~Louis~
Watching her cry was a sweet torture to my very existence. On the one hand, I was supposed to hate her; resent her for being the perfect candidate that I was sure my parents would push upon me to marry.
And then on the other, I saw her resilience. Even though it was clear that something traumatic had happened to her in her past, she was still strong and somewhat defiant; I just wasn't quite sure what had happened to her to make her that way.
I shook my head. It didn't matter-everyone went through something horrible at least once in their lives, she probably just had her heart broken by some young boy who didn't know how to make her happy, not like a real man like I could.
What?! I shook my head again, trying to clear the images from my brain of the tears falling down her cheeks, the mental image of me wiping them away for her was making me sick to my stomach.
I saw that she was looking at something very intensely on her phone, and her eyes had grown wide in fear, at least I assumed the emotion was fear as far as I could tell from where I was standing. I supposed that standing there alone and watching a young girl as she cried could have been considered perverted behavior, but I was used to doing what I wanted, when I wanted no matter the consequence on my reputation or my family's for that matter.
When I didn't get her fear or submission of me the day before in the hallway or in the lunch room, I simply couldn't take my eyes off her any longer.
And then she looked up. Those blue eyes stained in red and her silvery tears dripping from them, it was almost ethereal. I was too shocked to look away, how could I? Her dark was shining in the sun, revealing deep auburn sparkling strands and I knew right then that I wasn't through with her, I never would be.
I was going to know her, truly know her, and I didn't care if destroyed us both in the process.
***
~Malia~
After I caught Prince High and Mighty staring at me, I high tailed it into my first class of the day, which thankfully didn't involve him. I got out my writing utensils from my book bag but when I looked up I saw none other than the Prince himself, strolling into my class like he owned the place.
Hell, he probably did own the place, or at least his mommy and daddy-the crowned rulers of the country- did.
I caught his eye and the smirk that transformed his usually angry or bored face made me do a double take. Why was he smirking, and why was that smirk directed at me?
He walked up to our teacher and whispered something in her ear and then I almost fell out of my chair at what happened next.
"Mr. Davies, would you please mind moving to the empty seat in the back row?" the teacher asked a scrawny boy sitting next to me and we all gazed at her in curiosity of what was happening.
I scrunched my eyebrows as the boy sitting directly to my right got his things packed up and moved. And then before he could even take one step towards the seat he was given, Louis snatched up his chair and I was left staring at him, gobsmacked.
"Hello there, Princess," he said to me and my eyes narrowed at him in annoyance. Who did he think he was, walking in like he knew exactly what he was doing, making the person beside me move so that he could sit in the same place? The Prince of England, that's who he thought he was...and that entitled him to whatever shitty behavior he wanted.
"Don't call me that," I told him, not wanting my mind to get foggy over the way his navy blue dress shirt carefully hugged his protruding arm muscles, the way his pink lips curled up into a curvaceous and breathtaking lopsided smile, the way the color of his shirt brought out the intense blue of his-
I stopped myself from daydreaming about his gorgeous looks any further, turning my head back to my things in front of me on my desk before he could reply to me. If there was any way I was going to survive the school, survive being in England, I was going to have to have my head on straight.
I couldn't be in la la land, wanting a prince to like me while my step father was on the loose, possibly colluding with one of the most dangerous gangs in the entire North American continent. Surely they wouldn't go looking for me, not if they thought I was just gone.
If they had any clue about who my family was, and how rich they were, I would for sure be their next target. I had to make sure my name stayed out of the spotlight, and I planned on telling Mar and my grandparents that when I got home to them that day as well.
"Hello?" I heard a gruff voice say quietly to my right, trying to get my attention.
I looked to my side and noticed that Louis had been trying to get my attention for quite some time.
"What?" I asked him, annoyed that he was still trying to speak to me after all of the mean things he'd said to me and the evil glares he'd been throwing my way.
"I said, I can call you whatever I want."
My eyebrows shot up in a look that said, 'you have got to be kidding me'. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my books in front of me, although I didn't get any work done the rest of the class period due to a very annoying yet extremely hot prince to my right.
***
As soon as the class was over, I bolted out of my seat and packed up my things in a hurry, trying to escape from Louis who wouldn't stop staring at me after our little 'discussion'.
Chancing a look in his direction, he was still staring at me with one arm slung lazily across the back of his chair and I wondered idly how it would feel to have that arm wrapped around my shoulders, how it would feel to have his face inches away from mine, his minty breath fanning my face...
I shook myself out of my daydream and saw that the majority of the class was already gone and I booked it out of the class, Louis still firmly planted in his chair just smirking at me.
I had barely taken more than three steps before he was beside me in a flash.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked him sarcastically, in awe of how tall he was compared to my smaller frame. I needed him to stay away from me, not actively seek me out. He was making things so much worse for me.
"Oh, you can help me with a lot of things, Princess. But right now you're just helping me walk to class with the most beautiful girl in school."
I rolled my eyes at his cheesy line.
"Do you have Bipolar Disorder?"
"Pardon me?"
I scoffed.
"One minute you're telling me to stay away from you and that you're onto me, and that I'm just like everyone else who obviously just wants something from you because of your oh so fabulous life, and now you're giving me a nickname and following me around like a little puppy."
His smirk widened even more and I rolled my eyes yet again, walking as fast as I could on crutches to avoid all of the curious eyes and devil stares that I was getting from every student that we passed. It felt like we were animals in a zoo exhibit and people were literally staring with their mouths open wide, their necks breaking as passed them and they craned their necks to try to get a better look.
Of course this would happen on my second day of school in a new place, somewhere that I was trying to remain inconspicuous.
"Maybe I just changed my mind about you, is that a crime?"
"No, but the way you've treated me up until now should be."
"Ouch. Okay, point taken. Let's start over. Hello, I'm Louis," he said, walking in front of me to get me to stop with his hand outstretched wanting me to take it.
I looked at it for a second, raised my eyebrows in almost sarcasm, and walked around him, not caring when my shoulder may have accidentally on purpose slammed into his as I passed by him.
I didn't miss the electric tingles that surged through my body as our bodies touched briefly but I dismissed it quickly, not wanting to linger on the fact that I was most definitely interested in him. Which would definitely be a problem.
"You're not going to be able to get rid of me that easily, Princess."
"Yes I am and I thought I said to stop that, why are you calling me that anyway? I am in no way shape or form a princess and-"
He cut me off by grabbing my hand and pulling me to a stop. I quickly jerked my hand away from his as a reflex out of fear from my past trauma but I didn't miss the butterflies coursing through my stomach at his touch and I also didn't miss how the entire hallway had gone deathly silent, our peers witnessing the interaction with bated breaths.
I gulped, noticing our nearness as he had come closer and closer to me, our bodies separated by a thin inch of air.
He didn't miss a beat at my quick pulling away from him earlier, probably writing it off as irritation at him touching me. He leaned forward even more, impossibly close but also impossibly fast as if he were afraid that I would run as soon as he got too close.
"But you will be."
I stared at him in awe as he pulled away from me slowly, torturously, and I realized something extraordinary happened when he got close to me.
I didn't flinch.
***
Author's Note:
Hello my lovely readers!
How did you enjoy this chapter??
1. What do you think will happen next?
2. What do you WANT to happen next??
3. Do you love the way Louis is interacting with Malia?
4. What do you think about the plot?
Thank you all for reading, new chapter coming soon!!!
Until next time, my lovely readers!!
-Kristen :)