Playing stupid tricks

_

Jace POV cont.

The moment I walked into the house, I didn't wait before ascending the stairs to escape to my room. Mum stopped me and I let out a low grunt.

"What?" I snapped.

Little miss Busybody spoke instead.

"Hey, don't be rude to your mum. You didn't even thank her for picking you up from school," she said.

I let out a dry scoff.

"Maybe because she never did that before."

Mum's face twitched into a frown.

The same displeased look she always held for me, but I didn't stop, knowing how much it would upset her.

"It's really irritating to see you trying so hard, Dr. Marla," I said and didn't wait before leaving.

As I opened my door, I heard the freak's voice.

"Don't mind him. He's just a big baby," she said.

I clenched my jaw and slammed the door shut behind me.

I threw my bag on the floor and jumped onto the bed. I took out my phone to check the hockey group chat.

From their messages, they all seemed to be doing well without me.

I flipped the phone onto the bed and shut my eyes, taking a deep inhale, trying to get a moment of peace.

My mind drifted to two weeks ago.

"What? Are you serious, Coach?" Dan, the team captain asked, his veins popping out in fury.

Coach Lawson stared at him, his hands at his sides.

"You have been out of shape for so long. Jace is more qualified than you to lead the team," he argued.

But Dan wouldn't have it. He slammed his hand against the lockers instead.

"That's bullshit!" He spat.

"It's bad enough that you have a sixteen-year-old on our team, now you want him to lead us too?" he fired.

The other teammates also glared, their fury flashing to me as I stood behind Coach Lawson.

Before anyone could stop him, Dan moved forward and grabbed me by the collar.

"Hey, high school boy," he taunted angrily.

"Did you ask for this?"

I struggled to push him off.

"I didn't," I had yelled back.

"And I don't want to. So get your hands off me," I said, but that riled Dan up and he threw me onto the floor.

Coach Lawson had hurried to stop me from getting beaten up.

The chime of my phone brought me back from my thoughts. I picked it up and checked the message that had just come in.

"Jace, can we talk please? I'm really sorry about what happened."

It was from Reagan.

My anger rose again and I switched off my phone, deciding to get some sleep to wear it all off.

_

Harper's POV

I had a fun moment with Marla after Jace walked off angrily.

I couldn't help the feeling of wanting to go up to his room and smack his head for being such an asshole to his parents.

They were so kind and lovely.

I changed into something comfortable, picked up my notebook and walked to his room.

Taking a sharp deep breath, I knocked on the door.

There was no answer. This time I was sure no girl would be naked under his sheets, so I went in.

I walked into the spacious room and glanced around until my eyes caught him on the bed. I paused but then stepped forward.

My eyes gazed over the peacefully sleeping, handsome face, his long lashes resting softly against his cheeks.

My legs moved before I could stop them. It was like a hypnosis.

I leaned slowly towards his face, my eyes flickering to his lips.

My heart slammed hard with a strange excitement.

I pressed my lips together and tried to shake off the ridiculous thought about how Jace Carter's lips would taste.

The devil in me said it would be just quick. A reward for myself after all these years. But another part scolded.

He is a bully. My bully.

I lifted my head back up and turned away quickly, but my foot hit the table and I let out a cry. It woke Jace up instantly.

"What on earth...?" He looked confused for a second but his brows drew into a scowl after.

"Are you sneaking up on me, you pervert?" He charged.

I tried to grab my foot while leaning on the table, muffling my pain.

"No, I wasn't," I defended, louder than necessary.

He let out a chuckle, one that said I do not believe you.

I wanted to speak again but he ignored me and walked into the bathroom.

I held my chest and let out a sigh of relief.

The first official lesson started and I was determined to put something into that skull of his.

"What's the formula for Standard Deviation?" I asked, not expecting him to know.

"The… square root of the sum of each value… minus the mean, squared, divided by the total number of values."

He spewed it out like he had memorized it. For a second, I stared in shock, not sure how he knew that.

I swallowed slowly and adjusted myself.

"Looks like you are not a complete dullard like I thought," I said and turned to the textbook.

"Well, it's written right there, dumb-ass." He snapped his fingers against my forehead.

I let out a yelp and realized my mistake.

It turned out he had nothing.

"For a moment, I was fooled," I clicked my tongue softly, giving him a look that dripped with ridicule.

His lips twitched like he was trying not to laugh, and that only annoyed me more. I kept explaining the lesson, but every few seconds, I could feel his gaze on me, not on the book.

"Are you even listening?" I asked, catching him staring again.

He shrugged, scratching his head a little, pretending to be clueless.

"You just keep babbling, I can't keep up," he said.

"Jace!" My voice came out louder than I intended. To my surprise, he chuckled, like my frustration amused him.

"Let's try again," I said, forcing myself to calm down.

"Alright," he replied, looking down at the textbook.

For a while, I continued explaining, trying to ignore how close we were sitting.

Then, as I spoke, a lock of hair fell across my cheek.

Before I could move it away, his hand reached out.

His fingers brushed my hair softly.

My whole body froze.

A strange shiver ran through me, and my words died in my throat.

Slowly, I looked up.

His eyes were already on me.

For one strange moment, neither of us moved.

The room felt too quiet and small.

His hand was still tangled lightly in my hair, and all I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Then my mind caught up.

The memory of every prank and every mocking smile every time he had made my life miserable came rushing back.

"Ugh!" I shrieked and pushed him hard off the chair.

He fell with a low groan and looked up at me, startled.

"I can't believe you are playing your stupid tricks even now!" I burst out.

He only stared at me, confused, which somehow irritated me more. I jolted to my feet.

"I know you hate this, but trying to pull my hair is just evil," I lashed out.

He blinked, and then, to my utter annoyance, he chuckled.

Like I was the ridiculous one.

And somehow, that made my face burn even hotter.