Everything She's Not

"I dare you."

Gabe is digging through his bag for his shirt when he hears a scream from the girls' locker room. He drops his bag on the ground and runs toward the sound, wearing only sweatpants and shoes. He rounds the corner into the girls' showers and finds the same creep from before, Bryce, trying to press his mouth to Lilly's.

She's naked with soap still on her perfectly imperfect body. Gabe grabs Bryce by his neck, pulling him away from her and tossing him to the tile floor like he weighs nothing.

"Bro, what the hell?" Bryce shouts at Gabe before he grabs the dumb jock by the front of the shirt and lifts him in the air.

Gabe looks at him like he's going to commit a crime he can't come back from. "Touch her again, I dare you." His voice is dripping with disdain, and it's causing Lilly to have to squeeze her legs tightly to stop the arousal.

He drops Bryce again and watches the wimp scurry from the showers. She breathes in sharply when he turns and stares at her, like he can see into her soul.

"I told you not to shower." He steps closer, grabbing her waist and snapping her against him. She subconsciously sighs, and her hands fall from her chest, exposing her bare breasts to him.

"You don't listen, do you?" He asks, not even glancing down at her exposed body.

"No. Maybe you should teach me how?" She taunts him, not sure why she said what she said.

His mouth grazes her ear when he leans down to whisper to her. "I'm not a good tutor."

She feels a tightening in her gut when she gasps. "Gabe..." She can't help herself.

"I told you not to say my name that way." He tightens his arm around her body and traces her sternum with his other hand.

"Please..." She begs, softer than she did earlier in the day, it's barely audible.

"Lilly...I'm not nice like the guys in your books. You don't want me, so stop." He drops her to her flat feet. She hadn't realized she was on her tiptoes until then.

He grabs her clothes from the bench across from the shower and hands them to her, turning so she can dress. Lilly scoffs at his ability to be filthy, polite, and dangerous all at once.

"So, that's it, then?" He can hear the frustration in her tone.

"What's it?" Gabe asks, confused.

"Oh, nothing. You just saved me from a lifetime of trauma after causing other trauma for years. You look at me like you wanna devour me, but you treat me like dirt. Oh, don't forget the fact that you just ran your fingers between my t**s, and you turned to let me dress. You've seen everything, so what's the point?" She finishes, placing her left palm on the tattoo on his back while slipping on her panties.

He laughs quietly to himself, "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Get what, Gabriel!" Her fingernails dig into his skin, and he uses every bit of self-control in his body to refrain from turning and destroying her while she screams his name.

"We can't." He says, simply, like it answers all her questions.

"Why? Because I'm fat?! Or maybe it's because I'm damaged goods and we both know it. Oh, I know, it's because you're such a 'bad guy' that you'll corrupt me." She pauses, stepping in front of him and hopping into her jeans, pulling them over her ass.

Her hands plant themselves on her hips, and she shakes her head with disapproval.

"Lil, you know why." He pleads with her, reaching for her right hand.

"You don't get to call me that anymore. It was different when we were kids. Now..." She sighs and waves her hand in dismissal.

"...now, I don't know who you are. You've hurt and humiliated me. You ditched me to follow your big brother around when we were 11; you don't get the privilege anymore." She whirls around, hiding the tears in her eyes, and grabs her backpack.

He moves closer, so close that his breath is against her neck and his body is pressed against her back. "I didn't have a choice." He mumbles against her skin, his lips planting a small kiss where his words fell.

"Gabe..." She leans her head back, enjoying the proximity and his hands on her sides.

"You can't do that. You're telling me no and then kissing my neck. Make up your mind." She lets out a breath when he doesn't listen, and his lips leave a trail from her jaw to her shoulder.

"I want to, but we can't. This is gonna have to fuel you for a while." His words are nothing more than a breath before he moves away.

He waits for Lilly and watches her throw her hair into a messy bun, taming the wild curls on her head. He notices the tiny tattoo that his brother had given her when they were kids. He touches the tiny lotus flower with the hidden initials in it. She shivers when his fingers touch the back of her neck.

"Stop." She jerks away from him, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and leaving without another word.

Gabe is relentless for the next week or so, like he's getting revenge for her refusing to go along with his mixed signals. He tells everyone that she 'begged' him to reenact the shower scene from the book. His hands no longer touch her gently; instead, he slams her locker on her finger. She starts isolating herself from her only friend, Marcy.

Gabe catches her in the hallway, pulling her hair so hard, she cries. When he finally gets bored with picking on her, he stands by and watches as the bimbo crew hits her and treats her like their own personal punching bag. She's getting hit at home and at school. Eventually, she has to stay in a motel for a few days just for her bruises to heal so she can wear something other than jeans. She uses a fourth of her savings to afford it. The day she's called to the office at the same time as her tormentor, she can feel the nausea creeping up on her.