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.
He was 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.