Donovan fought against his smile as he noticed Link's goofy one. Link didn't notice his own smile, his focus on his phone. If Donovan pointed it out, he figured Link wouldn't even be aware of it.

A goofy smile and all due to a girl. How many times had Donovan seen Link disappointed, frustrated, and hurt because of a girl? And now he'd found one that liked him.

Donovan turned back to his locker and exchanged his notebooks, still struggling not to smile.

When a girl appeared on the side opposite Link, Donovan won the struggle against his smile and went blank. Heather looked at him without her usual eagerness to have his attention but with a wrinkled brow and hurt eyes that caught Donovan off guard.

"Why her?" Heather asked.

Donovan said nothing. Not because this was his normal response to girls approaching him but because he found he had no idea what she was referring to.

"Why Owens?" Heather said. "What is it about her that made you say yes? I mean it's freaking Owens after all. She's not... She's not normal. So why?"

Clarity struck him and he understood her expression. Her question wasn't about why he'd agreed to a double date with Carter, but instead, it was a question of what did she lack? Why hadn't she been good enough for him to be interested in?

Despite all his history and logic that told him not to have this conversation, Donovan felt he couldn't leave this girl trapped with thoughts of low self-worth.

"Heather," Donovan said, keeping his tone neutral but not too warm, not wanting to cause confusion. "What makes you want to be in a relationship with me and not Mitch?"

Heather shifted, crossed her arms, looked away, back at him then shrugged. Donovan understood she didn't want to admit her attraction to him was largely based on the shallow ideal of his looks.

"It's preference," Donovan said. "Liking me doesn't devalue who Mitch is as a person. It's the same for you and Carter. My choice to go on a date with her doesn't reflect on you. It simply means I have a preference. Do not take this personally when it's not."

"It doesn't make sense," she said.

"Not to you. But you are putting too much weight on my choice when it is not connected to you."

Heather stared at him and Donovan didn't know if she was trying to figure out another question to throw at him in hopes of making the situation make more sense or struggling to accept what he said.

Either way, Donovan knew that he'd said enough. He closed his locker and tugged on Link's jacket as he walked by. Still focused on his phone, Link detached himself from the locker and followed along with Donovan.

The second bell rang and the hallways quickly emptied as they headed to the library. As they rounded a corner, Donovan spotted Carter further down the corridor.

From the distance, Donovan couldn't help seeing her as another student. Another girl among the hundreds of others. Yes, Donovan would admit that she stood out with her forceful yet deceptively caring personality. But how many other girls had he interacted with were the same? Each seemed to have a hard outer layer shielding the vulnerable layer inside.

And yet... Carter felt different to him.

It wasn't the fact that she wore her clothes wrinkled and her hair messy. There were plenty of other girls who had that appearance, the stress of homework and late nights the cause.

No. He found he couldn't pinpoint why Carter should be separated from the rest of the girls around him in his mind.

This irritated him.

Drawing closer, Donovan tucked away his feelings as he noticed Carter's expression: puzzled, thoughtful, and searching.

"Carter."

When she lifted her gaze, Donovan watched as she wiped away her emotions. If not for that reaction, he wouldn't have thought much of her expression. But she was hiding it.

"What is it?" he asked.

She blinked and Donovan saw as something clicked in her mind and she nodded once as if answering a question she'd asked herself. Donovan felt annoyed that he was curious about what the question had been.

Carter focused on Link. "Link, remember that janitor we saw at the Natural History museum talking to Mr. Philips?"

Donovan looked at Link, wondering why either of them had been discussing a random janitor at the museum who'd talked to their teacher.

"Vaguely," Link said.

"Well, anyways I understand now why Mr. Philips was talking with him: he must have helped him get a job here. Joining the other former military employees here."

Former military employees...

Donovan understood the strict security of the school. He'd seen the security staff. He knew the layout of the security cameras, but the janitorial members being a part of the school's protection had been a factor that had slipped past his notice. A mistake that he mentally chastised himself for. Of course, this school would have a hidden layer of defense in case of emergencies.

"Is it normal to have former military men on the janitorial staff?" Donovan asked, wondering if Carter knew this because of observation or if it was common knowledge.

"For a private school with the President's son, yes," she said. "The pay is good and it's a hidden defense against anyone who would try to infiltrate the school and kidnap Mason. If for some reason Smith fails to protect Mason, others could stand in."

"Smart plan," Donovan said.

Though he figured Carter had put this together herself and wasn't a well-known fact. Otherwise, the presence of military janitors would be pointless.

As they headed to the library, Donovan felt Carter scrutinizing him. He narrowed his eyes at her, not sure where the visual assessment was coming from. True, she looked at almost everyone that way but hardly did she allow them to see her staring.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why do girls find it necessary to try and intimidate me over you, when they have received no attention or encouragement from you?"

So that was the reason for the look. It made sense, girls were more likely to get a response out of Carter than they were from him. Heather had been the exception. Though how any of them willingly walked into a verbal sparring match with Carter, he wasn't sure.

"What are you talking about?" Link asked.

"I was approached early by 'Donovan's posse' who were trying to convince me the double date is actually a pity date."

Donovan inwardly cringed at the term 'Donovan's posse'. The most he'd given to those girls was eye contact and a silent exit.

Link burst out laughing. "Donovan, I didn't know your group of admirers had turned so aggressive."

"It's not me that makes them act this way," Donovan said.

"You certain about that?" Carter deadpanned. "Because I have enough evidence that says it is."

Yes, he could understand that but since he'd never dealt with this at their previous school, or not to this extent he'd formed an answer to why this school, these girls, this situation was different.

Donovan stopped walking, bringing the group to a halt. "What you are failing to realize, is that it's not me personally, but what I symbolize." Carter and Link exchanged a glance. He understood their confusion, it had taken him a few days to comprehend it himself. "I am something they desire."

"Yeah, we got that," Carter said, emphatically.

When Donovan leveled her with a hard, unamused look, Carter held up her hands in mock apology and Donovan relaxed. "I am something they desire, that they can't have. In a world where they have been granted their every wish, I am unattainable. That is why they act out."

All the other available boys around them they'd known for years, Donovan along with a few other transfers were new. The prized items that had been newly released and everyone wanted to be the first one to own it. To them, he knew he wasn't someone to date but an object to possess.

"Really?" Link asked.

Donovan nodded. "Human nature. Attack whatever threatens your way of life."

"I wish they would attack you instead of me," Carter said.

Donovan looked at her. That almost sounded like annoyance. Annoyance about having to fend off a few pesky girls. Wasn't that her everyday life? "Can't handle a few spoiled girls, Carter?"

She shot him a condescending smile. "Captain told me I'm not allowed to hit defenseless animals. My only defense is to cut down their ego and leave them with their shattered pride."

"What's wrong with that?" Donovan asked. "Sounds exactly in your skillset."

"I prefer a swift punch. It's faster and sends a stronger message. Nothing says back off like a broken nose and thousands of dollars in reconstructive surgery."

Donovan laughed as Link's phone beeped and he dug it out of his pocket. "Maddy's waiting for us. We should go."

Donovan felt his face still wearing the remains of his laughter as they walked into the library. Carter might appear similar to other girls but she... He didn't know if there was a word to describe what she was.

As they approached Maddy at a table, she looked up and smiled at Link, receiving a blush and nervous smile in response. Link might be awkward, but Donavon didn't think Maddy minded that. Link took the spot next to Maddy while Donovan and Carter took the seats opposite.

"So," Maddy said, "I'm a little lost with this calculus homework. Can you help me?"

She looked at Link with an open, pleading look, her lower lip between her teeth. Without thinking about it, Donovan looked at Carter and found she was already looking at him. They fought knowing smiles.

Link straightened and edged closer to her. "Of course, what do you need help on?"

Maddy scooted her chair a few inches closer to Link's and leaned on the table, her arm brushing his. She pulled the textbook between them and looked over it, while Link looked at her. Carter looked at Donovan. Somehow with the single nod she gave to Maddy, he understood that was she was silently saying, 'she's headstrong'. Which Donovan nodded to, agreeing with the statement.

Maddy was headstrong but she wasn't overpowering. Donovan knew Link would never be with someone like Carter. Carter was the kind of overpowering that took someone equally powerful to challenge and balance her out.

Where she'd find someone who could match her, he didn't know. Not many men would get close enough to brave through the first onslaught of battles to get to the softer girl inside.

But that wasn't something Donovan should worry about. Or think about.

Carter slipped away from the table and Donovan understood why she left, watching Link fumble through explanations while not making eye contact with Maddy was both amusing, endearing, and embarrassing. The interaction would benefit from less observation.

When a couple of minutes had passed, Donovan left as well. He entered one of the rows and stopped, peering back at the table. Maddy touched Link's arm and Link finally lifted his gaze to her. When she smiled, Link relaxed. For someone who'd only gotten to know Link recently, Maddy understood him well.

Satisfied that Link would be okay on his own for a bit and that being alone with Maddy might be the best thing for the time being, Donovan walked down the aisle perusing book titles. At one that seemed interesting enough, he stopped and pulled it down. He read the inside flap when someone approached. For a fleeting second, he thought it was Carter but instantly knew by the tread of the person it couldn't be her.

"Hi," a familiar girl, Donovan believed her name was Sloane, said. "Looking for something?"

He didn't answer her, simply looking at her. A part of him that wasn't bothered by her presence, had to wonder what her history was. What was it in her past that made her seek out someone who she knew didn't want her attention? Was there a hurt there that drove her to look for rejection believing that was all she deserved? He wondered how his mother would translate this girl's actions. What would she see that Donovan might be missing?

And would she understand how to handle that situation so that Donovan didn't have to hurt the girl but would also assure that the girl didn't approach him again?

When Sloane touched his arm, all empathy for what Sloane might feel about herself vanished. He tensed and shifted out of her hold.

Before he could form a proper but assertive response, Carter spoke behind him.

"Donovan," she said. "I think I found that reference we were looking for."

She walked toward him and Sloane, holding a book that Donovan was certain she'd picked at random. But he didn't mind the ruse since it meant he wouldn't have to be the one to make Sloane leave. Carter had that type of nature that could make anyone flee.

A nature that was accented by the cool, superior smile she wore as she snapped the book shut and held it in both hands.

"Are you done here?" she asked. "As I predicted, he would make no response and you would be left feeling like an idiot. Give it up and walk away."

Donovan saw as the words cut through Sloane and humiliation made her snap. "Do you even realize how unimportant you are? You're not worth knowing. Your own mother even tossed you aside."

Carter dropped the book, a fist already forming as she raised her hand. Donovan launched himself in between the two girls, snatching Carter's wrist.

Carter jerked her eyes from Sloane to Donovan's, something more than anger burning in them. It was a sharpness that he knew could only come from a painful truth.

"Are you in control?" he asked, hoping to bring her back to herself with the question. A question that his father asked him whenever he lost his temper and planned to do something stupid.

He held her gaze, waiting. Eventually, she swallowed and he felt as the tension in her wrist and arm left. Only then did he release her.

"Just leave," she told Sloane, her voice devoid of emotion.

Sloane hurried away, casting a fearful glance over her shoulder at Carter. Avoiding his eyes, Carter retrieved the fallen book and restored it to its rightful place. He could tell that she knew he wanted to know what that burst of anger was about.

But when she faced him with her arms crossed defensively, he knew that she wasn't going to open up to him. He let the matter drop. Maybe knowing her past hurt wasn't a good thing for him to know anyway, it might get him more entangled in her life.

That... that was something he didn't need to do.

"Thank you for getting me out of that," he said.

He meant what he said, despite the need to ward off the girls' attention, he felt mean for always being cold towards them.

Carter relaxed and Donovan knew she felt relieved he hadn't asked about her mother. "Sure. She had a determined look other girls lacked. I figured I should step in before you were tackled to the ground."

That was not a scenario Donovan had ever encountered or imagined encountering. He knew girls could be determined but that seemed a little outlandish to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "You underestimate my strength."

"And you underestimate the strength of a determined girl who can't have you and is trying to restore her sense of superiority."

Donovan smiled but he didn't hold it for long, knowing that just like Carter held a past that made her lash out, something in Sloane's might hold an aspect just as painful.

"Has it always been this bad for you?" Carter asked.

The curiosity didn't surprise Donovan, but the note of sympathy did. For that reason, he decided to answer honestly. "The first three years were nothing. The last three have been...challenging."

"How so?"

Donovan ran a hand through his hair, dropping his calm mask to reveal weariness. "The main problem is something you probably understand: boredom."

"Of course," she said. "You probably haven't had an intelligent conversation in years."

Though there had been times of connecting with other interesting students, the fact remained that those moments had been few and far between.

"I've talked to my brothers from time to time, but yes, intelligence has been in short supply."

"Come on," Carter said, walking backward to the end of the row. "I'm sure by the time we sit down you'll come up with something that could challenge my brain. If you can."

Donovan paused as she slipped out of the row, not knowing if taking her up on the offer was a good idea.

But still, he found himself moving forward, feeling the tug of a challenging smile on his lips.

**********************************************************************

Stop right there or face the consequences!

Okay so the consequences would be me hugging you, so you decide if taking another step is worth in.

Keep in mind, I give amazing hugs! 🤗

Now that I'm guessing all of you have opted to receive a delightfully comforting hug why not share your thoughts with me. It will be a comment hug. (That makes no sense but whateves) 💬🗯💭🙃

I thought this chapter interesting to write because the way Donovan views the girls attracted to him was different than I expected. Yes, he has had annoyance towards them but he also has compassion of someone who is older and has the type of mom he does.

I don't know, I just thought it interesting and a little heartwarming. Maybe that is why he can get close to Carter because he doesn't look at her through the scope of being a teenage boy but someone with maturity and understanding on his side.

I'm literally coming to this conclusion as I write this. What do you think? 🤔

I think it make sense. But I'm just the writer so what do I really know. 🤷‍♀️

Side question: if I was going to write another Classified chapter soon, which one do you want that I haven't already written yet?

Vote, comment, follow because I gave you a hug, it's the least you can do.