Playing with Bullies

Typically, her big doe eyes and pouty lips (which are trembling ever so slightly at the moment) would be more than enough to render any normal guy useless. Followed by a bat of her long lashes and her victims stand no chance. The poor suckers would be dropping to their knees by now, completely at her mercy, willing to cater to the girl's every wish and command, whatever they may be.

Jillian's infamous puppy-dog face, however, has no effect on her best friend. It's extremely rare for Charlie to find anything cute and unfortunately for Jillian, she is not included in that selective category.

Call her heartless but that's how Charlie works. Besides, if she allows her best friend to manipulate her so easily, who knows what kind of crazy situations she would find herself in. Despite what you might think, spending a night in the slammer is not on Charlie's bucket list. "No, Jill. I am not going to stay and suffer with you," she rejects as she shuts her locker and turns to look at the blonde.

"You're not going to suffer," Jillian huffs, her lips now molded into a frown. "The auditions for the first talent show aren't that bad. You're just exaggerating. Shouldn't you show some school spirit or something?"

Charlie sends her the stink-eye. "If it's not that bad, you can sit through it with the rest of the organizers without me. I'm not interested in watching people sing, dance or whatever the fuck it is that they do at those things. If I wanted to see stuff like this, I can just go onto YouTube in the comfort of my own room."

Jillian refuses to resign. She has to get Charlie to go with her. It's her only chance of staying entertained while also preventing Derek Siviyan from making any shameless advances towards her. The guy might be good-looking and everything, but he is one big creep who doesn't know how to take no for an answer. He's had a thing for Jillian since last year when they had chemistry together and he still hasn't given up on her! Talk about scary persistent! He has psycho written all over him and Jillian regrets not realizing it sooner.

At first, the girl had been flattered. However, she didn't feel the same way as he did, especially after she discovered he and his friends were involved in some sick and twisted game where they competed, on a weekly basis, on how many chicks they could land in bed. To do that, they often lied to the girls.

They would romance them, make their victims believe they really did care for them and their tactics were almost foolproof. After the deed was done and the guys got what they wanted, they would dispose of the girls and the bits and pieces of their shattered hearts, as though they were taking out the garbage.

Jillian doesn't care if people like to have sex. It's normal. She's not judging Derek and his buddies for that. But for them to make it into a game, something you do for the hell of it so you can brag later on, is what she finds utterly disgusting.

Women are not objects.

They have feelings.

They can get hurt.

It's guys like Derek who are inflicting emotional wounds upon naïve and gullible girls that can take years to heal, but even then, there will still be the scars which will never go away.

She can't understand why he is still pursuing her when she's two-hundred and twenty percent positive everyone in the entire South Burlington District has heard about her relationship with Ian. It must have something to do with Derek's male-ego and Jillian is reaching her limit. She's never mentioned him to Charlie due to the fact that she knows how her best friend will react. Let's just say, it'll probably result in massive blood loss and someone being admitted to the hospital.

She doesn't want to tell her boyfriend either because, hello, he's a Whitmen as well! He'd probably do more damage than his sister and Jillian doesn't want that. Ian has to focus on getting into college and graduating right now. He can't afford to get into trouble. It won't look good for him.

She thought she could handle the situation on her own, but it's proving to be more difficult than she imagined. If it gets out of control, she'll consider involving the Whitmens and telling them everything. For now, she will just keep it to herself.

"What if I treat you out after?" she bargains. "I know you've been craving for some shakes."

Instinctively, Charlie's ears perk up at the offer. She regains her senses and rolls her eyes. "If you think you can buy my integrity with a milkshake, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. I've got more willpower and pride than that." Or does she? 

Jillian rummages through her brain. "What about a side of fries? Don't you like dipping it into the shake?" she adds in.

Charlie's jaw clenches this time as saliva starts to pool in her mouth. "I will not be won over," she forces out through gritted teeth.

Jillian notices the girl's rigid exterior and recognizes Charlie is having a mental debate with herself. This is her chance. "Alright, if you say so." She shrugs before swiveling around on the heels of her feet.

One. Two. Three...

"Toss in some onion rings on top of that and you've got yourself a deal!" Charlie shouts, causing her friend to halt in her tracks.

"Call!" Jillian answers as she whirls back to look at Charlie with a lopsided grin. "I knew the fastest way to your heart was through your stomach. Now come on, we have to go set up in the auditorium."

"You know me so well," Charlie snorts. "But you go first. I have to tell Ethan not to wait up for me."

A brow rises. "Why don't you just text him?"

"Because he might not look at his phone," she reasons. "Not everyone is glued to the thing, you know. It'll take less than five minutes. I'll meet you there."

As Jillian watches Charlie scurry off in the opposite direction, her eyes widen and her mouth falls ajar. "Oh my god," she breathes out quietly.

Ethan is leaning against the trunk of his Impala, one leg crossed over the other and his eyes transfixed on the asphalt beneath him. Charlie catches sight of the boy and her heart stutters as she draws closer to him, the distance between them growing smaller and smaller with every step. "Hey, I'm actually staying with Jill." She pauses and he glances up at the sound of her voice.

"She's part of the talent show committee and they're having auditions today. So," hesitation is laced in her voice as she clears her throat, "I'm not going home with you."

If Ethan is disappointed, he doesn't let it show. "Oh, I see. That's cool," he says, standing erect. "Do you need me to come back and get you later?" 

"Nah, I think I'm good. I'm going out to grab some shakes after." Ethan cocks his head to the side and Charlie feels the sudden urge to explain herself. "With Jill, I mean. That's the main reason I'm voluntarily putting myself through this torture."

"You sure like to do things that you don't find fun. First homecoming, now this?" he chuckles as he shakes his head. "Are you sure you're not going to ask me to come save you later?

His smile works wonders on her and she nods slowly. "I'm sure. Sort of. Could you just explain the situation to my dad? His phone is off and I don't want him to worry."

"Yeah, no problem. Have fun," he answers.

Charlie wrinkles her nose. "It'll be hard, but thanks. And don't forget, Alex has a meeting. So it's only you and Cam today."

"Sounds good. I'll go get him now then. Talk to you later," Ethan enters the vehicle and Charlie steps back, giving him room to back out. 

"Later," she replies.

Peering into the rearview mirror, Ethan sighs as the girl's figure begins to shrink. Before he knows it, she is no longer in view and he returns his attention towards the road. Well, this totally blows. At least she's not going out with Hayden, a voice in the back of his mind whispers.

* * *

The teacher dismisses the class and Cameron begins to pack his belongings away. He can hear mutters and whispers originating from the back of the room. Against his better judgement, Cameron looks back and meets eyes with a group of boys who are anything but pleasant. He doesn't say anything to them and makes his way outside, towards the curb where he always gets picked up at.

Behind him, he can hear footsteps followed by more mutters. Cameron tightens his hold on the straps of his backpack as he tries to walk faster.

Then, somebody yanks him back by grabbing onto his bag. The force leads Cameron to fall down, his elbows scarping against the cement. The boys from his class form a circle around him as he climbs back to his feet.  

"Hey, Whitmen. I thought you were supposed to give us your homework after fourth period?" a boy, whose name is Jasper, sniggers. He's the ringleader in charge of this circus and to be honest, Cameron hates him. He's been nothing but a nuisance and Cameron has been suffering this quarter because of him and his little gang.

"Yeah, because of you, we got a zero on today's homework." His second-in-command, Harrison, scowls.

"It's not my job to do your homework," Cameron retorts. "I might have let you guys copy my work in the beginning of the year, but I won't give in anymore. If you want to pass, use your own merits to do it."

"Stop acting like you're above the rest of us. It's annoying." Harrison takes a step closer to him and Cameron tries his best not to cower away.

"You know," Jasper sings, pushing Harrison out of the way, "I heard your mom died because she was embarrassed by you." A wicked and smug smile sits on his face and Cameron feels the fire burning inside of his stomach while tears start to form in his eyes.

"That's not true! Take it back!" he screams.

"No! Make me!" Jasper challenges as he shoves Cameron back down to the ground. "How about we teach you a lesson about physical education today?"

"Hey! What do you little punks think you're doing?" The group of boys towering over Cameron look up and scramble when they catch sight of Ethan running towards them. Cameron stands up again and Ethan skids to a halt in front of him. "Are you alright?" he heaves.

"Yeah," the boy lies as he walks by Ethan and heads towards the car. He is relieved when he finds the vehicle empty and clambers into the passenger's seat.

Ethan follows suit but instead of driving off and pretending like he didn't just witness that, he turns to look at the youngest Whitmen. It's a good thing he got there when he did. "Do you want to tell me what that was about?"

Cameron stares out the window. "It's nothing."

"Cam, you know I'm not an idiot, right?" Ethan asks. Carefully, he states his assumption. "Those kids... they were bullying you, weren't they?"

Cameron whips around with his eyes rounded. "You can't tell anyone! Not even Charlie!" he exclaims.

Ethan frowns. "Why not? She's your sister."

"That's exactly why you can't tell her," responds the younger boy. "If she finds out, Charlie will come here, beat those kids into a pulp and then end up being sent to juvie or something. I don't want her to be worried. I—I can handle this on my own."

"I don't know," Ethan says reluctantly. "I don't feel comfortable keeping something as big as this a secret from her."

"Ethan, please. For once in my life, I want to fight my own battles," he pleads desperately. "Okay?"

Ethan can't help but feel guilty as he turns away. What's he supposed to do?

- - -

Author's Thoughts: Welcome to my new readers! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to LeaveMeAlone_15 and aerialism! Thank you for the votes!

I hope you liked this update. Now we see Jillian also has a problem, along with Cameron! Poor babies! If you're interested in seeing what the Whitmens look like, check out the prologue chapter! As always, leave comments if you want! Have a great weekend :)