The Bad Boy Effect

Chapter 11: I Don't Care If It's Sexist. It's True.

I sit in the kitchen chair, staring at my phone. It's been three hours. Three hours since Arran left. No texts, no calls, nothing. He would have texted by now if it hadn't been super serious. I have not sent a text, and I don't think I will. What if it's nothing too serious, and I'm being annoying? What if he just doesn't want to talk? Although he wouldn't have made that face that he did if it weren't majorly important.

I feel my heart beat quickly as my mind throbs. Where is he?

Where is my bad boy?

My phone vibrates and I grab it quickly, hoping it's a call or text from him. But it's not. It's a text from an unknown number. I open my phone and read it quickly.

Unknown: You should come down here as soon as you can. ~Allie

I blink. How did she get my number? Maybe it was from Arran? I feel my face pale. Is he okay? Is he hurt? I quickly type 'where' and then I run as fast as I can to my room. I grab my white converse and then I run down the stairs, grabbing the car keys to mom's second car, and out the door, not even paying attention to closing it behind me.

I jump into my mom's other car and start it up quickly. I slide my seatbelt on and then pull out of the driveway and speed down the road (At a reasonable speed though). I follow the Address and am soon coming towards a green house. It's a one-story building, but it's still a lovely house. It's color is a mint green with a white tiled roof, and a cement porch.

I screech to a stop as I see a person sitting on the front steps. It's not Arran, but they look familiar. And then it hits me.

Robbie.

I park the car and jump out, running towards him. He looks up and his eyes widen. I feel my face pale as I take his look in. He has a cut lip and a swollen eye that's already turning purple. He has a few scratches on his arms and his knuckles are raw, but nothing too serious from what I can see.

"Arran?" escapes from my lips before anything else.

"He's inside. You shouldn't be here, Em-"

I ignore him as I jump to the side and burst through the door.

Tony is lying on the couch, groaning. His arm is wrapped in a bandage, and his eyes are closed in pain. Allie is patting his head gently. I feel my heart sink.

What the hell happened?

I look for Arran. Sarah walks into the kitchen and even she looks pretty bent out of shape. She has a cut above her eyebrow and her nose has dry blood around it. She glares at me.

"Took you long enough. Where were you three hours ago, huh? Maybe we wouldn't have gotten our asses as whooped as we did." she sneers. I ignore her.

"Where's Arran?"

"He's in the back room with Justin." she says and then she heads out front towards Robbie.

I bolt towards the backroom, ignoring Allie's shouts. I open the first door on my left. Nothing. I open the first door on my right. Nothing. I make my way to the back of the house and open the first door on my left. I feel my heartbeat slow down as I see Arran lying on a couch. Compared to everyone else, he wasn't harmed.

The only mark I can see is a cut over his eyebrow.

"Arran," I gasp. His eyes open and they grow wide as he sees me.

I run towards him and he just barely has time to stand up and catch me. I inhale his scent deeply and feel my nerves calm down. I squeeze him tightly and then I pull away. He gives me a smirk and I slap him on his chest.

"Ow."

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" I shout. "I was so worried about you! Do you know how scared I was?" I shout loudly, and then I pant. All this running has made me tired.

"I'm sorry," he sighs. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

I feel my anger subside as I look into his gray eyes.

I have him sit down and then I cross my arms. "What the hell happened?"

"Isn't it obvious? We got in a fight."

"With who?"

"With Victoria's boyfriend and his goons."

I feel my body boil with anger. "Why?"

"His best friend was the one who was hitting on you last night. He asked for it."

"Really? That's why you pulled everyone into this?"

"No! I was the one being pulled into it, Emma! They circled around Justin and Robbie. Allie called me and told me what was going on and I went to go help."

I groan as I feel a mixture of emotions. He could have been seriously injured, but he was helping a friend. I get that. I'd do the same thing for Meagan.

I walk over and gently crawl into his lap. He wraps his arms around me, and I hug his waist tightly. He slowly and softly strokes my hair. We sit there for a while, minutes passing by in comfortable silence. His cologne and cinnamon breath are filling my nostrils again, but I don't mind. It's very calming.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he says after a while. I look up at him.

"I get it." I sigh. "What I don't get is why you didn't call me after you got home."

"I just didn't want you to worry, I guess." he smirks. "Although that backfired, huh?"

I giggle a little. "Guys never think things through."

"That's sexist," he smiles a crooked smile.

"I don't care if it's sexist, it's true."

"I guess so."

A little more silence, although I don't mind.

"Did you beat that guy up?" I ask.

"You better believe it. No one, and I mean no one touches my girl."

I grin stupidly on the inside. I love it when he calls me his girl. But then I remember this is all a bet, and I sigh.

"What?"

"Nothing," I say as I muster a smile.

"What I would give to know what goes on in that pretty little head of yours." he chuckles as he pushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I feel tingles run down my spine, but I don't care. They're the good kind.

A/N: Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that my new story is up! It's called "The Bad Boy's Game". Check it out if you'd like! :)