DIAMOND

How the heck did Mr. Arrogant find me? Seriously, shoot me now.

I think I’m dead. His eyes immediately locked onto mine, and that insufferable smirk spread across his face like he’d just won the lottery. I grabbed my backpack and threw it in front of my face like some kind of shield, but, of course, that didn’t help because he saw me.

And, of course, I hear his footsteps getting closer like he's auditioning for a role as the villain in some bad teen drama

"Mr. Lewis, good morning," I heard some voice say — probably the teacher, but let’s be real, the way she said it was more flirty than anything else.

"You can’t just walk in like that, Mr. Lewis. You’re late, for heaven’s sake!" she tried to scold him, but he ignored her like she was the background noise to his existence.

"If you keep this up, I’ll have to tell your father," she warned, sounding just delightfully annoyed. His footsteps stopped, which I thought meant maybe, just maybe, he’d listen to her.

Then, like he’s in some kind of bad boy movie, he smirked and casually tossed back, "Oh? Should I tell the school board you’ve been giving BJs to your students in your office? Or should we just keep that between us?"

And just like that, the class was DEAD SILENT. Gasps, mutterings, the works.

Who in their right mind threatens a teacher in front of the entire class? Oh right, only Mr. Arrogant, apparently.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher had been giving him special treatment. I mean, did you hear her voice earlier? It was practically dripping with... admiration.

Still hiding behind my backpack like a coward, I prayed to the gods of awkwardness that he'd just forget I existed.

Nope.

Because, of course, that would be too easy.

I heard a chair scrape next to me.

Oh, no. No. Not today.

That’s him! I screamed inside my head. He’s the big shot? Just saying his name got me these nasty, judgmental stares, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they found out what I did to him. I swallowed hard, pushing those thoughts away.

And now... I'm literally sitting next to him.

Could fate becruellerueler?

The entire class dragged on. Miraculously, Lewis — yes, the charming Mr. Arrogant himself — didn’t do anything... yet. Maybe he hadn’t realized who I was?

Yeah, sure. Dream on.

Class ended without him bothering me. Maybe he forgot.

Yeah, right. Who forgets someone who slapped them across the face?

Clearly, not Mr. Arrogant.

Just when I thought I was free, a hand grabbed my backpack and yanked it away from my face.

Oh, great. Guess I spoke too soon.

I slowly looked up.

And there it was. That smug, all-knowing smirk of his. The one I really wanted to slap off his face.

"We meet again, humanitarian," he said, and I swear he enjoyed the look of horror on my face.

I quickly shoved my backpack aside and pretended to read a book, thinking if I was just busy, maybe he’d leave me alone.

Yeah, nope.

Instead, he casually threw my book across the room.

"Come on now," he drawled, delightfully ignoring the entire class staring at us, "be a nice humanitarian and pick up what I accidentally dropped."

I ground my teeth together so that ard, I was worried they might crack. My head was swimming with a million sarcastic comments, but I couldn’t exactly launch them at him without the entire class turning this into a circus.

"You won’t get away with this," I muttered, standing up, ready to punch him straight in the face.

But I stopped. His ocean-blue eyes didn’t even blink. He was just staring at me like I was a bug under a microscope.

I sighed dramatically, rolling my eyes as I bent down to pick up my book.

Of course, the girls around me giggled and whispered. Probably because they were thinking about how they could never deal with a guy like that. Not that they’d get a chance — not with Mr. Arrogant's special charm.

I sat back down, and there he was, looking perfectly unbothered with his red headphones on, scrolling through his phone like the world was his personal playground.

Psychopath.

Sophie, my new best friend, noticed the whole thing but was too polite to say anything. I flashed her a grin as I settled back into my seat.

"Don’t worry, he’s always like this," she said, completely unfazed.

Always.

Oh, I noticed. Trust me, I noticed.

I glanced at Lewis again, who was still glued to his phone. Of course, that stupid smirk came back as he looked up for a second, and I quickly turned my face back to Sophie.

Ugh.

"We have to study for next week’s pop quiz," Sophie said, shoving a notebook in my face.

"Seriously? I just started today," I complained, my brain still too sleepy from last night’s party to deal with anything academic.

She gave me the "mother" look, the one that says, you're going to study whether you like it or not, and shoved the book closer to my face. I barely caught it in time.

I flipped through the pages. Not bad. I could probably answer these questions in my sleep. Maybe not my brightest move, but who needs to study when you're this smart, right?

We spent a few minutes studying until another teacher came in, and the day dragged on... until break.

"Come on, it’s break!" Sophie said, scrolling through her phone like she’s got no cares in the world. She gestured for me to follow her, and I stretched in my chair, looking around.

Thank God — Lewis was gone.

And thank God he stayed gone for the rest of class.

We made our way to the grand cafeteria, and I honestly thought I’d just walked into a Michelin-star restaurant.

The aroma of the food made my stomach growl louder than an angry lion.

Thankfully, Sophie was too busy to hear it.

We grabbed mac and cheese — my favorite.

I took a bite.

Holy. Crap.

Sorry, Mom. Your cooking has nothing on this. This food was straight from heaven.

Two girls sat down across from us.

"Hi!" the brunette girl said, waving enthusiastically. I waved back awkwardly.

She smiled, showing off her braces, while the other girl with black hair just nodded like she was too cool to care.

"I see you made a new friend," the brunette said to Sophie, who dropped her spoon in dramatic fashion and smacked her forehead.

"Oops! I forgot to introduce you guys. Diamond, this is Olivia and Ariel. Ladies, meet our newest crew member — Diamond!" Sophie said, clearly proud of herself for making the connection.

"I’m not a crew member," I snapped, stuffing my face with more food. I had a history with crews, and it was not pretty. But I might give this one a shot, just for the hell of it.

"Okay... okay," Sophie said, shaking her head and going back to her phone.

The other two girls didn’t say anything. They just stared at me for a second, then continued eating. Fine by me.

Then, of course, the worst possible thing happened.

"Lewis and Damian are here!" some girl squeaked, and the whole cafeteria went wild.

Girls were touching up their makeup, fixing their hair, and I turned to see my new friends doing the exact same thing.

What in the world? Is there a welcome party for these guys that I missed?