Punky Badass and a Goody Two-Shoes

1

(Violet POV)

Luke Hemmings. Just the name could send chills down someone's spine, but for a plethora of reasons. He was the university's resident "bad guy", walking around in leather jackets and skinny jeans every day. I'd never heard of him actually doing anything bad, he just had an intimidating demeanor about him. Girls threw themselves at him, but he seemed uninterested in them. We had a couple of classes together, and somehow we always ended up sitting next to each other. Luke and I were both quiet people by nature, but every once in awhile during class one of us would crack a quiet joke or a sarcastic comment would get muttered under someone's breath and we'd share this glance and smile at each other.

All I really knew about Luke was that he was in a band (at least I think so), he had gorgeous blue eyes that reminded me of a clear blue ocean, a pierced lip, and gauged ear piercings. He sometimes wore a snapback hat or a beanie to class, but mostly it was a band shirt (like Motley Crue, Misfits, Blink-182 or Nirvana or someone like that), black skinny jeans with a hole in the knee and all-black Converse high tops. He wore a small ring on his pinky, and one on his middle finger sometimes, too. But this was all I knew about him, we didn't spend time together or talk much, though we'd been in these classes together over the years. He didn't look like a typical university student, though. But like I said, that was just his demeanor. He acted like he didn't give a shit, but only I knew he deeply cared about his grades.

"Do you have an extra pen?" he was leaned over his desk, close to me. I hadn't been paying any attention to what was going on, and nearly jumped out of my skin. He chuckled as I nervously fished around for an extra pen in my bag. I pulled it out and handed it to him. He took it and smiled at me.

"Thanks," he said quietly. I nodded at him and turned back to my own paper in front of me, scribbling down the notes I'd missed while not paying attention. I saw the letters GROUP PROJECT GUIDELINES written in big letters on the board and I groaned quietly to myself. I hated group projects.

"Shit," I muttered. I heard Luke chuckle beside me again and I blushed. I hadn't meant for anyone to hear me!

"I hate group projects too. I always get stuck with the duds and dumbasses," Luke offered, looking over at me.

"Me too," I said, slinking down in my chair a little bit. The professor stood up and took his place at the front of the room as everyone stopped their conversations and waited for him to start.

"Now, as you can tell from the board, you will be working on group assignments this week. I was going to make the groups myself, originally. But I decided to allow you to make your own choices in group partners. With that being said, the materials are at the front of the room. No more than four to a group, no less than two. Get working. I'll be at my desk or in my office if you should have any questions or concerns," he said. He gestured to the stacks of papers at the front of the room and sat back down at his desk in front of his laptop. People formed small clusters all over the room and began discussing their topics.

"Wanna work together? Since we both always get stuck with the duds. I figured you give a shit about your grades," Luke asked. I nodded slowly and scooted my desk closer to his timidly. I'm not a very timid or shy person, but something about Luke has me completely mystified and I want to figure him out.

"I'll, uh, go grab the papers," I said, standing up. I walked to the front of the room and picked up two copies of the materials and walked back to our desks. As he read the directions, I studied him from behind my paper. He focused intently, and his brows drew in when he was reading. It was really quite cute. He looked up, and I jerked my eyes back down to the paper in front of me. I peered up again to find him studying me now.