Chapter One: Livin' on a Bad Name
Maybe it'd be easier if he wasn't so goddamn beautiful. Or if I didn't have these insane bubbles bouncing in my stomach whenever he was around. Or if he wasn't so goddamn beautiful.
Iver glances at me and I try to smile but it probably comes out like I'm a twelve year old girl who's having the sex talk with her father. He grins and I have to look down to stop myself from smacking the test tubes out of his hands and kissing him in front of the entire chemistry class. Damn those soft, pink, gorgeous lips of his. Why did he have to be so painstakingly breathtaking anyway? Weren't there rules against that somewhere?
"Hey," He says, in that deep, curious voice of his- his brows scrunched as he looked towards the door- "What do you think that's about?" He asks, his brows raised as he looks between me and the door. I tear my eyes away from him to get a good look. What seemed like the entirety of the La Push High school was out in the hall, talking to our principle and some of their own teachers.
"Maybe they're recruiting some of the guys for football again." I offer with a very carefully placed careless shrug. Iver snorts a laugh and keeps staring out the door. I follow his eyes to a girl in the crowd, one who hangs back a bit, and then she looks through the door, meeting his eyes. She smiles back at him and I glance around quickly. "Shit!" I exclaim, dropping test tube filled with water to the floor. Purposely, might I add.
"I got it, no big deal don't sweat it." Iver says quickly, bending down to pick up the pieces of glass. "Don't move." He says, as he expertly picks up all scraps of glass. "There." He says, sounding proud of himself, as he pops up too close to my face and smiles.
"Thanks." I say, sounding flustered, and grin back. He steps away from me when the door opens, and the principle walks in with a few students from La Push following behind him.
"Due to the recent fire…" He's saying, but I ignore him, paying more attention to the arch of Iver's perfect nose, and his strong jaw. What I would do to that jaw of his…
"Right." Mr. Clives says, clapping his hands and removing his protective chemist goggles from his face before addressing us. The principle was gone, but the La Push-ians stayed. "Partner up then, go on. Class, I want each of you to pair with one of the, uh, La Push kids." He says, as if this was going to be a great learning experience for the lot of us.
I look to Iver to roll my eyes at our eccentric teacher, but he's too busy grinning widely at that girl from earlier to notice. I tug his sleeve to suggest we go pair up with these two dorky looking guys that looked like they could be sufficient partners, but before I can utter a word he opens his mouth.
"I'll meet you after then?" He smiles, and moves around me towards the front of the room without waiting for my reply.
"Hey." Someone taps me on my shoulder as I watch Iver walk away and I spin on my heel to see who it is. I have to look up at the boy to see his face, but he's smiling, so I smile back. "I'm Paul." He introduces himself, and I extend my hand to shake his.
I grin, "Hi Paul, I'm Margot." I pause for a minute, meeting his eyes, "You can call me Marz if you want." I shrug, and he nods as if to say that he will.
"I'm kind of nervous." He tells me, as if there's something more he wants to say.
"Here, put these on." I reach up to put a pair of goggles on his face. "there. Now there's no need to be nervous." I explain with a smile before letting my eyes find Iver. He's a few tables over with that girl. I watch him make a joke that he's probably told me a million times, and she throws her head back and laughs.
"I meant I was nervous because of you. I've never had a lab partner this hot before." He says with a smirk, and for a minute I can feel myself blush, before my brows furrow.
"You've been here three minutes and you're already hitting on me?" I ask, one brow raised as my eyes flicker over to Iver once more. Was he watching? Was he jealous?
"Would that be so bad?" He asks, leaning on the table infront of us and giving me what was probably his most charming smile. Pulling a play from that La Push's girl's book, I throw my head back and laugh, and this time when I look over at Iver, he's looking at me too.
"You are so out of your league." I say to him through my biggest, fakest smile. The bell rings loudly, almost making me jump, and I pack up my stuff as quickly as I can.
"Was that guy bothering you?" Iver asks, running a hand through his hair as the other students file out the door. I look to the door where Paul is walking out, and meet his eyes when he looks back at me.
"Nah," I admit, because it's true. "Who's the girl?" I ask, as if I want to know what he thinks of her. Iver could have any girl in school. Was he seriously going after the girl he's just met?
"Well, for starters, I'm in love."