I tried to pretend I was listening to the words coming out of my moms mouth as she prepared breakfast. She was telling me all about her and Andrews upcoming holiday and I tried to nod and smile in all the right places. But really I was too busy thinking about Ripper. Yesterday at his house was weird. He opened up to me and actually told me things about him I never knew before.
He was a monster but he didn't choose to be that way. He was made to choose that path. That didn't excuse anything he'd done of course, but it was an explanation of some sorts.
Then there was the apology, the first and only time I felt like Ripper was treating me like a human being.
In the space of a day I witnessed a full blown Ripper crisis at Lorenzo's place, to genuinely connecting with Ripper. Life is so confusing!
I said goodbye to my mom and started my walk to school. A strange sense of deja vu washed over me as Rippers Range Rover pulled up besides me. Without question I jumped into the passengers seat and offered him a small smile. "Thanks for the ride."
"Pleasure is all mine, so what's going on in the sweet life of Annabella Johnson?" This Ripper was very new to me, he was being pleasant. I just hope it lasted longer than a day.
"Nothing much, my moms got a new boyfriend, he's cool. They're going on holiday together so I guess it's serious." I smiled thinking about how happy my mom had been lately if anyone deserved it, it's her.
"By that smile I'm going to assume you like him, I don't have to kill him do I?" I snapped my head in Rippers direction but he was smiling, so I think that meant he was joking.
"I do like him, so I would appreciate it if you didn't kill my moms boyfriend, don't even joke about that."
"Don't worry kitten, I'm on best behaviour, your moms boyfriend is safe." I narrowed my eyes at him but left that subject there.
"So have you told your friends about what happened yesterday?" I started messing with my fingers just thinking about the pending conversation with Hailey and Sophia.
"Not yet but I'm going to have to tell them the truth. I want to tell them the truth. They hate you, you know."
Ripper shrugged his shoulders and carried on concentrating on the road, thankfully we were almost at school, it was getting rather stuffy in here. "I don't give a fuck, I only care about you. I told you I wouldn't threaten them again and I won't. Unless they deserve it. And you should probably tell them you won't be going to Europe any more either remember." I forgot I gave up my right to travel Europe trying to stop him from killing Lorenzo. I guess that's one dream I'll have to remove from my list.
"I'll tell them." I bit my lip just thinking about breaking the news to them.
"Don't be sad Annabella, you promised me this. I can take you to Europe whenever you like, you say when." I smiled and tried to make it seem as genuine as I could, I didn't want to piss him off because he's right, I did promise.
We were finally at school and already people were staring at Rippers Range Rover. "Thanks for the ride Noah." Ripper moved closer and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before pulling back. "That's okay, I'll pick you up after school we can get dinner."
And so it begins, eat, sleep, Ripper, repeat.
"And don't forget, if the English teacher even steps foot in that school I want to know. And if he does I want to hear it from you, no one else." The scary Ripper was back for a second so I quickly nodded my head and jumped out of the car before he could intimidate me further.
As usual everyone stared at me as I walked from Rippers car to the school. I tried to keep my head high and walk on but that wasn't easy. I heard people whispering 'whore'. I heard the word 'slut' a couple of times. Some people were even whispering about Cindy. I tried not to let it bother me, Ripper had already said he didn't kill her so for my own sanity I had to believe him.
Just before I reached the doors two sets of angry eyes came my way. Without saying anything Sophia and Hailey pulled me into the school and dragged me in silence until we reached our favourite place. The toilets.
Some of Cindy's followers were in there. As soon as they saw me they threw dirty looks my way but left the toilet none the less. Thank fuck for that.
"So you have some explaining to do Bella, what the hell are you doing here with Ripper? I thought that was done with!" Hailey didn't sound as playful as she usually did. She was obviously angry at me. By the look on Sophia's face she was too.
"Guys, it's a long story. But I-I'm going to be with Ripper now. He's promised me he won't hurt you guys, or my mom or anyone else I know." Sophia shook her head at me in disappointment.
"WHAT! Is he threatening you again? You can't live like this, what happened to everything you said. What about Mr Maxwell?" Hailey carried on questioning me. Her blue eyes held mine in a strong gaze and I almost crumbled under the pressure.
"Hails, he hasn't threatened me, but we came to a compromise and this is the result. I think I'll be able to do it, he's going to try and be better. He doesn't want me to be scared of him."
"Have you lost your mind? Omg he's brainwashed you! Why are you all of a sudden team Ripper?" Hailey pressed for answers and my mind fumbled as I tried to think of what to say about yesterday.
"Annabella, come on. You have to tell us what's going on. There has to be a bigger picture here. You can't keep all this to yourself." Sophia squeezed my hand in hers, giving me a slight smile.
"Look I'm sorry Anna I shouldn't have went off on you like that. But I need to make sense of this." Hailey grabbed my other hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Last night guys Ripper he- he hurt Lorenzo. He hurt him real bad. He found out about us, a-and he came to his house. He went crazy. He had a gun to his head and I was so scared. Lorenzo looked so helpless. R-ripper he was going to kill him but I begged him. I begged him to let him go and he did. I thought he was going to kill him right in front of me."
"What did he do to him?" Sophia asked, her tone laced with disgust.
I relayed my night back to my two friends as best as I could. I told them about the games, and the punishments and what I eventually had to promise Ripper. I didn't even notice when I started crying. My hands were shaky and Hailey ran her hands through my hair trying to sooth me.
"Shit Anna." Haileys words lingered in the air for a moment until Sophia finally spoke.
"That fucking sucks. He's a monster. Where is Mr Maxwell now? Is he here?" I shook my head vigorously.
"He can't be here, if he is Ripper will kill him. He must still be feeling beat up. When we left him he could barely lift his head. I just want to tell him how sorry I am but I know he won't ever want to see my face again. I've ruined his life."
"Babe you haven't ruined his life. Ripper has. How can you even stand to be near him any more?" I wish I could answer Sophia's question, but the answer was I don't know. "Honestly, I don't even know."
"I can't believe he's ruined our after graduation plans. Who does he think he is? I wish I could fuck that guy up." Just imagining Sophia even laying a hand on Ripper was slightly humouring.
"So what happens now? Are you going to just forget about everything he's done?"
"Hailey I don't think I'll ever forget everything he's done to me or to other people. He apologised, like really apologised but I'll just see how everything goes, very carefully. We're going to dinner tonight."
"Okay well if this is what you're going to do you need to keep us updated every single day. Whenever you're with him tell us, tell us where you're going and please tell us if you ever need help. We're your best friends that's what we're here for."
I grabbed both of them in a hug before we left the toilets to go to homeroom.
——
This may have been the longest school day of my entire life. We had a substitute teacher in English who told us Mr Maxwell wouldn't be returning. There were numerous groans from the girls in the class but I was glad he was listening to Rippers orders. It was lunch time now and my heart still felt heavy thinking about how I've ruined Lorenzo's life. Even with Rippers threats lingering over me I wished I could see Lorenzo at least once again, just to apologise. To tell him how sorry I am. Deep down I knew he wouldn't want to hear my apologies, or see my face ever again.
Ryder had joined us for lunch today and he was gossiping about the fact Cindy still hasn't been home. Cindy was an attention seeker but there was no way she wouldn't contact her friends or even her family. I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Ripper did have something to do with this. But why would he lie to me and say he hasn't, he's usually pretty satisfied with himself when it comes to things like this. His favourite pastime was bragging about his murderous antics.
"I think it's serious guys, she hasn't even replied to my messages asking if she was okay." Cindy was obsessed with Ryder any message from him, she'd go running.
"Have her family called the police?" Sophia asked Ryder, even she looked a little worried and she hated Cindy's guts.
"Yep, they called the police and they said they'd 'look into it' but they haven't even bothered ask for a photo of her." All three pairs of eyes turned towards me.
"What?"
Sophia put down her soda and gave me a look. "Anna, you have to admit this all too much of a coincidence. Cindy gets involved with Ripper and then goes missing. And the police can't even be bothered to look for her. This has Ripper written all over it."
I looked at my friends and it was clear Hailey and Ryder shared Sophia's thoughts.
"I've asked Ripper and he denied it."
"Don't be so naive Annabella, you know this guy better than all of us. This is exactly the kind of thing he's capable of, of course he denied it, he wants to get in your pants." Hailey wasn't wrong. This is exactly something Ripper would do and I was kidding myself believing otherwise.
"Fine you're right I'll ask him again at dinner."
I just hope bringing up Cindy doesn't antagonise Ripper. That's the last thing I needed today.