house. 

“That. Was. Awesome!” Maxwell exclaimed, turning excitedly to Katherine. “I haven’t seen anyone put her in her place like that since Olivia did, almost a year ago.” 

“Did someone say my name?” A red-headed girl walked over. “That was impressive, I’m Olivia.” Olivia held out her hand. Katherine shook it and smiled. 

“Thanks. I despise people like that, so I just said what everyone was thinking.” She shrugged. 

“Well, you’re good in my book. I hate that soul sucking succubus.” Olivia laughed. Hana walked over to the little group and grabbed Katherine’s hand. 

“Hey, I am soaking wet, mind coming inside with me while I dry off?” Katherine nodded. 

“Sorry guys, gotta go for now. I’ll see y’all later!” Katherine followed Hana indoors and stood outside the bathroom as Hana grabbed a towel to dry off the vodka.  After a few minutes of waiting and growing impatient, Katherine wandered down the hall. She noticed a door was open and took a peek inside. Drake was sitting on the bed in the room, filling up a glass pipe with what looked like marijuana.

“You gonna share?” Katherine asked, stepping into the room and spooking Drake in the process, nearly making him drop the pipe.

“Jesus, knock next time would you?” Drake scolded. Katherine took a seat next to Drake and laughed.

“I could, but that wouldn’t be any fun.” 

“Whatever. I guess I could share a couple hits of this with you.” Drake said before lighting the bowl and taking a long drag. As he exhaled, he passed it to Katherine. “You smoke?”

“Occasionally. Not as often as I used to.” She said before taking her own long drag from the bowl. “Whenever I snuck out and went to my friends house we would always smoke a bowl.” Her fingers brushed his as she handed it back to him, a jolt of electricity running through her from the touch. ‘I wonder if he felt that too.’

“Heh. I only smoke every once in a while. Just to calm my nerves or irritation from all the dumbasses who come here.” He put the bowl on the side table next to the bed. “Sneaking out? Guess you must have had some strict parents.”

“My grandma was pretty strict.”

“What about your mom and dad?”

“Dead.” Katherine said deadpan. Drake cursed himself. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up something.” He apologized, but Katherine shrugged.

“It’s okay, they died when I was 6.” Katherine forced a smile. “I barely remember them.”

“What happened?” Drake scooted a little closer to her on the bed, hands nearly touching.

“Some bad shit. Like, really bad.” Katherine took a breath. “When I was six, we were visiting my grandma and they had gone out in the middle of the night. They were heavy drug users, I’m talking about heroin, meth, pills. The whole works.” Drake put a comforting hand over her own, nodding and listening.

“Well, I found out what happened when I was older. I found out about how they were users. That night they left, the night they died, was because of a drug deal gone wrong. My mom waited in the car while my dad went in to the house they were at to buy more heroin. He never came back out. Apparently he started a fight with them about the cost and the quantity or something and it got so bad that they just shot him dead. They found my mom, high off of her ass in the car. She had no idea what just happened, and she didn’t even notice when they walked up to the car window. They shot her through the window and fled the scene.” Katherine’s eyes filled with tears. She wasn’t quite sure why she was telling the whole story to a man she just met, but something about him made her trust him. Something about him simply screamed to her that he was safe. 

Drake squeezed her hand and pulled her into a hug. He held her as she sobbed quietly. 

“I’m sorry, that got really dark and now I’m getting make up on your shirt and I must look like a mess.” Katherine said, wiping the tears from her eyes and sitting up right. Drake gave her a small smile. 

“It’s alright, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry that happened to your parents. And to you. No one should have to go through that.” Katherine managed a small smile, thankful for his understanding.

“Thank you, Drake.” A moment of silence passed between them, before she spoke again. “What about you? If we’re sharing our life stories, might as well get it out.” Drake looked at her for a long moment before sighing.

“Well, my mom lives in Texas. It’s where I grew up and met Liam. My dad was in the military and died overseas. My sister goes to a college in Texas, she didn’t want to leave. I felt like I had to the moment I could or else I was going to go insane and be trapped there forever.” Katherine knew exactly what he meant.

“So, how did you end up here? How did you meet Liam?” Katherine asked, lightening up the conversation.

“Liam lived in Texas for a few years when we were kids. We went to the same school and became best friends pretty quickly. He ended up moving here, due to his dad getting a job as this colleges dean. After my dad died, I knew I had to get out of Texas. I’d see Liam on breaks from school occasionally, and one time he mentioned that I should try to get into Applewood. So, that’s what I did. I played sports and kept my grades up in school to make sure I’d get accepted. I’m here on a scholarship, believe it or not.” 

“I can believe it.” Katherine said, smiling. “That’s why I’m able to be here.” She looked at him, feeling the magnetic pull becoming stronger from their conversation. Drake felt it as well, now inches away from her lips, until they heard a loud round of cheering coming from downstairs. Startled and flustered, Katherine stood up from the bed. “We should get back to the party.” Drake nodded, standing up as well. 

Upon returning to the party, they made their way to the kitchen where none other than Hana was lying on the kitchen isle, with her shirt pulled up. Three shots were lined on her stomach, along with salt and lime wedges. 

“Hana, what are you doing?” Katherine asked, walking up to the isle. 

“Body shots! This is so much fun!” Hana laughed. After a random partygoer took the shots and licked the salt off of Hana’s stomach, she stood up and nearly fell to the floor. 

“Whoa, we should get you back to our dorm. You’re definitely drunk.” Katherine said as she caught Hana before she could fall to the floor.

“You’re probably, hiccup, right.” Hana giggled. Katherine looked at Drake. “I’m sorry, but I have to go get this one to bed before she throws up.” 

“It’s all good. Make sure you guys get back safe. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. Good night, Katherine.” Drake smiled, before turning away and walking back up the stairs to his room. ‘Dumbass. Why didn’t you offer to walk with her?’

----------------------------------------

“Alright, Hana. Here you go.” Katherine laid her down onto the bed, even going as far as taking off her shoes. Within an instant, Hana was quietly snoring away. Katherine quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, mind reeling from the events of the night, and thoughts of Drake. Before long, her body gave out and she fell into a heavy sleep.

[pflibteens]

The Deadly Cruise

Thank you to all the teens that entered our Teen Short Story Contest.

THE DEADLY CRUISE by Emma Morrow

My name is Taylor Alexandrea Maxwell and I'm going on a cruise to the Caribbean with my best friend. At least that’s what I thought. Someone had something else in store for me.

 It was dark. I heard screaming and I couldn't find my way out. I thought this might be the end…

 The plan was to meet Lola and her family at 9:00am on Sunday morning. We are really excited to have a break from school and everyone there. I kiss my parents goodbye, grab my bags from the trunk and as I’m walking towards the cruise ship Lola comes into clearer view. I also see some people from school including some that I like including my ex Ace. I broke up with him because I found out that he was cheating on me. Then I see one of my other friends Gale. I looks like he came with his girlfriend Amelia and from the looks of it she brought her entire squad with her. I’m not surprised. Miss Queen Bee is the head cheerleader and her friends Brittany and Sarah are the co-captions. Standing next to them were their boyfriends Tom and Rex who are on our school's football team. Luckily we ended up in separate boarding areas so I didn’t have to scramble for something to say.

 After we got on the cruise ship Lola and I go get our nails done at the spa. I got mine painted blue and Lola got hers done magenta. Just as we were finishing up under the drying lamp, a loud voice rang out over the ship’s speaker system. We were all being called to go to the main deck. When we got there we were faced with a horrifying sight; the captain and all of the workers were dead! The loud speaker interrupted our shock. It sounds like a man's voice saying “Welcome to the deadly cruise I am your new captain and I killed all of them. Will you be my next victim? Taylor , Lola, Ace, Gale, Amelia, Brittany, Sarah,Tom and Rex I would listen very closely to me right now. Do whatever I say or else one of you will die. Have you even noticed that one of you is missing?” We all look around what I saw was terrifying I...I...see lola laying in a pool of blood and a note saying “This is what will happen if you don't obey me.” I screamed “How could you do this to her!” “Oh sweet Taylor I like you. You have a little spunk in you. Oh and Ace how could you do such a thing to Taylor? I mean she is so pretty and sweet how could you cheat on her?” the voice said. “How could you do this to Lola? You're a monster! I yelled.” “You have no idea...now y’all need to get to bed.” “We are not children!”  “No you are my toys.” Then all of a sudden everything went black.

 When I woke up I was back in the cabin. I expected to see Lola and it hit me “that monster murdered her” I thought to myself. I was so upset and to make it worse the voice returned on the speaker. “Hello my toys. I hope that you had a good rest. Now everyone go on the main deck and don't worry about the…mess. I cleaned it all up. And Taylor I'm so sorry. She had to die for all of you to understand that I'm going to get what I want.”

 I get out of bed and think, does it really matter what I’m wearing and go out to the main deck. Everyone is there except Lola and I feel my stomach churn. “I'm glad you are all here but I need to talk to one of you alone. Everyone go to the back of the boat. Turn left and you will see a door. Go inside and await my instructions or else more people will die.” We all go into the room and what we see are millions of mirrors and a single candle lit in what seems to be the middle of the room.  And then it went dark.   I heard screaming and I couldn't find my way out. I thought this might be the end…

 All of a sudden the lights flickered back on and all I saw was somebody standing in front of me. I was wondering what had happen to my friends, did they die? Did he throw them overboard? But then I heard a voice “hello sweet Taylor I bet you're wondering where your friends are.” “Yes I am in fact.” “Well we will have to play a game for you to find out.” I stand up and in my mind I'm thinking that this man standing in front of me is the man who is putting us all through this nightmare. He is also the man that killed my best friend Lola so I ask him a question, “Why are you doing this?” He says nothing so I ask again why are you doing this? He didn’t answer my questions but says to come with him. I follow so he does not kill anyone else. “Have you ever heard of the game hide and seek Taylor?” “Yes I have why do you ask?” “That's the game we are going to play” he tells me. “Why hide and seek?” “Well because I have hidden your friends and you have to seek them. If you can't find your friends in forty-eight hours then I will kill them. Time starts now.”

 By this time we are in the back of the ship and all that is going through my head is how am I going to find out where this psycho put my friends. When I looked up he was gone but I'm not really worried about him being gone. I go into the first room I see. It is pitch black so I close that door and go downstairs. I see a couple of chairs and some rope and duct tape as well. It is pretty dark in there but there is another door in that room and I think “he had my friend’s in here” then that psycho comes on the loudsd peaker saying “I advise you not to go in there Taylor.” All I can think is that he has my friends in there and doesn't want me to find them. I decide to yell “Are you stalking me?” He says “Of course not I'm using my cameras to see you.” “Same difference.” “That's where I keep my dead bodies, don’t go in there Taylor. I’m warning you” he pleads. In shock and not hearing his words, I push the door open. He wasn’t lying.

 Waking up in a pool of sweat, my mother barges in begging me to wake up, “You’ll miss the boat if you don’t get up right now Taylor; that cruise ship is not going to wait for you. And please don’t forget your toothbrush.” “Hey Mom? I think I just want to stay home for spring break.”