The Bad Boy’s Piggy Bank Deal Chapter 1

When I found out the Prom Queen had made a bet to ruin my brother’s chances at college, I made a choice.

I hugged my little piggy bank tight and went to find the town’s most notorious villain—a guy whose family had just gone bankrupt.

"If you can protect my brother," I told him, "I’ll give you my entire allowance. All of it."

Later, when the Prom Queen brought my brother breakfast, the villain spiked it with laxatives. When she asked my brother to a midnight movie, the villain crouched by the wall and unleashed a rabid dog to chase them...

And right before the biggest exam of their lives, when the Prom Queen faked an illness to lure my brother away...

The villain pinned him against the wall and threatened, "If you don't get into an Ivy League, your sister belongs to me!"

My brother: "Wait, what??"

* * *

In the morning, I stood at the school gates, clutching my piggy bank and craning my neck like a turtle, waiting for Shane.

He was the tyrant of Northwood High. And in my dreams, he was the ultimate villain.

Last night, I had a vision.

I dreamed that because my brother, Ethan, got involved with the school’s golden girl, Chloe, his grades tanked. He even got his right hand broken in a fight defending her honor.

On the day of the SATs, he chose to skip the test to save Chloe from a "kidnapping."

But in reality? It was all just a bet Chloe made with her friends to see if she could ruin him.

The guy she actually liked was Jared. Jared was the son of my dad’s new wife, Jolene.

Chloe’s goal was just to make Jared jealous, and to help him by removing my brother—his biggest academic rival—from the scoreboard.

In the dream, after graduation, Chloe and Jared got into Stanford together. They became the internet’s favorite scholar couple.

And my brother? He failed.

People said his past grades were cheated. They called him a homewrecker who tried to get between Chloe and Jared. My dad kicked him out of the house.

We only found out later, when the police called. He had slit his wrists in a bathtub.

Jared inherited my family’s entire fortune.

And me? One day, Jolene took me shopping and "accidentally" left me on the side of the highway. I was hit by a truck. I was only five years old.

But in that dream, I also saw Shane.

His family used to be the biggest real estate developers in the state. Three months ago, they went bankrupt. His dad jumped off a building, and his mom had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized.

From then on, Shane became dark and violent. Fighting became his daily routine.

But three years after graduation? He became a Wall Street shark, a financial predator who went toe-to-toe with Jared’s company and nearly drove him into the ground.

He was the only monster scary enough to save us.

"Hey, shortstack. You're blocking the road."

A cold, deep voice dropped from above.

I looked up into a pair of pitch-black eyes.

Shane was half a head taller than my brother. His black school blazer was unbuttoned, showing a white tee underneath. There was a fresh cut near his left eye, probably from a fight.

"Big brother," I gulped. "Can I pay you money to protect someone?"

He looked terrifying.

Shane raised an eyebrow at me.

"Kid, go find a cop if you want protection. I don't do murder and arson."

He reached out and flicked my piggy bank. The guys around him burst out laughing.

My face burned hot instantly. I stammered, "No... no. I want to ask you to help my brother."

Shane shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at me. "Who's your brother?"

"Ethan. Ethan Xu from Class 2. They say... they say you run this school! Please, I’m begging you, save my brother."

"He went out last night and didn't come back. He won't answer his phone." I started to sob.

Last night, I overheard my brother’s phone call. Chloe asked him to a bar for her birthday. In my past life, she rigged a game of Truth or Dare there, forced him to choose Dare, and he ended up locked in an abandoned factory all night, missing his mock exams the next day.

I wasn't sure if Shane would help.

The only time Ethan and Shane ever crossed paths was on a rainy night two months ago. Shane had been beaten up in an alley. When Ethan and I walked by, we called 911. Ethan even put his jacket over Shane while we waited for the ambulance.

Hearing the name "Ethan," Shane paused.

He reached out, took my piggy bank, and roughly wiped the tears off my face with his thumb.