Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"'There's too much risk in loving,' the young boy said. 'no,' said the old man, 'there's too much risk in not'" (Atticus).
|◁ II ▷|
Mondays are horrible. Why must Sam make them worse by deliberately seeking me out for some kind of talk that will only leave us weirder with each other?
I see Sam walking towards me with determination right after lunch and right after Valen dismissed himself to the bathroom before English.
Great. Yay. Perfect.
I try to avoid him by heading to the bathroom, but he stops me right before I can find refuge behind the door. I sigh, wishing the guys' and girls' bathrooms weren't at opposite ends of this hall.
And we're alone now. Perfect. You are an idiot, Nico.
"Hey, Nico," Sam starts, leaning against the wall with one arm stupidly above his head. "How's your day been so far? I haven't really seen you much lately."
"Yeah..." I trail off. "It's good to, you know, see you."
"Yeah," he continues, getting a little too much in my personal space. "I miss you, you know? I feel like West never lets me come over anymore."
"Oh... yeah," I cringe. "Um, so English is about—"
"Nico," Sam urges, leaning down to look me in the eyes.
"What?" I say shortly.
"I'd really love to see you more. I do miss seeing you."
Oh, he's flirting hard now.
"Sam, I have to leave—"
His hand finds its way onto my arm, resting in a gentle threat. "I'd like to take you out this weekend, okay? This Friday."
I glare at him, not understanding why he's ignoring all the messages I've been sending him. "I'll be with Valen that night. We're dating, remember?"
Annoyance flashes in his eyes. "Nico, I know you don't love him yet. Just break up with him. Don't you want someone familiar? He's a stranger."
"Get away from me," I demand, pushing his hand off of my arm. "Leave me alone, Sam."
He gets closer to me, passing my movements. Oh, gosh. His eyes jumps from blue to brown, and all I can smell is Hunter's cologne. I inhale deeply, finding horrible refuge in Sam's smell.
It may be Sam, but at least it isn't Hunter.
"Sam," I try, my voice pitifully quiet. "You're making me nervous. Step away."
He takes a tiny step back, but I don't feel relieved. "I can't believe it. You lied to all of us. You are a whore. I bet you regretted doing everything with Hunter so you blamed it all on him and pegged yourself as a victim. Typical woman move."
