Unedited.

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Mikael surprised her the next day. And Rebecca didn’t get surprised often. She also happened to hate surprises.

She was dropped off by her parents like she usually was, expecting the day of school to run just as smoothly. Well, in her case, it never ran smoothly, considering that she was the victim of torment form everyone she went to school with.

“Uh . . . mum?” she asked, as she opened the car door.

Her mother looked over, smiling gently. “Yes, Becca?”

Rebecca tried to smile but she was too worried that what she was about to say would offend her mother. “Is Jack staying for dinner soon?”

Her mother frowned. “Why?”

“He kind of . . .” Rebecca broke off, unsure if she really wanted to say it. Her mother didn’t need to know about Jack. She liked him so it was probably just Rebecca being way too paranoid. Besides, he hadn’t actually done anything to her yet. She shook her head. “Nothing, mum, nothing.”

Rebecca wasn’t surprised when her mother clearly didn’t buy the lie. Reaching over, she squeezed Rebecca’s hand. “Tell me, honey. I won’t yell. You know that.”

“It’s nothing. Seriously,” Rebecca said, with, thankfully, more conviction this time.

“Boy troubles?”

Rebecca wanted to laugh at how preposterous that idea was. She didn’t have boy problems—that would mean that boys had to talk to her. “No.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow, hands relaxing on their grip of the gearstick. It was a habit that her mother had, for whatever reason. It wasn’t a nervous habit. To be honest, Rebecca didn’t even know what it was. “Then what?”

Unable to stare at her mother’s eyes any longer, Rebecca looked down, wringing her hands nervously. That was a nervous habit, she knew that for sure. “Uh . . . well, Jack, kind of . . . he creeps me out.”

Abruptly, her mother’s smiling face changed to one of anger, her eyes blazing brighter than the light surrounding them outside. “What has he done to you,” she said, voice hard and unwavering.

Rebecca leaned back, shocked at the outburst. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Her mother was fiercely protective. Anyone hurting Rebecca was considered as a personal attack. “Nothing, mum. Not like that. Just . . . he’s always asking about my business. It’s . . .” Rebecca searched her mind for the right word, “. . . unnerving, I guess.

Rebecca watcher her mother relax into the car seat — though the tenseness in her body didn’t ease completely. “Oh, Becca, you should have told me. If you don’t like him being around you, I won’t invite him over. He’ll understand.”

Rebecca shook her, staring at her hands. “He’s your friend. I can’t make you do that.”

A hand crept under her chin and forced Rebecca to stare at her mother again. “You’re my priority, Becca. Always. Your dad’s too. So, if you don’t like being around Jack we won’t let him around you again.”

“Mum—”

“No. I love you, sweetheart, but shut up.” Rebecca shut up, a hint of a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. She couldn’t help the reaction. Her mother’s mouth lifted too. “There’s that smile. Now, I’m serious about Jack. It won’t affect the relationship I have with him, but I won’t invite him over anymore. Not if it bothers you.”

Rebecca blinked away tears, unsuccessfully. “Okay,” she conceded, knowing that she wouldn’t win the argument. Now with a lawyer. And especially not with her mother.

A kiss was placed on her forehead, so gently it was like Rebecca would break. “Okay,” her mother agreed. Then with a gentle shove, Rebecca was pushed out of the car. “Go. I have to work you know. And you have school.”

I wish I didn’t, Rebecca thought. She smiled at her mother. “Bye. Have fun.”

Her mother smiled back, touching her perfect bun of hair — something Rebecca still couldn’t manage. “You too.”

Rebecca smiled one last time before walking towards the entrance of the school, her shoes barely making a sound against the concrete. She brushed a wayward branch out of her way as she walked as fast as she could to avoid Skye. She hadn’t seen her for a few days and that was never good. It meant Skye was planning something.

“Hey! Rebecca!”

Slowly, Rebecca turned, hoping it was who she thought it was. It had to be. No one knew her name. There was only one person. Her shoes skidded lightly on the path, her hand brushing against her jeans nervously. “Uh . . . hi,” she mumbled.

Mikael smiled at her, dimples showing. As usual, his arms looked huge, even in a loose — well, not really, but compared to his usual clothes it was — shirt. Before she could stop herself, an image of him shirtless popped into her mind. She could see it vividly. If there was a canvas in front of her right now, she’d be able to paint it. Well, that was, if she could paint, which she couldn’t. “Hey. Where you going?”

“Uh, the library,” Rebecca said quickly, tossing up whether or not silence would have been a better answer. Did she want to sound any more like a nerd? He’d probably never even been in one. Guys like him played football and killed people on x-box. They didn’t sit and read for hours on end.

Completely surprising her, he smiled. “Cool. Can I come with? They’ve got some good ones.”

Rebecca could only stare at him in complete and utter shock. Surely, she was hearing things. There was no way he’d actually said that. No way. On the face of the earth. Oh, who was she kidding? On the face of the universe. “What?”

He stared at her for a minute before nodding to the school’s front doors. “The library. I asked if I could join.”

“Yeah . . . I got that, but . . . you— you’re . . .” She forced herself to shut up before she could make an even bigger fool of herself.

He raised an eyebrow. “What? Just because I play football means I can’t read a book?”

Rebecca opened her mouth to say something. Lost the courage and closed it. Tried again. Lost every word of her vocabulary. He’d stunned her speechless.

“Rebecca? Are you okay?”

He seemed so genuinely concerned that she forced herself to nod, breaking the haze. “Yeah. I’m good. Great. Really. So good . . .” And now she was babbling. Could this get any worse? Surely she’d embarrassed herself enough to scare him off.

He laughed, winking at her. Rebecca couldn’t deny the fluttering of her heart. Now he’d spoken to her, she couldn’t see him as scary. He was . . . hot. And she had a crush.

It had gotten worse for her. And his friends were staring. “Uh, your friends are staring at us.”

He shrugged, as if the fact didn’t bother him in the slightest. Rebecca wished she could’ve said the same for herself. “So? Let them. I’m talking to a friend. Now, we going or what?”

Rebecca nodded mechanically, not moving. “Sure. Let’s go.”

His arm came around her shoulders and she couldn’t stop the flinch. Trying to cover up the movement, she froze, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Too scared, and really happy he was touching her — something she didn’t want to admit — she didn’t move.

He frowned at her. “Hey, what’d I do? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Laughing nervously, she shrugged, making her hyperaware of his arm. “No. Sorry. I’m just jumpy.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. C’mon, let’s go.”

Then he led her into the school, arm still around her shoulders.

Rebecca’s swore her heart had stopped beating.

*             *             *

               By the time they got to the library, Rebecca’s mind still hadn’t caught up. She still wasn’t even sure it was real. Was sure she was hallucinating. Mikael didn’t have an arm around her. He couldn’t.

               But he did. And it was definitely her heart that was fluttering. It was her palms getting clammy.

               The stares they’d gotten hadn’t even mattered to Rebecca. She hadn’t even noticed them. She was too busy freaking out. What a sight they must have been. The freak and the jock. Polar opposites. It was official, they were a cliché . . .

               Well no, they weren’t. Because there was no ‘they.’

               “We’ve arrived,” Mikael announced, pushing open the library doors. “After you.”

               Rebecca ducked under his arm, glad that no one had even looked up to acknowledge their presence.

               “Where to?” Mikael asked.

               Rebecca shrugged. “I don’t know. I need books for science. I was going to look for them.”

               Mikael raised an eyebrow. “Well screw that. I’ve got something more exciting. Follow me.”

               Rebecca followed. They passed the computers; all occupied by people playing Minecraft or assignments. No one even looked up, too focused on themselves. They passed all the sections — ones that Rebecca had memorised the final numbers.

               Finally, they reached the back of the library, where they were hidden in a corner.

               Mikael reached into his pocket and pulled something out, and Rebecca watched with rapt attention. She stared at the box, a million things running through her mind.

               “So, I didn’t come her to look at books. I wanted to give this to you.”

               Rebecca blinked, sure she’d heard him wrong. “To me?”

               Mikael rolled his eyes. “No, to the ghost behind you. What do you think?”

               Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh. A genuine one too. She sobered quickly though. “Keep it. It’s yours.”

               Mikael shoved it into her hands and she could do nothing but grab it. “Take it. It’s my apology for making everything happen to you.”

               She blinked, stunned. “What?”

               Wiping dark hair out of his face, Mikael said, “I thought about it and I realised you were right. I didn’t try to do anything but I made things hard for you. It was my fault.”

               Rebecca could only stand there, staring at the box in her hands.

               Mikael sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it.” He took it out of her hands and opened it. “Look.”

               She did, staring in shock at the beautiful jewellery that was revealed. An emerald stone this size of her thumb sat inside a piece of gold. It was amazing. And it looked expensive. “Mikael, I can’t take this.”

               He shook his head, turning her around. Rebecca was helpless to stop him. Hands reached around and something went around her neck. As a heavy weight settled against her chest, she could do nothing but stare at Mikael.

               He leaned in close to her. “I’m glad you like it. Now, it’s yours but you can’t let anyone see it. And I mean anyone.”

                Rebecca just nodded. Of course she couldn’t. He had a psychotic girlfriend who was already out to get Rebecca.

               Mikael smiled at her and the shocked her by kissed her forehead. “Good. Take care of it.”

               Then he left.

               Rebecca could do nothing but stand there, rooted to the spot, mouth hanging open, and hand clutching the necklace.

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So, I wasn't planning on writing but I got super depressed becuase I finished my book and now I have to wait a whole year for the next one.  I had to get my mind off of it so I wrote something. Damn JR Ward.

Vote and comment if you enjoyed it!

~ Littlemissflawed