Chapter Two

"Fuck! I hate it, Ri. It's only been a week and we are already swamped with homework and assignments," Lucy groaned in frustration. We were in the study hall, working on our math assignment since we had a free period.

"What else would you prefer doing?"

"Anything besides this. Also, Andrew is annoying me to the core. He hasn't texted me since morning." She pouted and kept checking her phone every five minutes.

"Here, let me help you." I grabbed her note and started to teach her. Not to brag or anything but I was pretty good at math and probably the only thing I was good at.

"Damn! You are good, girl." She whistled when I solved a complex problem but I simply shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"You just need to use your brain." I teased, earning a smack on my arm from her.

"Shut up."

"You know what? You could probably do this for money," she added after a while, making me scrunch my eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think anyone is as good as you at math in our grade. You could put up an advertisement on the school notice board or newspaper for tutoring." She explained, making me think about it for a while. It was actually a pretty good idea to earn some money for college. I would be learning and teaching at the same time. Dad would also understand if I explain it to him.

"Do you think anyone would notice?" I asked in a doubtful tone.

"Of course, just post it anonymously with your contact details, and let's wait and see. No harm in trying right?"

"You know, I think you finally put that brain of yours to use," I grinned widely, making her roll her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go, babe. I'm craving some ice cream." She stood up without waiting for my reply and I copied her actions, collecting my things from the table.

"Psst! Why is Tristan staring at you?" Lucy hissed, making me frown in response. We were inside a small ice cream booth that was close to Woodcreek Highschool. We could see almost half of the school's population inside that small place and it wasn't a big surprise that Tristan was here. He and his mates used to hang out there almost every day.

"I think it's time for us to leave," I whispered back, brushing her question aside.

"Hmmm, if you look closely, he does look good. Do you think he secretly likes you or something and that's why he annoys you?"

"Eww! Gross! Lucy, stop looking over at his table. I don't need any drama today and I need to get to the library. I'm late for my shift," I stood up, hiding my face with my hoodie, and walked towards the counter. She immediately followed me, almost running to catch up with my speed.

"Alright, relax. I was just kidding." She sighed beside me near the counter while I paid for our orders.

She was right though. I could feel his eyes boring into my back and I couldn't understand why.

Was he planning on something big?

I had no freaking idea.

We rushed out of the booth immediately and I let out a huge sigh of relief. We said our goodbyes and she went home while I walked back to the school to submit the advertisement in the school newspaper and around 5 pm, I left the school premises and made my way towards the small library that was around 20 feet away from my school.

"Hey, Judy!" I called out to the girl behind the reception and she turned around to face me with a bright smile. She was around my age with short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She goes to a different school so I didn't know much about her.

"Right on time as always. Have fun, Riley." She smiled and started to collect her things to leave.

The library was almost empty except for a few kids, doing their homework or reading some book. I got bored and started to work on my own school stuff and halfway through it, I felt a huge shadow looming over my head. I lifted my gaze to see who it was and my eyes went wide, mouth hanging open with my pencil dangling between my lips.

I was met with a pair of ocean green eyes with thick eyelashes followed by a pair of plump lips. I could notice his chiseled jawline that was sharp enough to cut through anything and my eyes roamed freely all over his light brown hair that was disheveled. He was wearing a white polo t-shirt underneath his black jacket that looked really hot on his arrogant self. I came out of my trance immediately, feeling ashamed to be checking out my enemy.

Fuck!

Lucy was right.

Did he always look this good?

"Are you done checking me out?" he smirked, leaning against the desk and I caught a whiff of his strong musky cologne that sent tingles down my spine.

Ew! Ew! Ew!

Dear God! Please don't do this.

"Could you please take a step back? I'm feeling nauseous." I coughed a bit, trying to get myself together.

"More like breathless, Adams. I tend to have that effect on people. Girls especially," he winked, making me roll my eyes at his cockiness, "I didn't know you work here." He added, throwing a book at me which I caught swiftly between my hands. I looked down at the title of the book and raised my eyebrow. It was a Trigonometry textbook.

"And I didn't know you study instead of fooling around," I replied almost immediately, making him sigh heavily.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." He uttered, surprising me with his decent response, making me more confused than ever.

"You have seven days to return the book without any damage," I spoke, typing away on the computer in front of me, and looked up to find him staring at me. He snatched the book from my hand with such force, making me scowl.

Spoke too soon!

"Whatever." He cleared his throat and rushed outside immediately, leaving me puzzled.

"Asshole," I muttered loud enough for him to hear. Thankfully, he didn't turn around to give me any snide comments and kept walking towards his fancy-ass car.

My shift ended at 7 pm. After grabbing my stuff, I started walking towards the direction of my house, wearing my headset. By the time, I reached home, I noticed that my dad's car was not in the driveway so I made dinner for myself and him.

After finishing my dinner, I went back to my room and turned on Netflix to watch 'The Vow'. Not even Lucy knows that I watch romance movies. I act all tough outside saying that I hated romance and all that cringe stuff but deep down, I secretly wanted a Love story of my own as corny as it may sound.

I was a girl after all and I wanted to experience all the cute and sexy stuff that high school girls gush about. I thought about Lucy's words from the other day.

Get a boyfriend?

But who would even talk to a girl as boring as me?

I sighed and drifted off to sleep to the soothing sound of Channing Tatum's voice in the movie.