Chapter Twenty-Five: "With Looks Like His, I Fear For Humanity."
"LEAVE ME ALONE Liam." I sigh, walking off the bus towards the school.
"I can't," he growls out, easily stepping in sync with me. I glance at him warily before continuing on, even faster. "Not even if I wanted to."
"We live together," I grit. "Obviously."
I speed walk through the halls, hoping to lose him so no questions arise from students. The last thing I want is to be having public relations to the McGibbon brothers. It's worse enough they have a reputation at school, and certainly knowing that they might have connections back in the States, makes me even more cautious because I can't get involved with anymore gangs. I barely made it out alive in the last one, and I don't want a repeat of history in another country.
"I'm your other tutor!" He shouts, making my halt immediately and spin around to face him.
Crap. I wasn't expecting that.
I glance around to see some eyes fall on us, so I automatically drop my head so my face is unrecognizable and race to my stupid housemate, dragging him into the closest door, which happened to be a janitor closet.
"Is this the part where we have a quickie?" He whispers huskily, and I punch his shoulder.
"Shut up." I hiss. "Are you serious right now? You're my tutor?"
He sighs, and nods. "Yeah, sadly."
I ignore his comment and clench and unclench my fists. I am honestly pretty pissed off, since it's all his fault that I'm failing English and Psychology because of him not wanting to be around me. Atticus sucks at Psychology, so he can't even help me in that department.
"You're making me fail two classes because you don't want to spend more time with me than you already do?! This isn't personal business, Liam! This is educational and I need good grades so I can get the hell out of here. I want to get out of your house just as badly as you want me gone, alright?" I snap, and I shake my head, trying to contain my thoughts without having an outburst. I huff, and open the closet door and storm out.
"Cupcake, wait," he shouts from behind me, not caring about the attention he's drawing. I stop abruptly, my heart hammering and brain going crazy.
Man do I miss my meds right now.
"I didn't mean it like that," he continues, walking slowly over to me like he's worried about scaring me off. "It's just. . . it's complicated."
"How." I say impatiently.
He runs his fingers through his hair before sighing and tugging me to the side.
"It's just Landon, alright?" He says after having an internal debate with himself. "God, he's going to be so pissed at me for saying this." He adds under his breath. I wait for him to continue; arms crossed and my fingers fiddling with the sides of my shirt. "I don't know, when I got asked to tutor you, Landon lashed out. He got all defensive and said that since he's the smartest, he should teach you."
"So?" I snip, acting to care less when I actually do care. I want answers; Liam might give me them.
"So, I wouldn't have a problem with that, except that I'm slightly stronger in those subjects than he is. He hasn't been on his A Game lately and so the teachers caught on. They think he's in another place and think that it could affect your grades. I was next in line in case he rejected."
"So he was the first option?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"And you were next in line?"
"Yes."
"Ridiculous." I scoff. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait, what just happened? Why tomorrow?" He asks flabbergasted, halting me by grabbing onto my elbow.
"It doesn't matter." I reply.
"We're just looking out for you, Cupcake." He says softly.
"I don't need looking out for. I've been fine on my own. Atticus isn't going to kill me, Liam."
"I know that." He cuts me off, but adds under his breath, "But they don't."
"Who?" I ask confusedly.
He shakes his head and averts his eyes. "Nothing. So, your whereabouts."
I growl and roll my eyes, an aggravated sigh coming out of my lips. "Movies." I finally answer with a shrug, and rip my arm out of his hold. "Later."
I walk away quickly, and I curse a lot as I see people staring at me from my short but hostile interaction with one of the baddest boys in school. I see Carly a few feet ahead of me, and she runs up to me like she was wondering about my whereabouts.
"There you are!" She exclaims, her voice out of breath and shaky. She definitely isn't one to exercise.
I give her a tight smile, "Here I am." I reply.
"Why were you with Liam McGibbon?!" She says hurriedly.
"No reason." I shrug.
"Yes, reason!" She says. "The boys don't just approach any girl."
I sigh, knowing that she'll eventually find out the truth, somehow. "He's my second tutor."
Carly starts squealing, and I need to back away and cover my ears from how high-pitched her voice is.
"God, you have quite a set of lungs on you." I mutter.
"What?" She perks her eyebrow up. "I know you're teaching me but I don't know what you just said."
"It's nothing," I tell her.
"So," she says nudging my arm. It's my turn to raise my brow. "What did Liam want?"
"Nothing." I shrug. "I already told you."
"He didn't ask for your number?" She asks.
I already have his number.
"Nope." I reply instantly. "We're doing at-school tutoring."
"Bor-ring!" She chirps. "Come on, he must have wanted some more. He's hot."
"Too hot for his own good." I tell her. "I'm not interested in him like that, Carly. He's too conceited for his own good. His hotness doesn't affect me."
"You're joking, right? Liam is absolutely breathtaking, Brookie! Scary, but breathtaking."
"Well, yeah, I get that, but with looks like his, I fear for humanity. It's guys like him that make girls become hoes and whiney babies." I snort, shaking my head at the thought.
They attract you, play with you, use you, then trash you like a wrapper. It's ridiculous; there's hardly any guys out there that care about personality. The guys I've met, it's always come down to the top three B's: body, boobs, and booty. Personalities are just a bonus, apparently.
Liamâno, his whole familyâis your typical stereotype. They're hot as hell, bad boys, and are cocky like them all. They're smart, egotistical, and love girls and sex. They hump then dump, really.
The thought makes me angry.
"True." Carly sighs. "I wish I got hot guys' attention like they do with girls."
"They'll come around," I assure her. "You're beautiful, Carly. Inside and out."
Carly gives me a small smile and engulfs me in a hug. "Thank you so much, Brookie."
"Of course." I grin. "Come on, the bell's going to ring."
As if it was rehearsed, the bell rang after I said that and I winked at her before we headed towards English.
I sat next to Carly as Mr. Dornan went on about the class. Carly and I talked throughout the class, since I couldn't understand the curriculum, and because I was already failing anyway, thanks to a certain twin.
There's about ten minutes left of the bell, when I suddenly get a phone call in the middle of class and I jump, recognizing the number immediately.
My eyes widen and I literally throw everything on my desk into my backpack and rush out of the room, saying goodbye to Carly.
"Hello?" I say into the phone.
"Miss May?" The voice on the other line says.
"This is," I say, trying to control my breathing. I really need to start running again, I think to myself.
"It's Dr. Cullen," he says, and my eyes widen. Did they accept me? Did my doctor from home say anything?
"Well?" I ask into the phone, eager for the answer. "Is it confirmed?"
"Your pharmacist has notified me that the medication was given from your psychiatrist, correct?"
Oh no, not this road. Please don't make me do this. "Yâyeah."
"How long have you been taking your antidepressants?" He asks.
"Um. . . it'll be two years soon."
"Okay. Well, since you're coming from another country, I talked with your psychiatrist and we both came to an agreement."
Shit. This is the conversation I wanted to avoid. You couldn't have just told me it was confirmed and then I could come and pick it up and move on?
"Hello, Brooklyn?" He asks. "Are you still there? Helloâ"
"I'm here." I grumble.
"I thought I lost you there." He chuckles, but it stops just as fast as it came. "Anywho, she and I agreed that you should see another therapist. Just to see how much you have progressed. She's informed me that you haven't attended recent sessions? It's a possible sign of misuseâ"
"There's logical explanations behind that." I say. "I still took them as diagnosed when I couldn't see her, so that's unreasonable."
"Alright, well we still want you in counselling again; twice a week." He says, more of an order than anything else.
Do I have a say in this?
"And if I don't attend?" I question. It's a possibility; if the counselling isn't going to do me well, I'm not wasting my time. Sure, it's only two hours a week, but time adds up. Why spend that time uselessly when I can spend it trying to catch up in school and study my butt off to pass?
"Your doses are cancelled." He begins, and I shrug. It'd be a difficult withdrawal, but I'm already a week clean and I'm honestly going insane over it. I know that I'm not strong enough mentally to be trusted off of them, and I know that Dr. Haynes would be worried. I was forced to see her prior to Taylor and during the aftermath; she knows what I'm like. If she knew what was best for me, cancelling my prescription would be like cutting court papers in half and shoving them into the Jury's face.
You're calling for Hell.
"Well, then I guess you may as well cancel it." I say casually.
"Not so fast, I'm not finished," Dr. Cullen says. "There was also a court order saying that therapy was mandatory until the shrink says else wise and the judge accepts their conclusions. Mrs. Haynes has said she hasn't given you the green light yet."
"What if it's violated?" I ask. "Plus, I've been seeing her after the trial for that prescription specifically for nearly two years and have made progress, and still haven't been cleared."
"You'll be looking at at least six months behind bars with quite a big fine with a bunch of zeros on it."
"This is ridiculous!" I exclaim quietly, trying not to draw attention from classrooms in progress.
"It's the law, Miss May, and the law is not ridiculous." He states, which makes me roll my eyes.
"Okay." I say through gritted teeth. "I'll do the stupid counselling. However, if it's not done within six months, I'm ditching it. I'll take the risks."
"We'll let the judge be the judge of that." He says harshly, and adds, "Your prescription will be ready in a couple days." Then swiftly hangs up the phone.
I groan and hit my phone against the nearest locker before running my hands down my face.
This is pathetic. I've done two years of therapy because of Taylor and the gang, and I never missed a session until I ended up getting deported and put behind bars. Except I didn't do anything wrong to get kicked out in general.
Now I'm suddenly suspected of misusing my meds because I stopped attending? And I'm still forced to attend from a stupid court order that got me nowhere? I've been doing this for two years and nothing good has come out of it.
"Everything alright?"
I jump, and spiral myself around to see, of course, Landon. He's leaning against the wall like he's been here for a while.
Crap, he didn't hear my conversation, did he?
"How long have you been standing there?" I ask.
He shrugs, the top of his lip moving. "Long enough." He replies. "Why did you run out of class?"
"Not like it's any of your business, but I got a phone call."
"Who?"
"On the phone?"
"Yes, Blue." He sighs.
"Nobody important." I say.
"Brooklyn."
"Nobody important, Landon. It was just my doctor again. It's none of your business."
Before I can even comprehend what just happenedâthe phone call includedâLandon's hand grabs hold of mine and pulls us away from the doors for when the bell rings.
"Tell me who that really was, Blue." He demands, in a tone which definitely makes me want to comply with.
"A doctor." I say honestly.
Landon sighs, running his hand down his face without removing his hand from mine. I just come to terms with the fact that between him grabbing my hand and now, that our fingers are interlocked together.
It feels right, for some reason. His hand fits perfectly in mine, even though it's like twice the size of my hands.
"I know about your antidepressants, Blue." He finally speaks, and once I heard 'I know', I immediately flung my hands up to his mouth to shut him up. No matter the case, no one can know; and I mean no one.
"Will you keep it down?!" I hiss, pushing myself up against him as if it'll make a difference. "Someone will hear you!"
His body tenses beneath mine, but after a couple slow moments, he relaxes. "Someone will suspect you're coming onto me Blue if you're pressed up against me like this." He whispers in my ear.
My eyes widen and I back off him, my hand slowly dropping from his mouth. His warm, gorgeous mouth.
Stop, Brooklyn!
"That will never happen." I say, brushing off the fake dust on my pants.
"We'll see," he winks, then his face goes stoic. "Now, the subject on the phone?"
"Just drop it, man." I whine.
"No!" He says coldly. "You're really starting to freak us all out and I know it's too soon to say this but I don't want you ending up getting hurt."
"Nothing I'm doing will hurt me, Landon." I sigh, shaking my head. The school is not the place to have this conversation and is definitely not the time to do this either.
"Tell me what's going on or I'll out your whereabouts to the whole school." He threatens. I try so hard not to burst out laughing at how ridiculous of a threat that was, but then again, I don't want anyone knowing I have links to the Rebel Brothers and I guess all four of them know that.
"Don't." I say pleadingly.
"Explanation, then." He fires back.
I groan loudly, and it's that moment the bell rings for class dismissal. I can't have anyone knowing my secrets, but blackmail was never something I tolerated well and I was always on the receiving end of it most times and nothing ever worked out well for me that way. People have a way of words with me and given Landon and his brothers' popularity status, I can be school-wide famous in five minuets.
Something I most certainly do not want.
"Fine." I growl out. "I'll tell you."
"Good."
"After I'm back from the movies." I add on. Landon doesn't seem to happy about my reply, but he just stiffly nods his head before walking away so nobody can see we had an interaction.
First Liam, now his twin brother. Great. Who else is next?