Obsession (Dangerous Love #1)

CHAPTER 11

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FAMILY PROJECTS

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Every pair of eyes in the room turned towards us.

Oh, devil take me!

I looked at Harris, peered at him with lucid eyes, and I realized what he was talking about. His lips were red and slightly swollen, and my nails had marked his neck, while some of the abrasions looked like real wounds. If he looked like that, I didn’t even want to think about what I looked like. I started chewing on my lips and felt how sensitive and inflamed they were.

He smiled, with the guilt of the world’s biggest whore, completely unaffected. All the while, my body was catching fire – parts I didn’t know could burn, were burning.

Jay whistled and Violet started laughing, then winked at me.

At that moment, I wanted to be buried.

My brain started to stabilize, and I finally began to realize what the fuck had happened in that bathroom. I could only move forward, because turning back time wasn’t an option, and praying wouldn’t magically heal the bites on my skin.

When I looked at our teacher, it was pretty clear that she knew what had happened too. She seemed… embarrassed.

Maybe I wasn’t such a magnet for trouble after all, or maybe it was Harris’ fault for getting caught up in the madness with me. I imagined how our geography teacher, whose name I’d forgotten, would have sent us straight to the principal.

“We’re sorry it took so long, Miss Ghelager,” he spoke again in that sweet, deceptive tone of voice – the whisper of a glorious demon.

I had no idea what was going through our teacher’s mind, but I think it was about Harris’ naked body. In other circumstances, I would have laughed.

She shook her head slightly, then nodded.

“No problem, please take your seats.”

Harris looked at me and made a gesture that made my hormones surge. He bit the tip of his tongue and winked at me.

In the name of all things holy, he was going to send us both to detention.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my desk. I didn’t protest because I wasn’t sure I could move on my own.

I noticed the reactions of the others. His friends were all grinning like little devils and seemed to know everything that had happened in the bathroom, and my friends were shocked, to say the least.

Amber was by far the most interesting picture, so angry that she couldn’t even find the smartass remarks from earlier.

I sat at my desk and turned my back on everyone, problems for later. Harris did another shocking thing when he stood at the desk next to me and gestured for the boy sitting there to move. He only looked up briefly, then took up his notebooks and moved away. I wasn’t surprised, the poor guy barely reached Harris’ chest and the chair was probably heavier than him. I would have done the same as him.

Harris sat down and looked at the teacher with comical curiosity, and I refrained from laughing. I didn’t know if he was doing it to sit next to me so he could torment me with his looks, or because he didn’t want to sit next to Amber, who was probably imagining herself stabbing him with the pen. Pretty sure she wanted to throw me out the window.

“Okay, class, now that we’re all present, I’ll show you the surprise I was talking about earlier.”

She leaned on the edge of her desk, which was in front of us. In front of Harris, who was once again sitting in that far too relaxed position. Poor Miss Ghelager, I almost felt sorry for her. She was struggling not to look at him. Had she succumbed to his charms more than she wanted to admit? I wouldn’t be surprised; she was young and seemed easy to manipulate.

I was shocked at how much the thought suddenly annoyed me.

Then I finally noticed the boxes in front of the class. Lots of them, with strange pictures on them. They seemed to be… babies.

“We have a new project that I am personally very excited about.”

Her smile as she said that didn’t sit well with me.

“It’s about how families come about in this new generation. Young people these days, yes, I’m talking about you, are becoming more and more rebellious, unconscious even, and while some are seriously thinking about starting a family, they have no idea how. And so, these babies end up with unprepared parents who have no idea where the diaper belongs.”

It was the kind of explanation where you didn’t know whether to laugh or freeze in fear. The eyes in the room widened, and I propped my forehead in my palm as she opened a box and pulled out a doll the shape and size of a real baby.

“I want to study your behavior in the face of such responsibility.”

Jay burst out laughing hysterically, almost making me wince in shock.

“Oh, come on, you’re not serious, are you?” he continued to laugh.

“I’m dead serious, Jay,” she replied with a grin. “So, boy or girl?”

Spikey looked at her, fear in his eyes as he swallowed.

I looked at Harris, who had a small, amused smile on his lips and was sitting comfortably in his chair, arms folded in front of his chest, like a spectator.

“These are your babies for a week,” she explained cheerfully, pulling out the rest of the dolls.

Some were dressed in pink, the others in blue, probably to differentiate between boys and girls. The whole thing made me forget what had happened just five minutes earlier.

“And I have another surprise for you,” she continued, taking a sheet of paper from her desk.

“Really? Do we have to wear fake bellies now, or what?” Violet got indignant and everyone started laughing.

“Wouldn’t be a bad idea,” the teacher seemed to think, amused.

“Wait a minute, there’s one more important step before the belly and the babies,” Jay butted in, very seriously, making me choke with laughter.

Even Harris was laughing. God, he was beautiful when he laughed. The demon seemed to have been replaced by an angel. Or the perfect combination of both, and I was starting to feel overwhelmed by him again.

“Consider that yours was brought by the stork,” our teacher interrupted him.

Spikey let out a disappointed sigh.

“Okay, now we’ll get to know our families, shall we?” she grinned with the paper in her hand.

“You mean we’re working in pairs?” Kristen asked anxiously.

“Oh yes, a child must have a mother and a father, chosen by me of course.”

We were all silent. Oh, God, this couldn’t end well.

“I’m pretty sure marriage doesn’t work that way, Miss Ghelager,” commented Violet, and we all agreed with her, but the teacher ignored us and continued to read:

“Stewart with Meyer, Green with Solton…” She kept calling out the pairs by our last names, and no one seemed happy with their partner, and disapproving sighs rang around the room.

I bit my lip as I anxiously waited to hear my name called.

“Ventura with Danice,” as soon as she said that two chairs creaked on the floor.

“What?!” Kristen and Jay both cried out and stood up.

“Miss Ghelager, no offense, but are you out of your mind?” Kristen asked angrily. “In what world ruled by aliens with spikes instead of brains would I ever start a family with this guy?”

I started laughing again.

“What can I say, in the same world where you’d be able to satisfy a man,” replied Jay irritably.

Kristen let out an angry breath and threw herself at Jay. Her gesture surprised me, and I couldn’t stop laughing, then I noticed Harris’s gaze set on me, and I pinched my mouth shut. His smile was staggering.

“There’s no point in arguing, the pairs will stay as I’ve named them,” the teacher spoke, even though she couldn’t suppress her laughter, while Jay and Kristen were about to come to blows.

“Then if you will excuse us, I have to calm my pretend wife down,” Jay resigned from under Kristen.

V laughed too, even though Jay was her boyfriend. I saw them kiss a couple times. Jay grabbed Kristen by the waist and locked her in place, giving her a menacing look.

“Does this mean I’m your mistress from now on?” V continued to laugh.

Jay wiggled his eyebrows obscenely and Kristen pretended to throw up.

“Bolton with Brown, Sherman with Hale, Stone with Wrise…”

My face fell to the floor, but I still had a chance to escape.

“Which Wrise?!” I asked quickly, interrupting the teacher, and I noticed Harris’ curious look.

“Hmm…” the teacher looked at the paper in confusion. “Oh, right, there are two Wrises. So, John Dubber with Amber Wrise and Harris Stone with Katherine Wrise,” she seemed to disagree as she read, for God knows what reason. “I could have sworn I had a Wrise with Ruxon,” she whispered, frowning.

Harris gave Ty a quick glance, who in turn blinked back.

A knot tightened in my throat and a vein threatened to burst in my neck. I ran my hands through my hair and noticed Harris’ devilish grin.

“Miss Ghelager, please, it can’t be. Harris is my boyfriend, please, switch the pairs.”

I lifted my head and turned to Amber, who seemed to have finally found her voice again.

V was the first to laugh.

“Girl, wake up! Those two probably laid the groundwork for the baby earlier, sit the fuck down.”

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t stifle my laughter.

“Exactly. Harris’ baby won’t be brought by the stork,” Jay commented, too, and I vacillated between amusement and shame as I had no idea how to react.

Harris smiled like a charlatan as he looked at me, and then I realized that this situation was going to destroy us even more. Me, to be precise.

I had given in madly earlier, and I already felt guilty about it. The last thing I needed was Harris’ presence around me as the father of my fake baby.

Amber was right. She was right to hate me, to insult me. I was the only bitch in this scenario. In her place, I would have reacted much worse.

“I agree with her, Miss Ghelager,” I heard myself say.

The teacher looked at me, confused.

“Do you want to swap too?”

All our protests seemed to tire her out.

“Yes, I think…”

“No,” Harris interrupted, speaking up for the first time.

The whole class was suddenly silent.

“The pairs will stay as they are,” his voice turned serious, and he looked at me, a shadow of frustration crossing his face.

I gritted my teeth.

“Just like I said.”

The teacher agreed with him and continued to read the names on the paper.

I gave him an angry look, but mine couldn’t even compare to the one Amber gave him. Now she couldn’t be mad at me anymore, I tried to side with her.

Harris pretended to pay attention to the teacher so he could ignore us both. There were equal numbers of boys and girls in our class, ideal for silly projects like this. One gay girl was outraged and said she would never start a family with a boy, and it wasn’t fair that she had to take part in the project, but she had no one to swap with. I would have chosen her over Harris any day, but he looked at me like he would kill my partner if I dared to leave him.

“Now that we have our families, it’s time for our moms and dads to receive their babies,” she giggled enthusiastically, offering each of the couples a doll.

I smacked my forehead.

“Boy or girl, Katherine?” I lifted my head and saw she was holding two dolls.

“Boy,” Harris answered before I could.

“Boy it is,” she smiled and handed me a doll dressed in blue.

I wanted to argue, but the teacher had already gone to the next desk, so I gave up on the idea. I did not care; I just didn’t like him getting everything he wanted.

“Alright, now that you all have your babies, I want you to listen carefully and sit down in pairs like I named you.”

I didn’t need to blink until I felt Harris next to me.

He didn’t have a chair, but stood tall, huge, and defiant, so I stood up too, just like all the other girls.

“Don’t worry, ours will be more beautiful than this one,” Harris whispered in my ear, sending goosebumps down my arms. “By the way, I only asked for a boy to punish you for trying to replace me with another guy.”

He continued with his teasing whisper, and I gave him a sour look, but he just smiled sweetly.

“How do you know I didn’t want a boy too?”

“Eh, then I made you happy.”

I frowned and he continued to grin like a damn innocent, but I already knew him too well.

“I was on the verge of replacing you with another girl too,” I whispered back, just to make him angry.

He grinned devilishly and leaned close to my ear, even though he was looking at the teacher.

“I don’t mind so much if you let me watch. I’m curious to see if Hannah can make you moan like I can…”

I elbowed him in the stomach to stop his filthy words. He didn’t even flinch, the asshole, because he was tense and ready to be attacked. I felt like I’d hit a rock.

He giggled next to my ear.

The teacher caught our attention again.

“OK, on the back of each doll you will find a device. I want you to open the lid and do exactly as I say.”

Harris took the doll before I could reach for it and opened its clothes and the lid, which I could barely notice because it was the same color as its skin.

We both looked at the inside of the baby in amazement, it was full of circuits and wires.

The teacher went to her desk and looked at the computer.

“At the bottom you can see two black squares. I want each of the pairs, one at a time, to put their fingerprint on the indicated square.”

“Mommy first,” Harris whispered and handed me the doll.

I looked at it a little apprehensively, but eventually put my finger on the square under “Mommy”, not knowing what that meant. Harris did the same and pressed his slightly too big finger on the “Daddy” box.

“This is some next level IVF,” V said, and the whole room burst out laughing again.

I was laughing so hard I didn’t even realize I was leaning my head against Harris’ shoulder.

He laughed too and looked at me, and I immediately straightened up, biting my lip, and looking at the doll. His body next to mine was pure electricity.

“Did everyone leave their fingerprints?”

We all nodded, a little unsure of what would happen next.

The teacher smiled as she continued typing on her computer, and Harris turned the doll towards us after closing the lid.

“And right now… your babies are alive.”

I winced as the toy baby instantly opened its eyes. It had green eyes.

Harris smiled and looked at the doll, fascinated and amused at the same time.

“Wow, that was the fastest birth I have ever seen,” Jay blurted out in amusement, making everyone laugh again.

“Like you’ve ever seen a birth,” retorted Kristen, and Jay’s nostrils flared.

“You have no idea what I do in my spare time.”

“This baby is going to have a lunatic for a father,” Kristen sighed.

“Wait a minute, my baby has green eyes, I don’t have green eyes! Who did you cheat on me with?” Ty suddenly became indignant and growled at his partner.

“They all have green eyes,” the teacher laughed. “If it doesn’t look like any of you, then that’s life.”

Harris smiled. His eyes were anything but green; contact lenses wearing demon. Or maybe they were actually green…

I was already absorbed in looking at him and thinking about it when the teacher spoke again.

“Each doll has a device that recognizes your fingerprints. They are not ordinary toys and they cost a lot of money, so be careful with them. They need food, sleep, and affection. You will feed them water from a baby bottle. The type of food doesn’t matter, your care to offer it does. Of course, you’ll also have to change their diapers. After a while, they will excrete the water you gave them, but it will be mixed with a substance that gives off a special smell, so don’t think about leaving them wet,” she grinned at us, whereupon most of us slapped a palm on our heads. “Every time they need something, the babies will scream and will not stop crying until you give them what they want, which you will have to find out for yourself. If they are not quiet after you have changed them and fed them, that means they need one of the parents, so the teams need to spend a lot of time together during this project because if the baby needs the father, he will not be quiet until his finger presses the box you have pressed to start. The same goes for the mother.”

My mouth fell open in shock. What was next? Buying a house together? Protests broke out in the classroom.

“Don’t even think about uninstalling them, they all have a program that I religiously control on the computer. All your actions are recorded and the time it takes you to stop the baby from crying. Pay special attention to the project because it makes up three quarters of your final grade this semester.”

“What happens if it cries at night and needs one of us?” one girl asked, voicing our fears. We all agreed with her.

“They won’t cry at night if you look after them well during the day. You should take turns looking after them at night.”

“So, they might cry during our other classes? What are we supposed to do?” another boy asked bitterly.

The teacher stopped in front of us, far too calm, a smile on her face.

“It’s scary, isn’t it? It seems impossible, and you have only had them for a few minutes. That’s the idea of the project, so that young people can understand the real consequences of such carelessness. There are a worrying number of parents who haven’t even finished school yet. It’s only a week for you, but I know you will learn something from it. You are not the only class, and we are not the only school supporting this project.”

The bell rang and made us all jump to our feet.

“Take them everywhere, you never know when they will start crying, they don’t have a schedule so don’t try to time it. All your teachers have been told about the project, so they will understand. There is a box on my desk with the bottles and diaper packets, take one of each and I will see you next time. Good luck, moms, and dads,” she said before she left the class, and we were left with these crazy things in our arms.

“Dude, that’s the dumbest thing I have ever seen,” Jay was indignant and threw the doll on the table.

It immediately started crying, and the sound was so sharp and strong that we were all startled. It was louder than any of us had expected.

“Well done, you prickly idiot. Go and get the bottle.” Ordered Kristen like a true authoritarian wife, and the blond wrinkled his nose.

The whole class was terribly upset. Zac was with Violet, and they weren’t getting along either. Candice was with Chris, maybe their baby would survive.

Harris and I looked at the baby and then back at each other. Amber’s gaze burned us both.

“Good luck, freak. I feel sorry for your baby; if you’re anything like your mom, it’ll end up in the trash, poor thing.”

I could feel the rage growing dangerously fast, and I wanted to lunge at her, but Harris’s arms stopped me as he wrapped them around my waist.

She was moving into dangerous territory, and I wasn’t going to forgive her as easily as I used to.

I looked at him angrily, and he looked at Amber and frowned. How the fuck did she know anything about my mom?

“Let go of me,” I growled softly, glaring at Amber with all the hatred I was capable of.

“Shh,” he cooed, breathing warmth into my ear, “not in front of the baby, you can kill her later.”

Harris kissed me on the cheek, close to my jaw, and hugged me tighter. I couldn’t believe it, but it calmed me down a little, and Amber burst with anger when she saw her boyfriend holding me. This was an even bigger revenge than pulling out all her hair.

I had just said that she was right and had actually wanted to end things with Harris earlier. That was before she’d brought my mother into it. This animosity between us was now official and active.

I turned to Harris and cupped his cheek in my palm, then stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. My reaction surprised him, and he froze for a few seconds, but then he responded. I didn’t know if it was just the satisfaction of destroying Amber, but that kiss set off sparks of ecstasy under my skin.

I slowly pulled back from his lips and saw him frown, probably realizing why I was doing this and not wanting to be used as a weapon, but alas, he went for it.

I bit my lip and turned to Amber, but I was surprised to see that she was no longer in the class. How long had our kiss lasted?

Those who were still in the class looked at us aghast. Candice’s mouth was so open that her jaw probably hurt. My gaze flitted to Harris in a flash. His face had changed from annoyed to happy, in a cheeky sort of way.

“Oh… I wanted to be the first to kiss you in public,” he whispered mischievously, taking my chin between his fingers.

I swallowed.

“Harris!”

Ty’s voice echoed through the class. Harris looked at his friend over my head.

“The redhead,” he added, and Harris’s face turned serious.

I looked at Ty as well, V and Jay were already standing next to him, ready to walk out.

Harris leaned over my face again and grabbed my chin to make me look at him. I had to get used to him because every time I peered into his eyes; my knees got weak.

“I’ll see you later, love. Take care of our baby,” he whispered, smiling, a little guardedly.

Something was bothering him. Who the hell was this redhead?

Before I could say anything, he leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead.

They lingered on my skin for a few seconds, sending an unfamiliar warmth coursing through my veins, just like the first time he had done it. When he pulled back, he let go of my waist and walked past me, and I was left in the cold air that his absence brought.

I turned around at the last second to see him leaving with his friends.

An uneasy feeling spread through me, and I didn’t like that it included him.

Kristen scolded Jay for leaving her alone with the doll. Mine was now lying on the desk and wasn’t making a sound at the moment. I took it in my arms and looked at it, still thinking about Harris.

“You, missy, have some explaining to do.”

I flinched when I heard Kristen next to me and looked for an escape route, but the others were already around me, forming a shield I couldn’t get past.

It was going to be a bad day, and almost as if to prove my point, my doll started to cry.

***

Our Spanish class was the most relaxed of the day. Maybe because it was the last one, but I liked the language too. I focused on school and was active throughout the day, but not because I was desperate to get on with my studies.

While I was concentrating on classes, I forgot a little about the one person I had been thinking about the most. Not thinking about Harris proved to be more difficult than I thought.

Every time I managed to forget him, he would flash back into my mind, like a powerful light bulb that only glows in the dark.

It was as if I constantly had a reflective plaque in front of my eyes that read:

“ THINK ABOUT HIM !”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out from under the desk, trying not to attract the teacher’s attention.

It was a message from the annoying “light bulb”.

Harris:

How’s our baby?

I gritted my teeth and kicked my bag where the noisy doll was hiding. It had made my day a living hell. I mumbled as I typed a reply.

Me:

Just like you; it drives me crazy.

I can’t believe you left me alone with this

howling thing so you could go

to that red-haired whore.

Harris:

This one isn’t anything like me, wait for the real one.

Are you jealous, baby?

I’m sorry, but I can’t help myself,

I have to have this redhead.

I was taken aback by his text.

Of course he had to have her. He had to have them all. Including me.

I started mumbling and shoved the phone in my pocket without answering further. A voice in my head kept telling me to stay away from this boy, because he wasn’t what he seemed, and it was all just a game to him. A game that would bring me nothing but trouble and suffering, but I was incapable of listening.