________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 8

Bella's POV

The rest of the day was uneventful. I had to spend the rest of my time catching up in all the classes I've missed. Thankfully, Jess was able to help me all during study hall.

Unfortunately, I got sick on Saturday, and spent the rest of the weekend in bed. Yeah, living life to its fullest.

Monday Morning

"Bella! Wake up! I'm leaving!" My mum screamed, causing me to jolt awake. I flung myself out of bed when I saw the clock, 7:35 am. I sprinted into my closet, grabbing a pair of shorts and a graphic t-shirt before quickly changing.

"Mum?" I called out as I hurried down the stairs. Silence. I panicked and grabbed all my stuff flinging the front door open. I froze at the sight.

Connor Michaels was talking to my mum. She stood up from the porch swing when she saw me, as did Connor.

"Pumpkin, I've got to get to work early, but Connor here came by to say he was going to give you a ride." My mum exclaimed like it was the best thing in the world. I felt the panic set in as she gave me a quick hug before walking to her car and driving away.

I stared at her car as she turned the corner, leaving me alone with Connor. I jumped as an arm slid around me pulling me into a hard, muscled body.

"I'm about to give you the ride of your life." Connor whispered huskily into my ear as buried his face into my neck, wrapping his arms around me. I frowned and tried to pull away; despite the warm, comforting hug he was giving me.

"Connor, let go." I mumbled. I felt his chest rumble against my back as he let out his low chuckle.

"Fine, but only because we have to get to school soon." Connor said, turning me around so that I was now facing him. His eyes trailed down to my lips as he pushed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear.

"Let's go." I snapped, scowling at him as I turned, walking down the walkway. Halfway down, I paused, looking around.

"Connor, where's your car? All I see is a m-" My eyes widened at my sudden realization. I opened and closed my mouth, speechless, looking like a fish out of water.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Connor asking, walking past me and towards his vehicle of death.

"No way in hell." I said, turning the opposite way, starting to walk to school.

"Bella," Connor called out, causing me to turn around angrily. "You might as well turn around now. You don't want me carrying you back here, do you?" I scowled at him, crossing my arms defiantly. He wouldn't dare. I turned and continued to walk, only to be yanked backwards and thrown over Connor's shoulder.

I let out an annoyed huff of air as Connor placed me back on the ground, smirking at me smugly. I was about to turn away, when a helmet was shoved onto my head. Connor pulled his helmet on, and sat down, looking back at me. I adjusted my bag so that it was securely on my shoulder, and wouldn't fly off. I took a deep breath before sitting down in the small place behind Connor.

"You may want to hold on." Connor said as he started the engine. As if, I thought to myself, I would rather-

10 minutes later

"Bella, you can let go now." Connor said for the third time. I couldn't budge. My eyes remained squeezed shut and my arms and legs were so tightly wound around Connor that I had lost feeling in them. I heard Connor let out an annoyed sigh.

"Man, what have you gotten yourself into?" Despite the fact my eyes were sealed shut, it wasn't hard to guess who had spoken- Matt.

"Can you get her off of me?" Connor asked impatiently. I heard Matt laugh a bit before the sound of footsteps coming towards me. I felt my arms being pried off of Connor, as well as my legs. My helmet was pulled off, and for the first time in a while, I opened my eyes, cautiously looking around.

"I suppose you don't like motorcycles?" James asked, now standing by Connor who was putting his helmet away. I glared at him and fixed my book bag, turning to leave.

"The best part was when she wrapped her body around me, her boobs felt amazing on me." Connor said loudly, causing Matt and James to laugh and me to curse him out all the way to my locker.

"What happened to you?" Lily asked, standing with Jess and Claire. I mumbled something about life sucking balls and that Connor was a kangaroo, and then headed off to English.

Yeah, I get pretty weird when I'm tired and sick.

I collapsed into my chair, letting my head rest in my arms. As much as I hate to admit it, being stuck to Connor wasn't that bad. I mean, sure, he got to have my boobs pressed up against his back, but I got to feel his ROCK HARD penis- just kidding. His rock hard abs. (A/N Aren't I so funny?) It was pretty fun, despite that at any given moment I could have been killed...

I listened as students filed in, taking their seats. I lifted my head, looking around. Just as Connor walked in, an announcement went through the loudspeaker.

"Connor Michaels please report to the front office." Connor paused, and turned to leave, before stopping.

"Almost forgot." He said, causing everyone to look at him in confusion. I began panicking as he started walking towards me, his familiar smirk settled on his face. I let out a small, but noticeable gasp when Connor pulled me up by my arm and let his free hand trace my neck. My breaths hitched in my throat, and my eyes widened.

"You're still mine." Connor whispered as he placed his lips onto my neck, in the same spot as before. As I if he could read my mind, he used one of his hands to hold my head in place, while the other wrapped around my waist, rooting my to the spot.

After a couple of awkward seconds, Connor pulled away, and without another word, he walked off, leaving me standing there in a state of shock.

"Bastard!" I screamed out as he left them room, causing him to laugh from the hallway. I frowned and slumped into my seat, wiping my neck viciously.

"You're just going to make it worse." Mr. Henderson said, amusement in his eyes. I glared at him as the rest of the class laughed, causing me to glare at everyone else. Jess looked back at me, smiling at me. I scowled and turned my attention back to Mr. Henderson who was passing out the essays we had turned in last week.

At least I can get some good news, I thought to myself as he placed my essay down on my desk. My eyes bugged out as I saw the big bright D on my paper. Now, I am what you may call a nerd. I do study a lot, and I never forget to turn in something. The lowest grade I have ever gotten was a B minus, so you can imagine my surprise at this.

"Mr. Hender-"

"See me after class, Bella." He said with a sigh, not even turning to face me. I frowned and looked back at my essay, looking over all the little notes he wrote everywhere.

After English Class

"A tutor? You want me to get a TUTOR?"" I asked, my voice shrill. I couldn't believe this. Never, never had I been even suggested to get a tutor. I was the girl who helped others through school!

"Like I said Bella, it would be in your best interest to get a tutor. I spoke to your other teach-"

"What?" I cried out, throwing my hands up in the air. "What did they say?"

Mr. Henderson hesitated before speaking. "It seems that you have been struggling in most of your classes." My jaw dropped open and I stared at Mr. Henderson in disbelief.

"But we know how hard you work, and moving to a new school is hard." Mr. Henderson rushed after seeing my reaction. "That's why we are assigning you a tutor."

"Assigning?" I asked, my voice barely over a whisper.

"Yes," Mr. Henderson said, watching me closely. "We have chosen one of our top students to tutor you." I numbly nodded my head and picked up my book bag, leaving before he could say another word.

I handed Mrs. O'Connell the note Mr. Henderson gave me. She gave me a smile, which was returned with a blank look. Mrs. O'Connell was an amazing teacher, but after what Mr. Henderson, I couldn't help but not like her. Struggling, I scoffed at that.

Liam tried explaining what we talking about, but I was distracted.

"Bella, what's on your neck?" Mrs. O'Connell asked, squinting from the front of the classroom. Everyone turned to stare at me, well, my neck. I frowned and tried to cover it up, but already the whispers had started.

"Um, Mrs. O'Connell, Bella has a hickey." Some blonde girl stood up, fiddling with her hair like an idiot. Mrs. O'Connell's eyes bugged out and she blushed a bit, before continuing to teach. Blondie turned to me a smirked, so I flipped her off in return. Her jaw dropped and she sat down, crossing her arms angrily. Jessica gave me a thumbs up and I smiled back, take that Blondie!

"So Connor's going after you." Liam said, leaning back in his chair, looking at my now exposed neck.

"Yeah, what gave it away?" I asked sarcastically. Liam just laughed and looked forward.

"You know he's not going to give up, right? He always gets his victim." Liam said, looking at me through the corner of his eyes as he started taking notes.

Victim? Huh... seems pretty fitting.

"Yeah well I'd like to see him try." I replied tartly, taking notes as I did so. I saw Liam turn to look at me, grinning.

"You really aren't like the rest." Liam observed, his grin still on his face.

"Must be since I'm British." I joked with a shrug.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he's fucked a British girl before." Liam said, his eyes twinkling. I burst out laughing, causing people to turn and stare. I blushed and mumbled an apology.

"Nice going." Liam whispered into my ear, causing me to turn at him and glare playfully. I looked him over as he faced the front, writing down the rest of the notes. Although I had said he was quite nerdy looking before, I was starting to take back my words. He wore a casual t-shirt and instead of suspenders, he was wearing normal jeans.

"What happened to your glasses?" I asked, confused.

"Bella, I only wore them once." Liam said, still writing. "I only had to wear them because I forgot my contacts." Awkward...

I turned to the front and finished the rest of my notes just as the bell rang. I quickly put everything away, but as I stood, I started falling forwards. Before I could hit the ground, a strong pair of arms wrapped around me, catching me. I opened my eyes, finding myself face to face with Liam. He lifted me up, so that we were standing a mere inch apart.

"Thank you," I breathed out, my eyes trailing over his face.

"No problem." He murmured, his hot breath fanning over my face. I started getting lost in his eyes, his deep blue ocean like eyes. He started leaning in, and just before we could meet, someone cleared their throat.

My head snapped into the direction of Jessica. She was standing right next to me, frowning with her arms crossed. I blushed and pushed away from Liam and Jess grabbed my hand, dragging me from the room. Just as I was pulled through the door, I gave an apologetic look to Liam and he just shrugged.

"What the hell was that?" Jessica asked after we had gotten to our lockers. I hesitated before I spoke. I mean, she looked so pissed off.

"I- I, it was nothing." I said, looking away.

"Bella, Connor wants you." Jess said.

I turned to face her, glaring. "Why does everyone keep saying that?!"

"Because you're now his." Jess said as if it was the most obvious thing. I scowled and looked away.

"You're putting Liam in danger by flirting with him." This got my attention. I looked back at her, confusion all over my face.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Connor has never failed, and if he finds out that his girl is flirting with another guy, he will kill him." Jess said this in all seriousness.

"So he's allowed to flirt with other girls, but I can't." I said slowly.

"Exactly." I turned around, accidently bumping into him. Connor's arms immediately wrapped around me, causing me from falling back.

"So what were you two ladies talking about?" He asked, his eyes boring into mine.

"I- uh, well, nothing." Connor raised his eyebrow in question, obviously not believing me. I was so tempted to just tell him, but I was worried for Liam. Connor is a dangerous guy, and I wasn't going to risk Liam getting hurt on my behalf.

"I think you're lying." Connor said, burying his face into my neck, his hot breath on my neck causing me to shiver with delight.

"So why were you pulled out of class?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Connor pulled away, and searched my eyes.

"No reason." He said with a smirk. I managed to pull away, grabbing my things from my locker.

"I have to go." I muttered, heading into Spanish.

All during that god awful class, I was distracted, thinking about Connor. Something about him, it drew me in. It was like I had to be around, but at the same time, I needed to get away from him. He, his acts, his personality, disgusted me. Whenever he kissed me, I had the biggest urge to push away. It was weird. I can't describe it.

After Spanish was over, I dragged Jessica into the bathroom and explained everything to her. By the time I was done, she had her head in her hands.

"I just don't get it. I have this pull towards him, but more than anything I want him to just leave me alone." I said, leaning against the wall.

"You push him away so that he will chase after you." Jessica said after a couple moments of silence. I froze, replaying her words in my head.

"But I don't! I want him to just go away!" I shrieked, my face growing red. Jess pulled me into a hug, holding her arms tightly around me. I let out a sob, and found myself crying.

20 minutes later

"I don't know what's going on with me." I sobbed into her shoulder. She rocked me side to side, patting my back comfortingly.

"It's okay, shhhh." She said, pulling away and wiping my stray tears.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, blushing as I fixed myself in the mirror.

"Don't apologize! You needed a good cry and I bet you feel better now." She said, smiling at me. I cracked a smile, before letting out a sob.

Looks like it wasn't over yet...

In my defense, I was still a little sick...

25 minutes later

"Are you done now?" Jess asked laughing a bit. I turned and faced her and laughed.

"You must think I'm crazy." I said, sniffling as I wiped away the rest of my tears. She laughed and shook her head.

"Trust me, I've been worse and I've seen worse." She said. She pulled out her phone, checking the time.

"Looks like we missed AP Chem. let's just head to gym." Jess said, grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the bathroom. On our way to the gym, we bumped into Anna and Natalya.

"Hey guys," I said smiling. They grinned back at me and we all went into the gym.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" I whispered to Jessica as we entered the girls' locker room. She looked at my face for nearly a minute.

"Nope, not at all."

Thank the lord! That would have been awful...

We all quickly changed as the rest of the girls filed in. I tried stretching out the top so that it wasn't so tight.

"Give up hun, it just won't work." Natalya said, frowning at the mirror. I sighed and followed Anna out of the gym.

"Alrighty, today we will be playing basketball." Mr. Macdonald announced, causing Natalya and Anna to high five each other while Jess, Lily, Claire and I groaned to our displeasure.

15 minutes later

James let out a frustrated yell as some jock took the ball from me and scored- for the ninth time... Hey! I never said I was athletic. My whole teamed groaned as the teams on the sidelines laughed. Yeah yeah, so freaking funny.

James, our captain, had us circle up. "Listen up everyone, we are losing by maybe only twenty-four points," he pointedly glared at me, causing me to look awkwardly at the ground. "But we could have a comeback so let's just-"

"Don't pass to me and we should be okay." I said, cutting off James. Everybody nodded, some even laughed.

-____-

20 minutes later

We had made an amazing comeback and won our next game, all by using my plan. Since we had won, we stayed on the court.

"Are you ready for this?" I whirled around and faced a smirking Connor. I glared at him, looking away.

15 minutes later

Sweat was beading at my hairline. Who knew running back and forth on a court, never actually touching the ball, could be so tiring? We were tied and from the looks of it, James was not going to let Connor beat us, or vice versa.

"Let's do this!" Some fat guy yelled and charged at James. James quickly passed the ball to some guy, who passed it to Blondie, who was surprisingly good, and she passed it to some guy named Nick. Nick looked around for an open player, his eyes settling on me. I was mid 'No don't do that!' when the ball flew into my hands.

I quickly turned around facing Connor who was ready to rip the ball away from me. Here goes nothing, I thought to myself, chucking the ball into the general direction of the basket.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I threw it, hoping for the best. I heard a thump and cursing, but most importantly, cheers. My eyes flew open to see Connor sitting on the ground rubbing his head. Suddenly I was lifted up into the air, James screaming his head off as he placed me on his shoulders.

"I- I made it?" I asked in disbelief. A grinning Jessica ran up to me, well James that is. James lowered me to the ground as the bell rang, signaling lunch.

"You- " She paused, laughing, "the ball bounced off of Connor's head and into the basket." She clutched her sides, laughing hard. At that, I burst out laughing, looking at Connor as he glared at me, disappearing into the boys' locker room.

"Oh my..." I said, tearing up from laughing so hard. We went into the girls' room, laughing as we did so.

Lunchtime

I walked into the lunchroom with the girls, smiling and laughing. We took our normal seat after getting our food.

"So I heard you and Liam really hit it off." Claire said casually as she took a sip of water. I started choking on my apple, causing Lily to pound my back violently.

"Who told you that?" I asked, my voice hoarse and my throat burning.

"Jessica." She said, not noticing my reaction. I turned to glare at Jessica, just as Anna spoke.

"Don't be mad at her, she was only looking out for you and Liam." Anna said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was getting really confused.

"Connor will kill Liam if you try to get closer to him." Natalya explained. I frowned and looked at all the girls. What was this? Some intervention?

"Okay, I get it." I said, looking down. I was no longer hungry anymore, so I excused myself and left to throw away my food. Just as I was about to leave the lunchroom, I heard my name being called. 

"Huh?" I asked, turning around. Liam was waving at me from his table. I recognized a couple people at the table.

"Hey guys," I said, standing by Liam.

"How's Connor?" Harry asked. (the ginger)

I scowled and flipped him off turning to leave. Somebody grabbed my wrist, causing me to stop moving.

"Wait," Liam said, standing up. "I, um... I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out sometime." I felt myself blushing, and tucking my hair nervously behind my ear.

"Uh, yeah, sure." I said, stammering a little bit. He exhaled, looking relieved.

"How about tomorrow night?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck. I thought for a minute, my heart pounding. What's going on with me?

"Sounds good to me." I said, laughing a little. Liam grinned at me, letting go of my wrist.

"Can't wait." I blushed and left the lunchroom feeling giddy. Wait- what about Connor? I shook my head, smiling, what he doesn't know won't kill him.

_______________________________________________________________

I glanced at the clock in the hallway, time for Study Hall.

"Bella!" I turned, facing Mr. Henderson. "Can you come to my classroom for a second?"

"What's going-"

"Bella, this is your tutor." Mr. Henderson announced casually, sitting down at his desk. My jaw dropped and Connor smirked at my reaction.

"Come on, Bells, let's get working." Connor said cheerfully, grabbing my hand as he led me from the room. I struggled and even tried to hit him, but his grip on my wrist was like steel. He dragged me into the library, where I was scolded for being to loud.

"Who knew that Bella Brown is failing all her classes," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"I'm not failing!" I snapped while pulling out my assignments. Connor laughed, watching me.

"Wait," I said, freezing. "How could you possibly be my tutor?

Connor's face hardened, all amusement wiped away. "Let's just start. " I stayed standing, watching as he sat down, looking at me impatiently.

"No." He sighed and made a grab for my work, but I pulled it away just in time. He frowned and glared at me.

"This is a trick, isn't it?" I snapped, putting all my books inside my book bag. Connor scowled and stood up, walking around the table to my side and cornering me.

"This isn't a trick. I really am one of the top students here." I scoffed and flung my bookbag over my shoulder.

"I'm serious!" Connor said, exasperated. I glared at him, unsure if I should believe him or not.

"Then tell me why your parents think otherwise."

15 minutes later

"So I just tell them I'm failing because they refuse to be proud of me." Connor said.

"Wait, you mean your parents don't know your actual grades?"

He scoffed, "They know nothing about me. I've been the disappointment to them ever since Ch- well, anyways, they bought me a house just so they wouldn't have to see me."

"But if they knew you weren't blowing off school, then they wouldn't be dis-" I started.

"I have nothing to prove to them." Connor snapped. I could tell he was getting mad, so I decided to lay off the subject. One thing I noticed was he hesitated, he was going to tell me something. 'Ever since Ch-' I wonder what he was going to say...

"I'm sorry," I murmured, resting my hand awkwardly on his shoulder. He gave me a small smile before returning to his seat.

"Come on, you're going to need all the help you can get." He joked. I scowled playfully and plopped down pulling out my books.

20 minutes later

"Bella! You can't do that!" Connor exclaimed, ripping the pencil away from my hand.

"Mwaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed dropping my head to my desk in defeat. Ten minutes ago, Connor would have laughed. Now? Well I'm pretty sure I'm just pissing him off.

"Bella, we've been over this!" Connor said with a sigh. I lifted my head, ready to yell.

"Well, you're just a horrible teacher!" I snapped, glaring.

"Or you're just stupid." Connor muttered, stacking up all my papers. I pulled out my phone to check the time, 2:50 pm. Ten minutes left. I'm not going to make it.

"I'm not stupid." I murmured, putting everything away. I collapsed back into my chair and glared at Connor.

"Yes, yes you are."

That did it.

"DIE!" I wailed, lunging across the table. I caught Connor by surprise and was able to get a couple good slaps in before pinned my wrists back on the table, forcing me to lay on my back. His eyes twinkled mischievously as he leaned over me.

"Jerk."  I snapped as I struggled. My breathing hitched when I realized Connor was getting closer, I could already feel his hot breath on my neck.

RING RING RING!

Talk about being saved by the bell! I bolted out from underneath Connor and grabbed my backpack, running towards the exit.

"Not so fast-" He grabbed my arm, which really surprised me because I didn't know he had followed. Well, just so you know, bad things happen when I'm surprised.

SLAP!

"Haha, oops..." I laughed nervously and ran out the door and to my locker, and then straight into someone.

Liam.

"Hey so, I was wondering if I could have your number?" Liam asked, the faintest bit of blush on his cheeks.

"Oh, yeah!" I said, taking his phone from his hands and adding myself as a contact. He grinned as I handed it back.

"Thanks, so I'll see you tomorrow!" He said, walking off. I couldn't help but grin. Oh god... I didn't like like Liam... Did I? I grabbed my backpack and headed outside, only to realize my car wasn't there.

"You're coming with me, doll face." I turned and saw Connor smirking at me. I frowned and realized that I would have to go back onto the vehicle of death.

10 minutes later

This time I managed to not hold on for too long after the ride was over. I pulled away, and muttered a small thanks before turning to leave.

"Wait," Connor said, grabbing my wrist.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I saw you talking to Liam, and I heard from many people that he asked you out." Connor said, "Is that true?"

My heart was racing, "N-no."

Connor smiled and dropped my wrist. "Good." I was almost to the front door before he spoke again.

"Cause Bella, you're mine. I won't let anyone get in my way of having you." I froze and whirled around just as he rode away.

Oh god, have I just put Liam in danger?

________________________________________________________________