k********g Mr. Good Boy(Book 1 in The Savage Skulls series)

Breakfast With the Mafia

    His eyes fluttered open. He lifted his face up, his eyes squinted as he looked around. He was on the floor right beside the front door. His legs moved, proceeding to bend so he could stand up. A groan left his lips at the ache in his body. 

    He placed his hands on the floor and pushed down, finally being able to stand up. “Uhh.” Feeling dizzy, he immediately leaned on the door for support. He blew a breath out of his mouth and ran his fingers between his hair. “I hate you!” He muttered hatefully under his breath, thinking of his father. He turned around with his eyes blurring and roamed the room. No one was there. Good. 

    Feeling funny somewhere around his cheek and nose, he traced his skin with his fingers carefully. By looking at his arm, he knew it was dry blood that was on both his face and hoodie. 

    He took large steps to the kitchen that was not so far away from where he was standing. He badly wanted to just go to his room and fall asleep again but he knew it was better if he left the house earlier. He reached the sink and turned the faucet on. Wetting his hand, he started rubbing his cheek and wiping the dried blood stains out. 

    After finishing, he decided to break one of the rules. He walked over to the kitchen fridge and opened it widely. His hungry eyes roamed the food as he was calculating what could be the quickest. He took out some cheese and bread, quickly making a sandwich for himself. He ended up savoring the taste while leaning against the kitchen counter and staring cautiously at the stairs. 

    After he finished, he started with his parents’ breakfast. He was thinking a lot. Should he take the risk and do it or not let past repeat itself? Should he finally end it all, all his misery and pain? He chopped down slides of a tomato, looking outside the window. He could do it just then and finally be free. He could escape, even if there was a risk his father would go after him and catch him like before. 

    A heavy sigh left his mouth. He put the last plate on the table, his blood stained sleeve rolling back down. He rubbed his eyes. It was time to get ready. Feeling better because of his breakfast, he yawned his way up to his room, making sure he didn't make the stairs creak.

    Picking a cleaner hoodie, a jacket and a scarf, he rushed his way down the stairs. He groaned loudly upon noticing the slumped body on the nearby coach. His mother… She was out with bottles of alcohol thrown around. Again, she was drunk… He dropped his backpack beside the stairs. Another interruption for him to stay longer at home. He walked towards her and rested on the coffee table. Looking down at his mother, tears clouded his eyes. With two of his fingers, he moved back the strands of blonde hair covering her face. "It may not be goodbye as I know I would not make it…but know that there was not even a day that I felt warm with you…" He pulled his fingers back, not wanting to wake her up. "The only thing you cared about was yourself, just like your so called husband.” He hissed quietly. 

    He spotted another glass bottle, lying under her hand. He picked it up, taking a deep breath. They were three in total. He threw them in the bin and looked around the coach for any signs of spilled drinks to clean. If it was his last day there then why not clean it before leaving? He thought. Maybe he would change his mind and not escape, maybe he would escape. It was still unknown what he was going to do.

    He released a relieved breath, finally being able to leave his house. He closed the door after him and slid his hands in his front pockets, shielding them from the cold. Every breath he released formed small bubbles of smoke. It was perhaps the coldest autumn for Louis, he hated that month, though absolutely not more than winter. The only thing he liked about both seasons was wearing long sleeved hoodies without getting weird looks like in spring and summer. Seven feet away from the door, he immediately stopped in his tracks as he frowned.

    A big bike was parked on the sidewalk, a step away from him. She was waiting on it as her legs were moving to the rhythm of the rock song blasting through her headphones. The sound was so loud, Louis could hear it from where he was standing, it was the kind of songs he cringed upon hearing. Too loud and annoying for him. How was she not deaf yet? Yet, like sensing someone staring, her head snapped towards him. Her eyes shot brightly, taking him into her sight. Her hair was as always, thrown down to reach the middle of her back. A light grey blouse was everything she was wearing. Her teeth were not clattering, neither were her lips shivering. She even had the sleeves rolled up for some reason. Does she not realize how cold it was? He wondered.

    “What are you doing here?" Inquired Louis.

    She smirked, seeing him frown.

    “Good morning, mate!" She greeted, feigning excitement. He loved her accent. "Isn't that what you're supposed to say when you see a younger lady waiting for you on her bike?" She frowned. Tapping her forefinger on her chin, she was tilting her head and acting like she was thinking deeply about her question. 

    "Uhh" He backed away his head, face full of confusion. She jumped down as she walked closer to him and stood a foot far.

    She stared at his face with an innocent look as she laughed loudly at him. Her right arm reached up to his shoulder as she held it. Sparks shot up in the place she was touching. Louis' lips parted in surprise. His eyes dropped down to her fingers that were slowly rubbing circles on the flesh beneath his clothes. It was tingling him so much, he badly wanted to press her hand down and keep it there or remove it away.

    "I want to drop you off at school, saw that you have no friends so...yeah?”.

    Wait, did she want to be his friend? Of course not, she just wanted to have fun like other students do, students that are rich and popular like her… Couldn't she at least bring her car? The other day she drove it and he nearly had a heart attack, then what about a motorcycle? He stared at the bike, observing it closely to check if there was any reason to get them dead besides her speed. Though it was perfectly fine. That did not mean he was going to accept riding with her anyways. 

    “Never rode on a motorcycle before?” She asked with her signature smirk. 

    He shook his head and her smirk grew wider into a full blown smile. "I would be happy to let it be your first time with me Louis.” It was surreal. How she smiled at him.  

    How beautiful it sounded when she said his name. He thought. Please say it again…

    “How do you know my name, and how did you know my address yesterday?” He asked wishing the ground could swallow him.     

    Denies sat back on the bike, leaving space for him to sit in the back. She turned it on and took a look at him. “I have my ways, now hop on."

    “I’ll just take the bus."  

    “I said Hop. On."

    She calmly said. Her knuckles were turning white from the harsh hold. Her orbs were clouded, the blue in them almost fading. It was obvious she was masking a hidden emotion with calmness, but why so suddenly? It looked like her mind was not there, weird...

    “Guess I have no choice…" He murmured, taking the helmet she held out for him. He sat beside her, trying as hard as he could not to touch her. At least not yet. “Wait!" He exclaimed, holding her hand to stop her from driving. "Is that your helmet? Did you give it to me so I can wear it instead of you?” Inquired Louis, ignoring the sparks as he removed his hand off of hers.

    She chuckled and confidently said “I’m a racer, why should I be scared of riding a bike on an empty street without a helmet?” Her eyes met his before she suddenly started the bike.

    His hands found nothing to catch and ended up crawling up to her waist as he held it roughly, preventing himself from leaning closer or falling backwards. He feared she would break, but his fear from both of them falling off was worse. "Go slower!" He yelled. She, surprising him, did not go faster as he thought she would but slowed down her pace and stayed silent. He would hear her chuckling every time his hold got stronger as she turned a sharp corner. 

    He hoped that the way to school would be slower. He would have to endure even more bullying and beating if any jock spotted them together. The nerdiest nerd and the hottest girl in town. They would absolutely be jealous and hate him even more but for a reason that time not just for existing.

    He got out of the trance he was in as the bike halted to a stop. Fast. He looked around, they were outside the parking lot in a few meters. Did she…did she want to keep that ride a secret? Is that why she did not go further to the school building and dropped him off outside?

    He looked down, a strange emotion in his eyes. “You can get off now.” She mentioned. Slowly, he swung his leg to the other side and stood up. Placing the helmet on the seat, he muttered a "thank you" and turned around, rushing away. Being the sensitive person he was raised to be, his eyes watered as he met another person who was ashamed of being seen with him. But who was to blame if nothing was great about him? The only thing he liked about himself were his eyes and just that!

    What was he expecting from her? To be different and treat him like a decent human being or be his friend? Well if yes then he obviously chose the wrong person. She was a murderer! She had a g**g with other friends she would not hesitate to kill if she got the chance to. Isn’t that what everybody said? Why was he not so scared of her?!

    He blinked away the tears, feeling strange to have suddenly gotten so emotional. He had never cared about someone not liking him that much, he was used to it all his life.

    He huffed feeling angry at his childishness. He turned around, going straight to the building and out of the parking lot. 

    As he was reaching for the door, two hands from behind pulled him back and pressed him to a nearby car. He gasped, staring in surprise at the girl who had managed to bring tears to his eyes. He waited for it, for when she would just like his biggest bully, raise her fist and punch him. 

    He was staring at her arms observingly. He had to try and catch her arm before it collided with his face. No need for more bruises. Of course, his scarf was covering half of his face as his hoodie was up. He was not worried much. It would take someone to remove the scarf so they could see the bruise on his cheek line going down to his chin and he knew no one would do that. 

    “Why did you run away like that?”

    She questioned in a loud voice, sounding as if she was scolding him. 

    His head raised up as their eyes met. He frowned in confusion and tilted his head to the side. 

    “You ordered me to go away...” He whispered, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. 

    Her mouth opened and she stared at him with surprise. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her head shook with disagreement. 

    “First, I did not order you, I asked you to.” She denied in disbelief. She looked like she was going to step away and tell him how childish he was acting, but he did not need to be told, he already knew that. Though, the side of his lip twitched, almost forming into a small smile. Her words repeated in his head. That did not sound like a mafia boss. He thought. Didn’t they order everyone around them to do things they wanted to be done?

    His lips formed into a straight line, wanting to hear what she had to say. “Second, you’re dumb.” She bluntly confessed, saying it like it was a matter of fact. “I didn’t tell you to go away, I asked you to get off because we have arrived. I’m not a nerd who comes to school an hour early while there is a cafe beside the school building!”

    She waved her hands in confusion. His mouth formed into an O shape. She wanted to go to cafe with him?! But why... why him? Out of everyone, she had chosen him, the nerdiest nerd who is known to be a stalker for no exact reason?! He did not have anything she could take and get an advantage of. He had completely nothing. 

    He heard a laugh, sucking him back out of the hundreds of thoughts flying around in his mind. She was looking behind him as she chuckled. 

    “I literally thought you ran away because I scared you...” She smirked, probably thinking it was a smile after her laughter had come to an end. She shook her head again and stepped back. “Come on, let’s go.” With her hand, she waved for him to move and starting walking away. He, curious, followed after her. He played with his fingers nervously. Should he ask or not? Would she be offended? Deciding to have the courage, he let his mouth take control. 

    “Is it like that with everyone?”

    Not expecting he would talk, she stopped walking and glanced at him. “What?” 

    His mouth opened, then stopped, it then closed shut. He knew he perhaps looked like a fish by doing that. He also knew that he would stutter, he always did when he was nervous or scared. “Uhh p-people being scared...” He breathed out, his eyes shifting away not wanting to stare in hers. “Of you.” He whispered, collecting his hands into fists as his nails dug in his inner palms. The side of his cheeks got sucked in as he bit into them. 

    She frowned, seeming to zone away as her eyes were fixated on the building behind them. She looked like she had no answer to his question. Or was probably thinking of one. “You can say it’s pretty often. I can just exist for them to think ‘oh yay my time to leave!’” She rolled her eyes. “I think neither I nor Ace has been in a restaurant and felt normal, we’re The Savage Skulls Mafia after all...” She laughed it off and continued walking. Maybe she thought she had fooled Louis into making him believe she did not care but to him, it was pretty obvious that she just wanted to be a normal teen...

    He stayed silent, the emotion in her eyes that appeared for a second still stuck in his mind. What was her story? Was she actually the monster everyone despised or were they rumors? They could be. After all, wasn’t he known for being the stalker which he is not?!

    They reached the cafe where her bike was parked. He chuckled silently, remembering how he embarrassed himself minutes ago. He felt bad that he made her think he ran away from her but the thought that they both misunderstood each other made him feel better.

   She pushed the door open and went straight in. Louis quickly backed away as the door slammed shut in front of him before he had the chance to walk behind her. Rude. He scowled as he glared at her back and walked through the entrance. 

    A waiter was already standing beside her with a small notebook in his hand to write down the orders of each customer. “Wow” He whispered to himself, surprised. As if hearing him, her eyes shot up to him and pointed to the chair facing hers. He sat down. 

    His eyes focused on the road and the cars passing by as his ears were with them. He tried not showing his amusement at what she had ordered. It would be his first time seeing those things on a table he was sitting at.  He had never even made them for his parents. Waffles and croissants. Plus she ordered coffee which he loved a lot. He always took two days out of his week to buy coffee on his way to school. But who was going to eat all of that food? 

    The advantage of being Denies, the food was quick to arrive. He rolled his eyes. Rich people and their lives.

    He was still watching the cars as she dug into her plate of hot waffles. He shifted on his seat, feeling her eyes on him. Just like the day they met, she was just sitting there and gazing at him. Her eyes were boring into his skull, daring him to keep ignoring her. He breathed louder, feeling awkward. 

    “Aren’t you gonna start eating?”

    She inquired. 

    He looked at her with uncertainty. He thought she brought him here so she could eat and have fun teasing him about what happened moments earlier... He stared down at the table for the first time, they clearly did not look like a breakfast for one person only! He had not even notice the waitress place a few plates near him. 

    “These are for me too?”

    “If you wouldn’t mind sharing.”

    She smirked. Could she just smile or did the other side of her lip hurt? He badly wanted to just for once be able to smirk back at her. He would probably look stupid but it was worth a try. 

    “Start with these croissants, they’re amazing. I ordered the chef to make them with a special recipe.” She smiled, taking one of them in her hand and placing it on his empty plate. She then wiped off her fingers, removing the chocolate sprinkles and oil. 

    He frowned. He nodded his head as he took the same hot croissant in his fingers and bit into it. It was awesomely tasty. The chocolate melted inside his mouth as he chewed. Why had he never ate this before?! That was so unfair!

    When the piece was fully chewed, he swallowed and smiled back at her. “It really is amazing!” He agreed with her previous sentence and nodded his head. 

    “The chef is French, he absolutely knows how to make these.” She winked. 

    He took another bite as he stared at her lips. Smiling? Was it really her thing or was everything an act? If the latter idea was right, then why was she pretending? What was her purpose?

    Did she really have a soft side...?