Falling Too Far

Chapter 7- Okay, now he's stalking me.

I stared at the teacher in horror.

Are you serious?

You just have to pair me with the person I least want to be with.

I couldn't help it. I groaned. The teacher turned to me, arching her eyebrow in surprise.

"Do you have a problem with that, Ms Richards?" She asked, threads of venom woven through her voice. I involuntarily gulped. I wanted to complain, that yes, I did have a problem. I did not want to be with that cocky, arrogant and frustratingly attractive player, who somehow is still trying to gain my forgiveness by doing sweet things for me and despite what he has done, still manages to make my heart flutter.

Wait- what?

Heart flutter?

No, you did not mean that, Noelle.

Yes you did.

Frustrated, I pushed the thoughts out of my head, being faced again by my menacing teacher.

"Well?" She asked, raising her other eyebrow as well. "Of course not, Miss," I hastily answered, my cheeks flushing red, as I looked down at my desk. It was already carved with I love Harper A and other various unspeakable things.

Ugh.

"Good," I heard her say, sensing the amusement in her voice. "Alright, I will let you get in your groups for five minutes so you can arrange your plans, and then on with the lesson. Alright?" I heard mumbles and the screeching noise of chairs being pulled across the floor. Soon the noises of chairs had stopped, and conversations rang through the air, yet still, I sat there awkwardly.

I turned forward, biting my lip and fidgeting with the ends of my hair.

Just go to him, Noelle.

No.

Why are you so scared? He's just a guy!

Well maybe because he hurt me, and he's a player and-

My train of thought stopped abruptly. That's not true. I wasn't avoiding him for those reasons. There was something else, something else that made me want to avoid him, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

The distant sound of a chair scraping towards me interrupted my confused thoughts. I turned slowly to see Harper pulling a chair towards my desk, bowing his head to the floor. My heart leaped. Wait, what?

I watched, astonished, as he made his way over to me. There was something about the way he was moving, so genuine and humble, he wasn't carrying himself around with his usual arrogant attitude. And in that moment he seemed so human, so real that it hurt me.

"Hey," he said in a hushed voice. I jolted away from my daydream of a decent Harper and looked up to see real Harper standing over me, his green eyes clouded, so clouded I couldn't see the flecks of gold. My eyes flicked over his face, the prominent shape of his jaw, the arch of his cheekbones, so much softer now. His shoulders were hunched, I could sense the aura of nervousness surrounding him. He wasn't smirking, his lips resting in a serious expression. He looked so cute.

No, Noelle, this is probably just a huge act from him, just to seem nice and make you fall, then he will ruthlessly break your heart. Just like those other girls. Remember?

No. I don't remember.

I shuffled my chair a bit to the side, allowing him to fit his chair beside mine in the spacious desk.

"Hi." I mumbled, my voice wavering. No, Noelle, you're angry at him, okay? I cleared my throat before repeating myself again, hoping he hadn't heard my first greeting. "Hello," I announced, my voice clear, firm and sharp. I saw him smirk as he looked down at the ground, his eyelids lowered. However his smirk was softer this time. He lowered himself into the chair.