Lucas

I'm not a guy who chases girls. My pride is weak. I know I'd break.

Even though Victoria rejected me in front of the whole school, I won't leave her alone. Her rejection alone is a reason why I shouldn't stop. Maybe you don't see it as a good thing but my mom taught me to fight for what I want.

Tip 3: Show her you are interested in the chase.

And I want Victoria, the new girl. She's perfect for my new title.

"The restraining order will be at your house tomorrow."

"What?" I look at Carter in confusion.

"You've been staring at her for the past five minutes."

I quickly defend myself. "That's a lie." I glare at him and look at my empty locker.

"I calculated six minutes and thirty seconds, now thirty-three seconds, four, five... "

"I get it." I run a hand through my hair. "She's just very... charismatic?" That doesn't sound like the right word.

"Stalking her isn't the way to go."

"Just talk to her." Julian suggests while sitting against the lockers. "She's a very nice person."

"I don't know, man. There are other chicks in the sea, you feel me?" Carter places his hand around my shoulder, his mouth open in laughter.

"I think you mean fish." Julian shakes his head while highlighting something in his textbook.

I shrug off his hand. "I like her or something." I dust off my shoulder. "Even if she called me a "self-centered jerk"." I make finger quotation marks.

Carter places a granola bar in his mouth. "The nerve of these girls, man." He punches Julian in the shoulder.

Julian groans but attends to his wound. "You scheduled a date with her cousin and didn't arrive." Julian looks up at me with a raised eyebrow.

I scratch my neck. "I schedule a lot of dates so you can't expect me to remember them all."

"... That's exactly what she means when she called you a "self-centered jerk"."

"Oh." That sounds about right. "But I think deep down, she has a crush on me. Why else would she grab my chest like that."

Julian glances at me. "To prove the point that you don't intimidate her and that she stands her ground." Julian appears to be stressed.

Carter and I exchange a look. "Naaa." Can't be.

"Our friendship is over." Julian closes his book. "I'm going to ask the math teacher a question about the homework." He places his book inside his backpack and zips it up. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"No promises." Carter examines his teeth with his locker mirror. Julian walks away with a shake of his head.

I turn my head back. Victoria is still talking to her cousin and the girl, Shelby. The way she laughs is so happy and so natural. It makes me regret not knowing how to chase her properly.

"Five o'clock!" Carter shakes my shoulders and turns me toward the lockers as if we were huddling.

"What?" I snap.

"Nikki!" He places his hand on my shoulder and keeps me in place.

I roll my eyes. "I don't care!" I pull back.

My back hits a body and I hear the splatter of books behind me. I glare at Carter and turn around to see who I bumped into.

"Dude, Victoria is watching. Help the girl." Carter whispers in a hushed tone.

"Right!" I whisper back and bend down to pick up the books. "Are you okay?" I ask in a loud voice. The girl in the uniform nods with a hand on her forehead.

"Yeah." She chuckles. "But I think you gave me a headache." She looks up.

"I'm sorry about... " Nikki Young and I lock eyes. "That." I harden my eyes. Why am I not surprised? Out of everyone, fate decided the she-devil would be the one I would bump into.

"Are you okay? It seems as if I bumped into you." She smiles as she gets on her knees and gathers her books. From the corner of my eye, Victoria is still looking at us so I continue gathering her books.

Chemistry Honors? AP Civics and Economics? Creative Writing?! She used to bully art geeks and geeks in general!

Nikki stands up and places the books in her bag. I shake my head and hand the books over to her.

Victoria is watching.

Don't walk away.

Don't Walk Away.

"Thanks but you owe me a soda."

"What?" I make a face. Is this she - devil serious?

Nikki zips up her bag. "Sorry, I thought you'd feel at ease if I made a joke." Her smile is small.

Now I feel like a jerk. "Oh." A horrible joke.

Carter nudges my arm. "What?" I mouth.

"Tell her about me." He mouths back. I shove him away from me and into the lockers.

Nikki points a finger at Carter. "Hey, you look familiar." Nikki smiles at Carter. "Don't we have a class together?"

Carter turns red. "Yes." He moves his body beside mine. "We used to hang out freshman year too." His breathing comes out in puffs.

"Oh." Nikki places her bag on her shoulder. "Sorry. I don't remember much."

Why is she acting so nice? I narrow my eyes at her act. She used to forget people's names because their names didn't matter. Sometimes, she would give them some mean nicknames. She made many girls and a couple of guys cry. Not to mention, she made a couple teachers quit teaching.

"Anyway, I have to go to class." Nikki waves.

Good, I don't want to become friendly with this she-beast.

"Wait," Carter calls out. I groan.

She stops. "Yeah?" Her eyes look like my worst nightmare.

"How come you didn't hang out with us at lunch?"

"Carter," I hiss.

Nikki pushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "I like fresh air." Her next smile comes out forced.

"Really? You used to hate cheerleading at our games because they were outside."

"Oh." Nikki trails off and I can tell she feels uncomfortable. I am about to tell Carter off, but then I remember what she did to me, and I decide on looking at the floor. A piece of paper is by her feet.

I bend down and she jumps. With a roll of my eyes, I pick it up and hold it in the air. A locker combination and locker number. Carter snatches it out my hands, examines it and grins.

"Is this yours?" He holds it out for her to see.

Nikki's mouth turns into an 'O'. "Thanks. I need it so I can find my locker." She holds out her hand.

"No need," Carter responds. "It's this one."

"What?!" I scowl and snatch it back. And sadly, Carter is right. Her locker is beside mine.

Help.

"Oh." Nikki looks at the number and realization hits her face. "Thanks so much! I've been looking for it since the first period finished. It must have been somewhere in my pocket." She grabs the paper and jumps in her spot in excitement.

Argh, she's the worst.

"No problem." Carter winks. "I love helping my fellow classmates."

I snort. It's really quite the opposite.

Nikki smiles and begins fumbling with the lock on her locker. I roll my eyes at her act. Why is she acting so, so delicate? It disgusts me!

She used to have people that would open her locker and bring the books to her. It's no wonder why she can't open it.

"Here, I'll help."

My jaw drops at how nice Carter is acting. It makes me want to punch him in the face.

"Thanks." Nikki watches in fascination as Carter opens her locker. She nods at his instruction, locks the lock, and unlocks it by herself. "Wow, thanks. I'll take it home so I can practice." She hums and unlocks the lock. And smiles at Carter, smiles at me (a smile I don't return for obvious reasons), and waves before walking away.

"Wow." Carter whistles as his eyes stare at her retreating back. His posture folds and he leans against the lockers, a hand on his chest.

"Now whose the stalker."

"Shut up!" Carter's shoulders bump mine as he shuts his locker. "Did you see her see me?" He sighs, as if he were dreaming. "I think she loves me."

I chuckle bitterly. "Impossible. She-beasts don't love others. What they love is feasting on souls." I tap my chin. "She's a Soul Eater!" I snap my finger in amazement at myself.

Carter tsks. "Not clever. I would call her a sexy she-devil. She's like a sexy Nina Dobrev in black." Carter nods into space.

"That's not nice, man." I slap the back of his neck. "Nina Dobrev is better. You can't compare a she-beast with an angel."

"Actually, she was a vampire."

I try to act like I don't know what he's talking about.

"Like in the tv show."

He didn't have to make himself clear.

"I didn't have to say that, no?"

I shake my head "no".

Carter's face changes a pink shade. "Right." He walks away.

I roll my eyes and take my Chemistry book out. Though it's pointless because I don't study like that. Chemistry is a waste of time. But for my mom's sake, I'll try my best.

I examine the cover of the red rose. It reminds me of the flower background on Nikki's AP Civics and Economics book. How did she make it into the class? I know she got people to do her homework but how? She couldn't have cheated on tests or finals like that. Maybe she used her she-beast powers and threatened our old math teacher. Now that I think about it, Mr. Rivera hasn't been seen since last year.

I gasp.

Nikki killed him.

It's the only plausible answer.

"Ow." A small figure bumps into my back, groaning.

I snap out my gaze and bend down automatically. The familiar blonde hair and blue eyes make me sweat. "Victoria." I grab the book that fell out her grasp. Victoria doesn't look happy.

She sighs and stands up, her hands holding her books against her chest. "Are you going to give it back?"

"No." I tap my chin and pretend to think. "What do I get in return?"

Her gaze falters. "A "thank you"? What do you expect?" She runs a hand through her hair, the fruity scent hits my nose. "Just give me the book, I have class."

"We have a couple of minutes." I smile my popular smile and place a hand against the lockers.

"You do." She looks at her watch. "I'm the new girl who has to make an impression. I need to get to my class." Her blue eyes pin me in place. "Lucas." She coaxes.

My eyes zone in on Nikki, a couple feet behind Victoria, looking at a piece of paper, confused.

"Lucas?"

Why is Nikki so confused? She attended this school for a year, shouldn't she know her way?

"Lucas!"

I smile, trying to keep my nervousness inside. "Yes?" Just smile, Lucas.

Her pretty eyes narrow. "I'm leaving." She turns her feet and walks past Nikki.

I chuckle. She's pretty alright. I shake my head and grab my backpack from the floor. Why is there a book in my hand? Book!

I wave my hands, catching the attention of both Victoria and Nikki. "You forgot your book!" I make my way towards them.

Victoria looks blank, her eyes are staring at Nikki's quizzically. Nikki shows her teeth for a couple seconds before making her way towards my direction.

So the she-devil smiles at other girls too!? What a fake!

Nikki's light brown eyes align with mine for a couple of seconds before they look behind mine. Her skirt flutters behind her as she leaves a trail of soap and coconut behind. Not exactly what I thought a she-devil would smell like.

I shake my head. I don't know why I'm paying attention to her, she's a waste of time.

I reach Victoria. My eyes stare at her soft facial features and the scowl on her face. "Here." I hand the book to her.

She's beautiful.

She stares at the book for a couple of seconds before speaking, "What did you do to it?" She demands.

I laugh. It's like she knows who I am already. "Nothing, I promise."

She purses her lips. "Okay." She turns her back and swiftly walks away.

"What? No goodbye? No thank you?"

"No," She mutters under her teeth as her retreating back disappears in the student body.

"See you later!" I make sure my voice is loud. After all, she did humiliate me in the cafeteria.

Victoria turns her head a fraction before she continues on her way.