The Fire Prince

~Chapter Two~

I couldn't stop thinking about how intense his stare had been. It was as though he had delved deep into my core, searching for something within my soul, but what exactly I didn't know.

To make things worse, Mrs Crow had quickly waved him in, not bothering with any introductions. Instead, she had instructed this exquisite creature to sit on the empty desk next to mine. Why couldn't she have placed him next to Charles or Julia for Pete's sake?!

For some reason, anticipation and dread filled me as I watched him silently obey. His long, purposeful strides only exuded a powerful and frightening aura that sent shivers crawling up my spine; and yet I felt helpless and strongly compelled towards him at the same time. As he neared, the temperature suddenly became too hot and humid, contrasting to the cool, winter air outside. I was puzzled at how a stranger could affect me so.

When we had locked gazes I had deduced that this mystifying person seemed to be burying many secrets, for his eyes had been guarded and calculating. The stranger was now shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and rather than turn around and concentrate on the lesson, I took this as an opportunity to inspect him more closely.

Short, spiky, raven hair covered his head. A few strands hung loosely about his forehead, giving his rich, caramel chiselled face more appeal. It looked so smooth and velvety I wanted to reach out and caress it - to see if it really was as soft as I'd imagine it to be. Before I could continue with my investigation however, I realised that his jaw had become taut, his features had hardened and a deep masculine voice entered my thoughts.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to stare?"

The same dark eyes that had burned into mine earlier were now looking at me again with an intensity that I didn't believe was possible. It was so fierce that I could feel ferocious flames erupting from the pit of my stomach and begin to lick at my insides. My throat constricted and it had suddenly become too difficult to breathe. I gathered that I hadn't answered him, as his stare had softened ever so slightly, and one of his eyebrows was arched in a quizzical fashion.

My cheeks were so heated, that if anyone saw me now I'm certain that they'd confuse me with being a tomato. I instantly lowered my gaze and murmured a quick apology, but not before catching a glimpse of the small smile that had been etched onto his handsome face. Afraid of doing something stupid, I redirected my attention to the front of the class, gripped my pencil and started to take notes from the lesson, hoping to not get distracted again.

Truthfully, none of what Mrs Crow explained made any sense to me, and also, I was still reeling in shock and embarrassment from being caught gawking at the new guy. Worst of all, he had been the one to catch me looking at him. I mean I have glanced over at boys before, but never have I actually stared long enough to be caught checking them out.

Despite my awkward and introverted nature, I couldn't help it. I was completely enthralled by this new and handsome creature. My expression turned into a scowl as I scolded myself; the guy had only been in school for less than five minutes and he's already dominating my thoughts.

Blood rose to my temples once more and I lifted my head to see that I wasn't the only girl that had been mesmerised by his presence. Their suggestive stares were enough to make me cringe and retreat to furthest corner of my seat. I mean they were practically undressing the guy! I grit my teeth and hadn't realised that I had begun to apply more pressure to the pencil, pushing it to its breaking point, until the familiar voice spoke again.

"Don't you think that pencil has had enough of you squishing it for the past two minutes?"

As soon as those words left his lips, my eyes went as wide as saucers, and the pencil slipped from my hand and clattered onto the small, wooden desk. So, he had been watching me. Humiliation washed over me once more before it was swiftly replaced with a violent storm that promised to bring destruction.