One

DAHLIA

         My life has always been nothing out of the ordinary. I have loving parents, a brother and a loyal bestfriend. I also have a fiance and if things turn out well, after I graduate from college, we'll be getting married. So, yes, you could refer to my life as normal.

         I sat in the lecture hall,

groaning inwardly as professor Finnian began to give lectures on psychology. For truth to be told, there are times when I'll rather listen to my mum's rambling than sit here, listening to Professor Finnian as he lectured us.

Most students were distracted, only the most serious ones were listening to him at this point. I'm a third year college student, I'm not supposed to be this nonchalant about this course though. I've never failed a test, exam or a project but I've never been really good at psychology unlike other courses that I study.

I faced my notepad, doodling shapes of different sizes, absent mindedly.

When I got tired of it, I sat upright, my gaze on the other students. "Bored?" The guy sitting to my left said, giving me a crooked smile. I shrugged, not really paying much attention to him.

"You should listen more. You'll be able to understand what he's saying, that way" he said and I forced out a smile.

I watched the others as they ignored Mr Finnian's lecture. Girls were popping their bubble gums, having lazy chats with their seat partners. Guys were having discussions, totally ignoring the poor professor, but someone had caught my eye.

There was a guy sitting three seats away from me. I've seen him a couple of times.

He never wears colored clothes, he's always dressed in black and he has an air of mystery around him. He has the aura of someone who is totally unapproachable. He's somewhat popular because of his notoriousness. Most students avoid him just so they can avoid trouble.

He's always wearing hoodies and I guess that's probably just his style. But, he seems to always hide his face and it's weird.

He was slouched over his desk, head on his desk. He appeared to be asleep with his hood still over his head.

"Make sure you submit your assignments by the next lecture. You don't want to fail this course, trust me" Mr Finnian said and left the hall.

Everyone began to leave but hooded guy didn't move a muscle. He seemed to be deeply asleep.

I grabbed my bag and rose to my feet still watching him.

From the corner of my eye, I saw another guy walk up to him and whisper in his ear.

My eyes widened and I forced myself to look away. No one has ever had the guts to speak to hooded guy. Deciding that it wasn't my business, I started to head towards the exit of the lecture hall when I noticed that the laces of my boots had come undone. Sighing, I bent over to tie up my loose laces.

"No, shit Sherlock. Thanks for stating the obvious" hooded guy said with a husky voice.

"C'mon Red, he wants us there now" the heavily tattooed guy standing beside hooded guy's chair, said. "You can handle it, can't you? Look, I've got three more lectures to attend to. I can't keep skipping lectures!"

"We both know that you're really smart. You haven't failed a single course, your grades are fine. Red, you know what happens when you ignore Skull"

Wait, what?

Skull?

Red?

What sort of names are those?

"Someone's listening to us" Red said suddenly.

I froze, my blood turning cold.

Quickly, I scrambled to my feet and hurried out of the hall. What the hell was I thinking?!

"Hey, girl. What have you been up to?" Tori, my best friend said as she walked up to me.

"Nothing serious" I shrugged.

She raised a suspicious brow.

"Don't lie to me, Lia. You look like you've just been caught breaking into a bank. I wanna know what's going on" she pouted as we headed to our next class together.

"What do you mean I look like I've just been caught breaking into a bank?" I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Come on, Lia. You know I'm always right. So, tell me what did you do this time?"

"You're too nosy" I said, smiling.

"Come on, you know that you're just as nosy as I am"

"Fine. You know the hooded guy?" I asked.

"Yeah" she replied.

"Good, do you know anything about him?"

"Well, I do know that he's got only one friend in this school. I mean, he's always seen with a guy who has a lot of tattoos. There's rumor going around about his name. People say they've heard his friend call him 'Red'. He also calls the tattooed guy 'Grim'. Scary isn't it?"

"What else do you know about him?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Tori looked around, making sure no one was listening to us.

"They say he's hooked on drugs" she whispered and

I grimaced.

"Well that's bad" I muttered as we settled down for our next lecture. I kept thinking about Red. It was a disturbing thought but I wasn't satisfied with the answers I'd gotten. I guess I'm really nosy. Good thing I love mysteries. I guess I just have trouble with minding my own business. When Tori and I parted ways to attend our next lectures, I bumped into someone I shouldn't have, if only I'd been watching where I was going.

I expected to find myself on the floor due to the collision, what I didn't expect was him, reaching out to steady me. His hands gripped my shoulders firmly, his face hovering a few inches above mine. Then I realized something, I could see his face.

Silk black hair slipped from underneath the hood, framing the left side of his face. Hazel eyes stared right at me, like he could see through my soul. He had a small mole below his lower lip. Long eyelashes framed his enchanting eyes. He was beautiful in a manly way. His features were sharp and hard. It's hard to forget a face like that.

"If you can't see well at daytime, why not get glasses or a walking stick? You could get a guide dog too, they can be really helpful" he said and walked away. I was dazed.

I still couldn't get over the warmth I'd felt when he'd steadied me. He was so goodlooking.

Slowly the excitement seeped away and I was left with a boiling rage.

How could he say that to me?

He's so rude.

Who does he think he is?

Fuming silently, I noticed the wallet on the floor. Smirking, I picked it up. Sure enough, I found an identity card in it with his name as 'RED DIAMOND'

And a status of: 'GOLDEN EAGLE'.

I stared at the card confused, something fishy was going on here.

'SCORPION'S EYE ORGANIZATION'

It sounded like a mafia gang or something. I mean, duh, he looks like a gang member.

Do I give it back to him or do I use the card to find out more?

A little fun won't hurt.

Smirking with satisfaction, I slipped the card into the front pocket of my jeans.