Drake Merwin was always the terror of Coates Academy. He didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse when he hurt people, he loved it. He was a bully, a thug, but wasn't part of a gang where they do thug things. He worked solo, but was enough of a bully to compensate for others being missing. His main target was the weaker boys in our year, people that didn't know how to function in the Coates environment. There weren't actually to many weak boys there, so occasionally Drake found it in himself to pick on someone his own size. When he did, they wouldn't come near them again.
He wasn't smart, or logical. He uses violence, and expects everyone to bow to him. If he was in charge, he wouldn't be able to pull of any kind of plan; no one in Perdido Beach would have let him rule for a day. He would just go sailing down in a parade of cars and wave a couple of guns and baseball bats in the air, expecting it to work. A few might be scared, but there is always strength in numbers, which the Perdido Beach kids had.
It was fairly easy to find him to talk to him though. He made sure his presence was noted, so people could avoid him because they were all so afraid of him. But not me, I walked straight up to him. He was in the woods outlining the Coates grounds, where he took out his anger on trees and the occasional kid. Teachers didn't know it, they thought people couldn't get through the weak fence surrounding Coates. In reality, it was easy. There was a huge hole at the far end away from the school, you didn't even need to climb over the fence at all, you could just walk through.
"What do you want Ladris?" he asked, as he saw me out of the corner of his eye. He was fiddling with some kind of machete, swinging it up and down on some fallen tree. It had many cuts in it; it was regularly used for knife practice, and not just by Drake. A lot of people at Coates were armed; I carried around a pocket-knife at all times, sometimes in the waistband of my skirt, sometimes in a high heeled boot.
"Now that I see this tree, I can see why the School Board didn't think that our school was environmentally friendly" I commented, making him look up and glare. I have to say, he did have one hell of a glare.
"Cut to the fucking point Ladris, I don't have all day" Drake barked, refocusing his attention to ruining nature. He was a complete psychopath, but he wasn't really bad before the Fayz came. Sure, he bullied people, but he didn't hurt them to extent they had to have medical attention. A bruise back then was what he did. In the Fayz? You would be lucky if you got out of there alive.
"Caine sent me" I said, making him drop his machete. He stood up slowly, turning to face me properly for the first time. He looked like a shark, with dead eyes and a hungry mouth. When I first arrived at Coates, I had thought he was attractive… maybe more about that later.
"Of course you are sucking up to the powerful kid" he muttered, shaking his head. "Freak he is. But you have to be on the winning side, don't you Ladris?"
"It wouldn't hurt to call me by my first name you know" I commented unnecessarily, just to piss him off. He wanted to know what I wanted, and I just wanted to lengthen the conversation to piss him off. One look from him told me I better cut to the chase.
"Fearless Leader wants you to shut up about whatever you know about him" I explained, sitting down on the log. "If you don't bother him, he won't bother you. And if you know what he thinks you know, you won't want to get into a fight with him"
It took a few moments for Drake to understand what I said. I do talk quickly, but he is also pretty stupid at the same time. That whole he knows you know thing must have confused him, poor boy. He wouldn't have survived two days in the Fayz if he hadn't joined the Evil Trio.
"Caine Soren" he muttered again, turning around to think. I clicked my tongue impatiently. I was missing my lunch period after all. "He just thinks he can waltz in here and take over, and that's that. He thinks people won't put up a fight" Out of nowhere, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up, squeezing so tightly I got a faint bruise. "I want to talk to him personally, not send his pet slut"
I pulled my arm away sharply, and took a few steps back. I had nothing to manipulate him with; he was probably the single person who didn't have any secrets, one that people didn't know anyway. Everyone knew he was psychopath, a sadist, a complete and utter nutcase. He didn't have any shameful family secrets. He was completely immune from me, it was baffling.
"I'll talk to him, but you will need to book an appointment to speak with someone like Caine" I mocked, turning away and walking back to school. I was slightly panicking about what to do, but I couldn't let that show, not to Drake.
I was still quite embarrassed about what happened with me and Drake, it was something I hadn't told anyone about, not even Caine. It wasn't my proudest moment that was for sure. Even after everything that happened in the Fayz, it still made me cringe.
I didn't come to Coates the way I was now. I had come like all the scruffy, unkempt girls that I despised; I mocked them for their ways. To be honest, I was probably because they reminded me of me when I first came. Mind you, this dishevelled manner only lasted about a couple of months, but it still wasn't nice for me to recollect.
I first came in the winter when I was twelve, about the usual age for kids to come. Eleven was when you could start going, but it more often than not takes a year for them to need to go to the Fear Factory. Some kids came later, as a last resort when nothing else has worked to get the kid to behave.
I came to Coates being a typical little girl, no make-up, and my hair was in plaits for crying out loud. My skirt just below me knee, wearing the school blazer and tie tightened right up to my chin. I wasn't like I cried or anything, I wasn't weak back then either. But back then I was a spoilt little princess, even if I was tough. Two years into the future though? I was a school-smart tough slut, which was great for Coates.
For the first few weeks, I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I got to class on time, did the homework as soon as it was given out, I even made friends with other losers that were new like me. But then I met Drake Merwin.
I think it is safe to say that I had a massive crush on him as soon as I saw him. Back then, I didn't really have taste when it came to boys, and Drake seemed good looking when I first saw him in the cafeteria. Eating alone, avoided by anyone with common sense. When I saw him eating alone, it thought it was because he was an outsider, a loner. I didn't realise he was being avoided by the other kids because he was a sadist. I was far too clueless to see that though, I was what I thought back then, blinded by love. Yeah right.
Drake did not notice me at all for the first two months, and I can't blame him. I wasn't noticeable or anything, I blended in with the crowd of losers just perfectly. But over time, my crush began to grow, slightly alarmingly. I didn't stalk him, but I went to places I knew he would be to just see him. It became an unhealthy obsession.
Then came the Valentine Dance, and it just so happened to be girl ask boys, because God just hates me like that. It pressurised me into asking him, in the cafeteria, in front of people. I still can't believe what I was thinking. It was so embarrassing when he just started staring at me incredulously. Kids began looking at the weirdo who asked Drake to the Dance, which was just great. Then he said something that was at the time offensive to me back then, but now I would just let that kind of thing slide. Being a Fayz survivor got you a lot of criticism, especially one that stood by when people got their hands encrusted with concrete. People really love me, that's all I can say.
"Are you kidding me?" he had said, while more and more people started staring at me and Drake. "Are you fucking kidding me? You are just some ugly newbie that can fuck off. You aren't even remotely attractive, you look like you are eight. Fuck off, you bitch. Don't talk to me again"
To a twelve year old that didn't know how Coates worked, that would have stung, and it did. I ran from the hall, tears stinging the back of my eyes. Behind me, everyone was snickering. All I could think was, I will show him. I will prove to him that he was sorry that he turned me down. And I did.
I asked my dad for a bunch of make-up, all sorts of stuff to completely change my appearance. I managed to make myself look sexy, and desirable. It wasn't too hard, it wasn't like I was totally ugly, I just had to try, put in effort to wear make-up and do my hair. After that, it was easy.
You should have seen the faces of people when they saw me walk into that hall. My dark hair teased up into a flawless bun at the top of my head. I was wearing a black dress, secured by a strap around my neck. It had a thigh high slit on the left side, showing of my six inch black heels. My make-up was on point, my eyes dark and smoky, my lips painted with black lipstick. I was gorgeous, and I knew it.
Jaws literally dropped when I sashayed into the hall. I had practiced that walk for weeks, perfecting it so it looked feminine and sexy, but not to unnatural. My then friends, Katie and Samantha where at the far end of the hall, wearing their childish outfits. They were looking out for me, no idea where I was. When they saw me come in, they looked bewildered like everyone else, but they didn't recognise me.
I knew even back then it was so cheesy to be this nerd girl, then massive makeover, then become hot. But I didn't care. I just wanted it show Drake that I was hot, and that was it. I wanted to show him he should have taken me as his date. I wanted to make him regret his decision.
It was quite clear no one knew it was me when they saw me, which was satisfying. I scanned the room to see if Drake had even come, panicking slightly when I couldn't see him. I didn't want to have spent just under four hours getting ready for him to not come, that would just be depressing.
I saw him though after a couple of minutes. He was standing alone, but fairly near the buzz of the Dance. Just in the right position for me to talk to him, absolutely perfect. I sashayed over to him, getting together my dignity and sexiness. I was going to be completely untouchable by him, which may be difficult, as previous I had had a huge unrequited crush on him.
"Some party" I said, to him, clarifying I was talking to him but not being to in your face. By the look on his face I could tell he didn't recognise me, like everyone else in the room. He took me all in, looking up and down at my outfit.
"It is a school Dance, it isn't anything special" he replied, a slightly flirtatious tone appearing in his voice, one that had definitely not been there before. A sense of triumph washed over me. He didn't know who I was, and because of this he was flirting with me. With me. I couldn't believe it, it was incredible. But I didn't let myself be distracted, I wanted to defeat him.
"Do you have a date to share this lame evening with?" I teased, knowing I had the upper hand. I almost always had the upper hand with Drake, even though Caine helped with that. It's true that Drake would have killed me if he had the chance, but Caine stopped all that, so I had to be kind of grateful to him I guess.
"No" he sighed, again looking me up and down, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. "Someone asked me, but I didn't want to go with her, she's a loser"
I knew at this point it was right to reveal that I was the loser girl that asked him to the the Valentine Dance. It was just right. I only had a couple of seconds to think of a way to do the reveal, but I think I picked the best one.
"You should never call someone a loser to their face, it's just rude" I choose thinking that one was ok, and I still do. The look that came upon Drake's face made me so wish I had brought a camera. He couldn't believe that it was me. No one could, not my friends, anyone. Me and my friends quickly cut it off when we realised we had next to nothing in common any more.
At the end of that, I felt like I had won, but I couldn't really get him under my control until Caine came. Nothing to blackmail with, he didn't want to go out with me after that fiasco, so we didn't really talk to each other, which was fine by me.
By the time I got back to Coates, I was almost late to class, History. I noticed during class that Caine was trying to catch me eye, as he knew I went to speak to Drake at lunch. He wanted to know the results, but they weren't exactly successful, so I wasn't exactly rushing over to talk to him once the class ended. We both skipped Maths to go into the woods at the spot I talked to Drake at.
"What do you mean he wants to talk to me" he asked furiously once I finished telling him what had happened. I didn't want to, but there was no way out of telling him, and I couldn't lie, could I?
"Ask him" I replied with an almost equal amount if fury. "I am not a mind-reader, so sorry. I don't have a superpower like you. I don't know what to do"
"I guess you can just talk to me" said a sneering voice in the distance. Drake immerged from the trees, smiling creepily. I shook my head almost perfectly in time with Caine. We had been quite loud walking towards the trees; someone would have time to hide before we came.
"What do you want?" questioned Caine, his voice so cold it was shocking. He seemed calm and confident, because he knew he could take on Drake with just a movement of his hand. Drake would have to move to get to Caine, giving Caine a split second advantage.
"I want…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. I snickered at him. He didn't even know what he wanted from Caine, he just wanted Caine to be afraid of him, but that wasn't going to happen, so now he didn't know what to do.
"I won't bother you Drake, if you don't bother me" Caine said simply, casually. "That is all I want. You may want something different"
Drake shrugged indifferently. "Sure" he muttered. I laughed quickly, one bark of laughter. Caine looked round, half quizzically, half trying not to laugh himself. Drake's eyes narrowed dangerously, anger filling the dull blue.
"I have something I want" he announced, smiling knowingly, looking at me. I gulped, unsure. 'He wouldn't want me, would he?' was what I was thinking. No he didn't. He wanted the opposite.
"Keep your pet slut out of my face" he growled before wondering off deeper into the forest.