CHAPTER 58: Ivy makes her move

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For Ivy, she had always been hidden in Miranda's shadow and the constant need for power angered her enough to start any fight with her. After being kicked out of the cheer squad and utterly humiliated by Miranda, her social status with the others deteriorated.

Most of her friends were Miranda's friends so they spent most of their time with her. The boys felt utterly disgusted by her especially Michael and Owen. They wanted nothing to do with her after the fight she picked with Miranda and the shit she spread. Both the boys kept the peace in the school so to have someone wind Miranda up when she was already bitchy didn't help in any way.

Then she noticed Brielle. Sweet Brielle who was like an angel and the person to carry on Bethany Brevil's legacy. She noticed her popularity and the attention she got from both Michael and Owen. It was like she was protected by them and that showed power and she wanted it all for herself, but she couldn't. Not when she was clearly protected by both the guys. Instead, she allowed herself to be entertained by Miranda torturing her instead, knowing full well what would happen to her after.

Once Miranda was gone, all she had to do was eliminate Brielle. Dispose of her and tarnish her reputation. Some may say she's as bad as Miranda; others say she's worst, but there's one thing to take note of.

No one was going to stop her. She wants everything including Brielle's ex and Michael down at her feet and if that meant lying in the process and sacrificing a few people then she was willing to do all of that. 

She stood there at the window at Owen's house during the rain. The coldness of the house supported the bitterness that came with it as she stared blankly at each raindrop that trailed down the window.

Before Brielle, she was the only girl Owen ever looked at with such vulnerability. He may have only thought of her as a fling, a good time and nothing more, but if that were the case...

...why did he keep running back to her? Then she realised it was because she had that comfort he needed. He would beg for her to be around and he'd degrade himself to do so. Anyone would think how pathetic he looked grovelling and begging like his life depended on it because that wasn't the leader they knew. It was someone weaker and desperate.

"What are you doing here?" a rough voice spoke behind her. She averted her gaze behind her slightly to see Owen with slightly dishevelled hair and eyes groggy with sleep, "I thought I said you can't just come in here whenever you want to."

"No one was apparently in and it was raining. I hope you don't mind," she spoke simply, turning fully around to gaze him up and down and a worried look appeared on her face, "you're a mess, Owe. You need to rest."

"Are you fucking blind or something? There's a gang war going on and you expect me to be resting? I don't have time to relax and rest and you damn well know why." a small cold smirk appeared on her face as she stepped forward towards the guy. She brought him to her chest and ran her hands through his hair, comforting him even if the gesture was anything but comforting.

"I know, that girl really caused a lot of problems for you," she mumbled quietly, the smirk on her face broadening as he nodded, "was she that selfish that she couldn't even imagine how you'd feel? I thought she loved you."

"She might've. She might not have and of course, she didn't think how I felt. She probably didn't give a shit," he snapped, pulling back and staring down at Ivy. One down, one to go, she thought. Now that Owen was at her feet, all that was left was for her to claim what she truly wanted. Thinking about it the day before, she had changed her mind about getting Michael because she knew that with how loyal he was with Brielle, there was no chance he would ever fall for her plan. Also, because it seemed like a waste of time to her.

"Shh, don't stress yourself out anymore. I'll make you some coffee and bring it here, but please, try and take a damn break." Ivy walked past Owen, patting him on the shoulder before making her way into the kitchen. Her hard gaze landed on Jaxon as he sat at the island, typing away on his laptop. Ah, the boy in his big brother's shadow. The same guy who was infatuated with her but never stood a chance against his brother.

Jason's gaze slid up to Ivy who poured some dark coffee into a mug. He never liked Ivy. There was always something about her that caused him to feel suspicious of her. He's seen some crazy power hungry girls in his school before, but none were like Ivy. She was worst than Miranda and the fact that Owen still kept her around even after three years is weird. He knew his brother thought of her as definitely 'just a girl' and that was it yet she always manages to slither her way back into his life.

"Why are you here again?" he asked, his voice firm and cold with suspicion lacing every letter of every word, "do you seriously have no respect for anyone but yourself around here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she spoke calmly, but inside she knew it was sibling protectiveness. He knew she was a bitch and that there wasn't a single ounce of niceness in her. Her chest heaved heavily as the anger in her quickly rose due to the stubborn brother always getting up in her business, "Owen needs support so I'm offering it. If you wanted to do what was best for him, you'd allow me to see him."

Jaxon jaw clenched tightly, hands forming into fists as he slammed his pen down on the table and stood up abruptly. The stool created a scraping sound that echoed through the house he glared down at the girl. Ivy stood there for a second in sheer shock before she covered the look over with a menacing glare.

"But I know you're not what's best for him. Brielle was best for him and you fucking ruined his relationship with her by feeding shit to my brother's face." Jax paused, his voice threateningly quiet as he sneered slightly, "don't even tell me you didn't because I know what kind of person you are. Typical, you just can't keep to yourself, can you? He may have needed you then, but he certainly doesn't need you now and you damn well know my aunt and uncle don't want you in the house."

"Oh, Jaxon, you were always the dumb one, weren't you? I could've gone after you if you weren't so thick in the head and jealous of your brother," she spat at him before spinning on her heel and heading towards the kitchen door, "I was humiliated by you lot before, but that's going to change. Brielle never deserved to be liked by anyone nor did she deserve to be with Owen. Simple. Remember who he always went running back to. Oh yeah, me."

"Brielle never did anything to you." Jaxon's voice was fierce in the silence as Ivy let out a sharp laugh, humourless and filled with fake emotion. He walked over to her and grasped onto her arm tightly. She stumbled back and tried to yank her arm away from Jaxon's harsh grip.

"Let go of me," she spat at him, teeth seething as he pulled her closer. Her voice came out quiet so only Jaxon would hear, "who cares? I'm done being reminded of the shit I did three years ago. In this kind of life, you have to care for yourself instead of others to survive. It's just unfortunate that Brielle's the obstacle getting in my way."

She wrenched her arm away from his grip before turning and walking off to the office. He knew he couldn't persuade his brother to get rid of that girl because she was right about one thing. She was one of the only girls who could ever offer Owen comfort when he needed it and like some selfish person, he'd tolerate her in order to get it.

Jaxon ran a hand through his locks of hair, tugging gently at the strands as he growled lowly below his breath. He only shook his head quickly, trying to control his anger towards the girl in case he does something he'll later regret. Before anyone could interrupt his work, he grabbed his laptop and notes, stuffing them into his bag before slinging it over his shoulder.

He couldn't bear to be in the same house as those two again, not after her brother hurt Brielle the way he did and especially when Ivy was around. She was like the stain you couldn't remove from your favourite top, frustrating to be around and difficult to get rid of. The two brothers haven't had a conversation since Owen broke it off with Brielle and dinner times had become more lonely.

Kiara was stubborn and even if she had no say in it, she thought her nephew's reasoning for breaking up with Brielle was rather panicked and lacked thought. She came home an hour later than dinner and stayed with Jaxon to have dinner whereas Coco and Alfonso had dinner with Owen. It wasn't the same anymore though because Coco hardly stayed around Owen. She had dinner and left immediately after.

Owen made no fuss from it and carried on with his usual day, but Jaxon knew his brother was stressing out about the gang war. There was no excuse that he could come up with. The work was piling up and there were barely any people around to help out. Jaxon spent most of his time at the facility checking CCTV footage for anything happening whereas Coco was with her mother the majority of the time.

In other terms, he was alone. Apart from Ivy being with him, he didn't talk to his brother or cousin because of work and how busy they all were and dinner was the only time they could talk to each other.

That didn't make Jaxon feel any amount of guilt. Owen put himself in that position and even though he wanted to help him out, he just couldn't. Every time he went to help him, Ivy was glued to his side and he despised that girl more than anyone he's ever hated. Instead, he would finish his work at Brielle's house, away from any drama with the people in his household.

He was there again that day and refused to get in the way of Brielle's work and her time with her mother. Sat on a stool in their kitchen or in the attic, he'd keep himself preoccupied until it was nearly dinner time. Sometimes Brielle came up, insisting on not icing him out like that because he was a guest in their home. He preferred if he was left alone so he wouldn't be a distraction to Brielle.

Layla was rather fond of Jaxon and enjoyed his visits despite the circumstances. She would always have a mug of hot cocoa at the ready for him as soon as he walked through the door and sometimes is referred to as a 'stray cat looking for food'. Jaxon's mind wondered and sometimes wished he could just be adopted by Brielle's mother for the sake of her hot cocoa.

"Brielle, can't your mother just adopt me already?" he whined as lifted his head up from Brielle's pillow. He was lying face down upon her bed and working on his chemistry work. Brielle released a snicker in response before turning in her chair to look at Jaxon with his puppy eyes.

"No, I don't think I'd cope with having you as my brother," she responded before turning back to face her laptop, her back to Jaxon as he groaned in frustration, "plus, you already have a brother, remember? Owen? Your twin? Three minutes older than you?"

"Actually, he's three minutes and forty seven seconds older than me and sorry, who? Last time I checked, Owen Bowers was a myth to me," he spoke dismissively as he disregarded his brother. Obviously he was joking, but Brielle thought it was a rather odd time to be joking about this.

"Jaxon..." she muttered, placing her pen down upon her desk and spinning her chair around. Her eyes landed firmly on Jaxon's as he glared at her in mock stubbornness. Brielle knew that Jaxon and his brother got into petty fights and dealt with petty consequences of ignoring each other's existence until one of them grovelled to the other. This was just another one in a long chain worth of petty arguments. They would make up again because they always did. Their matching blood, shared looks and the fact their parents were watching over them made them realise they could never be pulled apart.

"No, I'm being serious Brielle—"

"So am I. Don't let what happened between me and him affect your friendship with him. He's been there for you since you were born so you can't just shut him out like that." she never ever wanted her problems to get in the way of her friends' personal issues. Even if it hurt her, she'd prefer to make sure her friends were happy.

"Oh, so it's not like he did the same thing to you too," he snapped back with sass, snapping his fingers in a zigzag pattern. Brielle groaned in annoyance before rolling her eyes, knowing full well this was going to be a difficult task.

"Jaxon, be the bigger man. Maybe one day, you'll be way taller than him because you've decided to be mature."

"Hey, I am mature and I am being the bigger man. I'm standing up to him because he's a dumbass who's scared of feeling emotions and hurts girls because he doesn't know anything else."

Brielle simply turned back around in her chair and continued to work, but Jax wasn't going to let the situation slide so easily. He reached for his phone and began texting Brielle from it as he knew she was ignoring him on purpose.

Oh, Jaxon.

He really couldn't forgive his brother even if you offered him all the sugary food in the world. I knew he was stubborn, but this was unbelievable.

I decided it was easier to ignore him so that's what I did. I was continuing on this essay I had to get in by Friday. My physics teacher is the only teacher who sent me work to do over Christmas and that could be because he hates my class. We were loud and some of the boys lost focus way too easily. Not only that but we drove him insane.

As I typed away on my laptop, my phone kept buzzing so I turned it on silent, hoping it would shut the fuck up. Every time I'm trying to work and I check my phone, I leave work for a few hours and do nothing but scroll through every app I have.

My screen lit up a few times and as my gaze flickered to the texts I got, I paused and furrowed my brows together to see they were from Jaxon.

Jax: stop ignoring me
Jax: turn around
Jax: Brielle I swear to motherfucking Christ turn your fucking chair around or I'll hit you with my notebook

I rolled my eyes, grabbing my phone and succumbing to the temptations awaiting me. As I read the texts Jaxon sent me, I typed back quickly. It wasn't obvious, but I could feel his eyes digging into my back as he probably glared holes through me.

What's wrong with u?? :me
Do u need attention or something because u're annoying me :me

Jax: like I said he doesn't know real emotions.
Jax: eMoTiOnS

Huh, u think u know everything :me

Jax: that's because I do and he's my brother

Thought he was a myth to u :me

Jax: ThOuGhT hE WaS a MyTh tO YoU

U sound so stupid shut up : me

Jax: I'm being dead serious. I bet you two will get back together by April. Bets.

Wow I thought u were joking but now I know u're mentally delusional :me

Jax: all we have to do is get rid of Ivy

U get rid of her if u want to stoopid :me

Jax: maybe I will
Jax: maybe I won't
Jax: you'll never know

I paused, turning around in my chair to see him smiling at his screen. He better be damn joking because I don't want to be involved in another battle with a girl whose intelligence is a quarter of the size of their eye.

"Oi, stop," I snapped and he looked up suddenly before shaking his head, "I mean it. Leave them alone."

"Come on, B. Wouldn't you like some revenge every once in a while? You may not know Ivy too well, but the fact she came back into your ex's life as quickly as you left is pretty suspicious," he explained, rolling his eyes before turning to lie on his back.

"I don't know her well enough to see whether she's a good person or not—actually, I don't need to because I already know she's a bitch." I've seen many girls like her and to be honest, sometimes I acted like her, but anyone would be dumb to not know she was a bitch.

"Exactly, what's stopping you?" he asked as I stared back at him before shaking my head. No, two wrongs don't make a right even if that jealous over sensitive side of me thinks otherwise, "plus, if you don't stop her, she'll take your place in the hierarchy. She'll take your crown—"

"What is this? Some cliche high school movie?" I snorted as he lifted his head and turned slightly to glare at me, "look, Jaxon, I don't care about my popularity."

"You do realise you're the only person who can keep the school together. We all went insane with hating each other when Miranda was around and we definitely don't need someone like her back in school. Someone who's as crazy for power as she is—well, she's someone to look out for. Trust me, Brie, she'll take everything you have even if it means beating you up in the process."

I paused at his words. His voice had gone low and grim like a warning and alarm bells went off in my head. Last time someone ever lay a finger on me in disrespect was Miranda. I could never forget that day, but now it might happen again due to Ivy.

Ugh, can't I ever get a break around here?

Ivy was definitely crazy but also calculating. She has a plan up her sleeve that no ones knows of yet, but I guarantee that when we return to school, she would've put her plan into action.

Back at the house, Ivy helped Owen with as much work as she could do without getting distracted by him. She was too busy thinking about her plans to take over SVA and knew that treading carefully was her main priority. Owen could easily kick her out as quickly as he got her to return in his life.

Michael was what's difficult. He fucking despised her, look down on her as if he lacked respect for her and it made her feel foolish. People say he'd changed; he was older and more mature, but she knew it had nothing to do with age. He used to have respect for her and then as the