"Lucas!" Missy was tailing us.

Lucas sent me an apologetic look before spinning to face her. "Yeah?"

"Where're you going with her?" Missy's glare landed on me.

"Just walking." Lucas shrugged.

"Let's go." Lucy tugged on my elbow.

"See you guys later," I said before following Lucy.

"Wait, Ember." Lucas's smooth voice sent goosebumps down my spine, forcing me to stop and look back.

"Screw her, Lucas." Missy sneered.

People were already gathering around us. Seriously? Didn't they have anything better to do?

"She's your family," Lucas's brow narrowed. "Why're you being like this?"

Missy's anger transformed into hurt. "Because we're supposed to talk this morning, right?"

"Yeah." Lucas's stiff shoulders noticeably eased as he glanced at me. "Ember, I'll... uh... see you later?"

I nodded, walking away with Lucy.

"Girl, you got them both tied around your finger," Lucy whispered and giggled. "This morning is going to be all people talk about."

I groaned inwardly. "Don't remind me."

Lucy was right. People were staring at me like I was from a different planet.

After sitting with Mr. Wilkins, the counselor, for well over an hour, I realized he was never gonna help me. In fact, he didn't give one crap about me. My mother had already gotten to him, and he refused to change anything they'd set up together for my future.

Let me repeat that. My future. But I guess when you have a controlling parent, your future doesn't belong to you. He wouldn't even change my locker. Jerk.

So yeah, needless to say, I missed Calculus again, but I showed up bright and chipper for English to find out what I missed yesterday.

"Yesterday, I created a new seating chart for the rest of the semester. Since you missed class yesterday, Mr. Noble was kind enough to jot your name down here." Mr. Phillips pointed to my name on the chart, and I wanted to scream.

Tyler Noble had penned my name right next to his in the back of class. I wasn't a fan of English and sitting in the back of the class with Tyler would only make my ability to learn more difficult.

"Um... Mr. Phillips?" I kept my tone light and vulnerable.

"Yes?" Mr. Phillips handed me a copy of the syllabus for the semester.

"I like to sit in front of the class so I can prioritize correctly. Is there any way I can..." I glanced down at the chart to see that all the seats were full and spotted a name I recognized "... switch seats with Lucas?"

Mr. Phillips studied my face. "I really wish I could help you, but no, Miss Pearl. If you had shown up to class yesterday, you could've picked any seat you liked, but like I said, that was yesterday. Today you get what you get and don't throw a fit."

My brow pinched in confusion.

Mr. Phillips chuckled to himself. "Sorry. My dad used to say that to me, and I still think it's hilarious."

I pretended to laugh with him before begrudgingly sitting in my seat.

Mr. Phillips set two identical novels on my table and continued to do the same for every table in the classroom.

Grabbing mine and flipping it over, I groaned. "Brave New World? Really? Can't we read something a little more entertaining?"

Mr. Phillips glanced at me. "What's more entertaining than a futuristic world based on science?"

Before I could give him a witty comeback, the door opened, and students began filing into the room.

I hurried to pull out my notebook and focused on creating some new lyrics. I could only hope that I would be able to concentrate with Tyler sitting next to me. Shit. Who was I kidding? This was going to be hell.

No. This didn't have to be hell, and I couldn't let him ruin everything for me. I was allowing Tyler to distract me, and I didn't need to engage with his bullshit anymore.

When the chair next to mine slid back, all the hair on my neck stood on end. Tyler.

"Hey, I didn't know you were in this class." A dark shadow stood in my peripheral.

I glanced up to see Lucas and grinned. "Oh, thank God. I'm glad to see a friendly face in here."

"And I'm not friendly? Is that what you're trying to say?" Tyler scooted his chair a little too close for comfort.

Ignoring him, I kept my eyes on Lucas and held up the novel Mr. Phillips gave me. "I really hate this book. Have you read it?"

"Not yet, but now I really don't want to." Lucas grinned and glanced at Tyler before his green eyes landed back on me, pulling me into their depths. "I'm gonna sit. I just wanted to say hi."

"Hi back," I said with a smile before watching him walk away. I squirmed in my chair. His butt looked really good in those jeans.

Damn. Lucas was hot. Lucas's dark brown fauxhawk was a work of art. I could tell he put a lot of time into making sure it was perfect, and it was sexy as hell.

"He has a girlfriend." Tyler sounded irritated.

I didn't take the bait. I didn't want to argue that Tyler had no room to talk. Obviously, Lucas had a girlfriend, and I had a boyfriend, but there was nothing wrong with looking, right? Tyler kissed everyone and hurt everyone while he did it, so why in the hell did he care?

Instead of giving Tyler the argument he was searching for, I scooted my chair as far away from him as possible. I continued writing while we waited for class to start.

"Is this how it's gonna be now? We never talked last night." Tyler tapped the table with his pen.

I didn't answer because screw him and whatever he wanted to talk about.

"Fine. I see how it is." Tyler released a heavy breath. "But I'm not giving up if that's what you're thinking."

Whatever. Tyler could do anything he wanted, but this was a free country, and I could ignore him forever.

After successfully ignoring him for the entire class, I hastily packed up and left. I needed to go to my locker. I didn't want to haul everything around with me all day.

Students whispered behind my back as I walked down the hall. I did my best to ignore them, but I still overheard some of their comments.

"Did you hear Missy hates her?" I heard one person say. "She said she's a charity case."

"I bet she's just pissed that she caught Tyler with Angela this morning after they kissed yesterday. I can't believe Ember tried to kiss Lucas too. What a slut." Another person said loud enough for me to hear.

"Lucas could do so much better." A person whispered. "And there's no way Tyler really likes her. They're probably just fucking with her. I can't wait until it blows up in her face."

"I heard her mom hates her too." Someone else whispered. "Missy's right. She's just a whore looking for a handout."

Gritting my teeth, I knew I'd have to get used to this. I wasn't exactly happy about what they were saying, but I'd dealt with crap like this at my previous school. I hated rumors, but I couldn't let them control me. There was too much going on in my life to focus on the shit that people made up. They were just bored with their own lives, but it sucked that it had to be at my expense.

Opening my locker, my entire body immediately filled with rage.

Tyler's hoodie was hanging inside with a note stuck to it.

For the cold days, Shortie.

Was he fucking kidding me?

While I continued to unload my backpack, some sharp gasps in the hall encouraged me to move faster.

"Are you gonna wear it?" Tyler leaned against the lockers, watching me.

"You know breaking and entering is against the law, right?" I set my books under the hoodie, trying to keep my cool.

"Not if you're returning someone's property." Tyler's tongue ran over his bottom lip.

"Uh... yeah... it's against the law in all situations. And this isn't mine." I didn't touch the hoodie. I knew if I gave it to him, he would just put it back inside my locker later.

"It's yours. I'm sure of it." Tyler crossed his arms, gazing at me lazily.

"Don't you have some other girl you can go make out with? Go find Jenny. I'm sure she'll fall for your shit. I told you to leave me alone. Do you have a problem with your hearing? You should seriously get that checked out." I slammed my locker.

Tyler moved to block my escape.

"Move," I commanded.

Tyler's brow pinched slightly as he stepped to the side. "We'll talk later?"

"Not a chance in hell, asshole." I stalked away. I was so sick of his crap.

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