Tamed by the Bad Boy Next Door

A Girl and Her Boys

“Today is a good day,” a girl said with a dreamy sigh.

Seated at a cafeteria table, she had both her elbows propped in front of her, her curled hands supporting her cheeks as she stared off in the distance.

Though her three companions didn’t need to look to know what this was about, they glanced in the direction she was looking at anyway.

Predictably, what met their eyes was a boy with a pretty face sitting at another table.

“You got a new one, Ains?” asked Remi, the girl’s best friend.

Ainsley didn’t mind how dismissive her friend had sounded. The eye candy in her line of sight more than made up for it, as well as for the fed-up looks her other friends were giving her.

“How many does that make now?” a small cute-faced guy called Axel wondered, addressing no one in particular.

Beside him, the plump Haya responded, “Dunno. I’ve stopped counting at twenty.”

Ignoring the two, Ainsley said, “I was really sad when the seniors graduated last year, but the freshman batch isn’t too bad either. Who would have thought they’d more than make up for it? It’s been so fun finding all these new gems…”

Except for Ainsley herself, the group of nineteen-year-olds continued eating their lunch while talking about other topics, basically ignoring her. They had long ago given up this friend of theirs as a lost cause.

Basically, Ainsley Maria Torres was an unapologetically flighty girl who was much too in love with the idea of love. She seemed to be suffering from a misconception that it was all fun and games and that anything was permissible as long as it made her happy.

They just considered it lucky that all she really did was ogle and follow good-looking people around with her heart-shaped eyes. Back in their own freshman year, while their friendship was still in its early stages, they had tried to heckle her for it, but the girl simply didn’t care.

It was really strange. With her own pretty looks, naturally tan skin, and long wavy hair, she could have been popular herself if she wanted to.

But she had never been interested in an actual relationship. She just liked having this massive collection of crushes, making it her mission to have someone to moon over wherever she happened to be on their university campus.

As there were really so many, it was hard for the others to take all these declarations of affection seriously. They sometimes wished one of those boys she had a crush on would also take an interest in her. Once she had an actual boyfriend, maybe she could retire her wandering eyes and just stick to looking at one person.

Unfortunately—but not unexpectedly—most of those boys always ended up getting too weirded out by her. It couldn't be denied, after all, that she had the makings of a crazy girlfriend—not to mention an even crazier ex. The situation was hopeless.

“Just please be careful, Ains,” Remi said worriedly, having witnessed how the boy Ainsley was currently ogling caught her and looked away with a frown of discomfort. “One of these days, I swear, you’re going to get yourself into trouble.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine~” Ainsley replied, completely unbothered. Another group had just entered the cafeteria, and as luck would have it, two of her other crushes were among them. She happily shifted her full attention in their direction and barely remembered to eat her own food.

Sighing as she gave up, Remi met the eyes of her other two friends, who only shrugged as if to say that there was no helping it. At the end of the day, as long as she wasn’t hurting anyone, it was all just harmless fun.

***

‘Weirdo at two o’clock.’

The first thing Sebastian Martell noticed when he walked into the cafeteria was That Girl. He had no idea what her actual name was, but ever since their freshman year, this girl who was taking a different course from him and his friends had been on his radar.

And not in a good way.

Even though their eyes had never met because it was never him she was looking at, it was impossible for him not to notice her given the way she stared at two of his companions.

At any given time, whether it was the slim and scholarly-looking Jay or the tall and easygoing Lewis who was the current object of her attention, her eyes always had that same look, as if she was imagining all sorts of romantic scenarios starring either of them and herself.

It always made him scoff inwardly, and he’d made it a point never to draw his friends’ attention to her.

What a silly girl, Seb would sometimes think.

But at other times, when he was feeling generous, he’d only pity her.

As far as he was concerned, anyone who thought “love” was anything more than a bag of bullsh*t deserved a serious reality check.

Sure, it might feel good and exciting in the beginning, but eventually, it would only lead to bitterness and heartbreak. Successful relationships were the exception and not the rule. For most people, the pursuit of love was just a pointless dance to fill what would otherwise be an empty existence.

Seb never wanted to have anything to do with it. From a young age, he had been a witness to his own parents’ deteriorating relationship. When he entered his teens, it was then revealed that both his parents already had lovers on the side, prompting them to finally separate.

What was truly messed up, however, was that neither parent’s relationship with their lover had lasted long either. They had gone out of their way to ruin their family with these side pieces, but in the end, they still had nothing to show for it.

First they loved each other, and then they didn’t. Both with his parents and with their eventual strings of lovers, this had always been the pattern.

Who the hell could witness all of that and still take any of it seriously?

That Girl had obviously not been exposed enough to this reality or her head wouldn’t still be stuck in the clouds.

To be fair, though, it’s not like she was the only one. Male, female, etc., most people weren’t immune to the sweet promise of those “beginnings.”

Case in point, his friend Jay.

“Um, guys?” that friend said self-consciously.

Their group was lining up at the food counter to get their trays filled. When Seb happened to look down, he saw that Jay was holding two trays.

Once he had everyone’s attention, Jay asked, “Is it all right if Colleen joined us today?”

“Why?” asked Lewis in a joking tone. “So you can rub it in our faces that you have a girlfriend now?” Just as Jay was looking guilty and torn over this, Lewis placed a friendly arm over his shoulders and shook him a little. “Sure thing.”

Two others in the group joined in the ribbing but also gave their enthusiastic blessings.

This left only Seb who was yet to give a response. As one, Jay and the rest turned their eyes on their black-haired and serious-looking friend, their expressions ranging from nervous to amused.