Chapter 1

ANNALISE

"Well, Well, look who we have here."

That was the first thing I heard when I stepped into the hallway.

My heart leapt in my chest as I felt their eyes turn to follow me.

They always did, not because I was new… that lame excuse had expired weeks ago rather it was because everyone at school had learnt the same new unspoken rule.

Watch what happens when Annalise walks in or better said… Who?

But I had learnt to ignore them, just as I did as I walked to my classroom.

The moment I stepped through the doors, I heard him before I saw him.

My bully.

Knox Callahan.

The reason why the whole school just seems to have it out for me.

He was leaning against the locker just close to mine, flanked by his friends.

"Tic-tac? Hope she's not a clock today?"

A few snickers rippled through the classroom at his jest of me, right on cue.

My eyes scanned him.

Knox was all broad shoulders, lazy smirk, eyes that already knew exactly what he was about to do before he did it.

And no brain, most importantly—because if he had one he wouldn't be making fun of me for something beyond my control.

I had Tourette's syndrome you see, and Knox never gave up on an opportunity to terrorise me.

He was good at waiting.

Always waiting.

My fingers curled at my sides.

I hated him.

The realisation hit me when I took a deep breath to help calm my racing heart.

'Don't look. Don't react. Don't give them anything' that's what I told myself.

It almost worked.

"You're quiet today tic-y," Knox pressed as I adjusted the strap of my school bag.

My spine straightened.

And I kept walking towards him with my eyes trained forward.

"Oh, she's coming," he teased.

And just as I pulled up close to him, he stepped in my way and covered my locker.

An exasperated sigh left my lips.

"Move."

But that only made his smile widen.

"Or what?"

He pushed off the lockers, closing the space between us in two slow steps.

I hated that he was close enough that I could smell his woodsy cologne, close enough to mess with my head.

"For someone who hates attention," he murmured, voice dropping to a low pitch so only I could hear vividly, "you sure know how to put on a show."

My heart slammed once and hard against my rib cage; traitorous organ.

"I said," I breathed harshly in a sharper voice and a piercing glare, "move."

For a second, just one nanosecond, I saw something flicker in his dark eyes.

Then it was gone as quickly as I saw it and replaced by that same cruel amusement.

He shrugged in surrender.

"Fine."

Knox stepped aside.

But not before his large shoulder clipped mine on the way past, hard enough to shove me into the classroom lockers.

A gasp rippled from my mouth.

My body slammed against the metal of the lockers with a loud sound.

Pain rushed through me at the impact.

Laughter followed from both him, his friends, my classmates and the people standing around the hallway who had slowed down in order to watch.

This classroom had a way of turning into a drama stage whenever he decided to open his mouth and cruelly pick on me.

A few pulled out their phones to record.

And just like that, the show had started.

"Aww, tic-tac might cry," he cooed.

His voice was purposefully cute.

He always did that.

And I detested the way my heart slammed against my chest when he did.

Rage boiled my blood.

Words rushed up my throat.

But I swallowed it down.

The pain.

The anger.

The humiliation.

The very real urge to swing at his perfect face was buried deep inside of me.

My chin was simply tilted, just enough to meet his gaze and look him dead in the eye.

"Stupid."

He only kept laughing.

My chest constricted.

But I forced myself to turn away from him while tears gathered around my eyes.

When I opened my locker, my romance novels instantly tumbled out of the locker.

He was quick with his hands, bracing the three paperbacks before they fell.

Slowly, I turned to stare at him because pretending he didn't exist had never once saved my unfortunate ass.

"Careful, sweetheart," he whispered as he pushed them back into the compartment.

His voice wafted into my ears and slid over me—low, amused, and far too close.

"Take a step back," I hissed even though my heart was hammering in my chest.

He crossed his arms, leaning forward with that stupid smirk sitting on his face.

Perhaps it even lived there.

Didn't he ever get tired of this shit? Calling me out on my involuntary tics?

"Go away," I murmured.

His brows lifted.

"You aren't getting rid of me until you go tick tick like my grandfather's clock."

Anger simmered in my belly.

"Stop it," I glared at him.

"Ohhhhhhh," he drawled with a shit eating grin. "Tic-tac's got some balls!"

The sound of his friend's laughter grated on my nerves more than it actually should.

But I focused on the books I was putting away in my locker rather than on him because my brain convinced me that he was not worth my time at all.

Yet he wouldn't let me be.

His voice pestered me in the background while my hands shook with an incoming tic.

I prayed desperately it wasn't one because they would laugh at me to stupor.

Suddenly, my head fell to the side.

I looked up to see Knox who had pushed it a little bit hard with his fingers.

"Answer me, stupid bitch!" His irritated voice jarred me to reality.

Bile rose in my throat.

"Fuck off man!" I screamed.

My shoulder twitched.

"Oh no," I thought, "please not a tic."

But it was.

My shoulders wouldn't stop trembling even as my eyes followed in the twitching.

His eyes widened in mock surprise.

"There, she's bringing it on," he pointed excitedly at me with a wide smile.

My mouth opened to speak.

But I couldn't.

Not because I had no words.

But because the small quick movements that hit me stole my breath away instantly.

The sound of their laughter in the background as I struggled to keep a tight grip on the reins irked me even more.

Words flew out against my will as my head tilted again and again to the side.

Words I had no control over.

Their laughter made it worse.

"Pussy!"

Knox's face fell instantly.

My eyes widened.

I hadn't meant it.

It was just my new tic.

But the look on Knox's face as he straightened told me otherwise.

"What did you call me?" He demanded, coming closer, cornering me.

My heart began to hammer relentlessly until I was almost out of breath.

"Screw me!"

The words tumbled out of my mouth as a tic before I could bite it back.

His lips curved.

"The clock is begging for a fuck!" He threw his head back and laughed.

Salt water filled my eyes.

"Fuck you!" I yelled.

Then I turned away and began to leave just as another bout of tics hit me.

"Shaking like an electric fish. Electrocuted specimens much?" He spat out.

My feet froze.

I turned to him and forced a smile onto my lips as I lifted my brows.

"And you? Are you still showing up to school knowing you can't read?" I said. "That's a really brave thing to do."

His friends went quiet.

The hallway did too.

Knox pushed off the locker and took a step toward me with a menacing stare.

"Watch your mouth tic-tac."

"Same way I watched the match last Friday, I suppose?" I added with raised brows.

My voice remained flat.

His jaw fell.

"You couldn't watch the goal, so I figured one of us had to pay attention."

The laughter that rippled through the quiet space wasn't for him this time.

It was at him.

His jaw tightened.

Something shifted in his eyes and I noticed that it was nuanced with anger.

Knox moved fast.

His hands were closing around my throat before I could realize anything.

My gaze rounded.

"Say that again," he demanded, not squeezing, just gripping.

But the pressure was just enough to make my heart pound against my ribs.

"Mister Callahan."

The familiar voice of our homeroom teacher, Mr Dane, sharply cut through the space.

Both of us froze.

"Let her go," he said. "Now."

Knox dropped his hand and a gasp left my lips as my hands wrapped around the offensive spot to soothe it with some massage.

And when I looked properly, I saw that Mr. Dane was standing ten feet away.

He kind of looked tired of the sight in the way teachers always looked when they had stopped being surprised by anything.

"Step back," he ordered Knox.

Knox obeyed…

Mr. Dane looked down and searched through his folder, retrieving two test results.

He handed the folder to another student in our year and asked him to distribute it.

Then he turned and looked between us.

"Both of you, my office, now."

Knox and I walked wordlessly behind him as he walked to his office with long strides.

Mr Dane waited for both of us to step in before he shut the door behind us.

Then he turned to Knox.

"I'm disappointed in you yet again, Mister Callahan," he ground out.

The atmosphere grew tense.

I kept my hands behind my back while focusing on breathing the way my therapist had taught me.

Mr Dane stepped forward and handed the test papers in his hand to each of us accordingly.

My face beamed at the score.

I got an A+ again.

My eyes flickered over to Knox's paper which had a red F that was big enough for me to see from where I stood.

A smirk curved the corners of my lips.

Serves him right.

Mr. Dane folded his hands.

"Knox is failing this term."

He looked at me.

"And if that continues, he won't be eligible to sit the final exams."

My brows lifted.

I wondered why he was looking at me.

It wasn't my fault.

"Annalise, I'd like you to tutor him."

My eyes bulged.

"What?"

"Knox would need about three sessions a week, starting tomorrow after school."

Bile rose in my throat.

I shook my head.

"No," I said. "No! I refuse."

Mr. Dane raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

A dry scoff left my lips.

"Why?" I repeated.

My eyes rolled in my sockets.

"Because he has made it his life’s mission to make my life a living hell," I complained.

Mr Dane said nothing.

He just stared at me.

"Every day he picks on me like he did in the hallway just now. You saw that he had his hand around my throat right?" I continued to tell him through gritted teeth.

There was a short pause.

I tried to keep my breath steady at that time despite the way my heart was slamming against my ribs like a roller coaster.

"I did," Mr. Dane finally replied. "And I'm asking you to rise above that."

I stomped my feet.

"That's not fair."

"No," he agreed. "But both your names will go on the school disciplinary list if I report what happened this morning. That affects your scholarship, Annalise."

The word 'scholarship' landed square on my face like a perfectly thrown shot put disc.

I pressed my lips together and stared down at the floor with flared nostrils.

"Fine," I said.

Mr. Dane nodded.

"You can go back to your classroom."

Anger clouded every inch of me as I yanked the door open and stepped out.

Knox followed behind me.

My stomach dropped as I heard his voice, low enough for only me to catch it as he walked past waving his stupid test paper.

"This is gonna be fun, tic-tac.”