Page 97 of Savage Vicious Heir: Part Two

The whispers and stares. The rumours and cruel comments.

I’m the girl with scars. The girl who lost her mum in a tragic accident and spent years waiting for her father to leave her too. The girl who is too afraid to trust people. To put herself out there.

But I realise now, that my scars aren’t something to be ashamed of. People fear differences. They fear what they don’t know or don’t understand. And until Olivia, Tally, Raine, and Elliot, I’ve never given anyone the chance to understand me.

I make my way down the hall and into the girls’ bathroom, relieved to find it empty.

Being here, spending my days pretending that I’m not madly in love with Elliot isn’t easy.

Even though, every night, he’s determined to remind me what we have is real. Not being able to touch him, to kiss him, and be with him in front of our fellow students is like a gnawing pit in my stomach, growing wider and wider every day.

I feel it writhing under my skin. Picking at old wounds.

Wounds I haven’t completely dealt with yet.

And although I don’t feel the burning need to hurt myself anymore, not since Elliot made me his, I can’t deny that I feel… restless.

I’m worried sick that Johnathon Eaton will make life difficult for Elliot. So difficult that he’s forced to choose.

Stop. I curl my hands into fists. Willing myself to calm down.

I have to trust him. Elliot knows his family best. He knows how to handle his father.

I’m half tempted to text him and ask him to skip our afternoon classes.

I need him.

I need to know we’re okay. But I’m trying to be stronger. I’m trying to be the kind of girl everyone expects to stand at his side.

But it’s so hard to keep the negative thoughts out, to drown out that little voice growing louder and louder every day that he doesn’t deliver any good news.

Sucking in a ragged breath, I compose myself. Elliot said he’ll take care of it, I have to trust that he will.

I just hope something changes soon because I’m not sure how long I can do this.

With shaky resolve, I throw my bag over my shoulder and head out into the corridor. My next class isn’t for another forty minutes but I can’t go back to Tally and the girls.

So instead, I take off for the one place on campus I have always felt at peace.

The swimming pool is empty so I decide to go inside and lie on one of the loungers.

It wasn’t like this before, when I used to sneak into the abandoned building to do my homework, or read, or simply escape my thoughts.

Now, it’s a state-of-the-art facility, here to help students with their mental health and well-being.

Ironic really then that I’ve been avoiding the place.

After my father died, I half-expected to be mandated to attend counselling sessions with Miss Linley. But everyone was all too happy to leave me to my own devices.

I don’t know if that made things worse, or better.

I guess I’ll never know now.

I stare up at the ceiling, lost in the way the water reflects off the tiles, swirling and shimmering.

I’m so lost in my thoughts, in the restless energy coursing through me that I don’t sense Elliot enter. I don’t realise he’s here until he’s standing over me, his brows pinched with concern.

“How did you know I was here?” I ask.

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