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.

Aspen Falcone—the irritating little girl my parents once forced me to play with when I was a kid—has found her way inside Black Mountain Academy. Only she isn’t so little anymore.

My mother once told me that the first time she saw my father, it was love at first sight. It was the exact opposite for me when I saw Aspen Falcone. I hated her face and the stupid freckles lining the bridge of her 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.

Irritation crawls up the back of my neck. Every guy at school knew to stay the fuck away from Aspen. Not because I was jealous. But because ruining her life was the only thing that brought me any kind of satisfaction. And right now, she was a budding flower that needed to be plucked from the dirt before it could blossom.

I don’t get to finish that sentence because his hand slides to the back of my neck and his mouth crashes against mine. What the hell? Everything freezes…except my heart, which feels like it’s exploding. It’s my first kiss..

The priest is talking, but I can’t hear a word he’s saying. The only thing I can focus on is the coffin beside him. The one containing my father’s body. Leo puts his arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple. As usual, he’s the only one here for me.

Even though Leo is a lawyer and makes a decent living, the kind of help she requires is expensive. “Take it, Aspen,” he insists, placing the cash in my hand. “It’s the least I can do.” I start to protest again, but he curls my fingers around it. “Let me take care of you.” Those words unleash a surge of agony that’s so visceral, I have to clutch my chest.

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.”

A surge of animosity flows through me like hot lava when I look up and realize it’s Knox. The asshole isn’t just my bully and enemy anymore… He’s my new stepbrother.

I’ve heard all the rumors going around school. His mom was murdered when he was twelve… And his dad sent him to a mental institution for a year while he covered it up. Because Knox was the one who did it.

But I know the truth. Aspen Falcone isn’t nearly as innocent as she pretends to be. And in my experience, those people are the most dangerous. The hypocrites who like to hide who they really are.

I swallow hard, my heart hammering in my chest. A desperate whimper cuts through the air. I stop breathing, humiliation rolling through me like a boulder picking up speed when I realize it wasn’t from either of them. It was from me. I see the corner of his mouth curve…like he knows he’s got me right where he wants me. Fuck that. I turn away, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Quite a girl you got there.” He tugs his zipper up and buckles his belt. “That’s some judgement coming from a hypocrite like you.” I have no idea what he’s talking about. Unless… No. I shake the thought out of my head. There’s no way he’d know about me and Leo. No one does.

Yes, he’s old enough to be my father. Which would be creepy to some people, seeing as he was my father’s best friend. But the thing is…we all want to be special to someone. We all want to feel cherished and cared for. To know you have someone in this world who gives a shit about you. Leo is that person for me.

The tendons in his hand flex as he tightens his grip around the steering wheel. “I bet you wish it was your lips wrapped around my cock.”

“She’s a beautiful girl,” my dad states after she walks into the house. “I’m glad you’re being a good brother and looking out for your new sister.”

“Knox is my nephew, but…” “But what?” I ask when his sentence trails off. Something strange passes in his gaze. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it looks a lot like fear. “He’s not right in the head, Aspen.” I bite my cheek to stop from laughing, because duh. “Well, yeah, but—” “But nothing. I don’t want you around him. He’s dangerous.”

Dread coils my stomach and my throat locks up. For some strange reason, I never wanted to believe the gossip. Probably because despite Knox being an asshole, there’s still a tiny part of me that sees a flicker of humanity in him, buried underneath all the evil.

“How was your weekend, Aspen? Do anything fun?” Took my clothes off for money and spun around a pole. Gave a few old men lap dances. Oh, and fucked your forty-eight-year-old brother in the back of his car while it was parked behind a grocery store. That was kind of fun. “Not really.” I push my food around my plate with my fork. “Studied with Violet.”

Rage pushes through me, growing stronger with every breath I inhale. The pool of blood on the floor. The colorful bruises marring her skin. The helpless look on her face. My fist connects with skin and bone and I revel in the release it gives me.

When I turn around, I see a leggy brunette smiling at me. She’s wearing a pair of black booty shorts and her white tank top is knotted just below her tits, showing off her toned abdomen. But that’s not what has me smiling back. She goes by Candi Kane at the Bashful Beaver. The same place Aspen works.

She’s not the one I want. But she’ll do. For now.

Words die in my throat when I feel the ridge of his cock dig into my stomach, hard and demanding. He can deny it all he wants, but the body doesn’t lie. Knox might hate me as much as I hate him…but he also wants me. And that knowledge fills me with an almost lethal dose of satisfaction. It’s my turn to smirk. “That’s funny. It sure doesn’t feel like you find me unattractive.”

open my mouth to speak, but he brushes past me. “I know what you want…but it will never fucking happen.“ “I don’t want a damn thing from you, asshole,” I hiss before the door slams shut. But even as the words leave my lips, I know it’s a lie. Because buried deep down…beyond all the hurt and pain. Beyond all the lies I’ve convinced myself are the truth and all the truths I’ve forced myself to believe are lies… I want to know why something inside me comes alive whenever he’s near. I want to know what makes him tick and what makes him so evil. I wanted a battle…but he gave me a war.

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.

The kids at Black Mountain Academy are vultures, always looking for the next victim to target. Unfortunately for my new stepsister…they just found their latest one.

My mother was beautiful. So much so, people always commented on her appearance. She was tall and slim, with skin so pale it was almost translucent, and blue eyes so bright the sky and ocean paled in comparison. But my favorite feature of hers was her hair. Long, silky red locks that fell down her back in soft waves. My mom once told me she was made fun of for her red hair while growing up, but I never understood why.

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

“Oh, and Ken?” I call out. He narrows his eyes. “What?” “To answer your question from earlier, you don’t get to fuck with Aspen because she’s mine.”

Brie’s eyes lock with mine from across the table. “It’s safe to say everyone will talk about that video now.” “Yeah—” my sentence jams in my throat when I see Knox enter the cafeteria. He folds his arms over his chest, his dark stare zeroing in on me as my phone vibrates with another text. This time from him. Knox: You’re welcome. When I look up, he’s already gone.

“Just more.” He pounds the steering wheel with his fist. “I want you to want me to leave my wife. I want you to ask me how my day is going because you care about me. I want you to let me take care of you.” 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.

“God, you’re pathetic.” Closing my eyes, I shake my head. “If you want to fuck me so bad, just man up and admit it so we can get it over with already.” This way it takes all the power he’s holding over me away. “I do want to fuck you, Stray.” His hand comes around and he squeezes my tit. “Just not the way you secretly wish I would.”

“Like I told you, every action has a consequence.” His thumb skates down the length of my spine. “Every sin has a punishment.” He’s unbelievable. “If that’s the case…what’s yours?” I feel him tense behind me. “You.”

“She was murdered, Knox…then left out in the woods to rot like a piece of garbage. And the people who can help figure out who did it don’t seem to give a shit just because she took off her clothes for a living.” My arms curl around my frame. “I know what it feels like to know that no one in the world gives a fuck about you. And the more I think about it, I’m realizing that it could have easily been me who was murdered instead of her.” I shrug. “I guess I’d just like to know someone would still fight for me if it was.” Knox doesn’t say a word as he takes a long drag of his cigarette. I feel so stupid for confiding in him. I should have known better. “Forget it. I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”

I expect him to snatch the cupcake from me so he can eat it, but he dips his head…then runs his tongue ring across my lower lip. “It tastes sweeter than it looks,” he murmurs before edging away. I’m at a loss for words. There are times he can be so cruel it takes my breath away…

I’m still wrapping my mind around what happened when Knox finally removes his hand from between my legs. His harsh stare shoots across the table, resting on Leo. A smug smile tugs at his lips as brings his fingers to his mouth and sucks them. “Can you pass the salt, Uncle Leo?” I swear my jaw nearly falls to the floor.

Angling my head, I look at the carving etched in the wall. My heart sinks. It doesn’t say Hate Me like I originally thought. It says… Help Me.

Knox’s next words punch through the air like a bullet. “She was only sixteen.” His face twists. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Aunt Lenora, but now you finally know what a sick piece of shit your husband really is.” But it wasn’t all Leo’s fault. I was the one who kissed him.

I wish I knew how to make them stop, but I don’t. He’s filleted me wide open, forcing me to confront all the ugly parts of myself before leaving me to bleed out. It’s the slowest, cruelest kind of death. But the worst part is…I can’t even blame him. Because it was my fault.

“I hate you.” She spits in my face as another sob escapes her. “I hate you.” She doesn’t hate me…she hates herself. She hates what she did. She hates what he did. She hates that I held up a mirror and forced her to look at herself without the façade she likes to put on.

Because she isn’t a perfect girl who gets perfect grades and lives a perfect life while wearing her perfect fucking pearls. She’s raw and real. She’s flawed and fucked up. She’s also angry as hell.

She scrambles to the front seat of the jeep. “I hate you.” Aspen keeps saying that shit, but I’m the only one who sees her. The only one who can help her. After tucking my dick back in my pants, I leave the backseat and open the driver’s side door. Not finished making my point yet, I grab her jaw, forcing her to look at me. “But he’s such a good guy, huh?” “He’s better than you.”

Because if she knew what I knew…she’d be looking at him like he was the monster instead of me. Peeved, I stick my key in the engine. “I don’t want you seeing him again. Understood? Feed him some bullshit about wanting to focus on school and graduating. Hell, tell him whatever the fuck you want. Just make sure you end it.” 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.

“We’re gonna get out of here soon,” she promised, just like she always did. I used to believe her…but not anymore. Because while my mother’s side of the family was well off—on account of owning an oil company—and she had the money to escape and start over... My father—Special Agent Knox—had all the power. And he made damn sure we both knew we had nowhere to run. And nowhere to hide. Because sooner or later…he’d find us. And when he did… He’d kill us.

“I need you,” he pleads, like it’s physically breaking his heart. “Aspen, don’t leave me.” It’s always about Leo. What he wants. What he needs. It’s never about me. Nothing is ever about me. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, because I truly don’t want to hurt him. I just want it to be over. “But I need to do what’s best for me.”

And even though it shouldn’t bother me, because I was the one who came here looking to use him…it does. I don’t say a word as he smokes his cigarette down to the filter. However, when I move to leave…he drapes an arm around my waist, drawing me closer to him before we fall asleep.

Her offer is incredibly sweet, but I wouldn’t even know how to forge a genuine friendship with her. I’d like to believe Brie wouldn’t judge me for stripping, or for being involved with a forty-eight-year-old man…or for sleeping with my stepbrother who happens to be a murderer. But the truth is, I just don’t know. We’re complete opposites, with Brie being on the good end of the spectrum.

And the feeling in my gut is right. Even though I don’t want it to be because somewhere along the way, I developed feelings for him…feelings that aren’t enveloped in hate. Which is stupid because he’s the last person in the world I should be falling for. Unfortunately, you can’t control who your heart wants to attach itself to. No matter how much they hurt you…or how bad of a person they might be.

I can’t tell him that even if he killed Candi and Shadow…my heart would still try to find a way to excuse it. Despite my brain and conscience knowing better. Tears spring to my eyes as I fight to catch my breath. I have to know the truth. “Did you kill them?” I choke out, and for once I almost hope he doesn’t answer, because I don’t want to lose him again. His voice is so low I almost don’t hear it. “No.”