Aurora's Point Of View

I peered over from my locker that Monday and saw Kacelynn giggling with her friends, all of them in designer mini skirts and perfectly icy blonde curls, looking at something funny from her iPhone.

I quickly looked away. Why did someone like Kacelynn confuse and intrigue me so much? I shouldn't care that she's Arlan's ex-girlfriend. She was just a rich, privileged popular girl.

Kacelynn began looking over at me, I could see it from the corner of my eye and I grew uncomfortable. She clutched her friends arm and whispered she'd be back and made her way to me. As I felt her presence drawing closer and closer, an uncomfortable feeling settled in my stomach. I had never had a conversation with Kacelynn, and nor did I want to.

"Aurora, right?" Kacelynn said, feigning a friendly smile.

I peered over with less than enthusiasm.

"Hi, Kacelynn."

"Listen..." The icy blonde girl crossed her pale arms as her brows drew in with concern, she drew in a sigh and said hesitantly, "I've been seeing you hang around Arlan, my ex boyfriend, lately."

I dropped her gaze as my eyes went to the floor in discomfort.

"And... I just want to warn you,"

Warn me?

This girl couldn't care less about me for the last 2 years, and suddenly I was on her list of people she cared about?' I thought.

"He's dark, intense... You look so sweet aurora. Please don't fall down that rabbit hole. I mean, listen, I know the sex is mind blowing," -

"Sex?" I softly questioned, looking to her confusedly.

Kacelynn scoffed with a smirk and cocked her head.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Aurora, yeah, sex. You guys are obviously having it. There's no way Arlan can be around a girl for more than 3 seconds without fucking her." Kacelynn rolled her eyes.

I suddenly felt more uncomfortable and confused and than ever. Arlan was charming and a gentleman. Was Kacelynn just trying to scare me since she was jealous?

"Look, Kacelynn, you don't know me and...you've never cared about me," I laughed wryly, before my face fell into agitation. "So don't pretend like you do. You've never paid attention to me once, and I've heard you whisper and spread rumors about me before."

Kacelynn felt her face soften.

"Aurora, please, i'm just trying to look out for you...I shouldn't have made that crude comment."

I closed my locker and turned to the fake blonde with the equally as fake personality.

"Respectfully, save it. I don't owe you anything, especially standing next to you and listening to you telling me who to hang out with. Why don't you go get a manicure or talk about some surface-level TV show with your friends? I'm beginning to realize maybe that's why Arlan didn't like you."

"H-he said he never liked me?"

Wow, it took her three seconds to go from selfless to self centered.

I laughed dryly. "Why should it matter? You broke up with him. So stop harassing whoever he's talking to now. We're just friends, and if you clearly didn't wanna be with him, maybe you should act like it," I swiftly walked past her, making Kacelynn grab my arm tightly. I yelp when I'm tugged back to her.

"Listen, this isn't some jealous-ex-girlfriend kind of behavior," She whispered urgently. I hadn't even realized the bell had rung and everyone was long gone now, leaving just us two. I panted slightly, feeling caught off guard.

"He's dangerous, Aurora," She continued, brows knitting together, coming closer to me. "Maybe I've never looked out for you before, but now I have a reason to. He's...secretive, nothing about him makes sense. And when he starts coming home with bruised lips, and new tattoos and makes phone calls that make you afraid, you'll wish you'd listened to me. I don't know if he's in a gang, or some sort of organization,"-

My face whitened like snow. A gang?!

"...but I just know he's not who he says he is. Just...please," She begged urgently, shaking my hands vigorously. "Get. Out."

"Kacelynn," A professor called from the hallway, making both our heads snap in that direction as she dropped my hands. "Are you coming to English?"

She forced a shaky smile, clearing her throat.. "Of course. I was just collecting some notes from another class."

The professor gave a tight-lipped smile before resuming to his classroom. She gave me one more sympathetic look before walking off to class. As her heeled-boots clacked on the floor, my head spun.

Alone in the halls, I stared at the tiled floor, feeling confused and afraid. I had been in Arlan's home, alone with him...was I stupid to trust him? Or was I stupid to trust Kacelynn? There was no way he could be in a gang or dangerous organization...but what if that's truly how he had so much money and nice things at such a young age? What if he wasn't even that age-

"Hey, Rory," I look up to see Dustin giving me an agitated look. Oh God. I gripped my backpack strap, hating the fact that we were alone. I rarely saw him at school, seeing as though he was an upperclassmen and hung out with his athlete friends. I hadn't seen him since he stole from me and I yelled at him.

"Hi," I said timidly.

"Listen," He stepped forward, leaning his arm against the locker I was against, making me flinch. His head dipped down to mine. "I'm gonna need you to be a good girl and do me a favor. 'Kay?"

I blinked at his intense gaze, his jade colored eyes fiery. I briefly glance to his bruised lip out of curiosity and back to him.

'when he starts coming home with bruised lips...you'll wish you'd listened to me. '

"Yeah," I quietly murmured. I was worried he might do something. The halls were way too quiet and I could hear my own heartbeat and breathing.

"I used your money to get something..green..if you know what I mean," He mimicked smoking a joint, blowing soft air to my face. I felt my heart twist in pain. My hard earned money and late nights of work were spent on weed and so he could get high. I gave no reaction of emotion, just looked at him. He backed away and started pacing slowly.

"So... I'm gonna need you not to tell Agatha. I mean, I'd hate for her to know you've been keeping money from her in your little coin purse and not telling her. You're not supposed to keep secrets, Rory," He stopped and looked at me. "That kinda trouble gets you moved from home to home."

I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, exhaling deeply. This was a nightmare. I opened my eyes when I felt a grip on my chin arching my head up. My eyes widened in surprise and fear.

"Got it?" He said, eyebrows raised at no reaction or response from me.

"Yes, Dustin," I said quickly.

He smirked, slightly chewing on the gum in his mouth, looking to my lips and then meeting my eyes. "Beautiful. I knew you'd come through for me. You know," He backed away again, starting to pace, rubbing his hands together slightly. I felt relieved once his body weight was off mine. "I think we should work something out here, together. I don't have time with field hockey practice to go get a job, and weed's expensive as shit." He stopped in his tracks, eyeing me calculatingly. "You're gonna pay for it with your little cafe paychecks. At the rate you're at, I could definitely buy weekly."

What!?

"D-Dustin,"-

"Unless you want me to show Agatha your little plan to keep your money from her?" He provoked, tone dead serious as his expression was threatening. "You know, I did take a picture of the cash before I spent it, little Rory."

I exhaled in shock, rubbing my arm with my left hand, eyes closed. He was going to take my money again, but now every single week to help support his fucking drug fiascos. And if I didn't, I could possibly get kicked out, move to a different home where conditions could be much worse.

"You don't have a choice, Aurora," He clarified, breaking me from my anxiety ridden thoughts. I jumped and looked at his face, his expression holding no-bullshit. It had me shaking slightly. "I'm telling Agatha if you don't."

"Okay," I quickly said. "I'll do it, I'll give you my paychecks."

"And you're not gonna tell her that I'm smoking. I do it in my car and spray cologne so they don't see or smell it."

"Of course not, you got it," I nodded. "I would never tell her, Dustin. It's a secret safe with me."

"And, of course, part of the paycheck will be cut to Agatha so you can give her money for the electricity and water bills, so she suspects nothing. You and I will be like," He stepped forward, smirking. "Little partners in crime."

"Yeah," I breathed out, feeling my eyes fill with tears helplessly. At the sight of my teary eyes, he sauntered to me and gently cupped the side of my face as my eyes darted to the floor.

"Shhh...I just knew you'd do it. You're a good girl, Aurora."

I looked up at his lip, as the bruise kept catching my eye.

"What happened to your lip?" My curiosity got the best of me as I whispered, asking.

His face immediately hardened as his hand abruptly dropped from my skin. He backed away like I just told him I had the plague.

"U-uh, field hockey accident," He stammered unconfidently, looking away from me. My brow furrowed, feeling confused and overly emotional.

He swiped his nose with hand and hunched his shoulders up. "I'll see you at home," He murmured, hurrying out.