When you look at me I just can't lie

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Zander Kale hated high school and he was steadily counting the days until it was over. Two more months to go. He had been out of town for three years in witness protection but looking at the crowds he saw nothing had changed and it was a lot like the last high school he was forced to go to with stupid politics and cruel people. The only classes he liked to take were the ones about art. He could stare at a painting for hours and still find something new to admire in the strokes of paint, sense the emotion the artist must've been feeling.

The cheerleader was in a mood, he thought as he noticed Lena Lowell's sad expression. He knew Lena, not well, but he knew her because of the simple fact she was the identical twin sister to his best friend Amelia. Mel and Lena couldn't be more different to the point he wasn't sure they shared the same womb. Mel was one of the guys and still managed to be beautiful as she did it, she was low key and smart as hell. Lena was the girly girl; she was wearing denim skirt he admitted showed off a pair of grade A long legs with a cute white top that looked delicate on her tan skin. Her sad expression looked odd across her carefully made up face and outfit.

Yet her sad expression was what made him look. Lena was a beautiful girl, no one could take that away from her, but there were times she came off robotic with too bright smiles and her annoying need to fit in some plastic mold that made her mean. She picked on Mel too much when they were kids and still found ways to here and there when she didn't think Zander was looking. No one picked on Mel while he was around.

His heart did a clenching flip flop at the thought of Mel. He had been in love with her and sometimes he thought he still was when his heart tightened at the sight of her green eyes or the smell of her perfume made him want to do dirty naked things to her. But he wasn't a big enough jerk to hit on some other guy's girl, Mel was taken and it looked like it she was going to forever be taken. Mel was eighteen and Anthony, her boyfriend, was twenty-two but they shared something real and forever.

Zander groaned and forced himself to stop thinking about Mel and Mel in love with another guy. It was his fault anyway, actually his father's, if they hadn't been forced to leave and enter witsec he wouldn't have left Mel alone to fall in love with someone new. When they were kids they were inseparable and when they became teenagers it was starting to change into someone more with stolen kisses and long caresses at the age fifteen. He didn't doubt they could be together in some everlasting love if Anthony had never entered the picture. But he was there and Mel fell hard for the guy in an adult way she never got to share with Zander.

He groaned again and glanced around the patio at the fellow senior students hanging around for lunch. He usually hung out with Mel during lunch but she was out sick with the flu and that left him all alone. He didn't have other friends, he didn't need other friends. He did hang out with a few guys from art class at the college only because Mel wasn't there for him to cling to, her boyfriend however was. Mel went a fell for an artist just like her best friend was.

His eyes landed on Lena again and this time he noticed she was all alone. Her boyfriend, some guy named Andy, had been there earlier and walked away. He was probably the reason her face looked all sad.

She sighed and lifted her head from the palm of her hand; her brown eyes glanced around and landed right on him seeing as he was still staring at her. Her expression shifted from sad to curious, her shapely left eyebrow rose. Curious was a lot better than disgusted, he thought, Lena was usually scowling at him and he was scowling right back.

He tended to tell Lena a lot she was mean and put others down because of the things she didn't like about herself. He had never wondered what exactly those things were until right now seeing her sad eyes. She was curious but her eyes still sad giving away whatever she couldn't conceal from her system.

He had no idea why he cared, her problems certainty weren't his problems and yet he wondered what was bothering her. She was the sister to his best friend and lost love, maybe he cared because it could have something to do with Mel or Lena might decide to pick on Mel because of her sour mood. That made sense.

The fact they were staring at each other with no scowling made no sense.

The bell rung and the weird spell was broken.

Zander headed straight to his next class, he didn't stop at his locker to grab anything. He had an excellent photographic memory and didn't have to take notes. It was a god send when he saw something he wanted to draw later and he could remember every angle of it.

He happened to share his next class with the leggy blonde. He was seated toward the back at his desk when she stepped in. The craziest thoughts were starting to plague him. He had an art project due next week she'd be perfect for. He chalked up his insanity to the lonely feeling left with Mel out sick or maybe she gave him the flu and he had a fever frying his brain.

Still, Lena would be good for the project. He worked with models all the time he didn't necessary know or like. It was business and as long as the person could capture the emotion and position he needed the transaction was perfect and everyone left happy. Lena's sad eyes would be perfect.

He thought about the vision for the portrait throughout the whole class and hadn't heard a word the science teacher said. Oh well, good thing his best friend was an aspiring scientist.

After class he sought out Lena, trailing behind her steps to her locker. He hung back to make sure she stayed alone, he didn't need to deal with her attitude and the attitude of one her best friends or jerk of a boyfriend on top of that.

She looked up from her locker surprised to see him. Hmm, she was off her game because not once had sent gave him a death glare today. "What?" her voice was small with no snarl either.

This was too much for him not to point it out. "Are you ok? You haven't been a bitch to me and I've been standing here over a minute."

She rolled her eyes, that was more like it. "What do you want dork?" even better.

"Ah there's the evil witch of the east I know." His eyes were playing tricks on him because it looked like she almost grinned. "I have a job offer for you."

"Job? How can an unemployed high school outcast offer a job?" Yup, Lena was back.

"Ah you're so sweet." Oddly enough he was still thinking about her in the setting for his next project. He must be sick. "I would like to use you for my art project and I can pay you twenty bucks an hour."

She looked doubtful. "You want to draw me?"

"Something like that." Drawing would be easy and what he envisioned wasn't easy. There was a lot more to art than sketching across a blank canvass. He had to whip out the big guns. "It'll take a day or two tops and you'll make enough money to waste at the mall this Saturday."

"The money is tempting but having to spend a day or two with you isn't."

"That hurts my feelings."

"No it doesn't."

"You're right, it doesn't." Zander grinned.

"Why aren't you asking Mel? Oh that's right, she models for Tony and has no use for you."

That one did hurt. "Are you in or not Princess?"

"Quick cash to stand somewhere and let you draw me? Sure I'm in." she had no idea what she was signing up for.