Play Me Read online

  Chapter 1

  There are three reasons why I hate mornings. One reason is the ear-piercing sound that echoes from the alarm indicating the start of the day. A day that I already have planned out in my mind: go to school, hang out with friends, come back home, do homework, eat and sleep. This is just an overview, I mean things happen and I have to adjust my timing around other events.

  So, like every other morning, I pound the clock with my fist to turn off the ungodly sound and get up to start my morning routine. After brushing my teeth, I exit the bathroom and change into a white tank top, black leggings and a black leather jacket. Right when I'm done applying some mascara and eyeliner, my phone rings.

  I close up the cosmetic products and pick up the call, "Hello?"

  "Hey Summer, just checking up on you," I recognize the voice as Brody's.

  "I'm good, just finished getting ready for school," I inform.

  "You moved to Chicago from Tennessee, and don't know most of the people around you, so just be safe. If you see anything unusual, let me know," I listen to him talk as I walk over to Alice's room.

  "Don't worry, I will. But I gotta go now, or else I'm gonna be late for school."

  "Okay, bye."

  "Bye," I reply before ending the call.

  "Brody needs to stop worrying. We're a good thousand miles away from your hometown," Alice, my step sister, replies as she applies some Mac highlighter.

  "He's like a brother; he'll worry no matter what. Now, hurry up, mom and dad are probably waiting."

  If this girl isn't stopped, she will keep touching up her makeup for another an hour.

  "I'm ready, let's go," Alice smiles heading out the door. I follow behind by walking down the stairs to our dining room. Both my parents are decent earners, working in their own professional fields and could afford a house much larger than this one. But my dad likes to believe, that since they're always busy and had a bigger house, we would never see each other. Which I feel would be true, so I don't mind living in a snug place like this.

  "Are my girls excited for senior year?" dad asks before taking a bite of his bacon.

  "Yeah, well kind of, just happy that we'll get out of waking up early in the mornings," I admit.

  "Me too, I hate waking up early. Did you know science has proven that kids aren't physically ready to learn until ten am?" Alice says almost surprised by the fact herself.

  "I've heard that," I agree.

  "Oh, come on, just ten months to go. You should enjoy the time, you can't always get it back," mom says.

  "True," I comment pouring some milk into a glass for myself. When everything drops silent, I look around at the awkward looks being exchanged. I roll my eyes when I catch onto the fact that they think my comment referred to something deeper.

  "Nope. No time to get sentimental guys."

  When no one replies, I look at my phone and blurt, "Would you look at that? It's time to go."

  I scoot my chair back and hug mom and dad before dragging Alice out to the car with me.

  "That was awkward," she states the obvious.

  "I know."

  "Why don't you tell them the truth about who you actually are?" she asks once I'm sat on the driver's seat.

  "Because I'm afraid that I won't get to call the three of you family anymore if I do. Alice, I told you everything because I trust you and if something ever happens, I need you to be able to protect yourself and our parents."

  "Mm-hm," with a simple reply, the engine of the car becomes the only audible thing around.

  My life has been nothing but complicated from the day I was born which is the second reason why I hate mornings. I was born at exactly eight fourteen am and since then, all I've been doing is suffering.

  Though, for a couple of months, I've been suffering a little less. I've been happy and enjoying life, allowing myself to be a little careless. Even then, I've always been aware and never, fully let my guard down.

  I don't want to experience the pain again, and so I can't let anyone find me.

  I put myself through the adoption system at the age of fifteen and got adopted just weeks after. It's almost been two years since I've been with my family.

  Ironically, they have the same last name as my original family, so I decided to keep my name and change everything else I could about myself. Like my hair is dyed blonde when my natural colour is black, and my eyes are a natural colour of dark brown, almost black, but I hide them under my blue contacts so that I look related to Alice.

  I enter our new school and park at the end of the lot, where the last parking spot was available.

  "Listen to me Summer," Alice starts, "Keep your anger in control. I can tell there's going to be a lot of annoying bitches and cocky bastards, but you can't gain more attention than what we're already going to receive from being new students."

  I nod, the serious look plastered on my face gives her assurance and her shoulder's slump slightly relieved. Let's just say that I don't have much patience and it takes about a second for me to snap someone's neck if they test my patience.

  "I don't know what I would've done without you. After everything that happened to me, I never thought I could be the person I've always wanted to become."

  "You've helped me too. I'm glad I chose you as my sister," Alice smiles, showing off her bright, naturally lined teeth.

  "Me too," I reply, stepping out of the car. The curt wind seeps through my shirt and open leather jacket. Trying to keep warm, I zip it up.

  I can't believe winter is arriving in less than two months. It's my favourite season and I can't wait until everything is coated under the white sheet of snow.

  As Alice and I walk towards the entrance, we get eyed as if we're the most wanted criminals in the state which causes me to ask a stupid question, "Why are they staring like that?"

  How would she know? She knows just as much as I do. Sometimes my mouth has a mind of its own especially when I'm nervous.

  The stares are keeping me on edge and that's problematic. What if they know who I am? But how would they? I look nothing like I used to.

  Before Alice can reply, a car passes by us at a speed too fast to be driving on a highway, nonetheless in a parking lot. A loud bang echoes in the air and my mind goes numb. I turn around slowly to find myself looking at the car whose front is crashed into the back of my matte black Audi.

  I'm about to murder someone.

  I start to walk back to my car, but Alice stops me. I clench my jaw snapping my neck around to spot her.

  My car.

  He crashed his car into mine on purpose.

  "Summer breathe. Summer? Summer!" Alice violently shakes me. I break out of my haze and look at her. A frown appears on my face feeling sorry for my action. Fuck, I hate it when I let my anger control me.

  "Summer," Alice whispers. "You can't get angry, keep yourself in check."

  "I will, I'm sorry," I breathe trying to control the pulsating anger. "But, I can't let whoever did that off the hook so easily."

  I pull her hand off of my arm and turn around, walking towards my car. A guy, around my age, walks out of the front seat of the BMW.

  I wait for him to make his way over to me. He stands a few inches away with an amused smile lingering across his face. His figure towers over me at a height which seems just over six feet. I'm only five seven, but I don't let the dramatic height difference intimidate me.

  He shakes his head as if he's drunk and chuckles. I raise my eyebrow questioning his behaviour.

  His blue eyes scan over me, holding a hint of curiousness.

  "What, huh?" the annoyance in my voice clear.

  "Nothing, I haven't seen you around before. You new?"

  "Yeah, and can you explain why you destroyed both our cars?" he cock
s his eyebrows at my question. I roll my eyes and point at the two cars trying to speed up his thinking process.

  "Oh! That's your car."

  "Uh... yeah."

  "You parked in the wrong spot, Sweetheart. That's Kai's spot."

  "Are you Kai?"

  "No."

  "Are you his lawyer?"

  "No."

  "Is there a name on that parking spot?"

  He looks at the spot and back at me. Then, he answers, "No."

  "Are there any other spots available?"

  He looks around.

  "No."

  "Then that's why I fucking parked at that spot, and that is the same reason that proves that parking spot, does not belong to this guy named Kai. Also, if anything, I should be talking to Kai himself, not with one of his servants," I state.

  "Smart," he admits and I smirk.

  "Smart, yet so stupid," he continues, wiping the smirk off my face. "Look, you're new, so we'll let you off with a warning. Don't park there again and don't mess with us."

  I glare at him, "Who's us?"

  "Kai Black, Alec Jenson, and Cole Baker, aka me."

  I smile at his confidence before giving him a cold-hearted glare, "I will park there, whenever I see it available. I didn't mess with you three, and I'm really not interested in getting acquainted either. The only thing I want from you, is to pay for the damage that you have caused."

  "If I was going to pay for it, I wouldn't have caused it," he simply replies.

  "Look, Cole, or whoever the fuck you are, my patience level is about as big as your brain which is close to not having one. And so I suggest that you not test it. Just pay for the damage and we'll never have to deal with each other again," I earn myself a glare.

  "Don't talk to me like that, you'll regret it. You have no idea what I'm capable of and I'm not going to pay for your car. You called this upon yourself when you parked in Kai's spot," my teeth grind against each other and my fingernails dig into my palm. Before I can do something stupid, Alice pushes me back and stands in between Cole and I.

  "Uh- hi. Please don't mind my sister. She can be not-so-cooperative sometimes," Alice apologizing only makes my blood boil even more. "We can afford another car and we won't park in your spot anymore. We won't press any charges either, okay? No harm, no fowl."

  Cole looks past Alice towards me, "Keep her under control. Bitches like her should be kept under a leash, do let her boyfriend know."

  My nails dig in so deep that they draw blood. Alice lets out a crooked laugh as she pats his chest and grabs his collar right before bringing her knee up. Cole's face immediately distorts with pain and his hands grab his injured goods as he falls down, onto his knees, "Don't you dare talk like that about my sister, I will skin you alive myself. You're lucky I stepped in, or else you'd be decapitated by now. Learn to appreciate women."

  With that, Alice turns around. She takes my hand and drags me inside of the school ignoring the entire crowd we had gathered. We stop inside of the girl's bathroom.

  "Thank you," I thank Alice.

  "No, I did what you would've done for me or any other girl," she replies. She takes out a bandage from her bag and wraps it around my right hand. "Really need to work on your anger issues."

  I laugh, "Nah, they can come in handy sometimes. Like in a couple of hours when the three boys come up to us for revenge."

  "True, I might falter if the rest of them turn out to be hot too."

  "Haha, don't worry, I won't. I see all guys as equal bastards except for Brody."

  "About that, get Brody to run a background check on them. We should use what we have."

  "No, I don't want to worry him about some cocky high school boys. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open, and take in what we can about them," she nods putting the leftover roll of bandage, back in her bag.

  "I'm really happy you and Brody taught me how to fight," she mentions.

  "I had to, I saw the same fragile girl in you that I once saw in me. You can't survive without some skills in this world full of sick people."

  "I know," I smile, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  "Both our pasts are over, okay? Stop thinking about it and live for today. Live, like if you died a second later, you'd have nothing to regret in life. Don't give death the satisfaction of taking your life away," she nods, smiling.

  I just hope Kai has more brains than Cole.

  Chapter 2

  After Alice and I were done talking this morning, we headed to the office to get our schedules. We were happy to see that we have both English and Physical Education together.

  "Look," Alice nudges my side. I look up from my notebook only to have my eyes land on Cole Baker standing with two other guys who I'm guessing are Kai and Alec. They're walking in when the teacher stops them.

  "I've warned you not to come late to my class."

  The three boys just walk past Mr. Stiles as if he hadn't said a word. They stop at the front as Cole browses the classroom until his eyes meet mine. Our eyes maintain contact, challenging each other, but not even for a moment do I twitch.

  We stop staring when Cole turns his head to whisper something to the guy dressed similar to me. When the mystery man's eyes land on me, he starts to make his way over to us. Then I know for sure that Cole was talking about us to him.

  Cole takes a seat beside Alice while the grey-eyed guy takes a seat next to me. The third guy takes a seat in front of us.

  The Armani cologne radiates off of him in waves. My eyes become curious, trying to find just the right moment to look at him sitting only inches away. I know better than to follow my first instinct, so I force myself to focus on the teacher after taking a mental note that he's rich.

  Just when I'm about to drown myself into the teacher's words, Alice pulls on my jacket and I lean my ear closer to her mouth, "What the fuck are they planning?"

  "I don't know, just ignore them and play along if they start talking," she nods, and we avert our attention back to the front. I can't help but notice the glares I'm getting from all the girls in the class.

  I was hoping I didn't have to admit it, but the three guys surrounding us are quite... gorgeous if I can put it that way. All three of them are massively built with sharpened features such as perfectly sculpted jaws. The guy sitting next to me is different than Cole and the other guy.

  He has a great body, but the thing that intrigues me the most, is the mysterious and dominant aura that surrounds him. It's similar to one that surrounds cold hearted and aggressive killers.

  The thought of who he could be gives me a headache and I decide to push that thought down far deep down into my mind.

  You can't let your guard down, Summer. He's probably no one, just another high school bad boy who breaks the school rules or something.

  "Summer," Alice saves me from drowning in my thoughts. I soundlessly lip thank you to her. In reply, she flashes me a faint smile.

  With my eyes glued to the front, I notice him observing me from my peripheral vision. As a test, I drop my pencil on the ground. My chair screeches back and I bend down reaching for the pencil. With a microscopic tilt of my head, I watch his head slightly turn my way as his eyes trace my moves.

  He's just as observant as one. I think to myself.

  I scoot my chair back to its original position and decide to focus on the teacher's lesson. Acting normal is the only thing that can save me right now.

  ...♛...

  Whatever time was left in English, went by the same.

  Second block was Art.

  The guy who sat next to me in English, was also in my class and I found out that he's Kai Black.

  He didn't sit beside me, but I caught him constantly observing me. The weird thing was that he knew that I knew, but he still didn't stop making me wonder: what have I gotten myself into?

  Right now, it's lunch and I'm waiting for Alice to show up at our lockers.

  "Hey," she smiles walking up to me.

  "Finally," I sigh. She opens
her locker and quickly shoves her textbooks in.

  "Cafeteria?" she questions and I nod.

  We start walking, "How was socials?"

  "It was okay, but Cole's in my class. His eyes were constantly on me."

  "Kai was in my Art class too, weird," the wheels in my brain start turning.

  "You think they have something to do with it?" Alice words the thoughts running through my mind.

  "No. Classes were assigned over summer. We weren't even here then," she nods as we enter the cafeteria. Both of us brought food from home, so we find an empty table, close to the back, and sit down.

  "Make any friends?" I ask.

  "No, it was like Cole was repelling anyone who even wanted to talk to me, away."

  "Let's not get over our heads. It's probably just a one day thing, right?" the wavering tone to my own voice suggests otherwise.

  Before Alice can reply, a booming voice cuts her off, "Everyone out!"

  I look to the direction of the voice and it's none other than Cole fucking Baker. Alice and I look at each other having an idea of what's happening. As if thinking the same thing, Alice and I both get up from our seats and try to blend in with the rest of the students walking out.

  Key word: try.

  Before I can reach the exit, an iron grip around my wrist stops me. I look to my right only to find Alice in the same predicament as me with Alec's hand tightly around her wrist. I incoherently curse under my breath as I turn to face Kai Black.

  Calm Summer, calm.

  I smile as he drops my hand, "And how may I help you?"

  Kai smirks, "I heard that you wanted to talk to me about something?"

  I'm taken back by his deep and breathtaking voice. I was not expecting that.

  Damn.

  "Uhh... talk to you? No, no. Alice and I were just leaving with the rest of the students," I walk sidestep towards Alice and take her hand. We turn around to walk out, but Cole locks the door grinning like the devil.

  Fucking dick.

  I turn around and gasp finding Kai only a foot away from me, "How about we talk this out?"

  I gulp, "Why not?"

  Kai turns around and takes a seat at one of the tables. I nod towards Alice telling her to follow me. I sit down, but Alice is held back by Cole.