Twisted Devil by Ivy Blake
Chapter Nineteen
Ruby
As I got ready for school the next day, I struggled to keep my mind clean following the events of last night. I didn’t care how much of a cliche it was that I kept checking my face in the mirror to see if it had changed after I’d had fucking sex with Tyler Katz! As in the same one that had previously been my mortal enemy and cruel tormentor - that Tyler Katz?
Even after we’d spent ages cuddling in bed and he’d been stroking my back and kissing my shoulder blades and neck ever so tenderly, I was still struggling to comprehend that it had actually happened. And it had been so motherfucking good.
What did this mean for us now? On one hand, I wanted to see Tyler again so that we could discuss what this meant for us. If there was even an us to begin with. But on the other hand, I didn’t want to come across as too needy or obsessive by bringing up that question. What if he regretted it?
He said that it was the best sex he’d ever had; you don’t have anything to worry about.
I shook myself of my destructive thoughts and focussed on tying my tie properly. All I had to do was breathe. I was already a victim to overthinking too much as it is and there was no need for any more of that.
Fuck you Amber.
I couldn’t help it. Even though I knew that it wasn’t really a competition between the two of us, I still felt a bit smug to think that her suspicions about Tyler’s feelings for me had been wrong. Or had they? For all I knew, now that we’d had sex, he might fully just ignore me in the hallway.
I caught my face in the mirror and saw how pale I was making myself with worry. I shouldn’t be getting this stressed out about something that hadn’t even happened yet. And may not even happen. The only reason I was allowing her to have this much control over my emotions was because I knew that they’d had a thing first. I guess you could call me territorial.
* * *When I got to school, I was so on edge about bumping into Tyler that I was struggling to focus in class. Me and Bella were walking down the hallway to our next class when I snapped myself back to reality as I remembered that we had gym later.
“Are you going to keep going to swim practice and gym?” I asked Bella as I spied her gym kit slung over her shoulders. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. You don’t have to tell anyone just yet, but you shouldn’t have to spend time around him.” I added in a lowered voice, so that no one else in the hallway could hear.
“I’m skipping out today because of my ‘cramps’,” Bella said pointedly even though we both knew it was far from the truth. “I’ll figure it out soon. I’m kinda doing things slowly at the moment. I don’t want to make a big deal out of everything, you know?” she hissed.
“You’re not making a big enough deal, in my opinion!” I exclaimed. “Okay, that’s not fair. I get what you mean. I can cover for you if you need.” I added. Bella nodded, and we went on to chat about the presentation that we were supposed to prepare for class.
As we rounded the corner, I felt Bella freeze beside me, and I quickly saw why. Coach Jenkins was strolling down the hallway as if he was on cloud nine and not as if he’d completely traumatised the girl standing beside me. I held onto Bella’s hand and pulled her along with me, hoping that we could slip past Coach Jenkins without him paying attention to us among the throng of other students.
“You alright, girls?” he called out with a big grin on his stupid face as he walked parallel to us. Of course we’re not fucking alright! Was he a sociopath or something?
Bella’s mouth opened, and I watched her struggle to form a sentence, so I shot Coach a dirty look and pulled Bella down the hallway away from him. What a dirty scumbag!
“See you later, then,” Coach called back, clearly unfazed by us, and we were long out of sight as we speed walked away from the creep. Once we’d stopped outside the classroom opposite ours, I turned to Bella to see if she was okay.
“I’m fine, I just- I feel so weird seeing him around. Especially because he acts like nothing happened!” she hissed.
“He’s a gross weirdo and we’re going to deal with him so you won’t have to see him anymore,” I said under my breath. She nodded and together we walked into our class.
After class, Bella said she wanted to study in the library on her own during her free period, so I granted her that privacy and went to go and fetch some books from my locker to study in one of the empty classrooms. As I neared my locker, I saw Amber perching beside it.
Fucking great.
I ignored her and opened my locker, half expecting to see a dead animal or something in there, slyly releasing the breath I’d been holding when I was met with the sight of my textbooks and notebooks.
“What’s it like having a pedophile for a dad?” Amber spat at me.
At least she was consistent.
“What’s it like not having a life?” I retorted, even though it was a childish comeback. Amber was being childish in her constant antagonising of me, so I was merely matching her energy.
“Oh, so you think you’re worth more than shit now that Tyler fucked you?” I froze because there was no way that she could know that for sure, unless he’d told her. “That’s why you’re walking around here as if you’re better than me, isn’t it? Because he fucked you like one of his whores and made you feel like you were special.” Amber laughed cruelly. “Or did he just make you suck his dick because you weren’t worthy of it?”
Angry tears pricked in my eyes and I slammed my locker shut and turned to Amber full on. I’d been done with this bitch since day one.
“Me and Tyler did fuck, actually, and he said it was the best sex he’d ever had in his life. And he made sure to tell me that he couldn’t give less of a shit about you,” I said coldly, my hands balled into fists.
A few students had slowed down in the hallway to see what all the fuss was about. Clearly my words had struck a nerve with Amber because she suddenly looked like she’d been electrocuted.
“I knew it! Fucking whore, you’re not worth shit! As if Tyler would say any of that crap about you. You’re nothing but a worthless pauper-”
“You just never get tired, do you?”
I looked up at the sound of Tyler’s voice. He’d appeared beside me during all the commotion and had his muscly arms folded over his chest, and his biceps were practically bursting out of his white shirt. I realised his question was directed at Amber and not me, and I wished that I could capture the shock on Amber’s face and cherish this moment forever.
“What are you on about?” she shot at him. “What, are you getting all cosy with the pauper now?” she spat.
“Fuck off Amber, she’s my toy to play with, not yours, okay?” Tyler smiled cruelly at the girl that had once been his friend, or at least something akin to that.
People bonded over the things and people they hated, so I wasn’t surprised that now that Tyler hated me substantially less, it was causing a riff between him and Amber.
“Call her pauper one more time and I’ll make sure you regret it.”
“What the hell…” Amber began, her face a ball of cruel confusion.
Her reason for getting up in the morning was slipping through the cracks, and she was not happy about it. Especially because this interaction was taking place in the middle of the hallway in front of many other students who’d probably remember this moment for a while. Even I was looking back and forth between Tyler and Amber as if I was watching an intense tennis match. If someone had told me a few weeks ago that they’d be fighting over how the other should treat me, I would have laughed in their face.
“I said fuck off. Hurry along now,” Tyler said in a patronising voice, flapping his hands at her dismissively. A few people laughed at Tyler’s command and I watched the cogs turn in Amber’s head as she tried to think of her next move.
The sound of the bell ringing stopped her from making her next move- or just probably made her save it for later- and Amber decided that she actually had better things to do than stand around harassing me. Not that Tyler would let her anymore. She sneered like the Wicked Witch of the West as she flounced off down the hallway out of sight. At least for now.
“What was that?” I asked Tyler.
“Cleaning up old messes,” he said in an offhanded manner. He placed his hand on my locker beside my head and leaned towards me, his tall, lean body towering over me.
“What are you doing this evening?” Tyler asked me, a crooked grin playing on his face. An expression completely at odds with the one that he’d given Amber. Maybe he was serious about me.
“Probably staying in and watching something on Netflix,” I said honestly. “Why?”
“I’ll pick you up at 8, I have another idea.”
“Okay, Mr Mysterious,” I said hotly.
Tyler simply wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head before turning on his heel and walking down the hallway as if this was just what we did now. I turned to my locker as my cheeks burned hot, taken aback when I saw Bella standing only a foot away, her mouth wide open in shock.
“I came to ask for your history notes,” she said breathlessly, her eyes darting between me and Tyler, who was disappearing down the hallway in the other direction. “I think you’ve got some explaining to do, Miss Jones,” she teased, her hands on her hips.
I groaned because she was right. I’d yet to tell her about the developments between me and Tyler. The party had been a blur, and I wasn’t sure how much she remembered of us that night. As far as I knew, Bella probably still thought we were at war with each other until she saw Tyler kissing me in public.
“Where do I begin?”
“The moment you surrendered your plan to destroy him would be a good start!”
* * *As promised, Tyler was outside my house at 8, ready to pick me up in the same fancy car that I’d keyed only weeks ago. Ahh the nostalgia. Tyler had actually arrived a few minutes before 8, and I’d seen him hovering at the bottom of the drive from my window before he finally came up to meet me at the designated time. I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only eager one.
“Where are you going?” Dad called as I slipped my shoes on at the front door.
“Just out with a friend,” I said as I pocketed my keys and checked that I had my phone and wallet.
“A guy friend?” I heard Zoe’s voice pipe up from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me and flung open the door.
“I’ll be back later, bye!” I called out before either of them could question me further.
“You look beautiful,” Tyler said as I stepped into the car. “I mean you always do but wow.”
His pupils dilated as he took in my appearance. I blushed as I closed the door behind me. I had made a bit more effort by wearing a nice crop top and tight fighting jeans that were comfy while also showing off my amazing ass. It was a win-win situation. He hadn’t told me what we were going to do, so I picked the outfit that I thought would fit both a cute and casual agenda.
“You look pretty good yourself,” I teased as I took in his well-fitted jumper that I was very tempted to steal.
“When don’t I?” he chuckled.
And he was fucking right. He always looked like a snack and it took every fibre of my being to resist leaning over and devouring him right then and there. I was pretty sure that Dad and Zoe would be watching from the window and didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.
It was starting to get dark as Tyler drove us to our mystery location. Soon we were driving past town and past the main lights, and I started wondering if he was just kidnapping me instead. After a few minutes, Tyler parked up, but it was slightly too dark to see.
“I did tell my dad and his girlfriend that I’d be out, so don’t get any ideas,” I said to Tyler as we got out of the car.
“But I’m full of ideas, Ruby,” he teased.
Tyler opened his boot to reveal a pile of blankets, some torches and a hamper. He insisted on carrying them all as we started walking up what seemed to be a hill until I grabbed the torches from him.
“I’m taking you to one of my favourite spots in town,” Tyler said over his shoulder as we walked up the hill together.
Luckily, I’d opted for boots instead of heels or else I’d be demanding he carry me. Once we reached the top, I realised exactly why it was Tyler’s favourite place. As he lay one of the blankets on the floor and wrapped another around me, I looked out at the view of the town and all its lights. It was something out of a movie.
I looked up and realised how much better we could see the stars from up here. The air was cool, but not too cold, and it felt like we were the only people left in the world.
“You like it?” Tyler said beside me, his arm around my waist and his breath tickling my ear.
“I like it a lot,” I breathed as I pressed myself into my body as I tightened the blanket he’d gifted me around my shoulders.
“I love coming here to think and just be away from everyone. I like to pretend it’s all mine,” he chuckled to himself. “Come sit, I’ve got some food.”
I followed Tyler’s lead and joined him on the blanket. He set out the items from the hamper in front of us, displaying a variety of sweet and savoury snacks. Boy, had he gone to town! I opted for some marshmallows and chocolate and munched happily as we snuggled underneath our blanket.
“Thank you for doing all this,” I said.
“I wanted to do something nice for you,” Tyler said gently. “After everything I’ve put you through, I guess I just want to show you that I’m actually sorry.” I nodded along as he spoke and took another bite of chocolate.
“Can we start again?” He chuckled.
“I was pretty sure we’d already started again,” I laughed. Tyler grinned at me.
“There’s no such thing as too many beginnings,” he winked at me and grabbed my hand in his.
He warmed it up in his big hands and interlaced his fingers with mine. I watched Tyler watching the town, his eyes flitting over each part of it with adoration. He truly did look calmer than I’d ever seen him look before, and it was refreshing to see him in a place that he liked to call his own.
As I took in his handsome features and the warmth of his body next to mine, I felt so lucky that he’d taken us away somewhere, just the two of us, where we didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone else. We could just be. It was the perfect date.
“There’s meant to be a shooting star tonight,” Tyler said.
“Oh, really?” I asked, perking up, my neck craning towards the sky.
“I dunno, I don’t know shit about stars,” Tyler chuckled and squeezed my hand. I rolled my eyes at him even though it was dark, because I knew he was never going to stop joking around, but I couldn’t say I was mad about it.
“Why did you care about all that school stuff so much?” I asked Tyler after a moment. Tyler ran a hand through his hair and turned to me, an exhausted expression on his face.
“It was pretty much drilled into me since I was a kid, it’s always expected that I do well. It’s my familial responsibility, I guess,” Tyler said bitterly.
“So you do it to make your parents happy?” I probed.
“I guess,” Tyler scoffed. “It doesn’t exactly make them happy though. I think they just care about how it looks to everyone else. But nothing’s ever quite good enough, which is great.” He shook his head and gazed up at the stars, and I watched as he got lost in his thoughts.
“You know you’re worth more than your grades, right?” I said.
I wasn’t sure if he did, and I wanted to stress to him that he was actually worthy simply because he was a person, not because of the things he felt like he had to do. Maybe the reminder was for both of us. Who knows?
“Yeah, I guess I do,” he said quietly.
“I mean it, Tyler,” I said, clutching onto his arm. “I don’t care what grades you get, no one does really. What people remember is how you treat them. All this school shit will be a long gone memory in a few years.”
“Says the girl who’s gunning for my spot as valedictorian,” he chuckled under his breath.
I rolled my eyes at him again, even though I knew that he wasn’t exactly wrong. Being swept up in our newly found romance, our academic feud had kinda fallen by the wayside, and I wasn’t mad about it.
“What was up with Bella at the party, by the way?” Tyler nudged me out of my thoughts.
I contemplated coming up with a lie for Bella’s sake, but decided that I trusted Tyler enough now to keep a secret. And because he was swim captain, maybe he had heard of similar stories or had suspicions about Coach that would help in bringing him down and getting some sort of justice for Bella.
“You have to swear not to tell anyone, okay?” I said in a serious tone.
“Okay, sure,” Tyler said with a wary expression on his face. I don’t know what was running through his head, but I doubted that he could predict what I had to say.
“It’s a long story, and it’s not really mine to tell, but in short,” I took a deep breath as I built up the courage to repeat what Bella had told me. “Coach Jenkins sexually assaulted Bella a couple weeks ago in his car.” Once the words were out in the air between us, I sat back and waited for Tyler’s reaction.
I was ready for him to jump forward and denounce Coach as a disgusting pervert that didn’t deserve to see the light of day or to share his sympathies for Bella. Instead, he sat in silence and the only thing that assured me he hadn’t turned to stone was the way that his body had tensed up beside me.
“Tyler? Did you hear what I said?”
I nudged him to try and get a reaction out of him and he just shook his head. Tyler’s eyebrows knitted together and to my surprise, an angry expression took over his face where I would have expected there to either be shock or sadness.
“That can’t be right,” he said after a moment. “Are you sure she’s telling the truth?”
A crushing wave of despair hit me and I wanted to rewind to a few moments ago where everything had felt like it was perfect, like we were in a scene from a Hollywood movie, but I didn’t have that luxury.
“What?” I breathed, unsure if I was actually hearing Tyler clearly. “There’s no way you think Bella’s lying. Why the hell would you think that?” My voice was growing louder by the second, but I couldn’t help it. Tyler had to be delusional if he thought that kind of shit.
“Well, is there any actual proof?” I shrugged the blanket over me and put centimetres between us. “Come on Ruby, let’s be real here. This has kinda come out of nowhere. I doubt there’s anyone else who can prove this happened. Can you see where I’m coming from and why this is hard to believe?”
Tyler’s words hit like bullets and even though I recognised his voice, I didn’t recognise the person it was coming from. I couldn’t believe that he was taking Coach’s side. After everything. After all this trust that we’d just started to build together, he was more inclined to believe the abuser than the victim.
“I can’t believe you,” I sobbed. “You’re not being serious right now.” I choked on my tears and shook my head furiously, hoping that Tyler would go back on his words, apologise and bring this all to an end, but instead he sat there looking at me as if I was the crazy one.
“I’m not just going to believe some rumour that could literally fuck over the whole swim team!” he exclaimed, the loudness of his voice startling me back to reality.
“Fuck over the swim team?” I shouted. “This isn’t about you, Tyler! Coach made Bella do something horrible and you’re worried about fucking swimming?I can’t believe you right now!”
“I can’t believe you when you’re just shouting about something with no real proof that could seriously end someone’s career!” Tyler shot back. “I’ve known Coach for years, and he’s never given me any reason to think that he could do something like that.”
“People can surprise you, Tyler,” I said pointedly. I tossed my unfinished snacks back into the hamper.
“What, so you’re just going to run off because I don’t agree with you?” Tyler sneered, an expression I’d slowly started to forget.
“No, I’m leaving because you’re a heartless asshole!”
Blinded by tears, I got up and untangled myself fully from the blanket before throwing it back at Tyler. He tried to protest, but his words fell on deaf ears that did not want to be convinced to come back. I stormed off before he could stop me, remembering the way we’d come.
I started running like a madwoman because I just needed to be away from him. It was crazy how everything between us had seemed to be going so well and then, in one split second, everything had fallen apart. How could I have thought he would have responded in any other way? I’d been an idiot and look at how things had turned out!
I wasn’t surprised to see that Tyler hadn’t followed me down the hill, but I was disappointed, to say the least. I wanted to walk the rest of the way home but feared that my legs would give way from the heaviness that had now settled into my heart. I called a taxi and waited patiently for it to show up sobbing as I waited for someone to pick up.
I’m so sorry Bella.
