The day began with a storm as every night thus far had ended, thinking how careful she must be that the walk to the first day of classes was a soaked and squishy one, the consistent pitter patter of raindrops against the black umbrella shielding her body actually quite relaxing. The required uniform, however, was not her cup of tea, breaking a single rule by rolling the waist band a few times that morning to have the hem lay more flattering. She figured that if she had to be clad in it, she'd at least make it bearable.
Making her way along and trying her hardest to stay on the crowded sidewalks, she was met with Aaron sitting on the entrance as he watched everyone that walked into the school, looking her over and she was half convinced that he didn't remember who she was, even after that first night at The Dells. The thought had possibly never even crossed his little mind.
Trotting down the loaded hallways, bag slung lazily over her shoulder, she let her eyes follow along the posted room numbers and upon entering the senior English room, she was slightly taken aback as it looked more like a mini amphitheater than a classroom. She gave the area a good once over, climbing the steps to where she had spotted Sarah and Kate and allowing herself to plop down gently.
Rubbing some sleep from her eyes, she yawned, crossing her legs and grabbing her English book.
"Looks like you had a good 'ol time last night." Sarah smiled, taking the same book from her bag.
"I could say the same for you. I saw you dancing with Caleb." She winked, causing a blush on Sarah's cheeks.
"Well hey, you could have told me you already had someone in mind to be with!" Kate added, nodding in the direction of Reid just a few stairs up to the right.
He offered a smirk and Ana shook her head softly.
"I don't know what that was but you probably shouldn't count on it happening again." She laughed. "Reid isn't the type to be tied down with just one girl, is he?"
The two girls got quiet immediately, exchanging knowing looks. They'd answered her question with their silence and she smiled, almost sadly.
Professor Greyson took to writing on the chalkboard, not giving the bell the chance to even signal that school was in session for the day.
All talking seized, everyone smart enough to know that they didn't desire to have detention or a talk with the Provost for speaking when class had begun, taking out notebooks and pens and praying that lunch wasn't far away.
Ana didn't exactly mind, though. English was her favorite subject.
Reid's mid afternoon held the promise of a quest, somewhat anxious to get a little payback for the previous night at Nicky's, have some fun before practice.
He'd heard that she could most likely be found in the library after school. She was a bit of a bookworm they'd told him, already seeing her with headphones resting in her ears and her nose resting in a book. It wasn't the least surprising to him considering that he thought he remembered something like that, a book always in her near vicinity with a bookmark somewhere towards the end of the pages. She always finished them so quickly, always reading these substantial books that he knew damn well would take him ages to complete and Kate preferred to flip through Cosmo. He rolled his eyes at himself, questioning why he even cared.
Strutting into the massive room and not really sure himself what he was expecting, he walked.
It was pretty empty after all and he was thankful for that as being spotted in the library wasn't very Reid of him and the irony of his name didn't go unnoticed. The smartest kids in school were already attempting extra credit assignments, too busy to even notice as he slowly walked past the tables, glancing over every face with none of them belonging to her.
He scanned each row of books for about three seconds, making good time of it when he stumbled upon two freshman in science fiction sucking face as though their lives depended on it, knocking braces. His brows shot to the sky, the thought crossing his mind that even nerds have girlfriends and he was about to give up, thinking that he had perused the sections for too long, wasted enough of his time, seen too many things that he couldn't forget when he unknowingly entered fiction.
Golden blonde locks were standing in front of a large shelf, raising onto her tiptoes to gain the maximum reach for a desired book, her long legs not being quite long enough. She'd grabbed the very edge of the spine and it was sufficient, the book toppling down before she'd caught it. He saw her smile.
As she read over the other various titles he took the time to stealthily pad toward her, an idea in mind.
"Looking for anything specific?"
The smooth, sultry voice whispered against her ear, successfully sending a shutter down her spine as the book dropped from her hold with a smack to the floor.
"Reid Garwin in the library? Never thought I'd see the day." She claimed, bending over just so, grasping the worn binding in her hands.
Turning down another row and convincing herself that the books were more important than the boy she'd had a crush on in her youth, she couldn't help but notice his footsteps following her down the shelves, swearing she could feel his eyes hungrily looking her over. Choosing another shelf to browse, he stood a foot away, noting in her peripheral his teeth sinking into his lip.
"You know," He began, walking a semicircle around her, "The maneuver you pulled last night is kind of my thing."
He'd stopped to stand behind her back, feeling his breath fanning against her blonde waves.
Peaking her interest, she turned to face to him. "And what would that be, exactly?"
"Your little hustle game. And let's also not forget that tease..." He trailed off, smirking lightly.
She sighed. "I already told you that I wasn't-"
Reid pressed her into the bookshelf then, impulsive, taking her wrist in his left hand in case she might try to use the book to her advantage. He wouldn't be giving her the chance to have an advantage. No, not this time, not like the night before. Ana's emerald irises scorched, needing the feeling of his hands on her absolutely anywhere yet definitely not prepared to admit it, trying to pull her wrist from his hold and knowing all the while that it was futile. He was a swimmer for God's sake, unable to prevent her gaze from watching his bicep flex beneath the messily worn uniform.
"You should probably go." She breathed, throat tightening on the words.
"Go where?" He inquires, mischief playing behind those baby blues before his smirk was pressed to her neck. "Here?"
Hiking up her khaki skirt no more than an inch, his fingers squeezed into the smooth, supple skin of her thigh, eliciting a quiet moan up her throat with the incessant affection he had moved down to her collarbone. It was too satisfying, verging on the edge of cruel and she almost couldn't stand how much she didn't dislike it, the temptation to pull him closer proving difficult to ignore.
"Or maybe here?" He mumbled against her skin, clearly getting his fill of the craving need of the reaction he had been receiving.
Biting the inside corner of her lower lip roughly in the hope to prevent another moan from slipping without her consent, his hand skated up her skirt, resting against her hip and digging his thin digits in softly. He teasingly pulled away after, so slowly that if he would take any longer she was certain it would be enough to drive her mad, placing one more kiss to her jaw.
He shot her a wide grin, loosening his grip as he took a single step back but she let her wrist stay in his hold until he himself let it drop to her side, eyes unwavering from his challenging look and idly recognizing a metallic taste in her mouth.
She'd only realized then as she watched him disappear behind the stacks of literature that the inside flesh of her lip was bleeding.
Tyler unlatched the door to his room, shutting it fully and peeling off his coat before seeing the silhouette of Reid sitting at his desk in the darkness. He paused, flicking on a light with his own eyes widening at the discoloration around one of Reid's. Before he could speak or ask a single question that was running through his mind, Reid beat him to the punch, finally meeting his gaze.
"Did you know that, uh, Madison Farley has a boyfriend?"
He let his fingers graze over the new bruise forming around his right eye, hissing at the contact and realizing how tender it would be while the defacement healed. It didn't break skin, only notes of blue and purple coloring the outline of his occipital bone showing through but it was as obvious as a fake rack.
Tyler shook his head as a reply, though knowing the question was rhetorical.
"Neither did I." He stated coolly, a laugh falling from his lips. "She sure as hell didn't mention it when she was moaning my name."
The youngest Son turned to him with disappointment evident in his stare and Reid had no want for the discussion that was undoubtedly about to take place, he never did, but based on the look Baby Boy was giving him, he knew he couldn't ignore the prompt. Even though Tyler was fully aware that he was over everything he would say before he even said it didn't stop him, it never would, he had to be vigilant, unrelenting to get the message through his friend's bleach blonde skull.
"Do you have something to say?" Reid enunciated each word with vigor, the false concern ever present.
"I don't think I'll ever understand how you just jump from girl to girl, I mean," Tyler began, unsure of when he would even finish. "This doesn't only affect you, Reid, you drag us into this all the time. You have such a way of always making everything all about you. Your egotistical bullshit has to stop."
"Really?" He asks, sarcasm dripping from the word with a low chuckle.
"You won't get as many fucking black eyes, I can tell you that!" He gestured to his face.
"You can't hold it against me if I'm not so keen on taking advice from someone who hasn't even gotten laid." He sighed, the remark condescending, nonchalant.
The only sign that he actually did care about what was being said was in his tense jaw, the rest of his face holding no expression at all.
Tyler's blue eyes burned, the frustration eating at him that he didn't want to say something he'd regret but he also couldn't let Reid win. He'd done it far too many times and it didn't help him, never did him any good.
"I don't have to have sex with a girl to know how to treat her with respect. Something you obviously know nothing about."
He rolled his eyes, turning for the door as if to say that he didn't have to hear this, didn't want to hear this, this same topic that Baby Boy never let him hear the end of for the past three years of his life. As though he didn't know that what he did wasn't right, he saw it in everyone around him, everyone in committed relationships that he went about everything ass backwards but it was the only thing he seemed to do right. He did the wrong very well, yet he couldn't leave quick enough before he heard one final thing.
"It'll be a real pleasure to see the day you actually fall for a girl." Tyler fumed, "I think it might kill you."
Here's chapter three, y'all! A bit slow coming, I know, I've just been slightly busy. As always, please be sure to follow and favorite if you enjoyed reading and leave me a review down below. I'd love to know what you think! xx
{P.S.} I'm going on my first cruise September 8th through the 17th, so the next chapters might be extra slow, but I'll still be trying to write, I promise!