I shook my head to clear my thoughts. What am I doing? According to Lucy, this guy was here on a scholarship, and his piece of crap car all but confirmed that he wasn’t up to my mother’s standards. He wasn’t someone who I needed to involve myself with. My mother would never allow us to be friends, and she would absolutely kill me if she knew I was crushing on someone like him.
I glanced over at him one more time, determined to push him out of my thoughts. That was a bad idea. How the hell am I supposed to stay away from someone who looks like him?
“I think I’ve covered everything we need to today. If you want to talk among yourselves for the last fifteen minutes of class, feel free,” Mr. Kester said.
Mr. Kester was one of only two math teachers at our school. I’d had him my freshman year, so I knew that he would usually let us hang out during the last few minutes of class. For teaching one of the worst subjects, he was pretty cool.
I turned to Lucy, determined to ignore Jesse, so he wouldn’t try to talk to me.
Lucy raised an eyebrow as she noticed my obvious attempt to ignore
Jesse. “What are you doing?”
She’d whispered the words, but I tensed, afraid that Jesse had heard her. While I was ignoring him, I didn’t want him to realize that I was doing it on purpose. I didn’t want to look like a stuck-up bitch even though I knew I was being one.
“Nothing,” I whispered back.
She rolled her eyes but said nothing. We just sat there and stared at each other, both of us unable to think of anything else to say.
“Hey, Emma?” Jesse said from behind me.
I closed my eyes and mentally groaned before turning to face him. “Yes?”
“Can you tell me where Ms. Mason’s class is? It’s my next class, and the lady in the office wasn’t very good at giving directions.”
He gave me a smile, and I felt my heart speed up. “Yeah, sure. It’s actually my next class, too, so I can just show you.”
Did I really just say that? I was supposed to be pretending that he didn’t exist, not walking him to class.
“That would be great. Thanks,” he said sincerely.
I studied him closer. This guy seemed to be exceptionally polite, and I wasn’t used to that around here. Most of the guys were raging idiots. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was nervous and a bit shy or if he was just this nice in general. Surely, this hot guy covered in tattoos couldn’t be shy. His demeanor and his physical appearance were complete opposites.
“So, what’s your story?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
He looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I was just wondering where you were from.” I gestured to his tattoos. “You don’t fit the mold for most of the guys around here. Did you just move here or something?”
He hesitated for a split second before I saw determination fill his eyes. “Nope. I attended the public school across town all my life. I’m here on a scholarship. As for my tattoos, I like to be creative, and sometimes, I use my body to do it.”
I felt my cheeks turn red from embarrassment. I was sure he could get very creative with that body of his.
He seemed to sense my discomfort, and he laughed. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”
“It’s fine. I was just embarrassed for being so nosy,” I lied.
“You weren’t being nosy, just curious. But you were right about one thing—I don’t fit in around here. My mom kind of forced me into coming here.”
That surprised me. Hamrick High School was one of the top private schools in California. I had no idea why he wouldn’t be jumping for joy at the chance to attend when so many would kill to be in his position.
“Why don’t you want to be here?” I asked.
“I thought it would be obvious. I’m not one of the rich kids, like you. My kind tends to be looked down on.”
“Oh,” I said, unable to think of anything else to say.
He gave me a small smile, and I noticed a dimple in his left cheek. How did I miss that?
“You don’t have to feel awkward or anything. It’s just the facts of life. I’ve been looked down on my entire life by this entire town because my mom works as a waitress instead of being married to some rich guy.”
I added blunt to the list of notes I’d made about him in my head. The kid didn’t beat around the bush. He got straight to the point.
“My mom isn’t married to a rich guy.” I pretended to glare at him, but I couldn’t keep a straight face. “Well, she isn’t married to him anymore.”
He looked shocked at first, but then he realized that I was kidding, and relief flooded his face. “I thought I pissed you off there for a second.” “Nah. I was just messing with you!” I said as I giggled.
The bell rang to signal the end of class. I grabbed my trig book and threw it into my bag. Lucy waved good-bye as she left for her next class on the opposite side of the school from mine. I knew that the two of us couldn’t have every class together, but I hated the ones that she wasn’t in. School was boring without Lucy around.