He was dressed in a black leather hoodie, the hood pulled up and keeping half his face in shadow, so I could only see his jawline. There was a white shirt underneath, along with black denim jeans.

He also had Donovan's outstretched hand in a steel grip by the wrist.

Donovan raised his voice, sudden and loud. "Who the hell are you?"

I couldn't help it, I flinched.

"Who are you?" the gruff voice demanded. "Answer me! Who the hell are you?"

The little girl sobbed, her tears running freely down her cheeks. She managed to choke out,

"I'm a girl."

"That's right," her father hissed. "So learn your place."

He seemed to see my flinch, and for a moment his jaw clenched. Then he looked away slightly in Donovan's direction, and pushed down his hoodie.

Dayum.

He was hot. Damn he was the epitome of hot. If he was a demigod his parents were undoubtedly Aphrodite and Narcissus. He was wearing Malfoy's intense stare, had Damon Salvatore's jaw and Loki's build.

His blue eyes were piercing beneath his head of black hair as he looked over at Donovan, whose eyes grew wide immediately. His arm went slack and he actually took a step back.

"Whoa. Kaylan. Dude, sorry. I didn't know it was you."

Kaylan. Mmmm.

"Well now you do." Hot damn. He had Jude Law's voice! More precisely, he had Jude Law's voice as in Pitch Black from Rise of The Guardians.

Hot demigod let go of the hand. Donovan massaged his wrist and spoke. "Why you here dude? Don't you have class?"

Somebody chuckled. "It's Kaylan Hood. Since when does he go to class?" Several people laughed at that, but one lancing sweep of those blue eyes cut them down.

"Why did you ask her to take off her shirt?" he asked. Was he actually - angry? On my behalf?

Daaaaayyuuummmmmm.

"Uh, it was just a game. We had a competition, and....." he trailed off, but continued grumpily, "...she won so, she got the jersey. So I have to get a shirt. I can't walk around shirtless the whole day now can I?"

"You got beaten by a girl?" he smirked. "You're terrible."

I snapped out of my dreamy haze immediately. Excuse me? What did that mean? Were girls not allowed to be better? Was it such a shame being bested by a girl?

Great. A sexist hot demigod. Perfect.

Kaylan took off his leather jacket.

And then the shirt underneath.

I was right beside him and couldn't avert my eyes fast enough. He was all lean and no fat, with sun-kissed skin and chiselled abs, muscular in a sinewy way, unlike those bulky body builders.

Cancel that. A sexist hot demigod with Adonis' body. Somebody call Rick Riordan because Kaylan needs a cameo in his books.

He tossed Donovan his shirt. "You can wear that. Return it to me tomorrow - and I want it dry-cleaned."

It was an order, a demand. I expected Donovan to throw a hissy fit, but instead he only nodded and wore the shirt. Kaylan put on the leather jacket and kept it unzipped. The bell rang then, and PE was over. The teacher came in at the same moment and clapped his hands, calling for everyone to go back to class. I watched as my classmates filed away.

"Hey you! Newbie and the boy! Dating time's over, now get back to class."

Kaylan looked his way and I could have sworn the teacher did a double take of surprise. "Oh. Mr Hood. You're not in my class. Well.....continue whatever you were doing. Newbie, come along!"

I looked at the teacher, then back at Kaylan. His body was turned slightly to the direction of the gym doors, and I could only see his side profile. Still lookin' good.

I cleared my throat. "Well. Um. Thank you for the help. I appreciate it."

No response. Not even a nod or a grunt. I hovered for a second and then walked away. I hadn't cleared five steps when he called me.

"Wait. You dropped this."

Dangling from his fingers was my necklace. My hands reached to my bare neck at once. The clasp must have come loose somehow. It had a silver chain and a locket of bronze filigree, shaped in a heart and engraved with an intricate pattern.

"Oh. Thanks." I took it back from him and noticed that he too, had a necklace of his own. A silver rope chain with the pendant hanging at the base of his breastbone.

Well, hello there second hot demigod.

Anyway. The pendant was a flat apple, the stem and fruit made of silver, while the leaf was a clear shimmering jewel - opal, most likely. It gave him quite the rugged look.

"Well. Goodbye." I turned around and walked off, and the last glimpse I saw of him was through the gym doors as they swung shut.

*

Back in class, I handed Leila the jersey. She was beyond elated and kept hugging it and caressing it and smoothening it out. I had a feeling she was going to go everywhere with it for the next two days.

For the remainder of the day no more incidents happened. I stayed low as possible, and tried to go back to being invisible. I avoided Donovan and answered little in class, even though I knew all the answers - we had Shakespeare for English. Finally! Something I knew. It was Hamlet, and I'd read it cover to cover quite a few times already. Books were the one thing I had plenty at Blackcroft. They kept me quiet and tucked away in my bedroom, out of hearing and out of sight, which my father took to very much.

Then it was lunch, and I managed to avoid that social awkward moment of looking-around-and-seeing-nobody-you-know by sitting with Leila. She was one of the quiet ones in class, someone who had managed to slip herself successfully where I was aiming to be. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't an outcast nor was she lonely - she had her fair share of friends. She was no nerd nor popular, she was simply everyone else. I wanted to be that. Everyone else.

To put it bluntly she was common. If Populars were daisies and Nerds daffodils then she was part of the grass. Living her life happily and contentedly in the background.

We were eating halfway when the gym doors banged open. Leila nudged at me to take a look at the newcomers.

"Here's a handy tip for you. Those three are the Golden Trio of the school and you do not want to mess with them. Especially their ringleader, Brandy Simmons. She's on top of the social ladder and a complete you-know-what."

Oh. Whoops.

"Don't be a prude, Leila." Roxy reached over and grabbed one of her fries. After the gym incident she had proclaimed me "worthy of the women". She'd even asked me to join her women-empowerment club. Apparently there was such a thing. "You can just say the word. Bi - "

"I get it," I hastily cut in. Contrary to what you may think, swearing wasn't that rampant in Blackcroft. Even when one did swear it was for a serious matter, and not because Tom Hiddleston is dating Taylor Swift?! In my family I had only ever heard my father cuss once, which was when he accidentally hammered his thumb instead of the nail. With the claw of the hammer.

We don't swear because of our four founders' vision. When the brothers started Blackcroft, they sought a particular image. Classy, elegant. Refined. We were to become the Ritz of the criminal empires.

There. I said it. Blackcroft was a criminal empire.

Leila was speaking. "I've lost count of the number of boys Brandy had. You see the thing is, she knows she's hot, and she knows she can get any guy her heart desires. So she doesn't stay with the same boy for too long. It's like sampling candy. You just keep taking and taking."

Roxy waved a fry in the air. "Wasn't she with that French guy last year? That exchange student?"

"Yeah but they broke up because the guy chose his hometown over her. And - in her own words - I don't do long-distance because it's too much of a commitment. I think she must have gone through half of Pambrooke's male population already. Let me see. There was Charlie, Julian, Dean - "

"Donovan," Roxy cut in. "French guy, that British substitute teacher - he was twenty - Magnus, Simon, Kaylan - "

If I had been a more expressive person I would have choked on my chicken wrap and spit it out. As it was, my eyes only twitched a little. "Kaylan?"

"That's right honey buns. Your knight in shining armour has got the real hots for that girl. He's not really an official boyfriend yet, because he's got stiff competition from John and Wayne, and also our dear queen bee can't decide who's got a better manhood - "

"Roxy!" Leila gasped in shock.

"What? It's true. Surely you don't think they want her because she's witty, intelligent and a good listener?" Roxy scoffed. "Get real. Guys only want to get in her pants."

The straight-talking girl turned back to me. "Kaylan's been after Brandy since the beginning of the year. John jumped in after spring break, and Wayne just entered the game last month. We've actually got people placing bets on them, like who gets laid first and who gets to be her prom date. Kaylan's got the most votes for getting laid, and John's got the most votes for prom date choice, because he's the richest of the three. He can afford a good tux."

"Either way, Brandy's not going to commit," Leila said. "Bad boy's going to get his heart broken."

Roxy scoffed. "Trust me Leila, Kaylan doesn't want her heart. Nobody wants that slimy piece of disgusting black meat. They just want her body."

The gym doors opened again. Roxy looked up. "Speak of the devil......"

Kaylan Hood, which I now knew to be Pambrooke's residential bad boy, entered and instantly caused a stir. Probably because he was dressed like how I had last seen him, shirtless under an unzipped black leather jacket. His hoodie was still down and once again I saw those electric blue eyes.

"Now watch," Leila whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "He's going to go over to the lunch line......people will make way for him.....some people are going to try and say hi, but he'll just ignore them...."

I watched. It was like watching Moses part the Red Sea. Kids just gave way when he came near. Within seconds he was at the head of the lunch line. And Leila was right, some tried to say hi but he just walked past them. Like they didn't exist.

"Now he's got his lunch.......and he's going to walk over to Brandy and sit down next to her. He always does that. Sort of like marking his territory I guess. John and Wayne has never been able to sit down next to Brandy for lunch before. Wayne tried once....it didn't end well for him."

I watched Brandy's two girlfriends giggle and nudge her as Kaylan came near. For her part Brandy merely flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and folded her arms, a seductive little smile playing on her lips as she stared at him.

Then abruptly, Kaylan stopped. Just five feet away from the table.

Hot demigod alert. Hot demigod alert.

Leila frowned.

"Hayley, why is he looking at you all funny?"

No. No way. Na-uh. Skadoosh mister.

"He's walking over here! And looking at you all funny! Hayley!"

I ducked my head low and took a bite of my chicken wrap, refusing to look up. The cogs in my brain were spinning. What on earth was going on?

"Hello."

Hot damn. That voice. I kept my head low.

Leila let out something resembling a mouse's squeak. Roxy was less impressed. "What are you doing here, Mr Hood?"

A short screech as he pushed the chair opposite back and sat down. Out of the corners of my eyes I saw another tray placed itself on the table. "I came here to see the girl I saved. How are you holding up?"

It's amazing how underrated chicken wrap is. I mean, just look at it. The green vegetable leaves had to be just the right size. Not too big and not too small. And let's not even start on the tomatoes. How on earth did they get them so red? Beautiful! And the chicken itself; tender juicy slices, with a slight burn -

"Hayley, Kaylan's talking to you," Leila hissed, poking me in the ribs.

Precisely. Exactly.

I gave a mental sigh and very reluctantly, looked up. The opal leaf of the apple pendant twinkled at me.

I forced on a smile. "Hi. I'm good. Just fine."

What does he want? Why is he here? The gym incident had been unwise, I admit, and it had dragged me three inches close to the spotlight, but after that things had gone much smoother. I was fading, slowly but surely into the background. Now with just one simple action of walking over he had catapulted me back into the limelight.

"Okay then." That was definitely a smirk hovering around his lips. He nodded his head at an angle and picked up a forkful of his salad. He began eating.

Silence.

I took a bite out of my chicken wrap while Leila attacked her butter squash soup with gusto. Roxy had rolled her eyes at Kaylan's answer and left the table. Why do I feel as if she doesn't like him much?

"Brandy looks mad," Leila sang softly under her breath at me. She sounded so excited. "Oh oh, I got a great idea. Let's make her furious."

What? No! Let's not make her furious!

Too late. Leila got up with her tray and spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well I'm going to go first. You stay and enjoy your lunch......alone with Kaylan." She tossed me a wink and left.

Leila you traitor.

And to make things worse Kaylan decided to make a comment. "How nice of your friend to leave us in privacy."

The students nearby murmured even louder.

Privacy? How is it privacy when the entire cafeteria is staring at me, mouth agape and whispering?

Lowering my voice I hissed across the table at him. "What do you want?"

He looked surprised. "A Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Black preferably."

Hmm. I could see why. But right now I just wanted to smack the chicken wrap on his head. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Well then what do you mean?"

He was an x. An unknown variable.

And when faced with the unknown........

Two steps back and one step forth.

"Look, it was great what you did in the gym. I really appreciated it. Without your help things might have gotten.....out of hand. So thanks a lot." I paused. "But I'm the new girl here, and you're making me get a lot of attention. And I don't like it."

He stopped chewing his salad and raised an eyebrow. "You know despite what everyone says, not all guys dig girls who play hard to get."

Okay now he was just trying my patience. I folded my arms across my chest and stared him down.

"And despite what the books say, not all girls like guys who are arrogant, vainglorious pricks."

Both his eyebrows flew up high. "Very nicely done."

I was exasperated. "Look. What do you want? Why are you here?"

He pointed the fork at my neck. "I like your necklace."

Now I was puzzled. "You want my necklace?"

"No. I've got my own. Speaking of which, I didn't quite catch your name."

"Because I didn't tell you. And I'm not going to."

"That's not a good idea."

I rolled my eyes. "Why? Are you going to threaten me in some way, forcing me to reveal my secret identity? "

His lips twitched. "Hardly. It just means I have to give you one. A name."

He took the last bite of his salad and ran his eyes over me. He did it in a slow lazy way, almost casual-like, as if he had all the time in the world. The way his eyes took me in sent shivers down my spine. I resisted the urge to squirm.

He started on my black wavy hair and traveled downwards, past my ear and onto my face, pausing a while at the necklace. And then -

"Hey. Eyes up here," I snapped.

He looked amused. "Don't worry, yours aren't the first ones I've seen."

What the - what on earth was his problem?

He stood up, holding his tray, allowing me a good view of his masculine torso. When he spoke the smirk was definitely on his lips and in his voice.

"You better get used to the attention, because you're about to get a lot of it." He walked around the table and leaned over so his lips were just beside my ear. I could hear and see the rest of the cafeteria gawping and gasping.

"See you around........apple pie."

*. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *.

100 plus reads? Thank you guys! You're awesome! Rock on! 🍻🎉🎁🎂🎏🎍🎊🎇

This chapter is dedicated to VaineLuchia, for her amazing novel "Pharaoh's Heart Is Mine"......I know I know, the chances of you returning to finish the novel is non-existent, but still it was fun while it lasted....good luck with your other works!