Chapter one

 

 

 

 

Flawless

 

 

Jennifer Kingsly sat at her desk, staring down at the paper she’d been staring at for the pass ten minutes, unsure on what to do - or where to begin. The teacher had given out multiple worksheets on math equations, which was bound to be homework for the next few nights, and Jennifer had other plans. Homework wasn’t one of them.

 

She sighed, grimacing at the papers on her desk, and turned her head to the kid next to her. He was Dan Berdy, the one she liked to call Nerdy Berdy because he looked different from everyone else. His hair was slick, brown colored, and he wore glasses that looked too small for his head. His clothes didn’t look too great either; as if his mother picked out his clothes this morning; a blue shirt with a button collar and jeans that hardly reached his ankles when he sat, making his white socks clearly visible.

 

Sometimes, she wanted to ask if he could change his look every once in a while because she couldn’t help but grimace each time she looked at him. And this time, she had to as she carefully smoothed her face, relaxing.

 

She did this sometimes, when she didn’t have the patience at all for learning what the rest of the class already knew. It was too much work.

 

“Excuse me,” she tapped his shoulder once and watched the boy’s body stiffen in response; a sure sign that hardly anyone wanted to get his attention before. He slowly looked up from his paper, which was already half-way completed, his eyes widened once he realized just who had bothered him.

 

“I don’t get this at all. Can you show me what to do?” Jennifer asked, smiling kindly.

 

Once the question was asked, she knew he wasn’t listening - his eyes were still locked on her face, watching her lips move, her eyes on him, and her smile. Jennifer Kingsly wasn’t just known for being popular; she was also one of the prettiest. Actually, she liked to think she was the prettiest one out of all the girls that went to Holliston High school.

 

Jennifer’s eyebrow rose from his silence. “Excuse me?” she waved her hand, trying to get his attention again.

 

He blinked, slowly coming back from his trance. “Y-yes?” he squeaked out.

 

The poor thing, thought Jennifer. Was he scared of her? She didn’t bite. At least, not to the people that didn’t get in her way.

 

She pointed down to the paper and then smiled again, turning to look at him. “I asked if you could help me,” she explained.

 

Dan looked down to her desk, to the blank sheet that lay untouched. “Yes,” he said, almost robotically. “I can help,” and then he quietly scooted his desk closer. “What don’t you understand?” he asked, avoiding her eyes and instead looking at the blank paper that lay before her.

 

She forced a sigh, as if she were so tired and frustrated. “All of it,”

 

He nodded, taking a deep breath. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll explain the first problem, and you can follow along.” He pointed to the first problem on the paper. “You see this x? That’s the one you have to solve for,” he picked up her pencil and began explaining what to do. “You just take these positive numbers and add them up, then you have to subtract from the other side, do the same to this number, divide, and you have your x solved,”

 

Jennifer nodded at this even though she wasn’t paying attention, not really. Her mind was elsewhere, wondering what she should wear to the party tomorrow tonight. Her boyfriend was planning a party since his parents were going out for a few days and she couldn’t wait to go.

 

“I’m starting to understand,” she murmured, following the motions of Dan’s hands, watching the tip of his pencil, nodding when she was suppose to.  

 

Jennifer looked at the clock as Dan began the next problem. I’m running out of time. She only had one minute left to convince Dan now.

 

“You know,” she started, carefully bringing her hand up. She took a piece of her blond hair and twirled it around her finger, looking at him sincerely. “I have this huge test tomorrow, and this one isn’t coming up until next week…” she bit her bottom lip, cocking her head at him. “Do you think you could finish this for me? It would be a big help,”

 

His face wavered for a split second and Jennifer quickly placed her hand on his, giving it a light squeeze. “We could go out afterwards, you know…hang out together,” she leaned closer, smiling that smile she always gave.

 

He looked down at her hand on his, then back up to her face; and just like that, he was under her spell.

 

He nodded, eyes lighting up in excitement. “Sure, no problem. I’ll get this done by tomorrow and we can-”

 

“Thank you!” she squeaked out, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek.

 

Quickly, she gathered her bag and left the room before he had a chance to rethink on the extra homework he now had, grateful that it wasn’t her problem anymore.

 

 

*   *   *

 

By the end of the day, when the final bell rang out, Jennifer couldn’t have left her last class period faster. She walked down the hall quickly and carefully.

 

The bag that hung loosely from her shoulder began to vibrate before she turned the next corner. She fumbled in her bag for her phone as she continued walking; people moved out of her way naturally, so Jennifer didn’t need to be concerned about hitting anyone, and her body moved in routine through the halls. She didn’t need to think on where she was going exactly so she searched in her bag without thought, moving aside makeup products, lip gloss, and anything else she couldn’t seem to part with, unable to find what she was looking for.

 

The phone made several long vibrations before going silent; indicating that someone, most likely her boyfriend, called.

 

A sigh escaped her lips, and she looked up from her bag to see that someone stood between her and her destination, leaning lazily against her locker as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was a senior, like herself; she could tell that much from the way he looked. He was tall, well-built, and had a noticeable presence that all the upper classmen seemed to have. But just like Dan Berdy; he was different. Definitely not the same, but Jennifer caught on to it instantly. His face was smooth and unblemished with long black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheek bones. If his hair wasn’t so outgrown and he didn’t give off a bad vibe, he could’ve been attractive.

 

But he wasn’t.

 

Everyone surrounding him, the students moving by to get to their own lockers, avoided him; as if he were some disease that would spread to them if they got too close.

 

From afar - way, way far - he could’ve passed as a normal high school guy. Though, that image was destroyed the moment Jennifer stepped into his line of view, and his eyes moved to her.

 

Something about him, the way he looked at her, was too shrewdly and calculating, like he knew whose locker he blocked. Purposely anticipating her arrival; it was almost as if he were waiting for her.

 

Jennifer paused in front of him; all the while his eyes watched her with bored interest. “Hello,” she murmured to him, waiting for him to move.

 

            He didn’t. He raised an eyebrow at her instead, as if she had just spoken a foreign language.

 

            “You’re in my way,” she told him, growing agitated. When he gave her a blank look, she continued. “My locker? Its right there,” she pointed behind him. Move, idiot.

 

            “Have you ever heard the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover?’” he asked her, his lips forming into a devious smirk. “It means that things that look good on the outside aren’t always good on the inside,”

 

            Jennifer stood there, staring at him. What was wrong with him? She was about to ask him, but then he spoke.

 

“You have twenty-four hours, Jennifer Kingsly,” he said, eyes locked on hers. “to become less self-centered and more self-less,”

 

            What the hell? “Excuse me?”

 

            He straightened his posture and started down the hall, his back to her. “You heard me,” he murmured, and then he disappeared into the mass of students, leaving Jennifer alone without another word.

Author's Note

ironically, my grammar and spelling are probably not even close to being flawless. ^^
But please, read and review and let me know if i should continue or not. Otherwise, there wont be any new chapters anytime soon.

Reviews

[halflives]

This is a terrific first chapter! I'm intrigued, and I can't wait to read more!

[Daydreamer54]

u shall continue this because it seems intrestig! ^^ I wonder why he decided to pick her?

[Short.Nerd]

This is really good! In a way it reminds me of Beastly by Alex Flinn but it definetly is still unique! Great job and I can't wait for more:)

[GrownUpTime]

I want another chapter! Its good. my only suggestion is to re read your work. it helps me find mistakes and add things that i think make it better. your a wonderful author and friend and i cant wait to read your first completed book!