Weres

5. His Prey

The cafeteria was filled with students, munching on their foods. Marley sat with Rachel and Kiara—their trays filled with orange juice and slices of pizza. It had been two days now since she joined the school, and Sanjay was right, stares were starting to die down. 

Among all the pairs of eyes, she felt one gaze poking her like no other— Eden's. She could feel his glare on her right now, but she refused to acknowledge it and concentrated on her food and friends.

These past days had been good for Marley. She found a really cool bicycle at Mrs. Sherman's place and was now riding it to school. It was faster than walking and cheaper than a car. Her morning breakfast was starting to get better day by day—it was still burnt but didn't smell like charcoal anymore. She was still far away from being a good cook, but it was alright. 

She had also made really good friends. Life was going great!

"Hey." A captivating voice spoke from behind her, pulling Marley out of her thoughts and causing small shivers throughout her body. It was husky but held some tenderness.

They all turned around to see Eden standing behind Marley, his eyes never wavering from hers. She quickly looked away, blushing. Rachel and Kiara were looking at him as if they had seen a singing walrus. To say they were surprised was an understatement.

"Hi!" They all said in unison, almost choking on their pizza. Eden spared a quick glance to Rachel and Kiara before turning back to Marley.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Me... okay," replied Marley, looking down with hesitation. Her voice was tiny that came from nervousness, and talking to him only intensified it.

She mustered the courage to face him again. She looked at him and raised her brows, gesturing him to begin.

"Alone." His voice carried authority that was hard to refuse.

"Alone?" She saw Eden pressing his lips—probably to stifle a laugh.

Marley looked at her friends for a moment as though silently asking what to do next, before nodding. He started walking and she followed. A minute later, they were outside, standing under the shade of a tree.

Marley stood there looking everywhere but at Eden, meanwhile Eden just gaped at her unflinchingly. She could feel her heartbeat rising and drops of sweat appearing on her forehead. She had always been a nervous nelly but was not prepared for this sudden turmoil of all kinds of emotions. A whole minute passed in awkward silence.

"Marley, will you go out with me?" Eden said, finally, breaking the silence. There was a strange smile on his face.

Her mind went numb for a second. She could feel the heat on her cheeks. She might have never blushed as much in her eighteen years as she had in the last three days. 

Unconsciously, her eyes went up to look at him. She realized this was the first time that she was standing this close to him. She took in his every feature—how his jawline looked so defined even when he smiled, or his eyes staring at her intensely that were brown like dark chocolate, and she could get lost in them for forever. His silky black hair was tousled, making him look more gorgeous—how much she wanted to run her fingers through them.

She snapped out of her lustful thoughts and immediately looked down again. He was one of them. She realized she didn't want to date a guy who bullied others, no matter how sexy he looked.

"No." That was all that could escape her mouth.

"Why?" Eden's brows furrowed and his jaw tightened.

"I-I j-just don't date and I have no plans to do so in the near future," she said, stuttering. It was an honest answer but only contained half the reason. She had no intentions of offending one of the scariest guys of the school.

They were dangerous.

An arrogant smirk appeared on Eden's face. His eyes narrowed, containing the glint of wickedness.

"I really hoped for the easy way to work. You could have just said yes and it all would have been so easy. Hard way it is then," he said letting out a sigh.

"Huh... what?" She was taken aback by his bluntness.

"Look, sweetheart one way or another we are going to end up together. Might as well save some time and say yes."

"You don't take rejection well. Do you?" Marley was done playing nice. She meant to say that angrily but her tone betrayed her and made it sound like a whine. Anger was not the emotion that she was used to expressing.

"No, I don't. Especially not from you sweetheart." The smirk never left his face.

"It's Marley, not sweetheart." She gritted her teeth. "And we are not going out... Not now, not ever," She finished, making sure he heard her crystal clear. She turned back and walked away, not waiting for his another arrogant remark.

Eden stood there, watching her leave. His smirk disappeared and his eyes followed her retreating figure, taking in every little detail. Only if she knew how much she affected him.

*******

Marley entered the cafeteria and quickly took her seat next to Kiara.

"Well, what happened?" Rachel asked, curious.

"What a jerk?!" That was all Marley could manage.

"Tell me about it. All of them are jerks, babe. His whole circle is full of them." Kiara rolled her eyes before patting Marley's back.

A few minutes later Eden walked in, and like a clockwork, his eyes within seconds found Marley. Eden's gaze looked that of a predator, and his prey happened to be her.

*******

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