"Girls like you aren't exactly welcomed at a place like this, so keep your head down and look the other way." Those were the exact words of my social worker when she dropped me in my newest hellhole, a place for "troubled teens." I didn't listen, and now I'm on their radar. They expect me to play along in their games of hierarchy, to fall in line in the social order they've deemed me fit. Too bad for them, I don't follow rules. Too bad for me, they're determined to make sure I do. Inconceivably attractive and treated like kings...these are the boys of Brayshaw High. And I'm the girl who got in their way.
(Raven's POV)
Walk away.
Move your feet, exit this piece of shit cafeteria, and go get high. Chill out.
Yeah, that's what I'll do.
I keep walking, and I'm almost free and clear, almost through the door and away from the trouble I surely don't need but can't seem to escape.
But of course, nothing in my life is simple and just before my left foot joins my right, the final step through the open door, the bitch decides she's not done and runs her mouth. Again.
"Maybe if she wasn't such a slut her whore mom wouldn't have kicked her out for sleeping with her new man."
The laughter echoes, growing louder until it wraps around my throat like my mother's hands when in a fit, choking me until I lose focus.
I stop where I stand.
My eyes haze, rage winning over the calm bravado I attempted to force myself into.
"Trailer trash, bitch."
More laughs.
And there it is, the push.
Why do they always push?
Before anyone can stop me, not that there's anyone who would give a shit to, I snatch the closest tray off the nearest table and in one swift move, one hard, full swing, smash it across the side of her face.
The cheap red plastic breaks against her head and screams ring around me.
Blood pours from the big mouthed bitch's forehead and she shrieks, her horrified gaze flying to mine. I wait until our stares connect, then quickly kick her chair sideways. Panic grows in her eyes as she crashes to the floor.
There's no time to escape, not that I have anywhere to go.
People scream, but no one dares to step closer to me. The lunch lady calls for help and everyone rushes to the asshole on the floors side because she's 'the victim.' Sure, I got physical first, but she started it. What did she expect?
If you can't take it, don't dish it.
And, yeah, the spat wasn't a lie, my mother is a whore. The dirtiest of dirty. Straight trailer trash at its finest, I'll admit it all day.
But she doesn't get to say it.
And I sure as shit couldn't let her get away with disrespecting me the way she did, publicly.
Not sure how she managed it, but my mother, the failure she is, taught me one thing - to keep my pride above all else.
Apparently, that's all a girl like me can control.
So disrespect me not.
"My office! Now!" Principal Folk screeches. He doesn't call me by name, doesn't look my way, but why would he? Here I stand, caught red-handed - literally still holding half of the tray in my hand - as always.
He probably knew it was me the second someone called for help, before even walking in here.
I toss the tray to the floor and head straight to my home away from home - the cheap wooden chair with a ripped-up burgundy center that sits directly across from the principal's desk.
Monday was, as he warned, my "last strike," but yesterday I got caught smoking behind the gym, and I'm still here. Today's Thursday.
Wonder if he's in another forgiving mood?
I'm guessing not when forty-five minutes later he charges in and slams himself into the seat, glaring at me through his little nerd glasses.
His anger probably has something to do with the loud mouth girl – who very well may still be bleeding all over the stark white cafeteria floor – being his niece.
My fucking bad.
His eyes narrow as he judges me and my too-tight top and ripped-up jeans.
So I smirk, taunt him a bit.
Because there's nothing this guy could say or do that could possibly be as fucked as every other day in my reality.
I grab the edge of the chair and lean forward. "Give it to me, Mr. Folk."
His eyes widen a fraction of an inch and as if he can't help himself, quickly cut to my top.
Men, they have no self-control.
Well look at that, another thing learned from my mother.
"Clearly you don't want to be here, Ms. Carver. Every time I issue a warning you come back twice as hard."
When a slow grin stretches across my face, he clears his throat and looks away.
"This is your third high school in eighteen months and honestly, you're lucky you lasted here so long."
"Am I... Mr. Folk?" I drop back against the seat. "You sure you're not-"
"Stop." He glares before sighing. "This is serious. You've got the entire school's attention now. I can't make this go away."
I roll my eyes. "Just get on with it already. Where to next?"
He eyes me a moment before folding his hands and leaning forward against the desk. "I made a call."
My eyes slice to his.
"Your social worker-"
"I don't have a social worker."
"Apparently you do. She contacted me a few months back and-"
"Months?"
"Raven, listen-"
Right then, the secretary ushers in some dark-haired lady wearing slacks and a button-down. She reaches over the desk to shake the principal's hand.
"Mr. Folk, I'm Maria Vega."
"Ms. Vega, I appreciate you coming so quickly." He turns to me as does she.
"Hey there." She gives a fake hello, her roaming eyes and tight-lipped smile more curious than anything. "Do you mind if we talk for a bit?"
I don't bother speaking. No matter what I do or don't say here, she's already got me figured out as far as she's concerned.
"Mr. Folk and I have been in contact over the last semester. He's briefed me on your home situation and past issues, and at this time, we think it's best you be removed from your mother's care."
A laugh bubbles out of me before I can stop it. 'My mother's care' she says. Please.
The woman stares at me for a moment before sighing. She's quick to lose the sweet, caring woman act. "Look, I get it. You don't care what I have to say, fine. But we are removing you from the home. I'll take you to grab your things and then it's a day's trip to your new housing. It's a bit different, you being as old as you are, but we have a safe place for you."
"Yeah? They make cookies and tuck you in at bedtime? Or is that job left to the man there who creeps into the little girls' rooms at night?"
The woman's eyes narrow and Mr. Folk sighs. "Is there something you need to tell me, Ms. Carver?"
Isabella's life was never her own, she entered an arranged marriage with Alessandro. Which was never supposed to be more than a business deal to him. He is a cold and calculating Italian man who only sees her as nothing more than a means to an end. Alessandro has signed a deal with Isabella's father; marrying his daughter, to reclaim his family's lost vineyard. unaware of this arrangement, Isabella tries to make their marriage work, pouring her heart into a relationship destined for betrayal. But when Isabella discovers the truth, her world shatters. Determined to walk away, she asks for a divorce, only to have Sandro refuse, claiming that she has become far more important to him than she realizes. As Sandro's past resurfaces, Isabella is caught between love, deception, and her strength.
What happens when an all business Alpha planning his chosen's mating ceremony, smells the most wonderful fruity scent that belonged to his curvy mating ceremony planner. Confident plus size Ji'lahni, her two cousins, and friend owns a successful Wedding planning company along with a dance, and self defense workout studio, get hired by their new friend who is like a mother to them to plan her sons wedding I mean mating ceremony? What will happen when the sassy plus size women step into the world of werewolves? Read to find out.
For as long as Emily can remember, she has wanted to overcome her shyness and explore her sexuality. Still, everything changes when she receives an invitation to visit one of the town's most prestigious BDSM clubs, DESIRE'S DEN. On the day she chose to peruse the club, she noticed three men, all dressed in suits, standing on the upper level, near the railing. Despite her limited vision, she persisted in fixating on them. Their towering statues belied the toned bodies concealed by their sharply tailored suits-or so she could tell. The hair of two of them was short and dark, and the third had light brown-possibly blond-hair that reached the shoulders. The dark, crimson background incised their figures, exuding an air of mystery and strength. They stood in stark contrast to the unfiltered, primal energy that pulsed through the club. Shocked by the desires these men aroused in her, she was disappointed to learn that they were masters seeking a slave to divide and conquer. She couldn't afford the fee, and she also realized that they were outside her league. Emily hurriedly left the club, feeling disappointed and depressed, unaware that she had also caught the group's attention. A world of wicked pleasure, three handsome men. Over the years, they have lived a life of decadence, their lavish lair serving as a stage for their most sinister desires. But despite the unending parade of willing subjects, one woman sticks out. A mysterious stranger with white porcelain skin and a killer body, a slave, a name with no address, the first lady to attract their eye and they will go to any length to obtain her no matter the consequences.
P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket desperately. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid." "Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite. But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!" ************************************ Caught by her husband with another man on their matrimonial bed the morning after her birthday, Hailey Codza could not defend herself. As though it's not enough, she gets pregnant. Her enraged husband decides to pay her back for her infidelity by having an affair with his ex-girlfriend - Denise Kellers, the family Hailey never knew she had. Losing her family's wealth and company to her husband and his ex (now girlfriend), she is devastated, homeless and penniless as all her credit cards are blocked by her husband. She sees the man who is responsible for her pregnancy. The man she has no idea how he'd found his way to her matrimonial bed - Jared Johnson. Jared is annoyed when this strange woman disrupts his meeting and accuses him of ruining her life, marriage and impregnating her. It affects his business deals and having no choice, he marries her to calm the public whilst engaged to someone else. But he loathes her and allows his family treats her badly. Hailey who has fallen in love with Jared is broken when she can no longer take the humiliation. She signs the divorce papers and leaves, only to arrive six years later to the country as a self-made, secret billionaire and a mother of twins. Now her two ex-husbands are begging to have her back...
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
"You're pathetic!" Brenden sneered, each word cutting deep into Corinna's heart. Years of emotional wounds had drained every ounce of love she once held. "I've wasted enough time on you. If there's a next life, I hope we never meet again." Her words severed the bond between them like a blade. From that moment on, Brenden was haunted by her absence—unable to sleep, longing for the warmth he took for granted.
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”