Annalise

Chapter 19: Forced First Kiss

I twisted around to find a pair of hazel eyes lying upon me, an arrogant smirk morphing into a grin, reflecting his twinkling white teeth.

"Noah," I breathed out, setting free the air trapped inside the walls of my lungs.

I bit down on my teeth, my jaw going tense and setting off a ripple effect, making my body stiffen as well. I blinked continuously at his approaching figure before glancing down at the floor.

"She's not your 'babe'," Asher bristled at his nickname for me. "If you want to get her attention, which you shouldn't have by the way, call her Annalise."

I flicked my eyes towards Noah as he shot Ash a blaśe stare, swiftly observing him before he landed his sight onto me, disengaging in any retort back.

"Here you go," he softly said, holding my North Face bag out for me.

His voice was calming and low, different from his stern gaze that was fixated on me. I couldn't possibly know if he witnessed the tremors of my hands or the hesitation that was interwoven in my movements to grab my bag, however, his lips quirked up and a satisfied smile broke to the surface.

"Thank you," I tightly smiled, letting my eyes drop.

Before the heaviness of books and notes could push the weight down on me, Asher swooped up and snatched my teal bag in one hand.

"I'll hold it," he stated, no room for discussion.

My eyes danced up to the faces lingering behind Noah. There stood Alessandro, his brown eyes beadily staring past me with his blond man bun resting on his head. I crunched my eyebrows together, remembering all the lies he spewed to me. Noah's in a gang, he's the gang leader of the Mortes, more dangerous than I could imagine.

I hopped my sight on the other face, the name of the person not coming to mind. I haven't learned it yet, but his light green eyes and dirty blond hair clicked as Noah's friend from that day at the club. His sight was already on me, a tiny, dark smirk meeting me.

I ignored his eyes drifting to places that disturbed me, pretending that I didn't feel the hot stare burning on my bare legs and skimming up to my skirt.

"Can we talk?" Noah asked, his features melting into sincerity.

Can you leave? My dark voice retaliated the words echoing in my head.

I gulped, I didn't want to have any conversation with someone who could hurt me without a second thought.

"She doesn't have time. She's going to lunch," Asher immediately replied, not missing a beat.

"Let her talk for herself," Noah shot back, stern and clear.

"I'm her twin. I can tell by sparing a quick glance at her that she doesn't want to be near you, so leave my sister alone," Asher's voice deep and serious, an underlying message playing out.

I placed my hand on the heart necklace around my neck, rubbing it softly as it smoothed over the anxiety tickling and scratching my insides. I pulled my sight away from the people in front of me and made contact with someone else.

Ricky and his two friends all stood watching. His dark ink, blue eyes froze mine and ejected shivers up my arms and back. My stomach churned and twisted violently, contracting the food inside me as I gulped thickly. The beat of my heart thumped against my ears, consuming my hearing as constant beats ranged loud.