You Can't Save Me

7 | Ten dollars and doughnuts

"Do you mind?" The girl beside him quietly snapped, causing the blonde to sit up slightly, not expecting someone to call him out. He looked to his left, pale blue eyes taking in the complexion of the girl he had bumped into a few days ago. She still had that same scowl and snippy attitude, which left him rather impressed. He was no longer the new boy, but rather a popular kid most feared. And this girl seemed to not give the slightest.

"It's you! Sorry 'bout the other day, by the way." Cole smiled, completely bypassing the hostile look she gave off. It only seemed to irk her more as he continued on as though her steady glare didn't affect him. He subtly grinned as she only got angrier. "I'm Cole, and you are?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." She turned back to her work, scribbling down the answers so fast it was as though they had been given them. The blonde's smile only widened as he watched her, an idea forming in his mind.

"Yeah, I would, that's kinda why I asked." He spoke in a 'duh' tone, and it worked in thoroughly pissing her off. She scoffed at the smug look on his face, turning her brown eyes down to the paper in front of him. His answers were mostly incorrect or incomplete. She rolled her eyes. She knew his type, the same type of boy that put her through hell for most of her earlier years. She had no doubt that the moment he saw the chance, he would do the same.

"It's..." She leaned forward, gesturing him close as to whisper it to him. He leaned in, the smug look never leaving his face, he was a ladies man, and everyone knew it. His smile widened as he figured his charm was working, he always had fun messing with people's emotions. She smiled sweetly as she got close to his ear, moving her hand to shield the secret from anyone else. She took a deep breath, before bellowing out. "Non'ya business!"

The tables around them were stunned from the sudden outburst. Cole held his ear in an almost pained way as he quickly leaned back. The girl laughed, her ginger-brown hair bouncing as she did. She knew this boy would probably spread some nasty rumours about her as revenge, but at this point in her school career nothing more could faze her.

She was caught off guard when the deeper chuckling of the boy beside her reached her ears. She looked over, seeing the softer, more playful look on his face. He almost looked attractive, as opposed to his usual snarky expression she had seen him wear around school.

"Okay Nonya, I get it, not a people person." She watched him for a minute, trying to decide if he was joking or he actually thought that was her name, judging by his maths work, he seemed stupid enough. Though his cheeky smile eased the assumption a little, the contagious expression brought a small smile to her own face. "I was just going to ask if you could help me out with this stuff? Numbers ain't my strong suit."

Her eyes followed his ringed hand to the messy scribbles on his paper, looking more closely, she could see small doodles and what looked like rhymes drawn around the maths work. The page was a mess of art and what she assumed were song lyrics, though some of them made her smile ever more present. The little doodle of a short girl with a really cute looking baseball bat caught her eyes, the label next to the doodle said 'Lyra the short' in scruffy handwriting.

"What do I get out of it?" She quipped, looking into his playful blue eyes. He really was quite charming, though she couldn't help but think that there was something more to him. She could definitely see how this boy became so popular, despite his aesthetic he had an aura that just pulled people in. But the wall behind his eyes was one she was intimately familiar with.

"My love and adoration?" He smiled, tilting his head. He almost looked like a puppy, she felt a tug in her chest, and her eyes widened. Her smile spread across the full of her face, hidden by her hair, and she realised too soon why she was drawn to him. Instead of revealing this, she met him with an unimpressed look, which he couldn't help but chuckle at. He held his hands up in mock surrender. And Leslie found herself being drawn into how animated the boy was.