Swims | □

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Dedicated to the ever so lovely Cherry_Cola_x because she was the first big author that replied to me. Her book - The Bad Boy Stole My Bra - is possibly one of my favorites (Link is the external link or 23684050 if you're on mobile).

One more request: If I make spelling or grammar mistakes, please please point them out. Constructive criticism is key. xx

~~~~~

Eleven Months Ago - September 2011

Declan hated being told what to do. And that was exactly what was happening right now. His Calculus teacher, Mr.Farrow - yeah, I know - was asking him to leave his classroom.

"Mr.Qarr, are you leaving or do you need an invitation?"

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving." He mumbled and walked out of class. It wasn't even his fault. Well, maybe it was but it was mostly Scar's fault. She had been making faces at him all class and eventually Declan couldn't hold it in.

He proceeded to walk down the halls. He knew he wasn't gonna get into too much trouble as the principle wasn't in today. His mind did a little jingle as he realized that meant a free period for him.The only thing that put a damper on his mood was that he had nothing to do for the next forty five minutes.

Somewhere down the hall, the sound of something falling echoed and then a quiet voice.

"Shit." Declan grinned when he heard the voice. He'd recognize it anywhere. Maybe his hour wouldn't be that bad after all. He walked as quietly as possible and stopped right behind his victim. Said victim was mumbling to herself and wouldn't have noticed him coming even if he came on a bulldozer.

"Malaysia!" He spoke into her ear and she jumped, causing all the papers to go flying again. He had nicknamed her 'Malaysia' it bothered Malia to no end.

Malia jumped and then watched in dismay as all of her recently assembled papers went flying again. She turned around, a frown etched on her face when she saw Declan standing in her personal bubble.

"Declan." She breathed. "Get out of my personal space."

From Malia's point of view, Declan only had three objectives in life:

1.Make her life unbearable.

2.Keep up his image in school - grades and popularity.

3. Run the family business.

She wasn't too far off. Those three did come in Declan's priorities but just not in that order. In all honesty, he disgusted her. But it hadn't always been that way. She pushed the offending boy away from her and began gathering her papers from the ground.

"You didn't tell me you came back." Declan pouted and shut her locker. He leaned against it and watched as she picked up all of the papers.

"The point was not to tell you." She grabbed the last sheet of paper before it flew off. She crouched on the ground and shuffled them all into a neater pile.

"But why?" He checked his phone and looked back up at her. There were a couple of messages from Scar. "You know the group and I love to hear about you."

"Yeah, I know." She spat at him and got up. "I was in Vancouver."

"Canada, eh? Hope you didn't miss us too much."

"I didn't." She looked him in the eyes. Malia knew the game Declan was playing. But he didn't scare her - Declan alone didn't scare her. He smiled at her but it wasn't the heart warming smile he gave everyone. This smile only came out in lacrosse games and for Malia.

"Shame."

~~

The next day, Malia's gym locker had been attacked with whipped cream. A yellow sticky note had been attached to the front of her locker. It bore 5 words:

Eat up Evans. -D and Crew

~~~~~

Malia knew as soon as she got home that nothing really had changed. The guard at the gate saluted her but his expression said it all. None of her parents were home.

The housekeeper, Atifeh, stood waiting at the door. She was an Iranian woman and had raised Malia very much like she raised her own children. Malia stepped out of the car and ran into her arms.

"Atifeh!" She let go of the older woman and smiled for the first time today. "I missed you."

"Azizam, the house has not been the same without you." Malia had grown up hearing that term of endearment and it brought a smile to her face. She had missed her home dearly.

"I'm starving Atifeh." Malia wrapped her arm around Atifeh's waist as they walked into the house together.

"I made kebabs."

Malia fist pumped the air and winked at Atifeh. "With full-fat oil?"

"Only if you do extra laps before going to sleep..." She mock glared at the younger girl and the latter grimaced.

Atifeh understood immediately.

"It's fine." She said as she sat Maila down on the counter. "I had your other costumes washed already."

~~~~~

Declan got home after lacrosse practise, tired as hell. He walked into the house, threw his bag into the coat closet - nobody would care if he made a mess - and fell onto the couch.

"Back little brother?" His older brother, Dane, ruffled his hair as he walked past.

"Obviously. I'm tired, did you leave juice in the box?"

"...oops."

"Asshole." Declan muttered as he pushed himself off the couch. Coach had him working extra hard because he had gained a couple pounds over the summer.

He had just finished fixing himself something to eat when his phone buzzed with a new message. He slid his thumb across the screen and blinked in surprise, the sandwich almost falling out of his mouth.

There was one new message from an unknown number and it said,

You will do as I say Declan Qarr.