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Watching me closely, like he always does. It’s unnerving.
Someone bumps into my shoulder, and I jerk forward.
“Move, you dumb bitch. You’re so fucking slow.”
I flinch and quickly propel forward, before anyone else can bump into me and add more insults onto the overbearing pile that I’m silently collecting.
I keep my head down as I pass by Grayson and Oaklynn. “She’s so weird,” she mutters under her breath, loud enough for me to hear.
I don’t bother to stay and listen to Grayson’s response. I make it to the last row and take my seat. The second bell rings, and Grayson, with the rest of the students, walks into class.
I feel his burning stare on me as he takes his seat. But I don’t look up. If I do and if our eyes meet, my stomach will do the fluttering thing again.
I think Grayson has realized that I’m avoiding him, so he’s keeping his distance. We still sit next to each other in our AP Calculus and Law Studies classes. But we don’t talk, even though I always feel his eyes on me, burning into my skin.
Grayson is not intimidating, but his undivided attention scares me. Not in a bad, frightening way. But it unnerves me, because I don’t want to make of it.
I know he’s not judging me, because his gaze is always watching me with warm curiosity. Studying me closely, like I am some kind of enigmatic puzzle to him.
I don’t quite understand my reasoning behind purposely avoiding him. Maybe it has to do with the way he makes me feel. Warm and seen.
Except, I can’t exactly put into words what I am feeling.
It’s a foreign emotion, a mystery, even to me.
I’m dying to know, to understand my own feelings. But I am afraid to find out what it would mean to me — to him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Grayson— 17 years old
I’m not really stalking Riley.
I’d say, I’m just merely keeping an eye on her.
Because trouble follows Goldilocks everywhere she goes, and that triggers my protective instincts. I’ve never felt protective over anyone else, other than Naomi.
My sister was the only one capable of making me go haywire, if anyone ever dared to hurt her. But Riley — she’s making me feel things I’ve never felt before.
Except, she’s been avoiding me.
When I saw her on the first day, smiling prettily up at her friend, I had considered myself lucky. I didn’t think she’d treat me like a stranger though.
That’s unfortunate.
But I have an inkling as to why she’s avoiding me.
After watching her for weeks, I’ve realized that Riley has built up a wall around her. A wall that only Lila Garcia is allowed through. Riley keeps everyone else at an arm’s-length.
I don’t blame her though. They treat her like trash, and I can see the life diminishing in her eyes every time someone throws an insult at her. They are unnecessarily cruel, simply for the sake of being spiteful.
So, I see why she’s avoiding me.
Riley doesn’t trust anyone.
She doesn’t trust me.
And I understand that.
