My Bad Boy Guardian

Chapter Two: To the R, the E, and the J-E-C-T-E-D

I climbed on the bus in the morning and walked towards Melanie with a smile.

"Hi Melanie," I said.

She was looking down at her phone, not paying attention.

"Melanie? Can you move your bag so I can sit?" I asked.

Melanie glared at me before saying, "You can't sit with me, loser."

"Mel? What has gotten into you? Stop fucking around," I said.

"Why are you still here, freak?" Melanie asked.

I had no idea why Melanie was treating me so coldly but I just walked off and looked for a seat. As I was giving up hope, I saw Carter with an empty seat.

"Can I please sit here?" I asked.

Carter nodded and I sat next to him, looking down at my hands.

"What happened?" Carter asked.

"I don't know. I didn't do anything to her," I answered.

"Cheerleader drama," Carter said with a shake of his head.

"Shut up. Don't you date cheerleaders?" I asked.

"No. I'm not into the peppy type," Carter answered.

"So why hang out with me?" I asked.

"I've kind of been asking myself the same question for a while," Carter answered.

I could tell he was being honest cuz he looked away from me and out the window.

"I... I told my parents about yesterday. My dad, being the bad ass he is, wanted to shoot up his house," I said.

"Oh really?" Carter asked.

"Yeah. My mom had to calm him down. I told them you saved me," I answered.

"You did?" Carter asked.

"My mom loves you. Not like that but you get the idea. You remind me of my dad from all the stories my mom told me," I answered.

"I'm glad, I guess," Carter said with an awkward laugh.

I laughed back.

"Why'd you kiss me yesterday?" Carter asked.

"Oh that. Um, I wanted to thank you. Kind of like how the princess thanks her rescuer. I was your damsel in distress," I answered carefully.

"Thank you for thanking me. I mean, not like I liked it. Well, I did like it but... I'm fucking this up, aren't I?" Carter asked.

"Just a smidget," I answered with a laugh, "But I know what you mean."

"What are you gonna do about... him?" Carter asked a few minutes later.

"I don't know what I'd do. I'm stuck between kicking him in the balls or punching him in the face," I answered.

"Go for the balls. Keeps him down faster than punching. I have personal experience," Carter said.

"I can imagine," I joked.

Carter playfully nudged me and I playfully nudged him back.

When we arrived at school, I got up and Carter followed.

I saw Jackson with his clique so I stood close by Carter.

"Hey! Victoria! C'mere. I wanna talk to you," Jackson said with a laugh.

His buddies laughed with him.

"Fuck off," Carter said.

"No one's talking to you, Reynolds. C'mon, baby," Jackson said, walking towards me.

He took my hand but I smacked it away.

"Don't touch me," I said, smacking his hand away.

Jackson sneered at me before asking, "You two fucked, didn't you?"

"You are delusional," I answered.

"You're delusional. I'm a girl's dream and you're denying me for the nightmare in the leather jacket," Jackson said.

"You're the nightmare, you fucking rapist," Jackson said.

Jackson frowned, looking at his friends, before looking back at me.

"We're not done here," Jackson said with a smirk.

Then, he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I will personally make your life a living hell. Slowly. But surely. You'll be begging for me. And when you do. I'll be waiting. See ya later, baby."

He nodded his head at Carter before walking away.

"Victoria. Forget him," Carter said, looking at me.

"I can't get over the fact he thought I slept with you," I said with a laugh.

"I know right. I'm not that much of a sleaze ball. Damn," Carter said, "People's opinion of me disappoints me."

"Welcome to my world," I said.

"What do people think of you?" Carter asked.

"People think I'm a dumb cheerleader. When actually I have straight a's. They think I'm a slut. Obviously not true," I answered.

"And because of my dad, people expect me to be a complete rebel and get high and all that crap. But I'm more like my mom, if anything," I continued.

"Stereotypes. Aren't they the best thing in the world?" Carter asked sarcastically.

I laughed as we went inside the school. People stared but I didn't pay attention to it.

"I hope you realize what this means," Carter said, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

"Prepare to be judged even more, best friend. You're associated with me," Carter answered.

"I'll roll with the punches. As long I've got my best friend," I said.

"We should get those best friend t-shirts," Carter suggested.

I laughed before saying, "A bit too far."

I was walking ahead when I noticed Carter's jacket moved up slightly and I could see a scar.

"Hold on," I said, standing in front of Carter.

I rolled up his sleeve and saw that it was a long and red scar.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at him.

"Nothing," Carter answered.

"It must be something," I said.

"Look. It's nothing. Alright," Carter said harshly.

I quickly shut up.

"I'm sorry. I just don't feel comfortable with talking about it," Carter said.

"Is it something really bad?" I asked.

"Yeah. But don't worry about it, cutie pie," Carter answered.

"Cutie pie?" I asked.

"Yeah. Judging my pet names? If you want, I'll call you princess but I don't think you'd like that very much," Carter answered.

"Cutie pie is better," I said with a smile.

"Great. At least, I get to call you something other than Victoria. Pretty name, by the way," Carter said.

"Thanks," I said with a smile, "I was named after my grandmother. All I know about her was that she died when my dad was a kid."

"Oh. Sorry. I guess," Carter said.

"Its ok. Not like I knew her or anything. I was wondering... do you think you can drive me home again?" I asked.

"Yeah. I have no life anyway so it doesn't matter," Carter answered.

I laughed. To be honest, I hadn't laughed in such a long time so I was practically loving it.

So far, Carter was the bestest friend I ever had.