“Kath?” Kristen whispered my name, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t escape the vise in which his gaze held me.
His face grew serious, and I noticed a crease forming on his forehead. It was as if he was trying to figure something out.“Who is this blonde weirdo?”
Eventually, his features evened out again, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly. He was too far away for me to be sure, but not far enough for it to have been good for me. It wasn’t the kind of smile you give someone when you first meet them, hoping you will become friends, like the one I’d exchanged with Chris and Zac. It was more of a seductively evil grin that heralded the development of a diabolical plan.
“Katherine,” I felt Kristen’s warm hand on my wrist, her voice seemed anxious.
I snapped back to reality and finally broke eye contact with him. My new friends exchanged worried glances, and I finally exhaled, trying to recover from…. whatever that was.
“He’s still looking at you…” Candice whispered like a child playing spy. “I think he’s going to come here…” she continued, fear and excitement resonating in her tone.
Her words made me instinctively turn my head towards him. He was still looking at me. Apparently, his friends had noticed his attention, and I felt many pairs of curious and also dangerous eyes staring at me. Especially the blonde who got out of Harris’ car. She’d finally noticed her boyfriend’s interest in me – after she’d finished powdering her nose. I could have sworn the girl was imagining herself ripping my head off. I dropped my gaze to the grass and tried to remember if there was a way to become invisible at a time like this. Apparently, I wasn’t as inconspicuous as I had imagined.
My head tilted up again and I felt like I had no control over the movement. His hypnotic eyes felt like strings pulling at my senses, demanding that I look at him again.
His persistent stare began to unnerve me as his face became serious again while his foot was bent at the knee, resting attractively on the hood of his sports car. We had approximately thirty feet between us.
His eyes reminded me of a predator watching its prey. Better yet, the gaze of a demon analyzing a helpless soul just before devouring it whole.
Why didn’t he just stop? I could feel my blood boiling, and I was on the verge of screaming at him to take his fucking eyes away from me. He seemed intent on watching me until he got some kind of reaction from me.
I couldn’t deny that he looked like a modern-day Adonis, but I’d seen other beautiful boys before, and none of them had electrocuted me. What was wrong with this one? Or rather, what was wrong with me?
I frowned, capturing his gaze, and my reaction brought a smirk to his lips. He was pleased with himself for teasing me, and I knew that was what he wanted.
My palms balled into fists, and I noticed his friend trying to talk to him, but he ignored the world around him, just like I had with Kris.
“Kath, will you come into the bathroom with me?” Kristen asked, jumping up, and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to my feet against my will.
Without meaning to, I noticed the look on his face when he saw me in my entirety. I hadn’t given him much to admire as I sat on the grass. And when I turned to face him, his smile widened even more and turned into a cheeky one. I could see his blonde trying to get his attention, but he pretended not to hear her.
As his eyes slid over my body, analyzing it, I felt the electricity coursing through my veins again. Not only was he bulky and tattooed, but he was also an asshole. I knew that without having spoken to him.
A growl escaped my throat as I picked up my water from the ground, right before my friend dragged me to the entrance. I caught his gaze again, let us call it stupidity, and took in his wide smile. I wanted to slap myself when I realized I had offered him a prime picture of my backside as I bent down to get the water.
When we finally entered the building, I opened the bottle and gulped down the sparkling water. It tasted disgusting after sitting in the sun, but I was desperate for anything that could erase the sensations running through my body. Although I could not describe it; a mixture of nervousness, goosebumps and maybe… Attraction?
No, absolutely not! Don’t be stupid!
I blamed it all on the heat and the sudden changes my life had gone through recently, maybe even the addiction that hadn’t quite healed…. Yes, that was it.
Without watching my step, I let Kristen pull me through the dozens of students crowding the hallway. They watched me like I was some kind of chemistry experiment gone wild, when I was just a girl who had just escaped the electric shocks that staring at a demon could cause.
I wanted to scream at them to relieve the tension somehow, but I did not have time because Kristen had pulled me through another door, and we were standing in the downstairs bathroom.
“Get out, now,” she ordered the other girls, who were touching up their make-up.
They said nothing and gathered up their bags, rolling their eyes as they walked past me and out of the bathroom. Kristen checked the rest of the room, kicking open the stall doors and making sure we were alone.
I watched her with amusement and began to like her more and more.
“Kath, whatever you do, stay away from that guy,” she raised her index finger at me.
My brow furrowed in confusion. Not that I would have thrown myself at him, but what was with all the warnings?
“Why?” I asked as curiosity got the better of me.
“I know it sounds cliché and so fucking suspicious because I’ve heard that line in every teen movie, but in this case, it’s serious. Just… just stay away from him, okay? I know what you’re thinking, you’re attracted to him, he’s a dark magnet on two sexy legs, but if he wants you…”