Chapter 2.

Maya’s POV.

I didn't wait for him to speak. I turned and walked toward the direction the butler had pointed earlier.

My hand found a door and I pushed inside.

Small room, a bed, desk and window. I dropped my bag and pressed my hand to my chest, trying to slow my heart.

"You can't just walk away from me." His voice came from the doorway.

I turned around. Jaxson leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching me.

"I'm tired," I responded, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'll start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." He was closer now. "You said we'd start tomorrow." His hand reached out and knocked a small lamp off the dresser.

It hit the floor with a crack, I jumped. My back hit the wall.

He kept coming.

His hand landed on the wall beside my head. Then the other hand. I was in-between him.

My heart slammed against my ribs, I couldn't breathe.

Up close, he was different.

His jaw was sharp, his lips were full, the bottom one slightly bigger than the top. His nose had a small bump on the bridge, like it had been broken once. It should have made him less perfect. It didn't.

His eyes weren't just blue. They were grey-blue with flecks of gold. His skin was tan.

He leaned in, his mouth near my ear. His breath on my neck.

"I hate being controlled," he whispered. “So….. I will choose a day but definitely not tomorrow.”

Then he pushed off the wall and walked away. I pressed my hands to my face. What was wrong with me?

He was my bully, he locked me in that closet, he laughed while I begged. I hated him.

So why did my stomach flip when he got close?

No boy had ever been that close to me, ever looked at me like that.

“I hated him…..I hated him,” I chanted, until my heart finally slowed.

The next morning, I stood in the kitchen, clutching a mug of coffee I didn't want. I hadn't slept.

Footsteps. I looked up.

A man walked in. Tall, older. The same sharp jaw as Jaxson, but brown eyes. He smiled at me.

"You must be Maya,” he said in a low tone. "I'm Richard. Jaxson's father."

I nodded, my throat tight.

"Welcome to our home." He poured himself coffee. "I hope my son hasn't been too difficult. He can be... challenging."

I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded again.

"You're in the same school with Jaxson," Richard said. "Same grade, I'm told. So you'll ride together."

I smiled. “Th……”

"No." Jaxson said, interrupting me. He stood in the doorway, his eyes cold. "No way. She's not riding with me."

Richard's eyes narrowed. "Jaxson."

"She's…." Jaxson stopped, stared at me. His lip curled. "Fine. Whatever."

Richard smiled at me again, oblivious. "See? Settled."

I wanted to scream.

---

The car was black. Bigger than any car I'd ever been in. I sat on one side, pressed against the door.

Jaxson sat on the other, as far from me as possible. His jaw was tight. His hands were fists.

He kept glancing at the rearview mirror, like he was making sure no one was watching us.

We drove in silence for ten minutes.

"Stop the car!" Jaxson barked.

The driver glanced back. "Sir?"

"You fucking heard me. Stop the car!"

The car pulled over. Jaxson leaned across me and shoved the door open.

"Get out."

I stared at him. "What?"

"I said get out,” he said, his voice low and mean. "There's no way I'm showing up to school with you. You think I want people seeing me with someone like you?"

The words hit like a slap.

"I can't…." My voice cracked. "It's far. I don't know the way."

"Not my problem." He grabbed my bag and threw it onto the sidewalk. Then he pushed me hard.

I stumbled out of the car, landed on my hands and knees on the cold ground. The door slammed shut and the car drove away.

What did I do to deserve this? I had no money.

I walked the rest of the way. I didn't know how long it took. My feet hurt. My eyes burned but I wouldn't let them cry. I bit my lips hard.

I got to school forty-five minutes late.

The hallway was empty. Everyone was in class. I slipped into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

I was a mess. My hair was wild, my clothes were dirty from the sidewalk. I looked every bit the riffraff I felt I was.

I splashed water on my face and tried to fix my hair. It didn't help.

The bell rang.

I walked to class. Opened the door. Every head turned.

"There she is," Tiffany sang. "Late and looking... well. Like she slept in a dumpster."

Laughter filled the classroom.

I kept my eyes on the floor and walked to my seat.

"Seriously though," Chloe whispered loudly. "Do you smell that? What is that?"

More laughter.

Jaxson sat in the back. He didn't laugh. He didn't look at me at all.

I stared at my desk. My hands shook, my throat burned. I pressed my nails into my palms.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

---

By the time I reached the house, my feet were blistered. Jaxson made me walk home again.

I went straight to my room, locked the door and sat on the floor.

The tears came. Hot, fast and ugly. I pressed my hands to my mouth so no one would hear.

I cried until even the tears betrayed me. Then I showered.

A knock.

"Maya." The butler's voice. "Young master is ready for his tutoring session. His room. Down the hall. Now."

I stared at the door. This was my life now. Must Jaxson always be on my face?

With a sigh, I walked down the hall, stopped in front of his door. Knocked.

"Come in."

I pushed it open.

His room was huge, dark walls, and a bed that looked too big for one person. And him, sitting on the edge, looking at me.

I stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind me.

"I'm here," I said. My voice was flat.

He didn't move or speak. Just watched me with those grey-blue eyes.

I waited.

Then he said, "Sorry."

I blinked.

“Uh?”

Chapter 3.

Maya's POV.

I blinked.

Like my eyes were trying to reset my brain because there was no way those words just came out of his mouth.

"Sorry?" I muttered.

He stood up. Walked toward me.

I stepped back, my back hit the door. He kept coming, stopped inches away. His eyes searched my face like he was looking for something.

I didn't know what, I didn't know anything anymore.

"For this morning," he said. His voice was low and husky. "Pushing you out of the car. Making you walk." He paused. "That was... fucked up."

He was close, I could feel the heat coming off him. My heart was doing that thing again. The stupid thing.

I couldn't breathe, not because of fear this time. Because of something else. Something worse.

"It's fine," I whispered. I needed him to move, needed air. I needed to think straight. "Really. It's fine."

I reached for the door handle behind my back.

His hand caught my wrist.

"Wait."

I looked up. His face was right there. Inches. His breath on my lips.

"I'm not done."

And then his mouth was on mine.

My brain stopped, it went blank.

He was kissing me. Jaxson. My bully, he was kissing me.

I should push him. I should. But my hands... my hands were in his hair. When did that happen? When did my fingers tangle in that dark mess? When did I start kissing him back?

His hands found my waist. Pulled me closer. Then higher. His palm cupped my breast and I made a sound I'd never heard myself make before.

Something small, something desperate.

He broke the kiss. His forehead pressed to mine. His breathing was ragged.

"Say you want more." His voice was rough. "Say it."

I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but feel. The heat of him. The hardness of his chest. The way his thumb moved against my right nipple.

"Please," I whispered. I didn't know what I was begging for.

“Please what?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“Please kiss me,” I replied, pulling him closer.

His lips found my neck.

I tilted my head back and let him. My hands gripped his hair, pulling him closer, needing more.

An alarm blared, ruining everything.

Jaxson jerked back like he'd been burned. He stared at me. His eyes were wild.

"Shit." He ran a hand through his hair. "Shit. I have somewhere to be."

He grabbed his bag. His jacket. Didn't look at me.

The door slammed.

I stood there, pressed against the door. My lips tingled, my chest heaved, my whole body was on fire.

I touched my mouth with shaking fingers.

He kissed me, Jaxson kissed me.

And I kissed him back.

I don't remember walking back to my room. One moment I was against his door, the next I was sitting on my bed, touching my lips like they belonged to someone else.

I pressed my hands to my burning face. My world was interrupted when a knock came in.

"Maya." The butler. "A word."

I opened the door. He stood there.

"The child you'll be babysitting arrives next week. Chelsea. She's ten. Young master's sister."

Sister? Jaxson had a sister?

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"With Mr. Richard. They're visiting family." He paused. "You won't interact with her until they return. Questions?"

I had so many questions. About Jaxson's mother. About why no one mentioned her. About why this house felt so empty for such a big family.

"No," I said.

He left.

I spent the rest of the day in my room. Staring at the ceiling. Touching my lips. Wondering.

Jaxson didn't come back that night. I knew because I listened. Because I hated that I listened. Because I caught myself waiting for footsteps that never came.

******

Morning came too fast.

The driver dropped me at the gate, Jaxson left earlier to school.

I pushed it open.

People were staring, a group of girls by the steps. Some guys near the basketball court. They looked at me and whispered.

One girl covered her mouth. Another shook her head with something like disgust.

I glanced down at my clothes. Same as always. Hand-me-down jeans. A sweater with a small hole near the cuff. Nothing new.

So why were they looking at me like that? I walked faster. Kept my eyes on the ground. I pushed open the classroom door.

Silence.

Every head turned. Every single person in that room stared with the same expression.

Disgust.

"There she is." Tiffany's voice cut through, "The desperate chick."

I frowned. "What?"

“I always knew you were pathetic." She stood up. Walked toward me. "But this? This is a new level. Even when he looks disgusted, you still cling to him?”

"I don't know what you're….."

She turned her phone around and my world stopped.

It was me!

Against a door, my hands in his hair, my lips moving against his. My voice, saying "please kiss me" over and over.

Begging, while Jaxson's face stayed cold, he did nothing. He just stood there and let me make a fool of myself.

But that's not what happened. I grabbed the phone. Tiffany let me.

The video was edited. He made it look like he was rejecting me, like I was some desperate, disgusting girl throwing herself at him while he tried to escape.

I scrolled through the comments under the video.

“Desperate.”

“Embarrassing.”

“Someone get her some self-respect.”

“Imagine begging like that and still getting rejected.”

Tiffany snatched her phone back. My vision blurred.

The bell rang.

Everyone moved to their seats, laughing and snickering, while my phone buzzed, messages from numbers I didn't know.

“Saw the video. Yikes.”

“Do you have no shame?”

“Delete yourself fr.”

I turned my phone off, and for the first time, I didn't tell myself not to cry.

Because what was the point?

Jaxson kissed me just to destroy me.

Chapter 4

Maya's POV

The classes passed by in a blur, I barely registered anything the teachers said.

I have been dragging my feet around the school all day, trying to forget that people were talking wherever I passed.

They didn't bother to hide it, they didn't whisper. They even pointed fingers at me.

All mocking me for throwing myself at Jaxson. They must think I'm some despicable being.

Maybe i should just drop out of the school, maybe all of this would end.

"Arggg!" I let out a yelp as I tripped over something... No, someone purposely tripped me.

Staring back at me was a grinning Tiffany, while the whole hallway erupted in a mocking laughter.

"She must be thinking about how she is going to throw herself at him again, probably why she tripped."

"Of course, that's all she ever thinks about."

"I can't even begin to imagine how disgusted Jaxson must have felt when she kissed him."

"She must think, if she was able to get into his pants, her spot on the cheerleader's team would be secured."

I zeroed out of what they were saying, picking myself off the floor and dusting the dirt. I walked past Tiffany, not bothering to respond or glance back at her.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding when I got outside the school.

"It's finally over." I muttered under my breath but I knew deep down, it wasn't.

I would still get to see Jaxson when I get back to the house. Maybe I should confront him, demand answers as to why he would decide to tarnish my image this way.

I jumped back in shock, my heart almost jumping out of my chest as a car honked beside me.

I placed my hand on my racing chest, trying to calm down as I took a look at the car. It was the same one that picks and drops Jaxson.

The same one I was supposed to go back to the house with but I wasn't going to.

"Miss, you are the one we are waiting for." The driver said, as he rolled down the window.

"I'm fine." I cleared my throat. "You can head back without me, I will walk home."

I noticed as his gaze went to the back, just where Jaxson was sitting, scrolling on his phone and not even sparing me a glance.

Yeah, walking home was better.

"But, it's far. You are going to get home late." The driver insisted but I shook my head.

"I'm good. You can go back without me, thank you for offering me a ride." I started walking away before he could say another word.

My eyes caught sight of Jaxson, just in time to see him looking at me before he glanced away.

I continued walking on the sidewalk while the car followed after me slowly.

Why are they following me?

I was tempted to ask but I wasn't sure I was going to like the response I would get, so I ignored it.

I had planned to cry my eyes out while walking back home but with the car trailing behind me, I couldn't.

I don't want Jaxson to see me cry. I don't want to give him that satisfaction anymore.

I know he must already be impressed with himself that he has managed to break me and publicly humiliate me.

My hands went to my waist, I was already tired from walking but thank goodness, I'm not too far from the house anymore.

Just then, the car sped past me. Now, moving at the speed a car should initially move with.

I'm sure Jaxson must have told the driver to slow down so he can savor my misery. He must be so happy with himself.

A few minutes later, I got back to the house and went straight to the room that was given to me.

I dropped my bag close to the foot of the bed and went to the bathroom. Locked the door and stood under the shower, and turned it on.

Letting the cold water wash over me as I was finally able to cry my eyes out.

I should have pushed him away.

I should never have kissed him back, or begged him to kiss me.

If only I had known this was the evil plan he had in my mind. After crying for almost an hour, I was starting to feel cold and my eyes already hurt.

I took off my already wet clothes and took a quick shower before going back to the room. I put on something comfortable that would bring me warmth.

I moved to the mirror, to take a look at myself.

A gasp left me as I took a look at myself in the mirror. My eyes were swollen, double their usual size.

A knock came on the door and I scrambled away from the mirror to check on who was at the door.

"The young master wishes for you to join him in the living room. He is ready for today's tutoring session." The butler said, immediately I opened the door.

I was going to tell him I was too tired to tutor today but I decided against it. It was my job after all, I might as well just go and do it.

"Of course, I will join him very soon." I finally responded. "I just need to grab my lesson note."

"I will let him know." The butler nodded, he looked like he wanted to say something else but he didn't.

He offered me a little smile before walking away.

I turned back to my room, I grabbed some of my notes and walked towards the living room.

There sat Jaxson with his phone in hand and books on the table.

I wonder what he intends to do now.

"I'm here for your tutoring session." I announced after standing in the living room for three minutes and he seemed not to have noticed my presence or he just chose to ignore me.

"What are we learning today?" He asked, finally glancing up from his phone.

"Maybe we will learn about framing innocent people." I seethed, my grip on the books in my hand tightening.

"Excuse you?"