~ Seraphina’s POV I don't know what got into him.I keep telling myself that. What the hell? Was Jonathan jealous that I was hanging out with Ethan? Hell, I am not even hanging out with Ethan. He is the one who won't leave me alone. And I'm realising he is kind of like a nice guy. But then Jonathan. The memory of him grabbing me and yanking me to the classroom, breathing heavily like he was trying to rein something in. That it didn’t mean anything. That was the way his hand wrapped around my throat in that empty classroom tightly and like...possessively, like I belonged to him, was just Jonathan being Jonathan.I have gotten worse treatment from him.But then, that it wasn’t supposed to feel like that. The way he had gripped my throat. That it wasn’t supposed to make my knees feel like they were about to buckle, or make my heart beat like it was trying to tear through my chest.He’s Jonathan Hill. A bully. A bastard. The golden boy who turns everything he touches into ash. The sa
~ Jonathan’s POV Whitney presses herself against me the moment we step into the empty classroom. Her perfume is too sweet. Her skin is too soft. Everything about her is too... too much, and none of it is Seraphina.She moans my name like it means something. Like it matters. Like any of these matters.It doesn’t.She doesn’t matter to me. Not in any fucking way.But I need to forget, God, I need to forget Seraphina. Need to rip Seraphina out of my skull by any means necessary.So I slam Whitney against the wall, trying to control my erratic breathing. Her laugh is breathy. 'God, Jonathan…'The sound of her voice almost made me back down. It irritates something in me to no end, and I can’t help it. I don't want her, but at this moment, I need what she can give.'Shut up.' I tell her, not wanting her voice to jerk me back to reality, because it keeps reminding me that this isn't Seraphina.I don’t tell her to shut up nicely. I don’t want sweet or soft. I want violent. I want loud. I w
~ Jonathan’s POVShe doesn’t listen. Of course, she doesn’t.Seraphina fucking Puckett never listens.I saw her with Ethan again. He was laughing and she was smiling. Or at least pretending to smile. The same way she used to smile at those back her godforsaken friends. The moment I see her walk away from him, all soft shoulders and lowered eyes, I feel the fire light up in my chest again. It's not jealousy, I tell myself. Not really. It's control. It's knowing what's best for her, because clearly, she has no fucking clue. I am going to be her stepbrother soon, so it's best to start keeping her under the radar.I take the long route. I decide to wait until the hallway clears. I don’t want an audience.When I grab her and pull her into the empty classroom, it’s instinct. It was not planned. It was not rational. But neither am I when she looks at me with those big eyes, all fire and defiance. She doesn’t scream, but she flinches. I hate that. Hate that she flinches like she thinks I’ll
~ Seraphina’s POVWe walk down the hall, with me mostly fixing my eyes to the ground. Ethan has been...persistent even when I am being cold or mean. It doesn't even deter him. Though I an still skeptical about why he was so interested in sticking around me. I have no idea why. Did he perhaps have any hidden motive behind sticking around with me?Or does he want to prank me as everybody else does? I am still wary around him. I can't take any chances. I wouldn't. I hug my arms around my chest and walk slowly side by side with him, earning looks and whispers from other of our classmates who were walking to the class alongside us. The way we had all ran to the fighting scene and had met Riley get beaten was gold, even for me, even if I don't associate with them, there are some rich brats I want to go down.‘Run along, Sera. I’ve got something to handle,’ Ethan says, already half-turning down the hall with his lazy smirk. I blink at him, almost scoffing at the way he still speaks to me
~ Seraphina’s POVSimon is fighting with Riley over Brittany.That’s what the boy yells when he crashes into our classroom like a stray dodgeball.Chaos follows.Chairs scrape. People leap up. Phones appear out of nowhere. It’s like the announcement of a celebrity death, but more... hormonal.'Oh my God!' shrieks one of the cheerleaders. 'Simon loves Brittany! He said it at the bonfire!''No, Riley kissed her first!' someone else cries. 'That makes her his.''Brittany doesn’t belong to anyone, freaks,' I mutter under my breath, but no one hears me.Ethan rises beside me, brows lifting. “What do you think?” he asks, already halfway to the door.I blink at him. 'What do I think about what? Two idiots knocking each other’s teeth out over a girl who probably flirted with both for attention?'He grins. 'Exactly. Come on.''Wait—what? Where are we—Ethan!'But he’s already out the door, dragging my arm behind him. Half the class has followed him, hooting like they’re going to a football game
~ Jonathan’s POVI don’t look at her when I walk in. Not really.Okay, maybe I do, but it is just a glance. Just one second. Or maybe half, but it’s enough to make something sharp twist in my chest.She is looking at him, not me.Him.Of course she is.He’s standing there like he owns the room. Like he’s never been gone. Like people didn’t mourn his brother and whisper about where he went and why he never came back. Like he didn't disappear from the school because of that one incident. From the whole country, actually.And now he’s here. Taking up space that was never his to take.And Seraphina’s looking at him like she doesn’t know how to stop. Well, to be fair, he indeed did try to defend her. Defending Seraphina was never and has never been my job. It is quite the opposite, actually. I am her bully. I have done quite a number on her during the previous terms in school, but then I have actually started to become soft. Roy was right. He had said that I was becoming soft and whether i
~ Seraphina’s POV I blink. Not because I’m shocked by what he said, though that alone was enough to freeze the entire classroom, but because I was expecting the voice to come from someone else entirely. But it isn’t Jonathan. It’s the guy beside him. He is tall...looks over 6 foot and his eyes looks so sharp. Piercing. Like an eagle. I stare at his hair, the dark curls curling slightly over his forehead like they were sculpted on purpose. His blazer is hanging a little off one shoulder like he doesn’t really care what uniform rules are. His mouth is quirked at the corner, like he knows something no one else does. And he’s definitely not from here. Because I have never see him, but then...he looks somehow oddly and weirdly familiar, but I don’t know where or how to place it. I've never seen him before, but then there is this form of deja vu I get from staring at him and I.. I don't know how to place it. But right beside him—because the universe hates me—is Jonathan Hill. He is le
~ Seraphina’s POVI heard Mom talking something about interns or something over the phone two minutes ago. Has Mr Hill already gotten some kind of job or something for her?That was quick. I don't know if he is just lovestruck for Mom or something. I have no idea. I have no idea someone like Mr Hill could even look at someone like us. My mom, actually. Now, don't get me wrong, she isn't ugly or anything. Quite the opposite actually.I sigh and stand with my plate of empty cereal and then I go over to dump it in the sink. It earns me a look from my mom. I roll my eyes internally and then turn on the tap to wash the plate off.After that, I want to go to my room to dress up, but then the sound of my name makes me freeze in my tracks."Seraphina."I don't turn. I grip the railing of our stairs. Yep. Railing. Mr Hill had moved us over to a new house after the whole thing. I didn't feel too comfortable with this arrangement earlier because I know nothing ever comes in this life for free."
~ Seraphina’s POVCeline falls asleep first.One minute we are talking about how unfortunate Luke Henderson is and she’s rambling about how hot the new physics teacher is, and the next her head is on my shoulder, her mouth is slightly open, and her is breathing soft and steady. I don’t move her. I just sit there, staring at the ceiling in the glow of my bedside lamp, my body stiff and wide awake.Sleep feels like a luxury I can’t afford. There are lots of things in my head that I would see when I sleep and I would rather not. Until I have calmed my soul down.I look down at my wrapped hands. The image of the man who had chased me back at Jonathan’s house flashed in my head. I shudder. The bandages are a little dirty from all the movement tonight. I’ll need to change them. The ache from the wound is dull now, but it is steady and pulsing. I’m starting to get used to it though. The way pain just becomes part of the background noise if you pretend hard enough. I am used to it. Pain. I'm