GRALEO

IVY

Mondays were simply the worst.

As I walked through the hallway, I sighed, wishing that the weekend had been twice longer. My legs felt too heavy, I honestly could have used another twenty-four hours to sleep.

Dragging my tired self along, I rounded a corner without thinking and bumped into someone, smacking my face hard against what felt like a rock, or maybe a chest, I staggered back, totally ready to fall.

Strong hands caught me stopping me from hitting the floor.

I gasped, half in shock.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, cheeks burning, wishing I could just melt into the floor.

I shut my eyes for a second, sending a desperate little prayer up , thanks for not letting me totally crash and die.

I looked up to apologize, and my words got stuck.

Because staring back at me were the most breathtaking sea-green eyes I had ever seen. Eyes that belonged to someone I least expected to see.

Liam.

The star quarterback of our school football team.

For a second, I swear I forgot how to breathe, as if air had become foreign to me.

My whole body became tensed as I realized what I had done. I had just bumped into our school’s golden boy. I was panicking but frozen in place.

I forced myself to look up to gauge his reaction. Oh, boy. My head had to go through a long journey to meet his gaze.

He was tall , one tall glass of wine, towering over me. I already felt small. Now, I felt invisible, or maybe even worse, exposed.

He stared at me like he could see right through me, I looked away avoiding his eyes as much as I could, though our position comprised my efforts, and he was too close, and I could feel his eyes anyway.

His hands brushed against my bare skin as he held me up, my whole body felt the warmth of his hands and instantly goosebumps covered my arm.

I snuck a glance at him, peeking through my lashes to see if he’d caught on how his touch made me feel. But his face was totally blank, his eyes giving away nothing. I was so caught up, I forgot to breathe.

“Careful, little one,” he said, his voice low, almost rough. “You’re too tiny, we wouldn’t want any crushing, would we?”

I almost swooned, my cheeks instantly blazed hot.

I hastily untangled myself from his hold, skittering back a few feet away from him, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process.

unconsciously wrapping my hands around myself, as if that would somehow protect me.

His lips twitched.

He kept staring at me and I felt so uncomfortable. Unable to withstand his gaze any longer, I bent my head and used the leverage of few loose hairs to shield my face from his view.

I completely missed the moment he moved.

Large hands swept across my face, tucking my loose hairs behind my ear.

I froze.

My eyes went wide open, jaws dropped open in disbelief. I lost all trains of thought, and just stood there gaping like a fish. I couldn’t even move.

What was happening? Why was I freaking out?

I stood there, brain still scrambled. I barely noticed Sophia, running toward me.

Her gaze flickered between me and Liam, her face a look of confusion mixed with questions.

But underneath that look, I saw something else in my friend’s eyes.

Longing.

It clicked.

Her eyes lingered on Liam a second too long before finally settling on me.

Sophia had always had a thing for him, even with his cold, mysterious nature.

“Ivy, are you okay?” She asked softly, almost pulling me from Liam’s arms, which I hadn’t even realized held onto me.

I nodded, and tried stepping back, only to realize Liam’s hands still held onto mine. I could have sworn I was a few feet away from Liam, how on earth had he gotten a hold of me, again.

I hadn’t realized I had gone mute, staring confusedly at Liam, until Sophia shook me.

I looked to her. ‘What’s wrong?’

She subtly nodded to Liam’s direction. ‘What happened?’

“I…… just tripped.”

I glanced over at Liam, instead of looking away, he took a few steps back but kept on staring as if to make sure I was really alright.

His actions confused me.

A hidden part of me actually warmed up, to think that he was not as bad as he portrayed to be, and I felt bad for judging him otherwise.

I looked back at Sophia, and caught her straight up staring at him like he was some kind of movie star, well just the way I stare at Taehyung, V, from BTS .

I nudged her with my elbow, already grinning, ready to tease her.

But when she turned to me, her smile slipped.

She winced, and something in her eyes just… hurt.

The amusement vanished.

Why the sudden change?

“Was it jealousy? Regret? Why did she suddenly look like I had done something wrong?”

I made a move to hug her, but in the process and misstep and almost landed on my butt for the second time that day. Liam’s hand immediately shot out to hold me steady.

“Careful,” he said, steadying me like it was no big deal.

“Seriously, you’re gonna knock someone out one day.”

My eyes immediately went to Sophia, mortified. She froze in place, her hands extended and her mouth slightly open.

I yelped, darting away from Liam and hid behind Sophia.

Oh, Lord!

I peeked at Liam from Sophia’s shoulders.

Liam’s face relaxed, just a little, and for a second, just one damn second, I could swear I saw it. There was a tiny bit of amusement in his eyes, like he was fighting a smile and losing.

Before I had time to figure out what that his look meant, Claire showed up out of nowhere.

The head cheerleader.

Liam’s“supposed”girlfriend.

She walked up to Liam, but her eyes occasionally moved between Liam and me, like she was trying to figure out why I was even standing there with him.

She put her arms around Liam but kept staring at me. It felt weird. Like she was expecting something. I didn't know what to say. My brain just…. blanked. So I just looked away.

I could feel her still staring at me, so I avoided eye contact.

Liam finally looked away from me. His expression went blank.

“Hey Claire”.

The shift in tone was immediate.

Sophia snorted. Claire turned to glare at us before facing Liam again.

I panicked.

Should I leave?

“Was this the moment I was supposed to walk away or what?”

My heart skipped. I looked up and there were those sea green eyes, locked onto mine once again.

“What was with the constant eye contact?” I wondered.

From everything I’d heard about Liam, he was the cold, mysterious, no nonsense type. He was never for once classified chatty or caring, he really gave off that vibe. I’ve only seen him talk to the A-listers as we call them, they were the trendsetters, the populars.

But he had just stared at me like I was the only person in the hallway.

Claire whispered something to him. I had no idea what she said to him, It didn’t matter. Whatever it was she had said to him, pulled his attention away from me, just like that. That’s when I noticed, people were watching.

Whispers filled the air.

Claire’s hand grazed his arm as she smiled, like I wasn’t there. “Coming , Liam?”

Sophia yanked my arm. “Hurry, Ivy. We’ve got class.”

I nodded, turning back to Liam.

I lifted a hand in a small, quiet wave.

His expression didn’t change, but he gave a small stiff nod and looked away.

My hand dropped immediately.

Sophia elbowed me and leaned in, whispering. “What was that about?”

I shook my head, still puzzled. I didn’t say anything.

What was there to say?

I turned to look back, just to take a peek, just a small peek.

His eyes were on me once again. His lips moved.

He was saying something.

My heart skipped.

“Run”

I blinked.

Sophia pulled harder. “Ivy, come on!”

I turned away.

Run?

I didn’t imagine that. I couldn’t have imagined that. Right?