Being a girl sucks sometimes. I held the hot water bottle closer, holding in a groan. Mum pushed my door open and gave me a sympathetic look. She'd excused me from school today so I could deal with the severe pain in my stomach. Everyone always thinks dealing with this pain is so easy, saying that I should just take some Tylenol and be done with it. I'm sorry but unless you've gone through this pain, you don't get to comment on what I'm going through!
"Hey baby?" Mum said. "We're heading off to work now, call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Thank you." I said, clearing my throat.
She smiled and shut the door, leaving me to curl into a foetal position. The meds finally started to kick in as I drifted off. A short nap couldn't hurt.
A loud banging noise forced my eyes to fly open, and I looked up to see a different ceiling above me. Confused, I looked around and realised I was now in unusual clothes... and chained to an unfamiliar bed. My breathing started to get rougher and I started tugging on the chains. Where was I? I heard loud voices approaching and I made a snap decision to close my eyes, feigning sleep. A door slammed open and footsteps started to approach my strained position.
A masculine voice started talking. "She's still asleep."
"I can see that, idiot." Another man responded.
"Did we give her too much chloroform? Boss said that they don't want the girl harmed yet."
Fingers poked my side painfully and I grimaced. "Hold on, look at her face. I think she's starting to wake up."
I whimpered in pain and opened my eyes. I looked at the unfamiliar men with wide eyes and immediately screamed. One of the men grunted and glared at me, "We forgot the gag."
The other man slapped him upside the head. "No shit, Sherlock."
I groaned as the chain pulled on my sore wrist. They turned to me quickly, as if remembering I was still there. "Mmm, time to sleep again doll. If you're good, maybe we'll get to have some fun together."
I started to shake as a knife appeared, and I tried to scoot backwards only to have the chains hold me in place. The knife came closer and closer to my face and I screamed loudly in fear.
"Oh Ana." He chuckled. "Ana, Ana, Ana!"
"...ANA!"
"ANA WAKE UP!"
Feeling a hand on my arm, my eyes shot open to reveal that I had been having a nightmare. Thank God. The hand was still on my arm and I traced it up to find a man looming over me. Jumping back in fear, I opened my mouth to shout when he raised his arms and let out an uneasy laugh.
"Shit, sorry please don't freak out, I'm Marcus." He muttered.
Marcus... Oh yeah, I think he's supposed to be my new bodyguard. Pulling my blankets around me, I forced an uneasy smile in his direction and watched as his face flushed slightly.
"Sorry Ma'am, I just thought you were in trouble because of the screaming..." He said, inching towards the door. "I'll be down in the kitchen if you need me."
He left quickly and I let out a big sigh. I should probably change and talk to him. Groaning, I rolled out of bed and hobbled towards my closet. Changing into hoodie and sweatpants, I started going downstairs and found Marcus hovering in the corner of the kitchen.
"Um, hey." I said, dumping my hot water bottle out.
"Hi, I'm apologise for barging in before."
I smiled and shook my head. "Don't worry about it, you were just trying to do your job."
He nodded, still standing far from me. I turned the kettle on and looked over him. He looked to be almost thirty and very fit. Wait, no, I can't say that I need to stay professional. As if noticing I was struggling with his presence, Marcus decided that he was going to make a sweep of the house and assured me that he was going to 'stay in the shadows', whatever that means. I barely opened the fridge before a hand poked my back, causing me to scream bloody Mary. Tommy's loud guffaws stopped my scream, and I turned to see him holding his mid-section.
"Jerk!" I pouted as Marcus rushed into the room on high alert, only to find me glaring at Tommy. "I'm okay Marcus, my brother is just being an idiot."
He frowned and left the room again. Tommy turned to me and shook his head. "He's serious."
Rolling my eyes, I finally gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?"
He grinned and sat down. "The case against my client was dismissed so I had some free time to come see you."
Excitement welled up in me, and for a moment I nearly forgot about my cramps. Tommy looked at my hot water bottle and shot me a sympathetic frown. "Oh yeah, Mum told me you were having a tough time."
I started to respond but he pushed his finger against my lips. I almost bit him but decided to be nice instead and listen to him. "Shhh, I've made the executive decision to take you to brunch."
"But my cramps--" Tommy grabbed my hot water bottle and some Tylenol before pushing me towards the car. "Wait! Tommy I can't go now, I'm going to be recognised like this!"
"Oh, is that all?" He groaned in annoyance and ran back inside to grab my wig and glasses. Putting them on, I hugged my bottle as he took us to Village Inn. The server looked up and said, "Table for two?"
Tommy nodded and we slid into a booth. A perky waitress appeared and identified herself as Mandy. "Is there anything I can get started for you?"
I looked at Tommy and had to stifle a groan as I noticed the familiar mischievous look take over his features. "Yeah, you."
That wasn't even good. I rolled my eyes and saw Mandy's eyebrows raise. "Sir, that is very disrespectful to both your girlfriend, AND me."
I couldn't help bursting out laughing, "Sorry, it's just—he's my brother. I'm so sorry he said that to you. Thomas? APOLOGISE!"
Tommy looked like he wasn't going to, so I kicked him lightly under the table. He winced subtly and sent me a cross look before turning and apologising to Mandy. She flushed slightly and took our orders. I gagged as Tommy stared at her butt as she walked away. There's more to women than just their bodies! The food arrived quicker than I'd expected, and Tommy immediately tried to sneak a bite of my skillet.
"No!" I shouted, drawing attention. I blushed and shrunk away from the amused stares.
As we ate, I couldn't help noticing all of the other people on their phones. What happened to proper conversations and living in the moment? Actually, I can't judge. I might be addicted to snapchat. Tommy asked if I wanted pie, and I really wanted to say yes, but my stomach said no. I'm stuffed, like a thanksgiving turkey. Only, I'm alive. And I don't have feathers, and I'm human. Okay maybe comparing myself to a turkey wasn't the best idea. Tommy went off to pay and I pulled out my phone to answer the numerous text messages I had gotten.
LUCAS: Where are you?
ANA: I'm home, wasn't feeling great today :( Can you and Gigi get my homework for me? I don't want to get behind.
LUCAS: K
'K'. What the hell is 'K'? Why do people always say that? It's so passive aggressive. The next message was from an unknown sender, and I felt my stomach twist worriedly as I clicked on it. Please don't be another death threat.
UNKNOWN: Where the hell are you? We have a project to work on, and I need you to do my homework again.
Wait, was this from Josh? How did he get my number?
ANA: Sorry, can't do it today, I'm sick.
I started to put my phone away when it buzzed again.
EMMA: Heyyyy, are you able to come see me today? I miss you, and it's really lonely here.
Tommy appeared as my face lit up, and he smiled as he peaked at my phone. "Let's go see her."
I hopped in his car and we started driving to the hospital. I ran to her room and skidded to a stop as a nurse came out. She looked at me with amusement before stepping aside to let me in.
"Hey weirdo."
Emma's eyes crinkled as she grinned, and I skipped over to the seat next to her. Tommy appeared in the doorway, and from the corner of my eye I saw Emma blush. She's had a crush on him for years, even the fact that he's seven years older than her doesn't stop her fantasies. Once she literally drooled when looking at him working out. I still tease her about it to this day. I mean, seriously, who drools over someone who isn't Jason Momoa or Chris Evans? In my opinion those men are heaven-sent.
"Hey Ems," Tommy murmured, a twinkle in his eye. "I'll be back—need to take a fat dump!"
"Too much information, idiot." I groaned.
Emma sighed dreamily, "He's soooo hot. How do you live with him?"
"Ew, he's my brother!" I shot her a disgusted look and pinched her softly.
Emma turned her head to glare at me but burst out laughing instead. We talked about everything from schoolwork to the latest sale at Victoria's Secret. Tommy came back inside at some point and dropped into one of the window seats. His phone went off in the middle of one of our conversations and he groaned loudly.
"Sorry, it's work." He said, darting into the hallway.
"What do you want to do with your life?" Emma asked.
Heavy question, how do I answer her? "I'm not sure." I responded hesitantly.
It's not a total lie, I'm not sure if I want to model forever. She agreed sadly and looked at her broken arm. I held her good hand and stayed quiet for a few minutes.
"Hey, I'm sorry to cut the visit short, but I need to get back to work..." Tommy said, guilt on his face.
I nodded and stood up to leave. "Thank you for being so amazing, Ana." Emma said, happiness in her eyes. "There's no one else I'd rather go through high school with."
"I love you Em." I whispered, holding back my tears.
We got to the car and I put my head against the cold window. I'm such a bad person. She deserves to know who she's really friends with. Why can't living a double life be easier? Maybe being normal isn't worth if it I'm constantly lying to everyone I care about.
JOSH
My phone dinged loudly, as I was wiping the water off my forehead. Tossing my towel into the corner, I checked to see Ana had texted me. It was humiliating having to ask her geeky friend Gigi for her number. I huffed in annoyance as I read her response. Of course the nerd would pick today to stay home from school. Not only do I have a ton of math homework due in the morning, but the test is coming up fast. I tossed my phone back into my locker as I changed out of my football gear. Travis came up next to me and pulled his locker open. A random red thong fell out of his bag and I looked between it and him with a questioning look.
"Update, I nailed Jasmine last night, that's another mark for me." He smirked, holding the thong up for everyone to see.
Some of the other boys whistled in approval while I laughed and drew a mark next to his name on the whiteboard. It was a good old fashioned 'body chart'. You get ten extra points for every virgin you bang, but you lose five points if you nailed a girl that another player already had.
"You're almost knocked out of number one." Adam said as he walked past me. "Getting soft, Josh?"
I frowned and looked at the chart. He was right, Travis was one fuck from beating me.
Who can I get? Lindsay? No, Travis already hit that. Ana? Actually, yeah that might work. She's definitely a virgin. Yet again, why go after that pathetic girl when I can get Savanna? That girl wants me, bad.
"Hey dipshit," I said, calling out to Travis. "How many points do I get if I nail Savanna?"
"You think you can pull Savanna?" Travis chuckled, punching my arm roughly. "Alright, bet. I'll give you fifty points, and if you do it before graduation, I'll owe you a hundred bucks."
I grabbed his hand and smirked to myself. I'll have her in my bed by Christmas. This'll be the easiest hundred bucks I've ever made. Savanna, you better get ready for the ride of your life.