Content To Be Claimed (Beauty And The Beast #1)

Chapter 3

 "Wow!"

I looked up at Anya, momentarily forgetting about my locker. "What?"

She was gazing over my shoulder. "Check it out."

I turned. And forgot how to breathe. A group of guys had entered the hall. The first guy turned to the others and said something, then they all laughed. As if in slow motion, he turned, still smiling, and instantly scrambled my thoughts. He was, without a doubt, a godlike tribute to pure male beauty. His hair was like a mane teased into easy curls, and a silky midnight black. He was tall with an impressive athletic build. He was dressed in dark clothes - a blue Tee and black jeans and sneakers - with a vivid red and gold sports jacket. The back of the jacket had BLACK CATS, the name of our basketball team, emblazoned on it.

He looked slightly unhappy for a second, then he turned away, toying with the strap of his bag that was over his shoulder.

"...earth to Belle!"

I blushed, realising that Anya had been talking to me, and turned into my locker. Anya and Amber giggled and I clutched my books to my chest like a life preserver.

"See what we meant about Victor being cute?" Amber asked.

I nodded, still gathering my thoughts.

"Oh my gosh! Lessons!" Anya squealed.

Yeah. We'd totally forgotten about getting to our classes. We separated and I hurried towards Biology, still wondering about the guy with the dazzling smile. So of course, it's no surprise that I didn't hear a thing through Biology except the monotone of Mrs Keaton's voice. When it stopped, however, I sat up to see the cause. And saw perfection standing next to my teacher.

"I hope you don't mind," she was saying to him. He turned and looked at me, and suddenly there were butterflies in my stomach. He angled his head slightly, then came over and sat next to me. I sat up, suddenly self conscious, which is not a welcome feeling if you're usually awkward when you get nervous. Like I was now. As I pretended to be engrossed in my book, fully aware of him moving beside me, a breeze blew in through my window, flirting with my hair.

"Pardon me, but could you please close the window?"

"Huh?" Okay, so I know I sounded like an idiot, but who could blame me? After all, I was still trying to take in the fact that he was talking to me!

"Please, the window?" He motioned.

"Oh." I leaned over and closed it.

During the rest of the class, I replayed the short conversation over and over. His voice was deep, smooth, with just a hint of husk that had shivered right through me. When he'd looked at me, I had seen eyes so green they had to be precious stones. Emeralds, I thought dreamily. Someone had stuck emeralds in this guy's eyes.

There was silence between us for the rest of the class, though I gave up on hearing whatever Mrs Keaton was saying. When the bell rang, my new desk mate made a break for it with a speed I admired. Was he in that much of a hurry for his next class? Or did he just not like Biology?

"So?" Anya asked the moment I sat down in the lunchroom, my tray of food before me.

I looked up at four expectant faces. "What?"

"Oh, come on!" she groaned. "Dish on the date already! We've been patient, right?"

My jaw dropped. "Date?" I frowned, then laughed when I realised what they were asking about. "You mean, Friday, with Victor? That wasn't a date!"

"What else could it be?" Chuck pointed out.

"Besides, you were cozy in the movie house," Derek accused.