Ice Melts for Love

When We Die

Leigh looked at me calmly, his handsome face devoid of emotion as he closed the door behind him. I glared at him. What the hell did he want from me?

He slowly approached me, removing his glasses from his face and tossing it aside. His eyes raked me up and down, and I felt horribly exposed, as though he was undressing me with his eyes. I bristled indignantly.

When he met my eyes, I scowled darkly at him.

In a span of seconds, Leigh's expression changed from indifference to loathing. The hatred burning bright in his eyes quickly unnerved me and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and the gooseflesh rise up on my forearms. He was smiling pleasantly at me even though his eyes spoke otherwise.

"Hello, ice princess," he finally spoke, stopping a foot away from me.

"What do you want?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest as I narrowed my eyes at him. I wasn't about to let him know that he was creeping me out.

He shrugged. "Just checking up on you," he said smirking. "I just wanted to see how you're feeling after being an instant star in school. And I wanted to give you this to congratulate you."

I watched him pull something from inside his blazer and my mouth dropped open. It was a rose. The same black rose that someone placed in my locker. I watched him as he took a sniff from the rose, his eyes boring in mine, before he crushed it in his palm, and dropped the crumbling petals to the floor.

"So you were the one who's been harassing me," I whispered in shock, taking a step back. "And sending me those dead flowers." My eyes widened in realization as I remembered my narrow miss with the books from the library. "You tried to kill me."

Leigh smiled lazily at me and cocked his head to one side as he watched me. I tried not to shiver from his calculating gaze. I fought the almost irresistible urge to strike him. He was different from the other guys who pestered me and I knew that I couldn't handle him merely with a few placed punches and kicks. How I wished I were stronger. I hated feeling so powerless and afraid.

"Hurt, Ellen, not kill. You're being too dramatic."

I shook my head, trying to understand what was happening. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Why?" I asked curtly.

"You know why."

"No, I don't."

He smiled predatorily and took a step forward. I resisted the urge to move back, not wanting to show him that I was scared. Instead, I glared at him.

"I told you, Ellen," he said coldly. "I told you to stay the fuck away from Nate."

Then, his face transformed from a mask of indifference to cold fury. His face was so contorted with rage that he looked downright ugly. He suddenly grabbed my arm harshly and I squeaked from surprise.

"I told you," he continued, yelling harshly at me and shaking me. I was too stunned to do anything else but stare at him. "I told you to leave him! I warned you what I'll do if you disobeyed me but you did, anyway. I told you that he's nothing but a bastard and he'll just hurt you. He doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve anyone at all!"

His grip tightened on my arm and I winced. "I'll do anything to destroy him, Ellen," he growled menacingly at me. "Anything."

He pushed me away, sending me sprawled to the ground. I was stunned. What did Nate do to him to make him so furious that he wanted to destroy him? I glanced at him and noticed that he had a somber expression on his face but the dangerous glint in his eyes were still there.