Page 28 of Hidden Truths

“Kash, we’re to be married soon. You can let me sit on your lap so I don’t get cold from the marble surrounding the fountain,” she demands, her voice worse than nails on a chalkboard as she projects loud enough for everyone to hear her. “I’ve already told all of these skanks to stay away from you because you’re mine. I will make sure every female on campus knows not to get close to you. Or even look in your direction for any reason. You better make sure no one gets close to you, Kash. I don’t share my man with anyone.”

“We will never be married,” I state, my voice loud enough for everyone to hear as I remove all emotion because I truly feel nothing other than loathing when I look at Marianna. “I want nothing to do with you. And if you didn’t want to be cold sitting over here, you’d have worn a longer skirt that doesn’t show your ass off. That’s the main reason I’ll never be with anyone like you. You want to show your body off to everyone around you and be the center of attention like Karmen and all the other sluts over here. None of us will ever marry a single one of you for any reason.”

Marianna’s face turns red as more than a few girls turn red in the face as they hold in their laughter. They don’t want to anger this girl for some reason. I don’t know what’s been said while I wasn’t here, but I’m sure the guys will fill me in when we’re alone later today. She stomps her foot in anger and attempts to push me into the fountain behind me. I have more strength than she does and her pathetic attempt does nothing but anger me even more.

“Why are you looking at him?” I hear Marianna screech as she finally moves away from me.

I look up to find her making her way to some girl toward the back of the group standing around us. Before any of us can make a move, she pulls her arm back and punches the girl right in the nose. I can hear the crack of her bone from here as blood starts to flow and go down her face to the lowcut white shirt she’s wearing and dripping on the ground at her feet. Screams and yelps of pain fill the air around us as Marianna proceeds to beat the shit out of the girl. We all jump up and go to break them apart.

“Get the fuck off me!” Marianna yells and screams as she fights against Dante’s hold on her. “She doesn’t have the right to look at my fiancé! Let me fucking at her!”

It takes several minutes, but we finally manage to get her far enough away from the girl that she doesn’t continue getting beat on. Dante and I lead her away from the crowd and take her to the infirmary. I’m not gonna hold this shit back and Dean Maddison will hear about this incident with Marianna. He doesn’t tolerate this shit and we’re not gonna keep her safe from getting expelled and shit.

Dante and I make sure the girl is safe with the staff before we leave her behind and make our way to our classes. Marianna is fucking crazy and I hope she gets put in her fucking place by someone here sooner rather than later. I’m not going to tolerate her and all the bullshit she spews about us getting married. If I weren’t going to marry Arabella soon, I’d almost want to go out and fuck some random girl just to prove to her how much I don’t belong to her. Instead, I’m going to save myself for the only girl I’ve ever loved and will allow to have that part of me. Arabella is the one who gets to have every piece of me I can give her. She might say our marriage will be in name only, but I’ll do whatever it takes for me to make her want more from me. I’ll make my Song Bird want my love, trust, and everything else I have to offer her for the rest of our lives.

Bathroom Beatdown

Arabella

SINCE AGREEING TO this entire thing with the guys, I haven’t really seen them around campus. The only time I do is when I take a wide lap around the main courtyard and hide out in the trees as I move from one area to the next. If I can get away with avoiding that area, I do at all costs. Brock has been escorting me around campus even more than before and it’s nice to have him at my side. Especially since the rumors going around about some new girl warning everyone away from Kash are running rampant among everyone. It’s impossible not to hear that she’s already beat the crap out of one girl and threatens everyone else she can get to. The guys she comes into contact with are another story altogether though. It seems she can threaten the girls even though she has been said to have fucked multiple guys here on campus already.

Today is a day that our math class has been canceled for some reason. I wish I would’ve known about this development before I left Mrs. Andrews’ house. I could’ve been there taking care of my brother for a few more hours. Instead, I’m here with nothing to do. Thankfully, Brock is here with me. We use this time to get in some tutoring since he’s got an away game this week and won’t be around from Thursday until Sunday. My days are short ones on Thursday and Friday so I’m not worried about being on campus without him near me. Hell, even when we don’t have class together, Brock always shows up to escort me from one class to the next. Or to the library if I have to meet with Danny or him.

“How have you been, Arabella? The truth?” Brock questions me, the second we’re locked in our study room.

“I’ve been okay. My brother and I have been staying with our neighbor and away from our house. It’s not a good environment for my brother and I keep him away as often as possible. Eventually, I’ll be able to leave that part of town behind me. I just don’t want too many people to know what I’ve just been given. There’s a part of things that I didn’t tell you, Brock,” I answer him, nervous about what I’m about to admit to the one person who has had my back since I met them.

“What’s goin’ on? Did somethin’ bad happen?” he immediately questions me, sitting up straighter in his chair and staring me down as if he can take all of my pain and worries away with a look and nothing more.

“No, nothing bad has happened. Well, I mean, I don’t think it’s bad. Others might not feel the same way though. Especially my cousin when she realizes how little she truly has,” I respond, taking a deep breath as I prepare myself to open up a little bit. “It seems Kash discovered my grandparents' real will. In it, I was left everything. I’m talking about a mansion, all of their money, every asset they own, and so many other things I don’t even understand. The money alone is more than I’ll ever be able to spend in my lifetime. I haven’t touched it yet and there’s nothing I can see having to buy that would ever make me use that much money.”

Brock doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. He simply stares at me and worries his lip as he processes what I’ve just told him. For the first time in my life, I’ve got money, a place to get away from my mother, and a safe area for my baby brother. I will eventually figure out how to get Collette out of the house, it’s just going to take me some time because I haven’t ever been in this position and I don’t know what to do. This is honestly something I might have to consult Kash and the rest of the guys about. I’m sure they know how to get rid of her and make sure she understands the mansion is not hers and she will no longer be living in it.

“Fuck!” Brock says, a smile covering his face as he folds his arm over his chest and continues to look at me. “That’s not what I was expectin’ you to tell me. So, you’re rich. Like as rich as Fallon and the rest of the guys now?”

“Yeah. Apparently my uncle and Collette have been trying to access the money and they’ve had no luck so far. I know it’s just a matter of time before they succeed or find out that the money is now in my name. I want to have things in place before that happens. Again, it’s just something I don’t know how to do. Once Collette knows, it’s just a matter of time before everyone else finds out what’s going on and I’ll be ripped apart by Karmen, my cousin, and everyone else,” I answer him, my voice barely above a whisper at this point because the rooms next to us are now occupied.

“Well, if you need help figurin’ things out, I’m always here too, Arabella. I might not know everythin’ about you, but I know enough to realize some bad shit is always happenin’ to you. That you’re not safe where you currently live and that you are too fuckin’ good for anyone in this town. They made a grave mistake when they turned their back on you so many years ago. Now, it’s time for you to get what you deserve and that’s nothin’ less than a happy, safe life filled with love and everythin’ you’ve ever dreamed about,” Brock says, a note of finality in his voice as he tries to convince me that he’s speaking the truth.

“You don’t understand, Brock. I’m just a girl. There’s nothing special about me at all. I’ve been given a shit lot in life and now I find myself completely changed in terms of circumstances and nothing more. I don’t deserve more than anyone else in the world,” I tell him, not believing I even deserve that because of how worthless I feel on a daily basis.

It’s all because I’ve been told so often how worthless, useless, and everything else my mother can think of to hurt me daily. Nothing I ever do is good enough and there’s no way that will ever change in my mind because it’s been beaten into me so often. And I mean that literally.

“One day, you’ll see yourself the way I see you. The way others see you even if you don’t realize how you’re viewed by others,” he states with a smile on his face because he knows what my next question is going to be already. Brock can read me better than most and doesn’t hide that fact from me.

“What are you talking about now?” I ask as he starts laughing because he guessed right what I was going to ask him.

“Let’s just say that the guys you pretend to hate so much aren’t as unaffected by you as you think. They’re always watchin’ you when they see you on campus. At practice, I know three of them are constantly whisperin’ about you. They always stop when someone gets close enough to hear them, but don’t think for one second that they don’t want you, Arabella. I can only guess that it’s the same for Dante. He’s just better at hidin’ his emotions and what’s goin’ through his head. I think they still see you the same way they used to and have to push that shit down deep because of whatever they’ve got goin’ on. Just like they don’t know anythin’ about you now, you don’t know them either. You can only take a guess at things and make assumptions based on what you see and hear,” Brock says, showing how smart he is when it comes to this kind of shit. I’ll never be at his level and see interactions with others the way he does.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” I tell him, needing a few minutes to process what he’s just said without having him right in front of me.

Getting out of my chair, I leave our study room and make my way across the library to the bathroom that’s in here. It’s nice I don’t have to leave the building in order to go to the bathroom when I’m here. I don’t look at anyone sitting at the tables around me or anything else. My eyes are firmly locked on the floor I walk across and I try not to take anything in as I get to the bathroom and let myself inside. Quickly making my way to a stall, I handle my business before making my way over to the sink to wash my hands. As I reach over to pull some paper towel out of the dispenser, the door of the bathroom opens. Karmen and a girl I’ve never seen before enter and lock the door behind them. This isn’t about to end well for me at all. Especially with the look of pure hate and rage on both of their faces.

“Marianna, this is the piece of shit I’ve been telling you about. She’s the one who stalks the guys and believes they all want her,” Karmen says, her voice filled with evil laughter as the girl she called Marianna steps forward.

She’s fucking identical to Karmen in the way they dress. Short as hell skirt, a top that barely contains their chest, and heels that are taller than they need to be. Both of them have make-up caked on so much you can clearly see it outlining their jaw and the dark colors of their eyeshadow makes them look even more sinister than if they weren’t wearing it. The new girl’s eyes are pitch black as she rakes her eyes from the top of my head down to my toes and back up again.

“What the fuck could you possibly think you have to offer them? You’re less than nothing and won’t ever be able to handle men like them. I hate to burst your little fucking bubble, but Kash is going to be my husband. We’re to be married within a few months. If not sooner. A few words to his father and the wedding will be moved up quicker than hell. I suggest you stay the fuck away from the guys and don’t even think about them. Eventually, they’ll all be mine and no one will stop me from having them all,” Marianna states, pure evil filling her voice as Karmen whips her head in the girl’s direction to glare at her.

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