The Degradation (translation)

Chapter 3

I have this obsessive need to always break boundaries, whether they are physical or emotional. I need to know that no one needs me and feel the danger to remind myself that I'm still alive. Life has no value if we don't risk losing it.

***

Louis' pov

"Oh, fuck..." I bite my lip, tugging at Eleanor's hair to speed up the rhythm. I push my hips and lean my free hand on the shelf behind me. I tried again to tell her that she was just a girl for the night, that she was pissing me off, and in the end, I found myself pinned against the wall while she did something inhuman with her tongue. I can't help but moan and literally tear into her mouth.

"Damn you, El."

Breathing hard, I look down and see her still kneeling in front of me, wiping her mouth with her hand and smiling smugly. This girl manipulates me with sex, and I'm being led every time. I barely have time to pull on my boxers when the pantry door opens and a pair of green eyes stare at me in surprise. I'm so paralyzed by his gaze that I can't even think of a funny nickname for him. He looks very angry, and I'm beginning to understand why people are so afraid of him. His eyes are so piercing that even Eleanor seems to have forgotten how to breathe. Although it shouldn't have lasted more than ten seconds. He didn't take his eyes off me the entire time. His eyes burned right through me, and then he was gone. Simply so. Slamming the door, and without a word. I stand there completely shocked.

"What was that?"  Eleanor's voice brings me to my senses, and when she stands up, I have the strangest feeling in the world. I'm mad at her.

"Fuck off."

And I leave the storeroom, having only time to button up my pants and slam the door.

***

"He's sexy.

"But this guy has a problem with his head, look at him."

"Yeah, but he's pretty sexy, and I wouldn't mind..."

"Hey, girls, what are you talking about?"  Liam and I set our trays on the table, and I sit down next to Eleanor. Danielle is kissing Liam all over. Something new. I turn my head and see El reaching out for a kiss, too. Hell no, sleeping together is okay, but playing a couple in love is too much. So she answers Liam, who has a free mouth again.

"About Styles" and she points to Mr. I-Burn-A-Hole-In-People-With-My-Eyes, who is sitting alone with a can of Coke in his hands. "I think he would be pretty good in bed."

"Yeah, crazy, actually, pretty good at that."

Liam eats, and the girls start talking again, which I completely ignore. I look at him and frown. He's always with the same huge book, I wonder what's wrong with it?

"Remember his ex-girlfriend? Whatever her name was..."

"Sarah?"

"No, uhm, Samantha!"

"Yes, that's right, Samantha. People say she had to leave university because he made her life hell!"

And then I'm interested in their conversation, I look at Danielle.

"What do you mean?"

She leans forward and looks around the room, as if a guy ten meters away might be able to hear.

"He raped a girl."

Eleanor interrupts her.

"What are you talking about? He didn't rape her, he stalked her."

She drinks her orange juice, and I fight the urge to give her a good slap in the face to keep her talking. She slowly puts her glass down on the table (no, on purpose, or what?!). Damn, she pisses me off. She speaks in a mysterious voice, as if telling an urban legend.