The Undercover Bad Boy

Chapter Twenty - Acts

Chapter Twenty - Acts

Mr Fletcher was analyzing each of our faces. I kept my lips pressed together in a straight line, but I was finding it increasingly difficult to remain serious with each minute that passed. It was like he was waiting for one of us to crack.

I snuck a sideways glance at Zach.

He was sitting next to me, looking as attractive as ever. He ran a hand through his already messy hair and was staring at the floor. Light shone through the blind, illuminating his face and eyes. This gave him an almost angelic glow.

I couldn't help but notice that he was a perfect balance of dark and light.

Zach chose that moment to look up. Meeting my eyes, he rested a reassuring hand on my knee. Heat rushed to my cheeks at the contact and butterflies seemed to flutter around uncontrollably in my stomach. It wasn't like he had kissed me or anything, but it was just him.

I tried to focus on something - anything - else, rather than Zach and how he had such an effect on me. The only sound in the office was the clock ticking every single second. I concentrated on that.

Jimmy would glare at Zach occasionally as if he was the reason for all of his problems. Even though there was a mutual dislike between the three of us, we shared a stronger dislike for our head teacher.

Mr Fletcher was polishing a picture frame on his desk. It was a photo of him from a decade ago, when he had just joined the school as a teacher. He wasn't exactly an old teacher, but stress had taken its toll on his appearance. His forehead was permanently creased due to his chronic frowning while his hair was thinning and greying at the roots.

We had been sitting here for well over ten minutes, forced to endure the constant, death-stares from Mr Fletcher. None of us had moved an inch. I was afraid to breathe too loudly.

It was shortly after the bell had rang, signalling to the students and teachers that lunch was over, when Mr Fletcher finally decided to speak to us.

He directed his first sentence to Jimmy. "I'm hardly surprised to see you here," he said in a resigned, curt manor.

Jimmy was hunched over in the corner. As expected, he wasn't paying any attention to anything that Mr Fletcher was saying.

He tended to get in trouble a lot; it seemed to come with the package of being the good-looking football captain. Due to his popularity, it was inevitable that he gathered a long, long list of admirers. It goes without saying. Every girl has had a crush on the infamous Jimmy Field once in their lives.

Three years ago. Dark times. Let's move on.

Mr Fletcher sighed irritably, clearly not impressed by Jimmy's lack of response. He shuffled the papers on his desk. "But you, Zachary, surprised me. This isn't like you at all." Disappointment laced itself into his terse, professional tone.

Zach's face immediately adopted an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry sir. I don't know what came over me."

Zach could freaking act. I'm not kidding.

Jimmy looked visibly shocked at Zach's sudden change of personality. He quickly covered his surprise by casting his features into a temperamental frown.

"Miss Walker filled me in on the events of this lunch. She said that Miss Hale was the cause of all of this drama. Is this true?" Mr Fletcher enquired. Dissatisfied, he sent me a glance.

I bit down on my lip, wracking my brain for a good way to respond.

"To an extent," Zach answered for me. I released an inaudible sigh of relief. I was going to trust him because, well, he was Zachary Edwards. He always knew what to say. "However, we're all equally accountable for what happened. In actual fact, it was Sierra who started it. She approached us first and started insulting us," he carried on with confidence.