“Does your father always act like that?”

I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. “Only with me.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. It was something I wanted to know as well. Why only me?

School was a rush. We got forms we needed to fill in and stuff that needed to be signed. I had a pile of homework that needed to be done. It was my plan to spend the afternoon doing that, but I was surprised to find Stephen there when I got home. A forest green Ford truck was parked at the curb in front of the house. At first I thought it was one of my mom's friends. Then I entered the house only to find him sitting in the living room. Apparently my mom was serious when she said I had to show him around town.

“Where are we going?” I asked after another few minutes of silence passed.

“To my house,” he muttered.
My eyes snapped to him. “I thought I was suppose to show you around town.”

“I already know my way around town,” he glanced at me, “you're mother just assumed I didn't. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to finish our talk.”

Before I could say anything else the truck slowed. I glanced up at the house. It was simple. A two story with a small front porch and high walls surrounded it. Stephen parked the truck in the driveway before killing the engine. That strange feeling was filling me again. I was shaking. The door opened making me jump.

My eyes locked with his before dropping to the hand he held out. I placed mine in his allowing him to help me out. Instead of dropping my hand like I thought he would, he gave it a squeeze. Stephen silently led me to the front door. He unlocked it then stepped aside for me to enter first.

The bottom floor was an open-plan. A spacious living room was to the left with the stairs that led to the second floor to the right. In front of me was a kitchen with an island and a bar separating the kitchen from the dining room. Sliding doors led out onto a wooden patio. Beyond it was the back yard which held a pool and a barbecue area to one side. It was clear that this place belonged to a bachelor. The couches were black leather and the TV a flat screen with a surround sound. My eyes moved to the stairs. There was a balcony overlooking the bottom floor.

“Are you hungry?” Stephen asked as he walked past me.

“No.” I stood rooted to place for a few more minutes before following him into the kitchen.

He was bent over searching through the fridge. My eyes dropped to his butt. He had a nice butt– tight and firm. Heat flooded my cheeks. Stephen straightened then turned to face with a blue Tupperware bowl in his hand.

“This is some of last night's dinner. Or I could make you a sandwich?” He gestured to the bread on the counter. I shook my head.

“You don't have to-”

“Look I know you don't know me and I get that you're scared, but I'm not going to hurt you Alia.”

“I'm not scared.” His eyes snapped to mine. “I'm nervous. I know you won't hurt me.”

The bowl was placed down.

He turned to face me fully. “And how do you know that?”

“I feel safe and not threatened.”

Stephen silently stared at me.
He was frowning down at me with this odd emotion in his eyes. Shaking his head, he muttered something under his breath before turning around. I watched silently as he heated the food and then grabbed two plates. He walked to the table to place it down before walking back to grab some forks. I hesitated but then walked over to the table to take a seat. Stephen appeared at my side but this time with a tall glass of ice water.

He took a seat opposite me then held out the bowl for me. My stomach grumbled a reminder that I barely ate anything today. I eagerly dished some of the pasta and gravy onto my plate before handing it back.

“You said we needed to go over a few things before we get started.”

“Eager are we?” he asked softly.

My cheeks heated. “We have about an hour before I have to get you home. Eat then we'll talk.”

After finishing, we moved into the living room. I clutched the glass as I waited for him to sit down. He surprised me when he took a seat next to me with only a few inches between us. Again he watched me silently.

“Stephen?”

“Yes?” His lips twitched.

“Can we start?” I glanced away from him towards the wall.

When he didn't answer me I turned to look at him. He was smirking at me.

“This will only be a mutual agreement,” he said softly. “No moonshine and roses or any of that shit. I don't want any feelings involved Alia. It'll only be sex. No one will know about this apart from the two of us.”

“So I can't even tell my friend?”

“No,” he leaned forward, “no one. According to the law you're still a minor. If it gets out I could go to prison for rape. I'm nine years older than you. Do you understand?” I nodded silently as I calculated his age in my head. “We won't be having sex until you're eighteen.”

“Why? You're suppose to teach me-”

“And I will,” his eyes narrowed. “There are a lot of things we can do that doesn't include sex. You're a virgin. Let me ask you this– have you ever been kissed on the lips?"

My eyes dropped from his as embarrassment filled me. Of course not. The guys tend to stay clear of me just because my father was a cop. That's probably the reason why I was still a virgin.

“Hey,” a hand cupped my cheek. I was forced to look at him. “It's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. I like the fact that you're completely innocent and that I'll be the one to teach you.”

“You don't think I'm a prude for still being a virgin?”

“No,” Stephen smiled. “I believe that everyone has a reason for doing the things they do. You have a reason for still being untouched and I won't judge you because of that. Is that the reason you placed the ad?” I frowned at him. “I'm not stupid Alia. I'm a trained cop so I'm pretty good at figuring out when someone is lying.”

“They call me the Virgin Mary. Or prude or anything else they could think of. I'm sick of it. It hurts,” tears filled my eyes as I thought back to the years of abuse. “I don't want-” I broke off when the front door suddenly opened.

A wave of fear washed through me when the familiar man entered the house. He froze in place when our eyes locked. Stumbling to my feet, I opened my mouth but not a word escaped. Stephen stood and then turned to face the intruder.

“Ah,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I thought you'd be busy for a while.”

“We finished earlier.”

“Alia this is my stepbrother, Nathan,” he introduced us.

“I know who she is,” Mr. Pierce walked into the kitchen. “She's one of my students.”

Oh boy. I had a feeling that things just became even more complicated. My teacher’s stepbrother was going to be my sex educator. I glanced between them. I didn't see how we were going to hide this from him. They lived together so he was bound to figure things out. I just hope he doesn't tell anyone.

* * *

The humid breeze blew gently through the loose strands of my hair. We were sitting under a tree on the hockey fields. Most of the smokers sat here during break. Delilah lit another cigarette before leaning back. Kate was typing away on her phone with a frown between her eyebrows. My mind trailed back to yesterday. Stephen had driven me home shortly after Mr. Pierce arrived. When he pulled up in front of my house he had asked me if I had something to do this weekend. It was arranged that I would meet him at his house on Saturday morning.

My eyes moved to Dane. He was leaning against his bag with a book. I leaned back against the tree. A part of me was curious to see what he had planned. I was nervous too. My phone vibrated in my shirt pocket. I pulled it out and quickly unlocked it. There was a message from an unknown number. My heartbeat started to increase when I opened it.

Homework Assignment; You need to be comfortable with you own body. At some point you're going to get naked. I want you to make a list of things you like about your body and things you don't like. I'll see you on Saturday at Ten.

The message ended with a winking face. I frowned. What kind of assignment was this? How did he know that I was uncomfortable with the way I looked? I licked my lips as I opened a blank word document. Might as well start since I had nothing else to do. I glanced at my friends again. They were all busy with their own thing. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. With another few seconds of hesitation, I finally started typing.

* * *

School couldn't end soon enough. Mr. Pierce's class was really awkward. I caught him watching me a few times during it. He had the oddest expression on his face. Thankfully he didn't mention anything about yesterday. We were dismissed at the end of the day with a reminder that tomorrow would be sport. I followed the line of cars driving out of the school grounds.

My mom wouldn't be home for another hour or so. She usually visited my sister on Thursday after picking up Emma. My sister and Patrick lived just on the outskirts of town. I loved their house. It was big and spacious with a pool and an extra flat at the back of the house. I switched on my flicker then turned down the street that would lead me to town. I wanted to get Kate's son something for his birthday which was in two weeks. Buying him something was going to be hard since I had no clue what to buy a two year old boy.

My phone vibrated. I frowned as I pulled it out of my pocket. Slowing the car, I glanced down. I had a message from an unknown number. It wasn't Stephen since I saved his number after the text earlier. Stopping the car at the stop sign, I opened the text. A shiver of fear raced up my spine. It was a photo of me leaving the café the day I met Stephen.

I told you we would find out what you really look like Alia Dune.

“Oh god,” I cupped my mouth with a shaky hand.

This can't be happening. Dropping my phone onto the seat, I shifted gears before driving forward. Doing any shopping now wasn't even an option anymore. What if they were following me right now?

My eyes darted the rearview mirror. It only took a second. I took my eyes off the road for a second when it all happened. When I looked back a little girl stood a few  meters from the car holding a red ball.

A scream fell from my lips as I turned the steering wheel to the right. My foot stomped on the brakes. The car slid on the road before coming to a stop when the front hit a tree. My body jerked painful causing the seatbelt to dig into my skin and my head to hit the steering wheel. I groaned as I leaned back against the seat.

Something was trailing down the side of my head. My body ached everywhere and my ears were ringing. The door was suddenly pulled open. I stared at the boy through blurry eyes.

Black dots blurred my vision. He was talking but the words didn't register. My seatbelt was unlocked and then he was pulling me out of the car. I couldn't stand. I was shaking badly and my legs felt like jelly.

“Someone call an ambulance.”