From my Bully to CEO

Chapter 6

PAST

SELENE’S POV:

“Selene Hale!” Josh Maddox sing-songed, his voice loud enough to attract the attention of the entire cafeteria.

My face burned. I wanted to sink into the floor and never resurface again.

Josh’s grin was so huge it looked like his face might split in two. “Finally, we meet.”

My heart was beating so fast I couldn't hear anything else over the sound of it.

I tried not to blink, keeping my face as impassive as possible.

If they thought I was unaffected or maybe even boring, they'd probably leave me alone.

Nathan dragged a chair from a nearby table with a screech loud enough to make me flinch. He spun it around and straddled it backwards, arms resting on the backrest

“You were hard to catch, you know,” he said.

A slew of responses settled on the tip of my tongue, all of them sharper than the next.

I swallowed all of them down. Now was not the time to get clever. One wrong move, one misstep, and they’d never let it go. I needed to stay silent. Silence, right now, could be just the thing to save me from an entire year of torment.

“Uh huh,” Josh grinned, reaching for my sandwich with a two-fingered grip, like it was something contagious and he was going to catch a disease.

Damn sandwich. I should've packed it up sooner. Or thrown it out. Anything but leave it out there like bait.

“Look at this, Nate.” Josh turned the sandwich in his hand, face contorted with exaggerated disgust. “This is tragic. She was actually going to eat this abomination. Like willingly.”

My breathing was so out of control, I was sure I was having a panic attack. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood.

I was suddenly very aware of the way I looked - my sneakers too worn out, my shirt fraying near the collar.

My scratched-out water bottle that I’d been very proud to snag for six dollars only at a garage sale now looked pathetic next to the sleek, high-end thermos Nathan had casually set down on the table.

He raised an eyebrow, his gaze scanning me like I was the perfect prey, and it took everything in me not to shudder.

“She’s shaking,” he said, acting like he was trying to keep his voice down when he very clearly was not. “That’s kinda cute.”

“Do you not talk, Hale?” Josh asked, finally sitting down across from me with the casual arrogance of someone who’s never been told no.

“According to the rumors, she does.” Theo’s voice cut through, not cruel. Just observant. And if my delusional mind had any hopes of him stepping in and stopping the other two, they were now completely crushed. “Only in Lit, though.”

Don’t react. Don’t take the bait. Keep your mouth shut for once, Hale.

“Oh yes, Lit,” Josh's eyes lit up, like he’d finally be offered something worth his time. “We’ve heard very impressive things.”

I inhaled and forced my lips to part, only when I’d come up with a response that didn’t sound like a challenge wrapped in innocence.

“I’m glad,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Then I stood quickly, slinging my bag over my shoulder. “Good talk, but I, uh, have a class so.”

I let the rest of my words die on my tongue when I felt all of them watching me like wolves, eyebrows raised, daring me to turn my back on them.

My palms were slick with sweat, and I clenched them into fists, not wanting to wipe them on my pants in front of them.

I couldn’t show signs of weakness. It was bad enough that Nathan had seen me shaking.

I turned around and froze.

I hadn’t even seen him move. But he was there.

Grayson was there. Right in front of me now.

I stopped just short of slamming into him. Thank f*****g God for that.

My palms shot out, stopping just inches from his chest.

I tried to step back, to put some distance between us but my foot clipped the edge of the chair I’d just vacated. I gasped, the sound absurdly loud in the silence of the cafeteria.

Next thing I knew, I was caught off balance and stumbling backwards. Grayson’s hand shot out, and I felt ice-cold fingers curl around my wrist.

He pulled me upright with one effortless tug.

His actions were lazy, a smirk curling on his face as he looked down at me. I blinked, those blue eyes boring into me like he wanted to cut through skin and pull my soul out from within my body.

My pulse jumped, the spot right beneath his fingers. His smirk widened as he let his eyes drop to the place of contact before dragging them slowly back up to my face.

Still, he didn’t let go.

And suddenly, I couldn’t breathe for an entirely different reason.

“What are you…”

“Come on, Ninety-eight,” he drawled, his voice sending a jolt down my spine. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to walk away when someone’s talking to you?”

Ninety-eight. I realized, a little too slowly, that he was referring to my calculus test score.

I opened my mouth to say something, but that something sounded a lot like an insult that would hurt his fragile ego and make me an even bigger target for him, so I closed it again.

Instead, I tugged at my wrist, wanting it out of his grasp. It only made him tighten his hold.

I felt the heat rush to my face, suddenly very painfully aware that everyone had stopped whatever they were doing to see this circus show unraveling.

“Seriously, Vexley!” A voice cut through the silence, velvety soft yet with an edge that made me stand straighter.

All of us turned to the source of the voice all at once, and my eyes landed on Maya.

Maya Saeed, the queen bee of Crescent High.

The crowd parted for her as she made her way towards us. Her brown skin glowed, and I wasn’t sure if it was the highlighter or if the glow came to her naturally. Her silver nose ring caught the cafeteria lights just right. Her dark ringlets were knotted into a bun atop her, so immaculately perfect, it made my fingers itch.

“Are you in the mood for a harassment charge today, or is it a new way for you to establish authority?” She asked, eyes dropping down to where Grayson’s fingers were still closed around my wrist.

I’d turned into an attention magnet today, and I absolutely loathed myself for it.

“Saeed,” he drawled, eyes on her as he slowly, agonizingly slowly, let go of me. Like he didn’t want to but had no other choice.

The thought made me sick as soon as it crossed my head, and I gave myself a silent shake to get rid of it.

Maya looked at Grayson and something passed between them—an understanding, maybe even amusement. My stomach twisted with dread.

I wasn’t sure what was happening. I hadn’t played games like these before. At least never at the level these guys played at.

“Blanchard, Maddox,” she said, eyes sweeping over the two like they were pests who’d dared step in her way. “Are you both going to leave now, or do I have to humiliate you in front of your little fan club?”

Josh whistled lowly. Nathan’s grin turned blinding.

“Maya Saeed defending the poor, lonely new girl?” Nathan asked. “Now that’s interesting.”

Maya’s eyes flashed, her lips twitching up ever so slightly in a way that made me feel like Nathan had understood the purpose of her being here. Maybe all four of them had while I was still grappling in the dark.

“Theo,” she said, offering him a nod.

“Maya,” he nodded back.

“Fun time’s over,” she said to him, but her voice had no bite. At least not for Theo. “Take your puppies and scram.”

As if right on cue, the bell rang. It almost made me jump out of my skin.

Theo nodded again, a smirk playing on his lips as he grabbed Josh by the elbow and tugged gently. A silent message to start moving.

Josh exhaled a long suffering sigh as he stood.

“Duty calls, Hale,” he said to me, giving me a ridiculous salute. “But don’t worry. We’ll pick this up again.”

Fuck me.

They all walked away, one by one. Grayson threw me a look over his shoulder, and the look made my brain short-circuit for a second. Partially because I didn’t know what that look meant, and mostly because I hated how the first thought to cross my mind was how stupidly gorgeous he looked.

“Party’s over,” Maya yelled, jolted me out of my haze. Her eyes were on me, but her words were meant for the rest of the school, who’d stuck around until the end.

Maya’s eyes scanned me, and for the second time that day, I was very self-conscious. I folded my arms over my chest, my gaze holding hers.

“Thanks,” I said, offering her a nod. My legs still felt too shaky, my palms sticky with sweat.

She nodded back, but there was no kindness in her expression. Just a kind of sharpness that made my skin crawl. I wasn’t sure what that meant.

She walked away without saying anything.

I blinked, the adrenaline rushing out of me, and I found myself collapsing down on a nearby chair.

The cafeteria was almost empty by now, but my head was spinning so fast I was sure I was going to pass out.

I made up my mind to ditch the rest of the classes and just go home for now. I was drained. I needed air. I needed my room. I needed to cry.

I didn’t know how I was going to survive tomorrow, but I knew two things with sickening certainty:

I was in over my head.

And surviving Crescent High had just become a million times tougher than anything I could‘ve ever anticipated.