Born to be Bad

ch. 5

Adele (the present)

“Adele. Hey, Adele!”

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Andy, who was looking at me worriedly. “Hey.”

“Are you okay? You spaced out for a little.” The fact that Andy noticed me spacing out when Andy almost never notices anything outside of his laptop screen means I really have been out of it for a while.

“Uh, yeah. I’m okay. I just… I thought about something.” I said.

“You know,” Andy looked hesitant. “While I was doing some digging, I found some things out.” He said.

I looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Andy moved his laptop so the screen was facing me and there it showed my face on the newspaper with the headline that read “13 year old goes wild” and it explained how the thirteen year old daughter of the billionaire Mina and Clark Diaz lashed out and assaulted a classmate just a month after her friend's death and the more I read, the more those images came back to me, the way I broke Karen’s nose, the smell of mint and aftershave and Ian. Gentle, pure and innocent Ian who didn't deserve what he got.

I sighed and looked at Andy with a defeated look on my face. He had a gentle look on his face and seeing that got me on the verge of tears.

“He didn’t deserve what he got.” I said in a hushed tone, my voice cracking. “I just… if only I helped him or protected him more then that wouldn’t have… His parents wouldn’t be suffering right now. They’d still have their son today.”

That day, when we saw Ian in his room and when the medics were taking his body out and the cops were sweeping up the place, they gave us a suicide note and the only words written there were ‘I’m sorry.’ I couldn’t handle it and what made it worse was seeing Mrs. Carter breakdown in Mr. Carter’s arms saying over and over again how sorry she was for not paying more attention to her son. Just to take away the guilt, I would send them money every month passing off as an anonymous donor but I knew that wasn’t going to bring their son back but after the funeral, I just couldn’t bring myself to see them knowing how I could’ve prevented the death of their only son.

“It wasn’t your fault, Adele.” Nina’s voice sounded from the entrance. I turned to look at her, seeing Casper behind her who was wearing the same expression as Andy. “Out of everyone, you tried to help him as much as you can. It was out of your hands.”

I didn’t know what else to say.

Nina continued, “If it weren’t for you-”

“Look, Nina, I don’t wanna talk about this.” I interrupted.

“But, you have to. You’ve been holding that in for so long and I know Ian wouldn’t want you to do that.” Nina said.

I packed up my things while she talked, unable to hear another word. My planner fell out of my bag in the process and, as if some invisible force was at work, the page opened to Ian’s death anniversary which was… tomorrow. It would have been four years since Ian died. I grabbed my planner and walked out of there. I walked towards my car wiping the tears from my eyes before they could fall. I am not going to cry over this. Not this time. I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going because I ended up bumping into someone.

“Sorry about that.” I mumbled and was about to side stepped when I was pushed back onto the ground. I ended up scraping my elbow and when I was ready to fight whoever it was when I came face to face with Melissa.

She was sneering down at me with that ugly face of hers. I was immediately transported back to the time I saw Ian with Karen and how she looked down at him just because she feels like she has power because she was rich.

“Well, if it isn’t the little scholarship girl.” Melissa started as I stood up. “What’s the matter? Scared I’m going to do something bad and--”

“I’ve had enough of your petty little attitude, Melissa.” I said in a dark voice.

I was so tired of all the bullying and the immature s**t she always pulls, looking down at me as if she was anything significant when her father was nothing but a board member of the school. Why should I answer to her when she has to answer to me? She wants to pull a power play? So f*****g be it.

Melissa scoffed. “What are you going to do? Bore me to death?”

“You obviously don’t know who you’re talking to,” I uttered, feeling my hand shake as my anger got the better of me.

“And who am I speaking to, loser?” She asked.

I thought about all the times she’s pushed me and shoved me and called me names just because she thought I wasn’t anyone of great importance to the school, or so she thought. Then, I thought about Ian and how he never stood up for himself because he thought he deserved all that bullying because he wasn’t like us. Ian, who was sweet, charming and funny whose death anniversary is tomorrow.

“Take a good look, Andrews. Just because your daddy is part of the board of trustees, doesn’t make you all powerful. You are nothing but a skank and a bully.” I spat, taking one step closer to her.

Melissa scoffed at me.

“Yeah, you can keep laughing but one call from me and you can kiss your entire future goodbye.” I said, putting on the most intimidating look I could muster and for a second, it actually worked before Melissa put on a brave face and looked at me mockingly.

“Really? You’re nothing but a scholarship kid. A nobody. How could you possibly achieve all those threats unless you're bluffing?” Melissa said, but I could already see her a bit shaken.

I gave her a sickly sweet smile that could give anyone diabetes. “You’re talking to Adele Diaz, the heiress to Malcolm Enterprises so you better do well to speak to me properly. If you haven’t figured it out, you’re below me, Melissa. You’re worthless.” I said.

Melissa stared at me for a full minute before she burst out laughing. “You? The heiress to that great empire?” She laughed, all high-pitched and squeaky. “Oh, aren’t you the jokester. Well, one can dream. Who are you trying to kid, loser? Just because you have the same first name, you think you’re suddenly the heiress of one of the biggest companies in America?” She laughed again, making me even more angry that I was a few minutes ago. “Don’t be stupid. And, besides, no one’s heard from Adele Diaz in years ever since her faggot of a best friend killed himself or something.”

I saw nothing but red. The f*****g nerve of some people.

“Why, you-” 

Before I could attack her, the way I attacked Karen all those years ago, someone held me back by grabbing my waist and pulling me closer to them. The scent of mint covered my senses and I immediately knew who it was.

“Melissa,” Roy’s voice sounded strained and he sounded like he was trying to hold in his anger. My mind traveled back to when he helped Ian. His voice sounded the same then.

Melissa’s whole demeanor changed, kind of like how Karen changed when she saw Roy appear. Man, this whole day couldn’t get any longer. Everywhere I go, I’m reminded of Ian and how he’s never coming back. I needed to leave. Immediately. What was I even thinking, standing up to Melissa and beating the crap out of her?

It would appear as if Roy already knew what I was thinking because he pulled me a little closer to him, as if restraining me from launching myself at the blond girl across me. She’s not really a girl though. She’s more like an ogre with too much lip gloss… That’s an ugly picture to think about.

“Oh, hey, Roy. I didn’t see you there. Are we still on for dinner tonight? You know, my dad has been asking about you.” Melissa said, fluttering her eyes shyly. She looks like she’s having an epileptic attack.

“What were you doing with Adele here?” Roy asked instead.

“What, you mean this nobody? Nothing. She bumped into me on purpose. Can you believe that? I was just waiting for her to give me an apology.” Melissa said confidently, crossing her arms on her chest, raising her chin up and looking down at me.

My eye twitched and I was so ready to attack her when Roy moved his arm and interlaced our fingers together. I was so startled, I ended up looking at him in confusion. His gaze was fixed solely on Melissa who had a confused expression on her face.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” She said, gesturing between the two of us.

“That is none of your concern. However, I would really like it if you stopped bothering my girlfriend.” Roy said and Melissa’s jaw dropped.

Heck, I think mine did too. I was so not expecting that, especially not from him! Why would he suddenly say that out of the blue. Is he out of his mind?! And weren’t we supposed to keep this whole thing a secret? Now, this’ll be all over the news. New York’s finest bachelor: unavailable. I can already see the headlines.

“What… Did you just say-” Melissa was a blubbering mess and I was going to have to agree with her on that one.

“Yes, that’s right.” Roy turned to look at me, our eyes clashing. “Adele is my girlfriend.”

Hearing him say it while looking directly at me sent up unnecessary (and unwanted) goosebumps up my arm and I could feel some tingly feeling at the pit of my stomach. It was foreign and weird. I wanted nothing to do with it.

“For how long?!” Melissa demanded.

Right. I forgot she was still here.

Roy broke eye contact before dazzling Melissa with his signature smile. “Not too long ago, actually. Anyways, we must be going now. We have stuff to do.” He said.

“We do?” I couldn’t help but blurt out.

Roy looked at me again with those dazzling blue eyes of his. “Yes, we do.”

And so we left, him guiding me to his car and my hand firmly grasped in his. It was a rather odd feeling, having someone to hold on to while I was unstable. When we reached his car, he unlocked the door and opened the passenger’s side door for me. I got in, a bit hesitant but said no more and quietly got in. I waited for a few minutes and Roy got into the driver’s seat right after and we backed out of the parking lot and left for some unknown destination.

~ * ~

After a few minutes of just driving around, I thought Roy would take me back to my place but he passed the street where my apartment was located and went further down the road and was nearing the city borders as if we were about to leave town. I was too upset to even react. I let out a deep sigh that did not go unnoticed by the driver.

“So,” Roy paused, as if pondering his words. “I never got to talk to you about it.”

“About what?” I asked.

“About,” he paused again, as if he was afraid he was going to set me off. “About Ian.”

My heart stopped. I mean, I guess that was also kind of my fault. After I got charged for assault, I didn’t wanna talk to anyone. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Janet, to Chris and I shut Nina out and didn’t talk to anyone for months. Not even my parents. And, to be honest, I kind of felt ashamed facing Roy after he literally just saw me beat up a girl and continued to pathetically sob onto his chest.

“Right. Well, there’s nothing to talk about.” I said, looking out the window.

There was another moment of silence. I watched as the buildings turned to trees and I was so surprised to actually see them, I turned to look at Roy.

“Where are we going?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Roy shrugged his shoulders. “I thought you could use a little spontaneous trip out of town, seeing as you were about to beat the living daylights out of Melissa earlier. So, we’re going to Coney Island.” he said.

“Just the two of us?” I asked, incredulously.

He glanced at me with a smirk on his face. “Is there a problem?” He asked. “I mean, technically, you are my girlfriend.”

“Right,” I turned my body to fully look at him. “That wasn’t cool, buddy. Have you ever heard of consent? I never said yes to being your girlfriend. Which, by the way, you never asked me to in the first place.” I ranted.

Roy nodded. “You’re right. It was my mistake. I should’ve asked you first.”

I looked at him in surprise, expecting him to put up a fight. I crossed my arms instead of saying something, not wanting him to see me flustered and confused. “Okay. I’m glad that’s settled.” I said.

“So, Adele Diaz, will you be my girlfriend?” Roy said, completely catching me off guard again.

I glared at him this time after seeing that playful smirk on his face widen into a smile. “No.” I said, bluntly and looked away when Roy gave me a sad face. The nerve of some people.

“Man, that is harsh, Adele. How am I supposed to live now?” Roy whined.

“Roy, please. There’s only one drama queen here and that’s me. Find your own title.” I said.

Roy’s face went back to normal but his smile was still intact. We drove in silence for the next few minutes when my phone started ringing. I picked it up and saw that it was my mom calling. Oh, boy. What does she want? I readied myself before answering the call.

“Adele?” My mom’s voice sounded weird, as if she wasn’t sure how to speak to me.

“Yes, mom. I’m here.” I answered.

“Where are you right now? It’s getting late. You should already be-”

I cut her off before she could continue. “I’m with Roy right now and he said he’s taking us to Coney Island or something. I don’t know.”

There were a few beats of silence before my mom replied, “Oh.” That one syllable alone held so many emotions that it almost sounded funny. “You’re with Roy?” She asked.

“That’s right.”

“And you’re going to Coney Island?”

“Yup.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Alone, without any chaperone?”

“Mom!”

“Okay, fine.” She said, but I could tell she was smiling. “I just… I would’ve thought you’d come home early tonight seeing as tomorrow is… you know.”

I bit the side of my cheek before replying. “Yeah, I know.” I paused as I pondered on what else to say. “Look, don’t worry about me. This is probably something I need to, you know, get better.”

My mom let out a sad sigh on the other side of the line. “Okay. Well, I guess it should be okay, then. This is the perfect time for you to bond with your future husband. So, use the time well, okay? And, since that’s going to be a long drive back to Manhattan, why don’t you both just stay at our place in Seacoast Towers. We haven’t used that space in a while but apparently, all the furniture is still there. I can give the manager a call and-”

“Mom, please.” I interrupted her again, sparing a glance at Roy’s direction to see if he could hear what we were talking about. He was looking straight ahead but I knew he could hear every single word. I sighed. Jesus, this is so embarrassing. ”I’ll take care of it, okay? Don’t worry too much.” I said.

My mom sighed. “Alright, fine. Call me before you go to bed so I know you’re safe. Do you understand?” She said.

“Yes. I’ll talk to you then. Bye.”

We said our goodbyes and I hung up, putting my phone back inside my bag. It really was a long drive from Manhattan so I don’t understand why Roy decided to go on this trip in the first place.

“I wanted to cheer you up.” Roy suddenly said from beside me.

I looked at him in confusion. “What?”

“I saw you walk away from your friends earlier, looking so upset. Then, when you left, I heard Nina mention… She mentioned Ian’s name so I checked the calendar and saw that his death anniversary was tomorrow. I wanted to cheer you up so I thought of going on this trip at the last minute.” Roy said with a small shrug.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Why? Why would he go through all of that just to cheer me up?

“Just in case you were wondering,” he added, shooting me a small smile before looking back at the road.

I couldn’t believe I was hearing this, from Roy Allister nonetheless.

“And when you were standing up to Melissa earlier, I remember you having the same look, the same anger and fire in your eyes before you broke Karen’s nose four years ago. I knew I had to intervene. I’m sorry for doing that.” Roy added, which made me look away.

“You were doing all of us a favor,” I said after a few minutes. “If you didn’t arrive there on time, I would’ve repeated the same mistake I did four years ago and all my assault charges would’ve resurfaced. And I don’t think even my parents would be able to get me out of that one.” I added.

At the side of my eyes, I could see Roy nod slowly.

I sighed and glanced at him. “Thank you, though. For… For helping me back there.”

Thinking about Melissa and what she said made me so angry, I wanted to hit something again. I grinded my teeth together and tried to do the breathing techniques my psychologist told me to do to rein in my temper. It didn’t work. I was getting more anxious, the more I thought about it. I was slowly spiraling out of control, going deeper and deeper into this whole I tried to get out of all those years ago when someone’s warm hand touched mine.

I looked at Roy and, for the second time that day, he held my hand in his. Without meaning to, and in just a span of a few days, Roy has slowly become an emotional support I never thought I needed. Roy squeezed my hand once before letting go and continued to drive to one of the happiest places on earth.