The air leaves my lungs when I meet a pair of ice-blue eyes. They belong to a tall muscular boy. Although, boy doesn’t seem like the correct term. This boy looks like a man.
Is he even a student? I wonder. He would have to be. There’s no way he’s old enough to be a teacher. Unless he’s dropping off a younger sibling? Somehow, I doubt that.
He’s glaring at me, and I swallow thickly. My pulse speeds up, and I glance behind me, hoping he’s staring at someone else.
Nope. He’s definitely looking at me.
I don’t even know him. Why would he be staring at me like this?
Our connection is interrupted by students milling about, breaking our eye contact, and I scurry away, similar to the mouse in my room this morning.
Damn, this day is already starting fan-fucking-tactically, I think sardonically.
I finally make my way to the office. A strong flowery scent of perfume hits my nostrils, and I crinkle my nose to try and prevent from sneezing. The dusty fake plants in every corner don’t help either. There's a plump redhead sitting behind an old mahogany desk.
She smiles perkily at me as I approach. “Good Morning! Welcome to Blackcrown High! What can I do for you?” she says loudly.
I try not to grimace and smile instead. “Hi, I’m Desiree Moore and today's my first day here.”
“Oh right, right, Desiree! I’m Mrs. Haynes, the receptionist. Welcome to King Cobra nation!” she exclaims. King Cobras must be the school mascot. I don’t even know. I just want to get to class, dammit.
The bell rings and I hear lockers slamming, indicating that I’ll be late to class already on the very first day.
She must notice the expression on my face because she says, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll write you an excuse for being tardy.”
“Okay, thanks,” I say as she shuffles around her desk, grabbing different papers. She stacks them before stapling them and handing them to me.
“Oh, perfect timing, Ms. Ava!” she says and my head whips behind me to see a girl around the same height as me, looking just as impatient as I likely look. Her honey blonde hair is in a cute side braid and she has big, round hazel eyes.
“I’m actually late, Mrs. Haynes,” the girl says softly, but I note a bit of sarcasm in her tone, and I feel an insane bubble of laughter wanting to spill out of my mouth, but I purse my lips, holding it back.
“I know, dear. I meant perfect timing because you can show Ms. Moore here around. It’s her first day.” Mrs. Haynes' smile seems like she’s had one too many Xanax today. Like, who is this bubbly first thing in the morning?
Her hand gestures to me. “Desiree, this is Ava. Ava, this is Desiree.”
Ava gives me a tight-lipped smile but shakes her head. “I’m sure there’s better students to show her around, Mrs. Haynes.”
“Well, you’re here now. So you must be that perfect someone. Here,” she says, handing Ava my class schedule. “Thanks so much. I hope you girls have a great first day and GO KING COBRAS!” she says, pumping her fist in the air.
“Oh, and here you go, girls,” she says, handing us both pens with the king cobra logo on them.
We take the pens, and I stare at Ava helplessly. I don’t know if I gave her a bad first impression or what, but right now I really need her help.
For some reason, she looks conflicted, but eventually gives me another tight smile and nods her head. “Okay, let’s go. I’ll show you to your locker.”
We walk out together, and I search my brain for something to say, but then we’re stopping at a gray locker.
“Here it is,” she says, “locker 108.”
“Thanks,” I say quietly.
“After this, we’ll go to English with Mrs.—“ she’s cut off by a deep British voice.
“Ava.” It’s all he says, but Ava tenses, a glimpse of fear shining in her eyes.
“Here,” she says, shoving the papers in my hands with my schedule and student handbook.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
But then, I see the owner of the voice clearly. Another tall and muscular guy that looks almost too old to be in high school.
Thick dark hair and eyes, tanned skin. Definitely not bad to look at in a preppy boy way. Although if the cruel look in his eyes is any indication, I’d say this guy isn’t preppy at all.
“Killian.” Ava barely gets the words out before he grabs her arm and yanks her toward him. She gasps as she slams into his chest.
“Hey!” I say, stepping forward as if I’m about to defend her honor or something equally laughable, but he stops me with a vicious glare. He curls his lip as if he’s tasted something bad and I furrow my brow. Why do the guys here keep looking at me like this?
He looks like he wants to say something, then thinks better of it.
“You’re coming with me,” he says to Ava. “Now.”
Then, they’re off. Around the next corner and out of sight within seconds.
What the fuck?
Well, guess I’m screwed.
I stare at my schedule. English is next, room 212. Shouldn’t be too hard to find, right?
Wrong!
It took me fifteen minutes to find the class and now that I’m here, I can barely concentrate because there's a prickly awareness spread over my body and I know exactly what it is. There's a pair of icy blue eyes burning a hole in my back. The boy I saw when I first walked in. He’s stared at me the entire class and my cheeks are scalding hot. He’s got this Jax Teller thing going on. Dirty blonde hair, long on the top, and short on the sides. Golden skin, sharp jawline, and cheekbones. Dressed in all black, he
