Hate Me (Black Mountain Academy)

by Ashley Jade

I met Trenton Knox once when I was eight. Given he pushed me so hard into a swing set he knocked my front tooth out and then tackled me to the ground while I was crying and took a pair of scissors to my ponytail…it didn’t go well.

Words die in my throat when he tilts his head and those intense eyes—one cobalt blue and the other emerald green—slice through me like a hot knife through butter. I’ve seen those haunting eyes before. Dread has my stomach coiling because I know exactly who I’m staring at. Trenton Knox.

nose. I hated her smile and her crooked teeth. I hated the carefree way she giggled and how the wind blew her long red hair as she swung on the swing. I hated the way she looked at me when our gazes collided—like she could see all the demons taking up residence in my black soul. I hated her for prying and asking shit she had no business asking. I hated her for breathing the same air as me. I hated her for existing.

His rough voice is a menacing rumble in my ear. “Because I knew you’d be in pain.” A cold sweat breaks over me and a weird twist goes through my chest when his tongue darts out and he licks my tear-stained cheek. “And I wanted to see it.”

But then she’d know the truth. That as much as I loathe her with every fucking fiber of my being… I’m also completely fucking drawn to her. And I know deep down she feels the same. We’re like two magnets…the electrical currents running through us simultaneously repel and attract one another. I fucking hate it. Hate her.

“Just because their perception of you has shifted, doesn’t mean yours has to.”

“To answer your question from earlier, you don’t get to fuck with Aspen because she’s mine.” Which means the only one who gets to hurt her is me.

His voice lowers a fraction. “I’m in love with you, Aspen.” I feel many things for Leo, but love will never be one of them. Love is bullshit. Love is nothing but lies and hurt concealed in the notion of a fairytale we’re all forced to believe is vital to our wellbeing. Love always leads to pain.

There’s a thin line between hate and lust…and he walks across it like a tightrope master.

Pain etches across her face. “Why are you doing this to me?” That’s where she’s wrong. I’m not doing it to her… I’m doing it for her.

However, he fucked up. Because if you’re going to keep a wild animal in a trap and taunt it with its favorite toy... You better make damn sure they don’t end up loving that toy more than they fear you.

Aspen’s in my system. Pumping through my veins like sweet poison and surrounding the empty spaces of my cold, black heart. She’s in my head—like a whisper in the dark I can’t ignore. She’s in my soul—like a siren I can’t run away from. She’s the feeling in my chest I’ve never experienced before, but would kill to hold on to forever. She’s the home I never had.

Point is, I want you to live, Aspen. More than live. I want you to grab life by the goddamn balls and fucking fly. And no, I don’t expect you to wait for me. But I’ll sure as fuck be waiting for you. Because you were the only person who ever helped me. And you’ll own every part of my fucked-up soul until they put me in the ground. They say strays always come back... But this time, I’ll be the one coming back to you. I don’t know when...but I will.

“I’m yours, Stray. For however long you want me.” I’ll want him forever. “In that case…I love you, too.”

He leans in, cupping a hand around the back of my neck as he kisses me again. This time, I don’t stop him. I let him kiss me until we both run out of air. I let him kiss me until some old woman taps me on the shoulder and asks us to take a seat because there is still a ceremony going on. I’ll let him kiss me for as long as he wants to. Because every action has a consequence… And he’s mine.