Good Guy

Part Eight

It turned out that, without Adelih around, Maggie Donovan was much like every other regular, nice student. Cleo had to admit that the girl was a little ditzy, but she had a good heart overall. She even apologized for Adelih's behalf during their next Psyche class. She was able to do so because Adelih never showed up during the day of their pre-test. Cleo was sure that her absence had more to do with her being unprepared for the test, rather than the 'sudden onset of stomach flu' excuse she'd provided Maggie.

Maggie had been such a good sport with the apology, even going so far as to explain Adelih's crappy home life—absentee parents who loved their jobs more than their daughter, whom they showered with expensive gifts in compensation—that Cleo didn't have the heart to call Adelih out for her antics. Instead, Cleo nodded her head and accepted her classmate's verbal peace offering. Part of Adelih's craving for attention and popularity now made sense, but it didn't mean she could trample on other people. I hope she turns over a new leaf someday, if only for Maggie's sake.

"You look like you're in some sort of trance," the subject of her thoughts said, walking beside her as they made their way from the auditorium. Elective classes were last period, so most of the students were either heading to the library for after-school study, loitering near the football field to watch the varsity practice, or simply going home. Maggie and she were part of the last group, both comfortable with the arrangement now that apologies were out of the way. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Cleo said, thinking how surreal it was to walk with a person who days ago had helped someone try to put her down. "Just had a few things on my mind."

"Hmm, what could it be?" Maggie tittered, much more open now that she'd been forgiven. "Is it boys?"

"Not everybody else thinks of boys all the time, Maggie." Cleo rolled her eyes, seeing the trend in Maggie and Adelih's interests. Aside from popularity and having a good time, it was clear as day that they were enamored with the male population. Not that there was anything wrong with that, Cleo amended, for she'd recently been thinking about one particular member of it herself, and quite often.

"Well, you'll be thinking about one soon enough," Maggie murmured almost beneath her breath, gaining Cleo's puzzled interest. "Hey, Jackson!"

Maggie waved her hand, greeting somebody who happened to be walking in their direction. Cleo looked at the guy who was coming up to them, and she immediately stopped short at his display of confident charm. There was an aura about him that screamed both sophistication and danger.

The student was quite tall, with a somewhat lanky but sturdy frame and narrow hips, emphasized by a gray shirt, leather jacket and blue denim jeans. His polished, brown oxfords gleamed in the hall lights, almost as shiny as the tiles on the floor. Cleo took in his much finer details as he came closer. Waves of blond hair cascaded from his crown, ending at the level of his chin, which was graced with a shallow cleft that made it look stronger and squarer. He also had startling blue irises, frosty and pale in the middle but dark and deep at the rims.

He was, quite literally, a modern-day walking Prince Charming. He gave justice to the word 'beautiful' better than any person, male or female, in the universe could. As Cleo stared at this fast approaching stranger, she couldn't help but think that he was absolutely perfect. Too perfect. There's just no way anybody can be this flawless. There has to be a catch somewhere.

Her words soon proved true the moment Prince Charming opened his perfectly symmetric mouth. "Hi there. Abbie, right?"

And that was when Cleo knew something was definitely wrong with the guy. For one thing, both he and Maggie were wearing the same crest on their pins. This meant that they were in the same university club or organization, and were both officers no less. And from the way Maggie had greeted him, it was as if they'd been introduced earlier in the school year. Apparently, and much to Maggie's embarrassment if Cleo had to guess, this guy had no idea who'd just greeted him.