Playing With Fire (Previously Burning The Bad Boy) (UNDER RECONSTRUCTION)

{7} The Bad Boy Knows My Name

My best friend had no desire to let what happened last night blow over. The moment I set my tray on the table, she grabbed my elbow and yanked me back so I was nearly hanging off the edge of the bench.

"What the hell happened last night?" she demanded. "You didn't answer any of my calls or texts."

I shook her hand off and rested my own on her shoulder, "Calm down, Rachel. Deep breaths."

"Deep breaths? You rode with Damon freaking Fox in an ambulance and stayed with him all night." she said, hands thrown up in exasperation.

"Nothing happened, Rach. Thankfully, I didn't cause him any more harm." I responded, tangling my free hand in my dark hair. "I just had to make sure he wasn't hurt so bad he'd have to press charges. Once I knew he was okay, I payed the bill and left."

My best friend stared at me with a quizzical expression.

"You payed his hospital bill? Why?"

"Because I'm the one that started the fire in the first place, Rach." I mumbled, feeling as if every pair of eyes and ears in the cafeteria was listening in on our conversation.

She frowned and shifted so she was staring down at her untouched lunch tray with a disgusted click of her tongue. I took the silence as a chance to eat for the first time in twenty-four hours. I hadn't been able to touch my dinner last night, not after the fight I'd gotten into with my dad. There had been no appetite present after that; I had waited patiently for my father to go to sleep to head back to the kitchen to dump my food.

"Micky." the sound of a tray clacking against the table sent Rachel flying so far back she knocked her backpack off the bench and sent the contents of it sliding across the floor.

I recognized the voice immediately. There was only one guy in the entire school with a voice of a God.

"Alec." I straightened out, careful not to let any of my hair fall into my pudding.

Alexander Greene had been my childhood crush. I'd loved the very thought of him being my first kiss since I was in grade school. He had been and still is the only guy that seemed to understand me as well as Rachel. We both had a love for fine arts and books. He was possibly the only teenage boy in this town that didn't act his age.

His looks didn't hurt his attractiveness. He wasn't as hot as Damon, sure, but he was still good looking. His shaggy black hair was almost always hidden under a beanie, occasionally looking as if it had hints of blue in certain lighting. His eyes were gorgeous as well, a beautiful green that, in the right lighting, look like a glistening emerald stones.

"My parents are forcing me to go to the stupid dance this weekend." he sighed, propping his chin on his hand, eyes trained on me. My best friend stepped on my foot with her short heel under the table, ignoring my glare and yelp in response.

"Oh, yeah. I'm not going." I mumbled, scratching the back of my hand nervously. He chuckled quietly, causing a slight flutter in my chest at the melodic sound.

Tapping his fingers against the top of my water bottle, he flashed me a half smile. "About that; I was wondering if you might want to be my date. It's so last minute and I don't really socialize with any other chicks in this place."

I could feel Rachel's nails digging into my forearm as I stared at the boy across from me in astonishment. The only guy I had ever really given the time of day was asking me to a dance; this was my thirteen year old self's fantasy. My seventeen year old self wasn't exactly sure how to react.