The Bad Boy’s…What?

“Heyyyy, hey Drew, what’s up?” I look up into those unyielding eyes. Anger is what emanates from Drew’s imposing form. I look down momentarily at my book to mark my page before closing it and carefully placing it back in my book bag. He looks like a stalking lion and I’m the easy prey, any sudden movements and it’s like I’ll be nothing but a blood spatter on the old carpet.

Yes, he’s that scary.

“That’s all you have to say, really,” he crouches down in front of me and I back myself further into the bookshelf in which I currently lean on, causing it to dig painfully into my backside.

“Uhm, are you still mad about your car?” I shrug uncertainly. What could I have done to piss of the cold eyed, bad boy?

“No, a guy named Roger paid for the repair even thought I told him it was fine, your butler I presume?” that does sound a lot like my guardian. The man doesn’t know how to take no for an answer, much like someone in front of me.

“So, why are you here?” I ask tentatively. I don’t want to be straight up rude and tell him to just hit the can. I do have some faint form of decorum.

“Why’d you switch partners?” his eyes narrow in on mine, making it impossible for me to look away and come up with a plausible lie. What, am I supposed to just tell him he scares the pee out of me? Those blue eyes seem to get darker, in anger or something else, I wouldn’t know.

“You see, uhm, yes well, the teacher thought it’d be a better match,” I am such a shitty liar. I flinch back as he raises his hand causing him to hiss in anger. He’s the snake and I’m the feeble mouse.

“You think I’d hit you?” he asks through gritted teeth. Oh, don’t you clench those pearly whites at me, buster. I merely shake my head with a squeak in response. He nods in disbelief before resuming moving his hand towards me, his warm touch descending on my cheekbone before trailing down to my exposed neck. Two fingers caress my breakable neck.

“Why’d you switch partners?” he repeats softly.

“I, I told you, the teacher thought it’d be better,” I stutter slightly at his close proximity. It’s like people diminish the idea of my need of personal space. I watch as a side smirk takes over those rosy lips.

“Why are you lying?”

“I am most certainly not lying to you,” I raise my chin indignantly, his finger being held in place by this beautiful monster. That boy’s a monster… this is so not the time to be singing, I scold myself.

“There it goes again,” he rewards me with a side grin while I look at him in a state of utter confusion.

“This pulse right here in your neck,” he trails his index finger over the delicate spot. “This pulse jumps every time you lie,” he continues to explain while my eyes widen in something akin to horror. This boy really is a monster, what is he, a specialist in torture techniques involving getting the truth out of unwilling victims? I feel so violated.

“How do you know that?” I ask as I look down those unmoving fingers still positioned above my neck.

“Curious aren’t we, it’s a technique I learned a while ago,” is his vague answer.

“Can you let go now?”

“Are you going to tell me the truth?” I heave a sigh before nodding. I wait for him to remove his calloused fingers from one of my most coveted arteries before responding.

“I just think we should distance ourselves, I mean we’re not friends or anything so it doesn’t really matter right?” I laugh nervously. Oh god, I’ve turned into a complete baboon.

“What if I don’t want to ‘distance myself,’ what would you do then?” I was about to go completely off on him, in my mind of course, before I saw that teasing smirk carved onto his features.

“Look you can hang out with Kohl if you want, just keep away from me,” I harrumph as I gather my things in order to escape this ungodly creature. I swear, sometimes I just expect him to go all Rambo on me. I give him a look telling him to back up off me so that I can stand up properly and take my leave.

With a surrendering motion, he begins to stand from his crouched position and giving me some proper breathing space. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding before heaving myself up from the dingy, carpeted floor. I spare the bad boy no attention as I make my way to the front of the library and out into the still solitary hallway. I would have thought I was walking alone if it hadn’t been for his echoing footsteps following behind me in the hall.

“Why are you following me?” I turn around slowly.

“Since we can’t be friends, I guess I’ll have to resort to stalker mode,” he shakes his head in mock dejection. Oh, he’s good at acting. If only I could point out the fact that he’s merely using me for geographical purposes without giving myself away for eavesdropping, I’d have the upper hand. Oh well, c’est la vie.

“I’m going to tell my brother on you if you don’t stop,” I warn with what I assume to be a deadly glare. It unnerves me that he merely breathes a chuckle. If only I weren’t five foot four of pure muscle, I could take him. And I’ll just continue to live truly believing that.

“I don’t really think Kohl would mind, do you?” I chew on the inside of my cheek as I stare at him, trying my hardest not to unleash my fury up on him. Why couldn’t my brother be some big linebacker that scared any guy that even tried to approach me? No, instead my brother goes and sets me up with one of the bad boys. The universal scale is seriously off balance.

“I’ll tell Roger,” I retort.

“Would you?” he steps closer and I, of course back away.

“Yes,” I answer back quickly. Would I tell Roger, though?

“What if I had a way of making sure he didn’t get in the way, what would you do then?” his voice taking on a completely different tone. This one more authoritative and fierce compared to his deeper, mysterious baritone. This one scares me even more.

“Would you really do that?” I look up into his eyes, waiting for an honest answer. I mean, only a truly malicious person would threaten someone with their only family. A couple of seconds of pure silence pass before he responds.

“Not to you, no,” he shakes his head with a barely there smile. Someone’s not cut out for a Hallmark card, just saying.

“But you’d do it to someone else?” I resume my walking as he falls into step beside me. Hey, mine as well get some answers from him.

“Under certain circumstances perhaps,” he looks away, as if the nearby lockers have suddenly become interesting.

“You know what. I don’t even want to know. Ignorance is bliss,” I wave him off. This way I can’t be counted as an accessory to a crime.

“It’s not bad,” he protests.

“I’m not listening,” I counter as I place my hands over my ears. This gangster boy must be out of his mind. Just as that thought crosses my mind, the bell chiming sounds over the speakers.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“So, how’s art class going?”

“How did you know I had art next?” I turn to see a smirk planted in place.

“Adrian’s been bitching about how he’s stuck with you for a partner. He said you can’t even draw stick figures,” he stops as we reach my classroom door. Aw, he walked me to class, if only I didn’t have high suspicions about him being a delinquent. Oh, and if I didn’t have his baby which he’s now currently searching for. If only, then, then things could be different.

“In my defense, they are very hard to get right,” I smile sheepishly.

“Well, have fun,” he waves before turning on his heel and walking away. What just happened, wasn’t I supposed to ignore him? I stand there watching his retreating back, somehow this bad boy is good at jumbling my thoughts and leaving me questioning myself.

I tighten my hold on my book bag as I walk into class. I put on my best glare as I take a seat across from Adrian. This idiot told Drew where to find me. He merely smiles and begins to whistle some unknown tune.

“That wasn’t cool,” I remark.

“And neither are you,” I stepped into that one. He didn’t have to be so hurtful though.

“Whatever, what are we going to do for this project?” I change the subject.

“I got it figured out, I’m going to draw you,” he answers. Say what now?

“No, I’m not a good subject to draw,” I mutter lamely.

“I think Drew would think otherwise.”

“Meaning?” he leans forward to cradle his head in his hands on the table.

“Meaning he’s like so into you girl,” he exclaims in a high pitched voice. Some nearby people turn to look at us funny.

“No he’s not,” I retort, resulting in him rolling his eyes.

“Oh please, it’s not like he’s not making it obvious. He follows you around, stares at you like some psycho stalker, he’s even hanging out with your bro,” he leans back in his chair with a triumphant grin planted on his face.

“My brother is so stupid he’d hang out with a pedophile and Drew is some type of psycho stalker,” I contradict.

“So you don’t like him, you don’t want to bump uglies with him?”

“Bump what?”

“Do the deed, pop your cherry,” oh, oh god no.

“There will be no cherry popping for me, thank you,” I mean just imagine, no I can’t even imagine that happening.

“That’s what you say now, but you don’t even begin to imagine how many cherries Drew’s popped,” Adrian smirks at what I assume to be my horrified face. I knew Drew was a little player, I mean he’s already playing me. He’s crazy if he thinks he’s going to get his sleazy little hands on me.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not interested,” I shrug.

“You really don’t care?” he gives me an incredulous look. I nod in response, why would I care about Drew’s misdoings.

“You might just not be so bad,” he smirks.

Adrian’s an asshole. I think anyone could see that.

The rest of the period goes on like that, Adrian making some sort of remark trying to get a reaction out of me as he doodles in some sketchbook. I spend my time ignoring Adrian and perfecting my stick figures, they are an art that needs to be mastered, or so I tell myself. It doesn’t help when Miss Nelly, the art teacher, walks by and I hear the underlying laughter as she inspects my work. Apparently, my work just so happens to be a joke.

“Do you know where Kohl’s at?” I ask Adrian as we gather our things together. Kohl and I are supposed to have the same freaking schedule, yet, he manages to disappear when I need him the most.

“He changed his schedule, didn’t he tell you?” I don’t know what’s more surprising, that Adrian answered or that Kohl never told me about his recent accommodations.

“Oh man, he didn’t tell you,” Adrian laughs as I manage to snap the mechanical pencil that was in my hand. It’s all about your inner strength, or finding something that pisses you off enough to make you strong.

In other words, an older brother Kohl.

“So, what’s up with you and your brother? He wasn’t here when we first came around,” Adrian points out as we exit the comfortable classroom.

“He was in military school, he got here a bit later than you guys,” I explain.

“He’s not bad, but don’t tell him I said that. Wouldn’t want him thinking of us as ‘bffs,'” he uses quotation marks to carry out his point. I’m surprised that I find myself laughing with the hostile guy.

“Looks like Drew found a new toy,” Adrian points out as we step out into the parking lot. I move my gaze towards where he’s looking at, there stands Drew with a cute brunette, both talking animatedly.

At least he found someone else to play.

“He works fast,” I nod in acknowledgement.

“Jealous?” I turn at his teasing tone.

Why would I be jealous? Why do people not understand that I have no interest in Drew?

“Not even a smidge, I’m glad actually. This way he’ll leave me alone,” I pat Adrian’s arm.

Wow, he didn’t murder me. It must mean something.

“Don’t count on it, I think he’s set on you,” Adrian remarks. I turn to look at his serious brown eyes, he can’t be telling the truth, can he?

“Yeah right, I’m inconsequential,” I snort in disbelief.

Yes, very lady like, I know.

“You might be more important to this whole thing than you think,” he mutters before walking over to Drew and his little friend. Leaving me questioning just what the hell he meant.

How am I important to this grand scheme? If anything I’m irrelevant.

Except for the fact that you have his baby, that inner voice of mine taunts.

Well other than that, I’m completely irrelevant, I retort.

Something snaps within me as I watch the pretty brunette laughing frivolously with Drew. But, what captures my attention more is the way Adrian’s eyes follow the duo closely, his eyes narrowing when the girl’s hands move on Drew with great familiarity. I think we have a high sense of jealousy going on, make that with a side of stupidity as Lucas and Kohl leap frog their way to the now trio.

My brother’s an idiot. And I may just be in deep shit with this gang of guys. I have a strong feeling things are just going to go downhill from here. All that matters is Lucy, and staying away from a certain blue eyed bad boy that has a tendency to always be where I am.