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The intensity of his gaze burned into my back. I could feel the heat of it, of him. My cheeks flamed, and my body grew warmer. I knew he was looking at my ass. I could feel it.
Maddox Coulter was officially on my shit list.
CHAPTER TWO
Lila
I was on time for my English class and successfully submitted my essay – all thanks to the spare shirt I had in my locker. The one I wore this morning was soaked from my spilled iced coffee by the boy who shall not be named.
As soon as the bell rang, indicating the start of class, Mrs. Levi started her lecture about Greek Mythology. She went back and forth from the textbook and writing notes on the chalkboard.
Science might be my passion, but English was my favorite subject. I loved reading, loved learning about the language - every little piece of it. My interest began with Shakespeare, although it was Edgar Allen Poe who made me fall in love with English.
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
I may or may not have memorized most of his poems after reading them over and over again. There was just something eerily beautiful with the way he weaved his words together.
“Medusa has several myths about her life, the most common ones are of her death and her, rather, painful demise.” Mrs. Levi’s voice snapped me to the present as she introduced us to the history of Medusa. “This will be our focus for the next two weeks. Your next assignment will be based on this particular topic, so make sure you’re doing your research at home and come to class with your questions. The essay will be fifteen percent of your final mark. We’ll be discussing it in more depth the next couple of days.”
She continued to talk about Medusa, and I wrote down all my notes, marking the important ones with my red pen. I liked to keep my things organized, even though to other people, it seemed a bit too OCD.
Halfway through Mrs. Levi’s lecture, my hand paused, and my pen came to halt. It had been a few minutes now, and I couldn’t ignore the feeling anymore. My skin prickled, and my back seemed to warm under someone’s intense stare. I could feel the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end. It was a strange feeling, and I couldn’t concentrate on Mrs. Levi anymore.
I always sat in the front row of all my classes, but usually, I was invisible to everyone.
Today though… someone was staring at me hard.
It was impossible not to feel it.
The stare burned into my back, scorching me… waiting for a reaction, until I was forced to peek over my shoulder.
Our eyes met first.
Mine – widening with surprise. His – with amusement.
My jaw went slack, and I stared back, hard. No fucking way.
He was sitting in the last row at the back of the class, in the corner, next to the wall. There was a large gap between us, but I still felt him.
Maddox Coulter had both his elbows on the desk, his fingers threaded with his chin resting on them. His blue eyes danced with mischief, and when I continued to stare back, his lips crooked up in a lazy grin.
Well… shit.
I faced the front of the class again and mentally berated myself. Could this day get any worse?
How could I have missed him?
It was only the third week of school, and I never paid attention to whoever was sitting at the back. My focus had always been on Mrs. Levi and whatever she was teaching.
Knowing Maddox, he had probably skipped more than half of the classes in the past three weeks. I knew of his reputation. He rarely came to class, and when he did… he came with drama and a whole lot of assholery.
I mentally face-palmed while chewing on my lower lip, nervously. In the heat of the moment, I acted without thinking; granted, he was the douchebag in this situation, but nobody ever crossed Maddox without dealing with the repercussions.
With my best nonchalant expression, I quickly peeked over my shoulder again. He was still staring… and he caught me looking, again. His eyes were the deepest blue, shimmering with intensity. He lazily rubbed his thumb back and forth across his squared jaw while he cocked his head to the side, raising one lonely eyebrow almost mockingly.
Maddox watched me like he was sizing up his prey.
I didn’t like the look he was giving me, and I didn’t have any interest of being on his radar.
He might be the player, but I wasn’t about to be played. Try again, Coulter.
Giving him the most exaggerated eyeroll I could muster, I sent him a frigid smile and then turned back around to face Mrs. Levi.
