Falling for the Bad Boy

Chapter Two

Alyssa

   Time couldn't have been slower as I stared at the man in front of me, his red pen skating along the edges of the white sheet underneath him. This was the eighty-fifth one.

I would know because I'd been counting, right from when he started marking the damn scripts.

Couldn't he be faster? I wanted to yell out loud, but a tiny part of me wasn't sure I wanted that and I kinda agreed with it.

"Hey." I flinched at the touch of someone's skin over mine. Dainty hands wrapped around mine and only when I'd figured out who it belonged to, did I actually calm down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded as I whispered in the same tone she had used. I nodded again, twice, just so I'd convince her, but I knew deep down it was more for me than it was for her. "Yeah."

"No.I don't think so. " Vivian shook her head slowly, her brown eyes urging me to let her know what was wrong. But could I? I wasn't sure yet. "You're tensed up."

"No, I'm not.."

"You're clutching on to your pen like you're trying to hold on to your dear life." Vivian cut me off and my eyes flickered to my hand that was currently on my desk.

A small curse slid past my lips at the sight in front of me. She was right.

"And you only do that when something's up. So tell me, what's wrong?"

"Okay." I drawled in defeat, finally meeting her eyes. If there was one thing I admired about Vivian, it was how she always looked out for me. I guess that's why it didn't take long for us to be the best of friends. Or more specifically, my only friend.

"Is this about the test?" Oh, and I should have added she had this psychic ability to read minds too. Mine at least. It was either that, or I was really predictable. "Did you get an answer wrong?"

"No." Liar! Someone screamed at me in my head. I was never scared of tests, even if it was a pop quiz just like the one Mr Smith had just given us an hour ago.

But for some strange reason, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something was off. "At least I don't think so. What was your answer to the second question though?"

"47." Vivian chipped and I bit the inside of my cheek. I'd gotten a 2 as my final answer. "What did you get?"

"I um…"

"Order." Mr Smith's voice boomed from the front and I closed my eyes in relief, thankful for the interruption.

My eyes flew open again when I realized what that meant.

He was done marking the scripts.

Mr Smith had a rule he always stood by; the pop quizzes always stayed in class. It simply meant you'd get your results immediately and while I always looked forward to it, I wasn't sure I shared the same sentiment today.

"Sir?" I called after a while. I caught the attention of the whole class as I was the only one without a sheet of paper on my desk. "You haven't given me mine yet."

"I was getting to that. " His voice was cool and unnerving. "But before that, I want to ask; is everything okay?"

"Um." I bit down on my lip as the other students stared at me, their eyes boring holes into every part of my body. "Yes sir. Why?"

"This is why." He slammed a sheet of paper in front of me face down. I felt my heartbeat slow to a pause at that action.

Vivian's gentle smile and nod had me picking it up from the very edge. After taking in a mouthful of air, I flipped the paper over, ready to admit my fate.