Twisted Devil by Ivy Blake
Chapter Six
Ruby
“Hey, Einstein!”
I turned around and was glad to see Bella behind me in the hallway. She had some books in her hand and a kind smile on her face, which was exactly what I needed after such a shit morning. Clearly, she’d heard about the fact that I’d beaten Tyler, which made me wonder how quickly shit spread around these damn halls.
“Hey yourself,” I said as she walked beside me.
“You didn’t tell me that you were a genius!” she exclaimed with a wink and a nudge.
“That’s because I’m not,” I said sarcastically, while flashing Bella a matching wink.
“Dude, you beat Tyler Katz. No one has topped him for as long as I can remember.” Bella paused. “Well, in that way they probably have, but you know what I mean!”
I blushed as I thought about the amount of girls that Tyler must have hooked up with. It would make sense if he got around a lot. He kinda gave off that vibe. And he also had that dangerous look in his eye. Maybe I couldn’t beat him when it came to hookups, but I had beaten him at something. Even if it had been a death sentence, a small part of me was satisfied.
“Maybe it was a fluke or something,” I said with a chuckle in an attempt to be modest. I didn’t want Bella to think that I suddenly thought I was hot shit or something just because of one measly test paper.
I hated talking about grades because I felt like it always came across as disingenuous, even when I was trying to be as casual about it as possible. In a weird way, I almost felt guilty for getting good grades as if it was a bad thing to speak about my achievements.
“Fluke or not, you better own that shit! I’m so proud of you!” Bella held open the door for me to walk into the dining room. She followed behind me and we grabbed our trays and stood in line behind the other students, waiting to get their food.
“Thanks, but I’d rather pretend it didn’t happen,” I said honestly, making sure to lower my voice so that we wouldn’t be overheard.
“Ruby, you’re being too humble! You’ve toppled the ‘king’ off his throne.” I could practically hear the air quotes in Bella’s voice. “If I were you, this would be a reason to celebrate.” Bella grabbed a plate from the counter and placed it on her tray.
“Guess you’re not a big fan of him, huh?” I stated the obvious out loud and refused to say his name now that there were other ears around.
“Tyler? I mean, he’s kinda cute but a bit too into himself.” Bella shrugged and gestured for us to sit at the table at the far end of the hall after I’d selected my meal.
I felt like the conversation concerning Tyler was pretty much over, unless I wanted to give Bella the impression that I was basically a groupie. Which I most definitely was not. The only reason Tyler’s name was even in my mouth was because he’d been an ass to me from the minute he’d first laid eyes on me, and it was kind of impossible to ignore that. I was intrigued by the fact that Bella didn’t say anything about him being a dick, which made me wonder if he reserved that treatment just for me.
“You get up to much after school?” I asked casually as I waited for my food to cool down.
I looked over at Bella blowing lightly on her pasta before putting it in her mouth. Her eyes widened as she registered my question and she chewed her food quickly to try and answer. Why did I always have to ask questions at the worst times?
“I have swim practice most days,” said Bella after she’d washed down her food with a glass of water. She was trying her best to act like the food wasn’t scorching her throat and I found it hilarious that she was trying to maintain her composure.
“Right now I’m learning how to read tarot cards properly, so that takes up a fair chunk of time too,” Bella added.
“Sounds cool,” I said, in reference to the tarot cards.
“I’d love to give you a reading some time if you’re up for it?”
“Will you actually be able to tell me about my future?” I asked with a polite laugh.
I didn’t know much about tarot besides what my conservative grandma had told me when I was younger. Let’s just say that Nana was not a fan of the ‘devil cards that steal your soul’. I, on the other hand, am pretty curious about most things, and the possibility that Bella could possibly see into my future was intriguing. And even if she couldn’t, at least we could spend some time together outside of school.
“Yes, and no.” Bella scrunched her nose up. “It’s complicated, but we’ll figure it out.”
“Sure thing,” I said, realising that she was getting nervous talking about her hobby, which I completely understood. I didn’t want to press her more than necessary or give her the impression that I thought it was silly. Which I absolutely did not. Even though I doubted that Bella had as bad a temper as Tyler, she was the last person I wanted to offend.
* * *After our final class ended, I walked Bella towards the changing rooms as we caught up on the day that we’d had and the piles of homework that had been dumped on us. I had no desire to do it but knew I had to if I wanted to keep up with everyone else and have even the lightest chance at staying on par with Tyler or possibly even beating him again.
While Bella complained about her annoying neighbour who let her dog shit in their garden no matter how many times Bella or her parents confronted her, I vented about Zoe and Dad.
“Don’t worry, it won’t last long,” Bella said matter-of-factly as she pushed open the door to the changing room.
“I fucking hope not, I’m sick of it.”
A few girls were already in the changing room and turned around to see who had joined them. Bella greeted a few of them and by the way that everyone responded with wide smiles and excitable voices, I could tell that she was popular amongst her teammates. Considering how charming she was, I couldn’t blame them. But that didn’t stop the little pang of what could only be described as jealousy.
“Trust me, it’s just a phase. My uncle went through a similar thing and my cousin Jean hit the roof! For all we know, he’s still dating younger women on the sly but just without her knowing.” Bella shrugged and set her bag down on one of the benches.
Even though she didn’t say anything, I kind of knew that it was my time to leave. I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t part of the swim team and if I stayed, it would just look like I was perving on everyone.
“I’m gonna get going,” I said lamely, gesturing to the door with my left thumb.
“Thanks for walking me,” said Bella. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, yeah?”
“Of course,” I said.
We said goodbye before I walked back out the way I’d come, ignoring the feeling of the other girls’ eyes pricking into my skin. I was relieved to be back out in the hallway, even though my feelings of not belonging were only marginally less.
As I headed towards the courtyard, I took my phone out of my bag to see if Dad had left me any messages. When I was met with a blank screen, I felt dumb to think that he would have been bothered enough to check up on me and instantly tucked my phone away.
“Hey, Pauper!”
I looked up at the sound of my cruel nickname and wanted to kick myself in the teeth for responding. Tyler stood before me with his tanned skin, blue eyes and dark hair which looked nearly jet black now that it was wet. Tyler had a cruel smirk on his face and in his hand he held a paper cup, which had a straw in it.
I scowled at him and walked right past him, not caring about the other students milling in the courtyard who wanted to see what all the commotion was about.
“Hey Pauper, I’m fucking talking to you,” Tyler repeated, this time with more venom in his voice.
“What the fuck do you want, dickhead?” I half shouted, turning around on my heel before I could convince myself to do otherwise. I heard a few ‘ooh’s’ coming from the mouths of onlookers, but I had to focus on stopping my hands and legs from shaking as I faced Tyler head on. Tyler cocked an eyebrow and took a step towards me, allowing hs height to cast a shadow on me.
“That’s no way to talk to your superior now, is it?” He growled, yet his voice still had a condescending air about it.
My scowl grew even deeper and all the cuss words that I knew spiralled around my head as I contemplated which one to use. I decided against it, reminding myself of where I was. If I lost my shit, I wouldn’t hear the end of it, so I had to play it cool if I wanted to come out on top.
“You’re delusional to think that you’re my superior, going by those maths results,” I said coldly. I raised my own eyebrow and folded my arms across my chest. Checkmate.
Tyler’s eyebrows knitted together on his forehead and the fury on his face was clear for all to see. I watched as his grip on his cup tightened and the tension in his body grew more apparent.
“You think you’re the shit because of one test?” He barked at me. With another step, the gap between us became even smaller.
“No, of course not,” I said hotly, looking up at Tyler with an innocent expression on my face. “I just think I’m better than you,” I smiled as I delivered what I hoped would be the winning blow.
In a split second, I’d gone from staring into Tyler’s icy blue eyes, refusing to back down from his attempt to call me out in front of everyone, and the next moment I was covered in the milkshake from his cup.
Roars of laughter penetrated my eardrums as I wiped my eyes clear of the frothy chocolate milkshake that would probably stain my shirt.
“You seem to have forgotten your place, Pauper,” Tyler spat, his eyes pure fire. I felt hot, angry tears building in my eyes and in my throat, but I couldn’t let him see how much he was getting to me.
“You’re the one going apeshit over a fucking grade!” I exclaimed.
“At least I’m not trying to fit in where I’m not wanted,” Tyler said spitefully before chucking his empty cup at me, not even staying long enough to watch it fall at my feet before he barged past me. I was left standing in the courtyard with milkshake in my hair, on my face and on my clothes and the remnants of Tyler’s sweet sandalwood cologne.
It was like Tyler’s final words played on a loop, forcing the tears to come thick and fast. Students stared and whispered in their groups as I ran past them and out the school gate. I wasn’t thinking straight, I mean how could I? I’d been humiliated in front of so many people and for no real reason.
I felt like I was floating above my body as I found my way home, blanking out the stares and voices that were focused on me and my appearance. Maybe Tyler was right. I already knew that I didn’t belong here, but not being wanted was a whole other level. And it might as well have been true.
No one had stepped forward to help me when Tyler started throwing insults in the courtyard, or even when he’d thrown his milkshake at me. They’d either walked past or stood still and watched like I was a freak show or something. I hadn’t even been there a week and every day so far had been a different level of hell. I didn’t know how much longer I could put up with it, if at all.
I was beyond relieved to see that there were no cars in the driveway and pushed the key into the door as quickly as I could. As I passed by the mirror in the hallway, I saw just how much of a state I was in and wanted to cry even more. Without thinking, I went up to my room, threw my bag aside, took off all my clothes, and jumped into the shower.
I allowed the water to scald my skin, hoping that as it washed away the spilled drink, it could wash away my moment of humiliation in the courtyard. Of course it couldn’t and I played the scene over and over in my head, practically torturing myself as I scrubbed my scalp and face clean.
The name calling, the intimidation, tearing up my test paper and throwing a milkshake at me. Tyler wouldn’t quit and things didn’t look like they were going to get any better. As I wrapped myself up in my comfy throw, I battled with mind over my current position at school.
In a weird way, I almost felt like I deserved Tyler’s treatment, but soon realised that it was the voice of my inner critic that was pushing all the negativity. Of course, I hadn’t actually done anything to deserve this shit and no one could convince me otherwise. So why did I feel too ashamed to tell Dad or even Bella about how much it was getting to me?
As soon as Dad had told me that I’d be going to Valley High and I’d done my vigorous internet snooping. I’d suspected that I’d find it challenging to fit in, but I’d not expected it to be this hard.
If I wasn’t going to tell the people I trusted most about it, then I either had to suck it up and hope that Bella was right and that Tyler would get over it or find a way to make him stop. The only problem was how?
I could do what I usually did and just avoid him completely. Or at least try to. I could ask to switch classes, that can’t be something unfamiliar to the teachers. The only thing standing between me and being in a different class, which was hopefully more peaceful, was my pride.
I didn’t want to be the one that had to walk away, chased out of a fucking classroom. There was another, more terrifying thought that lingered in the back of my head.
Changing classes means forfeiting Tyler’s attention.
But why the fuck did I care about that?
The image of Tyler’s chiselled face came into my memory. How lame could I be to stoop this low? There’d be plenty of guys who’d give me attention, and hopefully of the positive type. Or at least I hope so. I just hadn’t given them a chance to, what with being so shaken by Tyler. There was no point trying to convince myself that Tyler’s hatred of me was anything more than that.
I looked at my yoga mat perched up against my desk and knew that it would probably be best to stretch the tension out of my muscles instead of ruminating over Tyler. While that was the most productive thing to do, I didn’t have any motivation to do it.
Instead, I grabbed my laptop and pulled up Netflix, desperately needing something to distract myself from the dumb and damaging thoughts swirling around in my head. Yoga would force me to sit with my thoughts, and I wasn’t in the mood to do that right now. As I searched through the movies and shows, I made a conscious decision to not pick anything that was romantic in the slightest. I was not going to give my brain any more stupid ideas.
