Chapter 5 HELL, BLUE....HELL.

TAYLOR’S POINT OF VIEW

See, when I told Hunter D’laurentis I wanted us to take a date and when the psychopath actually agreed, I did not picture myself going through whatever fresh hell the past two weeks had been. Apparently, daring Hunter came with a complementary death sentence. 

“Keep holding it.” He glared at my shaky hands, his team or should I say best friends standing behind him. 

“I’ve been holding it!” I groaned; my muscles screamed with each passing second.

“One more minute.” He said, walking around me in a circle, before pushing my hands up so I held the darn thing higher.

“You’ve said that for the last two hours! When is it finally going to end?!”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t feel my arms anymore, Hunter!” I glared at Tristan when he dared snicker. He swallowed it immediately, turning around to pretend he was back to reverse lunges.

“Your arms are still attached; you’re fine.” Hunter’s voice pulled me back, as did the pain.

“Barely! If I keep doing this, I might see stars or my maker or both!”

My lungs burned as I tightened my grip around the medicine ball strapped against my chest. Sweat rolled down the side of my temple and dripped onto the black gym mat beneath me.

Hunter glanced at the stopwatch in his hand; “fifty-eight seconds.”

“Oh, screw your stupid stopwatch.”

“You told me you wanted every single person at that party tonight to have their jaws on the floor; you want Rowan and that Hailey girl staring at you like you’re a million dollars.

Are you saying you don’t want that anymore?”

It’s been two weeks; fourteen whole days of staying away from school. I knew what they said about me; what the blogs and gossip channels of that academy said with each passing minute.

Everyone thought I was easy; a slut, a tramp, who’re. They called me every colorful name in the books; claimed Hailey was the one to save Rowan from the whore I was

I wanted to pretend it didn’t hurt, but each second my mind tortured me with the reality of what they said and did to me, I pushed my body harder past the point of exhaustion.

I remember when Hunter and his four friends crashed my home. 

“First, how the hell do you even know where I live?” I remember glaring at his blue Audi, plus the fleet of cars behind it. He simply pushed down his sunglasses, a weird glint in his eyes as he ordered;

“Get in.”

The second I did, he drove us to this secluded condo. A place he’s made me run up several hills, jump until every cellulite on my skin, every loose skin stretched and formed with muscle.

Now, I could barely recognize myself.

Not just because I’d managed to suddenly drop fifty pounds overnight or magically transformed into one of those Victoria’s Secret models splashed across magazines

No

It was because of my desire for revenge.

“No.” I finally replied, gritting my teeth as he counted down the last seconds.

“Five, four, three.” I blew a puff of air, slamming the ball the second he said, “one.”

“Finally!” I groaned, dropping to the floor with a thud and staring at the ceiling.

“What are you doing?” Hunter stood above me, evil green eyes staring into my own. 

“Taking a much-needed rest, obviously.” I glared back.

He shook his head slowly. “No, you’re not.”

“Excuse me?”

“Rowan and Hailey are throwing a party tonight; we need to take you shopping.”

“But that’s like six hours away!” I screamed, slapping a palm over my face. “Can’t I just get some sleep before that? You crazy dipshit!”

A few of the Frostwood players laughed; I saw Tristan step forward first, his blonde curly hair falling over his face. “I like her,” he chucked. “No one’s ever told you off like that.” 

Hunter rolled his eyes and held a hand to me. “Get up.”

“No.” I folded my arms against my chest. “You’ll have to lift me off or drag me before I listen to you.”

His left eyebrow raised slightly as he stared at me; I stared back, the silence in the gym deafening.

Before I could blink, he lifted me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing, tossing me over his rock-hard shoulder like a sack of rice. 

“Ahh!” I screamed, kicking my legs against his chest. “Let me go this instant!”

My eyes widened when I heard it, and felt it. A smack against my ass cheek. “What the hell did you just do?”

Hunter didn’t even look remotely guilty. “What?” He asked innocently.

“You...” I pointed at him. “You just smacked my ass!”

“At least it got your attention.”

“My attention? You smacked my ass to get my attention?” I said through gritted teeth.

“Yes.” He stared ahead and kept walking. “You’re a good girl now.”

I hate how my lower belly fluttered at the rasp in his voice when he said that. Before I could throw another tantrum, he placed me on my feet.

My muscles were still so sore; I groaned both from pain and embarrassment. Tristan, Aiden, Ronan, and Markov stared at us, amusement shining in their eyes.

“Screw you, you shrimped-faced man! First, you have me jumping through hoops like some gymnastics; I didn’t even know my legs could move as far as you made them these last two weeks.”

“Now when you say it like that...” he smirked; I lifted a hand in front of his face, my cheeks burning bright red.

“Don’t even think about it.” 

“Look,” he didn’t lose the smirk. “I am taking you shopping because tonight isn’t just some worry; it's war.”

“War?”

“Yes.” Tristan stepped forward; he and the rest of the guys knew the sort of arrangement Hunter and I had. “Our team chose to lose another game intentionally last week; we did that because we know what tonight holds.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The Frostwood Lions are tossing the first game tonight; for weeks we thought we weren’t good enough because we kept losing.

But that fucker played us all along? It’s time for payback.” Markov stepped forward. “Part of that means each of us dress to kill…. literally.”

I couldn’t help the slow trickle of adrenaline that rushed down my spine. “W-what are you guys planning?”

Hunter's lips stretched slowly; a wicked grin took over as he stepped forward, his fingers playing with a strand of blonde hair. “Hell, Violet.” He let out a dark chuckle. “Hell.”

By the time we arrived at the mall, my mouth nearly disconnected from my jaw. The place was huge... so huge, it felt like it reached the sky.

"Finally, haven't had a good shopping trip in forever." Markov stepped out, nursing a book to his chest. "Tonight, I aim to look my best." He chuckled, grabbing Aiden before they disappeared behind the revolving doors.

"Let's go." Hunter glanced at me, holding his hand out. I stared at it first, the memory of all I'd endured, how foolish I was to give myself to Rowan, and thinking Hailey was my best friend. And immediately, I remembered just why I was doing this.

Revenge.

So, I played with my hand in his, ignoring the odd tingles that crawled up my arm as his thumb brushed over the skin. Together, we walked in, like soldiers preparing for war. Somehow, I knew I would not come out the same.