The Bad Boy Next Door

The Girl in the Coffee Shop

I chucked at her statement. I'm sure she's an Elizabeth.

She cleared her throat and took a drink of her coffee.

"Do you need a refill, Lovie?" I looked back to see the flirty barista looking at the interesting creature across from me.

She nodded, "Yes, please. One cream, two sugars."  The barista smiled, "Oh, and leave the bag in. I'll steep it myself." Lovie turned back to me. So it's tea. An interesting creature indeed.

"So as much as I enjoy being ogled from afar, maybe next time you can just sit down instead of waiting." The smirk on her face was devastatingly attractive. So she had noticed me.

I scoffed, "I was debating on whether or not I should waste my time. I decided you may be worth it."

She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, "Gee, thanks. How sweet of you." Her words dripped in sarcasm. The barista placed her tea on the table and shot me a smile. I winked back at her causing a giggle from the barista and a scoff from Lovie. "Can you not, I'm trying to keep my lemon loaf down."

I looked down and smirked, "So what do I need to do to get the principal and my parents off my back?"

"For starters, you should probably start coming to our meetings. Then I could at least turn in a report that doesn't read 'He's a no show.' That could help." She shrugged her shoulders and pulled the tea cup up to her lips, keeping eye contact with me.

I began biting my lip, purely out of natural reaction to the attraction I was feeling for her. Once her eyes flitted to my lips I could feel the heat in my cheeks. I looked down and let out a small cough. What the hell was that?

I'm not naturally a flirtatious guy, I don't just dole out wink, lip bites, and flirty smiles on a whim. I can normally keep my own wits to myself, but for some reason, every time I see this girl I feel a bit foolish. I mentally chide myself before looking back up at her.

"Do you read often?" Smooth, Zeke, smooth.

She nodded, "I do, but these meetings aren't about me. They're about you." She pulled out another binder from her bag, "Mr. H gave me a list of homework that you haven't turned in. So I gathered all the assignments from your teachers." She handed me a binder labeled "Ezekiel's Missing Assignments"

I opened it, and noticed she had labeled each class and had sorted through what needs to be turned in immediately and what has time to be completed. So she's an organizational freak.

I raised and eyebrow, "You really must not have a life if you had time to organize all of this nonsense for me." I flitted through the pages of work I had missed. I hadn't realized it was so much. Yikes. No wonder mum is always on my back.

She sipped her tea, "I finished early at work and I'm caught up on all my work. I figured this would make it easier for you to catch up." She drummed her fingers on the table and looked out the window.

I let out a laugh, "It would make it easier if I planned on doing it."

She looked back towards me and rolled her eyes, "If you can quote Pride & Prejudice you can at least finish your English lit. Our assignments are literally about the book."

I raised my brows. "Is this your first time reading it?"

She scoffed at me as if what I had just said was funny. I was genuinely curious. She stared at me for a moment, holding her tea in both hands on the table. "No." She shook her head, "This is my fifth time reading it."

"So you're a fan of Jane Austen?" She nodded at me, "Do you like any of her other books? Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park?"