A bullys penance a secon.., p.1
A Bully's Penance: A Second-Chance Bully Romance, page 1
A Bully's Penance
S.T. Moors
Copyright © 2024 by S.T. Moors
A Bully's Penance Copyright © 2024 S.T. Moors
All rights reserved.
It is illegal to copy this book, post, or distribute it online or by any other means. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. There may be trademarked companies mentioned in this book that remain the property of their respective owners. Any other names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious matter under “fair use.”
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Book cover by Angela Haddon at https://angelahaddon.com/
Author Note
This book was previously published under the title A Bully's Regret. The story has since been heavily edited, however, the overall story has not changed. As the title suggests, there are past scenes of bullying by the Hero to the Heroine. This is NOT a dark romance.
Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgements
About the author
Also by
CHAPTER 1
The Past
"Nerd alert!"
The narrow hallways of Ashburton High were packed with students spilling out of their second-period class, yet Harrison's deep voice seemed to carry over and above the rest of the student body.
I rolled my eyes despite the blush creeping up my smooth cheeks. I wasn't embarrassed. I was pissed.
Harrison O'Connor.
Popular jock, QB of our high school football team. Currently banging the head cheerleader—if rumors were to be believed. What a fucking walking cliche.
Yes, he was talented on the football field, popular with students and teachers, and stupidly handsome. But to me, he was the epitome of evil. My bully. My tormentor.
Ashburton was a small town. Everyone had grown up together; everyone knew everybody's business.
Harrison and I had known each other since we were toddlers. We were in the same playgroup, the same Sunday School class, and the same school classes. When he was a boy, he was the sweetest thing.
I had admired him back then. He was always helpful, friendly, funny, and kind. I was too young to really classify my feelings as a crush, but looking back, I recalled an overwhelming affection towards Harrison; an affinity of sorts. It certainly was the last time I felt anything other than distaste for him.
When Harrison was around fourteen years old, something changed. It started out slowly at first. Physically, he became different—his body filled out, he grew almost a foot taller than all the boys in our year, and he settled attractively into his lanky looks.
But then he procured a new set of friends. All good looking. Athletic. Popular.
And mean.
It didn't take long for his personality to morph, too. It happened almost overnight.
I was walking across the football field after school, my arms laden with books. Three boys were approaching me, and I instantly tensed before their figures cleared and I could decipher who they were. Harrison, James, and Kyle.
Keeping a wary eye on Kyle, I continued to trek forward. I wasn't worried about the other boys, but if anyone were to bully me, it would be Kyle. I wouldn't put it past him to stick his leg out as I walked past, regardless of his audience.
Kyle had grown up with a chip on his shoulder, always targeting the weaker kids no matter their gender. Which, of course, meant that I fell under his warpath.
Curiously, despite his behavior, he still retained his popular status among his peers. Go figure. Being a shithead really paid off.
I was puzzled as to why Harrison was hanging out with Kyle, but I felt grateful and relieved at that moment that he was there. I was ignorantly safe in the knowledge that Kyle would either not lash out at me because of Harrison or, if he did, Harrison would for sure stick up for me.
As I approached the group, I attempted to trace my steps away from their eyeline without being too obvious. Bullies could smell fear a mile away.
My heart sank when Kyle mirrored my steps, a Joker-looking smile creeping onto his face. I could feel my heartbeat thrumming quickly when I realized I had no option but to brush past him.
I cried out when he slapped my books out of my hand. He laughed in evil glee at my distress, his eyes lighting up as he sneered down at me.
"Why are you always reading, you fucking nerd? That's why you have no friends." He snickered again, glancing around him to ensure he still had an enraptured audience.
My lip wobbled, but I was determined not to cry. I would do that in private.
I glanced at Harrison, expecting him to shove Kyle away from me, tell him to get lost and help gather my books. But what he did next shocked and broke my heart.
"She has no friends because she's ugly, not because she's a nerd!"
I stood there in stunned silence, disbelief washing over me as I let those cruel words sink in. Surely that sentence did not just come out of Harrison's mouth? My friend. The boy who never said a bad word to or about anyone in all the years I'd known him.
When I glanced at him, I was taken aback by the look in his eyes. Instead of the warm chocolate brown I was used to, his gaze pierced me with an unfamiliar mocking glint. I knew then that I wasn't mistaken.
"Harrison," I whispered, my bright blue eyes clouding with hurt.
"Harrison," Kyle parroted mockingly. "Aww, are you gonna cry?"
For a split second, I thought I had seen a flicker of regret on Harrison's face. But whatever it was, it didn't last long. His mouth lifted again in a sneer.
"C'mon, guys," he called out, shouldering past me so abruptly that I spun and lost my footing. "Let's go see if Jessica and Dee wanna hang out."
I watched, helpless with my hands in the dirt, as Harrison stood on my beloved copy of Emma and strolled away without a backward glance. Kyle and James quickly followed behind him.
"Sorry, Grace," James whispered, careful not to stand on my belongings. At least James had a conscience, as cowardly as it was. However, he, too, would be lost to the cutthroat world of high school peer pressure and popularity.
Unfortunately, I didn't wait until I was home to cry.
"Hey, you rolling your eyes at me? Oh, she thinks she's better than us."
Now, here I was. Senior year. On track to graduate with honors and class Valedictorian. Partial scholarship secured to UC Berkeley. Harrison and Co's destructive slurs and shitty behavior no longer affected me. Years of verbal and sometimes physical abuse at the hands of his gaggle of female fans caused a hard shell to form.
I no longer sat there meekly, holding in the tears, head bent, twisting my fingers in anxiousness and trying so hard to appear invisible to them.
Now, I held my head high and gave as good as I got. I was an intelligent young woman who was going places in life. Once I graduated high school, I was off on a road trip with my bestie, Amelia, and then a pit stop back to Hicksville, Kentucky, to pack my bags and fly out to California. I only planned to return for family emergencies, weddings, funerals, and the odd holidays.
Goodbye, Harrison. Goodbye, snooty, bitchy cheerleaders who made it their life's mission to wreak havoc on those they deemed beneath them.
"She does think she's better than us," Jessica, Leader of the Bitches, laughed.
The leggy blonde cheer captain sidled up to Harrison as he approached me. Her eyes danced in delight and anticipation for what Harrison would do. They were all a bunch of fucking sheep.
"Is that right, nerd"?
God, could they at least come up with a better nickname for me? I was fucking proud to be a nerd. My nerdiness got me a 4.0 GPA and a partial ride to college. Suck on that.
I was confident enough to brag about my accomplishments, but I didn't need to. It was no secret that I was smart—Bill Gates smart, as my brother, Teddy, liked to proudly proclaim. Even though I constantly nagged at him that if he insisted on comparing me to an intelligent figure in history, he should at least pick a woman.
Instead of answering the duo, I threw my head back and stared unflinchingly at Harrison's annoyingly handsome face.
His brown eyes darkened and roamed over my features. Over the course of our Junior year and now into our Senior year, I noticed Harrison frequently staring at me. He tried to be subtle about it, but I always seemed to catch his eyes peering appreciatively at my face or figure before shifting away. His brow would furrow as if annoyed at himself, and a red stain would spread over his cheeks.
My best friend, Amelia, rolled her eyes when I casually mentioned this observation.
"Um…have you seen you?" She waved her arm up and down my body.
"You grew legs and boobs. And with your dark hair and blue eyes…shit, if I weren 't so in love with Liam, I would do you."
I had rolled my eyes at her and shoved her away in jest.
She tapped her mouth as she stared at my baggy jeans. "I do wish you would dress to your figure, though," she continued. "You have such gorgeous legs, and you hide that beautiful face under a mass of bangs."
So yes, while I knew I had developed and discovered the joys of plucking, I still didn't see myself as aesthetically pleasing.
I arched a brow at Harrison, clutching my books closer to my chest. I still hadn't forgotten that he ruined my copy of Emma. I had to carefully wipe it down and air it out for two days. Even now, the pages were stiff.
"You wanna take a picture, Harrison, or have the many knocks to your head rendered you stupid? Do I need to shut you off and turn you on again?" My cheeks blushed at the double entendre. Damn it.
Jessica laughed heartily. Well, cackling was more like it. "You wish, loser. Like Harrison would ever wanna look at you. He doesn't want to puke!"
I shifted my gaze to Jessica. No longer did I see a beautiful, confident young girl who took pleasure in bullying. She used to intimidate and scare me, causing anxiety whenever she was near. Now? All I saw was a jealous, male pleaser, pick-me girl who reeked of insecurity.
I knew Jessica's grades were abysmal, and she was staying in Ashburton to work at her mother's hair and make-up salon.
Nothing wrong with that. I just knew from growing up with her how vocal she had been about taking off to the bright lights of New York and making it as the next Victoria's Secret model.
As pretty as Jessica was, she couldn't get past posing for those mall catalogs. The kind of catalogs that people use to pick up their dog's shit before tossing them to the bottom of their trash cans.
Jessica's hopes were pinned on marrying the football captain and becoming the belle of Ashburton, popping out a couple of kids, and baking gluten-free muffins for the school bake sale. Once I saw Jessica for what she was—stripped of her cheerleading gear and the Prom Queen crown she was sure to get—she was just another bitter "peaked at high school" mean girl.
Jessica stalked towards me, like a prey hunting down its victim.
"You're gonna die an ugly old virgin because no one would want to stick their cock in you unless you were wearing a paper bag over your head!" She jeered.
Harrison pulled Jessica back, his eyes quickly moving to mine. There was a flash of annoyance in them, but I felt it wasn't for me.
"C'mon, babe. She's not worth the hassle. Let's skip biology and create our own." His dark head bent down to whisper, no doubt, gag-worthy nothings in her ear.
Jessica flushed prettily, tilted her blonde head back, and proceeded to kiss Harrison soundly—tongue work and all.
She pulled back and stared pointedly and triumphantly at me before slipping her hand into Harrison's and dragging him in the opposite direction.
I waited until they were a good ten feet away.
"Hey, Jessica."
The couple stopped, and Harrison turned first to glance back at me.
He took in my tall, defiant stance. My heart-shaped face, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes stood out amongst a sea of ordinary. I was wearing considerably more than the short skirts and cropped tops girls favored these days. Still, no one could deny how enticing my tiny waist, shapely hips, and long legs were—features that, unbeknownst to me, Jessica would jealously inspect when she thought no one was looking.
"What?" She haughtily replied.
"I would rather die a virgin than be a running train for the football team. Save your money on those breast implants; your vagina will need a revamping by the time you're twenty."
I wasn't one to slut shame. It was low-hanging fruit. But Harrison and Jessica had no qualms about insulting my love of reading, my looks, and my clothes. There was no more 'taking the high road'—they had it coming.
Jessica's face grew pink, then red with embarrassment and rage. Her mouth flapped open and shut like a fish. Harrison stood there, shock written on his face. And was that admiration? Oh, I couldn't have that. I was all for equality, after all.
"Oh, and Harrison? Make sure you wrap it up. Your dick's been in more places than Carmen Sandiego." Okay, it was a dated joke, but I couldn't come up with an explorer on the spot that they had heard of. "And from what I heard, there wouldn't be much to write home about."
With that, I wiggled my fingers, turned swiftly on my heels, and strolled proudly in the opposite direction. The student body responded with the requisite "ooooohhh!" or "burrrrnnn!" Some patted me on the back, some gave soft claps and laughed.
If I thought that display of pluckiness would make Harrison, Jessica, and their crew back off, I would be sorely mistaken. They came at me even harder than before.
My name and number were plastered on the bathroom walls with derogatory slang attached. A photo of my face on a nude body also circulated. It was a shitty Photoshop job that was clearly forged, but it was still mocked nonetheless.
Publically, I held my head high and got on with it, ignoring the background noise. I mentally counted the months and days I would be free from this god-forsaken town.
Privately, though? Privately, I broke down. There were times I couldn't eat or sleep as the bullying picked up its momentum. My parents were so worried about my skinny frame and sunken eyes, but I had excused it as last-minute studying and nervous anticipation for college.
Rationally, I knew that high school would be a small blip in my life. I would leave, graduate college, get a great job, make new friends, travel, have sex, maybe get married, and have children if I wanted. High school would be a distant memory, and I would grow up and out of it.
Rationally, I knew that.
But try telling that to a teenager who was living in the moment, getting verbally and physically abused almost daily. Despite telling myself that the rest of my life would start soon, this part of my life was happening now. And it was miserable.
I was lucky enough to come out of it on the other side—other kids would not be as fortunate, succumbing to the constant taunts and becoming another bullying statistic.
I hated Harrison.
He was a bully. A tormentor. An evil individual who thrived off cutting other people down.
But I had no idea how vengeful he could be.
To: Grace Linwood
From: Ashburton High Alumni
Date: December 15
Subject: SAVE THE DATE - Class of 2017
Calling all 2017 Alumni!
Come celebrate with us next year as we REUNITE to reminisce and catch up with our fellow classmates. A firm date has been set for Saturday, June 22. A plus-one will be permitted.
More details to follow, including venue, theme and costs. Please RSVP by May 1.
We can't wait to see you all.
Let's go, Ashburton Tigers!
CHAPTER 2
The Present
"Okay, don't hate me."
I glanced at my friend, huffing as I dragged my suitcase through the door. "Can I take a rain check on the hate until I set my bag down?"
"Ooh, yes, sorry, let me help!"
I watched in amusement as Amelia grabbed the handle of my bright red bag before dragging it across the hallway of the house she shared with Liam.
"Wow," I laughed. "You must've really fucked up if you're willing to help with my bags. I remember when you didn't unpack for a month after coming back from Spring Break!"
Amelia gave a strained titter. "Well, you know...since Liam's making an honest woman out of me, I figured I would, um, you know, start helping out and stuff..." Her sentence puttered out.
I placed my hands on my hips. "Okay, Amelia, what gives? What did you do? Do I have to wear a big princess bridesmaid dress with puffy sleeves?" I joked. "Because you know I would do and wear anything for you," I smiled gently.
I was one of the fortunate ones who retained a close friendship with my high school best friend. Despite Amelia attending the local community college and staying in Ashburton, she was a constant presence in my life.
