Under the Bad Boy's Spell

My Encounter with Mr Bad Boy

I parked my car on my usual spot in front of the science classroom. I got out and swung my bag over my right shoulder before I walked into the school grounds heading for my locker when my two best friends, Terry and Lisa, joined me.
"Rebecca! I have missed you over the summer holidays. It was so boring in India, except Christmas Day!" Lisa shrieked and embraced me into a tight hug. I can't believe I missed Lisa's outgoing personality.
"Terry, how was your vacation?" I asked while trying to remember my locker combination.
"The usual. We had football practice everyday of the week until just before Christmas. Coach Henderson is hammering down on us since Caspian quit. Caspian was our strongest player and since he left we are a weak team." Terry shrugged his shoulders when I looked his way. Sophomore's painful memories flooded my brain making every inch of my head ache.
"Did you hear? Caspian made out with Meghan at the afterparty. They had sex afterwards. Meghan has been bragging about it all week long."
"You mean Caspian Carter? Rebecca's boyfriend? Does she know?"
"I don't think so. I heard he did it on purpose, apparently they had some disagreement of sorts."
"So does that mean Caspian and Rebecca-"
"Yes, unfortunately they are. I wouldn't blame her, though. It must be tough to find out your boyfriend slept with your enemy."
"Becca, earth to Rebecca?"
Lisa snapped her fingers in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and gave them an apologetic smile as I opened my locker and gathered my French books.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
Lisa and Terry shot me confused looks and she playfully knocked on my forehead.
"Yup, definitely empty." Lisa joked.
Terry let out a rumbling laughter that echoed through the hall, and held his stomach at my facial expression. My eyes narrowed until they were tiny slits burning into their heads.
"What were you thinking about so deeply that you completely zoned out, eh? Is it a certain boy?" Lisa bombarded me with annoying questions as a grin played on her lips. My blood started to boil when Lisa brought up Caspian. I knew she didn't mean it, nevertheless knew what she said, but it still stirred something inside of me.
The bang of my locker door slamming shut silenced their whispers and earned me irritated looks from both of them.
"I am going to be late for French. See you at lunch." I turned on my heels and waved them away lamely with my hands before throwing them both a sly smile.
I walked down the hallway to the last class in the corridor. I entered it just as the second bell rang. I was surprised at most of the learners' incompetence to take a seat and quiet down.
I took my seat at the back of the classroom far away from all the burdensome braggarts. People were clustered together around tables, exchanging stories of how completely wonderful their vacations have been. Mr O'Donald stepped into the classroom and the chattering died down as everyone scuttled to their seats.
"Where is Mr Carter?" Mr O'Donald asked without even looking at the empty seat in front of me which had Caspian's name written all over it.
Everyone knew that Caspian never showed up for classes. He was rarely seen inside one and when he was, he would pay absolutely no attention at all and disrupt the class which got him kicked out of the class anyway. Caspian was the school's typical bad boy.
Just as my thoughts ran away with me, Caspian came trotting into the class with his abrasive personality and abysmal ignorance.
"Mr Carter, it is pivotal that you stay with the procedures of the school. The next time this happens, you will be sitting detention for a week." Mr O'Donald said sternly.
Without paying any attention to Mr O'Donald's lecture, he walked past the group of girls who's mouths literally hung open at the handsome figure. I snorted and unintentionally rolled my eyes as he took his place in front of me. He had always put me through hell and gave me the cold shoulder since sophomore year. I couldn't deny that he was exceedingly handsome, but people's actions can ruin their own good looks.
"I will pair you into groups of two for your project for this term. You will have time in class until the school closes for the winter holidays." Mr O'Donald read the pairs aloud and everyone moved around to sit next to their paired partner.
"Meghan and Peter."
"Jane and Hayden."
"Donovan and Theresa."
"Lisa and Terry."
He carried on reading out the names of each pair aloud.
"Rebecca and Caspian."
The rummaging and talking died down and everyone shot me pitiful looks, because they knew my chemistry with him and the fact that he never did any work by himself - working with him would be quite difficult. It was as if the news had just sunk in and made me jump out of my chair.
"I can't work with him!" I slammed my hands on my desk fighting back the urge to yell out in pain.
Caspian's head shot towards me and he stared straight into my eyes, setting my insides on fire as embarrassment burned my cheeks. He flung his bag over his shoulder and stormed out of the classroom. If the earth could swallow me whole, I'd be more than happy to oblige.
"Get him back in class this instant or I will fail you both!" Mr O'Donald glared at me.
Angry with myself and the world around me, I stepped into the hallway and started my search for Caspian. I walked the whole school flat searching for him when I decided to look at the deserted building where the storerooms were. For once I had good luck because he was there, with his volcano headphones on and his fingers speedily moving across his phone screen.
I tapped his shoulder gently, scared he would punch me to the ground and squash me to a pulp. After a few attempts where my taps became more fierce, he eventually turned around to face me. He slid his headphones off and they hung around his neck.
"What?" He asked annoyed and his oceanic-blue eyes stared into mine. His eyes swam with mixed emotions.
Simply looking at those eyes made my insides warm and bubbly. I couldn't retreat my eyes from his until he raised a brow.
"You're staring." He said with a hint of amusement.
I snapped out of my trance when his voice reached my ears and caused a reaction in my body which brought me back to reality.
"No, I wasn't. Why would I stare at the guy who treated me like a piece of trash? You certainly give yourself too much credit."
I didn't mean for my words to come out so rudely, but they did, and I actually felt quite satisfied about it.
"I am not listening to this."
He picked up his bag and started walking away, not even stopping to throw a second glance at me. Out of ideas to motivate him to come back to class, I had no other alternative, but to run after him.
Wait!" I was relieved when he stopped in his tracks and turned to me.
"You're annoying." He stated which stirred my slumbering anger.
"Well, you are an impertinent bastard who had sex with my enemy!"
I blurted out and it felt good to have said that after so many years of keeping it in. He retreated from me, but I wrapped my fingers around his arm.
"Come back..."
I knew how desperate and pathetic that sounded, but I had to get him back to class before I failed. He yanked his arm away from me and I don't know if he could see the hurt on my face when he pulled away. I headed back to class with a heavy heart and stepped into the room.
"Sorry sir, I couldn't find-"
I cut my sentence short when I felt heat spreading across my back. Caspian was so close behind me that I could feel his breath in my neck. His mouth was so close to my ear that his breath tickled the sensitive skin and I had to keep my posture.
"I will work with you on one condition... You do all the work. I am not lifting a single finger for this assignment." His words came out extremely soft.