"Ashley, could you come to the front please?" Ms Smith's voice cut through the bustling chatter as everybody was in the midst of their cake baking.

The aroma of caramelized fruits and rich cinnamon danced beneath my scent receptors. Exasperated, I stared down at my gooey cake mix, setting the bowl onto the granite counter before glancing up to meet Ms Smith's steel-grey eyes.

Taking my time to peel off the oven gloves, I held her gaze.

She snapped, "Now!"

I hurried towards the front of the class, away from the gleaming worktops and past the desks. A couple of curious eyes followed me around the room but got bored when they realised there was nothing interesting to see.

"Yes Miss?" My voice was tight behind my deep frown.

"Where is Tyler?" She asked, leaned forward on her desk and glaring up at me.

Raising my eyebrows at her, confusion invaded my features as I hastily tucked a strand of hair behind my ears.

"What do you mean 'Where is Tyler?' Do I look like I had the faintest clue? You're the teacher, aren't you?"

I didn't intend for it to come out so snappy and patronising, but Ms Smith slapped her hand onto her desk and leaned forward menacingly. Grey eyes hardened into steel, glimmering with spite.

"Don't try to act smart with me young lady unless you want a detention!" Droplets of spit rained down on her marking as she tried to keep a lid on her fury. Boy did this woman have a temper!

"Sorry," I forced out, biting my lip to refrain myself from saying anything else rude. It was hard to show Ms Smith any kindness when she treated her students like turd on her shoe.

"You still haven't answered my question. This assignment requires two people. You won't even bag half the marks without the help of your partner."

I lost control of all the muscles around my mouth, causing it to fall open, wide enough to catch a dozen flies as my jaw clanged to the floor.

"What! You are kidding me right?" I balled my hands into tight fists, "You mean that I have to have a partner?"

She scoffed, leaning back in her seat and picking up her red pen.

"Not a partner, you're gonna need Tyler Miller."

A cruel half-smile played upon her thin skinny lips making my blood boil. I couldn't figure why she was being stubborn, inconsiderate and just plain rude. Why was she forcing me to work with Tyler when I was capable of handling the assignment myself? He hates me. No scratch that - Tyler loathes me.

Glaring at her, I tried to look past her eyes and catch a glimpse of the foolery going on in her mind, but no attempt at reading her mind was going to work. Especially when those steel-grey eyes were boring into mine with nothing other than disinterest and disdain.

In basic terms, there was no point in bothering with the project. Not when Tyler would rather chew on a turd and spit it into my face than cooperate with me. I wouldn't even earn enough points to scrape an E grade.

I exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of my nose and shaking my head angrily.

"Why can't you just let me work on my own? I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own!"

"Rules are rules," Ms Smith's eyes taunted me to come up with a smartass retort, coaxing me into a detention with her.

"But aren't they your rules?" I snapped, digging my nails into my palms as my breathing became shallow.

"Indeed they are, but once I make the rules, I can't change them."

Her eyes flickered around her desk before she dragged a stack of papers towards her. Clicking her pen, she began to scribble away, drowning the crisp essay in red. Poor student, I thought as she ruined their hardwork with side comments for improvement. Steel-grey eyes glanced up from the paper, scanning my face for any signs of defiance. She rose an eyebrow, almost challenging me to try and argue with her. My nails threatened to pierce into my palms, digging hard enough to leave crescent imprints.

"Why can't you change your rules then?" I hissed through gritted teeth, feeling the urge to wrench her hair from it's immaculate bun.

"Because that's the way it is. Do you want to pass or not?"

Her eyes bored into mine as if I was the person who was wasting time.

"Yes!" I snapped.

"Good. Then go and find him and bring him into this classroom."

My jaw slackened and my lips parted, hanging open as I blinked at her several times. For a few moments, I completely forget what we were arguing over, shocked at her suggestion.

"What?" I exclaimed, snapping back into reality. "I'm not his sitter! I'm not going to chase after him and escort him to this classroom like a guard!"

Without acknowledging so much as a word from my outburst, her lips tilted up into a sly smile. She looked like a reptile, slowly edging towards me with gnashing teeth.

"Do you want to pass this assignment or not?"

She flashed me a sickly, toothy smile. But on her, the smile looking revolting, giving way to the yellow tinge on her incisors. I guess that's what drinking too much coffee can do to a person.

I visualised punching her teeth out, leaving her with a toothless, bloodied and hideous grin that would chase everybody away. Smiling at the thought, it eased my anger but I still stormed out of the classroom and slammed the door shut.

Breathing heavily, I leaned against the wall beside opposite the classroom and tried to calm myself down. I had to count to six hundred to put a lid on my seething fury, poised beside a bulletin board for up to ten minutes just trying to control my overflowing rage.

Eventually, I managed to peel myself off the bulletin board, scanning my surrounding with a weary face. Searching for a guy who didn't want to be found was sure to be exhausting, I could count on that much to say the least.

Starting with the nearest social science corridors, my eyes scanned every nook and cranny of the hallway, searching for Tyler's infamous golden mop. I made my way through the first, second and third floors, moving from the science, maths and humanities departments, aimlessly wandering past the boisterous classes.

I spent about half an hour roaming the entire school, manoeuvring my way through the winding corridors and even searching empty classrooms. Crossing to the other main building, I searched the english faculties, stooping as low as to ask stray teachers about Tyler's whereabouts, only to receive blank stares and useless red herrings. One teacher told me to check the parking lot for Tyler's car, but when I told her I had already done so, she told me to stop wasting her time.

As a last resort, I trudged towards the bleachers and cut across the soccer pitch but the little bugger was nowhere to be found. Eventually I decided to head down one of the less frequently used staircases at the far end of the school, hoping to find him lurking somewhere near the janitor's closets. I stormed down the steps, on the verge of giving up on the search when I caught sight of a glowing cell phone screen. I squinted down the badly-lit staircase, adjusting my glasses before tiptoeing down the remainder of the stairs.

I stopped still when a blond head came into view. Black headphones were nestled into Tyler's hair, stark against the golden locks that jumped up and down as he bobbed his head in time to his music. He was tapping furiously onto his cell phone - at first, I assumed he was texting, but as I peered over his shoulders I barked a laugh. He was playing Temple Run.

I tried to clear my throat to announce my arrival, but then I remembered that he was listening to music, so I tried to kick his shoulder.

That failed too; I lost my footing and careered down the remainder of the steps, falling right beside Tyler's feet.

"Well that looked painful," I heard a deep voice sneer. It was chilling, malicious and cold.

It wasn't like I expected Tyler to help me, but he had the chance to grab me and prevent my fall. I felt like biting his head off before reminding myself that I was the person who tripped, not him.

Another outburst would have ignited his impulsively dangerous side, provoking him to perform yet another delinquency like, I don't know, set my face on fire instead of a teacher's car this time round. He only got lucky last time because he was smart enough to disable the security cameras so there was no real evidence against him.

Smartass.

With a painful jolt shooting up my bottom, I crawled into a seated position. My eyes remained shut, completely naked without my glasses as they were no longer on my face. I relied heavily on my glasses considering the fact my eyesight hadn't been top notch since the accident so even if I opened my eyes, I probably wouldn't see any more than Velma can on Scooby Doo.

An ominous feeling seeped through my insides, making me clench my jaw at the possibility that my glasses were broken a couple of feet away. They cost a fortune since I had to pay to thin the ridiculously thick lenses. Suddenly, breaking out of my frantic thoughts, I became aware of a pair of eyes on me. They burned into my head as the weight of Tyler's gaze forced me fling my eyelids open.

I scanned my surroundings, searching for those familiar sea-green eyes but my vision was no use to me. I was blinder than a mole. Everything was just blurry. There was no distinction between the oulines of my surroundings so the staircase and Tyler were just merged into one foggy sight.

I sighed heavily and began to pathetically pat the ground around me, feeling around for my glasses like a disorientated fool in complete darkness.

"Looking for these?"

I reached out cautiously, expecting him to break them right before my eyes like Michelle had done to me once in elementary school. I never did tell anyone, I just told my mum I sat on them by accident. Instead, Tyler gently took my hand and gingerly placed the glasses into my outstretched palms.

"Here," He whispered, giving me time to put them on and adjust to my sharp sight.

Once my most important sense had returned to me and everything was clear again, my cheeks reddened by the proximity between us. I had no idea that he was crouching right in front of me and it made my skin prickle with agitation.

Tyler's closeness wasn't something I could handle, especially after the way he ostracised me for the past year. Ever since the first anniversary of his sister's death, he stopped acknowledging my existence and stopped accepting any help from Blake and I. In his eyes, we didn't exist and I'll admit, at first it hurt a lot. But a year is a long time and now I'm used to his blank stares and chilling glares.

The way he was scanning my face with concern made lean away, terrified that his eyes were not hard or calculatingly cold for the first time in a very long while. They weren't warm either, more like a luke-warm - kind of like a division between hatred and a deep yearning that made my insides somersault for a flip second. With the dominant green of his eyes entangled within a ring of blue, I wondered when was the last moment I had seen his eyes this up close, vacant of all hatred towards me.

By the time it dawned upon me that I could feel the heat coming off his body, Tyler stood up and took a large step back.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was emotionless again, stone-cold and bone-chilling.

Struggling to collect my thoughts, I only managed to string together the dumbest response ever: his own question.

"What are you doing here?"

I scrambled to my feet, raised my eyebrows and placed my hands on my hips. I wasn't sure if he knew that I was trying to conceal my fluster, but he showed no evidence other than a flat look.

"I asked first," Tyler crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me with irritation.

"And I asked second," I drawled, rolling my eyes before snapping, "Does it look like I care? Just answer the question."

Tyler raised an eyebrow with amusement, surprised by my snarky retort, but kept silent. He simply picked up his headphones and cellphone and started walking up the stairs, leaving me stranded at the bottom.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Come back!"

I hurried after him, calling his name but the jerk just ignored my presence as we reached the normal part of the school. Panting, my arms flailed in the air as I ran after him, passing deafening classrooms that were buzzing with activity. Since my legs were no match for his long strides, there was a good thirty metre distance between us. I couldn't figure out how it was growing when I was running in comparison to his casual saunter.

"Come back! Tyler! Where are you going?" I yelled after him, huffing when he threw a glance over his shoulder.

I could have sworn there was a smirk on his lips.

Watching him turn the nearest corner, I gave up on running and slowed down to a walk as he once again disappear from my line of vision. But the thought of an F grade stamped onto my report card in blood red made me shudder and jog after him.

"Still here?" Tyler cast a look over his shoulder, his amused eyes meeting mine.

They were still guarded but the sight of a dishevelled girl chasing after him must have made his lips twitch with amusement. Irritated that he found the situation hilarious, my lips drew back into a snarl.

"Yes!" I snapped viciously, "I have to escort your ass back to class otherwise I'll fail!"

Tyler stopped suddenly, causing me to slam into his back.

I squealed. "Jesus, what is your problem!"

Rubbing my nose, I fixed my crooked glasses an glowered at him. As he turned around sharply, I drew back at the blistering glare that locked me into position, forcing me stand still.

"Ms Smith told you to find me?"

There was a harsh edge to his tone, one that made me think carefully before answering him. In fact, it made me think twice about even opening my mouth. Instead, I settled for a curt nod, which unsurprisingly led him to storm off again. This time his pace was too brisk for me to follow so I stood there frozen in place. Ms Smith's classroom was just around the corner anyway.

"Tyler!" I called out, sincerity creeping into my voice. "Tyler, come on for Christ's sake, just come to class! I can't fail this stupid assignment!"

Swivelling around on the heels of his feet, he screeched to a halt and stormed towards me. I should have felt relieved but goosebumps generated up my arms with each step he took towards me and I began to stagger backwards, alarmed at how fast he was approaching me.

"Oh, so this isn't really about me. This is about you and your assignment," He hissed, stopping inches away from me.

Terrified by the pulsating vein on his temple, I took a few steps to the side, trying to put some distance between us but Tyler only closed in again.

"Ours!" I corrected him, not that it made a difference to the ticking of his jaw.

"Is that so?" He mused in a low and dangerous tone.

"Yes!"

Taking another step back, I cursed under my breath when my back slammed against the wall. Great, there was no escape from him now! Sea-green eyes entered my line of vision, roaming over my face as his inky black pupils dilated, giving me a perpetual glimpse of a bottomless pit that threatened to suck me like a black hole.

"You've always been deluded Ashley, but I didn't think stupid too," He shook his head and golden locks fell into his eyes.

The chilling tone he used made me jerk my head up and glare at him.

"How am I stupid? I'm not asking you hand over your soul on a silver platter, am I? I'm not asking you to sell me a kidney! I'm just asking you to put in a little effort and help me with this assignment? How is that stupid of me Tyler? How does that make me a stupid person?"

Bending his knees, he menacingly planted his arms on either side of my head, stooping low until his face was level with mine.

"You're stupid for trying when I told you to leave me alone last year. I told you I want nothing to do with you ever again, so why don't you just drop this assignment crap and leave me the heck alone!" He spat, turning a deep shade of red as he tried to hold in his rage.

"Not until you give me a valid reason. You can't just cut your friends off and expect us to stand around and do nothing when you're becoming this...this..." I stood my ground, trying my hardest not to flinch when his eyes darkened.

"This what?" Tyler's jaw worked angrily, urging me to carry on but I just shook my head and looked at the ground.

There was no point angering him even more, not when he looked like he was going to punch a wall and do a number on me. Who knew what Tyler was capable when he was angry? If he could set a teacher's car on fire and break a sophomore's arm for giving him the stink eye, who knew what he could do?

But that was the best part of our situation. I knew that Tyler couldn't lay a hand on me - he couldn't, not to me.

Behind the bad boy façade he had going for everybody else, I could see the fleeting glimpse of the old Tyler, well, at least the shadow of the person he once was. And I knew that there had to be a scrap of humanity left in him.

So I straightened my posture and looked him dead in the eyes, unflinching and undisturbed by the intensity of his glare.

"A mess Tyler. You're a mess."

"I'm a what?"

It wasn't a question. It was a warning. A warning to shut my motormouth if I wanted to keep all the teeth in my mouth. Obviously, living the reckless life and all that jazz, I inched my face closer to his and narrowed my eyes.

"You have this whole douchebag act going on for the entire school but frankly, I'm not buying your bullshit anymore."

Surprise lit up the sea green currents and I took advantage to quickly continue before he silenced me forever. I bit back a shudder when a murderous flicker darkened his eyes. Uh-oh.

"I don't understand what the heck happened to you this past year but let's cut the crap and get down to the truth," My chest rose up and down heavily as I poked a finger at him. "Why is it so hard for you to just put in a little effort Tyler? Why are you so against working with me? What have I ever done to make you hate me? If anything, you should be glad I didn't drop your miserable ass the way everyone else did when they had no idea how to deal with your attitude. I stayed! I stayed and still, you pushed me away! You pushed Blake away! To become what? The greatest douche to ever exist? Well good on you Tyler, congratulations! You've become the d-bag you so desperately wanted to be and you're still a miserable mess!"

My voice came out tight and breathless due the fact that his chest was inches away from crushing my entire body to a pulp. Pursing his lips into a thin line, Tyler's looked up at the ceiling and desperation crossed his features, contorting them until his eyes found mine again: hard and unforgiving.

"Is that what you seriously think about me?"

I sighed heavily and rubbed the deep crease between my brow.

"Its not based on what I think about you, this is based on how you act," I bit my lip when the vein in his throat popped out, furious like his blazing eyes. "Why can't you suck up whatever grudge you have against me and just give this assignment a go?"

"I don't have a damn grudge against you!" He snapped hotly, eyes flashing as if his feelings towards me were far more complicated that pure hatred alone.

"Then what is it? Huh?" I snapped back. "I've never done anything to hurt you or make you hate me so why - tell me why - you've been treating me so badly this past year!"

His jaw worked angrily and I forced myself to hold his gaze, cowering away when his pupils dilated with fury, pushing away every trace of his bright sea green iris.

"You're just like her!" Tyler spat, inching closely and searching my face with a distressed, tight scowl. "Don't you get it?"

"Just like who?" I arched my eyebrows although the coiling spring in my chest knew exactly where he was heading with this.

"Taylor," His voice was low, harsh and dangerously low. "Every single thing about you - especially your personality - reminds me of her and I'm sorry but, I really can't handle that right now. I doubt I ever will be. I don't hate you, but I really, really can't be around you Ashley."

Pushing off the wall, Tyler's breathing became heavy and laboured, showering my face with warmth and a minty scent as he stepped back. Before I could comprehend his words, he was gone, stalking down the hallway with his backpack slapping his red flannel shirt.

And I was left alone; empty and desolate, like his bottomless, black pupils.