Breaking Down (The Breaking Series) Read online

  BREAKING DOWN

  CALISTA SMITH

  THE BREAKING SERIES

  BOOK 1

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright © 2014 Calista Smith All Rights Reserved.

  Cover art Design: Shoutlines Design, Rachel Mizer

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the owner. Excerpts for reviews, only when stated and quoted as such, are an exception.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, are entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION:

  I dedicate this to the five craziest, loveliest, absolutely amazing people in my life. My rock, my love, my very bestest friend in the whole wide world, and my four favorite little cheerleaders. You are my motivators. The ones who inspire me to be better than I ever imagined I could be. The ones with the wildest shenanigans, who know just how to put a smile on my face. You’ll never know just how much you mean to me. You could never understand the love I have for all of you. You are my heart. And I am forever grateful God blessed me with such an incredible bunch of lovies. I’m a truly blessed woman!

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  About The Author

  Acknowledgements

  Playlist

  PROLOGUE

  I remember watching as Lori would sit at his desk in her short shorts, or miniskirts. She was known for being a flirt. Heck, she was known for more than that. I remember seeing his hand graze her thigh and thinking that must’ve been an accident because he’s a teacher. I would roll my eyes and look away because, well, it was gross. But he knew that, he had to. He would never really fall for her ridiculous come-ons. She was a teenager and he was a grown man; a married man.

  Mr. Lance was tall and muscular. He was the assistant football coach and he was also our history teacher. It was hard not to notice him. He was funny. Always laughing and cracking jokes. The man was obviously handsome with his piercing blue eyes, dark curly hair and flawless olive skin. Everyone loved him.

  I was a freshman. I remember all the girls staring at him in class, including me. They would make dirty jokes and I swear sometimes he must’ve heard them because he would be sitting at his desk in the front of the class and he’d get this smirk on his face.

  It was at the end of my first semester when he approached me. I’d been complaining to my friends about the new elective on my schedule and he overheard. Long story short, he asked me to be his T.A. and I was over the moon about it.

  At night I would dream of what it would be like to kiss him. I told Nat all about him. She would laugh and make jokes about me being hot for teacher. Malachi hated him; but then again he was flunking that class. Not me, I had an A.

  One Friday towards the end of the year, Mr. Lance asked me to come and grade papers for him on Saturday. He had Saturday school that weekend with a few students who had broken the rules throughout the week, so I agreed. That particular Saturday was hot, so I made sure to dress appropriately and bring lots of water and carrot sticks with ranch, for a snack. The entire time he sat at his desk on his phone. I sat across from him in a desk grading papers. Occasionally he would look up and ask if I needed anything. I would smile and say no. He didn’t make me nervous at all, but I was a little giddy whenever he would talk to me. I was fifteen.

  Fast forward to junior year. Malachi ran to me in the morning just before class, his eyes wide. I remember looking at him like he was a freak and asking what his problem was. That’s when I noticed people laughing and staring at me. I looked at the phone in Malachi’s hand and pulled it from him. There were pictures.

  I had a carrot in my mouth and ranch on my lip. I was looking up at the camera with a stupid smile on my face and the whole thing looked really seductive. In another you could see my panties. I was wearing a dress and my legs were open just enough for a crotch shot. There were more but my eyes were blurry with tears and I ran the whole way home before I got a look at them.

  The rest all happened so fast. The school caught wind of the texts and upon further investigation found the website that they had been on. From there, they found out about Mr. Lance and discovered he’d been involved with other students who all confessed after being confronted. He was fired and arrested. I was yanked out of school soon after and finished up my junior year at home, but not before I was tortured and bullied first. I never reported it. The whole thing was embarrassing enough. I just wanted it over. Everyone accused me of having sex with him; everyone but Malachi. Even the administrators and the investigators thought I was holding out. Apparently I was the only one who was in the pictures who hadn’t had sex with him. No one believed me. My own parent’s grilled me over and over about it. I lost all my friends but one— Malachi.

  My parents started fighting all the time. Dad spent all his time at work. My whole world fell apart. I hated having to face it all. I hated that no one but Malachi believed me. I hated the guilt I felt for finding Mr. Lance attractive. How was I supposed to know he was a pervert? I hated myself for not knowing. I hated myself for ruining so many lives. All in all I hated myself.

  I tried to die. It didn’t work. That weekend I confessed everything to Nat. We both cried. She made me promise that I wouldn’t do it again. We didn’t believe in swearing to God, it felt blasphemous to us. So she grabbed her favorite teddy bear, the one her grandma made her before she passed away, and made me swear to bears I would never try to kill myself again.

  CHAPTER 1

  Natalia didn’t have to beg me to come along. My best friend and I are attached at the hip. When she mentioned going over to Aiden’s house this afternoon, neither of us second guessed whether or not I’d be tagging along. Nat and Aiden have been dating for quite some time now. Not that the honeymoon is over or anything, but they’re fine with me being the usually dreaded third wheel.

  We get to his house and it’s beautiful. The two-story home sits in an ideal suburban neighborhood and the décor looks like something straight out of a magazine.

  Nat and Aiden sit on the cushiony couch beside me for only a second before she says, “We’ll be back. We have some things to discuss.” She winks at me and stands up, pulling Aiden up with her and lightly shovi
ng him towards the large staircase, which I could only assume leads to the bedrooms.

  I call out to them over my shoulder, “No worries, I’ll just be sitting here— waiting.” Not awkward or anything. I turn and watch them as they began to climb the stairs.

  Aiden stops abruptly, leaning over the metal railing that looks like tree branches are climbing the length of the stairs. “Yea, help yourself to anything in the fridge. The TVs pretty simple to operate and we have a ton of movies you can watch. Oh, and Dante’s around here somewhere.” He says pushing his dark brown hair out of his face as he stands upright.

  “Dante?” I look at him confused. That’s an odd name for a dog.

  Nat peaks from behind him, “Dante, his best friend. He’s hanging out with us today, too.” A huge smile plays across her lips before they run up the steps, their shoes squeaking on the hardwood flooring. She has some answering to do. She never told me Aiden’s friend was going to be here. No wonder she got me all dressed up and insisted on doing my hair and makeup today. That little sneak!

  Unsure of what to do, I grab the remote and flip through a few channels looking for something interesting to watch. I finally settle on the music channel, as it’s pretty rare they actually play videos and I happen upon one of those rare moments. The song on the video is catchy. I turn it up a bit and began to sing along while swaying to the music.

  A deep male voice seems to come out of nowhere, “I have no idea. She came with Natalia. No, you have nothing to worry about, believe me.” The sarcastic tone of the guy, who I could only assume is Aiden’s best friend Dante, interrupts my groove. He sits on the edge of a recliner, beside the couch I’m sitting on; his body angled towards me.

  I do my best to stare straight ahead, though my nerves tingle with awareness as he looks me over. Does he really have to make this so uncomfortable? Couldn’t he at least wait until he’s off the phone and introduces himself before ogling me? I mean jeez, we don’t even know each other and his eyes might as well be undressing me. I turn the TV down a bit and shift uncomfortably into the couch, wishing there was some way to cover up. I cross my arms in front of my waist, resting them on top of my jeans. Fidgeting some more, I pull some of my long auburn hair forward in an attempt to obscure his view of my cleavage.

  Suddenly it hits me. Sitting here waiting for my best friend, pretending to be distracted by the music video in front of me, I realize exactly who this guy is. Last summer, when I was visiting, I had been introduced to him. The introduction was very brief. In fact, I doubt he’d even remember. Nat brought me with her to a coffee shop to meet some of her friends. He walked in and began to introduce himself to me, but when I went to shake his hand he walked away and left me standing there with my hand hanging in the air. I’d noticed he was breathtaking then, too. Now here I am, embarrassed and rather annoyed again, by this same guy.

  “I don’t know, I’ll ask.” He’s still staring and like he’s bothered, says, “What school do you go to?”

  My head turns partway as I glance to see if he is talking to me. He sticks his neck out and widens his eyes, as though to say ‘Yes, you’ and I turn my head the rest of the way to look at him. Ugh, rude much? I answer him quickly and I think I catch a gleam briefly twinkle across his eyes, when it registers to him that we go to the same school. He rattles off a couple more questions, repeating all of my answers to whoever he’s talking to. His tone sounds like he is completely annoyed with my presence. But whenever I do glance his way, his eyes and killer smile don’t match the annoyance being portrayed to whoever is on the other end of that phone. Really? I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the TV.

  “Ok I love you too, babe, bye.” He quickly hangs up and walks to the couch, smoothly lowering himself down next to me. I can smell his cologne and feel the weight of his stare. My nerves are dancing, so I grab a couple of the lace throw pillows, hugging them to my body and hope that will help hide the quivering feeling I have building. He’s so cute and his proximity to me has my body tingling all over. Jeez, I need to calm down! Clearly he was talking to his girlfriend or something. Why hasn’t he even said hi to me yet? He just keeps checking me out. It’s all a bit unnerving and I consider going to the kitchen to mosey around. Anything to put some space between us, but my body won’t cooperate. I’m frozen to this incredibly comfortable couch and sort of regretting letting Natalia talk me into borrowing her blue v-neck top. Out of nowhere, I suddenly feel him yank away one of the pillows that I’m hanging onto for dear life. I stare at him incredulously.

  He straightens up, his muscles taut beneath his blue t-shirt, “Do you really have to hog all of them?”

  “I’m sorry, I—” Embarrassed, my voice trails off and he immediately launches the pillow right at me. My mouth drops, “What the?” I throw it back at him.

  He quickly grabs another and throws that one at me. We reach for it at the same time and I flinch when I accidentally grab his hand instead, causing a jolt of electricity to vibrate in my hand. Our gazes collide and his luring chocolate brown eyes dance. He grins, gets onto his knees and throws the pillow at me again. I turn towards him as fast as I can and reach for the pillow. This time he grabs my hand, his top lip pulling up on one side as he allows the pillow to drop to the ground and pulls me to him. Before I fully comprehend what’s happening, his hands are on my hips and I’m grasping at his muscular shoulders. I know I should stop. I don’t even know him. I will myself to pull away, but my body misunderstands the command and inches closer. Our breathing growing rapid, he slowly lowers his head closer to mine; his lips a whisper away and his finger tips searing heat into me. I’m staring into his beautiful brown eyes; my teeth holding my bottom lip prisoner. My heart is getting ready to burst through my chest and his lips, oh, my god, those lips! Clearly he has someone in his life, but none of that matters when his lips are this close to mine. He brushes a strand of hair from my face and I lean into his touch. I feel the pull of the spell he’s casting on me, bringing us closer together. As I brace myself for what is about to be my undoing—

  “Hey, you ready to go?” I hear Nat call out as she and Aiden walk down the stairs. I scramble to the opposite end of the couch. He moves without any sense of urgency at all, instead stopping to smooth out his t-shirt and jeans before sitting down again.

  What is wrong with me? Was I seriously about to let that happen? As quick as I can, I grab the pillows off of the floor and rearrange them back onto the couch. I turn in time to see the smile spreading across his face. He’s clearly enjoying how embarrassed I am. I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him, or flip him off.

  Unaware of anything that occurred, Nat kisses her boyfriend goodbye, then turns to me and says, “You ready, girly? Sorry we took so long in there. I hope you weren’t too bored.”

  Before I have a chance to reply, Dante says, “Oh, she didn’t seem bored to me. In fact, she seemed plenty entertained from what I could tell.”

  I nearly choke when he answers her. “No worries, I was fine Nat, thank you. I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

  She gives me a puzzled look, but lets it go. I know she’s going to flip out when I tell her what almost happened. It’s definitely not like me to nearly make out with a stranger, let alone someone who is clearly taken. As I struggle with my feelings of guilt and, let’s be honest, intense lust for this guy, I say a quick goodbye and leave. Resisting the urge to look back, I can’t help but wonder to myself if he’s watching me walk away. Suddenly, I’m completely self-conscious of the way I’m walking. I hastily rush to get in the car and smack my head on my way in. Great, my gracefulness is shining through for me today!

  I’m dreading telling my best friend that I just lost my mind. Natalia keeps peering at me and I know I have to spill the beans, so I woman up, turn down the music and shamefully explain in full detail what happened.

  She shakes her head at me, “He has a girlfriend, you know. She’s pretty. She goes to a different school, though. They’ve been together a long tim
e, but from what Aiden tells me, they’re not exactly exclusive, or at least he’s not. Be careful. He has a bit of a reputation. Steer clear girlfriend, he’s not for you!” Nat says.

  “Call it a lapse in judgment, it won’t happen again. I didn’t even know what was happening. Anyway, she doesn’t need to worry about me. I think his eyes put me in a trance, or his lips. No it was his eyes—”

  “Raquel!” She yells out.

  “Ugh, sorry! See, what the heck is wrong with me?” I giggle.

  “I don’t know but get it together because once school starts, you’re going to be around him a lot more. He’s Aiden’s best friend.” She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she isn’t too annoyed with me. I think she’s more surprised than anything.

  We make our usual left onto Foothill and drive towards my apartment and I glance around. This is where Nat’s lived her whole life. We used to visit here a lot when I was younger. It’s changed a bit since then.

  Realizing neither of us has said anything more I decide to apologize, in case I’ve upset her with my lapse in judgment. “I’m sorry, Natalia—” I began to say, but she immediately cuts me off.

  “Oh please, Raquel. I don’t care.” She turns down the radio, “I mean, I care about you getting hurt but I could care less about what happened. I just want you to be careful, since, like I said, he’s known for that sort of thing. I’m looking out for you. I’m not mad though.” She reassures me.

  “Whew, okay. I didn’t think you were. I just wanted to make sure.” I let out a sigh of relief.

  Her lips curl into a smile, “So, do you regret it or were you disappointed that we interrupted?”

  “Truthfully?”

  “Mm-hmm” She replies.

  “Okay, at first I was totally disappointed. But, now that I look back, thank God you guys interrupted when you did. The last thing I need to do is start the school year off with drama.”

  She laughs, “But if he didn’t have a girlfriend?”