Chapter 2

I thought that would be the end of it.

But a few days later, Jake swaggered into our classroom.

Amidst a chorus of gasps, he slapped a wad of crumpled bills onto my desk, a dangerously handsome smirk on his face. "Here's the money from the other day. Thanks, good girl."

He walked out, and just like that, I became the notorious bad boy's rumored girlfriend.

My friend tugged at my sleeve, shrieking, "Ava, are you crazy? That's Jake Miller! I heard he's involved with gangs, maybe even killed someone! Stay away from him!"

Some girls who loved drama crowded around. "Hey, you actually know Jake? Can you get me his SnapChat? He looks so hot on his motorcycle!"

I was completely bewildered.

On the way home from school, a motorcycle roared and cut me off.

Jake took off his helmet, revealing those signature dark, narrow eyes, and whistled at me. "Get on. I'll take you for a ride."

His gang of friends behind him started jeering.

"Jake, this chick looks too plain. Boring."

"Yeah, the 'It Girl' from the tech school is where it's at. Short skirts, big boobs, long legs – now THAT'S hot!"

My face turned white with fear. Like a startled rabbit, I lowered my head, scurried around his bike, and ran.

The sound of their raucous laughter followed me.

Back then, I truly hated him. I thought he was a lowlife, from a completely different world than mine.

But Jake was thick-skinned. He blocked me every day, and I couldn't shake him.

Until one day, I stayed late for detention and encountered a drunk harassing me in the alley.

Just as I was despairing, Jake suddenly appeared, like some kind of guardian angel, kicking the drunk a good six feet away.

He took off his jacket, still warm from his body, and wrapped it around me, his voice unusually gentle. "Don't worry, I've got you."

That night, he followed me all the way home, watching until I was safely inside.

That night, a tiny crack formed in my seventeen-year-old heart's defenses.