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This book has mature content: cursing and romance and some violence. If you get triggered by any of this, then please don’t read! If not, please do read, it would be much appreciated! <3

Elizabeth Newman was exhausted from the week of school. She was glad for the three-day weekend, thanks to Labor Day. Cristi Richards had taken it too far today. After the bell rang for everyone to leave, Elle had clumsily dropped her papers. Cleaning them up, she stuffed them into her blue sparkly notebook, throwing a curse or two around, and turned around to find Cristi in front of her. Elle jumped at the sight of the girl. Cristi had pale blonde hair that just barely brushed the tips of her thighs. She was tall, skinny and had a rectangular body shape.

“Oh you poor thing, are you okay?” She gave Elle a big lip and stepped closer, crossing her arms over her flat chest.

“Cristi, enough,” Elle recognized the masculine voice. It was stern, deep and charming; it was Jason’s.

“I’m just having a little fun,” Cristi looked the small girl up and down with her dark brown, almost black, eyes that could nearly slice a person in half. Elizabeth wouldn’t put that theory past Cristi.

“You’ve had your fun. Now leave Elizabeth alone,” Elle couldn’t believe it. Jason knew her name. She could feel the tingles of warm breath on the back of her neck, it made her hair stand. And, somehow, she just knew he was behind her. She felt hot all over as her mind went blank as thick waves of heat coursed through her body. She was pulled out of it by a low growl coming from behind her. Was Jason growling? Elle couldn’t believe what she was hearing, it made her feel uneasy and weird.

“Fine,” Cristi hissed, her voice a near-growl, too. Elle could have sworn she saw a ring of honey gold enrich Cristi’s dark eyes. “What are you looking at?”

“N-nothing,” Elle’s voice shook, she felt confused and scared that Cristi would try something. Last week it was throwing her into one of the desks when the teachers were out in the hall. Of course, none of them had seen it, but Elle still had the bruise along her back to prove it--not that she would. She couldn’t believe how much strength the petite girl had. Elizabeth gulped down a large breath of warm, stale air and darted around Cristi and left the near-empty classroom. The teachers were all outside the classroom talking about their plans for their “long overdue” weekend.

Elle dashed to her locker, books clutched to her heaving chest, hoping Cristi was far, far behind her.

As she walked through the diminishing hallways, her thoughts drifted off to forbidden places. Places that revolved around Jason Summers. She knew he would never be interested in a girl like her. She was a nerdy, Star Wars loving, tree-climbing girl. As far as Elle could tell, Cristi was the opposite. She was a gossip-loving, unfriendly, perfect teenager with no horrid history, like Elle.

Jason was dating Cristi, and that meant that he was off limits. Though it was tough for her, considering her mind was hard for her to control. She would have daydreams of him: they would be trapped in a classroom, it’s dark and neither of them would be able to control themselves, and they’d share long, luscious kisses that would last an eternity. Just thinking about it made her cheeks flood with a rose color as her stomach cluttered with butterflies.

Once Elle reached her navy blue locker, she put in her locker combo and opened her door, grabbed her phone and house keys--which hung on a black lanyard--which she put around her neck. She knew her brother would be waiting for her in the parking lot. He was only a month younger. Though he was her half brother, he could pass for her fraternal twin if they both dressed the same. Elle’s best friend, Violet, had even mentioned they looked identical.

“Elizabeth,” called a voice from behind her. It was the same, soothing voice she’d heard earlier. Chills danced up and down Elle’s spine at the sound of his voice. Turning on her heel, she came face to face with a tall, lanky body. This body belonged to a handsome, shaggy brown-haired Jason.

“Y-yes,” she was startled. She could barely stand on her own two feet when he was near. “That’s me,” she bared her pearly white teeth in a stretched smile, feeling her face flush with a vibrant, bright color.

He smiled back with a cute, crooked smile, “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Cristi can be...” he paused, as if searching for the right word, “overbearing.” Elle felt a sudden wave of contentment that Jason understood Elizabeth; that he would stand up for her no matter the situation. Her heart danced at the thought.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to find a comfortable position to talk to him. So far, it wasn’t going well. She couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of unease when he was near. There was just something about him that threw her off, something that separated him from all of the other boys at her school. And, she was sure it wasn’t his boyish charms or popularity.

“Good,” he began, sounding hesitant. He turned around and Elle thought he was done talking with her and went back to her normal business. Letting out a shaky breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, she locked her locker door and turned around to find Jason right beside her again, staring at her with his intense hazel eyes. She jumped, surprised, and suddenly noticed that he wasn’t much taller than she was--but she was still shorter. “Do you want to hang out sometime?” His voice was rushed, as if he were almost embarrassed to ask.

“Uh,” she didn’t know what to say. He really had to stop sneaking up on her like that. “S--sure,” Elle’s insides were bursting with excitement, almost as if fireworks were going off all at once. Her face stretched as a huge smile formed. She was trying to contain herself around him, she didn’t want to scare him off so soon. Maybe they would finally become friends and she’d be able to make a move--no stop, she scolded herself. It’s never going to happen.

“I’ll give you my number so we can work out the details,” she watched his every move as he pulled a thick black pen out from the front of his blue jean pocket and touched her wrist. A spark raced up her arm and through her body. She gasped as his touch sent chills down her spine, making her shiver. She felt alive. She had never felt anything like this before. Her cheeks flushed once more, and she tried to hide her face in her long, wavy jet black hair before he could see it in her porcelain skin. She often wished her skin was darker, so when she blushed, no one could see the flush in her cheeks--especially when Jason was near.

She snuck a look into his hazel eyes, which were green, and she could have sworn she’d seen a thin circle of the same honey gold in Cristi’s eyes, appear in his eyes. The bright illumination was quick and gone in a flash.

“You’re eyes,” she whispered, baffled. “They’re... beautiful,” her mouth was half open in disbelief of what she’d said; she normally wasn’t this brave around anyone--especially not Jason.

He smirked, clearly knowing the effect he had on her. “Thanks,” his signature crooked grin made her insides drool with passion. He was so handsome. She couldn’t help but gawk at him. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it would rip a large hole in her chest and beat itself out of her chest at any given second. His eyes were turning brown as he wrote his number on her arm. They changed back to green as soon as he let go of her wrist and looked up at her. “Are you okay?” he sounded concerned. The bolts of electricity vanished, the aftereffects fading, and she suddenly wanted the feelings back. She wanted him to touch her arm again. She wanted him to touch her and never let her go.

“Sorry,” she shot her head down to the glossy white floors scuffed in dirt. “Lost in thought, I guess,” she made an excuse to cover up her stargazing look.

“I don’t mind,” he said arrogantly, his hands now stuffed in the front of his pockets.

Elle laughed nervously as her phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced down for a second to see it was a text from Basil, her half brother.

Basil: r u coming?

Elle suddenly remembered that her brother was waiting in the car for her. “I have to go,” she said aloof. “I will make sure to text you later,” she gave him a half-hearted smile before turning to walk out of the school’s back doors, her mind far away from the school and, surprisingly, away from Jason, too.

The Pennsylvania weather outside was warm and the sun felt nice on her cold skin, but it was nothing compared to the feelings she’d felt when she was with Jason. Nothing could compare to the fireworks he produced for her, that was for sure.

Elizabeth pulled out a short black dress, it wasn’t sexy or anything, just a plain, boring black dress. “What do you think?” panic rose in her chest. She thought she had nothing to wear... and Jason would be here in less than five minutes!

Her best friend, Violet Grayson plumped down on Elle’s pale pink comforter, making the bed move. “Uh,” she shook her head with a look of displease on the choice of outfit. “No. How about that butterfly shirt I borrowed last weekend?”

“Good idea,” Elle breathed in deep, unsure of why she was so nervous to go out with Jason tonight. She was sure it would be nothing more than friendly. Walking to the wooden door of her closet, she stopped short, turning slowly, “It’s in the washing machine. I didn’t have time to do laundry after I finished my homework.”

“That’s okay,” Violet stood, her caramel brown hair reached just below her shoulder blades. Elle felt hopeless, but when she looked into Violet’s humorous brown eyes, she felt at ease. Strutting over with sheer confidence, she entered Elle’s colorful closet and began to dig around, shuffling things around, mumbling under her breath.

Elle’s hopelessness began to dissolve as ice would to the sun’s rays. Violet made a few casual outfits out of some random pieces of clothing, and soon, Elle was ready to go.

Walking down the stairs in a loose-fitted, soft blue shirt--which made her bright, baby blue eyes stand out more--and black jeans, she reached the kitchen. Touching the cool doorknob, she twisted it, ready to leave. Only pausing when a voice erupted from behind her. “Liz?” the only person, besides her father, who called her that was Basil. “Where are you going?” Jumping, she turned, finding none other than Basil behind her. His green-eyed gaze calculatingly watching her. Their father had taken their younger brother, Scott, to his band concert a couple of minutes ago.

“I’m... uh... going outside for some fresh air,” she said, flinching at her horrible cover-up story. Elle had never snuck out of the house before, so this was all new to her. There was no doubt that she was terrible at it, and she knew it.

“Basil,” a voice rang down the stairs, followed by a soft thump of heeled boots. It was Violet, her dark freckles sprinkled across her face perfectly, like little constellations in the night sky. “You’re really good at Algebra and I’m really bad. Will you help me?” Violet wrapped her smooth brown arms around Basil’s arm, softly pulling at him to go with her. He wasn’t moving one inch. He may have been a little taller than his sister, but he had a little bit of muscle under those lanky sweaters he always wore.

“Where are you going Liz?” Basil asked again, seeming almost desperate to keep his sister alive and well. It was like he knew something she didn’t, but how was that possible? He didn’t even know where she was going; nor who she was going with.

She knew he wasn’t giving up easily, “just out,” she replied, still vague. Before turning completely around, she added over her shoulder, “don’t worry, I’ll be back before midnight.” And with that, she turned the doorknob open and made her way out into the dark, brisk air, finding her way to Jason’s already parked car.

Hey friends, thanks for reading. I really appreciate it! This story is also posted on Wattpad, my username is Hampton30, feel free to add me! <3