Wished

Chapter 2 - The Bad Boy

So there I was, innocently rearranging my books in my arms so they wouldn't fall, when all of a sudden my shoulder hit into someone and I lost my balance. My book stumbled from my arms and onto the floor as I  flailed my arms but failed to regain my balance. Just as I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact of the hard, school floor, I felt something wrap around my waist and the pain never came.

Slowly, I opened one of my eyes to see none other than Luke Masters smirking at me. Both my eyes widened and I opened my mouth to say something but the words just stuck in my throat. I snapped my mouth shut and stood up straight, trying to regain some of the dignity I lost by nearly falling, looking like an idiot and being caught speechless by the school's 'bad boy'.

Even though I was standing up straight, Luke's arm didn't leave my waist. I was too close to him, he was invading my personal space big time. Did I mind? Not necessarily. His eyes were such a deep, dark brown. They looked pools of melted dark chocolate. I swallowed in the hopes that I would find my voice and opened my mouth but a flash of teeth left me speechless once more.

"Cat got your tongue?" Luke asked teasingly and my face flushed bright red with embarrassment.

"I-uh-I-um, kinda," I replied honestly, still looking at him with wide eyes. His arm was still around my waist, keeping me close to him and I wasn't sure it he was aware he was still doing it but I certainly was, it felt like it was burning my back, in a totally good, weak in the knees way of course. Luke smirked with a flash of his teeth and shook his head before tilting it slightly and looking at me differently.

"You sure it's not 'cause you're nervous?" He asked me, his voice lowering as his arm inched me closer to his hard chest. The space between us had closed by too much and we weren't that far apart to begin with. He was right. I was completely nervous. Completely and totally. I mean, it wasn't everyday that you encounter the bad boy like this. My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest, thumping wildly thank to my proximity to Luke. My breathing was getting harder, shallower and my throat getting tighter.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I'm nervous," I answered, wondering why I was being so honest with him instead of pretending I wasn't and not acting like a complete idiot who got nervous just because they were close to a very hot guy. His smirk widened to a small grin and I swear my heart fluttered at the sight of it. His eyebrows furrowed just a bit as his eyes changed it's look once more.

"So why are you still here?" he asked, his voice more curious than amused this time. It was like he was trying to figure me out and I don't know why he was bothering because I was in the process of figuring myself out too. I had no clue why I was being so honest with him, my mouth was just running off on it's own. Saying everything that was coming into my mind without me thinking it through and making myself sound better with little tweaks here and there.

"If you were in my place would you leave?" I blurted the question and felt my face light up a hundred degree more. Why did I say that? He's gonna think I'm an absolute idiot. It wasn't like I had even said it trying to flirt, it didn't sound flirtatious in any way. It was just a matter of fact, curious question that sounded like I was stating the obvious. It wasn't a flirty thing. That's why it sounded so stupid. Any other girl in my position would be flirting their butt of right now, or running away. Luke looked at me as if this were the first time he was actually seeing me even though we had been like this for a minute or two now. His grin died down into a flirtatious smirk and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm Luke and how have I never met you before?" He asked and I could hear how got every girl to swoon over him. Not only did he look amazingly gorgeous but his voice was so smooth and deep and perfect and his smile was so heart melting and he was just wow. I am a fangirl and proud, these were not unusual thought for me to have although it's probably one of the first times that I've ever thought about stuff like this with actual people and not celebrities or fictional characters.

"We don't exactly run in the same circles," I answered with a hint of a laugh in my voice. While I appreciated what could have been an attempt at flirting, I really couldn't tell whether it was or not. I may read books and watch romances but real life interactions like this, they just don't happen to me. Even if he had been flirting with me and I could have recognised that he was, I wouldn't have a hope of actually flirting back. I just would have embarrassed myself further. "I'm Ellie."

"Well Ellie, it seems we're going to have to change that aren't we? I mean, you still have to repay me for hitting into me and me saving you from a nasty fall," Luke said with a wink, leaning in closer and for a second I was afraid he was going to kiss me. I mean sure, I wouldn't mind a kiss from Luke Masters because what girl wouldn't? But you see, I've always found there's something special about a first kiss. It's a special time, it's such an important milestone in your life because it shows that you're really growing up. I wasn't about to let my first kiss be taken. I had to give it and it had to be special.

"And you still have to repay me for holding me up from class and having one of my books kicked across the hall," I added cheekily, giving him a wink of my own and leaning back from him. Where the heck this surge of confidence had come from I have no idea but I liked it. It seemed Luke did too because his smirk flashed into a grin for a moment before he let go of me, bent down and picked my books up from the ground. All of them, he even went over and picked my book from the other side of the hall. And I just stood there like an idiot watching as he did this. I just watched with wide eyes as he took my arm and tucked the books in between my arm and my torso. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

Then he leaned closer, his breath tickling my neck and his body heat burning into mine. I felt my heart go into overdrive as his spearmint breath fanned over my cheek, making my blush flare up again. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I felt his soft lips press against my cheek, searing my skin and for the first time ever, making me want to turn my head and let his kiss me. I mean sure I've wanted to kiss someone before but this was the first time that I've ever felt this stomach flipping, heart stomach, butterfly flatter urge to kiss someone. I could still feel the imprint of his lingering lips when he leaned back and cocked his head with a smirk before turning on his heel and walking away from me. I raised my free hand and touched the place on my cheek when his lips had just been.

Who knew the bad boy kissed cheeks?

Probably every girl who's hooked up with him that's for sure.

Look at me. One kiss on the cheek and I'm fawning over the bad boy. And here I was under the illusion that I was different. I guess some people are just that drool worthy that they turn every single girls sense of logic to mush. An encounter with devilishly charming bad boy. How cliche.

I walked to class, still replaying the entire conversation I had with Luke in my head. I sat down in my seat next to Shauna and ripped a piece of paper from the back page of my copy.

Luke Masters kissed me on the cheek.

Folding the piece of paper in half, I tossed it onto Shauna's desk and hoped and prayed the teacher didn't see me passing a note. It would be just my luck. Shauna opened the note as if it were any other note about me asking what the homework was. Her jaw dropped dramatically, her eyebrows shot up and I wouldn't have been surprised if she let out a loud gasp with it too. She slowly turned her head to me and scrunched her eyebrows in question. I nodded furiously and she narrowed her eyes, silently interrogating me. I showed her my hands, showing her that I was completely serious and nodded again. Her lips twisted into a smirk and she leaned over with her fist out to me. After fist bumping, I let my mind wander, not feeling in the mood to pay attention to class at the minute.

How the heck did you manage that? How did you manage to get something so chaste from Luke Masters?

I read the note that Shauna tossed back on my desk and blushed. Something about the kiss didn't feel so chaste even though it was that kind of gesture. Gosh, here I was again, reading way too far into situations when it was completely unnecessary to do so. A bad habit that I could not manage to get rid of. How many times had I blushed over the bad boy in the last fifteen minutes? It had to be at least five now. Oh well, nothing was really ever going to come of it I guess.

I had already managed to catch the attention of Luke freaking Masters, the school's notorious bad boy. After three and a bit years of high school, I had actually managed to catch a guy attention. Makeovers really do work wonders. He probably wouldn't have looked twice at me if I hadn't and then I wouldn't have had the chance to actually speak with him. Luke was supposedly blunt so if he had have wanted something, we would have come right out and said it but he didn't. Something strange was happening but I couldn't manage to shake the feeling that this was going to be a good day, that something was finally changing in this small, boring old town.