Lockwood Academy Rivals

Chapter Nine

• Christian •

It must be my lucky day. This new teacher, Ms. Peters, just might be my favorite teacher yet. When she first mentioned that we were doing a project with a partner, I hoped I would be paired with Evan and when she said he was paired with Hannah all my hope was lost. For a second there, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity for Evan to get back into Hannah's good graces. She wasn't having that, though.

Hannah obviously said something to Ms. Peters about not wanting him as a partner. It would have to be something good, so she probably told her about the break up. Ms. Peters is a young woman, I'm sure she knows all about failed relationships.

    I stand up from my desk and walk to the empty desk next to Evan. I slouch down in the seat and prop my feet in the tray of the desk in front of me.

"So, are we starting this thing now?" I ask. I can tell I annoy Evan, he's clenching his teeth together and his hands are balled into fist.

    "Just start talking about your life and I'll write it down." He grumbles, pulling out his notebook and opening it to a random empty page.

    He picks up his pencil and hovers it over the paper, waiting for me to start talking. I watch him for a minute, while he's not looking at me. Being this close to his face, I realize I was wrong about him not having freckles. They're small and faded into his skin, lightly scattered over the bridge of his nose. I swallow harshly.

    I want to tell him how beautiful he is, but I don't think he would take that well. He would probably think I was making fun of him and most likely I'd get punched in the face for a comment like that.

    "Are you going to start talking, or just stare at me the rest of the period?" He snaps. My eyes widen and I can feel a heat creeping up my cheeks. I take a deep, silent breath, calming down. 

    "How did you know I was staring?" I ask, keeping my tone neutral. He drops his pencil and straightens up, looking me dead in the eyes.

    "I could feel your creepy ass eyes watching me." He says, rolling his pretty emerald ones.

    The bell rings suddenly, causing Evan to groan loudly. He glares at me, picking up his notebook and pencil, shoving it into his book bag. I stand up and go back to my seat to collect my stuff. When I turn back around, Evan is already gone.

I walk into the hallways and spot Dean waiting for me. Rolling my eyes, I start walking towards him and he shoots me a grin. Once I'm next to him we start walking to the courtyard for break. Dean glances at me out of the corner of his eye.

    "How's it going with lover boy?" He asks curiously. I look around before answering.

    "As good as always." I say and Dean chuckles.

    "So not good then." He comments, smirking.

    I ignore Dean and start walking ahead of him to the picnic table where Sawyer is sitting. Surrounded by ladies as always. I plant myself on the table and gaze around at the group of people surrounding us. I move my gaze to the other people in the courtyard. I don't see Evan anywhere, but that's pretty normal. He usually goes to the library at break.

Is it weird that I know that?

Nah.

    My eyes travel back to the people surrounding us and I nudge Sawyer in the side with my elbow. I subtly motion towards them with my eyes. He lets them know that they should leave, not kindly. That's one of the reasons I like him; he gets stuff done.

    They leave, save for Sawyer's girl for the day. She's tall, with long brown hair streaked with blond. She's wearing a bit too much makeup for my taste, but Sawyer doesn't seem to mind.

    "I'll see you later, babe." He says, winking at the girl. Her mouth forms an 'o' shape as she gets the memo.

    She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, stalking off. Once we're alone, Dean turns to me from where he has sat on the table. He has a thoughtful look on his face.

    "You know, if you want Evan to like you, you should try being nicer to him." He says. Sawyer scoffs and I turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

    "If you tried being nice to Evan he would think you were up to something. No matter what you do, he's always going to be suspicious of you." Sawyer is probably right, but... it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

    "Not trying to be a douche, just telling the truth." He adds.

"Yeah." I say, distracted in my thoughts. Do I really want to try to start being nice to him? Even if I did, he would never want to be my friend or anything more. It's kind of pathetic really; I have a crush on someone who hates me.

Break ends and the day goes by fast. At lunch I asked- no, more like I told Evan that we'll be meeting at his house to work on our biographies for English. He reluctantly agreed.

The last bell of the day rang and I lazily made my way out of the classroom after everyone else. I would have to wait for Evan anyway, because I need to follow him to his house. Sure, I know where he lives, but I don't want him to think I stalk him. I don't.

When I made it to the parking lot, there was a crowd of people surrounding my car. Some with looks of astonishment, others with amusement. I pushed my way through the crowd. When I see my car, I stop in my tracks.

There is a long scratch down the side of it, from the trunk all the way to where the hood is. I look around at the people surrounding it wildly. I can feel the anger pulsing in my veins.

Someone keyed my car.

"Who did this?" I demand loudly. Some people flinching at the harshness of my voice. No one says anything, so I ask again.

"I saw Evan do it." A male voice from the crowd says. My hands are shaking as I look around for Evan. When my sight does finally land on him, his eyes are wide and his jaw is dropped open.

I see red as I stalk towards him. I don't even question if it really was him. Someone saw him do it and he has motive. He blames me for his little breakup with Hannah. I don't have to shove anyone out of the way as I walk towards him, no one wants to get in the middle of this.

I grip him by the front of his shirt and pull him up towards me, only the tips of his feet still touching the ground. I can feel his whole body shaking and he looks so scared.

Scared of me.

    I let go abruptly, causing him to stumble back. He trips on some loose gravel and falls back onto the ground. He looks up and me with his wide emerald eyes.

    I don't even have proof that it was him, but I still was about to seriously hurt him. It's just a car, I can easily get it repainted. I shouldn't have got that mad over it.

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