The Fear List (The Fear Series, #1) ON HOLD

Chapter 3 - Mute

"Come on, let's just get to class otherwise we are going to be late" I say hurriedly as her face shows that she didn't quite believe my lie.

We scurry off to our lockers which are next to each other and pull out the books we need for class. I walk to class quickly with Elle trailing behind me as I speed walk to avoid conversation. I walk through the door of my English class and take a seat at the front with Elle sitting down next to me. I chose to sit at the front with the rest of the hard workers whilst and the slackers aka popular kids sit at the back doing whatever they want.

The teacher walks in and informs us that we will need to read five pages of the book we are currently reading then questions about it in the work book for which I send a mental thank you as this means that Elle won't be able to speak to me. I can avoid any questions that may still be lingering in her mind.

I put my head down and start reading. I'm on the last page when the door swings open with a bang. Everyone including myself lifts their heads up to see what the commotion is. I stare at the shoes and notice that they are black leather boots, definitely guy's shoes. I work my way up and he is wearing dark jeans that fit nicely and a white v neck top that hugs his abs and chest. His tattoos are visible as they trail down his muscular arms. There's so many it's hard to see what they are from this distance but they definitely cover a lot of skin. They contrast with his deep tan making them stand out all the more. I drag my daze up to his face and let out a quick breath. He's looking right at me.

"Problem?" He mutters whilst still staring at me. I gulp and my eyes go wide when I realise he's talking to me. I quickly look away turning red for having been looking at him for quite some time. I still managed to catch a glimpse of his silver eyes that looked ghostly but beautiful at the same time.

He doesn't say his excuse for being late to the teacher but instead just strides over to his seat at the back where his friends are. I hate guys like that, he thinks he's such a bad-ass. Well actually he is because I've seen him involved in a lot of fights at school and he always wins. Plus he is always skipping class or getting detentions for smoking on school grounds. He probably doesn't even attend the detentions. Ren Tyler is this schools badboy and mostly everyone knows to stay clear, especially me. He would eat me alive.

I look at the clock and realise that we only have twenty minutes left of the lesson and I haven't gotten anything done since Ren walked in. Crap. I quickly finish the last page of reading and move on to the questions.

The bell rings and I quickly pack up all my things. I glance over my shoulder at the back of the class but it's already empty. I guess the popular lot will get out as fast as the can. I walk through the door with Elle to go to our next class.

We're walking through the corridor when someone is suddenly in front of us. My breath catches as I nearly run straight into them. They quickly move to put a hand on my arm thinking that I might fall but I quickly gain my balance and take a step back before they can touch me.

I look over to Elle who has stopped as well to see if she noticed my little episode. But she is too busy smiling at whoever is stood in front of us. I turn my head to look in front of me only for my eyes to meet a chest. It's a nice chest. I feel my cheeks heating up at the thought. I lift my eyes to see the owner of the beautiful chest's face. My breath catches again.

Ethan.

Dammit. Why did he have to come up to Elle when I was here. No matter what reasoning I made last night in my list I still feel the butterflies in my stomach whenever I see him. Stupid, stupid. I can't do this. I need to get it into my head that he and Elle are going to go out, that my crush means nothing.

I take a deep breath and give him a weak smile. That's all I can manage for the moment. He returns a full smile that makes my insides turn over. I grip my bag tighter as my hands clench.