5. His Prey
Kiara and Rachel, as usual, were talking about the clothes and accessories while Marley listened and nodded occasionally. The cafeteria was filled with students, munching on their foods. Sanjay sat with his friends at another table. He occasionally looked at Marley and smiled and she returned the same. It had been two days since she joined the school. Sanjay was right, stares did die down. Nobody was glaring at her anymore except one, Eden Brown.
She could feel his eyes on her right now but refused to acknowledge it and concentrated on food and her friends.
These past days had been good for Marley. She found a really cool bicycle at Mrs. Sherman's place and was now riding it to school. It was faster than walking and cheaper than a car. Her morning breakfast was starting to get better day by day ( they were still burnt but didn't smell like charcoal anymore). She wasn't what you call a good cook. She had made really good friends. Life was going good.
"Hey." A captivating voice spoke from the behind, pulling Marley out of her thoughts and causing small shivers of throughout her body. It was husky but held some tenderness.
They all turned around to see Eden standing behind Marley. His eyes never wavering from hers. She quickly looked away blushing. She saw Rachel and Kiara looking at him as if they saw a singing walrus. To say they were surprised was an understatement.
"Hey." They all said in unison, almost choking on their food. He spared a quick glance to Rachel and Kiara before turning back to Marley.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked.
"Me... okay." Marley replied looking down with hesitation. Her voice was tiny due to nervousness that came with talking to him.
She mustered the courage to face him again. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows, gesturing him to begin.
"Alone." He said raising his eyebrows.
"Alone?" She saw Eden press his lips, probably to stifle a laugh.
She looked at her friends for a moment then nodded. He started walking and she followed. Soon, they reached outside and were standing under the shade of a tree.
She stood there looking everywhere else but him and he just gaped at her unflinchingly. She could feel her heartbeat rising and drops of sweat on her forehead. She had always been a nervous nelly but was not prepared for this sudden turmoil of all kind of emotions. A whole minute passed in awkward silence.
"Marley, will you go out with me?" Finally, he said breaking the silence. There was a strange smile on his face.
Her mind went numb for a second. She could feel the heat on her cheeks. She might have never blushed as this much in her span of eighteen years as she was doing for last three days. Unconsciously, her eyes went up to look at him. She realized this was the first time that she was standing really close to him. She took in his every feature. How his jawline looked so defined even when he smiled. His eyes staring at her intensely were brown like dark chocolate, and she could get lost in them for forever. His silky black hair was tousled only making him look more gorgeous. How much she wanted to run her fingers through them.
She snapped out of her lustful thoughts and immediately looked down again. He was one of them. She realized she didn't want to date a guy who bullied others, no matter how sexy he looked.
"No." That's all that could escape her mouth.
"Why?" He furrowed his eyebrows and his jaws tightened.
"I-I j-just don't date and I have no plans to do so in the near future." She said stuttering. It was an honest answer but only contained half the reason. She had no intentions to offend one of the scariest guys of the school.
They were dangerous.
An arrogant smirk appeared on Eden's face. His eyes narrowed, containing the glint of wickedness.
"I really hoped for the easy way to work. You could have just said yes and it all would have been so easy. Hard way it is then." He said letting out a sigh.
"Huh...what?" She was taken aback by his bluntness.
"Look, sweetheart one way or another we are going to end up together. Might as well save some time. Just say yes."
"You don't take rejection well. Do you?" Marley was done playing nice. She meant to say that angrily but her tone betrayed her and made it sound like a weak remark. Anger was not the emotion that she was used to expressing.
"No, I don't. Especially not from you sweetheart." The smirk never left his face.
"It's Marley, not sweetheart..." She said gritting her teeth. "And we are not going out... Not now not ever." She finished making sure he heard her crystal clear. She turned around and walked away, not waiting for his another arrogant remark.
He stood there, watching her leave. His smirk disappeared and his eyes followed her retreating figure taking in every little detail. Only if she knew how much she affected him.
Marley entered the cafeteria and quickly took her seat beside Kiara and Rachel.
"Well, what happened?" Rachel asked tilting her head a little.
"What a jerk?" Marley replied annoyed.
"Tell me about it. All of them are jerks, babe. His whole circle is full of them." Kiara said rolling her eyes.
A few minutes later Eden walked in and his eyes immediately landed on Marley. His gaze looked that of a predator. And Marley felt as if she was the prey.