The Wallflower

Don't have much to say about this chapter. All I can say is I had a lot of fun writing this chapter :D I'm excited for all of ya'll to read it. Comment/ Rate/ Email me what you think. Your comments are useful, I do read all of them. It lets me know what your assumptions are and what your mind process of this story is. It also helps me figure out if there are some things I have not considered yet. Enjoy the read -BlessingAndCurse

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"Who are you trying to impress?"

The words came from behind Lily as she was looking at the mirror in her locker, fluffing out her hair and tucking away any loose strands. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly as she knew who it was already. Brandon Atreides.

'Just ignore him and walk away. Don't say a word. Walk away.'

She thought to herself as she inhaled deeply to quail the fear that was in her heart. She closed her locker door and turned to walk away without a glance towards him, but he wasn't going to let himself go unnoticed. He jerked her by her forearm and slammed her back into the lockers. Lily felt like her eyes were rolling as the back of her head crashed into the metallic doors. When her eyes refocused she saw an enraged Brandon.

"I asked you a question," he bit out. "I want an answer."

"Why does it matter to you?" Lily asked quietly. "It's not like it matters."

"I don't care if it matters or not. I asked you a question." When she still refused to answer him, the pressure applied to her arm became sharp and painful. Lily began to yelp, but the look on his face told her to shut the hell up or else he would make it worse.

"These are just my normal clothes. I like them." A glimmer of humor passed across his face as his lips twitched with obvious mirth.

"Are you serious?" he asked, barely containing laughter. His gaze started at the bottom of her feet and came back up to look her in the eyes. She looked down at herself to see what could have possibly been wrong with her clothes. She wore a nice pair of cobalt blue flats with a dress to match. She had on a few additional golden accessories just to accentuate the look. Some of the girls at her school wore something similar, so she didn't see what the problem was.

Brandon shook his head at her and looked back up at her. "You look like a slut."

Those words hit her like a splash of freezing water. "I am not-"

"Like I believe that shit. You have people thinking your all bougie and acting like you too good for them. But you walkin' around in a dress that hardly comes over your big ass while you're standing. As if you're begging to be fucked from behind." He leaned closer to her to whisper loudly, "And I bet you have let a nigga hit it from the back. I can imagine your legs spread open like a nasty slut." As he talked, he placed his hand flat against her stomach and eased it down to her thigh. All of a sudden, he shot his hand up between her thighs and began rubbing his fingers across her core.

Lily tried twisting her arm and kicking her legs to get away, but all it did was make Brandon hold onto her other arm with the same amount of excruciating pressure. Tears began to fill her eyes as the pain was becoming too much. She bit her trembling lip to keep from crying out. "Just leave me alone. Stop touching me."

"Why, when you like guys touching you. You like to tease them with that outfit. You trying to offer niggas what you got. Why you mad when they take what you're offering." The smile suddenly slipped from his face as he continued to look at her. "But sex is all you have to offer because all you good for is for guys who don't give a shit about you. Because you ain't nothin' but an ugly slut." With that, he released his hold on her and walked away. She let out a withering sigh as she combed her hand through her hair. She looked up and noticed the stares she got. Some were disgusted and looked down on her clothes. Others focused their eyes on the pushed up hem of her dress that now exposed her thighs with a look of humor. Others openly laughed at her. That's when the tears came.

She rushed home from school and threw off her clothes as she entered her bathroom. All the way home, she couldn't shake this feeling of filth and grime all over her whole body. She just felt so dirty. The clothes made her feel dirty now. In her mind, it was the clothes' fault of what happened today because she certainly didn't ask for any of that to happen.

As she took off her clothes, she looked up at the mirror. She stopped what she was doing and took another look. Bruises. There were bruises. Lily shifted her hair over to her shoulder as she saw the red imprints of Brandon's hands around her arms. When she turned around to see her back, she could actually see purple welts forming from where he had slammed her against the lockers. The worst yet were the bruises around her thighs. The tears returned as she stood there staring at her body. Disgusted.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

"Hey, Lily!" Vanessa waved excitedly at her from their lunch table the next day.

Lily plastered on a smile as she placed her tray across from Vanessa's. As Vanessa continued to look at Lily, the smile from her face began to slip.

"Lily, what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Lily lied as she ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"Honey, you're wearing sweats."

"And?"

"It's August," Vanessa said bluntly.

'Crap.'

She was hoping out of all people that Vanessa didn't notice.

"What happened to your usual clothes?"

"There in the wash."

"Lily, I know you have a tank top, some jeans...something! I have never seen you in a sweat suit ever since I've met you. You always wear something classy or something."

Lily silently shrugged and continued to eat. How could she tell Vanessa that she gave away all those clothes to charity?. How could she tell her that she was molested and harassed by one of Vanessa's friends? How could she tell her that it was Brandon Atreides?

It never was lost on Lily that Brandon treated people differently. Especially Vanessa and her. She would notice how he was a completely different person with Vanessa. He would be smiling and laughing with her and doing all kinds of nice things for her. He was a completely different person. But with Lily, he was also a completely different person. He made sure to humiliate her in front of an audience. He would always say the ugliest things and would always put his hands on her. This was who he really was. But that side of him was so completely different from the Brandon Vanessa knew, that Lily was afraid that her only friend wouldn't believe her and that she would not talk to her anymore.

That's what held her back from reporting what Brandon did to her yesterday. She tried that once, but the school didn't do anything. They sat on their asses and did nothing. The word Nothing meant exactly what it meant. He didn't get expelled, suspended, or even get taken off any football games. He went to school as if he had done nothing wrong. Somehow it had gotten back to him about what she had done, and he threatened her about what would happen to her specifically if she tried the shit again. Even if they had believed her, the students would just stand up for Brandon, change the story and say that Lily deserved it. Lily had no other option but to give her clothes up for charity because if she didn't want Brandon to touch her again that was the sacrifice she had to make.

"I just felt like being comfortable today," Lily said. Vanessa continued to stare at her as the continued to eat, but the topic was totally dropped.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

All those memories flooded back to the forefront of Lily's mind as she stared at Brandon in his Camaro. All those years. All those years and she never stood up to him. All she did was give up. Because the fact was Brandon had everyone on his side, including the one person who was supposed to be on hers.

Lily felt jealousy and betrayal creeping up her brain. Why was Vanessa treated so much better than her? Because she was pretty, skinny, and tall? That was it?! Why was it so hard for people to treat anyone that didn't look like Vanessa like a human being. Yes, Lily was short. Yes, she was on the thick side. And yes she was ugly, but why did it have to keep people from treating her like everyone else.

But as soon as those thoughts came, she felt them leave just as they came. That wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to be mad at Vanessa. Ever since Lily met her, all Vanessa did was try and be helpful and supportive. If she was on anybody's side it was Lily's. That was why Vanessa made her go to all those stores and to this party. She wanted to see Lily grow. It wasn't her fault that she was favored by Brandon and neither was it her fault for bringing him to the party. It was Lily's fault for not telling her who Brandon truly was in the first place

Lily said a hollow hi as she leaned back in the seat. Vanessa looked at her with her eyebrow quirked as she continued to speak.

"We're going to a frat house that he's pledging to. He asked me to go and said I could bring a friend, so...Ta-da!" Vanessa said with lackluster as the awkwardness began to fill the car and its occupants.

Without another word, Brandon turned back around in his seat and started the car.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

No one talked on the drive to the frat house. Fortunately, it was a short drive, so they didn't have to feel awkward for long. As Lily stepped out of the car, the first thing that greeted her was the loud thumping music. With the memories forgotten, she felt the excitement bubble up inside her once again. Fuck Brandon, she was going to have a good time anyway.

"C'mon, Lily," Vanessa yelled in her ear and grabbed her hand. Vanessa dragged Lily with her as Vanessa raced across the lawn. Lily was just as excited but her feet were too slow to keep up with Vanessa. Brandon was already at the door by the time they got there. When he opened the door, the music hit Lily full force. She looked inside in awe as she saw the floor lit up with neon colored lights and people were on the floor dancing closely with each other having a good time.

"Hey Brandon, what's up?!" she heard as she focused back on the entrance of the house. A fellow frat guy in a letterman jacket greeted Brandon as they slapped each other on the back. As the guy stepped away, he began eying both Vanessa and her up and down. "Well I can see you brought some sexy ladies here with you," he said as he stared flirtatiously at Lily. Lily stood there dumbstruck as her face heated up. The guy even swiped his tongue over his bottom lip as he continued to look at her.

'This has got to be some kind of parallel universe'

, Lily thought. Guys never hit on her. Especially not sexy ones. This guy was 6"1 with a nice lean muscular build. His glowing tan skin and raven black fohawk accentuated his Latino features. His eyes were a deep coffee brown and his lips were pouty and full. As much as Lily wanted to stay concentrated on his face, she kept looking down at his t-shirt clad chest. She guessed she must have been staring too long because he made a show of flexing his chest and giving her a smirk. Lily quickly looked away. She felt her cheeks erupt in flames in embarrassment.

The guy stuck his hand out towards her and introduced himself, "My name's Louis."

Lily smiled sheepishly at him and shook his hand, "My name is Lily." She heard Vanessa giggling beside her and nudged Vanessa in the ribs.

"I brought her here to have a good time for once in her life," Vanessa yelled over the music.

Louis smiled with his eyes still on Lily and said "Well we have more than enough beer here for everyone. The music is loud and booming. There's at least one guy around here to dance with." He gave Lily another smirk and wiggled his eyebrows at her devishly. Lily laughed at his openness and smiled back at him.

Vanessa began to drag Lily towards the dance floor. "C'mon, girl. My favorite song is about to play." Vanessa began swaying to the rhythm of "I've Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. After awhile, she started singing the words to the song and moving her hips as she danced. Lily stood there not knowing what to do.

"Lily what are you doin?" Vanessa said smiling at her.

"I don't know," Lily said nervously. "I don't know how to dance."

"Try!" As Lily continued to still stand there, Vanessa began chanting, "Dance, Lily, Dance!" After awhile people started looking towards their direction which made Lily more nervous.

"Lily if you don't dance, I'm gonna make you!" Vanessa yelled teasingly. Lily's eyes got wide at what Vanessa was inferring. Out of all the years they've been friends, Lily knew Vanessa played dirty if she wanted her to do something.

As the next song "Yeah 3x" by Chris Brown began to come on, Vanessa spun Lily around with her back to hers and grabbed her arms and brought them over her head and made her begin to sway her hips to the song."Vanessa!" Lily cried out but couldn't help laughing as she moved around with Vanessa's help. As Chris Brown began to sing, Lily began to get in tune with the song as she began to bob her head lightly and moved her arms with Vanessa. Without realizing she began to move her hips to the beat and move her feet on her own accord.

After awhile, Vanessa let her go and danced with her. They laughed and jumped to the chorus of the song. At one point, Vanessa grabbed Lily's hands and swung her around in circles as they laughed at the foolishness of the feeling of it. Lily laughed loudly when she felt lightheaded when Vanessa let go. The next song blasted a booming sound across the speakers. The bass was so strong, Lily though the speakers might explode.

With adrenaline pumping, Lily crouched a little popping her ass to the beat. Vanessa followed suit and moved her hand alternately in front of her. When the music began to slow down slightly, Lily got up slowly as she still moved her ass from side to side. As she danced, she couldn't help but feel someone watching her. She turned her head to the left and saw Brandon staring right at her with a scowl. Lily smiled and began concentrating back on dancing as she popped her ass furiously while gradually crouching her body towards the floor. Her heels were killing her, but she didn't care. She was having fun.

As the song came to an end, Vanessa yelled "Do you want to get something to drink?"

"Sure!" Lily answered back. Vanessa pulled her off the dance floor as they went in search for the drinks. Lily noticed that her dress bunched up around the bottom of her ass. She pulled down on her dress and continued to follow Vanessa. When they finally found the coolers, they found Brandon talking to Louis with beers in their hands. Vanessa picked up a fruit cooler while Lily got a Coca-Cola.

"Looks like you girls were having fun." Louis said grinning at them.

Lily smiled at him but she could barely catch her breath as she pressed the cold can to her sweating forehead, then over her neck. When she was able to catch her breath she looked back at Louis, catching him staring at the droplet of water from the can dripping down her neck to her chest. "Yeah, it was more fun than I thought it would be," Lily said smiling up at him.

"I bet it was. What would you usually be doing about now?" Louis asked moving towards her while Vanessa went over to hang out with Brandon.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. Fighting with my asshole roommate."

Louis chuckled. "How is she an asshole?"

"He and he always got something smart ass to say, he's always drunk and he brings his bitchy two-faced girlfriend over."

Louis gave her a charming smile as he looked at her with a glint of humor. "Is she really two-faced or are you jealous?"

"No, I mean it. She cussed me out because she thought I was messing around with him. The moment him and his mom came in, she acted pleasant as a peach pie to me."

"Well if you look like this all the time, then she has reason to be suspicious." He took a swig of his beer slowly. "But I'm still not convinced you're not jealous of her. Maybe you could convince me by dancing with me." He took her hand and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Sure," she said smiling back at him. He smiled even wider as he led her back onto the dance floor.

'Officially the greatest night of my life!'

Lily thought as she was led by this sexy Latino man. Lily's mind was just swimming with happiness.

A slow Adele song came over the speakers as he wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands wrapped around her waist as they swayed back and forth. They glided across the floor slowly and he rocked her slowly to the music. He slowly ground his pelvis into as they continued to dance and he bit his lip seductively. He twirled her and placed her back flush up against his front. His hand pressed against the hole in her dress for her navel. Louis snuggled against her neck as they continued to dance. Lily mentally smiled as she felt the warmth of his breath ghosting against her face.

Once the song finished, he twirled her around and yelled above the music, "Do you have a number?"

"Yeah! Do you have a pen?"

He led her off the dance floor and went over to a set of table to pick up a pen. He gave it to her and took off his letterman jacket, so she could put her number on his arm. Once she finished, he smiled and promised to call her tomorrow. He went off somewhere else in the house.

'Probably to hang out with the other frat boys,'

Lily concluded.

Lily fought through the crowd of people to go get another soda. With her soda, she sat on a couch nearby. Lily sunk further onto the cool couch and took a few breaths.

'Oh my God, this couch feels so good,'

she thought as she lay sprawled out on the couch. She felt the cushion next to her dip. Expecting it to be Louis, she straightened up and turned to look at him, but she froze in place.

Sitting beside her was Brandon Atreides taking a swig of his beer. His body was hunched over with his feet spread apart. He said nothing to her and looked straight ahead at nothing in particular. After awhile, out of the corner of his eye his gaze fell on her face. His eye roamed down her body slowly, making an icy trail in its wake. She folded her hands over her chest and crossed her legs, hoping to disrupt his view. She turned her body as she looked away from him,

'Focus on something else, Lily,'

she thought to herself.

'Focus on something else. He'll leave you alone if you do.'

She nearly smiled at her own thoughts. That didn't work in high school. How in the world that work now? He wasn't some kind of monster she could just ignore and he would go away. He was the kind of monster that wouldn't let her walk away. He was the kind of monster that didn't care if he was seen or not. He was the kind that made her nightmares come true no matter what she did.

Lily sat there unsure of what to do. If she sat there, he would take his time to toy with her mind until he was ready to do what he wanted. If she stood up, he would make it worse for her. As the seconds ticked by, the decision and the waiting began to frustrate her. Lily had enough. She had had enough of Brandon, period. Fuck it if he got angry.

She grabbed her soda and went to get up from her seat. As she expected, Brandon grabbed her wrist with an iron clad hold. What she didn't expect was the force he used to pull her back down on the couch with. It caused her to spill the soda down the front of her dress. Still in the same position, he said, "Who told your ass to get up?"

Lily pulled her hand free and attempted to get up again, but Brandon was just as quick and grabbed at her wrists with both his hands. She got free again and attempted to push him away from her but he didn't even stumble. As he continued to restrain her, she fought just as hard to get out of his restraints. She finally made a mistake and turned around to leave. He grabbed her wrist and bent it to her back over her shoulder. Lily yelled out in pain, but the music was too loud for anyone to notice. He took her other arm and bent it behind her back as well. He pulled her onto his lap as he gasped for air, seething with anger.