Fierce (2 page)

Things like this never happen to me. Hot
guys don’t come so close to me.

I never anticipated something like this
happening. I don’t even know how to behave. I didn’t expect this at all.

I catch myself staring at his amazing
features so I raise my head to look up at him. His eyes follow mine, and then I
know he knows exactly what I was looking at.

Oh God. This is embarrassing.

A cute smile curls up his lips. “You can’t
talk?”

My mouth feels like it’s stitched together,
as if I’m unable to pull it open and say anything. I must look ridiculous.

I push my glasses farther up my nose so
they’re not askew anymore. Flushing, I force my lips to part. “Yeah,” I say. “I
was so scared I lost it. Where’d you find it?”

He cocks his head, and it shows me his
muscular neck, making me blush even more. “Outside. Thought it was yours. It
looked expensive.”

I hold out my hand, but he doesn’t give it
to me.

“I think it’s important to be careful with
stuff you think is valuable. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Besides, not
everything can be replaced.”

“I agree, but I lost it by accident. Can I
have it back now?” I say. I’m not in the mood for a lecture. I try to snatch it
from his hand, but he grasps my bracelet and pulls back his hand.

“What kind of a ‘thank you’ is that?” he
says, squinting, taunting me.

Suddenly, he looks a lot less attractive. I
cross my arms and say, “Thank you.”

He smiles and tilts his head, dangling the
bracelet in front of me. “That all?”

“Yes. What else do you want from me?” I
snap.

“Your name.” He mimics my stance and crosses
his arms, burying the bracelet deep within the socket of his elbow. His biceps
bulge against his leather jacket, and I have trouble not gaping at them.

“Autumn Blakewood. Yours?”

“Autumn? What kind of name is that for a girl?”

With furrowed brows, I say, “Well I like
it.”

He starts twirling my bracelet like it’s
some kind of toy. I risk a chance and reach for it, but he pulls back again.
Goddammit.

“I don’t have time for games …” I say,
sighing.

“Oh … I’m not playing games, Leafy.”

“Leafy?” I say, scowling.

He points at my hair and immediately
reminds me of the embarrassing scene outside. Now I have to fight off the heat
rushing to my cheeks.

“Here,” he says, and he tosses me the
bracelet. “Name’s Hunter Bane,” he says.

I barely manage to catch the bracelet
before he saunters off again. Frowning, I watch him walk off.

“See ya, Leafy.”

“My name isn’t Leafy, it’s Autumn!” I yell
after him, but he only waves as he walks into his room.

Which is only five feet away from mine.

The
First Day

Glaring at myself in the mirror, I brush my
fingers through the frizzy mess that is my hair. My brown curls don’t bend to
my will, nor that of my brush. It’s like a bomb exploded on my head. I swear,
sometimes I think I’d rather not sleep at all than wake up with this hair.

I get dressed and wake up Evie, because
we’ll be late if she doesn’t get up soon. She swings her hands in the air,
trying to shoo me away, thinking I’m her mother. It makes me laugh when she
starts growling at me. As she snores, I open the window and pull the blanket
off her. She squirms from the cold rush of wind on her bare legs.

After she’s dressed, we get a quick
breakfast at the cafeteria. Evie and I make our way to our first classes of the
first trimester. We have completely different schedules. I’m studying English
lit and she’s studying linguistics. We both have a love for language, but I
like my books close to home and she prefers to learn more about other cultures.
I’m glad she found what she likes to do, but it’s unfortunate that we have only
a few classes we both follow.

I’m going to miss having her close by. I’m
not used to being on my own and not having my friend around to support me.
Walking through these massive halls makes me feel like an ant. A tiny,
miserable little ant that could be squashed underneath big feet at any moment.

I’m never comfortable around a lot of
people. It’s something that stuck with me after that hellhole they call high
school.

Right now, I don’t have my best friend to
back me up, and Brody’s already in his political science class, so I have no
choice but to venture through the campus alone. Still, it surprises me I’ve not
yet bumped into someone. That nobody has called me any names yet.

As I find my way to the classroom I’m supposed
to be in, I sit down on the nearest empty bench seat I can find. I don’t want
to have to walk all the way down the steps, knowing people are going to look at
me. I don’t like being watched. Maybe I’m too insecure, but when the focus lies
on me, I get the creeps.

I unpack my books, pens, and paper and put
my bag under my seat, while someone sits down next to me.

As I look up to see who it is, I almost
jump up from my seat.

Just seeing his big gray eyes makes me want
to run.

“What are you doing here?” I say,
perplexed.

“Following this class,” Hunter retorts.
“What else?”

Pursing my lips, I gather my pencils and
line them up neatly like I always do when I’m nervous as hell. “I uh …”

“And what are you doing here?” he asks
playfully, putting up a curious face like it’s the most serious question in the
world.

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Well, do you want to be here?”

I arch one eyebrow and he does, too,
mimicking my expression, as if he’s making fun of me. “Of course I do,” I say.

He chuckles. “Figured. You seem like the
nerdy type.”

I gasp. “I am
not
a nerd.”

“No?” Hunter reaches over to my books and
opens the first one he can find. “Looks like it to me.” He points at all the
notes I’ve made. “I don’t know anybody who writes this much before class has
even started.”

I snatch the book from his hand and shut
it. “I just like to be prepared.”

“For what? The apocalypse? It’s just
college.”

I sigh. “Whatever.”

“Or are you just afraid you might have to
deal with stuff you’re not prepared for?” He inches a little closer. When his
leg briefly touches mine, I squeeze my thighs together and shudder. He’s too
close for comfort. I’ve never had a guy come this near.

“You’re scared, aren’t you, Leafy?” he
says. His low voice is soft, and I can feel his breath near my ear. Shocks
course through my body, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I feel
completely naked.

“Can I borrow this?” he suddenly says, and
grabs one of my pens from my neatly lined stash. I look at him in astonishment,
and he stiffens for a second. “I promise I’ll give it back,” he says with a
cutesy voice, and then he flashes me a smile. “Thanks.”

He scoots back in place and glares at me
from a distance. I don’t need to see his eyes to know that he’s watching me; I
can feel his eyes piercing my side.

I close my eyes for a second to regain my
composure. Since I sat down in class I haven’t caught anything of what the
teacher is saying. I don’t even remember the man starting his class. All I know
is that Hunter is toying with me, and I don’t know why. Am I funny or
something?

“Autumn?”

My head shoots up from dreamland and I look
around. The teacher and almost every student in class is looking at me.

“Autumn Blakewood?”

“Yes?” I stammer, ducking between my own
shoulders, because I feel scrutinized.

“I asked a question.”

“Sorry, I didn’t hear it.”

A few muffled laughs are audible throughout
the auditorium, and I can feel the heat rush to my cheeks. Shit, I’m totally
making a fool out of myself.

“Can you name the primary source for
Shakespeare’s famous plays?” the teacher says.

“I … uh …” Crap, I don’t know the answer. I
haven’t been listening at all.

“Holinshed’s Chronicles,” Hunter whispers
as he leans forward.

“The Holinshed’s Chronicles!” I shout.

The teacher squints and waits a second.
“All right.”

Then he continues his lesson, and I let out
a huge breath, falling back into my chair. God, I can’t believe Hunter helped
me. Him, out of all people.

Turning my head, I see Hunter smiling
cheekily at me. I’m dumbstruck with his sudden helpful answer.

“What?” he says, as I gape at him.

“Nothing. I just didn’t expect that.”

“There’s a lot more you can’t expect from
people.”

I chortle and shake my head. “Well, thanks
anyway.”

“Yeah, I pretty much saved your ass there.”

My eyebrows draw closer together. “Hey,
don’t get cocky.”

Hunter wriggles his eyebrows, and it makes
me laugh. “Comes with the jacket.”

His eyes drift off to the teacher, and he
starts penning down notes. I’m surprised by the mere fact that he even seems
remotely interested in learning something today.

As I start some pre-work on today’s assignment,
I notice his face turning my way every couple of seconds. I glance sideways and
see him studying my notes.

“Hey!” I exclaim.

He’s seriously peeking at my notes? First
he helps me find the right answer to the teacher’s question, and now he’s
cheating? I don’t get this at all.

“Shhh,” he whispers, shushing me.

“You’re cheating.”

“Who cares?”

“I do,” I say, slamming my notebook shut.

He frowns and gazes at me. “Aren’t you
uptight.”

I smile pretentiously. “Comes with the
skirt.”

He laughs. It’s a deep sound, a manly
laugh, one that makes my heart flip over in my chest. Then he licks his lips in
a way that makes my toes curl. Watching his tongue come out and flick along
those thick lips makes me zoom in on them. It’s the first time I notice how
sexy those lips look. It’s also the first time I feel like I want to lick them,
too.

“Good one,” he says and winks, making my
heart stop.

The teacher clears his throat, and I notice
he’s doing it because he wants us to shut up. I crawl back into my shell,
drawing back, and hide my reddened cheeks by leaning on my hands. I focus on my
textbook just to avoid seeing the class stare at me. Just to avoid seeing
his
narrow eyes watching me.

As the class comes to an end, Hunter says
“See ya, Leafy,” and he throws me my pen.

“It’s Autumn.”

He shrugs and gets up. My gaze follows him
as he walks out of the classroom, and then I spot Evie standing behind the huge
windowpane. Her eyes are widened, and it looks as though her face is glued to
the glass. Just as Hunter leaves the room her eyes zoom in and follow him, as
if she’s tracking him.

Then she gazes at me and tips her head,
nodding, beckoning me to come.

I hurry to grab my stuff and run down the
steps toward her.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“What are you talking about,” I say, as we
start walking through the halls.

“You. And that guy sitting next to you. I
saw you guys talking, you know.”

“He just asked me for my pen. No biggie.”

She laughs. “Yeah right! You guys were
talking. A lot. I could see everything,” she scolds.

“Were you watching us or something?” I say,
laughing with my mouth open.

“No. I was waiting for you. Then I noticed
who was sitting next to you. Hunter Bane. Jesus.”

“You know him?”

“Brody told me about him,” she says as we head
toward our joint class. “Supposedly he’s got a reputation here, and I don’t
mean the good kind.”

“Hmm …” I start mulling over what that
means. I don’t really know the guy at all, but he doesn’t seem that bad.
Besides, having a bad rep could mean loads of things. Actually, now that I
think about it, only loads of bad things.

“I wonder why he sat down next to you,”
Evie continues. “I mean, he could’ve picked any pretty girl in the room and
buttered her up, but he chose to sit next to you instead. What does he want
with you?”

“I don’t know,” I say. Now I’m also
wondering why the hell he sat down next to me. The more I think about it, the
more it creeps me out.

“To peek at my notes is the most likely
answer,” I say eventually.

“Well I sure hope so. I also hope that’s
the only thing he wants from you.”

Frowning, I bump my shoulder against hers.
“Evie! Are you jealous or something?”

“No, I just don’t like it when you hang
with bad boys.”

“Hey, don’t worry.” I hook my arm around
hers. “I’m not hanging with anyone, and I have no interest in him.”

She smiles, and I smile back, but my
stomach churns. What I just said doesn’t ring true. I know it should be, but
somehow his presence has two totally different effects on me. One part is freaked
out and wants to run, and the other part is curious as hell.

We walk to one of the few classes we share
and find two spots in the middle, but before the class can start a loud scream
draws my attention. I turn around in my seat and see Hunter.

He’s yelling words into his phone, but I
don’t know what. He’s outside, pacing up and down the hallway. I can’t hear
anything he’s saying, since there’s a glass wall in between us, but his face
predicts thunder.

I wonder what’s going on. He looks pissed,
and just seeing him like this scares me.

When the conversation is over, he smashes
the phone on the floor.

I spring up from my seat, and a bunch of
other students who see it also gasp and point at him. Hunter kicks the wall,
and with each thump my body jolts up and down. Then he straightens his jacket
and stares at his fists.

Suddenly he turns around and gazes at me.

I freeze in place. With his piercing gray
eyes on me I feel like a brick wall. Unmoving, but breakable just from his
glare.

His eyes scan my face, and I can see the
anger and pain. It’s flowing out of him like a seething, bubbling volcano. He
continues to stare at me, and I feel like I’m the only one in this classroom.
This moment in time feels like an eternity.

Then he turns around and storms out of the building.