A cold-blooded bastard

SKYLAR

I arrived at school the next day with my heart in my mouth. The thought of Giselle telling everyone what happened kept me awake and terrified all night. I woke up this morning, lying about having a stomachache. But then I recalled that I had to turn in the homework, so I dropped the act and got ready for school. Still, I was freaking out all the way leading here.

Stepping into the school gave me monstrous chills. But so far, no one has said anything to me. I was still invincible to everyone. I hope it stays quiet for the rest of the day. I’d be glad to know I worried over nothing.

I put in my lock combination, opened my locker, and took out my books. From the corner of my eyes, I caught sight of Giselle and her minions making their entrance. I turned sharply, forcing my face inside my locker and praying so hard that she wouldn’t recognize me. And she didn’t. or maybe she did and decided to let me off, I don’t know.

The bottom line is, she didn’t come for me and that gave me so much relief. Shutting my locker, I turned to head for my first class.

"Sage, watch out!" A voice yelled just the same time I got heavily bumped into and hit the ground butt-first hard, with my books scattering around me.

"Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry. Are you alright?" A remarkable, subtly deep voice asked.

Ignoring the pain I was feeling, I quickly reached for my books. "Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry about it."

I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t care. I just didn’t wanna be part of a scene and give people a reason to stare at me.

"Here, let me help you," the voice said again, and a hand started reaching for my books. I had yet to look at him, but his cologne was rich. A rich scent that was extremely unaffordable by a commoner. Then I finally looked at him and my eyes got stuck on him. He too, on me.

Oh, dear God. Sage? Like, Sage Walker?

"Hello, Skylar," he smiled.

My eyes widened. "You-you know my name?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." The mesmerizing smile still lingered on his face, leaving me both enchanted and gobsmacked.

How was it that he knew me? We were both from different worlds, literally.

First off, he was Sage Walker, the Alpha heir of Devlin Hills Pack, a neighboring Pack of ours, and the richest, only coming second to our Pack.

Secondly, he was from the League A class, like the other rich kids.

Thirdly, He was a hotshot like Ash Gunner. They were both the highlight of Filmonth High, the heartthrobs of every girl here. But they also seem to be in some kind of rivalry. I don’t know what it’s about and I don’t care. It just doesn’t make sense that he knows my name.

Yeah, we might be in the same grade, but we’ve never shared a class. The school had special classrooms for all the rich kids here, the hotshots. 'The League-As,' as they are fondly called. They had their floor, hallways, lockers, and everything, so there were no chances of us meeting,

We’ve never met until now. So how does he know my name? And why the heck was I having first-time meetings with the kings of the school? First, it was Ash Gunner, kissing me out of the blue yesterday. And now, I just bumped into Sage Walker. Goddess, what game is this? It was beginning to freak me out.

"Thank you," I mumbled as we both stood. I tried walking away but he stepped in front of me.

"Ain’t you gonna ask how I know your name?" It didn’t help that he was giving me that smile. I was investing a lot of self-control not to drool at his facial perfection.

Yeah, I was curious to know how. But at the same time, I didn’t wanna know. I didn’t wanna dig deep.

"She’s prettier up close," a guy commented from behind him. And only then did I notice there were five guys with him. Yeah, Sage Walker always moved with a clique. I guess they were guys from his Pack.

And wait. What did he mean by ‘she’s prettier up close?’

"She is, isn’t she?" Sage bit his lower lip, running his eyes over my body with a lazy, bad-boy smile.

What’s going on? Am I being sold? Have they been talking about me? Gosh, no. Even the thought of that sounded too absurd. The almighty Sage Walker would never find anything interesting in a common, introverted Imega like me. Never.

"Thanks again," I was nervous as hell and tried again to walk away. This time, he didn’t stop me. But I had to halt at the commotion that erupted in the hallway.

"OMG, it's Ash Gunner!" A random, feminine voice shrieked.

What?!

I turned around. It was indeed him, rocking a different black attire and finishing it with a black trench coat. Has the world completely lost its balance or has there been some kind of alteration in the school rules?

What were the both of them doing in this hallway? What’s really going on?

It didn’t help that I was feeling too jittery at the sight of him. Memories of last night flooded my mind and I could only hope he already forgot about it. He didn’t have a clue who I was when he kissed me yesterday. That was a relief and would make him forget what I looked like.

"What’s his cocky ass doing down here?" Sage muttered with an edgy tone. He was glaring at Ash Gunner. Whatever rivalry they had sure was deep for him to look so pissed.

"He could be cocky but he sure knows how to make an entrance. Even without a clique," the guy behind Sage Walker replied. Sage threw him a glare and returned his gaze to Ash.

The guy was right though. Ash Gunner was a terrifying one-man squad.

It was hard to think a guy like him didn’t have a clique, but that was the truth. Ash Gunner doesn’t have friends. Sure, he has a bunch of people at his beck and call but no one has a close bond with him. He never lets anyone close enough.

Maybe because he was such a hotshot and didn’t think anyone was worthy of being close to him.

"Ash!" The crowd parted as a girl approached him, dressed to the nines, you could tell she was a League A student just by her getup. She stopped in front of him, folding her arms.

Ash had a scowl on his face, spiked with a disgusted look. He swallowed hard, and I found myself ogling at the throbbing nerves around his Adam’s apple.

"You took this hallway because you thought I wouldn’t find you? You’re pathetic," the girl spattered out, generating gasps from all angles.

I guess this was another female drama, like the one he was involved in last night, and used me to get out of it. Just what did he do to these ladies?

"Pathetic is you, stalking me like you’ve got nothing better to do with your life. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, so I’ll say it for everyone to hear. WE ARE FUCKING DONE!"

"Bastard," Sage cussed silently, still watching the scene unfold. Everyone else was watching too. In just a few seconds, the hallway has become crammed with students.

"Really?" The girl broke into a sob. "Was that why you made a show of kissing another girl in the nightclub last night?"

My breath hitched. Oh my God. She knows of it. How many more know? What if they come for me?

"Who’s the bitch? Who’s the tramp you left me for, you cold-blooded bastard?!" She yelled hysterically, hitting his chest.

Ash didn’t budge. I hadn’t realized why, until I snapped out of my thoughts, looked up, and was met with those grey eyes from last night. He was staring at me. Goddess, he saw me! He was flatly watching me in front of these people!

"I thought you had a class to go to," it was Sage, calling my attention and forcing me to break eye contact with Ash.

I glanced at him, and then at Ash whose full, arched, and skillfully lined brows were raised and his stare had become more intent. A few people had traced his gaze and were beginning to stare at me. I couldn’t afford to stick around anymore.

So I quickly nodded, turned, and fled to my class. But my racing heart couldn’t forget that he saw me. He recognized me. So last night did happen, and just might not be forgotten as easily as I thought.