chapter six

GERALD'S POV 

My eyes fell on the familiar car, and a relieved smile graced my lips. Everyone present in the parking lot gaped at the glistening black Audi R8 as Paula brought it to a stop in front of me. So much for keeping things low-key, but I had my doubts based on how I dressed, as I barely managed to keep a low profile myself. But I felt good seeing Paula’s smiling face through the windscreen. I needed a familiar face. I was tired of this hell hole. But sadly, I wanted to come back tomorrow, and that’s a sentiment I have never had towards school.

I could feel the eyes of hundreds on me as I got into the passenger side of the luxurious vehicle. 

I was immediately greeted with a slap on the head: "Ow! What did you do that for?" I whined, earning a chuckle from her. Pain shot through my brain like an arrow during war. Of course she just had to add to my already growing headache.

The thing about Paula is that she looked like the weakest person on the planet. Her arms and legs were basically like paper strips. Her facial features were gentle, but look into her eyes when she was mad, and you would regret it. That flimsy body of hers held so much power that it made the slap to my head look like child's play.

"That’s my way of saying I missed you, buddy," she said with a low cackle before firing the engine. Stepping on the gas, we zoomed out of the school parking lot, leaving a frightening roar behind.

I massaged my forehead as I groaned, "Well, couldn’t you have said that like a normal person? I am already dealing with a venomous headache."

"Venomous?" she asked, amusement evident in her tone. She kept her eyes on the road, and I could not help but think back to the time some assassins tried taking her out as she drove. This woman could kill three men in thirty seconds with one hand while the other drove. And if bullets weren’t fired, there wouldn’t be a scratch on the car.

She was such a badass.

"Yeah, the pain is spreading."

"I think we got some aspirin back home," she shook her head, her soft, dark strands flapping by her sides.

"I don’t need aspirin; I need three bottles of beer." I groaned as she slapped my arm.

"Shut up! As annoying as you are, I do not want your brain to explode."

"Aww."

She punched my arm this time. This woman was practically assaulting me.

"Tell me, how was it? This is the first time you have been to school in, like, what? A year?" she asked, and I recollected the past events.

"It was such a bore, everyone was staring at me like I was their favorite snack," I said, and she swept her eyes over me before returning them to the road.

"You are pretty cute for your age," she said with a small smile, turning the corner and heading towards a McDonald’s drive through. "Two hamburgers, fries, and a strawberry and chocolate milkshake," she ordered before returning her attention to me.

"Did I just receive a compliment from Paula Sanders?" I asked with a teasing tone, and she slapped the back of my head. Again.

"Ow! You’re so violent."

A creepy smile adorned her face as she said, "That’s what I was paid for." I could not help but roll my eyes. She tilted her head to the side and watched me intently. "Is that all? Nothing fun or exciting happened?"

My mind trailed back to the tall girl with silver eyes—the one that had bluntly rejected me. I have never been rejected in my life. Who does she think she is? And what was the deal with that guy with her? He looked pretty upset, and it seemed to be affecting her.

What do I care anyway?

Paula grabbed our food just as I answered, "No, nothing interesting." I could feel her eyes on me. She was studying me. If there was one person who could tell when I was lying or not, it was Paula. But for some reason, she didn’t say anything more.

●●●●●●●●●

I walked into the hellhole of a public school, probably looking like death. People were still staring at me, and I hated it. If they wanted to fuck or fight me, they should just say so instead of staring at me like creeps.

I sat on an empty seat, waiting for the teacher to come in and start spilling nonsense. Last night, despite my complaining severally about my disastrous headache, Paula still sat me down to ask some questions on the topics discussed yesterday. 

She really did want me to graduate. 

But I am sure it is because her life depends on it that she is so keen about it.

She is depending on me.

I can’t let her down.

My brows knitted when I heard the scraping of a chair beside me. The sweet scent of vanilla hit my nostrils, and I could not get enough of it. But when I raised my head to find the same silver eyes that looked at me with so much hostility yesterday, I wanted to get as far away from the scent as possible. "What do you want?" I asked, not bothering to suppress the bitterness in my voice.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday," she said, and I wrinkled my brow. My eyes trailed up and down her body, and I could not stop my tongue from sliding over my bottom lip. She wore a red, strapless crop top that put her cleavage on full display. Her dark jeans hugged her legs nicely, emphasizing on her round hips and ass. A gold necklace with a key pendant adorned her neck. She was not a snack, she was practically a full meal.

My eyes realigned with hers, and sure enough, she had just witnessed me check her out in silence. She so wanted to fuck me. "Does your boyfriend know you are speaking to me?" I asked, flashing her the smile that always had girls falling on their knees.

It appeared to do nothing to her; however, she looked indifferent. Almost bored.

It was kind of attractive.

"He does not own my life," she stated, and I wanted to laugh.

"You sure were acting like he did yesterday," I reminded her, and I could see the discomfort my words had brought to her. "Anyways, your apology is accepted. What’s your name?"

"Silvia."

"Silvia," I repeated, her name tasting like honey as it left my lips. It rolled out so smoothly. But why do I feel like I have heard that name before? I am pretty certain I would have remembered someone like her. I was about to ask whether we had met before, but the physics teacher walked in, stealing both of our attention.

"Alright, everyone. Take your seats," she said, adjusting her blazer and taking out her clipboard from her drawer. "Today I will be dividing you all into groups of five; each group will be given a topic, and you will present it here next week, on Monday."

Her voice faded away in my head, and I found myself staring at Silvia as she took out a book from her bag. She seemed to be writing down every topic, despite the fact that she knew her group would only be given one; was she a nerd? She didn’t look like one.

"Mason Axford, Jessica Suarez, Abel McKain, Silvia Harold, and Gerald Owens. That is the fifth group, and you will be handling the fifth topic," she finished, and my heart leaped when she made mention of Silvia’s name. I didn’t know nor did I give a damn about who the other members of the group were; all I cared about was that Silvia and I were in the same group.

A thought came to my mind, and I could not hold back my grin. I tapped my foot impatiently and waited for the next thirty minutes to pass. Once it was, I practically flew towards Silvia’s table. "Hey!" I said way too quickly.

Slowly, she raised her head to meet my eyes. There was a furrow between her brows as she watched me. "Hi?"

"We should work on the project in my place." I stated it even though I knew I should have asked.

"You guys aren’t the only ones in the group, you know," a feminine voice said somewhere behind me, and I twisted my torso to get a good look at the owner.

A girl with dirty blonde hair stopping just above her shoulders had her hazel eyes trained on me. There were two guys standing beside her; they both had dark hair and eyes and were about my height. They must be the other members.

"Sorry, uh, you guys wanna come over? My place is super cool and I live alone so there won’t be any disturbances." I said, and I could see the girl scowl at me.

"Why do you live alone? And where are your parents?" She pried, and whatever expression I had on my face was wiped away and replaced by a blank one.

"I don’t see how that is any of our business, Jessica. Let’s just take a vote and get it over with," the guy standing by her left said. He had this calm, if not bored, expression as he spoke. There was this void in his eyes that made me never desire to come near him.

"Okay, Mason has a point. All in favor of going to my house?" Jessica said, and by God, her voice annoyed me. She looked like one of those fake girls that got everything they wanted but was just sad and alone inside. She raised her hand along with Mason; her eyes glanced between the guy I assumed to be Abel, then Silvia, then me. An annoyed huff left her, and she stomped her foot on the floor, saying, "Fine, we’ll go to the rich new kid’s house." She said it with an excessive eye roll before shooting me a glare.

I have never given a more artificial smile before in my life.

As the three left, I found my eyes sliding towards Silvia. She was already staring at me, and there was an emotion in those silver orbs of hers that I couldn't put into words.