Elle had decided long ago, no matter what changed, she wouldn’t be with anyone at Legacy Prep High because not one of them gave a shit about her. All the times she had been bullied, all the laughs and stares—she blamed them as much as the ones causing the actual pain.
Elle spent the night begging for sleep to come and rescue her from her thoughts, but not even sleep gave her a reprieve from Nero.
Chapter Seven
A Deal With the Devil
When Elle walked into English class the next morning, she came to a halt, causing Chloe to bump right into her. Elle slowly started walking to her seat, unable to believe it. She stopped at the seat in front of hers, staring down at a gloating Nero. She really wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
“Good morning, Elle.” Elle could hear how shocked Chloe was at hearing her name come out of his mouth.
Completely ignore him, Elle decided.
She took her seat, and of course, all she could see in front of her was Nero. She had spent the whole night trying to forget him, and now he’d graced her with an upfront view of himself.
She turned her head to look at Chloe, unable to look at him anymore; even the back of his head was handsome. She didn’t even want to get started on the back muscles she saw under his white, button-up shirt.
It wasn’t long before Elle couldn’t even look at Chloe, either; she had a big smirk on her face.
Attempting to ignore them both, all Elle could smell was Nero’s cologne; it was the scent of pure man. The smell of him brought her back to yesterday in the art supply closet. She got chills at the memory of his finger running down her skin. Stop!
Elle swore this was the longest class of her life. She needed to get away from him.
She jumped out of her seat when the bell rang and threw on her bag. She would wait for Chloe in the hall. The problem was, Nero was prepared for her running away today. He grabbed her arm.
“Could you please stop doing that?”
Elle looked down at his warm hand, holding her back. “Doing what?” She gave him the same smile he had been giving her before.
“Running from me.”
Elle laughed. “I am not run—”
Nero squeezed her hand ever so slightly. “Remember what I said yesterday, Elle.”
Elle looked him in the eyes. Damn, he really must not like liars.
“I just wanted to walk you to class.”
“Nope, sorry.” She jerked her arm away from his grasp and ran straight out of there.
Waiting in the hallway, she hoped Chloe would appear before him and was thrilled when she did. Elle wasted no time in walking to their next class. She got there quickly and they took their seats.
Once she was settled, Elle couldn’t help feeling Chloe’s eyes on her. She looked over at her best friend to see she was smiling from ear to ear.
“Stop it! I swear, if you don’t stop looking at me that way, I’m going to find a new best friend.” Elle covered her face with her hands. It was hard not to smile with Chloe.
“Hmm, like Nero?” Chloe was way too happy for Elle’s liking.
Elle sunk down in her desk. She really wanted to dislike Nero, but everything was telling her to like him.
“Elle, I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to dislike him. He clearly likes you.”
“Are you joking right now?” Elle was serious.
“Uh, no.”
“I dislike him because he didn’t give a shit about me all the times I was pushed around and hit. Or how about all those times I was called waitress, all the mental abuse I took, no we took. Then, just two days ago, he called you a freak in English—I know it was him.” That had been on our first day back from Christmas break in English class. Mr. Evans had asked us to introduce ourselves, and when Chloe had finished, a whisper of “freak” had echoed around the room, coming from Nero’s general direction. “Now, for some odd reason, he wants to be friends? No, screw that.” Elle was done thinking about him; she wasn’t wasting any more thoughts on him.
“Listen, Elle; all I can tell you is when I see him look at you, I know he likes you. Maybe you should give him a chance. I think you’re fighting your feelings because of me.”
“Chloe, it doesn’t matter.” Elle didn’t want to talk about this.
“It does matter. I want you to be happy, Elle. Don’t do this because of my fears. I don’t think Nero would do anything to hurt you, or me for that matter. I could get used to Nero, for you, of course.” Chloe looked down at her hands.
Elle smiled. She loved her best friend. Chloe meant everything to her. It would take a lot for Chloe to trust Nero, though.
He is going to have to prove himself big time.
The day went on and Elle realized Cassandra still wasn’t back in school. She and Chloe were able to have one more day of peace, and they enjoyed every second of it. The only bad thing about it was they were sure, when she got back tomorrow, it would be Hell.
Elle and Chloe went to the cafeteria when the bell rang and got in line to eat chicken patties, again. They sat down and Elle scanned the room. She knew she was looking for Nero but didn’t want to admit it. When she finally spotted him, he was at his table.
Elle looked back down at her food and began to eat, but then saw Sebastian out of the corner of her eye, heading her way. She had no time to warn Chloe. This is going to be bad.
She paid him no attention when he stood, looking down at her. “Have you heard why Cassandra isn’t here?”
Elle kept her eyes glued to Chloe.
“Well, she was suspended. Do you know why?” Elle could feel him losing his temper with each passing second. She wasn’t going to look at him, though. He honestly scared the shit out of her.