beauty behind the madness | the weeknd

4

Rose

The next day, I half-run, half-walk into Tesfaye's class. It's quiet. Everyone's heads are turned downwards towards their books.

Tesfaye shoots me an annoyed look. "You're thirty minutes late," he says sternly.

I roll my eyes. "Technically, I'm twenty-nine minutes late," I say smartly and his eyes flash with anger.

"I'll speak to you after class," he tells me.

Tearing my eyes away from his, I quickly back away to my seat and flop down on the chair. I can feel his eyes still on me, but I don't look up. I feel too awkward after what happened last night.

When the bell rings, Tesfaye dismisses everyone and tells me to stay behind. I want to run out but I can't. I don't want to make him even madder than what he is already.

"Why were you late?" Tesfaye asks from the front of the class.

"Because I slept in," I answer, not looking him in the eye.

Tesfaye gets up from his desk and walks towards me. "And why didn't you come to the detention yesterday?" he wants to know.

I shrug. "Because I'm not a child," I tell him simply. "Plus, I didnt want to stay an extra hour after school. I didn't really have time."

Tesfaye sits on the edge of my desk. "But you had the time to go out," he points out and I smile to myself. "Well, you're gonna have to suffer the consequences."

"And what's that?" I question. "Detention?" I roll my eyes and scratch my head. This guy is annoying.

He smiles, looking amused. "Yes," he answers. "Two hours."

"What?" I shriek. "Two hours?"

Tesfaye nods. "Make sure you're there, Rose," he warns, leaning in. "Because if you're not,  I'll tell your mum where you were last night." I look at him, speechless. "You wouldn't want that, would you?" He touches my chin and looks from my eyes to my lips.

My heart starts thumping at the touch and the closeness. "You're blackmailing me?" I whisper.

Tesfaye smiles. "I wouldn't say blackmailing," he says quietly.

"Well, it's not like you have evidence, is it?" I say, leaning back, causing his hand to drop away from my chin.

"You do know there's CCTV at the club, right?" he tells me and I grit my teeth. "Looks like you ain't that smart now." I roll my eyes. "Seriously? Again with the eye rolling?"

"What can I say?" I say. " I love rolling my eyes."

"Yeah, a bit too much," he mutters. "Do you only roll your eyes when you're annoyed?"

"Yes, why?"

"I bet I can make them roll for other reasons," he says, more to himself then to me. His finger starts tracing down my cheek. I suck in my breath and shiver at the touch. He leans in closer, until our faces are inches apart. I look from his eyes to his lips, heart thumping. Just when our lips are about to touch, he pulls away. "Make sure you're here at 3."

I grab my books and practically fly out the class.

What the hell just happened?