Bully
Автор
Emily Dash
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Evie does her best to stay small, hoping the school’s spotlight—and Noah’s sharp tongue—never lands on her for too long. But one moment of compassion pulls her straight into Noah’s world, cracking the mask he hides behind and exposing the bruised places neither of them ever show. A charged encounter leads to a kiss that should never happen, and suddenly the roles they’ve worn for years no longer fit. As whispers spread and loyalties twist, Evie tries to hold on to her quiet life while discovering a side of Noah that disarms her. Noah battles the pressure to stay who everyone expects. Their fragile bond pushes them to face truth, shame, and the longing to finally be seen.
The Road to Hell
EVIE
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
That thought circled in Evelyn Hartwell’s mind as she backed up against the bookshelf and cringed.
She had no one else to blame, except herself, for the current situation she was in. Just two hours ago, she’d made the biggest mistake of her high school career.
Evie had shown her soft underbelly to the worst possible person: Noah Dorchester.
Since her freshman year at Walton Preparatory School, Noah and his friends had made it their mission to make her life miserable. Not just her, but any student who was on scholarship and who was considered a “nerd” or a “geek.”
And she was a nerd. Evie had gotten into Walton because of her high IQ test and exemplary academic record. She was from a poor household, living just above the poverty line, and showed immense promise academically.
But at that moment, Evie would probably tell you that she didn’t feel very smart. Because she knew she’d made a mistake the moment she did it—the moment Evie decided she would help Noah Dorchester.
It wasn’t a big thing. Not really.
He was getting grilled by Mr. Logan over not having his English notes from the previous day’s class. Since Evie was such an overachiever, she’d typed hers up during her free period yesterday, and wouldn’t you know it? She had two copies…just in case.
So she dropped the spare copy on the floor and slid it toward his bag, then carefully bent down to pick it up and put it on his desk, offering some muttered explanation that he must have dropped it.
The stunned expression on his face had made the small deception worth it…until this moment.
Until she’d escaped to her second free period of the day to hide in the library stacks like she always did.
Until Noah had cornered her in the back section with no means of escape.
Now, it seemed like the dumbest thing she could have done. Why hadn’t she just let him get what was coming to him? What had possessed her to get involved in something that wasn’t any of her business?
Her stupid crush and her stupid bleeding heart, that’s what.
Because despite all the awful things Noah and his friends had done to her over the years, Evie still thought he was the most handsome boy she’d ever seen. And underneath all that hostility and bluster, she romanticized the idea that he was really a big softie with a heart of gold.
“So this is where you scurry off to,” he murmured, gaze lazily roaming around the shelves. Evie was transfixed by his hunter-green eyes and reddish-brown hair. He stood a clear foot over her head.
She knew her diminutive size was probably one of the factors that made her such an appealing target for getting picked on. She’d been described as mousy her whole life. Mousy brown hair, mousy brown eyes, and a pale complexion that showed off every bruise and blemish. Evie considered herself plain, not ugly.
And she was okay with that. She didn’t want to be noticed. If she could manage it, she would just blend into the background and let the world continue on around her.
Her books were her whole world. She lived through the lives of the characters in those revered pages, pining for make-believe heroes and commiserating with misunderstood heroines. In her imagination, she could escape and become anything.
But right now, there was no escape. Not from this. Evie had managed to keep the back stacks of the library her hiding spot for almost four whole years. Now a senior, and so close to being free of Walton, her only place to find a respite from the bullying had been discovered.
They weren’t completely alone though. If she could make it past him, she only had to run through eight or nine rows of shelves before she was in the main section of the library with its study tables and the librarian’s round desk. Back here though, where they kept all the old encyclopedias and rarely checked-out books, she might as well have been in Antarctica.
It was eerily quiet back here, the carpet and overstuffed bookshelves eating up the sound before it could travel.
Noah took another step toward her, corralling her against the bare brick wall. She’d never make it past him, she thought. He was too big—too fast. He played lacrosse and water polo, and often received MVP awards in both. Physically large and striking, Noah would grow up to be a very handsome man. Add to that the fact that his family was very wealthy, and he was the perfect catch.
Evie didn’t care about all that. Right now, she just cared about the fact that she was stuck like a snared rabbit, and the big bad wolf was about to blow her house down.
Ugh, she was so flustered she couldn’t even get her metaphors right.
“So, I dropped my notes, huh?”
She resisted the urge to cringe as he smirked. Evie hated that smirk. It was ugly, and mean, and it usually preceded whatever mean and ugly thing he did to her.
“I—I was trying to help.”
Noah’s right eyebrow lifted before he took another step closer, his hands casually stuffed in his pockets, his red plaid tie loosened at the collar.
“Oh, you did. I really enjoyed how pissed Mr. Logan got when he realized he was reaming me out for no reason. So ’preciate that. But what I’m trying to figure out is why you did it.”
One of his shirttails was untucked, and Evie stared at the pointed end against his thigh as he came closer. Any moment now, he would flick her nose or her ear. He’d poke her side hard, and she’d cry out. Any moment now, something bad was going to happen to make her regret existing.
“Evie?”
She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes as she curled her shoulders in.
“Hey…are you…are you crying?”
Evie shook her head no, but it only dislodged the tears, causing them to roll down her cheeks like runaway trains.
“Shit. Don’t cry. I—I’m not… I mean, I wasn’t going to… Fuck.”
He closed the distance quickly, his hand coming up to her face. Evie reared back, her head cracking on the brick as she tried to avoid whatever pain he was about to dole out.
“Christ! Are you okay?”
His big hand slid around the back of her head, holding her away from the rough wall. Noah was so close now, his body blocking all of her view. She cowered lower, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered.
“Goddammit, Evie,” he muttered. “I’m not going to fucking hurt you, I’m trying to say thank you.”
She refused to open her eyes. It was all a misdirection anyway. How many times had she heard something similarly innocent and regretted it in the end?
“For fuck’s sake, will you open your eyes? Jesus Christ, I’ve never fucking hurt you, have I?”
Evie wracked her brain to recall every memory of physical assault at the hands of Noah.
“You threw a basketball at me last year in gym class. I had a bruise on my leg for two weeks,” she said softly. “And freshman year, you pushed me into the center door-catch in the hallway by the biology room. My arm hurt for a long time. Two weeks ago, you and Eric dropped a stack of books on my desk. My hands were under them.”
She peeked one eye open to look at him. He looked…pale.
“Fuck me. I—”
Opening both of her eyes, she looked up at him. She’d never seen him this close up before. His eyes had flecks of gold in them. He had the shadow of a beard coming in. Evie could tell he shaved it, but it wasn’t that dark.
Noah kept his hand on the back of her head and ran the other through his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that doesn’t mean shit—I just—That was really fucked to do and I—Why the fuck would you help me after I was such a dick to you?”
“You have a potty mouth,” she blurted.
His brows furrowed, and he stared at her like she was an alien. “Yeah, I guess I do. So you helped me because I cuss a lot?”
“Well, no—I just… Mr. Logan is really mean to you sometimes, and I think that’s wrong, so I wanted to help you.”
Mr. Logan seemed to have some kind of vendetta against Noah specifically. He was rude to a lot of the students, in a sarcastic and self-righteous way, but with Noah, he practically oozed hate. It had bothered her since sophomore year when she had English with him the first time. Now, in her senior year, she was taking honors English. And so was Noah, which meant he had to be good at it.
Noah stared at her, his lips parted and a slight pink tint to his cheeks as his eyes skated over her face. She watched something shift in his gaze…some unknown emotion taking over. Her blood flowed through her veins like sludge as she felt a sort of amplified panic bloom inside her.
Any attention from the popular kids like Noah was bad. Evie made it her mission in life to go unnoticed, and right now, she was failing at that mission. Badly.
He stepped even closer, his chest brushing hers as his hand untangled from his hair to drop to her waist. He fisted the back of her hair and pulled gently, forcing her head back.
Then the strangest thing happened.
Noah Dorchester, one of the most popular kids in school, one of the worst bullies she’d ever known…kissed her.
