I know this chapter is shit, I wrote it so quickly - but I have a plan for the rest of the story and OMG so much drama happens. Also this is rated T despite sexual references in future because I don't know if I'm actually going to write about sex in detail...
Chapter 2
After lunch, Maya's next class was Chemistry. Riley looked over her shoulder at her schedule and squealed.
"We have the next class together! Come on, I'll show you to the lab!"
Despite the fact that Maya was a quick learner and already knew where the chemistry labs were, she let Riley drag her away from the lunch hall and the other girls, not wanting to dampen the brunette's bubbly happiness. She was already feeling confident about this bet. How difficult could it be to make a boy fall in love?
"Maya, by the way. I have to warn you. Bree bet her dad's expensive gadgets for a reason – it's not going to be easy to make Lucas Friar settle down. You haven't met him. And he is gorgeous…" Riley sighed and giggled, pushing Maya through the door into the lab. "Oh, and he's in this class." Giggling, she skipped over to take her seat at the front. The tables were in rows and each table had a pair of seats. But when Maya tried to follow Riley to her table, she felt a hand on her back and a booming, friendly voice.
"Ho! You must be Maya Hart. You're from New York, correct?"
She turned and was met with a friendly smile from a strange-looking man wearing a lab coat and a bow tie. "Yes, Mr…"
"Mr Norton. Ah, Mr Friar! There you are. Miss Hart is the new girl from New York, and she will be your partner this term."
Before Maya could register what had happened, a voice spoke up from behind her. "Sure, Mr Norton. It would be my pleasure." She whipped around and her breath caught.
God, he was gorgeous. She fumbled through her mind furiously, and realized that the girls had never mentioned what he looked like. And she knew she was staring. The boy practically radiated. He was a head taller than she was, running a hand casually through his perfectly tousled blonde hair. His face was equally beautiful; even from a distance, she could see his green eyes glinting like a glass bottle, or the fierce waves of the sea. His gaze was intense. Dangerous. She'd met her match. Her eyes wandered down to his shirt; form fitting, showing off his chest and biceps, and of course, plaid. He was wearing jeans that hugged his body too. God, she felt like a douche, checking him out. Her eyes quickly flickered back up to his face; he was smirking, as if he knew what she was thinking. She glanced away. Fuck. Why had she accepted Bree's stupid bet? She couldn't make a guy like Lucas Friar fall for her. Hell, she'd never made anyone fall for her. They were in high school, for heaven's sake. What the hell did she even know about love?
Okay, Maya, breathe, she tried to calm herself down, it's just until you win the bet. You just have to make him want to settle down with you. It's not permanent. How long? A month? Two? Shit. You should've thought this through.
She took her seat as Lucas sat down next to her. She purposefully didn't look at him. God, she was an idiot. Lucas looked like an angel, carved perfectly by God's hand himself. How could he ever fall for her?
"Oi, shortstack." She flinched; his head was bent to her ear, his breath making her skin tingle.
"What?" she snapped, turning to face him.
Oh my god.
Up close, those green eyes burned so brightly she was forced to hold his gaze. They reminded her of her father. The one time he'd taken her to see the sea when she was three years old...
She blinked, fighting the tears. He raised an eyebrow coolly, although his eyes were burning up.
"Are you even listening?"
She looked down at the desk.
"Because I was just asking if you had a pencil. What are you, deaf? Or just an idiot?" His voice held so much disdain that Maya was taken aback.
"No," she blurted out, harsher than she had meant it to be. Her scowl had settled back on her face. He shrugged, borrowed a pencil from Riley, who was sitting behind him practically sniffing his hair, and didn't speak to Maya for the rest of the lesson.
For the rest of the day Maya couldn't focus. All she could think about was how arrogantly and quickly she had rushed into this bet. At least she had the whole term.
"Maya!"
Riley and Missy hurried to catch up with her in the hallway. It was the end of the day, and Maya was packing her bag.
"Hey, guys," she said as nonchalantly as she could. They didn't buy it.
"Okay, Maya. Riley told me how you reacted to Lucas in Chemistry. That's not going to get you anywhere."
"I didn't…" Maya started defensively, but with a look from Missy, she sighed. "You were right, he's gorgeous. And he didn't even look at me."
"I told you, he has a type. And it's not girls who look homeless. Look, keep this a secret from Bree, but we want you to win. It's about time Lucas Friar was taken down. And I know you could be the girl to do it, little miss rebel. You seem like the type who won't back down."
Maya frowned. "If he's not even interested in having sex with me, how the hell do I make him fall for me?"
"Look, it's not going to help you if you're easy. You can't give him what he wants; you have to make him think you hate him."
"That won't be a problem…" Maya muttered. Missy ignored her.
"It's not just about the sex, Maya. If you want him to stay – you're going to have to get to know him, and let him get to know you. You'll have to sneak your way into his life without him realizing it, so that when you're gone, he'll know it. And he'll miss you. He has to feel something for you, Maya. He can't just like looking at your ass."
Maya groaned while Riley nodded along, looking amused. "I have to get to know Fuckboy Friar?"
Missy grinned. "Yep. But first, step one – you're going to need to be attractive. Lucas isn't going to want to get to know you if he doesn't like what he sees. I'm talking full blown makeover – hair, makeup, clothes, the works. Riley and I will help you… today."
"Shit."
Two hours later, she was sitting on Riley's extremely purple bed while the two girls leaned over her face, fighting over makeup brushes.
"She needs some gold eyeshadow!"
"No! Blue would really bring out her eyes."
"Blue," interrupted Maya, leaning away from the brush with a look of terror on her face, " would make me look like a hooker."
The girls sighed. "But this is so fun," Riley whined.
Missy clapped her hands. "Okay! We can work on makeup later. She's going to have to wash it off tonight anyway. Let's dress her up." She flung open the closet doors dramatically. "I've brought a bag of my own stuff, too."
Maya eyed the clothes. "Um, could we at least somewhat stick to my style?" She aimed this particularly at Riley, who was holding a light pink sparkly dress. Missy's eyes flashed with mischief. "Don't worry, little miss rebel. You'll still look like a grunge artsy chick. Just maybe a little less homeless and a little more girly."
Maya sighed, rubbing at the lipgloss on her mouth. "Go nuts."
"Here," said Missy. "Try this outfit." She held out a short, tight black shirt, a low-cut white strappy top, a plaid shirt, some tights, and six-inch heeled boots. Maya raised her eyebrows doubtfully.
"Plaid?"
"Tie it around your waist."
She sighed. "Give it here."
She stripped to her underwear and was about to pull the top on when Missy stopped her.
"Oh girl, no. Riley, do you have any…less ugly pieces of lingerie?" Maya looked down at her comfortable grey bra and large striped panties. Sure, they weren't flattering, and they were a bit old, but she couldn't afford underwear from freaking Victoria's Secret. She'd never needed it, anyway.
Riley giggled. "None of my bras are big enough for those…" She winked.
Missy smiled like the devil. "Perfect."
Maya took a deep breath, glancing down at her watch. She was ten minutes early for school, something that had never happened before. She was stuffed into the very tight top and skirt from the day before, with the plaid shirt around her waist, at Missy's insistence. Underneath, she was wearing Riley's black lacy bra and panties; big enough to fit her but small enough that her boobs were popping out. She'd flung a leather jacket over her shoulder too, but other than that, her arms were bare, and pale from never being exposed to the sun. She'd decided against the tights; Maya was feeling dangerous, and she was going all out. The heeled boots made her legs look extremely long and slim, despite her size. Her hair had been washed with strawberry scented shampoo, tamed slightly with some sort of spray, and was now tumbling down her back to her bum in loose waves. Still wild, but beautifully so. She knew she looked good. She'd be annoyed if she didn't; Missy and Riley had spent almost an hour waxing her legs while Maya had screamed and kicked. Beauty was definitely not worth the pain.
Her outfit was edgy enough that she was still comfortable, feeling like herself. A new, improved, sexy Maya Hart. Riley had balanced it out with the makeup; gold smoky eyeshadow, black eyeliner that accentuated her eyes, and a very pink pout. She'd also used something called highlighter that made Maya feel like she was glowing.
"Damn, girl." Maya turned to see Missy grinning at her. "You look good. Definitely good enough for Lucas Friar. I'd say you're fuckable right about now."
Maya hit her playfully. "I am so ready for this."
She was disappointed not to see Lucas by his locker, but as she and Missy walked through the hallway, she was pleased to feel all eyes on her. Staring. Looking her up and down as if they'd never seen anything so exotic. She walked confidently, surprised at how good she felt without her baggy jeans hiding her legs.
"So," she said, trying to look cool about all the attention she was getting from the crowd, as Riley walked up, her face looking like she had just been told she was getting all the candy in the world, "will you guys walk me to class?"
Maya knew that Lucas would be in her first class that morning. Conveniently, he was in a lot of her classes. She walked into the classroom, swinging her hair and bum. God, she was so going to win this bet.
Lucas was already in the room, talking to the teacher. The teacher smiled at Maya as she walked in.
"You look lovely, Maya," he said with a twinkle in his eye. Maya frowned. He seemed so familiar…
"Hey, Dad." Riley rolled her eyes. Maya's eyebrows went up; of course. Mr Matthews. He'd greeted her briefly at Riley's house the day before, but she hadn't had any idea that he was a teacher at school.
She smiled. "'Sup, Matthews."
Just as she had yesterday, Lucas turned at the sound of her voice. And just as she had yesterday, he stared. He looked up and down her body, lingering on her legs. She could have sworn she saw him draw a sharp breath. His eyes returned to her face, and she met them with a bored, lazy air. "Huckleberry? Are you going to keep drooling over me or can we get started with this class?"
His jaw hardened quickly as his eyes narrowed to a sneer. "Trying to get my attention, shortstack? Don't worry. I've seen better."
Maya glared at him, trying not to show her disappointment. Better than her? As if. What an asshole.
They took their seats, Maya in front of Lucas, flicking her long blonde hair onto his desk. She knew she smelled like strawberries and a heavenly floral perfume, courtesy of Missy. Lucas leaned forwards to whisper, "Actually, shortstack, what I meant to say is… I've fucked better." Smirking, he leaned back onto his chair lazily.
Maya glowered at her desk, trying not to let him get to her. She knew she was making progress. She knew from the way he stared at the back of her head during class. He found her attractive, even if he hadn't shown it yet. He was definitely noticing her more.
But he was good at this game. She was going to have to step it up.
And with her newfound confidence...
She smiled to herself dangerously.
Lucas Friar was going to fall so madly in love with her he would barely be able to think about anything else.
