HER

I was aware that I had been staring at him quite a few times when he would go to his lectures or smoked in the empty hallways. It was the lunch break and I had to go practice but something allured me to enter the cafeteria.

"Is this real?" Alexa's eyes broadened when she saw me, I blushed as her friends guarded me with their eyes, "no way, it's the first time you come to the cafeteria." She gasped and I gave a smile to everyone before sitting next to Alexa, who was too busy gaping at me.

"Don't be dramatic," I flatly said as my eyes assessed the red and white stripes on the walls of the cafeteria, "and I will practice more after school," I added just for her info.

"That means you can always come here during lunch breaks?" Her eyes widely sparkled at me.

"Nope." I grinned when she gave me an annoyed glare. Some people here actually like the way I play in the school events and charities. I felt blessed that I knew something so passionately because I thought of mom every time I played. It was like every time I played the piano, she was there to listen, it was the only connection between us.

Tia, Daniel, and Vivian were Alexa's friends, who left nothing to the imagination as they gossiped at each guy and girl at school, I was beginning to regret coming here.

Tuning them out, my eyes found the amber ones that I had grown so familiar to as he walked into the cafeteria with a rude attitude that scattered across too many people as they directly averted their eyes from him. He had so much violence in him that it staggered me, how deep could his past be?

His muscles bulged out of the first few opened button of his white shirt and he was appealing to the eyes. He was dangerous and I knew better than to stay away from him. My mom would have wanted that.

He was walking behind Daniel in rushed strides that got me intrigued. I kept my eyes on him as he stormed out to the school's garden.

"I will be right back," I told Alexa but then rolled my eyes when I found her busy texting someone else.

I paced to the back door of the cafeteria and into the garden. He was so distressed that I wanted to give him a hug but clogged in my place when I saw him talking on his phone.

"I don't give one single fuck about him, let him stay there." He shouted on the phone as he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He has yet to notice me behind him, the garden was empty and Ryson stood still when he realized that there was someone else.

Facing me, his amber eyes darkened and I took a step backward because I thought he was going to beat me but his eyes flicked a tiny speck of hurt at my reaction before changing to his normal cold ones.

I was fidgeting, again. He was scary when he got angry, it was his right since I interfered in his business.

"What do you want?" He cut straight to the chase with arms crossed and a stone cold expression on his face. It was ironic how he wanted to get into my business and I let it go but he got mad at me when the tables turned.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask if you are okay," I explained breathlessly, not knowing what excuse to make. One thing I was not good at was making excuses because I was always good at honesty, I never lied about anything that happened in my life before, maybe because I overthought a lot when it came down to consequences of the lies I would make if I wanted to lie.

His face got curious and his eyes calculated mine, "yes, I'm fine Evangeline." He stressed on the last word. God, he doesn't have to be so rude.

Wait, did he just say my full first name? How did he know that?

"Who told you my full name?" I thought aloud as he caught on my question.

"From your boyfriend." He snapped and that took me back, I never even had one at all.

"What boyfriend?" I probed more with furrowed eyebrows, he wasn't making any sense at all.

"Jonas something," he heaved a sigh, "listen, just stay out my way." So, Jonas was the one who spilled out my name. I had no idea why I was letting his last words get to me, I was a pushover.

"Gladly," I muttered and turned around. He didn't utter a word and I took that as my cue to leave with a furious look on my face. He was too rude. It was like he purposely wanted to be rude to me to get me to stay away from him, I was not that stupid to figure it out.

The bell rang when I got inside the cafeteria and saw Alexa go to her next lecture so I decided to go to mine. I wished I didn't come in, I could have practiced more and made myself useful to Mrs. Davidson by helping her sort out the instruments.

The day rushed by and it was finally afterschool, I was sleepy and tired. Tying my hair into a pigtail, I walked the empty hallways to the music room.

What made me stop dead in my tracks was that the Ryson was in the music room and he was playing around with piano. I stepped in with my backpack, not taking my eyes off the scar under his hair and his broad back, he was still facing the piano keyboard, I gnawed on my lower lip anxiously. Nobody touched the piano except me for I was the only pianist in this school.

His fingers stopped moving on the keyboard and his shoulders sagged like he was sick of something on his mind so my kind heart offered to talk to him.

"Do you want me to teach you for a while?" I proposed, standing with my hands on the strings of my red backpack. I was drenched in worry because I didn't know how to interact with guys, much less with an indignant bad boy who had the most amber colored eyes that I had ever seen.

The room was defeated with silence. He still didn't move and his head lowered to his lap as if he was guilty of something.

"No." He whispered in a deep voice. I was clueless as to how to help him because I had never been in such a situation like that.

"Uh, do you want to hear me play?" I asked with caution when I got closer to the piano small backless couch.

I was pleased when he nodded and I took a seat beside him, inspecting his features closely was nice, he had small brown freckles that danced on his cheeks and long eyelashes that touched his under eyelids when he blinked.

My fingers trailed on the keyboard as my eyes fluttered shut and my fingers took the lead as the rich smooth melodies that came from "let it go" by James Bay were heard. It was the first time I ever played to one stranger.

He was beside me in the music room as the melodies warmed both of our hearts.