Chapter 2: You two know each other?

Hazel’s POV

“Give it back! Please!”

My voice came out shaky, thinner than I wanted it to be. My legs refused to move and my lungs forgot how to breathe.

Jaxon Carter held the papers between his fingers like it was a trophy, his smirk curling at the edges of his lips.

“He looks like a god gliding through the ice, when he hit that hat trick my heart fluttered a thousand times…” Jaxon read it aloud with his eyes flickering across the page dramatically.

I lunged for it with panic surging in my chest. “Give it back!” but I couldn't quite reach him.

“Holy shit! Hazel.” He chuckled darkly, backing off. “You wrote this? I didn't know you were such a good poet”

“Then he continued reading out loud, “He holds that stick expertly, that I wonder what he could do with his own.” At this point, Jaxon's voice was full of immense mockery, and I lunged at him again with my shaky hands, but to no avail.

My stomach twisted into a hard knot, the same way it used to before oral presentations. My palms were damp, and my heart was racing so fast. If he kept reading, I’d have to dig a grave and climb right in. 

“Wait, is this p**n?” He paused midway

“It's none of your business Jaxon, please just give it back to me.” I pleaded with my tears threatened to spill out any moment 

“The only players who play so expertly in our team are Trey and I.”

“So Hazel, you're fantasizing about me? Damn! Should I be flattered or worried?”

“In your dreams, Jaxon” 

But his smirk sharpened, and then his voice dropped to a whisper, “So it's about your step-brother?”

Oh God, my secret was out.

“That's not what I said” I snapped, my heart slamming so hard against my chest

Oh no, if Jaxon finds out my little secret, that will be the end of me. I have to think fast to stop this. 

Jaxon stepped closer, his smirk replaced with something sharper. “You sure? Sounds a lot like your golden boy”

He held up another page again, this time it was a printed manuscript. He tapped the name at the bottom of the paper.

Author: WildLifeOnCampus

My blood drained.

Could it get any worse? My deepest, darkest secret just landed in the lap of the guy who lives to make my life hell.

I ran an anonymous blog, “WildLifeOnCampus,” about boys, sex, and wild gossip on campus at night; it was my own little way of feeling seen. Stepping out of my status as a wallflower. The blog no one had ever traced, until now.

Jaxon looked up slowly, his gaze locking with mine 

“Wait a second,” he said, voice low and amused. “This is you? You’re the WildLife girl?”

“Shh…” I jumped up to silence him, but my hand landed squarely on his bare chest, way too close to his nipple. For a second I forgot how to breathe. God, he looked unfairly hot.

“Wow! I can't believe it, Hazel!”

I snapped back to reality, and my lips parted, yet no words came out.

He looked right into my eyes, gleaming. “So, you know, everyone knows the villain in your story, 'Jay' was about me. You said my d**k was too small”

“Don’t you dare tell anyone, Jaxon. I mean it.”

“So you want me to keep this between us?” 

I nodded quietly 

He leaned in, gripping my shoulders. “You are going to make it up to me,” He finished, crossing his arms and resting on one of the lockers.

“What?”

“I want you to publish a new story about me, tell everyone that you saw it with your eyes, how well endowed I am,” He said striking a hot pose

To be honest, he is hot but still a jerk.

“Fine, “Jay”.

I rolled my eyes and turned to storm off, but he caught my wrist. “Actually, I think I deserve a kiss, too.” he leaned in to steal a kiss, but not before I landed him a hot slap.

“I can write a story for you but kiss you? I would rather die.” My fingers tingled from slapping him, but what hurt more was the way my stupid body had frozen a few seconds before when I landed on his chest. Ugh!

“You might be begging me to kiss you soon” He grinned

“Shut up Jaxon” 

I shoved past him and fled the locker room, but I could hear his deep chuckle behind me. He was enjoying this way too much. 

My cheeks burned as I stormed down the hallway, clutching the crumpled manuscript tighter to my chest. I was not about to let any other soul have a hold of this again.

Shame pricked behind my eyes, bitter and sharp, and I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze, not even my own against the locker. I could hardly even breathe.

First, he read my dirty little fantasy. Then, he figured out I was WildLifeOnCampus. Now he wanted a kiss and a glowing review of his package?

God, kill me now.

I moved faster, needing to cool off, probably needing to see Trey. He’d always been my anchor, no matter how cold he acted. Right now, I’d take even a second of his attention to wipe Jaxon’s stupid smirk from my head.

The hallway turned dark near the supply closet. My footsteps slowed when I heard soft laughter, a low, familiar chuckle, followed by a breathy giggle.

I froze.

Then I recognized one of the voices.

Trey.

It was unmistakable.

I took a step forward and peered around the corner.

There he was, pressed up against the closet door, lips tangled with someone in a way I’d never seen before. His hand was curled behind her neck, and the other was gripping her waist like he was afraid she’d disappear.

The girl?

A blonde with long legs for models in a cheerleader uniform highlighting her slender body. It felt like someone had punched a hole through my chest and stuffed it with ice.

I wanted to look away but I couldn’t.

And then I did the dumbest thing ever when I stumbled backward and kicked a metal bucket.

It clanged loudly.

They pulled apart instantly, Trey’s face flushed, the girl's lipstick was printed all over his face.

His eyes widened as he spotted me. “Hazel?”

I stood like a statue, blinking at them like an idiot. The girl turned slowly, and my stomach dropped. I knew that face.

Tiffany Ross.

My personal bully and tormentor in high school, she was the High School Princess who had all the boys kissing her feet.

Trey grinned, not noticing that I was having a nightmare “Hazel, hey! This is Tiffany. She’s a new transfer student here and the new captain of the cheer squad.”

Then, it occurred to me that I had seen her earlier on the rink as the new captain, but I hadn't paid much attention to her then because my eyes were only fixed on Trey.

Tiffany turned to me with a bright, fake smile. “Hazel, wow. When Trey said you were… cute, I didn’t think he meant this cute.” Her eyes narrowed with fake innocence

And she knew I knew what she did but Trey just smiled ignorantly.

We had a bad history. Tiffany had made my life hell in my sophomore year back at Roosevelt High. She and her pack of evil cheerleaders used to corner me in the bathrooms, cafeteria, trash my locker, and post fake secrets about me on the school board.

The worst part? No one believed me when I complained. Not even the teachers.

So seeing her here, all glossy smiles and cherry-glossed lips, kissing Trey like she owned him, made my blood boil hot

I forced a smile. “Transfer, huh? Small world.”

Tiffany’s eyes twinkled, but it wasn’t warmth, it was malicious. “Yeah, lucky me. Imagine coming all this way and finding familiar faces.”

“You two know each other?” Trey asked

“Yes, we went to the same high school and we pretty much got along,” Tiffany said with a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

When Trey excused himself to grab something from the locker room, I turned to her.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but stay away from him,” I hissed.

Tiffany’s smile never faltered. “Acting tough now, Hazel? That’s cute.”

“I am not the same scared girl you knew from high school. You hurt him, and I swear, you won't have it light with me”

“Oh, sweetie.” She leaned in, her tone suddenly razor-sharp. “Trey’s a big boy. He can decide who he wants.”

As she turned to leave, swinging her waist like some hot model on the runway, she paused without facing me, her voice sweet as poison, “One more thing, Hazel…”

I tensed.

She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes glittering. “You

might’ve cheered the loudest today, but Trey is about to forget you exist. Stay in your lane unless you want me to remind everyone just how invisible you really are.”