The Billionaire Beach Boy

SKYE

The whistle blew, and it was chaos!

The girls were screaming and shrieking when the guys hit them with the dodgeballs. They weren’t that hard but still packed a bit of sting.

We ended up with three girls against six guys. Before the next round started, we worked on a game plan.

Vicky, the red-headed fireball, would take out the two guys on the left, Tessa would take out the two on the right, and I... I would go for Mr. Asshat and his right-hand man.

We took our positions and kept our eyes on the balls, pun intended. The whistle went off, and we lunged for the balls, each of us grabbing one and lining up our targets.

Vicky executed her first target with a ball to the gut. Tessa took her first target down with a ball to the ribs. I saw my first target lose concentration for a second and hit him with a ball to the face.

I burst out in a fit of laughter at Mr. Asshat’s face when I took his right-hand man down. He was glaring daggers at me, already planning his revenge. Bring it on, bitch!

We repositioned for the last round: three guys to three girls. I could already taste the victory. It was only day one at the new school, and I already hated this guy and his clique.

I could see the two bimbo barbies on the side drooling over him and trying to get his attention, but his eyes were on me the whole time. His three amigos had left, leaving the squealing piggies behind.

Rolling my eyes, I shut them out and focused on the game. The last whistle went off, and we raced for the balls. This time we only managed to get two, and I waited for my opportunity.

Vicky took her last guy out, but then Mr. Asshat hit her in the stomach. Tessa threw her ball but didn’t see the two balls coming straight for her.

I took the chance and caught one ball. She caught the second one immediately, throwing it back to her target and hitting him square in his face.

Mr. Asshat was already standing ready with two balls and a death glare. I looked at Tessa; we knew what we had to do.

She lunged forward to grab another ball, but he threw his ball at her. Luckily, she managed to duck just in time for the ball to miss her.

He threw again just as I was rounding her, but I had already launched my ball at him, hitting the major jackpot—his balls.

He doubled over, clutching his crotch, his face bright-red with anger. His crystal eyes, now a dark shade of green, glared at me.

I winked at him and turned, not expecting the basketball that hit me right in my face.

I fell flat on my back and blacked out. The last thing I saw was his furious face and burning eyes staring at me as he scooped me up.

“Ms. Booklyn... can you hear me?” I heard a soft voice ask.

“Five more minutes, Mom...,” I mumbled, zoning out again. I remembered her soft kind eyes staring at me with tears.

She was the softest person I knew but also the badass mom always standing up for me against Dad. But back then, he wasn’t like this.

Six years ago, my mom died in a car accident...

We were on our way to my dance recital in the middle of the night when a drunk driver skipped a red light. Mom swerved and went straight over a bridge into the river.

The car rolled, and Mom wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. She was thrown halfway out the window before the car crashed down on her. I was strapped into my seat in the back and passed out from my head hitting the door.

I woke up a week later in the hospital with two broken ribs, a broken arm, and a head injury that, luckily for me, wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be.

Dad still blamed me for her death.

He made bad choices and we lost everything until he got a “job.” With his army sniper background, I didn’t need to know everything to know his new “job” wasn’t a good one.

I just tried my best to stay out of his way and keep to myself.

“Ms. Booklyn,” the soft voice said again, tearing me from the memories of my mom. I opened my eyes to look into soft brown eyes and a warm smile. I tried to sit up, but she stopped me.

I noticed we were still in the gym and that there was a huge crowd gathering around me. The woman was wearing a paramedic uniform. I immediately started to panic.

“What happened?” I asked, my head throbbing. I looked around again and saw Mr. Asshat standing at the back, scowling at me. Still, his eyes flashed a hint of worry.

“You were hit in the face with a basketball, and you have a slight concussion,” she said while finishing up.

“Your nose is not broken, which is a good sign, but it will be swollen and your eyes will be black and blue for a while.” Well, great! Just fucking great! My dad is gonna kill me!

“Thank you,” I said, sitting up slowly and closing my eyes to keep my head from spinning faster. She helped me up slowly and I heard Mona before I could see her.

“Where the fuck is she?!” she yelled from the back as the crowd gave way to her. She stopped to look at me before she turned around to the others.

“When I find out who did this, you’ll be sorry!” she said loud enough for everyone to hear. I chuckled at her feistiness. She turned around to wrap an arm around me to steady me while I found my balance.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said to the paramedic. Looking back at me, she wiggled her eyebrows at my shocked face. I started to laugh but stopped as the headache hit me harder.

“Anytime, honey. And watch your mouth!” she said to Mona, turning around to get her things and leave. She struggled to get out and yelled a loud “MOVE!” that made the kids scatter.

I giggled to myself. So that’s where Mona got her spunk from.

Everyone was starting to leave the gym for the final class, but Mr. Asshat and his three friends stayed back.

“Are you okay?” he asked me in his deep sexy voice. His jaws clenched as he looked me up and down, his eyes changing from a bright, almost neon green to dark green.

I looked down and saw all the blood on my favorite shirt. Great.

“Peachy keen, Princess. Thank you,” I said, looking at him. I saw a ghost of a smile on his beautiful lips, then he turned and walked away, stopping at the doors and turning back to me.

“Fun game,” he said in a sarcastic tone, flashing a devilish smirk before exiting the gym. I turned back to his three amigos. His right-hand man was giving me a dark smile.

“Fucking sexy...and feisty,” he said, winking at me. His other friends chuckled and turned to leave, dragging the flirt with them.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Mona asked with a curious look.

“The girls won.”

She responded with a loud shrieking fit. “Oh my God! Nobody has ever won against Draque and his posse!”

I giggled on our way out of the gym as I filled her in on the juicy details. We laughed hard on the way to our final class of the day. Luckily, we had it together.

When the last bell rang, everyone almost ran out of the room. I just packed up and waited. I told Mona I had detention after school, and she just laughed at me.

The crazy bitch teased me for getting detention on my first day. She said it was a new record before she hugged me and left.

I went to the detention room and was happy to find that I was the only one. The teacher sent me to the cafeteria to help the kitchen staff clean up and prepare for tomorrow.

The two kitchen ladies were so sweet. We laughed about everything and anything.

It had actually been a fun day. I made new friends, kicked ass in dodgeball, told the bimbo babes off, and laughed myself into oblivion in detention. Not bad, except for my bruised face.

Then came the worst part. Standing at our front door, dreading to go inside and face the monster that called himself my father. I took a deep breath and decided to just jump right into it.

When I opened the door, Dad was sitting on a chair in the middle of the house, waiting for me, his hands balled up tight into fists and his face blood-red with anger.

“Hi, Dad…”