I'm Marrying The Asshole of My School?

I sat in English class the next day fidgeting in my seat. Not knowing who I was getting paired up with was unnerving enough but knowing it was gonna be with someone I didn’t like…or possibly- I glanced over at Rowen- someone I cared about, was even worse. What if I say something stupid? Oh God, that would be so embarrassing. Or worse, what if my brothers said something embarrassing about me? I could never face school again. As Mr. O came in to class, putting his usual stuff on the cluttered desk- jacket, briefcase, and hat-, he pulled out a sheet and began to read it off. As it came nearer to the ‘K’s, I started to shake; I did not want to do this project.
Finally, Emma put her hand on my shoulder, “Izzy, seriously, it’s not the end of the world.”
“It is for me,” I let my head fall into my hands.
“Oh come on,” She pulled my head up from my arms; “You’ll probably be paired with Rowen anyway.”
I nodded, “Perhaps you’re not-so-smart mind is right.”
“Isabella and Eric,” Mr. O called.
“Or maybe not,” I glared at her and she smiled weakly.
“Emma and Jack,” Emma winced as Mr. O called out her name and the star soccer player’s name.
I smirked, “Not so hot now, huh?”
“Shush your mouth,” She said and looked over at Jack- who was smiling at her.
I made a face and looked at Rowen (who was partnered with some preppy cheerleader slut; Amber I think her name was). He looked at me while holding her back and into her seat. I shrugged and than looked at Eric. His eyes bore into mine and I squirmed under his gaze, turning back to Emma. “He scares me.”
She looked at him and than back at me, “Just a little.”
“You’re starting today so I’m giving you the rest of the period to get friendly with you’re husband/ wife,” Mr. O grinned at our miserable expense; damn him and his teach-y ways!
Suddenly Emma was replaced by Eric and I was hoping that if I didn’t move, he wouldn’t see me. But sadly, he wasn’t a T-Rex.
“Hey there wife,” Eric pronounced ‘wife’ like it was about to come to life and eat him. I hope it does.
“Shut your face, I’ll do the work, and you leave me alone,” I said, turning to him, “Deal?”
“No.”
“What?” I ground out.
“This isn’t a one-sided relationship! I have to do some work too,” He glared at me.
“Oh, I wouldn’t expect you to do any work at all,” I muttered more to myself then him, “Shocker.”
I heard his teeth grind together and his jaw clench and unclench over and over. “I can make your life a living hell, and yet you still insist on teasing the lion.” He gave me a cold look, “One of these days, that lion will snap and attack you.”
“Is that a threat?” I ask sweetly.
His ice blue eyes got a little colder until I felt like if he kept on staring at me that way, I might have to get a scarf and winter jacket on. “Not a threat, Bambi, but a promise.”
My eyes widened a little and I gulped quietly, “A promise?”
He nodded, “One I intend to keep, one way or another.”
I didn’t want to think of what that ‘other’ was. So I ignored him for a little while by reading. That is, until he decided to grab the book from my hands and hold it, reading the summary on the back. “You read Michael Crichton?”
“Yes, I do,” I said slowly, “How do you know him?”
“I read his book Next,” He put the book down and gave me a long side-glance.
“Seriously?” I raised my eyebrow.
“Mhm,” He narrowed one eye, “You probably didn’t think I read either, huh?”
“I know you read but I never thought you could read such a complicated book.”
“Hey, I like to read,” He snorted, “Why would you read The Andromeda Strain?”
“Because it’s interesting,” I picked up the book and put it in my bag.
“Well, I find books interesting as well,” He placed his chin in the palm of his hand.
I made small glances at his profile as he bored-ly looked in front of him at the whiteboard. I noticed his nose was long and straight with a small upturn, round bottom lip and a narrow chin. He had a good profile, I had to admit. But he was still a jerk.
“Why are you such an ass to everyone?”
He replaced his chin with his cheek and looked at me fully, “Because I can and it’s fun.”
“But it’s not nice,” I furrowed my eyebrows together.
He raised an eyebrow and gave a short, cold laugh, “I’m not nice, haven’t you noticed?”
“But you could be,” I muttered, getting the book out and reading more.
“Maybe I like to be mean to people,” He said, moving closer, “Because it makes me feel better.”
“Well, then you’re a sick ass who likes to prey on innocent people,” I focused my attention on the book.
“Like you?”
“Exact-” I stopped midway and sent a glare at him.
“You are innocent and I do like to torture you quite frequently,” He grinned, but it seemed very out of place with his whole “I’m a badass and you can’t do anything about it” look.
“Why? Honestly, we were good friends in elementary school,” I finally said.
“I know we were,” He closed his eyes like he could erase the high school life and go back to a time when there wasn’t a worry about how you looked or who you hung out with. “In fact, we were best friends.”
“Middle school changes people,” I said warily, not wanting to accidentally give my trust to him.
“For the worse,” He finished for me, opening his eyes again, the icy coldness of it coming back as he realized we were actually conversing like civilized people. “But it doesn’t matter now, now does it?”
“Nope, so you stick with your thing and I’ll do mine.” I began to read again and this time nothing stopped me.
But he just kept staring at me like I was a piece of meat being dangled in front of a starving animal. It unnerved me enough to wriggle under his gaze. It felt like a weight on me, a weight that wouldn’t go away. I frowned and made sure to keep reading like it didn’t affect me. But in all honesty, it did. His hand made its way to the back of my chair and he leaned over so he can read as well. I didn’t like people reading over my shoulder because it just annoyed me and he was no different. I turned to him, realizing our close proximity, “Do you mind?”
“Mind what?” He gave a slow smile, the warmth of his body ever so close to mine.
“One, getting away from me because you’re waaaay to close for comfort, and two, because I don’t like people reading over my shoulder,” I refused to move my seat over because he’s the one who was invading my personal space.
“Whatever,” He scooted away but grabbed my book, flipped it to the first page and began to read.
“Excuse you,” I exclaimed, giving him my best glare.
He just smiled and went back to reading my book, the one that I paid for with my own money. I let out a frustrated breath and dropped my head in my folded arms on the desk, giving up the battle.

“SO, WHEN IS YOUR brother coming to get us?”
I whipped my head around to find Eric standing there, arm around some girl’s shoulders. Oh that Amber girl again. Huh, very odd. Eric was smirking and Amber was cooing in his ear. I rolled my eyes, “You’re not coming over, not with her.”
This day had to be the worst of them all; Eric was like following me around and I wasn’t even able to talk to Rowen or Emma because he just kept popping up and dragging me here and there. It was really bugging me to no end.
“So if she doesn’t come, I can come over?”
“No.”
“Aww but I’m your husband,” He whined with a hint of a chuckle because Amber bit his earlobe.
“If you really were my husband what you’re doing is considered cheating,” I put my hands on my hips, “Besides, if we were married, I would have divorced you in a second.”
He frowned and let go of Amber, “I’ll be going now, Amber baby, see you tomorrow.”
She pouted, “But-”
He shushed her with a finger to her lips, “No, no, my sweet. I promise to see you tomorrow.”
She smiled, “All right.”
Jack pulled up in front of me and leaned over, “Come on.”
I hopped in and Eric followed, getting in the back seat. “Just take me home.”
Jack raised his eyebrow and motioned to Eric. I glared, “He’s following me home.”
“Like a little lost puppy,” Eric piped up grimly.
“If you keep up that tone, I’ll make you fail this assignment.” I ground out, crossing my arms under my chest.
“Isn’t that a little harsh?” Jack asked me.
“Isn’t leaving a thousand miles a little harsh, Jack?” I glared at him. He sighed and looked back at the road, turning down Silvia St. and over to Browning Ave. where he went a little farther and pulled into our driveway. I got out and slammed the door behind me and of course in Eric’s face. I didn’t care. Taking the stairs two at a time I got to my room and closed the door, hoping for some quiet.
All the dogs lay either on my bed or near it, on the floor. I sighed, “All right guys, off you go.”
Dragon, Cake, and Romeo all were laying on the floor but Angel and Lucian were making grumbling noises as they hopped off and laid near the other three; which made it harder for my to get on the bed. I instead sat down in the chair and began to contemplate going downstairs. Was it really so hard to just do the project and get it over with? The answer; yes. This project is the entire marking period, so I’ll be stuck with Eric for at least three months. This really sucks big time because we have to be together like all the time since we’re “married”.
And since we have to be together for these three last months of school, I will either not be able to spend time with Emma and Rowen or I’ll be forced to bring Eric along…
I rolled my head back against the top of the chair and I sighed loudly, “What am I gonna do?”
“Well, maybe your homework?” My mother’s voice cut into my thinking and I looked over at her.
She had a scowl written all over her face, “Isabella Rose, you know it’s not polite to leave company downstairs. Especially if it’s your company.”
I groaned, “He followed me home, Mom, I don’t want him here.”
“But he’s such a good-mannered boy,” She smiled.
I narrowed my eyes, “No, he’s not. He’s such a jerk to me and like everyone that’s not popular.”
“That sweet boy who’s helping me make dinner is a jerk?” She asked like she couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, he’s a jerk,” I said, and than added, “He’s staying for dinner?”
“Well, of course he is, he did help make it,” She nodded. “Now come on, Jack went to pick up Tristan so you’re setting the table tonight.”
I groaned again and got up, “Fine,” I pulled off my sneakers and socks and slipped my cozy, warm slippers on.
Mom smiled, “That’s my baby.”
I followed her downstairs and into the dining room where she left me for the kitchen. The smell was so heavenly that I actually smiled as I put all the dishes out. Maybe it wasn’t so bad having him around.
“Izzy, move your ass so I can put this down,” Eric’s annoyingly deep voice had my eye twitching.
Or maybe scallops will fly out of my ass!
I turned around and slapped him across the face. The harsh sound my palm made with his cheek reverberated against the room walls and I had to wince. The stinging pain hit my palm a second after I slapped him. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that again.”
He stood back, shock still written all over his face. For some odd reason, he reminded me of Ryan Reynolds just then. It was a weird thought so I just pushed it aside and mustered up my best glare. Suddenly his shock turned into anger. He glared right back at me, “What was that for?”
“For being an ass,” I took a step forward to look intimidating but he being at least a foot taller wasn’t very helpful.
“Well then you better be getting ready to do a lot of slapping,” He put the pot of food down behind me forcing our bodies to touch because I was not about to move for him.
“Maybe if you actually acting like a good person, we won’t have to resort to fighting all the time,” I pointed my finger at him.
He grabbed it, consuming it with his hand, “Didn’t your mom ever tell you it’s rude to point?”
“Oh, so now you’re the big saint who follows the rules?” I exclaimed, trying to yank my finger back. “Let it go, Eric.”
He held fast to it and pulled me closer to him until we were nose to nose, the warmth of his body began to consume me, like a cozy safe blanket on a cold night. I felt his hot breath against my ear as he muttered, “Listen to me good Bambi; I never follow the rules. Although, I could be that bad boy for you...somewhere more intimate.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tore away from him, hitting my butt against the side of the dining room table. The glasses shook and made clinking noises. He smirked, “I thought so.”
We stared at each other as I called, “Dinner.”
Mom, Jack, and Tristan came in from different parts of the room and began to sit down and chat. We moved out of their way and I sat down next to Tristan, him next to Jack. I let mom scoop me a plate of spaghetti, “Thanks mom.”
“Can you pass the sauce?” Eric asked and I handed it to him.

WE DIDN’T TALK about what transpired between us as the evening ended, but as we sat on the couch watching movies alone, I finally cracked, “What’s you’re problem?”
“You,” He turned to me, the cast of the television screen making part of his face bright where the rest was dark.
I frowned, “We could go to Mr. Offray and ask to get new partners.”
“I’d love that idea, but I already asked after class,” He looked back at the television, “He said that if we couldn’t get along than that’s a good thing since a lot of marriages have their ‘bumpy parts.’”
I sighed and sunk lower into the couch, “So we’re stuck together?”
“Yep,” I heard his sigh as well.
“For like three months?”
“Yep,” He said again.
I pulled my knees to my chest and let my cheek rest on the tops of them. “This is going to be miserably awkward.”
“Agreed.”
I looked over at the clock; eight-thirty five. “Shouldn’t you be going home?”
He raised his eyebrows when he looked at the clock, “My parents are gonna flip.”
“Go home,” I muttered, “I’ll see you in class.”
“Yeah,” He stood up and waited for me too. That’s right, I’m supposed to be a good hostess/ wife and walk him to the door.
I slid off the couch and padded over to the door with him next to me. In all truthfulness, I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to him.
“I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Bambi,” He pivoted his upper body, leaned down and pecked my cheek with his lips. I blinked and watched him leave, my fingers resting where he kissed me. It such a small, quick chaste kiss but it was weird. The biggest asshole of your school doesn’t suddenly become the nicest guy ever…
Unless he was planning something.
Something awful.
I had to be extremely careful around him from now on.