Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

his heavy arm thrown over the middle of my back, his fingers curling against my waist in a possessive hold that made my belly do backflips.

I was directly on top of a snoring Freddy. His wide chest was all hard muscle, yet velvety soft under my cheek, making him the perfect pillow. Michael’s head was using my ass for a cushion, and the man kept groping me, even in his deep sleep. I was utterly pinned down, a little overheated at the moment, but loving every second of it. I finally felt like nothing could get to me.

I was protected, and it reminded me that even when I’d wanted to hate them, I couldn’t help but love every single one of these assholes that stole my heart so long ago. When I thought about it, everything they ever did made sense. I really should have caught on earlier. Little snippets of that last few months before graduation came back to me in waves…

“Miss Hallowell!” Mr. Myers' voice echoed loudly through the crowded hallway. Students were scurrying around, trying to get to their next class on time, but I heard him, even through my headphones.

The noise level was deafening as I pulled out an earbud. Seniors rushed past me, chatting with their friends, and the excitement of the weekend made everything louder. Mr. Myers was frantically waving me down as I pushed through the bodies with my books held tight to my chest, elbows shoving roughly into my sides. People snickered when I was jostled into a locker or tripped over someone's foot. They thought it was hilarious to make a target out of the loner goth girl who used to be a queen bee.

“October, please see me in my office. We haven’t had a session in a while,” Mr. Myers said, loud enough for the eavesdropping athletic assholes to hear. They were crowded right outside the school counselor’s office door, just for this very purpose apparently.

Their smiles made my skin crawl. They wanted to make my life a living hell, but the funny thing was I’d already been to Hell and I found I preferred it to this fucking place. So, joke’s on them. I just wanted to crawl into a little hole and stay there long enough to hide from the world, only popping out to pretend for my aunties so they wouldn’t feel the need to ship me off to the looney bin.

I followed the counselor into his boring, ordinary office painted in a gross looking taupe, staring pityingly at the poster of a baby ducky behind his desk and wondering what in the world he’d been thinking.

“Don’t be the follower, be the leader,” the duck poster said in bold white Comic Sans. I shivered.

How about I just do neither? I’ll just stick to being me, October, the girl who wakes up every morning wondering when time will speed the fuck up so I can get out of here and far away from my tortumentors.

Speak of the devil, and he shall arrive. The door opened the moment I sat down with my bookbag between my legs. I turned to see Jason walking inside, looking pissed off as usual when he saw me in the chair.

“Ah, Mr. Evans. Thanks for coming. Have a seat.” Mr. Myers gestured to the empty chair next to me, and I didn’t even bother to hide my annoyance.

If the rest of the guys showed up, I was out of there and didn’t give a damn what anyone said. I couldn’t even breathe without one of them jumping down my throat, goading me to punch their smug faces as they made a laughingstock of me in front of their teammates and friends. I wouldn’t normally care, since being inside my own head with just my thoughts for company was fine, but the constant bullying got to me sometimes.

The shoves that happened to make me fall to the ground at their feet, the name calling that set my eyes blazing with murder, and the pranks that still made me cringe to this day. I couldn't count the times I’d had trash thrown over my hair, and damnit, I loved my hair. It was especially cruel on their end, because they knew this. I thought what got to me most was knowing that at least one of them went on real, actual dates with the girls who made fun of me just because of how I looked.

“I’ve called you both in here today to discuss an issue that’s come to my attention. You see, friends grow apart or sometimes blossom into more, but I wanted you two to talk about what happened yesterday afternoon after school. Mr. Evans, you’re supposed to be an outstanding role model for your basketball team, but to get your teammates to attack Miss Hallowell is crossing the line.” Mr. Myers threaded his fingers together and placed his elbows on his desk, raising a brow as he waited for Jason to say something.

I knew I had nothing to say and was absolutely not willing to talk about or relive the trauma they’d caused me yesterday.

“What are you talking about?” Jason growled darkly, leaning on the edge of his seat and shooting daggers at my profile, but I didn't bother looking at him.

“You didn’t know about this? It’s a shame that it’s come to this, but I expect you to get your team into order. Whip them into shape or there will be consequences, possibly ending in someone getting kicked off the court.” Mr. Myers clucked his tongue and slowly shook his head in disappointment.

It set my teeth on edge, realizing how no one in this damn school cared about anyone hurting inside, just what happened to our sports team.

“What happened?” Jason’s knuckles were clenching the wood of his chair as he hissed at the counselor.

“It would seem after school, two of your teammates cornered Miss Hallowell under the bleachers and…well, did some unmentionable things.” He threw me a pitiful look that only had