Being the Bad Boy's Victim by Claire Monette

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 kind of intervention? “Okay, I get it,” I said, looking down. I was not 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 muttered, turning around.
    Liam was waving at me from his table. I recognized a couple of people at the table.
    “Hey, guys,” I said, standing by Liam.
    “How’s Connor?” Harry, the ginger, asked.
    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, nervously tucking my hair behind my ear.
    “Uh, yeah… 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. It was 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 beamed 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 to the library, where I was promptly scolded for being too 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, pausing, “How could you possibly be my tutor?
    Connor’s face hardened, all amusement wiped away. “Let’s just start.”
    “No.” I stayed standing, watching as he sat down and looked at me impatiently. 
    He sighed and grabbed 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 back 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 book bag 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.”
     
    Fifteen 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 a disappointment to them ever since Ch— Well, anyway, 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 that he was getting mad, so I decided to lay off the subject. One thing I noticed was that he hesitated. He was about to tell me something. ‘…ever