How to Win the Bad Boy Over

C8

"What!?" I exclaimed, my voice coming out sharp.

"Are you and him not...?" I glared at Karlie. "I see. I am so sorry."

"It's fine, you do not need to apologize for something you didn't start." She gave me a weak smile and internally I frowned. I did not want any pity.

"If you will excuse me," I whispered, turning around the way I came. It had to be Carlos who started that rumour and if he didn't then I needed him to address it. Rumours like this spread like wildfire in high school. There is no way to douse the flames once they've grown too big.

Turning the corner I looked to see Carlos still with Ryder and the too-cool-for-school freshmen.

I ran towards them, grabbing onto Carlos's shirt.

"What the hell? Alice!" he growled as I dragged him away. I caught him by surprise which gave me the upper hand. Otherwise, I would not have been able to pull him away.

"I need to talk to you," I muttered. He scoffed at my words. "It is serious and it involves the two of us."

Carlos laughed again. "Sorry, Alice, but I am not in love with you."

"Yeah, me neither. But that is not what everyone else is saying!"

I pulled him into a janitors closet, the one that I saw him and Karlie come out the first time I went to talk to him.

"Please explain why you pulled me in here?" he asked while switching on the light switch. I couldn't help but notice how his face had darkened and his eyes were as cold as the winter snow.

"I had Karlie Brit come up to me and tell me that she was happy that you and I were dating which clearly, we're not." Carlos's eye darkened even more.

"What?"

"Come on! Not one person has approached you about this?"

"No. Not many people approach the high school's delinquent." I scowled at him.

"Did you tell your little band of misfits something that wasn't true then?" I gasped as he pushed me against the wall, his nails digging slightly into my shoulders as his face neared mine. He was so close, close enough that I could smell his minty breath.

"Do you think that I would spread such a ridiculous rumour? Why would I want to date you? The bad boy with the perky, egotistical, nosy reporter girl? I think the hell not."

Something began to spread across my heart that I had never felt before. It hurt to hear those words. Did everyone think of me like that? The more I thought about it the more I could agree with what he as saying. I was nosy. I was being nosy right now for crying out loud. But his words only made me want to prove him wrong.

"You're telling me that you are the bad boy? That you're the delinquent of this school? Last time I checked a bad boy doesn't write sad poems or memorize Romeo and Juliet."

His scowl deepened at my words, but I kept going.

"And if you were really a bad boy then I would not see you pining after a girl who already has a boyfriend."

"Shut up you little brat!" he yelled, his face getting closer to mine. "Don't tell me off on things you don't understand."

"What is there not to understand!? It is clear you're screwed over right now just because you are not dating that girl. You have to be a complete idiot to think that no one around you has noticed!"

"I am fine!"

"Bull shit!"

Carlos's eye darkened even more. It looked a huge storm ravaging through the ocean waters, each wave crashing against each other spraying water in every direction. His grip on my shoulder tightened even more. The pain began to spread throughout my arm at the pressure he was putting on me.