I slowly lifted myself from off the ground after mumbling a small 'sorry'. I took this time to discreetly look at his appearance. He has dark hair, almost black, and has the most beautiful emerald eyes I've ever seen. He's wearing a simple fitted white t-shirt, with a black leather jacket around his arms. He has a chiseled jawline and dimples on either side of his cheeks. You can tell just by looking at him, that he probably worked out daily. I've never seen him before, but hot damn.

"Watch where you're going, Princess," Emerald Eyes scowled, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Princess?" I scoffed, wiping the dirt off my ass.

"That's what I said, didn't I?" He snapped, clearly annoyed as he clenched his jaw.

"Don't call me that," I glared at him, trying to walk around him so I can get to class.

He suddenly grabbed my injured forearm, making me hiss in pain. I quickly pulled my arm back, rubbing the sensitive spot above my sleeve, trying to ease the pain.

He retreated his arm back, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as guilt flashed through his emerald eyes for a split second, before going back to emotionless.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a monotone voice, trying to sound genuine, even though we both know he couldn't give a shit.

"I'm fine, now leave me alone," I harshly whispered, finally being able to push past him so I could head to class.

I surprisingly made it to Spanish on time, only minutes before the bell rang. I found a place to sit, and slowly lifted my sleeve up to inspect the cut. I noticed it starting to bleed a little bit, throbbing as I lightly touched it.

"Shit," I mumbled, trying to stop the bleeding by putting pressure over the bandage. I looked around, just to make sure no one was watching. Just as I saw no one looking, my peers and I heard the door open. We all looked up to see the one and only Emerald Eyes walk in. I rolled my eyes, of course he's in this class.

"Glad for you to finally make it, uh, what's your name kid?" my teacher asked in confusion, not knowing who he was.

"Yeah, I had an inconvenience," he smirked, looking around the room and stopping once he made eye contact with me. He narrowed his eyes at me, breaking our gaze seconds later as he looked back at the teacher. "My names Karson Ryder and I just moved here a couple weeks ago."

"Ok Mr. Ryder, go ahead and sit down wherever you would like," My teacher explained, pointing around the room at the empty desks.

I watched him as he walked to the back of the classroom, sitting on the opposite side of the room as me. I slowly let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, relieved he didn't choose the empty seat next to me.

•~•~•~

A few periods eventually went by, and I was now sitting at a lunch table with Nora and a couple other people.

"Did you see the new guys?" Nora squealed, frantically looking around the cafeteria to find them. I just rolled my eyes, looking down at the table, noticing I didn't pack myself a lunch. I frowned, realizing this isn't the first time I've forgotten.

Since I took care of my siblings, I've always put their needs and wants before mine. They are the most important people in my life and I care about them deeply. My job doesn't pay much, so buying food for my whole family is pretty tough. With my mother being jobless, we only survive off of one paycheck. I usually skip a few meals so I can provide Jace and Olivia with proper nutrition. I would do anything just to make sure they are living a happy and healthy life.

My siblings will always be my number one priority. All I wanted to do this year is make sure that Jace and Olivia are happy. Nothing else matters. I couldn't care less about a boy, or even school. Those were the last things I should be worrying about. I now had the responsibility of making sure my siblings are safe, and I can't fuck it up, no matter what.

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