Obsession (Dangerous Love #1)

CHAPTER 3

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A DEMON’S GAZE

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“Kath?” Kristen whispered my name, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t escape the vise in which his gaze held me.

His face grew serious, and I noticed a crease forming on his forehead. It was as if he was trying to figure something out. “Who is this blonde weirdo?”

Eventually, his features evened out again, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly. He was too far away for me to be sure, but not far enough for it to have been good for me. It wasn’t the kind of smile you give someone when you first meet them, hoping you will become friends, like the one I’d exchanged with Chris and Zac. It was more of a seductively evil grin that heralded the development of a diabolical plan.

“Katherine,” I felt Kristen’s warm hand on my wrist, her voice seemed anxious.

I snapped back to reality and finally broke eye contact with him. My new friends exchanged worried glances, and I finally exhaled, trying to recover from…. whatever that was.

“He’s still looking at you…” Candice whispered like a child playing spy. “I think he’s going to come here…” she continued, fear and excitement resonating in her tone.

Her words made me instinctively turn my head towards him. He was still looking at me. Apparently, his friends had noticed his attention, and I felt many pairs of curious and also dangerous eyes staring at me. Especially the blonde who got out of Harris’ car. She’d finally noticed her boyfriend’s interest in me – after she’d finished powdering her nose. I could have sworn the girl was imagining herself ripping my head off. I dropped my gaze to the grass and tried to remember if there was a way to become invisible at a time like this. Apparently, I wasn’t as inconspicuous as I had imagined.

My head tilted up again and I felt like I had no control over the movement. His hypnotic eyes felt like strings pulling at my senses, demanding that I look at him again.

His persistent stare began to unnerve me as his face became serious again while his foot was bent at the knee, resting attractively on the hood of his sports car. We had approximately thirty feet between us.

His eyes reminded me of a predator watching its prey. Better yet, the gaze of a demon analyzing a helpless soul just before devouring it whole.

Why didn’t he just stop? I could feel my blood boiling, and I was on the verge of screaming at him to take his fucking eyes away from me. He seemed intent on watching me until he got some kind of reaction from me.

I couldn’t deny that he looked like a modern-day Adonis, but I’d seen other beautiful boys before, and none of them had electrocuted me. What was wrong with this one? Or rather, what was wrong with me?

I frowned, capturing his gaze, and my reaction brought a smirk to his lips. He was pleased with himself for teasing me, and I knew that was what he wanted.

My palms balled into fists, and I noticed his friend trying to talk to him, but he ignored the world around him, just like I had with Kris.

“Kath, will you come into the bathroom with me?” Kristen asked, jumping up, and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to my feet against my will.

Without meaning to, I noticed the look on his face when he saw me in my entirety. I hadn’t given him much to admire as I sat on the grass. And when I turned to face him, his smile widened even more and turned into a cheeky one. I could see his blonde trying to get his attention, but he pretended not to hear her.

As his eyes slid over my body, analyzing it, I felt the electricity coursing through my veins again. Not only was he bulky and tattooed, but he was also an asshole. I knew that without having spoken to him.

A growl escaped my throat as I picked up my water from the ground, right before my friend dragged me to the entrance. I caught his gaze again, let us call it stupidity, and took in his wide smile. I wanted to slap myself when I realized I had offered him a prime picture of my backside as I bent down to get the water.

When we finally entered the building, I opened the bottle and gulped down the sparkling water. It tasted disgusting after sitting in the sun, but I was desperate for anything that could erase the sensations running through my body. Although I could not describe it; a mixture of nervousness, goosebumps and maybe… Attraction?

No, absolutely not! Don’t be stupid!

I blamed it all on the heat and the sudden changes my life had gone through recently, maybe even the addiction that hadn’t quite healed…. Yes, that was it.

Without watching my step, I let Kristen pull me through the dozens of students crowding the hallway. They watched me like I was some kind of chemistry experiment gone wild, when I was just a girl who had just escaped the electric shocks that staring at a demon could cause.

I wanted to scream at them to relieve the tension somehow, but I did not have time because Kristen had pulled me through another door, and we were standing in the downstairs bathroom.

“Get out, now,” she ordered the other girls, who were touching up their make-up.

They said nothing and gathered up their bags, rolling their eyes as they walked past me and out of the bathroom. Kristen checked the rest of the room, kicking open the stall doors and making sure we were alone.

I watched her with amusement and began to like her more and more. “Kath, whatever you do, stay away from that guy,” she raised her index finger at me.

My brow furrowed in confusion. Not that I would have thrown myself at him, but what was with all the warnings?

“Why?” I asked as curiosity got the better of me.

“I know it sounds cliché and so fucking suspicious because I’ve heard that line in every teen movie, but in this case, it’s serious. Just… just stay away from him, okay? I know what you’re thinking, you’re attracted to him, he’s a dark magnet on two sexy legs, but if he wants you…”

I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue, and she sighed.

“That guy is dangerous! And I’m not just talking shit. Racing is just a hobby for him. Trust me when I say it’s not worth it, no matter how attractive he is.”

Kris seemed very serious, and I bit my lower lip to soak up the information.

Danger, huh? Something I couldn’t avoid, but if it came in a package with this strange man who could electrocute me, I had to keep my distance.

“And what exactly makes him so dangerous, apart from his looks?” I insisted, still curious but also amused by her concern.

“His looks are enough,” she said, and I laughed.

She gave me a pointed look.

“Is he a student here?”

“Yeah, a senior like us, but he was supposed to be in college by now.”

I arched my eyebrow.

“Is he a repeater?”

“No, he skipped his whole sophomore year. Some people say he was locked up.”

I suppressed the impulse to roll my eyes. Apparently, these guys loved to make up crap about him.

“Locked up for what?”

Kristen shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know the details, but the police have picked him up from here several times. Last year, he beat two people into a coma just because they accidentally bumped into his car in the parking lot.”

“If I had a car like that and someone bumped into it, I’d kill them,” I commented, and she giggled.

“Kath, do what you want, but I’m only saying this for your own good. Don’t get wrapped up in him,” she continued, and the situation became more stressful. He was a high school student. How much danger could come from an adolescent boy, even if he was a year older.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know what happens to a girl when Harris Stone wants her.”

“What, she turns into a vampire?” I gestured dramatically, making her laugh.

Kris tried to scare me so that I wouldn’t think of falling in love with him. Did she like him, and that was why she was trying to keep me away?

“That would have been a good thing, actually,” she agreed, “but no, if he wants you, he’ll have you. Besides, you can’t talk about love, girlfriends are more like jewelry to him.”

Yeah, I realized that.

“That blonde…”

“Amber Wrise. Oh yeah, she was after him for a year and I’m pretty sure she regrets being with him now. Especially since he gave her the tattoo…” Kristen laughed, but I couldn’t breathe.

“What did you say her name was?” I asked.

“Amber.”

“No,” I shook my head in exasperation, “her last name.”

“Wrise. Why?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.

“Kath, why?”

“My name is Katherine Wrise,” I bellowed dramatically.

Kristen said nothing for a moment, then burst out laughing. I gave her an angry look, crossed my arms, and tapped my foot on the tiles.

“That’s not funny,” I replied.

“Yes, it is,” she couldn’t stop laughing.

I growled and was about to throw a roll of toilet paper at her head.

“There you are. God, I have been looking all over for you,” Candice entered the bathroom, breathing heavily. “What’s so funny?” I frowned at the talking tomato, clearly not laughing.

Kristen was the only one who thought it was funny.

“We’ll tell you later, and now let’s get out of here. Enough school for one day,” Kristen decided, trying to stifle her laughter as she pulled us both out of the bathroom.

“We’re skipping class on the first day?” Candice asked, looking a little startled.

“First good thing today,” I muttered.

“What if we get caught?” the redhead asked.

“We won’t. We don’t even have classes today,” I replied, rolling my eyes as we waited for the boys to bring the car out.

Despite my distracted state of mind, I was impatient to leave immediately. I knew high school wasn’t going to get off to a good start, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. It was like I had moved to another planet, not another town. People were either weird and curious or scary and nosy. I missed New York more than ever.

I had escaped the demon’s gaze and wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

“Fudge … um, girls?” I heard Candice whisper, Kristen and I turned to face her, and a gasp escaped me as I saw a black hole coming towards us…. fast.

That was all I saw and nothing else. Absolute blackness, like a cold void, ready to either swallow me up or tear me to pieces. It was an image straight out of a horror movie, in which hell broke loose at the crack of dawn.

There was no stopping him. The speed continued to increase, making my heart rise into my throat. Kristen swerved a few steps to the left to avoid the impact, and Candice literally jumped up, sprinting across the parking lot, trying to find a safe spot. If I had not been paralyzed, I would have laughed, but I couldn’t move. Besides, I didn’t want him to win.

He wanted to play? Let’s play!

I clenched my fists and looked through the tinted window. I couldn’t see him, but he was definitely watching my every move.

The speed didn’t slow down, quite the opposite, and soon I would be just a speck on the asphalt. What if he lost control of the car? Or what if he was crazier than I thought and didn’t care if he hit me?

“Katherine!” Someone yelled, but I didn’t move.

I gasped as the car got too close, but things took an unexpected turn when the wheels screeched, and the car suddenly turned left. I was about to be crushed by the passenger door when I saw the demonic wing coming towards me. The air caught in my throat and the wheels ate into the cement, leaving black marks, smoke, and dust caused by the brakes.

There was still a danger that it could hit me, but that didn’t happen, and the demonic car came to a stop right next to me.

The roar of the engine caused goose bumps all over my body, my breathing was heavy, and my heart threatened to burst. I had just seen my life flash before my eyes.

I turned when I heard the automatic sound of the window rolling down. The car was inches away from me and I was tempted to kick it, but I would have been sorry because it was achingly beautiful.

Fucking crazy lunatic .

The blond guy from earlier stuck his head out the window. The spikes in his hair were probably held together by two tubes of gel.

“Hey, doll, didn’t your mom teach you not to stand in front of cars?” he grinned, pushing himself further out and holding onto the ceiling.

I gritted my teeth.

“Nah, my mom wasn’t that caring,” I replied, almost growling at him.

His face suddenly became serious, triggered by my answer.

I noticed the driver. He wasn’t moving, his hand firmly gripping the steering wheel. I couldn’t see his face because I was too tall and too close to the car, but I could have sworn he turned around when he heard me speak, especially because I had spoken of my mother in the past tense.

“Brave and bitchy, where have you been all my life, beautiful?”

Normally, his comment would have made me angry, but I was too busy analyzing the driver’s tattoos. Even though I couldn’t see him, I knew it was Harris.

I noticed how his hands flexed while his long fingers squeezed the steering wheel with all their strength. The inside of the car was also dark, but not Vantablack. I deciphered a few Roman numerals mixed in with the sea of drawings on his right arm, and I couldn’t tell if his muscles were really that big or if they just looked that big because he was tense. Without being able to stop myself, I took a step back and now I could make out a piece of his features. His mouth with the pink, plump lips that he had pressed into a tight line to stifle any reaction. I wanted to go back even further, desperately wishing I could see the color of his eyes because I couldn’t make them out earlier.

Before I could move, I noticed him turn towards me and his lips parted slightly. Of course, anything new I could see of him, he could also see of me. Suddenly I didn’t want to look him in his eye anymore, I’d had enough power for one day.

I finally spotted the logo of the car on the steering wheel. Ferrari.

An asshole with a Ferrari. Simply awesome.

“What do you say, Blondie? Want a ride home?” Spikey Boy interrupted me and knocked on the roof of the car.

I lowered my eyes to him and noticed that the car had two doors and, of course, no back seats.

“And where am I supposed to sit? On your lap?” I continued, arching a brow in disgust.

He grinned. Why was he the only one talking? Was I too inferior for the so-called demon to speak directly to me?

“It would be my pleasure, and if you don’t like me, you can always sit on the driver’s lap,” he winked, cocking his head towards Harris.

Annoyed, I pressed my lips together into a thin line. Why was I still talking to this moron?

“Oh, come on, don’t you want to see what it’s like to sit on the driver’s lap in a car like this?” He continued to grin, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

These people clearly got everything they wanted, and I couldn’t stop myself from bursting their bubble. I noticed a small smile on Harris’ lips before I spoke.

“Yeah, I definitely want to try it, but I’d rather be in the arms of someone who actually knows how to drive and doesn’t run people over in parking lots. But thanks for the offer.”

I winked at him and waited enough to see the driver’s smile fade. I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down in anger, and a devilish grin formed on my lips as I walked away from their car.

As I approached Kristen and Candice, I noticed they were staring at me like I’d just returned from coffee with the devil.

“What?” I frowned.

I saw another car approaching, and Kristen was dragging me behind her like a mother promising her child a good spanking.

“So, I take it you like trouble,” she muttered through her teeth.

“I’m an expert,” I admitted, but it was no longer a joke.

I was more than aware that I was playing with fire, and I needed to learn to stop before I got burned…again.

“What took you so long?” I growled at the boys as I squeezed into the backseat of Zac’s minivan next to Candice and Kristen.

“What’s Stone doing here?” Zac asked gruffly, staring at the black car parked a few meters away from us.

It hadn’t moved yet.

“He was trying to impress the new girls. What did you think?” Kristen laughed, which made me and Candice murmur.

“The only impression he’s made on me is that he’s crazy. He’s beautiful, but he’s a maniac. He almost ran Kath over,” the fascination Candice had for the demon seemed to have evaporated.

Zac immediately turned and looked at me.

“What?”

I waved it off as if to say it was no big deal.

“It was my fault, I didn’t move.”

“You shouldn’t have had to move in the first place,” he gritted his teeth and turned to open the door.

Chris stopped him in time.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I can’t take this asshole anymore,” Zac glared at Chris.

“Zac, don’t be stupid.”

That was all Kristen said, but her tone spoke volumes. He wasn’t going to confront Harris, was he?

“Zac, please, let’s just go,” he sighed, but a wave of relief washed over me as he started the car.

“Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe to the movies, I am sure it won’t be so easy to skip class tomorrow,” Chris suggested, trying to lighten the mood, and everyone agreed.

“Could you take me home? I am not feeling very well,” I asked, not sure if I was lying or not.

I was trying to regain my mental equilibrium after the events of the last hour.

“Sure, Kath,” Zac glanced at me and smiled.

I held my breath as we passed the black vehicle, trying to keep my eyes on the seat in front of me so I wouldn’t look out the window and accidentally meet his gaze. From what I’d said about him, he certainly would not be smiling.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we left the parking lot behind us, dreading the day tomorrow when I would have to come back.

Although I’d never looked forward to something that terrified me so much.

My dad was not home when I arrived, which was good because I didn’t have to explain why I was skipping school. I dragged myself into the kitchen and got a bottle of water from the fridge. I leaned against the counter and looked down as I reviewed the events of the last few hours in my head.

A shocked smile spread across my face, then I shook it off and took a sip of water. I immediately felt the need to vomit and rummaged in my backpack for the pills. I wasn’t hungry yet, but a nap couldn’t hurt. I had been tempted to go out with the others, but I felt so exhausted that I could barely crawl into my room and throw myself on the bed.

I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

The first thing that materialized in my mind were those lips.

Hands, arms, hair, that body.

I opened my eyes and cursed through my teeth.

It bothered me that I hadn’t seen his face completely, especially the color of his eyes. Since Harris didn’t fit the pattern that I was used to, I could not even picture them. There were a few unpacked boxes in the corner, and I sprinted to them. I fished in one of them for my memory box, unsure if I had brought it with me or left it behind in New York.

“There you are,” I smiled when I saw the journal I hadn’t used in almost a year and pulled it out from between old notebooks and folders.

After finding the box of stickers, markers, and scrapbook paper, I sat down at my desk and started the gold cover, which was filled with stickers for every stage of my development, from butterflies to skulls. I had always wanted to keep a journal, but since I did not have the skill or patience to write or the talent to draw, I preferred to preserve my memories with photographs.

I couldn’t find my Polaroid camera, but it wouldn’t have helped me anyway.

I was afraid to open it. My whole childhood was in that thing – first dance moves, first competitions and first awards, my high school, my classmates, my friends…. My mom. Everything I had once been, packed haphazardly between the pages of this notebook – one that I had fought so hard not to destroy when she had left. I opened it without glancing at the pages, leaving a blank page between my last entry and the current one to mark a fresh start of sorts, and then stared at the next blank white page. Ideas formed like a whirlwind in my head, imagination taking over as I envisioned exactly what I wanted to do.

Did I really want to do this?

Oh, fuck it.

I switched on the computer and searched the internet for pictures. Tattooed arms, strong hands, masculine lips that resembled his. Out of curiosity, I searched for him on Facebook, but there was no Harris Stone with his face, neither on Instagram nor on any other social media platform. Well, shit! Although I couldn’t judge him; I’d given up on all my profiles too. Amber Wrise had an impressive Instagram account – a budding mini-star – who posted herself in sexy poses around Harris’ car and more. But he wasn’t featured in any of her posts, even without a face. She was also a cheerleader, of course.

Curiosity led me to search for his car, and it wasn’t hard to identify it after I typed “Ferrari” into Google.

It was the latest model to hit the market, and even though it looked different in Vantablack, I could have sworn it was an F8 Tributo. I had learned that its price was a whopping 280,000 dollars, and that was without any tuning. So, his parents were rich, that was the most logical explanation.

Thoughts of the car I could have had flashed through my head. My mother’s new millionaire husband had given me a Mercedes CLS for my eighteenth birthday. I’d come so close to wrecking it, but my dad had managed to send it back before I’d had the chance to dump it in a lake or something. He’d stolen my mom and offered me a car. Hell of a deal.

I went back to Harris and focused my attention on him. I started to look like I was obsessed, but it seemed to calm my nerves and make me forget about the drama. To get in the right mood, I plugged in my headphones and played Nightmare by 2Scratch. There was no way I was going to leave the page white, so I stuck a black page over it, printed out the pictures and tore them into little pictures. I did find a sticker with black wings, but they were different than the ones on his car, so I printed out a few other variations. I taped everything to the page. I wasn’t a fan of scissors; messy and torn edges seemed more appealing. I crowded them onto the black surface and scribbled his name in the corner with a white marker.

I had a box full of torn book pages, quotes I’d liked at some point, and I flipped through them until I found one that I’d never used; it seemed too bleak.

Somehow it fit Harris so perfectly that it scared me.

“It will be easy to fall for me,

But impossible to rise again.

Love me and I will tear your wings.”

I stuck the text in the middle of the pictures, pushed the chair away from the desk and admired the result. It was the darkest page in my diary, the most demonic.

Since I had no photos of Harris, I managed to piece him together from parts of other men, though none evoked the right feeling – the feeling he had brought to life. I imagined photographing these parts of him, and goosebumps spread across my skin as I slammed the journal shut and stepped away from the desk before I could talk myself into tearing the page to shreds. I should have, though, because I seemed to have lost my mind.

I wasted two hours doing that. God, I was obsessed with a guy without seeing his face up close, without hearing his voice. No one had ever affected me like that in my entire life.

This city would drive me insane. I was sure of that now.

***

The next morning, I woke up with a terrible headache.

I had been in a bad mood since the day before, largely due to a person who seemed to have taken up residence in my head.

The dim light in my bedroom didn’t seem to be much help as I got out of bed. My vision was foggy, and I could barely stand up straight.

I made my way downstairs in my pajamas.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Dad greeted me with his new cheerfulness, “are you okay?”

Was it so obvious that I wasn’t? His face became concerned as he looked at me with serious eyes, a bowl of cereal in his hand.

“Yeah, just… tired,” I lied, forcing myself to smile.

I didn’t want my father to get skeptical. I would die before I set foot in a rehab facility again.

I sat down next to him, sipped my coffee, and refused to eat the cereal he had put in front of me. Just the sight of food made me nauseous; my body was craving a different kind of nourishment. My addiction had a firm grip on me.

He looked at me for a few seconds, carefully analyzing my reactions, and I forced a yawn to make him think fatigue was the reason.

“Want me to take you to school?” he finally asked, smiling again as he checked the phone on the table where messages were buzzing.

“No, Zac and the others will pick me up.”

“Oh, okay. Can I meet your new friends?”

“Sure. You’d get to know them if you were home more.”

His demeanor changed abruptly as he took his eyes off the screen. I had no idea what was going on with my dad, but he was home less and less, and I highly doubted he’d found a job so quickly. His coming and going schedule was completely out of whack. Last night he came home at seven. He hadn’t realized I’d skipped class, but he should have thanked Zac for driving me home instead of him.

I reminded myself that my friends would be here any minute and I was still in my pajamas, so I grabbed the coffee and sipped it as I walked back to my room. I took a cold shower, hoping it would help me, and it did, but when I got out of the shower, I was freezing cold.

I sat back down on the bed and swallowed a clonidine pill.

I had yet to figure out if I was staying away from drugs because my dad wanted me to or because I wanted to. I finished my coffee while I put on my makeup and straightened my hair.

It seemed cooler today, so I put on a pair of black ripped jeans, an oversized gray t-shirt, a pair of black combat boots, and grabbed my old leather jacket.

I still felt like shit and wondered if I should just skip class again. I could have come up with something to get Dad off my back, but there was another side to my problem, the person who seemed to be filling my every thought since yesterday.

Harris had completely shocked me, and as much as his arrogance annoyed me, I also liked it. I shook my head just before I heard my friend’s car pull up.

***

“Penny for your thoughts?” Kristen asked, looking at me like she was trying to read my brain.

“Nothing, I am not feeling very well.”

“You’re lying,” she accused pointing her index finger at me, “you’re thinking about Harris, aren’t you?” she narrowed her eyes.

“You’re crazy,” I replied sincerely, which made Zac laugh.

Now there were only three of us and we were on our way to pick up the others.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

She pouted and leaned back in her seat. I giggled, even though crazy pants over there was right; my mind was all on that electrifying demon and the moment I’d see him again.

But I didn’t want to admit it, a whole page dedicated to him was enough.

“I really didn’t miss this place,” Chris complained as we walked down the hallway.

We weren’t the only ones who had skipped the first day, but now things were getting serious, classes were in full swing. My dizziness had subsided a little, but not completely. I wanted to bang my head against a wall, looking for him in the mass of students.

“He’s not here yet. Stars are always late,” Chris whispered as we arrived at our lockers, and my eyes widened.

Was I really that obvious?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

“Oh, come on, Kath, who are you kidding? It’s obvious you’re looking for Harris.”

“You know what, I’ve had enough of this nonsense. How do you know I didn’t see another cute guy yesterday and that’s who I’m looking for? That tattooed maniac almost ran me over. If I see him, I’m going to kick him in the balls,” I growled, my voice a little too loud as I slammed the locker shut.

“Yeah, yeah…” Chris laughed, unfazed by my sudden outburst. “What’s your first period?”

“History.”

“I have biology, but I think Zac has history.”

“Good, at least I will have someone to talk to.”

“Good luck talking in Wilson’s class,” he laughed.

I looked at him and arched an eyebrow. Mean teachers. Just peachy.

“Ready to study?” The others gathered around us, each carrying a different book.

“No,” Chris and I grumbled, then we said our goodbyes.

I had history with Zac and our talking tomato, Candice. She was all over the place, I swear. But at least I had someone to walk me to my classes and I didn’t have to mindlessly wander the halls.

As we walked, laughter rang out behind us, and I turned to see them enter – the school’s celebrity group, radiating joy - as if they owned the place. All eyes were on them as they strutted down the hallway like superstars at a meet and greet, not at all like normal high school students. When I realized he wasn’t with them, I was overcome with depression. Actually, many of them were missing, including Spikey Boy. I only recognized a few faces from yesterday, the others were completely different people. How many stars did this school have?

In class, I tried to shake off the ridiculous sadness. I wanted to be glad he wasn’t at school. After giving our teacher the form that he had to sign, I walked straight to the back of the class and took a seat next to the window.

I was completely out of it, so much so that I couldn’t understand a word the teacher was saying. He made Candice and I introduce ourselves, and for the first time I was grateful that the redhead liked to talk so much, and I allowed her to take up most of the attention so I could mope in peace. Although all eyes were on me anyway. I had hoped that yesterday’s incident with Harris Stone, or the demon, or whatever his name was… hadn’t reached the whole school.

I was glad there were individual seats because that way I didn’t have to meet anyone in person. The dizziness was back, and I remembered the side effects of clonidine.

Low blood pressure, just what I needed.

I noticed Zac sitting in the row next to me and Candice two seats in front of me as I kept checking my wrist to find my pulse and see if my blood pressure was dropping, because the dizziness was certainly getting worse.

I shook my head, took a deep breath, and turned my attention back to my notebook. Not to make notes, but to scribble on it.

I felt a slight bump on my forehead, which snapped me out of my drawing frenzy. At that moment I realized that I was drawing black angel wings, at least I hoped so, because they looked demonic.

Next to my notebook was a small piece of crumpled paper and I saw Candice subtly pointing at it. She signaled for me to read it faster, so I unfolded it.

Look out the window.

Confused, I turned my head and felt the air catch in my throat. Again.

One by one, the cars from yesterday appeared, parked in front of the entrance, and the celebrities I knew got out. Without being able to control it, I gulped when I saw the black car parked last, like a devilish shadow swallowing up all the light. Maybe I wasn’t sure about him, but I was honestly fascinated by his car. I couldn’t see much from the second floor, but it certainly wasn’t as clean as it had been yesterday. It now looked dusty and covered in mud splatters, which looked rather odd on Vantablack, as if the spots were floating.

I waited for the driver’s door to open and saw him come out. My breathing was frantic, and I slapped myself mentally as the electricity returned. He was wearing clothes similar to yesterday’s. The breeze made a few strands of hair stick to his face, which he wiped back with his fingers. I noticed his face as he walked purposefully and seemingly angrily towards the entrance. Amber was behind him, but she couldn’t keep up.

I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to my notebook. Heat prickled my skin, and I rubbed the back of my neck to block out the recent images. He was just a boy, a boy like any other.

I ignored Candice’s whispers and went back to my drawing.

After class, I walked out of the room feeling confused.

At first glance it looked like I was running to him, but in reality, I was running away from Candice and her questions. She wouldn’t stop asking what I was going to do.

“Nothing, Candice,” I replied angrily for the tenth time. “He came to school. Do you want me to give him a prize for that?”

“No, but I was just thinking …”

“Forget it,” I closed her mouth and walked faster through the crowd of students, leaving her behind.

Being angry seemed to ease my dizziness.

“Hey, blondie,” I felt myself being called by an unfamiliar voice and instinctively turned around.

There was a tall guy with brown hair who looked familiar. I knew he was one of the celebrities, but I wasn’t sure if he was one of the ones from this morning or the ones who had arrived with Harris.

“What’s the rush?”

He came up to me, a charming smile on his face. He was taller than me, but not as tall as Zac.

“You know, it’s a shame I have such a beautiful classmate and I don’t know her name,” he walked up to me, and I noticed the fierce bruises covering his face, alongside some scratches and a swelling above his eyebrow.

He had tried to cover them up with makeup, but it did nothing but accentuate them.

“Will you tell me your name? I’m a curious person…” he continued, looking at me with a brazen superiority that only added to my annoyance.

“Curiosity gave you this makeover too?” I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth because I did not like his smirk, especially when he scrutinized me from top to bottom as if I were a commodity on a shelf.

Maybe I was being too bitchy for my own good, but I felt too sick to try and be nice. I turned on my heel and tried to get away from him before the situation got out of hand.

“Wait a minute,” he growled, grabbing my wrist to turn me back.

“Joshua, he’s here,” another guy who had appeared out of nowhere whispered in his ear.

The one holding me glared angrily at the ground and I tried to get out of his grip, but he wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t care, I’m taking her with me,” the weirdo spoke again, eyeing me.

“Let go of me,” I struggled, but he didn’t seem to hear me, because his grip tightened.

Take who with you?

“Joshua don’t be stupid. You know he’s here for her; he’s exhausted after the transport; you know how angry that makes him. Don’t poke the bear now,” the other guy tried to persuade him.

Joshua looked at me angrily, like he knew me, and I had just slashed his tires. His eyes were a deep brown color, and his white complexion made his bruises stand out even more. He could have been beautiful if he wasn’t an asshole who tested my patience.

What the hell did he want from me?

“Katherine,” Kristen’s cry caught his attention, so I took a step back and kneed him straight in the family jewels.

He let go of my wrists, his hand quickly covering the injured area as he stumbled backwards, gasping in pain. I tried to walk away, but he recovered from the blow faster than I thought he would.

Something dark came at him from behind.

“You…” he barked, his face red as he straightened his spine and stepped closer, bloody murder on his features.

His eyes darkened, and fear crawled up my spine as I sensed that he was actually going to hit me, but before he had a chance to touch me, he was lifted up and pulled back – literally lifted up, like a rag. I froze on the spot when I saw him so close to me.

Harris pulled Joshua towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his t-shirt, and Joshua had to stand on his tiptoes to reach his height.

“I. Told. You. Not. To. Touch. Her.”

He growled, emphasizing each word clearly, his tone bearing the purest form of anger I’d ever felt. I finally heard his voice – thick, rough, terrifying. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though, because his words were more barking than speaking. Nevertheless, he immediately set my body ablaze.

I could feel my group standing next to me while his friends surrounded us. The whole school was probably watching us, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him to look. Joshua seemed to be wetting his pants. Only now did I realize how tall Harris really was, because he had to bend down to look Joshua in the eye.

“Not here, Harris,” Spikey, the blond guy from yesterday, stepped up next to them and spoke calmly to a rage-filled Harris – boiling rage that was.

I noticed a rapidly pulsing vein on his neck, becoming more and more prominent through his white skin. He slowly turned and looked at me, and I felt myself breaking down.

I felt the quote I had pasted on the black page. It was so easy to fall, far too agonizingly easy….

His eyes had filled my every thought for the last twenty-four hours. I knew they would turn my world upside down.

They were black.

His gaze was nothing more than an abyss, and I could barely distinguish the pupil from the iris. Now I could finally understand why he was nicknamed Demon. It suited him better than anything else. I hoped he wore contact lenses, because a man like that couldn’t be one hundred percent real. Like his hair, which I could finally see up close, and I was sure he’d dyed it.

He tried to control his angry face as he looked me straight in the eye.

My knees got weak.

It was impossible not to notice the dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. Despite all this, his beauty was still unreal, almost harsh. I could have studied his face for hours and photographed every angle, especially the pronounced jawline.

His gaze intensified as the air around us crackled and the electricity returned. I was paralyzed. I didn’t know what my face looked like, but I was unable to move a muscle. I could barely remember how to breathe.

The anger on his face slowly faded and gave way to seriousness. In a flash, he turned to Joshua, wrapped his large palm around the back of his neck and pulled him down the hallway towards the exit. Joshua stumbled behind him, hunched over from Harris’s grip, trying to keep up. I stood there, my breath catching in my throat as I watched him pull Joshua outside while a couple of guys walked with him.

“All right! Show’s over, back to class guys,” Harris’ blond friend shouted, just before everyone got the idea to follow them outside to watch the fight that was about to happen.

The other stars followed him, but I was still stuck in time. I couldn’t understand why he was doing this. Why was he so angry about a stranger being attacked by a random guy? And his words “…not to touch her” … that meant that maybe he and Joshua had been talking about me.

Maybe Harris was the one who gave him the bruises.

No!

None of this made any sense. He didn’t know me, and I’d insulted him twice the day before, so where was this protective obsession towards me coming from?

But it wasn’t protection.

It was a game I had entered into without wanting to, and I didn’t know the rules.