3.

CARTER. 

I liked Trig. I loved math in general, so when the teacher asked a question, I didn't hesitate to raise my hand to solve it. 

Apparently, that made me seem like a dork but I didn't care. I walked up to the board to solve the equation, already having solved the equation from my seat. 

I turned around and handed the marker back to the teacher. 

“That is correct, Carter. Why don't you explain to the rest of the class how you got to this conclusion?” 

I looked at the teacher. That was not a part of our agreement. But I couldn't back out. 

I quickly explained, trying to act like I couldn't feel Ramsay's hot gaze on my body. It was distracting, very distracting and I stumbled over my words a few times. 

“Thank you, Carter. You can go sit.”

That wasn't the only stumbling that I did. As I walked back, Jake put his leg out for me to trip and I miscalculated avoiding it so I still tripped. 

On my way down, I grabbed the nearest thing I could find which was someone's hand while trying to avoid hitting the nearest table edge with my forehead. 

I did hold the hand which broke my fall to the ground. 

Jake and the others burst into laughter alone with the rest of the class. 

“Is everything okay back there?” 

I got up while gripping my elbow that I used to break my fall. When I stood up, I noticed that the hand I'd grabbed was Ramsay's. 

He was looking at me with the most intense stare ever and his grip around my hand was tight but not painful. 

Why did he help me? I thought he'd been among the people that would have laughed? 

The teacher cleared his throat and I removed my hand from his immediately, making my way back to the seat. 

Ramsay picked up a book from his table and smacked Jake in the head so hard with it. 

Jake turned around with a very deep frown and annoyance clearly writing on his face. 

“What the hell, man?*

I didn't hear what Ramsay said to him because his voice was very low but Jake looked at me briefly and I could see the intense hatred in his eyes before he turned around. 

For the rest of Trig class, I didn't answer any more questions. It was better that I just stayed out of the spotlight. 

My mind wandered far as the class droned on. 

Ramsay's hands were soft, very soft. I mean, he was a gym rat, always handling rough things, I didn't expect them to be so tender. 

I replayed the fall in my head and I realised that he had used his other hand to cover the edge of the table and I'd been holding the other. 

Trig ended soon after that and I dashed out of there. Even though we had music class now, I needed some fresh air. 

I knew Sabrina was hot on my tail. There was a place I always went to when I needed air, the top of the school building. 

Thankfully, there was no one there so I just placed my bag down. 

Everything has changed in just one day. It's not like I'd been living a happy life before but now, things were even worse. 

Ramsay being back was just stirring up a lot I thought had died. 

“I knew I'd find you up here. You couldn't get out of that class faster.”

The strong breeze brought her strawberry scented perfume to my nostrils. Sabrina has been my strength through everything. 

“I can't wait to graduate and leave this place. I'd leave everything behind and never come back. I'd go with my mother and brother and we'll find a new place to stay away from these animals here. I hate this town.”

I'd hated this town since my dad died. Everyone abandoned us. Even her so-called friends. And his so called coworkers. 

Sabrina placed her hand on mine. 

“What about me? Are you going to forget me too?”

I placed my arm around her and pulled her in. 

“You know I can never do that.”

I was about to kiss her on the forehead when I heard a noise behind me. 

As I turned to look around, I saw him. He was throwing away a cigarette butt and blowing the last smoke into the air. He always used to smoke and I hated it. 

How did he get up here before me and did he hear anything we might have said? With no words and just stared, he walked away, leaving me standing there looking at the spot that he just left. 

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully and as the final bell rang, I wasted no time in gathering all my books and dashing out of the gate. Sabrina has cheerleading practice so I had to leave her. 

Besides, we were having guests over tonight and I wanted to help him clean the house. 

He wasn't downstairs when I got home although the entire house smelled so good from the food he was cooking. He was a very good chef and I knew he would put in his best to impress the guests. 

 I had to look all over for him before I found him upstairs with my mother. 

“Hey.” 

Collins turned around to look at me before turning to face my mother again. She wasn't awake. 

“Hey, how was school today?”

I didn't want to talk about what happened. He would just worry and I didn't want him getting involved in it. 

“It was good. How's she doing today?”

He took his time in answering. 

“She’s doing good.”

I kissed her on the forehead and then we left the room to let her sleep. 

“The guests you're having over, who are they?” 

He smiled. 

“My girlfriend's family. I thought it was the right time to bring her home. Go change. They're coming over at four.” 

Four? Isn't that too early? 

I didn't argue with him though as I ran upstairs to my bedroom. I heard when the guests came in so I hurried to finish what I was doing and ran down. 

His girlfriend was very beautiful. I could see why my brother liked her so much. I shook her hand and then shook her parents' hands as well. 

“It’s nice to meet you all.” 

As we went to the table, I heard her voice. 

“Oh, my brother is here.”

I turned around and saw my nemesis standing at the door.