Chapter 3 At the park

Tara's POV

"Silly girl, you could have held out longer!" I heard Jackson snicker as the teacher yelled back and forth.

"Tara, you need to go to the infirmary. Your nose is bleeding," Shin Oh said to me as I tried to stand up.

I saw Shin Oh become surprised as I took off from the floor suddenly.

"Come on, go to the infirmary!" reiterated Tyler.

Suddenly, his face appeared close to mine, much too close. He picked me up off the floor to take me to the infirmary.

"Get off me right now!" I shouted.

"Your friend isn't going to carry you to the infirmary, so be quiet," he told me.

His green eyes took on a serious look as he continued to walk.

Then I heard Shin Oh grumbling to the teacher to go with me, but the teacher refused.

Then I lowered my head not to look at her and kept my hands on my chest to avoid touching her.

"You put up a good fight. Jackson was serious. He really wanted to hurt you."

"I know."

"You should avoid pissing him off more in the future. Well, that's just a tip. Your boyfriend is no match for him."

'My boyfriend? Who is he talking about?'

I raised my head a little. He still had his serious look. He strode purposefully toward the infirmary, crossing the courtyard with an unflappable air.

"Hello, what's going on?" asked the nurse as we entered the infirmary.

"I have a nosebleed," I explained as Tyler finally put me down on the floor.

"Please take a look at those wrists and her lip as well."

I watched him leave, still surprised by his action. Maybe he wasn't a scumbag after all.

Dylan's POV

Connor and I waited for the girls outside the cafeteria. Min Oh and Isabella were already inside.

Shin Oh came in all out of breath.

"Tara...Tara's in the infirmary," she said breathlessly.

"What? What happened?"

"Jackson targeted her in volleyball and Tyler took her there."

When I heard her mention Tyler's name, I tossed my bag and ran to the infirmary.

This guy had no manners; he could do anything to her.

I ran up to the front of the infirmary building and came face-to-face with Tyler smoking his cigarette.

"I figured as much," he said when he saw me.

"Where is she?"

Tyler straightened up and faced me, his green eyes glaring at me. They were frightening at that moment, and his face tensed.

"Maybe you're planning to keep her, just for you," he said to me.

I knew right away what he was referring to. But Tara and I didn't have that kind of relationship. With that, I thought for a moment before answering.

"Don't tell me that with all your harem, you aren't getting enough?"

A sly smile appeared on his lips.

"Stop your show right now," I cut him short. "Tara will never fall into your trap! We all know you just play with girls!"

I was sure I understood his intentions, and the fact that he grabbed me by the collar was proof that I was right.

Tara was his new target in his game.

We fell silent. I was still waiting for him to put his fist in my face when the door slammed behind us.

"In your dreams, Tyler!"

Tara was standing three feet away from us and heard our conversation.

As a result, I caught a weird flash in Tyler's eyes that I didn't have time to fathom, because he let go of me the next second.

Tara grabbed my hand without sparing Tyler a glance, and we left.

"I have to go get my stuff. You can go tell others that I'm fine," she told me when we were halfway to the gym.

"I'll wait for you."

Her lip was swollen, she had a nice bump on her forehead and her wrists were bandaged.

"No. I'll be fine, don't worry. Tell Shin Oh to join me."

She smiled at me, kissed me on the cheek and left for the gym.

Tara's POV

When I got out of the infirmary, I went to the gym to shower. There were still a few girls left when I got back, which had helped me not to break down.

My lip stung when it came in contact with the warm water. Also, my wrists were on fire. How much I had suffered under his bullets!

Tears came to my eyes. Why was he attacking me?

Why were he and Tyler coming after me?

I crouched down in the shower and began to cry silently.

After I calmed down, I turned off the shower, put my towel around me and twisted my hair before stepping out of the shower.

But all of a sudden, my blood ran cold. Tyler was sitting across from me on the bench, staring at me behind his dark glasses.

I shivered and backed up against the shower wall.

"What are you doing here?" I stammered.

He got up and walked over to me.

"What the fuck are you playing at now?"

He stopped three inches away from me and took off his glasses, revealing his green eyes peering at me with a smirk.

I flinched, but then clenched my fists, ready to fight back; he wasn't going to get me that easily.

"Do I scare you that much?" he asked, tilting his head a little.

I didn't answer. What was he thinking? Was he seriously thinking that any girl would be happy to find a guy in the girls' locker room when she got out of the shower?

"Look at me and tell me if you're afraid of me!" he insisted.

His green eyes became intense, but his look wasn't scary at that moment.

'What the hell is he playing at?' I asked myself.

"I'm not afraid of you right now. I'm sorry."

He smiled and put his glasses back on.

"That's already a good start!" he said as he walked back to the door and disappeared.

From that day on, he never spoke to me or even Jackson.

Dylan's POV

Shin Oh managed to persuade her brother to go to work at the club where we worked. Actually, it was kind of convenient for him, because then he could keep an eye on her.

Tara hadn't decided if she wanted to work there or not. With her classes, the Thai boxing class and her job at the local supermarket, she was already well busy.

Isabella went to help Shin Oh choose her clothes. After all, she was the fashion pro, as she liked to say, although she was studying decoration.

I hadn't seen Tara all day; she was probably working.

"What time will Tara be home?" I asked Min Oh.

"She's not working; she hasn't come out of her room yet today.

I'm surprised. Would you mind checking on her?"

"Tara?" I said at the door.

"Yes!"

I walked in. Tara was lying in her bed, the comforter pulled up to above her ears.

"Is something wrong?"

She sat up halfway and her blue eyes were bright.

"I think I got a virus..." she whispered.

I put my hand on her forehead. She was indeed burning up.

"I'll bring you some meds!"

I left the room and went to the bathroom to find the first-aid kit with the fever meds in it and also find a towel. Then I finished my run to the kitchen to get an ice pack.

When I returned to the bedroom, I found her still covered with the comforter.

"Here take some medicine."

I helped her sit up and gave her medicine. She was shivering, so much so that she was cold.

I helped her back to bed and covered her with the comforter, putting the towel with the ice inside.

"Have a rest. Are you sure you'll be okay tonight? Because we all have to go to work."

She murmured a yes and fell back asleep just as quickly.

Tyler's POV

I hung out on my motorcycle with the gang on the streets of Los Angeles. That night we were doing the bar crawl. Well, we were mostly there to look for the pennies some people owed my dad. With that, we stopped at one bar before heading to the next. As soon as we got there, Jackson was already in pickup mode.

I sat at the bar with Evan as the rest of the gang dispersed.

"What are we drinking?" Evan asked me.

"Order me a whiskey; I'm going to take a leak."

I headed for the bathroom. On my way, I passed two girls from school.

One of them dressed in a little black leather dress.

"Did you come to have fun?" she asked me languidly.

"That depends. What do you have to offer?" I said with a smile.

Immediately, she brought her hand down under my belt and began to caress me.

"I was just going to the bathroom," she whispered in my ear, in a voice full of desire, before entering the women's room.

Her friend looked at me, and after understanding her friend's gesture, she went back to the bar.

In turn, I entered the women's room to join her.

I landed on the toilet and she straddled me without question.

Once the deal was done, I got dressed, lit a cigarette and opened the door as she put her dress back on.

"Do you want my number?" she asked me.

"What for?" I blurted out with my sly smile and walked out of the bathroom.

I joined Evan, only to find that Jackson was missing.

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in an hour," I informed as I sipped my drink in one go.

Tara's POV

I woke up around 1 a.m. with a craving for ice cream. After noticing that there was none in the freezer, I decided to put on a big hoodie and head to Night and Day, a place two blocks away.

I emerged from Night and Day when a red motorcycle sped past me. And for a long time, the sound of the motorcycle kept echoing in my head.

So, I decided to cut through the park so I wouldn't hear the noises that were giving me a headache again.

I walked forward quietly, looking at the sky when I spotted something in the distance near a bench.

As I moved forward, I realized that it was a motorcycle, the famous red motorcycle from earlier.

A man was lying on the bench, probably sleeping.

I shifted to the left so as not to pass by.

"Man, no, I'm going home. I'm telling you I'm going home, stop crying!" he said.

That voice sounded familiar. I glanced towards the bench. It was true, I was not dreaming. It was Tyler.

I pulled my hood up and hurried on, hoping he didn't recognize me.

Then I heard the motorcycle start up and pass me by. I sighed with relief that he didn't recognize me.

I was celebrating too fast. The next moment, he turned around at the end of the road, came back to me and stopped in front of me.

I stopped too and kept my head down, clutching my bag with my ice cream against me. Then I heard him raise his visor.

"Oh, it's you!"

I didn't look up. I just walked past him, quickening my pace. In my condition, I didn't need to put up with this guy.

"Wait!" he shouted.

I heard the foot of the motorcycle click into the ground.

'No, no, leave me alone, ' I prayed, but he was already in front of me.

"You didn't say hello," he told me in a honeyed voice.

"I'm in a hurry; my ice cream will melt," I replied, trying to move forward again.

He landed right in front of me, less than a foot away. I could smell his perfume, a girl's perfume, actually. It was Joy by Dior. Isabella was wearing the same one.

"You have strange cravings at two in the morning."

I didn't answer, and kept looking at the ground. My head was starting to spin more and more and my legs were shaking.

"Gotta go," I said in a weak voice.

I took a step to the side, but my legs failed me and his arm caught me.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

While he was still holding me, his free hand touched my forehead.

I felt like an electric shock from his touch and looked up at him with blurry eyes.

"You have a fever!" he exclaimed. "Are you crazy hanging out like this at this hour?"

Suddenly, he looked furious and his green eyes looked at me sternly.

"Are you serious? You didn't talk to me for months and now you allow yourself to get angry because I came out with a fever!" I shouted in response.

I pulled away from his arm and left. I expected him to catch up with me, but nothing happened.

When I got to the exit of the park, I heard the motorcycle start up and go away.