2. Handsome

The tall handsome dude with tousled dark hair and bright blue eyes slumps down beside me and raises an eyebrow at me, probably noticing my surprised expression.

"Do you know me?" He asks me as I don't speak anything.

I shake my head and immediately turn my face, looking out of the window. I hear him let out a chuckle.

Yeah, I know him. He is Adonis Elsher, the Basketball captain of Cypress Boys High. Their school always wins Basketball matches and it's mostly because of him. A few months ago, they came to our school for a match and they got the cup. But I really didn't expect him in this Art camp. I didn't think a guy like him would be good at drawing.

"Hey, what's your name?" He leans forward on the seat, looking at my face.

Gosh! Why does he want to know my name? I'm already having a bad feeling that he is going to catch me in the act.

I pretend like I don't hear him because of the music in my ear. I had actually paused it earlier to hear the girls talk.

And the next moment, he pulls the earbud out of my left ear, taking me aback. I turn my face to him and he smiles at me, giving me the earbud back. Our fingers touch and I feel my heart pound wildly. Can a guy understand the difference between a guy's touch and a girl's touch?

"Did you hear me?" He asks.

Thank God, he doesn't seem to realize. He doesn't look at my hands. Anyway, only my palm is visible, I'm wearing a full-sleeved sweatshirt.

I shake my head whilst taking out the other earbud.

"I asked you your name."

"Elena Griffin," I mutter in the best high-pitched voice I can imitate.

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Adonis Elsher, from Cypress Boys High," he says cheerfully, stretching out his hand.

Shit! Again! God, please don't let him know.

"Adonis, the name really suits him, right? He looks just like the Greek God. She is so lucky," I hear the girl behind me whisper when I finally take his hands and quickly give it a mild shake. "Nice to meet you too. I'm from Eastwood."

"Oh! So, we are neighbours," he smiles again brightly, a wide boxy grin.

What the hell? He wasn't smiling this wide when they won the match!

"So Elena, have you made any friends already?"

"Uhm..no.." I groan inwardly. Is he planning to keep on talking to me and become friends with me?

It's not like I hate talking to him. I'd love to. But in this situation, I'd rather not. I'm afraid my real voice would come out at some point.

"I see, that's why you were looking lonely," he hums. "Oh..let me introduce you to my friend. Here, she is Andrea and she is from Cypress Girls High, technically our sister school," he says pointing at the girl who was sitting on the seat across the aisle. She was now looking at him with narrowed eyes as if she didn't like how he introduced her to me.

Anyway, I give Andrea a quick smile and turn my face back to the window, placing the earbuds back in my ear.

Gosh! I can't believe Adonis Elsher sat beside me and talked to me like that!

Do I really look pretty as a girl? Cause nobody wants to talk to me when I'm a boy.

"So, Adonis, I guess you aren't going to admit that picture was not drawn by you," I hear the girl, Andrea says. Curious, I turn my face to look at her. She was beautiful with long dark hair and pale blue eyes. But she looked kind of angry.

"I told you, Andy!" Adonis sighs. "Why are you still falsely accusing me about that?"

"Cause, I've never seen you draw a portrait half as good as that one," she rolls her eyes at him and looks away. Seems like she didn't like him coming to this camp. So, did he really cheat to get selected? But why?

Adonis lets out a chuckle and shakes his head before tilting his face back to me. "By the way, Elena, what are you interested in? Pencil drawing or oil painting?"

"Uh..I like both. But I do pencil sketch more often," I reply.

"Oh, me too!" he smiles broadly. "What are you listening to? Let me see if you have the same taste as me in music," he takes one earbud from my ear, again catching me off guard.

"Eh? Are you listening to nothing?" He frowns at me once he places the bud in his ear.

"N..no.." I say and quickly play the music.

It was the song 'Don't go breaking my heart' by Backstreet Boys. I only realize it after I play it.

His lips slowly turn into a thin line, the smile disappearing. But the next moment he leans back on the seat and tilts his face to me. "Honestly, one of the songs I repeatedly play these days."

He stares into my eyes and I feel my heart thud, looking back at his alluring stormy blue eyes. His black hair was long and a few fringes were falling into his eyes from his high forehead. His lips were thin and his chin was prominent with a sharp chiseled Jawline.

"Hey!"

The girls from the seat behind us suddenly squeal leaning forward, making me almost flinch. It was only then I realised I was gawking at Adonis while he was also staring back at my face. Also, I notice Andrea and the other girl on the seat across from us watching us. I quickly tilt my head to the window, causing the earbud to fall off from his ear.

"Hi, I'm Lily. I'm from Bugil High," the girl on the seat just behind me says.

"And I'm Violet. From St Peter's high," the other girl says smiling widely at Adonis.

"Oh..nice to meet you both. I'm Adonis, from Cypress High," he replies and soon the girls start asking him endless questions about his school, basketball team, drawings, hobbies and whatnot.

I sit there watching the sights outside the window, still feeling my heart beating faster than normal. What just happened? Was he trying to flirt with me?

And this wasn't the kind of image I had of him in my mind. I thought he was a serious and reserved person. But he sure doesn't seem like one. He is now talking and laughing with the girls.

Finally, he turns back to me when the girls are done with their questions. "Is that song over?"

"Yeah.." I nod. Actually, three songs ended after that.

"Which song are you listening to now?" He asks and takes the earbud again from my ear, placing it in his own.

"Oh! Wow! Eminem! I didn't think you'd be a fan of Eminem too," he smiles and starts nodding his head to the rap while tapping his feet on the floor.

Wait! Do girls listen to Eminem?

And why the hell is he acting like we are long-time friends? We just met!

I think I'd better pretend to sleep again before he starts trying to get more close. I lean my head against the window and close my eyes.

I hear him let out a sigh after some time and mutter something under his breath.

A few moments later, I feel him place my earbud back in my ear. I feel his breath on my cheek, and I open my eyes to see his face so close to me, his nose almost touching me. My heart starts thudding violently against my chest, the very instant.

Did he find out my hair is fake?

"Seems like you haven't had a good sleep in a while. Sleep, I'm not disturbing," he smiles at me and moves back.

I immediately close my eyes and pause the music, only to hear my heart still pounding like crazy in my ear.

How am I going to manage him until we reach there? It'll take more than three and a half hours to reach the Hondbill National Park where we will be spending the next three days, camping.

"Is she for real? Did she really go to sleep?" I hear one of the girls behind me mutter.

"I guess so. She's probably too shy," her friend whispers. Adonis too definitely heard them.

After some time, I slowly open my one eye a little to see what he is doing. And I find him sitting with his face tilted in Andrea's direction. I fully open my eyes to see him staring at her while she talks to the girl beside her, totally ignoring him.

I don't know why, but I suddenly feel something strange in my stomach. So, he sat beside me cause she sat there. And he probably cheated using someone else's drawing and came to the camp just to see her. Judging by the way he is staring at her, he has got a huge crush on her. Maybe he tried to flirt with me to make her jealous.

Andrea suddenly tilts her face and I quickly close my eyes, leaning back.

"What?" I hear her ask.

"Nothing," Adonis replies and she lets out a sigh.

They don't speak after that. But the girls behind me mutter something to each other. This time, it wasn't audible enough to hear.

After five or ten minutes when the bus stops again to fetch someone, I open my eyes only to see Adonis still looking at Andrea, however, his expression now is a bit annoyed and bored. Andrea's attention was now on her phone.

I wonder why she is ignoring him. I mean, all the girls want him and here he is fully dedicated to staring at her for hours. Wait! Maybe she already has a boyfriend??

Oh, why do I need to bother about them? I just want to somehow finish this camp without getting caught.

I lean back comfortably against the seat and close my eyes. Soon, I find myself drifting off into sleep.

I flinch open my eyes to a sudden jerk only to soon experience a bigger shock, almost a heart attack. I was now lying with my head resting on Adonis' shoulder!!

"It's okay, it's just a cat jumped around our bus," he says as I flinch away from him in shock.

"Oh..uhm..I-I'm sorry..." I stutter in nervousness.

"What happened to your voice?" He frowns.

Shit!

"N..nothing, I just..er..got scared for a moment," I manage to say in a girly voice. He nods to me.

Shit! How the hell did I end up on his shoulder? I shouldn't sleep again. I hope he didn't get any suspicion.

"We will reach there in half an hour," he says.

I look at my phone and see it's already 7 Pm. I then avert my eyes to Andrea's seat. She was still watching something on her phone while the other girl was fast asleep beside her.

Letting out a yawn, I look out of the windows to see shops and hotels lit with bright lights.

"Is your sleep gone?" Adonis asks. I hum in reply.

"We came to your school for a basketball match this year."

"Oh.." I nod.

"Our team won."

"Hmm.."

"Why don't you say anything?"

"Oh..er.. congrats," I say tilting my face to him for a brief second.

"Not that," He sighs. "Say something else."

"What?" I ask.

"Something about you."

What do I say about Elena now?

She isn't that good at studies. She got a boyfriend, Johny, but I can't say that now. Then she is on the cheerleading team. But it's not a good idea to say it now after saying I don't know him. What else shall I say? I bite my lips.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He asks, again taking me aback.

"No," I shake my head. His face suddenly takes a surprised expression but then abruptly his lips twist into a smirk and a delighted expression replaces the former one.

Oh shit! Why did I say that? I should have rather agreed I have a boyfriend.

"Okay, say something else about you."

"Uh...I- I don't know what to say."

He lets out a small chuckle. "But you'll soon have to introduce yourself in front of everyone."

Oh! I need to prepare for it then.

"Don't worry. It's gonna be alright," he tilts his head a little to glance at Andrea before turning back to me. "By the way, I'm looking forward to knowing more about you, Elena," he says a bit more loudly while still side-eying her. I don't say anything and just look out of the window.

"Er...I guess I'll go and talk to the guys in the back now." I again don't respond and he gets up and walks away after a moment, making me feel kinda angry.

Okay, I'm not going to let him use me to get her. I'll stay away from him in the camp.