Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

12. Living With the Devil

I glared at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It was nearing two in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep. I would have to get up in less than four hours to get ready for school. And I didn’t even know how I was going to get through that without breaking down. Not only would I have to wear long sleeves, but I had no makeup with me to cover up the horrid bruise on my cheek. On top of that, I was living in Luke’s house. His room was literally right next to the one I was in.

After the other three boys had left and I retired to the guest room Liz had showed me to, I had gone straight to bed. That was around four hours ago, and I hadn’t gotten one minute of sleep. Somewhere around eleven, I’d heard Luke come up the stairs and enter his room. For an hour after that, he played music, though he kept it quiet enough so as not to ‘wake’ me. Not that it mattered. He was probably blissfully sleeping away in his bed while I sat, miserable, in a bed that wasn’t mine. In a house that wasn’t mine either.

I let out another loud sigh before pushing myself up and getting out of the bed. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do, but I couldn’t just sit in bed and not sleep. It was driving me insane. Slowly, I opened the bedroom door and peered into the hallway. To my left was then end of the hall, with a closed door leading to what I assumed would be the master bedroom. There were two rooms to my right. Luke’s was the first door I would pass, then another door. Probably an office or another guest bedroom. At that end of the hall, there was the staircase as well as the door to the bathroom. Luke’s door was propped open slightly, so I made sure to sneak past it as carefully as I could.

Navigating the stairs in a quiet manner, however, proved to be a lot more difficult. I was only on the third step, and I had made enough noise to wake up the entire neighborhood.

“You’ve got to stick to the left side. It doesn’t make any nose that way.” I jumped when a voice sounded behind me, turning to find Luke standing at the top of the stairs in his pajamas. His normally perfectly styled hair was sticking up in every direction, and he was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I winced slightly.

“I woke you up, didn’t I?” I questioned, feeling bad. He shook his head.

“No, I was already awake. You just gave me a reason to actually get out of bed.” He assured me. I gave him a skeptical look, but didn’t say anything. Looking back down at the stairs, I realized I had no clue what I was going to do when I got down them. On top of that, I really didn’t want to have to be around Luke any more than I absolutely had to. So, with a fake yawn, I moved over to the left side of the stairs and crept back up them. They were actually quiet, like he’d said they would be, and I found myself wondering just how many times he had to sneak down them to figure that one out.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I really do need to try and get some sleep before school.” I mumbled, brushing past him. I heard him sigh loudly behind me.

“Daeyna—“ He began. I turned around sharply, my eyes narrowed.

“We,” I started, gesturing between the two of us, “Are not friends. Just because your mom is an extremely lovely person and has allowed me to stay in your house is not an excuse to ignore how you’ve treated me the past few months. The only reason you’re trying to be nice to me is because you feel bad.” I paused for a moment, daring him to deny it. When he didn’t I continued my little rant. “I don’t need your pity, Luke. What I need is for you to stop trying to pretend that by saying sorry we’ll immediately become best friends. What I need,” I paused again, taking in a shaky breath. I hadn’t even realized I was on the verge of tears until now. “Is to be left the fuck alone.” With those last words, I whipped around and stepped into my room, closing and locking the door behind me.

The lock was barely clicked in place before I pressed my back to the door and slid down to the floor. I buried my face in my hands and let out a loud sob. Suddenly, it felt as if all of the events from the past month had caught up with me. My mom had left me, my dad started drinking again, I had been physically abused. And now, on top of all that, the last person I wanted to be around—let alone allow to see me in such a vulnerable state—was the very boy whose house I was to be living in for an undetermined period of time.