Blackmailed by a Bully
19

The next day at College, Freida saw Tom and the others sitting in their usual spot at the front. They looked up as she passed, about to talk to her, but she averted her eyes and carried on walking to the back. There was a girl called Katie who always sat on her own at the back. Felix had described her as 'extra,' and laughed at her stupid questions consistently through the past few weeks.

'I guess she is my people,' Freida thought.

She wandered over to the girl, who actually looked quite cool with her green mohawk and her dungarees.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked.

"You can sit wherever you like, Hun," she said, which wasn't friendly or unfriendly.

'Not the best start,' she thought, but she took the seat anyway.

Felix, Tom and Stacy were all staring over and whispering.

"Not feeling like hanging with the Brady Bunch today?" Katie asked.

This made Freida laugh. She decided to be honest about it. "I overheard them ripping me to pieces. Apparently, I was only invited to be part of the group because Tom wants to shag me." Katie made a weird choking sound and laughed. "You don't fancy a bit of Tom, then?"

After Freida overshared the whole story, Katie looked utterly disgusted. "That is toxic as fuck."

She then went on to tell her about the gig, the mosh pit and meeting the band. Katie seemed to warm to her by the end of the lecture and even agreed to meet up during lunch to go over the stuff they both found difficult.

By the end of the day, Freida was actually feeling good about life. Who cared if those idiots didn't like her? Who cared if Mr Preston preferred his boring old wife? And who cared if the only guy on her mind lately was a blackmailing bully? Tom tried to corner her at the bus stop, but she put her music in her ears and ignored him completely.

"I just don't understand what's wrong with you," he said, pulling off her headphones.

"Yeah, then ask Felix and Stacy," she said, putting them back on.

At home, she had a few hours before Damon's return. She found herself clock-watching and had to question why.

'Do I like being his slave?' she asked herself.

It certainly was a strange thing to like, given the way he treated her on occasion.

'But he can be nice too,' she thought, thinking back to last night.

He'd been more than nice-he'd been amazing. Freida made a mental note to tell him how much she appreciated what he did.

When she got home, she went straight to Damon's house. She didn't bother knocking since he had told her not to.

She started to say as much, walking into the kitchen and mid-sentence when she saw Jayce and his friends around the table. They looked up from the scales and off-white powder they were weighing out, stunned to see her. "Oh," Freida said. She knew exactly what they were up to, but decided it was best to play it dumb. "Doing some baking?"

She smiled widely.

"Is Damon home?"

"Upstairs," Jayce said.

As she walked away, she heard the men whispering.

"It's okay, she won't say anything," Jayce was telling the others.

When she got to Damon's room, she was disappointed to see his friends were over. Only the girl was missing.

"Hey," Ben said, smiling at her as if they were old friends.

"Hi," Freida returned the smile. She was grateful for his help last time, but she didn't like the say he was looking at her right now. It was almost as if he had a crush on her.

"Where is your girlfriend?" she asked, more to make a point than anything else.

"With your brother," Ben replied.

"She is with my brother a lot," Frieda pointed out.

"Oh, it doesn't worry me," Ben said. "Why would she cheat with him when she has me?"

Frieda nodded, trying not to look confused. Did this guy really think that girls only cared about how someone looked? Yes, Ben was technically better looking, but people were more than just pretty faces. She didn't say as much. There was simply no point.

"Come here," Damon said, shifting on the bed to make room for her. When she took a seat beside him, his weight made the bed dip down and she rolled straight into his side.

He laughed at her and placed an arm around her side. Then, without warning, he picked her up as easily as if she were a doll and placed her in his lap.

"You're so small," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Freida felt her face turning pink, but she couldn't stop it.

"Okay... this is new," Granger commented, giving Damon a suspicious look. "I've never seen him hug a girl before."

"I never wanted to before," Damon replied. "I can do whatever I want to her, remember?"

"Yeah, you can, so why don't you make he" Granger was about to ask, but Ron, who rarely spoke, interrupted him. "Shut your trap, Granger," Ron uttered.

Granger hung his head but fell silent.

As Damon spoke to his friends, he absentmindedly ran his hands over her body, gently touching her legs and breasts. Despite the odd situation, Freida felt her body responding to his touch. She almost wished the pair of them were alone. Ron, bless his heart, kept trying to think up excuses for them to leave, but Ben either wasn't catching on or just didn't want to leave.

Eventually, Ron stood up and clapped his hands. "Come on, Fellas. I think these love birds need some time alone."

"Love birds?" Ben cried in disgust. "Love birds? He was torturing the poor girl last week and you want to leave him alone with her?" "What the actual fuck?" Ron replied, squaring up to Ben. "Can you not read the room?"

"Fuck you talking about?" Ben asked, not backing down from the much larger guy.

"I mean... she is very clearly into him," Ron said.

"Yeah, mate," Granger piped up. "Don't need your fake glasses to see that. It's even obvious to me."

Damon chuckled. He didn't seem angered by Ben's strange outburst in the slightest.

"Ron's right. Piss off. I'll see you lot tomorrow," he said with a crooked grin.

Once they were gone, Damon told her to turn around.

She did so, sitting in his lap facing him with her legs wrapped around him.

He stared at her, face blank, then pulled her head in and kissed her.

It was a forceful kiss-demanding but passionate. She felt her lips responding to his, exploring his mouth, pressing into his tongue. When he pulled away, he was smiling.

"I thought those guys would never leave."