Love's Beat

Chapter 1

Ember was late.

For the first time in her life, she was actually running late for school. It's like the world's sign that something bad was going to happen today.

     Stop with the overdramatic crap, Ember and run.

Running as fast as she could with her bags and books, she checked for the time. Crap. She had two minutes until the first bell. She ran with all her might until finally, the ostentatious front gate of her school came into view. She refused to leave a single mark on her record because Lord knows she can't handle anything less than a perfect record which allowed the school to fully sponsor her education.

She had just stepped foot past the gate when she heard the bell ring. She sighed in relief before rushing her way to class. Hopefully, the teacher would come in late and she wouldn't be stared at like some alien.

Too late.

About thirty pairs of eyes stared at her when she barged through the door of her classroom. Like she needed this. Being that she was the only one in the entire school with a full scholarship, it already made her some sort of pariah among the students. But it wasn't that bad really, the worse thing students could do around here is ignore you.

But to be embarrassed and ridiculed, hmmm, not so much.

     "Glad you decided to grace us with your presence this morning, Miss Ashe," said Mr. Howard, the pompous arse.

     "I apologize, sir." Then, Ember found it in herself to straighten and walk into the classroom without a care in the world. Or at least she attempted to. But just as she arrived at her seat all the way at the back of the classroom, she found a guy sitting there.

     "Excuse me, you're in my seat."

The guy in her seat looked up and around before pointing at himself while giving the 'Who, me?' look.

     "Yeah, that's my seat," I repeated. She could feel stares from all around the classroom. She thought she even heard a scoff somewhere.

     What is up with these people today?

     "Oh, sorry, didn't know it was taken. Here." He graciously stood up and offered the seat to her before settling into the one beside her.

She mumbled her thanks and sat down. She caught a glimpse of the guy and it occurred to her that she'd never seen him before. And she was always good with faces if not names. Putting it aside, she took out her books and settled down for a boring lesson with Mr. Pompous Arse.

     "And just for your information Miss Ashe, Mr. Houston is new to the school and would very much appreciate if you could assist him whatever he might need throughout class," Mr. Howard announced.

Great, now she was going to be a servant to whoever this guy was? He was probably a son of some famous politician or something. Ember groaned inwardly. Why must she even get stuck with these people in the first place? In the end, she turned towards the new guy and gave him a polite smile. He smiled back and her breath caught.

He had to be one of the most attractive guys she'd ever met. And with her... interesting job, she's met a lot of them but none like him.

He had a head of unruly curls which were a dark red rather than an orange-tinged red colour. It was a unique colour and she wondered if it was an artificial dye-job. The colour of dried blood also came to mind and of course with it, the events of that day... Ember mentally shook herself from those thoughts. His skin was perfectly kissed by the sun and dark brows lined his mysterious dark eyes. Looking into them made her shiver for some unknown reason.

     Whooaaa, heading into some major territory there, hon. Back up.

Ember turned back as fast as she could and tried to shake off the little tingles she still felt.

Odd, she's never felt like this before, eventhough she's had her fair share of relationships. She decided to ignore it and concentrate on what Mr. Howard was teaching.

But not long after that, her eyes strayed back to the guy again. He was facing front so she could trace his profile with her eyes. He had a straight nose, chiseled cheekbones and a sharp jaw. She wondered if he had plastic surgery, after all, it wasn't uncommon around here. Almost everyone in this classroom had something done to their bodies. She noticed he also had long eyelashes, feminine almost. But it did nothing to detract his rugged looks. In fact, it only emphasized his masculinity, making him all the more attractive.

Looking past him, she could see a couple of girls down the row sneaking peeks at him and whispering. Something about that made her chest tighten and she had the funniest urge to stick her tongue out at them.

     Well, that's a new one.

She once again tore her attention away from him and concentrated on the lesson. But she could feel her attention drifting back to him, until finally she sneaked another peek at him.

He was staring at her.

And he didn't even look away sheepishly or pretend like he never did it. Instead, he gave her a smile. Not an ordinary smile either. A small smile, a secret one. Like it was just the two of them.

      Oh, boy.

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Hello there! I know it's a little too short but it's just an intro. Let me know if I should add on some more! Much love. xo