In Love with my high school bully

IN LOVE WITH MY HIGH SCHOOL BULLY CHAPTER 5

I should have left. That would have been the mature thing to do. Instead, I stood there in the parking lot with Jimmy Harding beside me and his ex-girlfriend staring at us like she’d just witnessed a crime. Chloe Cartman looked between us, her perfectly shaped eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. She recovered almost immediately, but not before I caught the flicker of surprise in her expression. “So,” she said, forcing a smile that never quite reached her eyes, “what’s going on here?” Jimmy slipped one hand into his pocket as though this was the most ordinary conversation in the world.

“Talking.”

“Clearly.”

Her gaze landed on me again. I had never really spoken to Chloe before. We knew each other the way everyone at Westbrook High knew each other. We existed in the same building, attended the same assemblies, and occasionally made eye contact in the hallway before continuing with our lives. Still, there was something about the way she looked at me now that made me feel like I’d somehow broken an unspoken rule.

“You two are… friends?” she asked. Before I could answer, Jimmy did. “We’re getting there.”

I shot him a look.

“We are absolutely not.”

He ignored me completely. Chloe laughed softly, but it sounded forced.

“Interesting.”

There was an awkward silence. I shifted my backpack higher on my shoulder. “Well,” I said, taking a step backward, “I’m going home.” Jimmy glanced at me.

“I’ll text you.”

“You don’t have my number.”

“I know.”

I frowned.

“Then how exactly are you planning to text me?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“That answer is somehow concerning.”

“It shouldn’t be.”

“It absolutely should.”

He smiled like he’d won something. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Zara.” I didn’t bother replying. Instead, I turned and walked toward the bus stop without looking back. I made it exactly halfway across the parking lot before Mia appeared out of nowhere. She nearly collided with me. “There you are!” she said, slightly out of breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”

“You have terrible timing.” She looked over my shoulder. Her eyes widened.

“Oh.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know what she’d seen. Jimmy was still standing beside his truck. And Chloe was still standing beside him. Mia slowly looked back at me. “Why is Jimmy Harding watching you leave?” “He isn’t.”

“He definitely is.” I sighed.

“Can we please talk about literally anything else?”

“No.”

She hooked her arm through mine as we started walking toward the buses. “I leave you alone for one afternoon and somehow you’ve become the center of the biggest piece of gossip this school has had all semester.”

“I have not.”

“You were standing alone with Jimmy Harding.”

“We were talking.”

“His ex was there.”

“Unfortunately.”

“And now he’s still watching you.”

I stopped walking.

“What?”

Mia nodded toward the parking lot. Against my better judgment, I looked. Jimmy hadn’t moved. He was still leaning against his truck with his arms folded, watching me. his The second our eyes met, he gave me a small wave. I turned around so quickly I almost gave myself whiplash.

“I hate him.” Mia laughed.

“I don’t think you do.” “I absolutely do.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The look on her face said enough. The bus ride home felt unusually long. Normally I spent the trip listening to music and pretending homework didn’t exist. Today, my thoughts kept circling back to the same conversation. Jimmy had looked… different. That was the part bothering me.

Not the fake prom proposal.

Not Chloe showing up.

Not the fact that half the parking lot had probably assumed we were secretly dating. It was the way he’d looked when he talked about everyone expecting him to end up with someone like Chloe. For a moment, he’d seemed tired. Almost lonely. I didn’t like that I’d noticed. By the time I got home, I’d almost convinced myself to stop thinking about him. That lasted until my phone buzzed.

Unknown Number.

I frowned before opening the message.

Unknown: I told you I’d figure it out.

I stared at the screen.

Then typed a reply.

Me: Who is this?

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Unknown: Ouch.

I rolled my eyes.

Me: Jimmy?

Unknown: Nice to know I’m unforgettable.

Me: Nice to know you stalk people for their phone numbers.

Jimmy: I asked Mia.

I blinked.

Then immediately opened my contacts and called Mia. She answered on the second ring.

“You gave Jimmy my number?”

“I was bribed.”

“With what?”

“A blueberry muffin.”

I closed my eyes.

“You sold me for baked goods.”

“It was a really good muffin.”

“I need better friends.”

“You do. Unfortunately, I’m all you’ve got.”

I hung up before she could laugh any harder.

Almost instantly, another message arrived.

Jimmy: So…

I ignored it.

A second message appeared.

Jimmy: Are you always this dramatic?

Still nothing.

Thirty seconds later, another notification lit up my screen.

Jimmy: I can keep doing this.

I smiled before I could stop myself.

The smile disappeared just as quickly. Absolutely not. I refused to become one of those girls who smiled because Jimmy Harding sent a text. I typed carefully.

Me: What do you want?

His reply came almost instantly.

Jimmy: Lunch tomorrow.

Me: No.

Jimmy: It wasn’t a question.

Me: Then my answer is still no.

There was a longer pause this time.

When the next message came through, it was only one sentence.

Jimmy: Trust me.

I stared at those two words for a long time. Then I locked my phone without replying. Across town, Jimmy Harding was probably smiling to himself. And for reasons I couldn’t explain, I had the unsettling feeling that tomorrow was going to change everything.

CHAPTER 6

By the next morning, I had convinced myself that ignoring Jimmy Harding was not only possible, but necessary. It was a solid plan. Unfortunately, it lasted until 8:17 a.m. I had just finished grabbing the books I needed from my locker when someone slipped a folded piece of paper onto the top of my backpack. I frowned and looked up. The hallway was packed with students rushing to first period, but no one was paying any attention to me. Whoever had left it was already gone. Curiosity got the better of me. I unfolded the note. Meet me on the football field during lunch.

No excuses. J.H.

I stared at the initials before crumpling the paper in my hand. The audacity of this boy. He really believed he could summon people whenever he felt like it. I threw the note into the nearest recycling bin and continued toward class. By lunch, I had every intention of proving a point.

I walked straight into the cafeteria, grabbed my tray, and sat beside Mia as though I hadn’t received a ridiculous handwritten invitation that morning.Mia immediately noticed something was off. “You look like you’re planning a murder.”

“I got a note.” Her eyes widened.

“A secret admirer?”

“Worse.”

I handed it to her. She unfolded it, read the three lines, and looked at me with a grin that made me nervous.

“He’s committed.”

“He’s annoying.”

“Those aren’t mutually exclusive.”

I reached for my sandwich.

“I’m not going.” Mia didn’t argue. She simply took a bite of her fries and glanced toward the cafeteria entrance. “He seems to think otherwise.” I followed her gaze.

Jimmy had just walked in.

The room reacted the way it always did. Conversations paused for a second before picking right back up. A few teammates called him over. Several girls smiled as he passed. He ignored every single one of them. Instead, he looked directly at me. I immediately looked away.

“Don’t,” Mia whispered.

“I’m not.”

“You literally just did.”

“I was looking behind him.”

“There is a wall behind him.”

I sighed.

This was exhausting.

I spent the next fifteen minutes making a very deliberate effort not to acknowledge Jimmy’s existence. It was going surprisingly well. Until someone sat across from me. I didn’t even have to look up. “You’re not very good at following instructions,” Jimmy said. I kept eating.

“I wasn’t aware you were my boss.”

“No,” he replied. “You’re just making this harder than it needs to be.” Mia looked between us like she had front-row seats to the greatest reality show ever produced. “I should probably leave.”

“Please do,” I said.

“I wasn’t asking.” She grabbed her tray and disappeared before I could stop her.

Traitor.

Jimmy rested his forearms on the table.“You threw away my note.”

“I did.”

“You were still supposed to come.”

“I don’t take orders.”

“I noticed.”

I finally looked at him.

“What exactly do you want from me?”

He held my gaze for a moment before speaking. “I want you to trust me for five minutes.” I laughed quietly.

“You’ve spent four years giving me reasons not to.” Something unreadable crossed his face. “I know.”

The answer caught me off guard.

No joke.

No sarcastic comeback.

Just two simple words.

“I know.”

Before I could respond, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Students began clearing their trays and filing out of the cafeteria. Jimmy stood.

“So that’s a no?”

“Yes.”

He nodded once. “Okay.”

That was it. No argument. No attempt to convince me. He simply walked away.I watched him disappear through the cafeteria doors before shaking my head. That had been… surprisingly easy. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident.

No notes.

No mysterious texts.

No Jimmy.

By the final bell, I was almost disappointed. Almost. I was halfway to my locker when I heard someone call my name.

“Zara.” I turned.

It wasn’t Jimmy. It was Coach Daniels. The football coach rarely spoke to anyone outside the team, which made it immediately strange that he was walking toward me. “Can I talk to you for a second?”I looked around to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else.

“Me?”

He nodded.

“There was something left in my office this morning. It has your name on it.” Confused, I followed him down the hallway toward the athletic wing. He unlocked his office, walked inside, and picked up a large brown envelope from his desk.

“My players use this room all the time,” he said. “One of them must have left it.” He handed it to me. Across the front, written in black marker, were two words. For Zara. My stomach tightened. “Do you know who left it?”

Coach Daniels shook his head.

“No idea.” I thanked him and stepped back into the hallway. The envelope felt heavier than paper should. There was no return name. No explanation. Just my own name staring back at me. I slipped a finger beneath the seal and carefully opened it.

Inside was a single photograph. My breath caught. It was old. Really old. The colors had faded around the edges. There were dozens of children standing together on an elementary school playground, smiling at the camera. Right in the middle of the front row was a little girl with messy braids.

Me.

I turned the picture over.Written neatly on the back were six words. You forgot how we met. I froze. Because underneath that sentence…Was a signature.

Jimmy.