Destroy Me Gently:Ex-Enemy Becomes My Lover!
Chapter 49: Circle of secrets

Chapter 49: Circle of secrets

Chapter Forty-Nine

**Oliver West**

Option one: Do something bad enough for Mom to transfer me to another school, or leave this school entirely and forget my future.

Option two: Board a plane to another country and start a new life with a new identity.

Option three: File a restraining order against Kieran!

Option four: Anyone got suggestions!!!

Would any of this work?

That. Fucking. Evil. Bastard!!

Was this what he meant by that apology and not hating me anymore? Because I couldn’t tell the difference, my life was even more hopeless than before!

Now, everyone looked at me like an interesting specimen. I wanted to go back to being invincible!

I banged my head against my locker, the pain jolting me back to the present.

The final bell had rung some minutes ago, I couldn’t even leave this torturous place. Mom wasn’t coming to get me, Kieran told me to wait for him.

Whoever was driving the wheel of this earth should press the brake, I wanna get out!

"Oliver!" William jogged up beside me with a concerned expression. "Dude, your forehead is red, you look like you just survived a war zone."

I gazed at him with a dead expression, Kieran was worse than any war zone.

"Ready to leave?" He jiggled his keys in my face and my shoulders slumped dejectedly. "No, thanks, you’ll have to go alone today,"

I shifted my backpack, wincing slightly. My butt was still sore from those slaps.

"What’s wrong? You’re walking funny."

"I’m not walking funny!" I glowered at him like he was the cause of my misery.

"You totally are. Oh... wait...!" William’s eyes narrowed with worry, and then suspicion "Oliver, what did he do to you?!"

I could practically see the gears turning in William’s head, his expression shifting to something that looked like horror mixed with... curiosity?

"William, no..."

"Oh my god," He whispered, his eyes going wider like they would just fall off. "Did he... did you two...? In the locker room? Is that why you’re walking like—"

"Why is your mind so dirty!" I yelled, my face going nuclear as I smacked the side of his head. "It’s not what you think!"

"Then what..."

"He just... ugh!" I couldn’t exactly explain that Kieran had spanked me like some misbehaving child. That would be even more mortifying. "It’s complicated, okay?"

William’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Complicated as in like you lost your virginity?!"

"No!!!" My face was practically steaming now. "God, William, get your mind out of the gutter! Nothing happened between us,"

He shot me a look of disbelief.

"Nothing? Oliver, I watched that whole scene in the gym. The way he was touching you..." William ran his hand through his hair looking just as frustrated as I felt "That wasn’t normal. None of this is normal, I don’t think Kieran is pranking you,"

"I know..."

"You don’t know, I’m telling you to be more careful because you’re getting that look on your face." William stepped closer, his voice getting more serious. "The same one you get when you read those romance comics. This isn’t fiction, Oliver. Kieran isn’t some misunderstood bad boy who’s going to magically become prince charming."

My face burned defensively, didn’t he think that I already knew this?

"I don’t think that."

"I know you well Oliver, and from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re starting to buy into whatever game he’s playing." He grabbed my shoulder squarely, adjusting the glasses on my nose as though it was supposed to enhance my vision. "This is the same guy who’s made your life hell for eight years. He’s your bully, Oliver. That doesn’t just disappear because he’s suddenly acting... I don’t even know what to call it"

If even William didn’t know what to call this, what should I do?

I grabbed his shoulder, I wasn’t about to forget about how he abandoned me completely back there.

"Aren’t you supposed to be my protagonist anyway? You’re supposed to save me from the villain! Why is Kieran winning everything while you were gawking at Vince like he was some kind of Greek god?"

William’s jaw dropped, blinking as though I just attacked him with a stick "I was not gawking!"

"You literally stopped mid-rescue to stare at him. I thought you were having a stroke."

"That’s—I mean—" William sputtered. It’s rare for him to be this flustered.

He liked Vince this much?

"Okay fine, I was distracted for like two seconds!"

"Two seconds? William, you looked like you wanted to climb him like a tree. I’m sure you were imagining more dirty things in your mind,"

"I did not!" His face was turning redder. "I was just... appreciating... okay fine, maybe I was staring a little. But in my defence, have you seen his shoulders?"

"Oh my god." I was genuinely both horrified and concerned about my friend now. He was a goner for someone who for one was straight, and two, was a walking danger sign.

The idiot continued to explain, and even gesturing with his hand

"They’re like, sculpted by..." He paused as though he had suddenly caught himself and then shook his head firmly at me. "No! We’re not talking about my temporary lapse in judgment. We’re talking about your very serious problem with a very dangerous guy."

"Will..."

"Oliver, I’m scared for you," he said quietly. "I’ve watched Kieran hurt you for years. I’ve held you while you cried because of things he said to you."

My throat felt tight once again. "I know what he’s done." How could I forget everything?

"Then why aren’t you running? Why are you letting him control you like this?"

But running was all I’d been doing for eight years, and Kieran always caught up to me. It didn’t matter how fast I moved, he always ended up dragging me back to him.

Before I could answer, my words died in my throat. Matt was walking toward the exit, and Heath was beside him, they were laughing about something.

"You are looking at them weird. Is something wrong?" William followed my gaze.

Should I tell him? It wasn’t really my business, but Heath was Kieran’s friend, and William was my best friend, and keeping secrets was exhausting.

"If I tell you something, promise you won’t freak out?"

"Now I’m definitely going to freak out. What is it?"

My gaze scanned our surroundings as I took a deep breath. "Heath is gay."

William blinked. "What? No way! He’s dating Hailey. The cheerleader. They’ve been together for months." He stopped, waiting for me to continue.

"Matt is his secret boyfriend, but..." I let the word drag.

"But what?"

I glanced around again, making sure no one could hear us. "I saw Matt cheating on him. On the rooftop. With that Niall guy from physics,"

William’s eyes flickered as though this was the gossip of the century. He was drawing an imaginary circle in the air "Wait, back up. Heath is gay? And dating Matt secretly? While publicly dating Hailey?"

"Yeah."

"So Heath is living a double life, pretending to be straight while secretly dating Matt, who is also cheating on him with someone else?" William’s voice got higher with each word.

"Pretty much."

"Holy shit." William shook his head slowly. " He finally gets the courage to come out, dumps his fake girlfriend, and his real boyfriend is playing him the whole time. That’s like, layers of awful."

"I don’t know what to do. Should I tell him?"

"I don’t know either. That’s really messed up." William was quiet for a moment.