UNSPOKEN BOND

CHAPTER 1

NOTE TO READERS: THIS BOOK CONTAIN OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND BULLYING WHICH MAY SEEM OFFENSIVE TO READERS. #SayNoToBullying -  IT ALSO CONTAINS S*X SCENES

***CLASSROOM***

"Did you see the way she flinched when Caleb got in her face?" Maddie's words dripped with wicked enjoyment as she took her normal place in the back of the English classroom.

Trent snickered and slumped down alongside her. "Like a scared little rabbit." "You'd think the mute freak would be accustomed to it by now."

Their laughter sliced through the dull roar of student talk, with an edge sharp enough to pierce even the toughest exteriors. Not that their intended target could answer with anything other than a pained expression.

Lila kept her gaze fixed on the blank notebook before her, her hands clutched tightly in her lap to conceal a tiny trembling. She strained to block out the vicious remarks, to build the invisible walls that were her sole defense against the barrage of heartless words.

"Seriously, how does she expect to make it through high school?" Maddie continued, loud enough that Lila couldn't miss the hatred in her tone. "She can't even talk back to defend her freakish self."

A heavy quiet descended over the cluster of desks that surrounded Lila as the other students drew back, instinctively withdrawing themselves from the line of fire. No one dared to intervene in the face of Caleb Matthews' exclusive inner circle's vengeful anger. 

Caleb swaggered into the room, as if called by their stinging remarks, claiming immediate attention and respect. With his crafted looks and easy, contagious charm, the top basketball star could have graced any magazine's cover. 

Trent immediately perked up, his eyes gleaming with an arrogant need for acceptance. "Did you see how we got the mute girl all worked up before class, man? "She looked like she was going to cry."

Caleb's lips twisted into a slow, predatory grin as his gaze fixed on Lila. Even though she didn't look up, she could feel the weight of his gaze burning into her like a white-hot brand. 

"Aw, you didn't make the poor thing weep, did you?" His tone was tinged with fake pity, and each patronizing phrase was like a precisely aimed bullet. "We need to be more considerate of her...limitations."

Laughter spread like a virus throughout the audience as they basked in Caleb's warped charisma. He thrived on creating a captive biosphere of cruelty, with the subtle brushstrokes of a genuine master.

Lila sank into her seat and desperately blinked back the embarrassing prick of tears. Don't show weakness, don't give them satisfaction, she told herself. However, it was like attempting to block a surging flood with her bare hands.

"Well, if it isn't little Ms. Mute," Caleb said, sauntering over to the tower above Lila's huddled body like a sleek leopard toying with its victim.

Unable to leave, she braved a quick glimpse up at her tormentor and was immediately entrapped by the swirling depths of disdain in his chillingly soulless eyes.

"Cat got your tongue, freak?" Caleb taunted with a serpentine hiss. "Or are you just too scared to admit the truth - that you're a worthless, defective waste of—"

The hard crash of a book against the desktop mercifully broke him off as Mrs. Wilkin entered with her signature disapproving look.