CHAPTER 2

　　"I hate you," I grit through my teeth, shuffling forward awkwardly with this dead weight on my back as he does not attempt to walk properly and cannot get free. “I swear, Dane, I will suffocate you in your sleep if you do not let me go. My room is right next to yours. I know how to get in without waking you.” No amount of wriggling, struggling, and jerking loosen his octopus limbs.

　　“I’m into that, but I never took you for a kinky one, Lil sis.” He bumps my butt with his groin, and I yelp in disgust and attempt a stamp at his foot, but he’s too quick for me.

　　“You’re disgusting.” I snort.

　　I hear the smirking breathy chuckle, which is almost his trademark nowadays, and I can envision a smug look even if I cannot see it.

　　"It's just adding one name… won't affect your grade or anyone else's. It will get dad off my back and less drama with your mom….we both know you hate drama at home." He croons, all husky-voiced, deep, and I know this is his baby way of swooning all the braindead girls he has his claws in. He is attempting to sway me, but he is right about stress at home.

　　Him and my mom butting heads twenty-four-seven since he moved in five months ago has made home tense and a horrible place to be when they are together. His dad has zero control over him and lets him do whatever he wants, while my mum is an endless nag. His dad is overcompensating for divorcing his mother, and my mom hates everything about how he has been raised. Everything about how he talks, walks, dresses, behaves, lives…. you name it, and my mom will find fault in him. Home used to be my haven; now, I feel like it’s become a battle zone, which is partly why I cannot stand him.

　　"For god's sake. Will you go away and leave me alone for the next two years if I say yes? Let me graduate without crossing paths again, and let me have a quiet life?"

　　There’s a pause as he considers it, and then he loosens a little.

　　"Maybe. We're in the same classes, so…. fuck it, sure. Say yeah, and I'll stay out of your way, Virgin."

　　That little thrown-in ‘nickname’ he has for me irks me and riles my already frayed temper. Being a virgin is not a sin or a crime and nothing to be ashamed of. He wouldn’t know, though, as he sleeps with everything that shows interest and only hangs out with girls who bang everyone too.

　　"You know, if you stopped screwing around and did the actual work, you wouldn't need to blackmail me and piggyback my grades whenever there's a group project. You're not stupid… your grades used to be better than mine. You just spend too much time looking in the mirror and dating brainless women." My tone is harsh and a little too loud for such a quiet morning in our school walkway, but he knows how to push my buttons.

　　He finally releases me, and I spin on him, shoving him hard in the chest, but it does nothing. Not even a step back, all I get is that side smirk and wink as he brushes his hair out of his eye and lounges casually once more.

　　"And lose my excuse to cuddle up with my favorite girl? Hell no…. torturing you is my only joy in life. Anyway, why would I want to do a stupid thing like make my dad proud?" He shrugs with one shoulder and swings his backpack from one side to the other in a suave move that has the nearby coven of watchers swooning and probably dampening their panties. I eyeroll and turn on my heel to walk away from him. So done with this conversation and seething that yet again, I caved and agreed to something for this idiot just for a peaceful life. I hate that he knows how to get at me.

　　"Your rebellion is getting old and boring. It's been almost a decade, and you are still trying to disappoint him as punishment for marrying my mom…. Grow up. Some of us moved on." I sneer, angrily fixing my clothes, and brush my blonde flyaway tendrils of hair back into the messy bun on the top of my head.

　　"What’s the point in trying when he has my whole life mapped out anyway… my grades mean shit when my entire existence is set in stone, and my future is to sit in a chair for a company I don’t even care about?” It’s a sulky, sarcastic tone that drifts after me as he stops mid-walk. I carry on to get to class, casting him back a glance with a sigh, taking in the tall, athletic stance of a high schooler who met hormones earlier than most. Mixed with the good bone structure, great DNA, and a resemblance to his mom.

　　The jet black ‘idol’ hair flops forward over one side again, framing his tanned skin and great jawline with pale grey eyes. He does look like he should be on a teen girl magazine cover of bad boys you want to date but shouldn’t. The rumpled casual way he throws his uniform on and somehow makes it look trendy always irked me. Over his biker boots, which he wears religiously, and hints of tattoos he got purely to piss off his dad, peeking at every hint of skin on show. They match the hoops on one ear and the eyebrow and lip piercings as he watches me with an almost scowling expression, his mind clearly on his dad.

　　He looks like the kind of guy every father would steer their daughters away from, but his family name means somehow, the rich and successful overlook his behavior and style and willingly let their kids date him. Many of them, sometimes all at the same time.