It was the day before our weekend started.

  Which was another perfect day to sneak in a crush letter through Linda's locker.

  I peeked at James who casually whistled but met my eyes for the signal and I was the undercover security when I managed to stand behind the wall that had the backdoor exit that nobody even knew about. I wasn't joking when I said that people were dumb in Lakeside.

  The buffed-up blonde just slipped out the locket pick and opened it just as swiftly, I had to admit, I admired James's intellect on doing illegal stuff that would get us into harsh consequences, Linda's dad could never forgive us. I exhaled too quickly, because rounding the corner was another girl from the devil's posse.

  "James." I whispered harshly.

  He got the memo as he put the letter, then bashed the locker hurriedly before he propped himself against another metal box with his arms around himself. The girl, whose name I didn't even remember, just checked him out and stood in front of him.

  "What are you doing in front of my locker?"

  I had to muffle out my laugh before we got caught.

  "I had to talk to you about something."

  The brunette just flipped her long hair back and crossed her arms.

  "I don't got all morning, you know." She snapped.

  He scratched the back of his head; his eyes roamed her face before he bent down and whispered to her. I had no idea what he said, but it worked when the frenzied girl just blushed like a fanatic, he shifted to the side as she grabbed her books nervously and teetered away. James just gave me a thumbs up and walked to his class.

  I was about to have a victory dance, until the sudden chills crept up to my throat when a large hand clamped on my lips and tugged me back. It was the same dark brown eyed guy, who seemed to have a fetish being around me. Maybe he was keeping an eye out for Jake, Atlas just stared into my soul when he moved his hand from my lips.

  His taut torso was carved in a sable shirt and his usual denims, he was undeniably attractive if it wasn't for his hostile character. Shame that his looks went to waste, I really felt like I was the only one who didn't fall for his charms. If it wasn't for him being the teddy bear's best friend, I would show him who was the winner, nobody took my control from me.

  I truthfully would have cheated on Jake either way. It wasn't something irregular, because I liked to have control over guys with the way they looked at me, the way I made them feel, but I wouldn't go to the point where I would give in and sleep with them. A flirtatious game never hurt anyone; it was probably inherited from my mom.

  Anyway, why would I give them the satisfaction to what they wanted?

  Well, it came to bite me in the ass. Now I felt like I wasn't in control anymore in Atlas's crate.

  "You're up to something." He stated monotonously.

  "No, I didn't want to go to class." I argued with an equal tone.

  I swore I saw a ghost of a smile playing on his lips before it was gone, his silence made me unsettled. It was like he waited for me to confess something I didn't do, he had his inked arms on either side of my face and leaned down, haunted with contemplation.

  "Go practice your bad boy moves somewhere else." I quipped before I ducked from his cage and walked off to my class, swaying my hips to give him a show. I didn't bother to look back to see the disbelief on his face.

  The history lesson was a complete bore, I didn't want to study Hercules' body, I suppressed a yawn as I gazed across the patches of green, my eyes squinted on something, or rather someone. He was in a misty hoodie with the same orange eyes.

  Tell my brother I said hi.

  It was him, I wanted to facepalm the glass, so I could make sure it was him. He was almost a tiny plop, but he stalled around the bushes of the garden.

  "Miss Jones, care to enlighten us about the numbers of wars Hercules was involved in?"

  The whole class stared at me, expecting me to answer, but I just ducked slowly on the chair and Mrs. Andersen wasn't impressed as she sighed dejectedly and shook her head at me before she responded for the whole class to know.

  At least she wasn't as grumpy as Mrs. Mourne, which I had a class with her next.

  Screw me with lightning bolts.

  The class was over after a decade, and I opened the door to reveal Jake's face. He was a drunk mess and he grabbed me by the wrist when everyone was out to go.

  "Jake, let go. You're not in your right mind."

  "You're fucking right I'm not," his bloodshot eyes met mine for a second, before he swept towards the janitor's closet, I knew what he was going to do, and my heart doubled over in fear when he hoisted me towards the only room that we made out in before. "I'm not going to let this go, what you did to me was out of the fucking line. You screwed with my friend when you made me believe that you liked me." He slurred and closed the door.

  He planned this all along, he waited for the chance to get to me. Bile rose through my mouth when he punched the shelves of toilet paper, other things tumbled down.

  "Tell me why you did it." He bared his teeth at me, his eyes a dangerous icicle.

  "I swear, I don't remember." I whimpered, tears came down my cheeks, my shoulders slumped, and I wheezed to get some air, I was claustrophobic, and the closet constricted my oxygen.

  "I don't fucking believe you," He gripped my shoulders as he shook me, the horrid smell of Whiskey made me nauseous. "I never get played by girls; I was usually the one who did. You fucking played me with James when I was about to take you on a date after my party."

  Alcohol really did him dirty with the honest feelings he spewed out, but my hand covered my neck when my ribs heaved for a breath.

  "I can't breathe, please, get me out of here." My vision blurred and came back, my legs gave out and I felt like the world danced around me.

  Until the door was finally open, and my saviour was...Atlas.

  "Let's get you sober." He didn't even spare me a glance, something swirled in his eyes, it was a flicker of regret, and it was enough for me to believe that he prearranged this with Jake.

  The two guys were out, Atlas had his arm around Jake's waist to steady him as they sauntered to the parking lot whilst I stayed in that room, wiping my tears with the back of my sweater when I finally breathed.

  They do batshit crazy stuff.

  We're going to get creative with you.

  I coughed out softly, my shoulders undoubtedly had welts and I just closed my eyes before I leaned against the cold metal.

  It just made me want to get my revenge harder. This was far from the end, I rolled over to my arms and took my time to get up, after around fifteen minutes to calm myself, I was back, and I was going to let them suffer.

  With the cruellest of thoughts, I washed my face in the bathroom and came into class. James was in the last part of the classroom, and I made my way, Mrs. Mourne was late and to my luck, she came right after I did.

  "Why does your face look like a tomato?" He whispered.

  "I just had a run."

  "From the class next to us till here? Damn, you really need to catch up."

  "Bite me." I grounded my teeth at the insufferable blonde.

  "It seems like I did at the party, you didn't read all of the rumours yet."

  I pouted and rolled my eyes at him as he gave me a scornful smile.

  "When does the football game start?"

  "After this class. Why?" He lowered his brows as he tried to read my face.

  I smiled impishly as the next move formed in my head for our Crush Scandal – I had to organize their date, where the two of them would meet. Then, we would get Jake in the game, double trouble since Linda is his sister.

  "I have a great pla-"

  "You almost had my ass caught and I had to tell her I would take off her skirt afterschool." He groaned out.

  "What the fuck?"

  I didn't realize I had said it loudly, that it captured everyone's attention. They looked at me with round eyes like I was a strange creature.

  "Is there something you would like to tell us, Calista? Or do you want another detention?"

  "Nothing." I meekly said.

  Two times in a row, sue me. The girls and guys were already used to my troublemaker ways as they whispered amongst each other and Mrs. Mourne slapped her hands to the table to get them to be quiet.

  "Remind me to flee afterschool." He told me.

  "Gotcha, mate." I met his amused smile, and I showed him a thumbs up under the table over Mrs. Mourne's scratchy voice that could make crows fall in love.

  The second the class came to an end, Atlas just burst through carelessly. I pretended to look at James, but I could feel his stare on the side of my face. He talked to Mrs. Mourne and of course, she had lovestruck eyes like the rest of them. The girls lingered around Atlas but when they saw their attempts were futile, they just walked out with other jocks.

  Maybe he was a gay bad boy. I had to stifle the bursting bubble of hysterics at the image of Atlas in leather and lipstick. I was officially done with Lakeside and the people in it, my brain was fried, and it was only eleven am. He wasn't the type to be scandalized with other girls, his reputation was clean when it came to females, and it really made me think about how hard it might be for him to be popular without a chest touch or a straddle from the other side.

  He liked to rough it up, I had the firsthand experience from the times he pounced on me.

  Mrs. Mourne told me to stay, and James gave me a good luck thumbs up before he waltzed out, not before he and Atlas shared a deep glower. I pinched my nose when my back was to them, then turned to face my wrath.

  "You'll be working with Atlas on a Biology project for extra credit."

  "But I don't-"

  "You're slacking in class, Calista Jones. This is the only way for you to pass." She sneered at me before she grasped her laptop bag, she had enough of me when she hardened her eyes at me then went off.

  I was met with his usual irritating smirk.

  "What is it now? Here to tell me about how I fucked your friend up?" I exploded on him, my finger poked on his chest, I hadn't realized our proximity, "Why don't you get a life, Atlas? You're like Jake's daddy and if you do have a life, you're living a miserable one. I didn't do shit to you or to your friend, one day, you're going to realize the truth and I'm going to be laughing at you both."

  His eyes darted to my lips when I breathed heavily, then to my eyes and he seemed to enjoy it as the deep mud in his eyes were soulless, it seemed to wrap its hands around me and soak me in the gore of it.

  He simply walked off, to his game, to the one that I was going to ruin Linda at.