The next day, I walked into detention with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for people who just realized they left their phone on an airplane. The kind of enthusiasm that vanishes as soon as you're in the room with a guy who has already managed to make your life ten times more complicated in a span of 48 hours.
I took a deep breath and scanned the room. A couple of guys were playing cards, another girl was reading a romance novel that was probably less dramatic than what I was about to go through, and… then there was Zayne.
He was lounging in the back corner like this was a VIP lounge, a half-smirk on his face, and his feet kicked up on the desk. He didn't look like someone in trouble. He looked like someone who had made trouble and was now enjoying watching the fallout.
Of course, he had a front-row seat for the disaster that was about to unfold.
I rolled my eyes and walked to the farthest corner of the room. The absolute last thing I needed was to be near him.
"Hey, Princess," Zayne called, voice dripping with sarcasm, but there was a hint of something that made my heart do something stupid again. "You're not gonna sit back there like a boring, invisible girl, are you?"
"I don't know. I was kinda hoping for the 'no one notices me and I don't have to deal with your ridiculous face' experience," I shot back, but the words came out way less convincing than I wanted them to.
He grinned.
I hated him for it. I loved him for it. And I hated myself for it.
"Nah, come on. You can't ignore me for an entire hour. I'm way too interesting for that," he teased, leaning back in his chair like he was auditioning for some 'world's most casually dangerous guy' contest.
"Well, I've got a lot of important stuff to do," I muttered, reaching for my notebook and pretending I had some grand plan for getting through the next 60 minutes without losing my mind. The truth was, I had zero intention of working. I was just trying not to pass out from sheer embarrassment.
But of course, that wasn't going to work, because Zayne wasn't done. He never was.
"What's up, Princess?" he asked, loud enough for the entire room to hear. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Afraid of me?"
I flicked him a glance, annoyed. "Yeah, sure, I'm terrified of you. The guy who just found out I'm terrified of chemistry. What do you even do in class — just show up and be perfect?"
Zayne smirked and then proceeded to actually do what I just said. He slid his notebook open to the page we were supposed to be working on and wrote out the whole thing in like 30 seconds.
I stared at him. "How do you even do that?"
He shrugged like he hadn't just made my life a living nightmare. "I have secrets, Princess." He leaned closer, and I swear, for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. "Wanna learn some?"
"Oh my God," I groaned, fighting the urge to smack him with my textbook. Instead, I mumbled, "No, I'm good. I just came here to pretend to be productive so no one notices how much of a wreck I am."
"That's the spirit," Zayne grinned. "Pretend to study, and maybe, just maybe, no one will realize you're a hot mess on the inside."
"Great. Let's just add 'existential crisis' to the list of reasons I need to leave this school and go live in a cave," I said, sarcastically, but the moment I said it, I realized how true it was. The feeling of not fitting in had never been so overwhelming.
"Look, Ariella," Zayne said, his tone shifting from playful to… something else. "You can pretend you're fine all you want, but if you keep bottling up your problems, one day, you're gonna explode. Trust me, I know."
I blinked at him, suddenly feeling like I'd been hit with a ton of bricks. He had a point. He always had a point. But I wasn't ready to admit that.
"Well, maybe if you weren't such a massive pain in my life, I wouldn't need to bottle up anything," I shot back, trying to sound confident, but failing miserably.
He chuckled and gave me a look. "I'm the pain in your life? Sweetheart, I'm the best thing that's happened to you in a while."
I gaped at him. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, you heard me." Zayne leaned in closer. "Admit it. You love the chaos."
"No, I don't," I said, but even I could tell it sounded weak. My heart was betraying me again, pounding in my chest like it was cheering for him. "I hate everything about you."
"Liar," he shot back, but there was something in his voice that told me he wasn't just teasing anymore.
"You have a very weird way of flirting, Carter." I threw up my hands, exasperated. "Are you always like this? Because if so, you can keep the charm to yourself."
He winked. "I've got a lot of charm, Princess. You'll get used to it."
Just as I was about to respond with a snarky comeback, the door slammed open, and in walked Mia, her high heels clicking like she was about to start a war.
"Oh, how lovely," she said in a voice so sweet it made my teeth ache. "Still here, Carter? Or are you just keeping the new girl company?"
Zayne's smirk never faded. "Just teaching her some valuable life lessons, Mia. You know, like how to survive high school without combusting from the pressure."
Mia's eyes flashed with annoyance, but she didn't dare argue. She knew she was losing the battle. Instead, she stalked to the other side of the room and glared at me as if I were a bug she was about to squash.
"Don't mind her," Zayne said, his voice dropping a bit lower as if to make sure no one else could hear. "She's just mad because I don't care."
"Care about what?" I asked, not sure if I even wanted to know.
"About her," Zayne said, voice dripping with casual indifference. "But you, Princess — now, that's a whole different story."