Twisted Devil by Ivy Blake

Chapter Five

Ruby

Tyler’s cold gaze kept flashing through my mind as I tossed and turned during the night. The following day, I almost considered skipping maths once I got to school. But my desire to have a squeaky clean report card that didn’t hinder my college application was louder than my desire to curl up into a ball. But only by a fraction.

I walked into the classroom and let my eyes drift to the back of the room. I wasn’t even surprised to see Tyler sitting in the seat that I’d eventually claimed as mine. He was scrolling through his phone while he waited for Miss Green to arrive, so he didn’t see the scowl that I reserved specifically for him.

The emptiness of the seat beside him, the one that he’d insisted was his and had humiliated me over, felt like it was taunting me. For Tyler, this was a game. A game that was only just beginning. A game that I didn’t have any desire in playing. He was only doing it to get a reaction out of me; I was sure of it.

Knowing how badly Tyler wanted a reaction, I pretended that I didn’t notice him and took a seat by the window, which was still in his eyeline. The rest of our class started milling in, followed by Miss Green. I noticed her gaze flit between me and Tyler and was grateful when she didn’t make a comment like I knew other teachers probably would. Amber strutted in and shot me a bitchy look, which I was more than used to now. Nonetheless, I still had to make myself appear nonplussed, even if deep inside I was annoyed by the fact that she had just decided to hate me for no reason.

There’s a reason, Ruby. She thinks she’s better than you.

I didn’t want to dwell on things I couldn’t change and didn’t have control over, and resorted to doodling in the margins of my notebook.

Once everyone had arrived, Miss Green shut the door and cleared her throat to get the class’s attention. I knew the exact moment when Tyler noticed me. It was like I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head and I was so tempted to turn around and give him the dirtiest look that I could muster, but I refrained from being childish like him and kept my gaze forward. My eyes focussed on the pile of white paper in Miss Green’s hands and I felt my chest tighten as I realised what she was holding.

“You’ll be pleased to know I stayed up last night and marked your tests,” Miss Green said as she began returning test papers, face down on students’ desks.

I was on the edge of my seat with anxiety over the results that had now been confirmed. I’d kept myself awake last night going over the answers in my head, well, at least the ones I could remember. Even though I knew that I’d done the best that I could with a test on the first day, I couldn’t help but put pressure on myself to perform well and if I was being completely honest with myself, prove to those who thought I was lesser or undeserving of my place here that I was actually smart.

I didn’t really care what Dad thought about my grade, I just needed the satisfaction that I’d done alright to get me through the class. I’d accept anything above an 80, but in my heart of hearts, I knew it was the 90 I wanted. But how possible would that be, having had no time to study?

“We’ve got a range of scores across the class, but some of you clearly seemed to grasp the topic a lot easier than others. Along with your papers, I’ll be handing you a copy of the work done by the student that got the top grade this time around so you can see what a model answer should look like.”

“What mark did the student get?” Asked a boy at the front who had a mop of curls on his head.

Miss Green’s eyes glimmered, and I could tell that she was excited to share the news. “They got a 98,” she said with a wide smile.

Damn, the standards here were definitely a lot higher than my old school. I’d been a big fish in a small pond, part of a small group in my year that actually cared about grades and going to college. At Valley High, it seemed like there were a lot more big fishes and I was really starting to feel like a tiny fish in a huge pond.

“Who is it?” The boy piped up again, but from the tone of his voice I could tell that he knew it definitely wasn’t him and was just as taken aback as I was about the near perfect score.

“The student is free to share that if they wish, but I’ve kept their identity anonymous,” Miss Green said, and the boy groaned in response. The energy in the room felt electric as everyone awaited their results, some obviously waiting to discover if they were the star pupil or not.

I chanced a glance behind me to see how Tyler was reacting and was surprised to see that he was the only one that appeared unfazed by the whole thing. He was leaning back in his chair, his tall, muscular frame resting calmly as if he were at home watching TV and not in class, about to receive an important grade. When Tyler’s eyes cut towards me, I quickly looked away, feeling burnt by his cool gaze.

His demeanour could have meant a myriad of things. Maybe he doesn’t give a shit about school, which would be unsurprising and would explain why he’s so calm about everything. On the other hand, his calmness could be exemplary of his arrogance. Maybe Tyler knows that the 98 is his, or at least thinks so. Either way, I couldn’t tell. But then again, he had mentioned something about being star pupil…

I held my breath while Miss Green made her way through the row of desks, handing test papers back face down and switching her face between a kind smile and a faint grimace, depending on how each student had done. When she finally got to my desk, I felt like tearing the paper straight out of her hand. I needed to know now. Miss Green set the papers face down on my desk and her hand lingered there for a moment.

“I’m really, really impressed with your work, Ruby. Especially since you’ve only just joined us. Keep it up.” Miss Green’s smile had grown impossibly wider, and she flashed me a wink before moving to the row behind me.

My heart was beating so forcefully in my chest that I was at danger of it bursting out if I didn’t calm down. My jaw dropped and was practically scraping the floor by the time that I’d taken a peek at my grade.

It was there in a red circle, as clear as day. I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating and seeing what I clearly wanted to see.

98.

Ninety fucking eight.

What are the fucking chances?

There had to be some fluke, some mistake made somewhere. I knew I was smart, but even this was beyond shocking to me. I felt a rush of warmth and relief fill my chest before my muscles tightened again in fear.

This grade didn’t feel as satisfying as I hoped it would. I turned over the paper just to make sure that it was definitely my work and, lo and behold; it was. The photocopied version of my answers was also sitting on my desk just with my name blurred out, but it was definitely my work.

“This can’t be right.” I heard Tyler’s voice cut through my thoughts and forced myself to keep my eyes on my paper, even though I wanted to turn around to see what all the commotion was about.

“If you want to discuss your work, you can see me after class, Tyler,” Miss Green said firmly.

“Obviously, there’s been a mistake and you need to fix it,” Tyler replied forcefully. A few people’s heads turned around and I couldn’t help but follow suit to see what was going on.

Tyler’s scorn was evident for all to see. His papers had been flung in front of him in clear disgust and disapproval. I spied the red mark on his paper and nearly rolled my eyes when I saw the circled 96 at the top.

This guy was the douche to end all douches.

“Tyler, I’ve made myself very clear. You can voice your frustrations after class. Maybe you can take this as a learning point,” Miss Green added in a hard voice.

Tyler folded his hands over his chest and ignored Miss Green, instead looking past her and straight at me. His nostrils were flared and his teeth pulled back over his teeth like a wild animal about to strike. I took that as my sign to turn around and mind my business. I knew the fact that I’d been caught watching Tyler’s outburst would catch up to me at some point.

“Someone’s not happy with coming second place for the first time,” I heard Amber snicker from the other side of the classroom.

“It’s not like you’re happy coming near last every week, is it, Amber?” Tyler snapped from his seat in the back.

“Cut it out guys, or I’ll send you to Principal Higgins’s office,” Miss Green interjected in an annoyed tone.

Both Amber and Tyler muttered something in response, but neither was clear enough for me to hear. Besides, I was more concerned with keeping my grade a secret so as not to be the first in line for Tyler’s wrath. I’d had plenty of that and the week was barely underway.

I sank back in my seat and looked at the clock, annoyed that the lesson wasn’t over yet. I wanted to disappear, to run away where no one would care about grades or the fact that I’d beaten Tyler Katz. I couldn’t even be happy about the fact that I’d beaten him, because now I was terrified to see what he would do if he found out that the 98 belonged to me.

“I want you guys to take out your books and flip to page 250, get started on the tasks on the left-hand side. I just need to pop to the printer to grab some more resources,” said Miss Green.

No, don’t leave me alone with him!

The class slowly did as she asked, most pushing aside their tests papers in favour of their books while others continued to go over their answers while flicking to the right page absentmindedly. As soon as the door had closed behind Miss Green and her face was out of sight, I heard a chair scrape across the floor.

“Who ever the fuck got the 98, speak up now,” Tyler’s voice rang out from behind me.

He spoke like he was a fucking dictator and like everyone should bow down to his command. I looked around to see everyone’s reactions and, to my surprise, people were already holding up their papers and protesting that they weren’t the ones guilty of beating him.

I kept my head down and pretended to be engrossed in my textbook as Tyler went around the room questioning each group of people. There had to be something in the air that was causing him to act this way. Or insecurity. But the way he was stalking around like a bull on a rampage was not contributing to the ‘calm classroom environment’ that had been promised to me on the Valley High website.

“Let’s see your paper,” Tyler said to the boy sitting two desks away from me.

“That’s none of your business,” the guy replied indignantly while he held his test paper to his chest.

Tyler didn’t care for manners or personal space and in the blink of an eye, he leaned across the boy’s desk, snatched the papers out of his hand before discarding them just as quickly, clearly unsatisfied by the result he’d seen at the top of the boy’s paper.

This was madness. Why was my heart racing like I was trapped in a room with a fucking lion? I looked at the door desperately, willing Miss Green to return quickly so that she could put a stop to the tyrant that was getting nearer to me every second.

“Calm down, Tyler, it’s not that deep,” Amber said with an unkind laugh.

I looked up to see how Tyler would respond to Amber making a dig at him. Tyler was about to respond to her, but his eyes fell upon mine at the same time that I looked up. Shit. I was directly in the line of fire.

“You,” he growled in his deep, velvety voice.

Tyler made his way down my row. His sapphire eyes narrowed dangerously and a vicious sneer plastered on his face. The seconds ticked by and I wracked my brain to find the right thing to say or do.

I swallowed hard and looked over to the door as if I could somehow teleport my way out of it. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There would be no use in denying my grade, Tyler would just see it for himself and running away didn’t seem like an option because my legs felt like jelly and I was afraid that they’d let me down if I tried to use them in that moment.

“I got the 98,” I said suddenly, just as Tyler reached my desk. My voice came out more confident than I had expected, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t waver as the words came out of my mouth.

Tyler growled again and snatched my paper off of my desk and held it close to his face, clearly in disbelief that I’d been the one to beat him. Even though I was afraid of him and what his anger would drive him to do, I couldn’t help but smile smugly at the whole situation.

Tyler tore his eyes away from the paper, which he had been flicking through brusquely, assessing all of my answers when he clocked the look on my face.

“What are you smiling at, bitch?” he snapped.

“Nothing!” I exclaimed, cursing myself for allowing my true emotions to show. I felt trapped again, this time with the eyes of my whole class on me. I could hear them talking amongst each other. They were also in disbelief. They couldn’t believe that the new girl had dared to get a score higher than Tyler’s. As if I’d planned this all along.

“You’re 100% sure this is yours?” Tyler waved the paper in front of my face and I nodded without saying a word, my gaze flitting between his stone hard glare and my test, which in an ideal world, I would have been jumping for joy over.

“You can have it back,” Tyler said in a sickly sweet voice that hinted at trouble. He held out my paper in front of me and I leaned forward to take it. But not before Tyler snatched it out of my grasp and tore it into tiny pieces before he scattered the shredded remains on my desk.

“What the hell?” I shouted at Tyler’s back as tears pricked into my eyes. But he was already storming out of the classroom, a ball of fury that barged past Miss Green on her way out.

“Tyler, where are you going?” Miss Green asked, but to no avail. Tyler kept stalking down the hallway and out of sight and, by the look on Miss Green’s face, she didn’t have the energy to chase him. Clearly, she was used to Tyler’s mood swings, just as much as everyone in my class seemed to be too.

“What’s going on here?” Miss Green asked, a bemused expression on her face as her eyes scanned around the room.

Everyone looked back at her with blank faces, a few sniggering quietly, but still refusing to relay the scene that had just taken place. I took this as a sign to also keep my mouth shut. It seemed like no one was going to stick up for me or support me if I told on Tyler, so there clearly wasn’t any point in singling myself out.

Before Miss Green could see, I quickly gathered up the remains of my test paper and shoved them in my pencil case before zipping it up. My cheeks burned with shame for the remainder of the lesson and yet I still couldn’t clear my mind of the desire to know where Tyler had gone and know why my grade had pissed him off so much.