“Okay, I’ll get your schedule for you.”
“No need. I’m not coming at all.”
“What?”
“I promise, I’ll call you tonight. Love you.” I hung up before she could ask any more questions.
Someone rammed into me, catching me off guard. I stumbled sideways a few steps, dropping my phone in the process. It clattered to the ground. I glanced over my shoulder, annoyed.
The cute little blonde was a whole lot less cute when she was scowling.
“What are you doing, standing in the middle of the path like you own it?” she snarled. Her ice-blue gaze rolled down my body, taking in my skirt and cardigan set. “You’re in everyone’s way.”
She was probably right, but she didn’t need to be a bitch about it. There was plenty of room to walk around me.
Ignoring her, I knelt to grab my phone from the ground, only to find it sticking out from beneath a scuffed black shitkicker. The laces were so loose I wasn’t sure how the owner walked in them. I lifted my head, taking in black jeans and a white T-shirt. Broad shoulders were barely contained by the tight fabric. From across the quad, I hadn’t really noticed his face. But up close, holy shit. He was beautiful. His jaw strong and clean-shaven, his cheekbones high. He did a double take as our gazes clashed.
I fought not to drown in eyes so dark I could barely see where the pupils began. They drew me in, holding me in place, refusing to release me from their grip. He was vaguely familiar. Like I’d seen him on a movie. Or as if he looked like somebody I knew. We hadn’t met before. I was sure of that. There was no forgetting someone who left you without the ability to speak.
The girl laughed, the sound cruel. “I think the princess is checking you out, Colt.”
His expression changed in an instant. His eyes narrowed, turning hard and cold. The corner of his mouth tipped up as if he were amused, but his eyes held no warmth. There was no sign of laughter in those dark-brown depths, despite what his mouth might have been doing. A shiver ran down my spine. I wasn’t sure if I found him insanely attractive. Or if I was terrified just by looking at him. Probably both.
His gaze swept over me, and despite the impenetrable expression of his eyes, heat rushed through me. Okay, so yeah. Maybe more attraction than fear.
“Actually,” I spoke up, irritation rising at being called a princess when this girl had no idea who I was, or where I was from. “I’m just waiting for him to move so I can get my phone back.” My knee twinged with pain from kneeling on the concrete path. Well, that was something at least. I’d regained feeling since I’d stopped staring at him.
He squatted so we were eye height, then leaned so far in I caught a whiff of something delicious-smelling. Cologne? Deodorant? Soap? I had no idea, but it was intoxicating. I fought to keep from him like he was a pie I’d like to take a bite out of.
Colt’s gaze pinned me in place. And then he opened his mouth.
“If I’d known it would be so easy to get the new girl on her knees, maybe I wouldn’t have fucked Gillian in the parking lot just now.”
I blinked.
The girl, Gillian, laughed, but it didn’t meet her eyes. She ran her hand through his hair. It might have appeared affectionate to anyone watching from a distance, but there was no mistaking the possessiveness in the action.
“Yeah, you would have,” Gillian said. “You know how those preppy rich kids are, baby. She’s probably saving it for marriage. That right, princess? You forbidden fruit?”
I ignored her and focused on Colt. “Get off my phone.”
He didn’t take his eyes off me for a second. Just slowly moved his foot. I grabbed my phone and straightened. He stood slowly, his gaze raking over my legs, my belly, my breasts, before he stood to full height. I felt every inch of his gaze as it rolled up me.
“You don’t belong here,” he said.
Gillian pressed herself against Colt’s side. “No, she definitely doesn’t. I’m bored. Let’s go find the others. She won’t last a day.”
She dragged Colt away. He walked backward for a few steps, watching me then turned around and slung his arm over Gillian’s shoulders. She glanced back at me, throwing me a triumphant glare as if she’d won some battle I wasn’t even aware of.
Whatever. I hadn’t exactly expected a warm welcome. There never was one anytime a group of kids from Providence came across a group from Saint View High. It happened from time to time, mostly on the beach. I’d hoped to blend in a little longer than five minutes, though. I’d tried to dress down. Selina and I had riffled through my wardrobe, trying to find the least expensive skirt and top I owned. I realized now, though, just by gazing around, that nothing I owned would have worked. I stuck out like a sore thumb. The kids around me rocked an array of tight ripped jeans, midriff tops, band T-shirts, baseball caps, and skirts so short underwear was on display. A far cry from the knee-length, pleated skirt and white button-down shirt I’d worn each day at Providence School for Girls. A long cry from even my weekend wardrobe. I didn’t own anything with holes in it, deliberate or otherwise. Dammit. This was not my plan. I needed to fly under the radar, not draw attention to myself.
Adding ‘shop for clothes’ to the top of my to-do list, I tucked my phone into my backpack and strode down the path toward the doors of Saint View High. A few short steps had me at the entranceway, the crowd petering into two lines in order to enter the gloomy building.
“No cutting in. Back of the line, princess,” a voice said.
I spun around but didn’t see Colt anywhere. I couldn’t work out who had spoken, but judging from the stares of the students waiting in line, I was the princess in question. Was that a thing already? How? It had to be a coincidence. I wandered to the back of the line and didn’t say anything to the people in front of me while we shuffled along. I strained to see ahead, to work out what the holdup was, but the glass doors had some sort of tint or reflective coating that made them impossible to see through.
I tapped my foot impatiently, worried I wasn’t going to get enrolled before first period started. I had severely underestimated how many kids attended this school. They continued to stream in from the road and came in droves from the carpark. Others pushed bicycles or got off the buses rolling to a stop outside the gates. They all joined the lines I was currently in.
Finally, I reached the top and followed the girl in front of me inside.
A burly man with ‘security’ printed across his tight black T-shirt stopped me. I blinked in surprise, no idea what I was being stopped for.
“Do you have any weapons on you today, miss?”
Weapons? Did the compass in my geometry set count? Jesus Christ.
I squeaked out an answer.
“Hold your arms out, please, and put your backpack on the table.”
I did as I was told because what else was I supposed to do?
The man ran a wand type instrument around my arms and legs, while another viciously went through my backpack, shoving aside folders and pens and my wallet.
“Do you think you could be a little careful with that, please?” I asked.
He snorted on a laugh as he handed it back to me. He didn’t even bother answering. I snatched the bag from his grip and clutched it to my chest feeling somehow violated. The school’s website hadn’t warned there’d be metal detectors and bag checks on the way in. I supposed I should be grateful there wasn’t a cavity search.