7 Scarlett
“Every bruise fades eventually. The problem is some people don’t stop until they leave scars no one else can see.”
Asher’s new vehicle arrived sometime yesterday, so this morning he drives Harper and me to school in it.
It’s a sleek black luxury SUV that apparently has bulletproof glass and reinforced armor plating, which honestly still feels insane to me.
The fact that this is my life now doesn’t feel real.
I still don’t understand why everything suddenly escalated.
For years I was forced to play nice with Celeste and her friends.
Yes, they bullied me. Yes, they humiliated me and made my life miserable.
But they never took it this far before. So why now?
Asher parks near the front entrance and immediately comes around to open my door for me.
Harper is already climbing out of the backseat, complaining loudly about the English exam we have later today.
Normally I’d laugh. Instead, I barely hear half of what she says.
My mind is still stuck on everything the guys told me this morning.
The bounty, the break-in, the fact that Asher isn’t really a student.
Everything feels blurry, like I’m walking around in some strange nightmare that I can’t wake up from.
I’m still angry with Asher for lying to me, I can understand why he did, but it still hurts.
We make our way through the crowded parking lot toward the school entrance while whispers immediately follow us.
After yesterday I thought it would be better.
I guess Asher’s scary effect didn’t last too long.
I’ve spent years training myself to ignore them so that is what I do.
Something in my chest tightens when I notice the massive crowd gathered around our lockers and Asher notices it too.
His entire body goes rigid. Without another word, he shoves his way through the students, forcing a path forward.
Then he stops so abruptly I slam directly into his back.
“What the fuck?!” The roar echoes through the entire hallway.
Students immediately scatter backward. I finally step around him and my stomach drops.
My locker is completely covered. The words Slut, Whore, Easy and Bitch are spray painted across the metal in thick black paint alongside photos from the night of the attack.
One of the pictures shows me running through the woods in nothing but my bra and underwear.
My knees nearly give out. Before I can even react, Asher grabs the locker door with both hands and rips it completely off the hinges.
The sound of twisting metal echoes through the hallway as he launches the entire door across the corridor.
Half the students stare at him in shock; the other half look absolutely terrified.
Honestly? If I didn’t know Asher would never hurt me, I’d probably be terrified too.
“Holy shit, Ash,” Harper blurts out while staring at the destroyed locker door. “That was actually kind of hot.”
Asher shoots her a look.
“Harper.”
“I know, I know,” she says quickly while holding up her hands. “Wrong time.”
Then she leans closer to me dramatically. “But seriously… very hot.”
Despite everything, I almost laugh. Almost. Harper wraps me in a quick hug before heading toward class.
“You need me, text me,” she says before lowering her voice near my ear. “Also do you think the other brothers can do things like that with their hands also?” Then she disappears down the hallway before I can answer.
I slowly turn back toward Asher and gently take hold of his arm.
“Hey,” I say softly. “Look at me.” His breathing is still uneven with rage.
“I didn’t even get the chance to see everything before you went full Hulk and destroyed the evidence.” I lie.
That finally gets the slightest reaction out of him.
“It was just words,” I continue quietly. “Or pictures. Celeste and her friends have been doing things like this for years.”
Asher’s jaw tightens dangerously.
“Red,” he says firmly while grabbing my chin gently and forcing my eyes to his, “I don’t give a fuck what they’ve done before.” His voice drops lower.
“It ends now.” The intensity in his eyes steals my breath completely.
“You hear me?” he says softly. “You do not have to stand here and take their abuse anymore. You’ve survived this shit for far too long.”
Then he kisses me. Right there in the middle of the hallway. It is soft and protective but possessive enough that the entire school goes dead silent around us. The bell rings before we finally pull apart.
A little while later we’re sitting in Calculus while Mr. Kline passes out the exams. I’m only halfway through the first problem when the classroom speaker crackles overhead.
“Asher Knight, report to the principal’s office immediately.” I immediately became tense. Someone definitely reported him for destroying the locker. Asher sighs quietly beside me before standing. He leans down close to my ear.
“Don’t go anywhere without me, Red. Got it?” I nod slightly.
Zariah wasn’t able to get enrolled quickly enough to start today, and the guys originally wanted me to stay home until tomorrow.
I refused. Missing one exam would already be bad, but missing both Calculus and English?
Absolutely not. I try to focus on the test after Asher leaves.
Numbers blur together across the page as anxiety crawls beneath my skin.
A few minutes later there’s a knock at the classroom door.
Mrs. Weiss, one of the Algebra II teachers, asks Mr. Kline if she can speak to him in the hallway.
The second they step outside, something feels wrong.
Before I can fully process it, Brady, one of Celeste’s friends and the son of my dad’s new client stands up from his desk and walks calmly toward the classroom door.
Then he locks it. Fear shoots through me instantly.
“What are you doing?” I ask shakily.
No one answers. Every student in the room suddenly looks uncomfortable. I glance toward the hallway desperately, wishing Asher would come back. Wishing Mr. Kline would notice the locked door. Brady slowly turns toward me with a cruel smile.
“We figured you needed another lesson.” My stomach drops.
“Celeste and Becky said you like it rough.”
Suddenly someone grabs my hair from behind and yanks hard. I cry out as I’m ripped backward out of my chair and slammed onto the floor. The classroom erupts into nervous whispers, but nobody moves to help me.
Nobody.
I look around desperately while panic floods my chest.
They’re all just sitting there watching.
Too scared to interfere. Dean, who is Becky’s boyfriend and another one of Celeste’s obsessed followers, walks toward me slowly before kicking me hard in the ribs.
Pain explodes through my side. Then he does it again and again.
I curl inward gasping for air while agony tears through my chest.
Something cracks, I know it does because my breathing suddenly hurts.
Brady finally grabs Dean back by the shoulder.
“Damn, man,” he laughs. “Save some for the rest of us.”
He reaches down and grabs my face hard enough to make my jaw ache. My stomach instantly drops when he yanks open the zipper of his jeans.
No.
No no no.
He pulls out his cock and jerks himself while one of the guys behind me forces me upright by my hair.
“You’re gonna open your mouth,” Brady sneers, “and take it like the fucking whore you are.”
Tears blur my vision immediately.
“And if you so much as scratch me with your teeth,” he growls while gripping my jaw painfully tighter, “I’ll break your fucking face. You understand me?”
I shake my head violently, sobs catching in my throat.
Please God. Please let this stop. How is this happening right now?
In the middle of a classroom. Surrounded by people and not one person is doing a fucking thing.
Where the hell is Mr. Kline? Where is Asher?
Brady forces his cock in my mouth while his fist tightens painfully in my hair.
I choke immediately. Humiliation burns through me so violently I think I might actually die from it.
I can barely breathe between the pain in my ribs and the panic clawing its way up my throat.
The classroom around me fades in and out while tears stream uncontrollably down my face.
Everything feels distant. Muted. Like my body is trying to shut down just to survive this.
Then suddenly—
Brady is ripped away from me so violently that his body slams across several desks. I collapse back onto the floor gasping for air. The room erupts into screaming. My hearing rings violently as I curl against the tile, barely able to process what’s happening.
Then I hear him.
Asher. Roaring, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. The sound is terrifying.
Pure rage. Someone screams for help. Another person yells:
“Holy shit…. he’s gonna kill him!”
I force my blurry vision upward just in time to see Asher dragging Brady off the floor by his throat before everything finally goes black.
I wake sometime later to the sound of soft beeping nearby.
For a split-second panic floods my chest, thinking I’m in a hospital again, but something feels different.
The bed is too familiar. The room smells like Apple, fruit and cedarwood and Asher’s cologne.
My room at Asher’s house. My eyes feel heavy as I slowly force them open.
An IV line is taped to my arm, and a small monitor beside the bed tracks my vitals.
It’s honestly a little terrifying how quickly these people can turn a bedroom into what looks like a private medical suite.
My mind immediately jumps to Asher. I try to sit up too quickly and instantly regret it when pain tears through my ribs and dizziness crashes into me.
“Easy there.”
Roman’s voice comes from the corner of the room where he’s stretched across my reading chaise lounge.
“Where exactly do you think you’re going?”
“I need to find Asher,” I say breathlessly while trying to push myself upright again. “Is he okay? The last thing I remember was someone screaming.”
Roman immediately stands and walks over, gently helping ease me back against the pillows.
“Relax, Sorellina. The only people who got hurt were the assholes who touched you.”
His expression darkens slightly.