Chapter 90: The Reckless Rebel

I tightened the towel around my body and made sure nobody was outside before taking a few deep, rapid breaths and stepping outside of the window, my foot landing on the rough roof that felt like sandpaper.

*Haaaa I’m fucking out of my fucking mind.*

The slant was steep, making me almost lose my balance. Almost. It wasn’t the first time I had to do something like this to make a quick getaway, and I just needed to remind myself of my roots. This luxurious mansion life was making me soft. Making me forget who I am.

My steps were quick but careful, making sure that my footsteps made little noise across each roof I took. “Fuck.” even my annoyed groan was quiet when I came to a space between the roofs, likely separated by a window beneath them. Running and giving a good leap would’ve been the surefire way to get it done, but, again, I didn’t want to make any notice. Sounding like a crashing train will get me noticed for sure. My only option was to stretch across.

*Curse this tiny BODY!!*

I took pride in my busty, hourglass body, and my short height never gave me much issue. Until now. I had to reach over one hand at a time and then felt stuck. *Ok, so the fuck am I supposed to do now??* It felt like a gamble, but if I wanted to get to the other side, I’d have to kick the rest of my body across to the other side. *Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.* Using all the strength I had, I kicked off from the other side of the roof. I had to use all of my strength because of the little distance I was offered. But the kick only allowed me to get halfway there; one of my knees landed on the rough roof while the other leg’s thigh grazed across the roof. *FUCK!* I quickly hauled my leg up and hoped that nobody saw some random person’s random leg just randomly hanging from above the window.

A hiss of pain slips past my lips when I look down at my scraped thigh. The wood got me good. The cut gave a frustrating trickle of red that kept trying to flow down my leg, and the only thing I had to use was the towel. Fuck it. After wiping off the blood and patting the slash dry until it stopped bleeding, I did my best not to walk with a limp. A simple action like that would make a loud enough stomp that I didn’t want to risk it.

*Almost there. Almost there. Fucker, come on!*

I finally made it to my balcony, but that was the problem. It was a fucking balcony and, like the roof separation from earlier, my balcony was its whole different platform.

*Time to get a little crazier.*

I had no choice. I was going to have to risk the noise of running. Besides, there weren’t any other rooms or important things around my room, so the likelihood of the hallway and other places surrounding my room were empty. The maids knew better than to start poking around my shit without my say-so.

*Alright. Let's do this!*

Before coming to live at this mansion, I thought that doing crazy shit and this feeling in my chest was fun. But now? It just filled me with anxiety and dread. Maybe it's because the difference is me trying my hardest not to get caught. Or worse–caught by Julian. Unfortunately, he wasn’t an idiot.

I took a good few steps backward before sprinting forward, ignoring the pain in my thigh. My balcony was a farther jump, and it was higher than the rest of the rooftops. Screw it. At the edge, I gave another powerful kick and ironically felt like a cat chasing a toy. My hands could snatch the floor and one of the poles from the railing. Good enough. It didn’t take too much effort to climb my way up and toss myself over the railing, landing on my feet with a long ‘thud’, but since it was my room, I didn’t give two shits.

“Phew… fucking hell. Surprised, this towel stayed on me. Would’ve given the gardeners a good view if any were out and about. Yet again… not like there’s a reason.” I sighed while looking at the pile of black bushes where the rose garden used to be. I rambled to myself, out of the relief of not getting caught. That is, until I twisted the doorknob, but it didn’t budge.

*What the fuck?*

I tried to twist it again and even rattled it, but it didn’t budge. Locked.

*You gotta be fucking kidding me! Since when did I start locking the damned balcony door?! ARGH!!!*

Impatient as always, I tried to kick the door open. It gave a loud rattle at first and the rattling got louder with each kick until the splitting sound of glass was heard and the door handle broke. The door swung open and crashed into the nightstand that was next to my chair. Shards of glace were left on the floor from my messy break into my bedroom.

*Oops… at least I’m in–*

My heart skipped a beat when I realized that the only unlocked door was my bedroom door; I hurriedly rushed to it and secured the lock. *Fucking hell, ugh…*

Now back in the safety of my room; I took a wet rag and wiped off the blood properly before smacking on a couple of bandaids. All better.

I threw on some skinny jeans to hide the cut and another one of my tank tops. I didn’t even pay attention to what it looked like. I think it had a rose on it? I fixed myself up for the day to look like nothing happened last night or… this morning, either. What I found still left a sickening feeling in my stomach, not to mention it infuriated me just as much–if not more. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to confront Julian about it at all. It wasn’t about *‘what would he say?’* It’s about *‘what would he do?’

With another loud sigh, I slapped my forehead. “Why do you always keep getting yourself into stupid shitholes, Suki?” The sound of vibrations caught my attention, and I remembered I had left my phone under my pillow last night. *Oh yeah. There’s that thing too.* It felt like all of my problems evaporated as soon as I belly-flopped on my gigantic bed and looked at my lit-up phone. It had a lot of notifications. *Damn. Well, aren’t I popular.* Though it wasn’t like a hundred people were trying to get a hold of me; if that were the case, then I was probably in trouble. Thankfully, it was only my tight circle of friends; the boys asking when I could visit again, Amy telling me how much she misses me, and Jack asking if I was alright. A smile stretched my lips.

I always called myself unlucky, but I’d like to think that I’m pretty damn lucky to have friends like them. I give each of them a response; telling the boys that I’ll see them soon, telling Amy I miss her too and that I’ll see her soon too, and telling Jack that everything is fine and that we should hang out again soon. Along the list, my attention was grabbed by another name that I was beginning to see more often.

*Liam?*

He text was asking me how I was doing today with one of those :) texts.

“Fine. I guess. You?” I left out the part where I found my stepbro took a secret recording of us fucking and how I had to leap across the rooftops like a fucking squirrel.

“I’ve been good but thinking about you a lot lately :3” his cat face text made me cringe as hard as when Julian calls me babe.

“don’t do that -.-" my blunt text received a laughing emoji from him and I grinned. This guy isn’t half bad. My grin faded when I remembered Jack’s warning–that I shouldn’t cheat on Julian and that I can’t break up with him. But how could I not think about breaking up with him? He fucked up again. This time I… it was infuriating that I didn’t have the nerve to approach him about it.

Sure, he’s grabbed me before, but he wouldn’t go farther than that, right?

I wanted to stay in my room a few moments longer to get my emotions back under control and my mind leveled. I knew I’d inevitably run into Julian again and I wanted to at least make a decent lie and… confront him about the camera, too.

I didn’t respond to Liam’s text when he asked to see me again because a knock on my door froze me in place, hesitating to speak.