From the Bad Boy with Love

Second Encounter

The second day she met him started out with a sheer panic. 

For some reason her alarm clock hadn’t gone off to wake her up for school and when she eventually stirred and checked the time on her phone, it showed that she was going to be late if she didn’t start running immediately.

Rosa sprang out of bed and reached for the nearest clothes that had been dumped on the computer chair in her bedroom. Jeans, a t- shirt and a hoodie were decent enough clothes. It wasn’t anything that would impress anyone, but it was suitable for school. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and rushed down the stairs.

She was most definitely too late for breakfast at home so she grabbed a waffle and jammed it into her mouth as she ran through the house. Her brother and father weren’t there so she knew it really was late. A glance at the clock in the hallway confirmed that she still had a chance to make homeroom on time..

Rosa put on her shoes that were dumped by the door and began her mad dash to school. It was now a familiar route after two months of moving to the US and she was confident enough about running it without paying much attention.

She knew she must look a sight with windswept brown curls and a waffle shoved in her mouth. Rosa wasn’t the type that really cared about her appearance. As long as she looked decent, everything would be all right.

By the time she arrived at the school gates her lungs were burning and her legs were painful. She couldn’t slow down though, she knew she would never get there in time if she stopped to take a breath.

Rosa checked her phone and saw she had two minutes to make it through the entrance and to her homeroom. She sprinted forward into the path of an incoming car and barely managed to avoid being hit.

Being a hot blooded person she simply ran on and waved her middle finger in the car’s direction without much care. Whoever was in the car would just be another pupil and high schoolers were past the age of caring about being sworn at.

Rosa ran full sprint into her classroom and didn’t stop until she reached her desk at the back. She threw herself down into the chair and allowed herself to take a much needed deep breath.

“Wow! You made it with five seconds to spare,” her best friend on the next desk commented in admiration. “The teacher is actually running slightly late so you’ve got some time to uh, wipe the sweat off your face.”

Her best friend was a sarcastic girl with dyed blue hair called Mia and a fashion style that could only be summarised as punk.

The two of them made a combination that made sense. Mia kept to herself and Rosa was an overseas transfer who was shy when speaking English. She appreciated that Mia hadn’t bombarded her with questions or asked her to say things in Italian like everyone else had. Mia had ended up making the first move and now they were best friends.

Mia handed over a tissue and Rosa patted the sweat off her face. She hadn’t realised how hot she was. Mia helped her cool down by fanning her with a textbook.

“Can’t have you looking sweaty when he arrives,” she commented mysteriously.

“Who’s he?” Rosa asked with curiosity.

“Look around at all the girls,” Mia replied instead of explaining. “There’s a clue there.”

Rosa hadn’t paid any heed to the atmosphere in the room when she had run in and now she was sensing something in the air. Most people were gazing at the door with hopeful eyes and the only girls in the room not checking their appearances in hand mirrors or phone cameras were herself and Mia.

The boys weren’t that much different. They were puffing out their chests or folding their arms.The feeling in the air was suspense mixed with excitement. Mia tried to think of what could be happening. She had only been at the school for two months so she didn’t have much to reference.

“Is a really scary teacher coming?” she asked.

Mia snorted.

“That’s an innocent guess. I mostly forgot about him and never mentioned him to you as there didn’t seem to be much point,” she said.

That didn’t sate Rosa’s curiosity at all. As her father said, once she had caught onto a sniff of something, she wouldn’t stop until everything was revealed.

“What are you talking about? It will be much easier for me to understand if you just tell me everything,” she said.

Mia’s gaze was fixed on the door and she grinned suddenly. Rosa turned around and saw their homeroom teacher was finally walking in with someone behind her.

It was a boy. A very good looking boy.

Now she understood the excitement.

Rosa’s older brother had been the school heartthrob back in Italy and carried on that status at their American high school. Her standard for good looking boys was impossibly high due to that. This boy was pretty up there.

His face was perfect without any blemishes, his lips looked plump and full. They were even curved into a lethal smirk. His hair was straight and shining in a way that only models manage. His bangs were side swept across his forehead and came close to obscuring his intense eyes. The mysterious boy’s clothes were loose and black. His jeans were covered in chains and eyelets and his hoodie was from an expensive brand.

The excitement in the air reached its peak and she could hear the whispers of the girls nearest to her.

“It really is him…”

“He’s got hotter since last time I saw him…”

“I’m going to faint if he looks at me…”

Rosa raised her eyebrows. Whoever this boy was, he was popular.

The teacher cleared her throat loudly and the class fell into silence.

“As you can see, Lukas Kingston has returned from his study abroad,” she informed them and turned to him. “Lukas, go to your seat.”

Rosa watched as he began his walk across the classroom. His stride was confident and uncaring. She enjoyed seeing the wide eyes and red cheeks from the girls he walked past. As the sister of a heartthrob she had seen similar scenes before.

She was having fun observing until he came to a stop right in front of her. It allowed her to see his breathtaking face up close, but her heart was also beating fast. Why was he at her desk?

It all became clear when he finally spoke.

“You’re in my seat.”