Sorry

one

abia kamin

I have never been good at school. I didn't deal with pressure well. Not only the pressures of school, but the pressure my parents put on me to excel.

"We have given you everything. You have no excuses. You have more opportunities than us."

"We made it this far, so you have to continue what we started."

Even with their pressure, I couldn't help falling into every trap high school had. Including him.

"Mateo?" Miss. Anders scanned the room for the supposed new student. New students didn't normally attract people's attention. It's a smaller but our school still enrolled over 1000 students. You learn to only know the important people. He was important.

The semester just started snd people already gravitated towards him. The mysterious demeanour attracted people. Eyes that held a million stories. A relaxed posture that shouldn't have belonged to someone who just moved here. His nonchalance made him fit into our school so perfectly.

"Present."

His hair was dark and cut short. A buzz cut. Having short hair brought more attention to his structure face. Perfect jaw. High cheek bones. Plump pink lips. The tight black shirt he wore made his skin look tan and gave definition to his muscles. It fit him like a glove—second skin. Eyes the colour of moss scanned over me like he could hear my heart fumble at the sound of his matured voice.

"You're new? Where did you transfer from?" Anders removed her glasses, showing how even she was intrigued by him. He's so attractive it hurt to look.

Rumours went around about her fraternizing with a student, but there was never any proof. So her flirtatious attitude towards Mateo came as no surprise. Her eyes looked at him like a piece of meat and I'm not sure she even realized it.

"New Jersey," he gave a simple answer. But it left us with even more questions. His voice alone was able to silence a room. Girls in awe of him. Guys in envy of him. Something about him was different, yet no one could put their finger on it.

The rest of our lesson was nothing out of the ordinary. Except for the constant chills spiking through my body. I could feel the eyes piercing my spine and with the slightest turn of my head, I saw Mateo shamelessly staring at me. He stared not even in admiration, but annoyance or confusion. He sat two rows behind to the left. I found myself turning in that direction way too often, wondering what could be going through his mind to be showing so much distraught by my presence. I gave him widened eyes, trying to understand what he wanted. Instead of looking away, he gave me a snarky grin.

This guy examined everything about me, like he was trying to get in my head and figure me out. But there was nothing to figure out. As far as I knew, my life was plain and normal. Nothing interesting about me. But something was intriguing him. I felt uneasy. His stares were cold, revealing something dark behind his eyes.

Class came to an end and everyone wasted no time rushing out. It was lunch, meaning an hour and a half to shove down your lunch while also trying to play catch up with friends. Today's catch up for everyone happened to be news of the two new brothers. Mateo and Rowan.

"He is fucking hot," Hadlee gushed, her cheeks turning red from the thought of even touching one of them. I wasn't familiar with what Rowan looked like, but Mateo was someone to fond over. He was her type.

Her wavy blonde hair brought in many guys attention. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and grown men dropped to their knees. She liked the power she held over guys. Her blue eyes somehow hypnotized them. Her parents always made sure she knew she was beautiful and it soon turned into her greatest asset. Something she used to her advantage. I was not one to complain. Her looks got us into clubs, free drinks, yacht rides. All I had to do was show up and look pretty.

"Who are we talking about?" An overbearing body sat beside me, setting their food on the cafeteria table.

Ryan. The boyfriend I've known since kindergarten. A relationship did not begin forming until freshman year when peer pressure set in. We wanted to experience everything that came with being in high school, which included being in a relationship. Most knew we would one day be together, it was never evident to me. I hated him. He was mean, yet somehow my best friend.

His build was slim and tall. Body well proportioned which prevented him from looking lengthy. His strength and height were an asset for the football team. Long legs for speed but still built big enough to knock guys down. A day did not go by where his hair was not perfectly styled. I was there for all phases of his hair. His twists. His braids. His waves. His fro. He now has dreads that have been growing for a while and look really good on him.

"No one," I refrained from anymore talk about Mateo. From the other side of the cafeteria, I could see his eyes glaring. The look on his face felt like he could hear everything we were saying. The crowd and his distance were no barrier.

"Alright. How was class?" His warm hand went to the side of my waist, his index finger touching skin under my shirt. I looked down. Looking at Mateo made me feel unsettled and confused. Like he was slowly developing an obsession with just the way he was looking at me. It creeped me out and any moment now I would get up to ask him what his problem was.

I pulled away when Ryan's lips touched my neck. PDA—my least favourite thing. Especially at the thought of someone watching. And right now someone was.

"I heard there are basketball tryouts on Wednesday. You girls trying out?" The table shook as a man sat across with a basketball in hand.

Jay.

The obnoxious basketball jock that everyone found annoying, but could not get enough of. Not only did his beaming brown skin glisten in the sun, but his pearly white teeth went right along with it. No one liked admitting it because it's the last thing his ego needed to hear, but he was attractive. And he always made sure people knew it too. Renai always kept him in check. Put him in his place when no one else would. He had a soft spot for her, and always shut up when she told him so.

"Are you teasing us?" A smile spread on my face. Basketball is a fun sport to watch, but even I knew that I would never be chosen. I wasn't tall, another thing I envied Hadlee had that I did not. 

Lunch was good. Hadlee, Ryan, Jay, Renai and I have always been a group and there was never a dull moment no matter where we were. Life of the party is what people would say. But everything looked good from the outside looking in. Little did they know the little problems lingering within the group.

Opening my locker, I brought out a large textbook along with a pen and notebook. Carrying little things to class meant me having less distractions. I shut my locker, quickly turning and bumping into the rock like figure behind. Preventing me from falling, their cold, rough hands went on arms to hold me. It was like frostbite travelling through my body from their single touch. They were freezing.

"W-What are you doing here?" My head went up to look at Mateo who was much taller than me and his build slightly bigger than Ryan's. He spent a lot of time working out and it showed. His body towered over mine, his face remaining neutral. Air brushed past my face, feeling his breathing trailing down me. My mind couldn't even process the fact that he invaded my personal space because it was still stuck on how cold he was. "You're freezing," I reached to touch his hand again but he brought them behind himself to prevent me from touching him.

"Justine?" Mateo finally spoke up. I scrunched my eyebrows at the name. Now that he was close, I could see what I previously mistook for confusion was actually familiarity. He looked at me like he knew me.

"Excuse me?" I almost laughed at the thought of him staring at me all this time just to realize I was another woman. "I don't know who that is," I stormed away.