Hey, I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Everything Lucas does has a purpose, so keep reading, these first chapters are set up, we'll get to the fun stuff after that.

Thanks for reading.

KING LUCAS

CHAPTER 3

School was out and Lucas had just gotten himself a tryout for the baseball team in the next practice tomorrow, the team was full so that meant that he would have to be good enough to replace someone, he wasn't worried about that though. The coach was a fat guy, his office was filled with pictures of his young years, it appeared like he had a promising career in front of him, but for a reason he had ended up training a high school team. Now the coach saw himself in his team and he needed a breakout star, someone to give him the satisfaction of accomplishment he didn't achieve. Lucas had managed to exploit that, he was a good batter, he had been training since his father took him to the batting cages every Friday since he was 7 until he made the little league's team.

He was heading to his locker to pick up his history book, when he heard someone talking nervously around the corner.

"Look man, I swear they made me talk, I- I didn't know they would tell Mr. Cole. I- I promise."

He saw a big guy pinning down another one against the lockers. He recognized the smaller one from one of his classes, he never shut up, but Lucas had thought he was funny so he walked up to them.

"What's going on here?"

"Walk away, this doesn't concern you." The big guy said, he looked older than him, maybe he was one or two years behind.

"You're pinning down my friend."

"Well, your friend here got me into trouble."

Lucas looked at the other one who innocently shrugged his shoulders, which made him smile.

"Look" Lucas began, grabbing the guy's wrist and twisting away in a painful position. He let go of his victim and looked angrily at Lucas.

"Let me go or I'll punch your pretty face." Lucas had both hands holding the hand of the bully, he pulled his thumb down and pressed his hand towards the other guy's chest, with a scream he fell in one knee.

"I know it would be easier to let you go and just start throwing punches at each other, but at the end you will be the one on the floor and I'll be the one who walks away." Lucas pressed his hand once again which made the big guy hiss in pain. "So I will let go of your hand and you can leave us alone or I can break your arm and you can explain this to the principal."

Lucas dropped his hand, he stood up and came close to his face looking dangerously at his green eyes, but he picked his backpack and left.

"Dude! That was amazing!" The other guy said, fixing his shirt. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"No problem." Lucas said and returned the way he had come from.

"You're the new guy, right?" The small guy asked, catching up with him.

"Yeah."

"I heard nice things about you." He said in a playful tone.

"Really? From whom?"

"Missy Bradford." Lucas laughed, confirming he had picked the perfect girl.

"I'm guessing your mouth puts you in a lot of trouble."

"You'd be right, and I'm guessing yours takes you out of it. I'm Isaiah Babinoux by the way." He said stretching his hand. "But everyone calls me Zay."

"I'm Lucas Friar, but I gotta feeling that you knew that too." Zay scoffed.

"Yeah, there's little that happens here and I don't know about, and everyone's talking about you, cowboy." he said, but got no response from Lucas other than a small grin. "You know, I'm from Texas too."

Lucas turned around to see him with a raised brow, he was surprised he hadn't picked on the faint accent he carried.

"Where are you from?" Lucas asked, reaching his locker and taking the heavy book out.

"Austin, but my dad was transferred when I was a freshman." Zay seemed like a decent guy, Lucas didn't mind his company.

"I see." Lucas didn't want to pry in his life, he had just met the guy. He started walking again and Zay followed him.

"I have a proposition for you." He was expecting a response from Lucas, but again he kept looking straight ahead.

"I'm listening." He finally said, realizing Zay wouldn't talk until he did.

"You're new, I'm sure you could use a friend like me who knows all the ins and outs of this place, y'know."

"And what will you get from my friendship?" Lucas asked, looking at him very serious.

"A new friend is enough for me." Lucas scoffed, Zay brought his hand to his chest as if he had been offended, but then laughed. "You were right back there, my mouth does put me in trouble sometimes, I could use a friend who will have my back... Plus, I like you, you are different than everyone here. It's a win win situation, specially if I'm the prize."

They reached the entrance to the library where Lucas stopped.

"Fine, I could use a friend." Zay smiled at him, he could see the honesty in his eyes. Lucas almost felt bad, because he wanted to finish his sentence 'like you', but he didn't want to make it seem like he was just going to use him for information, which he was. He already had Missy, but if Zay thought of him as his friend then he wouldn't have to pay for every piece of information he needed. Now he had two cards on his deck, he just needed to make a move. "I gotta go now."

"You're going to the library?" Zay asked.

"There's something that needs my attention."

"Okay." Zay said, narrowing his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He left his sight and Lucas finally walked in.

There were a few people studying in a couple of tables and a group meeting by the sofas. He looked around the bookcases until he finally saw a tall, skinny brunette searching for a book. He walked towards her, she had her head tilted as she read the names of the books on their spine. He forced a smile on his face and came closer.

"Riley, hey!" He said, she shrieked and dropped the books she was holding. Lucas reached down and grabbed them before she could, when he stood up he made sure he was a little too close to her. He smiled at her and she put her hair behind her ear, forced to look at him. "Here you go... Or I can carry them for you while you look for the other ones." He made a pause, she had flushed. "Only if you don't mind."

"No, of course not." She took a step back and turned to the bookcase. He read the titles on the books he was holding, they were for English literature.

"What book are you missing?" He asked, looking at her ass as she leaned down to take a book, just to put it back. She was really pretty, delicate features and a body that belonged in a runway.

"Fahrenheit 451, but I can't seem to find it." She stood up straight again, her eyes searching every shelf. He looked too, and easily found the book in the highest shelf in the B's. He wasn't sure why she hadn't seen it, but he was going to wait until she did. Her eyes went up and suddenly they widened in surprise, before she reacted Lucas moved too, making both of them reach for the book at the same time.

"I see it." He said, their hands met over the book and she retreated hers as soon as she touched him. She was really tall, so when she turned to see him, their faces were very close. She had panic in her eyes and if he was right even a little excitement.

He smiled at her, all cute and innocent, because that's what Lucas knew about her, and one of the most basic but successful strategy of attraction is mirroring.

"Hi." He said, looking at her eyes, she was finally maintaining their eye contact, her eyes sparkling.

"Hi." She said in a small voice, a million things were passing through her head, Lucas knew that, so before she started getting self conscious about her breath or her freckles of literally anything, he stepped back.

He gave her the book, touching her hand when she received it. It was the small details that matter, she would pay attention to them, he was sure, he had noticed her perfectly trimmed nails, they were also clean so she paid attention to that kind of stuff, everything about her said she was a perfectionist, her image, her body language, her manners.

"What are these for?" He asked, fixing his empty backpack.

"My English lit class, I need some quotes for my essay but I forgot to mark the pages so now I'm here and I have to look for all of them and... you probably don't care about my class." She looked at the floor again, she was very insecure, this was going to be easy.

"No, please... I don't have a lot of friends yet, so it's nice to talk to someone for a change."

"You don't seem like the kind of guy that lacks on friends."

"Looks can be deceiving." He said with a half smile. He didn't want to scare her away, he had to be careful with her. "You're very pretty, yet you are at the library with three very philosophical books putting effort on your class, it doesn't seem like you, but who am I to judge you so fast, right?"

"You're right, I'm sorry... I don't usually find myself talking to guys like you."

"I hope you... get to me better." He scratched the back of his head, to show her he could be as nervous as she was.

Riley tried to hide a small smile, what he was doing was definitely working, though he needed her trust first and he could see that wouldn't take much work. They sat together in a table, he was helping her to find the pages she wanted for her project. She told him all about her AP courses, she was very dedicated to school, being on the top of the class after the skinny guy they called Farkle. She told him all about the teachers he had that year and what they liked and what they disliked (which was very useful for Lucas, who was so resistant on doing his own school work), she liked to talk a lot once she felt comfortable around other people, and probably felt a lot safer with a table between her and the new guy with the foamy eyes and that grin that she found herself watching constantly.

He had noticed all of this, of course, but found it to be a cute part of her personality.

"What about Mr. Mathews? He seems like a good teacher." Lucas asked her, putting a post-it on the corner of the page.

"I feel like I have to say he is, giving he is my dad." She said naturally, keeping her eyes on the book she was holding. Lucas raised his brow in surprise, he now saw the distinct features they shared (the chin, their eyes and the ears, all parental signs). Riley looked up at him, who still had a shocked face, she giggled at his reaction.

"You must be acing that class." He said and she laughed.

"I think he tries to be unbiased, but it hasn't worked out very well, sometimes he tells me what he's asking in a test for mistake and sometimes he qualifies my work harder than others. It's... a messy relationship." She finished smiling.

"Yeah, it sounds like one." He remarked, laughing. "It looks like I'm finished with this one." He closed the book and put it in a pile.

"Thanks again for helping me out."

"It's fine, you are great company." He said looking at her with an honest smile. "I should go now, I have to finish the questions for history, my partner didn't help much." He wanted to see her reaction because he knew they were friends. Riley was a little concentrated on her thoughts before snapping out.

"Oh, yes, you were with Maya." She laughed. "Good luck trying to make her work."

"Are you guys close friends?" He asked, Riley snorted at his question, it was very intriguing because she was so polite to people.

"We are the best of friends, we've known each other forever, look..." She said showing her right hand to him. "We even have friendship rings." She smiled.

"I see." For Lucas it was all coming together, Maya had the same ring and she took care of it, their relationship was something interesting, he had to see them together to understand it more, for know they looked like completely different individuals.

"Do you want my answers? Farkle and I finished them on class."

"Hmm?" Lucas was out of the conversation, thinking about the two girls. "Oh, that'd be great." Riley leaned down to get her backpack from the floor but Lucas stopped her putting his hand on top of hers.

"Why don't I give you my number and you can send me the pictures?" He looked carefully at her.

"It's fine, it will just take me a second to take it out." Lucas laughed, wondering if she was serious.

"Riley I— want you to have my number." He said, she was looking at his hand still touching her.

"Oh..." She managed to say, blushing a little. She removed her hand from underneath and took her cellphone out of her pocket to give it to him. As he added his number, she had taken a strand of hair between her fingers, looking senselessly at the table.

"Here you go." He said, breaking her trance. "I should get going now."

Lucas picked his bag from the table and thought about giving her a kiss on the cheek, but stopped not wanting to scare her.

"Sure, I'll send you the answers." She said, finally looking at his eyes, he smiled.

"I'll see you around." He said, walking away, checking again for her before leaving the library, she was still looking at him. He headed out of the school to the busy sidewalk with a grin in his face and a victim in his pocket.