Frenemies with the Bad Boy | Ongoing

"Are you running away from me?" A playful voice made me stop in my tracks.

My heart thudded in alarm, and I had to remind myself that we were in school, with multiple witnesses around us. He couldn't harm me here.

I turned around with a glare, but the second I looked at his face, my courage crumbled.

The memory of him threatening to snap my neck if I reported him and his crew hit me like a brick.

Swallowing my fear, I met his eyes. "Weren't you the one who told me to stay away from trouble?"

A crooked grin tugged at his lips and he brought his face closer. "Yeah. But looks like trouble doesn't want to stay away from you."

I blinked.

What?

***

[muslim girl x bad boy]

Bareera Omar, a.k.a Rory, thought junior year's biggest challenge would be adjusting to life and dealing with how people treated her now that she'd chosen to openly embrace her Muslim identity, and started wearing the hijab.

What she didn't expect, however, was to get tangled up with Romero Allen - her school's infamous senior and the walking definition of trouble.

One moment, he's bullying her.

The next, he's scaring off the guys who try to mess with her.

They don't consider each other friends.

But calling them enemies doesn't quite fit either.

Maybe they're something in between. Something along the lines of 'frenemies'.

***

"So what do you want us to be? We can't be both. Either we're friends or we're enemies."

"Lovers."