Dare to Love by Lylah James

2

Lila

Iwas on time for my English class and successfully submitted my essay – all thanks to the spare shirt I had in my locker. The one I wore this morning was soaked from my spilled iced coffee by the boy who shall not be named.

As soon as the bell rang, indicating the start of class, Mrs. Levi started her lecture about Greek Mythology. She went back and forth from the textbook and writing notes on the chalkboard.

Science might be my passion, but English was my favorite subject. I loved reading, loved learning about the language - every little piece of it. My interest began with Shakespeare, although it was Edgar Allen Poe who made me fall in love with English.

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”

I may or may not have memorized most of his poems after reading them over and over again. There was just something eerily beautiful with the way he weaved his words together.

“Medusa has several myths about her life, the most common ones are of her death and her, rather, painful demise.” Mrs. Levi’s voice snapped me to the present as she introduced us to the history of Medusa. “This will be our focus for the next two weeks. Your next assignment will be based on this particular topic, so make sure you’re doing your research at home and come to class with your questions. The essay will be fifteen percent of your final mark. We’ll be discussing it in more depth the next couple of days.”

She continued to talk about Medusa, and I wrote down all my notes, marking the important ones with my red pen. I liked to keep my things organized, even though to other people, it seemed a bit too OCD.

Halfway through Mrs. Levi’s lecture, my hand paused, and my pen came to halt. It had been a few minutes now, and I couldn’t ignore the feeling anymore. My skin prickled, and my back seemed to warm under someone’s intense stare. I could feel the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end. It was a strange feeling, and I couldn’t concentrate on Mrs. Levi anymore.

I always sat in the front row of all my classes, but usually, I was invisible to everyone.

Today though… someone was staring at me hard.

It was impossible not to feel it.

The stare burned into my back, scorching me… waiting for a reaction, until I was forced to peek over my shoulder.

Our eyes met first.

Mine – widening with surprise. His – with amusement.

My jaw went slack, and I stared back, hard. No way.

Hewas sitting in the last row at the back of the class, in the corner, next to the wall. There was a large gap between us, but I still felt him.

Maddox Coulter had both his elbows on the desk, his fingers threaded with his chin resting on them. His blue eyes danced with mischief, and when I continued to stare back, his lips crooked up in a lazy grin.

Well… shit.

I faced the front of the class again and mentally berated myself. Could this day get any worse?

How could I have missed him?

It was only the third week of school, and I never paid attention to whoever was sitting at the back. My focus had always been on Mrs. Levi and whatever she was teaching.

Knowing Maddox, he had probably skipped more than half of the classes in the past three weeks. I knew of his reputation. He rarely came to class, and when he did… he came with drama and a whole lot of assholery.

I mentally face-palmed while chewing on my lower lip, nervously. In the heat of the moment, I acted without thinking; granted, he was the douchebag in this situation, but nobody ever crossed Maddox without dealing with the repercussions.

With my best nonchalant expression, I quickly peeked over my shoulder again. He was still staring… and he caught me looking, again. His eyes were the deepest blue, shimmering with intensity. He lazily rubbed his thumb back and forth across his squared jaw while he cocked his head to the side, raising one lonely eyebrow almost mockingly.

Maddox watched me like he was sizing up his prey.

I didn’t like the look he was giving me, and I didn’t have any interest of being on his radar.

He might be the player, but I wasn’t about to be played. Try again, Coulter.

Giving him the most exaggerated eyeroll I could muster, I sent him a frigid smile and then turned back around to face Mrs. Levi.

During the rest of the class, I tried my hardest not to pay attention to Maddox. It was the longest fifty minutes of my life as I fought hard not to fidget in my chair. He continued to stare, and I could feel it – feel him smirking and silently taunting me.

My fingers clenched and unclenched around my pen, and when the bell finally rang for lunch, I let out the deepest sigh of relief.

“Maddox, I’m going to need you to stay back for two minutes,” Mrs. Levi announced, with a hard look.

“Can’t, Teach. Got stuff to do.”

“You either stay or you have detention for two weeks. Decide, Mr. Coulter.”

There was one very important fact about Mrs. Levi, and it was why she was my favorite teacher: she took no bullshit from anyone. She wasn’t intimated by Maddox or who he was.

All the students looked back and forth between Mrs. Levi and Maddox, holding their breath and waiting.

“Class, you may leave for lunch.”

There were groans and whispers as everyone got up and started piling out of the classroom. Everyone had been waiting for drama – with Maddox in the middle of it. Ha!

I stood up too, following the herd. Curiosity got the best of me, and I looked back over my shoulder, one final time. Maddox was still sitting back in his chair, his arms crossed over his broad chest. His gaze followed me as I walked out of the class, and by me, I meant my ass.

I noticed Colton Bennett, twin number one, standing beside Maddox’s chair. They muttered something to each other, and Colton’s gaze found mine before he chuckled at something else Maddox said.

Maddox might be on my shit list, but… I had a feeling I was on his now, too.

* * *

Riley wavedat me as I stepped into the loud cafeteria. She was already sitting at a table, and I smiled, walking to her. “Hey!” She spoke through a bite of her chicken sandwich. “I got you one, too.”

“Thanks, babe.” I settled opposite her and took the sandwich she offered. It was our thing. Sometimes, I would buy her lunch, and other days, she’d return the favor.

“So, what exactly do you need help with in Math?” I munched on my cold sandwich and watched Riley pout.

“Everything,” she mumbled, pouting even harder. “It makes no sense to me! The only genius who can help me is you.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why do I have a feeling this friendship is only one-sided?”

“Bitch, yes, I’m using you for your abilities to teach me Math.”

It was a lie; we both knew that. Riley and I stared at each other for a second before we chuckled.

We became friends during junior year, after Jasper – another football star of Berkshire Academy -- broke her heart. That was a tamed way of putting it. They dated for six months; he was the perfect gentleman at first. When she finally gave him her virginity, he broke up with her two days later. She later found out Jasper had been cheating on her all along, and he only dated her to win a stupid bet. He spent the rest of the year spreading stupid rumors about her. She lost her cheerleader friends and sweet Riley…? She became another outcast. I was there and watched her crumble – going from Miss Popular to a nobody.

What happens when outcast number one meets outcast number two?Of course, they became best friends. I was the new student, and Riley was my first friend. It was a done deal.

“So… I heard whispers in the hallway,” she started, eyeing me closely.

“Huh?”

“About a girl who dumped coffee on Maddox Coulter this morning.” Riley left the sentence hanging before taking another bite of her sandwich.

My heart thudded in my chest, so hard and so fast. Choking back a cough, I quickly sputtered, “Dumped coffee on him? Excuse me! He bumped into me and spilled my coffee down the front of me.”

Riley sat back in her chair, taking the last bite of her lunch. “I didn’t say it was you, but thanks for confirming that,” she replied around a mouthful. “Your name was mentioned once, but I didn’t want to believe anything until I heard it myself from you.”

Sweet Lord! Rumors were already going around?

“So, he bumped into you?” Riley pushed, looking quite amused at this sudden turn of events.

“Yes,” I hissed under my breath. “He didn’t even apologize! My shirt got wet, but thank God, I had a spare in my locker.”

“Why am I not surprised? Do you think Maddox is the type of guy to apologize? Think again, babe. I’ve known him since elementary school. Coulter doesn’t apologize. Ever. Everyone bows down to him.”

I huffed in response, and Riley shrugged. “He’s the golden boy.”

To the people of Berkshire Academy, he was a god amongst mortals.

To me? He was just another boy who had too much power in his hands and didn’t know how to use it. Maddox was no hero to me.

If he expected me to worship the ground he walked on, like all of his fangirls, he was about to be thoroughly disappointed.

Riley leaned forward and tapped me on the nose with her index finger. “Stay out of his way, Lila. He’ll mess you up so bad and leave you broken. Boys like him can’t be trusted.”

Her voice was thick, and I could see the emotions playing on her face. Jasper really broke her. Her scars were not visible; she hid them with a pretty smile, but I knew she still hurt inside.

“Don’t worry. I have no plans to play his game.”

Riley squinted at me. “I don’t believe you. You’re competitive by nature, Lila. If he pushes, you’re going to push back twice as hard.”

I bit my lower lip and gave her a sheepish look. She was right…

“How about this? I promise not to fall for him.”

“One less girl in Maddox’s harem,” she agreed.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, today is Thursday. How about we meet up on Saturday? I’ll go over whatever you need help on with you then.”

Riley nodded before her cheeks flushed. “You’ll have to start at the beginning. Don’t kill me.”

“This is going to be a loooong Saturday.” She kicked me under the table, and I hissed out a laugh.

“Bitch.” Riley threw her empty plastic bottle at my head, laughing.

The rest of my day was uneventful. I stayed out of Maddox’s way. There were a few whispers in the halls about me, but I ignored them, too.

I felt pretty confident that, after today, everyone would forget about the coffee shop scene, and Maddox would most definitely forget about my existence. He had plenty of girls to distract him.

Except… I had never been more wrong in my life.

The next day, my nightmare began.