Over the next few days, May eases me into high school life and I begin to enjoy the experience as my confidence grows. True to her word, she introduces me to her group. The triplets, Dominico, Lucan and Isaia, welcome me with open arms. It seems that Teddy's message to them came through loud and clear as they all greet me with a huge hug, earning some longing looks from the girly girls across the common room. Finn and Dex both give me a laddish nod, politely asking questions about Oklahoma and my family. They seem cool. Dalia, the blonde, is really bubbly and airy when I meet her. She seems to be happy all of the time, grinning and laughing at everything that happens around her. She has a very likeable, warm personality to match her beautiful looks. The two girls that I hadn't encountered properly, Piper and Julianne, turned out to be very chill, expressing a go-with-the-flow kind of energy. They are nice to me, inviting me over to Julianne's to get ready with the girls before the party on Friday night. The last person I meet turns out to be Morgan, the stunning red head, who isn't as warm as the others. All she offers is a nonchalant 'what's up, nice to meet you' before she loses interest and walks away. Her intimidation is very off-putting but reminding myself that she doesn't know me, I don't let it get to me. Lorrie, or Ren, as everyone here calls him, doesn't come to school again for a few days but nobody comments on it so I don't pry.
On Friday, May has to leave early for a dentist appointment, leaving me on my own at the end of lunch with twenty minutes to spare before History last period. With the rest of the group out on the football field, behind the campus, I decide that it's probably not worth going out to find them all so start to make my way to history. When I get there, the room is empty, like I expected. I make my way to the back table, where I sit on my own during lessons, and plonk myself down on my seat. History has to be my least favourite lesson at this school because I don't have May with me. She opted for geography instead of History so twice a week, I have to get on without her, all alone at the back. Fortunately, Dex and Julianne also take history so I'm not completely alone. They sit in front of my desk, together, and leaned back on their chairs last lesson so that I could talk to them during discussion times. Just as I slip my pencil case out of my bag, placing it in the corner of my two person desk, the history door swings open, surprising me. Confident as ever, Lorrie steps into the room, making his way down the aisle, straight towards me. My heart does a little jig in my chest at the sight of his dark, silky locks and very green eyes, a strong sign that I've missed his presence in school. As he drifts past all of the other empty desks, I notice that he has his earphones in, loud music playing through them, creating little thuds in the very quiet room. His eyes stay glued to a wad of papers in his hands, repetitively flicking back and forth over them. I decide that I want to play this coolly today; be confident in myself. I won't let him get under my skin or patronise me like he did at Teddy's house. Given that he hasn't been here all week, I assume that he is also in this history class with me. He doesn't notice me, not even when I clear my suddenly dry throat, until he's stood right in front of my desk. When he does, he almost jumps out of his skin.
"Gesù Cristo!" he hisses in what sounds like Italian, almost dropping his papers all over the place. I feel my face intensely heat up and start fiddling with the pencil in my hand anxiously. No, no, no, I can do this. Holding the pencil still, I force myself to meet his eyes. His face looks as red as mine feels, his eyes furrowed under his dark brows. The creases in his forehead deepen as he gives me a slow once over, looking from my black Docs under the table, up my bare legs, over my denim skirt and flannel shirt, to meet my eyes. Despite the unsettling feeling he gives me every time he does this, the annoyed look on his face makes me laugh. Who does he think he is looking me up and down all of the time? He suddenly pulls the earphones away from his face, regaining his composure. "You're in my seat."
"No I'm not, this seat was free at the start of the week. I sit here now." I say steadily, placing my pencil on the desk.
"I've sat here for three years." He says, crossing his long arms across his chest. I try to ignore the flexing muscles along his biceps but fail miserably, earning a smirk from him. "So actually, I think it's my seat."
"Well that's just changed."
"I don't like change." He flatly says.
I sigh, sitting back in my seat. I refuse to let him push me around.
"Well, change is good, it refreshes the soul." I say condescendingly. He raises his brows before shoving his large black bag onto the table with a loud thud, right in front of me.
"Do you think my soul needs refreshing Bumblebee?" he teases, emphasizing the last word. The memory of the other night on Teddy's porch, when he referred to me as a small, insignificant bumblebee, comes to mind. A flash of anger breaks my composure.
"You can drop the bumblebee business." I say hotly. "And yes, your soul seems very..." I lean forwards again, searching for the right word. "... self-absorbed."
At that, he lets out a surprising laugh. His shoulders gently shake, relieving them from their initial tension. He shakes his head, his originally annoyed expression disappearing, being replaced by a composed, almost cool, look.
"There you go again, deceiving me with your fluffy appearance only to go ahead and sting me." Whilst picking up his bag from in front of me and placing it under the spare seat next to me, he meets my eyes again. "Well, I can see that you're not going to give up my seat. Are you gonna give up the one next to you?" he asks coolly.
My head ultimately comes up with loads of suggestions of what he can do with the seat next to me, most with violent tendencies encompassing them. But my heart, always being the weaker of the two, refuses to let me say any of them. Plus, it would only encourage him to wind me up further.
"Well that depends." I say evenly. He raises a single brow, cocking his head to the side slightly. His black hair falls across his eyes, casting shadows across his face. I hate to say it, but he looks adorable.
"Depends on what exactly?" he asks.
"It depends on if you're going to be nice to me. You're not sitting next to me if you're going to distract me from my work for the next two years and make fun of me all of the time. I'm in this class to work." Taking my eyes from him, I take three equally sharpened pencils from my case and line them up in front of my notepad, trying to prove my point throughout my organisational skills. Letting out a deep sigh, he picks up one of the pencils, spins it easily between his fingers for a few seconds, before coming around to sit next to me. The two-person desk suddenly feels too small. His large bicep brushes up against mine, sending a wave of electricity through my body. I have to resist the urge to lean further into him.
"How about we make a deal?" he says smoothly from beside me. I don't dare take my eyes from the two remaining pencils in front of me out of fear of burning up like a tomato. "Given that you stole my chair and branded me as self-absorbed, consequently hurting my feelings, I think I deserve one. How about..." he swivels in his chair so that he faces me. I tear my eyes away from the pencils, still not trusting myself to maintain my composure but refusing to let him intimidate me nonetheless, and meet his amused eyes. He cocks his head to the side again, before continuing, sending shivers down my spine. "...I will promise to be all lovely and helpful during our history lessons, only our history lessons, so that you can get on with your learning and enjoy your Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons as much as possible." That sounds appealing to me. I want Lorrie to be lovely to me, I want to be attracted to his personality as much as I'm attracted to his physical person. I can't help but feel drawn to him. "But," he pauses, a mischievous smile making its way onto his face. "-you have to ride with me tonight to Kallie's party."
At that moment, I couldn't even try to hide the surprised look in my eyes. Shock engulfs me, twisting my face in confusion. He wants me to what? To ride with him? Does that have some sinister hidden meaning? Surely there's a catch?
"You want me to ride with you to Kallie's party?" I ask, ignoring his challenging expression. He's enjoying playing with me. "What does that even mean?"
"What it means, Bumblebee, is that I'll come and pick you up from Julianne's once you've gotten ready with the girls and you'll ride with me to the party. A lot of people are talking about the pretty new girl," he pauses, looking me up and down again, "and I want to be the guy to rock up with you. It's good for status... and my ego." He finishes, looking very pleased with himself. I force myself to push down the overwhelming glee that flowers inside of my chest the moment he refers to me as 'pretty'. I sit back against my chair, not caring that he's still very close to me, and consider my options. If I refuse to ride with him to the party tonight, he'll be a douchebag for the next two years that we are sat together and make my high school experience significantly less enjoyable. Yet, my pride is still intact and my reputation isn't damaged by the idea that I'm his little date for the night. However, if I agree to ride with him then my history lessons will be significantly easier, I'll probably even get a good grade, things won't be awkward in the friendship group and I might even get to know him a little more, feeding the curiosity monster that has come to life in my chest since I first laid eyes on him. Yet, I will have to forfeit my pride and accept the fact that my purpose, for the evening, is to feed his already impossible ego. Can I do that?
"I have one condition." I finally say, swivelling in my chair to face him head on. His challenging look is still glowing across his face, igniting his ivy eyes. He nods slightly, encouraging me to go on. "If I'm going to sacrifice my pride to build up your status or ego or whatever, you have to make up for it every history lesson."
"And how will I do that exactly?" he asks slowly whilst leaning back against the side of his chair and looking at me.
"By answering my questions." I reply, straight away. For a few seconds, he just simply looks at me, most likely considering my condition. Leaning forwards, he sighs and rests one of his long arms on the back of my chair and the other on the table beside me which consequently traps me in front of him. I try not to move. Be strong. Be confident. Don't be small.
"Three questions, every Friday." He says evenly without taking his eyes from mine. "That's all you get. And I get to ask you three back."
Smiling complacently in my victory, I swivel back around in my chair and realign my remaining two pencils that his arm has knocked slightly. He does the same, removing his arms from the back of my chair and the desk. Suddenly, I feel like I can breathe again.
"I'll bring the Chevy at eight." He says, staring ahead at the front of the room to the area where Miss White has just entered, carrying a load of textbooks. "Tell the girls that Dex will bring the rest of them."
I nod, still smiling at my victory. But then a thought comes to mind. I swivel back around to face him, feeling confident in my ability to challenge him now.
"Actually... okay I know I'm being annoying and pushing my luck a little, but this is my reputation you're playing with here so it's fair enough." I quickly gush, smiling sweetly. "Can we take your bike instead?"
Surprise flickers across his face and this time, he doesn't even try to hide it. Glancing at me, he allows a small, questioning smile to alter his face.
"My Dad has a little bit of an obsession with motorcycles, he's a mechanic. I grew up with Harley's in the garage. I even helped him fix up a Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Voyager a few months ago, when he came to visit. Because of him, I know how to spot an exceptional bike when I see one. Do you mind?" I ask, filled with hope. He continues to stare at me for a few moments before lightly shaking his head in disbelief.
"Any other girl would jump at the chance to ride in the Chevy, you know. It's shiny and fast." His black hair falls back into his glistening eyes and I suddenly have the urge to draw his perfectly handsome face. "You're full of surprises Bumblebee."