Oh, God... today was the day...
All the girls were gossiping about how a cute, new boy was coming into their class, and now they were fighting over who got to sit with him.
And there he stood... in front of the class, smiling as all the popular girls swarmed around him like a monsoon.
Lily rolled her eyes, pulling out her notebook from her pack.
He sure liked the attention.
At least she could sit alone today.
"Hello, Class. Sit down please." The sub in Lily Bron's English class looked up from his desk, eyes glowing a deep purple.
The color was dark enough to look brown to the other students, she guessed. So that was probably why she didn't hear any other kids talking about it.
Assuming they were contacts, Lily dropped the thought, looking away and pulling her spiral notebook out of her grey backpack.
The sub wore a light green polo shirt that darkened his skin, bright enough to glow in the corner of her eye. And the subtle brown khakis that flowed down to his ankles clearly did not match his color pallet.
"I'm Mr. Matthews," he continued. "I teach English Language Arts for sophomores and juniors." He set his elbows on the teacher's desk in front of him, leaning on the wood.
It didn't look anywhere close to how Mr. Collins—her real teacher—would act.
Maybe Mr. Matthews was younger, so he didn't have that older, professional look.
"We have a new student today," he said, making all the girls squeal, but Lily rested her head on the desk, wanting to smash the wood with her skull.
Then maybe—just maybe—she wouldn't have to deal with all these horrible people.
Though, she noticed Mr. Matthews didn't really look thrilled at the sight of the new student.
In fact... it looked like he was boiling inside.
The tall boy that stood in front of the room clearly seemed amused at all the popular girls, so Lily put her head down.
Can you start class now, please?
But she looked back up to the front of the class, her brows drawing together when she saw the new boy's gaze was settled on her.
Only her.
His short brown hair curled at his forehead from sweat, and his bright green eyes glowed in the sunlight that blared through the window.
A blue t-shirt he wore said, "chick magnet" on it.
He sure had a wide ego.
But... something about him wasn't normal... there was something dark behind those green eyes... burning like a black fire.
He tilted his head the side at her stare, smile angling to the right.
His curled lips sent her a mischievous look, and at the same time, his bright green irises held something dark in it.
He had a spark of recognition in his eyes... but Lily swore she had never seen him before.
He did look somewhat familiar, though, but she pushed the thought away.
Her heart pounded faster at the fire that lit in his gaze, and she quickly looked away, her cheeks burning with something she had never felt before.
Something was off about him... just... something...
He was probably one of those guys who liked to mess with her.
Or one of those guys who did terrible things... players... users...
Killers...
Lily gulped at the thought.
She didn't want to admit it, but it was tempting to stare at him forever.
There was something smoldering deep within those green eyes... something dark and sinister... and she wanted to find out what.
"Is it just me, or has that cute boy taken an interest in you?" Elle—Lily's best friend who sat behind her—whispered in her ear. "I heard he's a secretive man," she stated quietly. "He lives in my neighborhood. Never leaves his house. It's quite surprising he enrolled here, don't you think?"
Lily felt her heart pound frost into her veins.
For some reason, knowing he just randomly enrolled in her school—and the fact that he was staring at her—made her stomach stir.
It added to the "something was off about him" feeling.
The young boy walked to the empty chair that rested right next to Lily, settling down gracefully, and resting an elbow on the desk while placing his cheek in his hand.
Lily could feel him staring at her with a tilted smile.
Mainly because his eyes were burning into the side of her head like fire.
She wanted to return his gaze—to study him—but she forced her eyes to focus on her desk.
He kept his gaze to her, eyes raking up and down her body.
Even though her face was burning with fear, she still couldn't escape the feeling that something was off about this whole situation.
That a random boy... creepy boy... magically showed up and was so interested in her...
And that there were two new people in this class in one day...
Also that the sub somehow hated Jason...
Why would they have a new student and a sub in the same class... in the same day?
And how would a random teacher hate him when it was highly unlikely they even knew each other?
"Okay, class," Mr. Matthews said, glancing up at the students.
He had a dim shine to his eyes, as if this job made him bored.
"As you know, your teacher 'Mr. Collins' is not in today." He looked directly at Lily, who just decided to glance up at the front of the room. "That is because he got into an accident and was—" He broke off, swallowing down the sentence and decided to rephrase. "He's taking some time off. So, I'm your new English teacher for the time being."
Lily's brows drew together as she questioned what he was originally going to say.
The other students didn't seem to care, just messing around with each other.
And Matthews didn't give a crap.
What a good teacher.
But still... he didn't mean... that Mr. Collins was dead... did he...?
Her insides grew hollow at the thought, but she shook her head, clearing her mind.
No... she was getting in that mindset again... she needed to stop thinking people she cared about would always die.
"Hey, there," the boy said, tone dripping with amusement.
Lily turned to look at him, watching her expression harden a bit in the reflection of his eyes.
He still had a small smile, tilting his head to the side. "You okay, Sweetheart?"
She blinked.
Did he just call her... "Sweetheart"?
He chuckled as she stared at him, a slight uneasiness coiling her stomach.
"I'm Jason," he said, offering a hand shake.
"I'm...." Her voice trailed off when she decided not to tell this boy her name.
"Lily," he said a little too softly. "Lily Bron?"
Something inside her stirred at his words.
Pulling her hand away from his reach, she demanded, "How did you know my name?"
He only smiled as a response.
"Answer me," she demanded.
"I don't feel like it," he said, leaning back against his chair. "How do I know you're not going to call the police?"
"I will call them if you don't tell me."
His lips tilted higher. "And what are you going to tell them? 'There's a boy in my class who knows my name, arrest him!'"
She blinked, looking away. "I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Good," he said, leaning a cheek on his hand, "'cause I love talking."
She was silent.
"Lillian Bron," he said, "lost mother, missing father, no siblings, right?"
Silence.
"You still living with your Aunt Melody?" he wondered curiously, making her insides coil.
Was he... stalking her...?
But she still remained silent, staring at the teacher ahead, ignoring him.
"Naturally blonde hair," he said softly, "light blue eyes, huh?"
He watched her bite her lip to contain a snarky response.
"Mmm," he said, making her eyes move slightly to him at the sound he made. "You can try ignoring me, Lily. But I know you're listening." He smiled. "I also know that you want to respond, so go on. What's stopping you?"
"I'm trying to listen to the teacher," she stated, faking annoyance also while trying to hide the shakiness from her tone.
"Am I preventing that?" he wondered stupidly.
"Yeah," she snapped, hinting the word, "duh."
"Good," he smirked when her eyes slid to him again, "that means you are listening."
"So what?" she demanded. "You know where I live, too?"
"I do," he stated.
She scoffed, pretending to write stuff down into her notebook as the teacher talked. "Liar."
"You think I'm lying?" he wondered, amused.
She slid him a look. "Who doesn't?"
"1345 West Kidstripe Lane," Jason stated, making her freeze.
She looked at him then, brows drawing together. "How did you—"
"Miss Bron," Matthews interrupted, "would you like to share with the class your comments?"
She looked up at him blankly, searching for a response through her tumbled thoughts. "No, sir. I was just talking to myself."
"Smooth," Jason said silently, chuckling.
"Mm-hmm," Matthews said sarcastically. "Now," he continued to the class, "who knows some synonyms for...." His voice trailed off in Lily's ears.
She pretended to write notes in her notebook, scribbling "Jason" onto the paper over and over again without knowing it.
Because this knowledge that he had scared her, and this was the only thing on her mind.
She ignored the voice in her head that questioned how a brand-new teacher knew her name.
"Tell me how you know my address," she demanded.
"Aww," Jason said with fake sadness, "but that ruins the fun."
She shot him a glare, accidentally raising her tone. "How the hell is this fun?"
"Lily," Matthews said with warning in his tone.
"Sorry," she muttered, focusing back onto her notes.
"You sure do like my name," Jason said, gazing down at her paper, "don't you?"
She glared at him, shutting her mouth before she got yelled at again.
"Your favorite subject is English," Jason continued. "You love English, and you also love your teacher, Mr. Collins?"
She bit back a response, ignoring the voice in her head that screamed for answers.
"You love to write, draw, read, am I right?"
"Just shut up," she muttered, still writing his name on her paper.
"Wow," he said, raising his brows, "rude."
Lily shot him a look, aiming her gaze down at her notebook seconds later.
"Well," he said, yawning, "I gotta bounce. I'll see you later."
She caught his wrist before he could grab his backpack.
He looked at her hand and back at her a couple times, brows raised.
"You can't just ditch class," she growled silently. "You'll get in trouble."
"I won't," he said, smiling.
Her brows drew together at his words.
"Because you'll back me up," he continued, making something inside her burn. "I know you want answers, Lily," he said, making her stomach turn, "and I'll give them to you for a price."
"Price?" she echoed.
A nod, then leaned to whisper in her ear, "A date."
Her eyes rounded, and she said on impulse, "No way in hell."
"Then." He looked down at where she gripped onto his arm, back at her, indicating for her to let go.
And she did, glaring at him when he tossed his backpack over his shoulder and stepped out of the classroom.
I hate him, she told herself. I'll never talk to him again.
