She bothers me

_

Harper's POV

I finally managed to push him off and put a good, long distance between us, my chest heaving.

"I would rather get on a roller coaster," I threw back.

I tried to calm my nerves and turned to him boldly, ignoring his distracting abs.

"If you want to keep your dirty secret, then you have to listen to me," I told him, setting my books down.

He scoffed behind me.

"Like hell I will."

He strolled to the bed and sat down.

"Look," I exhaled.

"The sooner we agree to cooperate, the sooner we can end this."

His lashes flickered up.

I crossed my arms firmly against my chest and took a few steps closer.

We stared at each other, our gazes engaged in an eye battle until he gave in.

"Fine." He gave in and got up. "Let's do this."

I gave a victorious smile.

"But I have conditions," he said and my smile withered.

He moved closer and I tilted back for safety.

"No one can know you live in my house or that you are my tutor," he said with much disgust.

I rolled my eyes.

Like I want to be associated with an asshole like him.

"You have a deal. And in return, you will cooperate with the lessons."

He gave a low smile and stretched out his hand.

I stared down at it and remembered one of his pranks.

I turned around, ignoring him, and sat down.

...

Monday morning at school was a bit quiet. It was like something terrible had happened.

The hot news was still trending. Jace and Reagan's break-up.

I tried to avoid it as much as I could. And thankfully, I got through the locker area without running into Reagan.

If not, I would have been her punching bag to vent all her heartbreak pain.

I slipped in and out of class quietly to avoid being noticed.

"I heard Jace nearly killed Declan," Quinn said the moment we sat down in the cafeteria.

I looked around quickly and turned to shush her. "Keep it down, Quinn."

She nodded fast but continued in a lower voice, looking excited.

"I should have been there to see the helpless look on Reagan's face," she said, jabbing the straw into the drink in front of her.

I gulped slowly. Serves her right.

The moment I took a bite of my croissant, Reagan appeared with her evil friends.

Our eyes met and I nearly choked. Quinn followed my gaze and her face sank into anger.

"Don't let her intimidate you. I'm here," she said, her eyes fixed glaringly on Reagan who was approaching.

She stopped in front of the table, flipping her hair back.

"Harper?" She called out like she was surprised. "I didn't think you'd still be in town."

She gave a scornful little chuckle. "Aren't you supposed to be with your widowed mother? Still mourning?"

The girls squeaked behind her.

I clenched my hands on the table, my lips parted weakly. Before I could speak, Quinn did.

"And shouldn't you be at home, under a duvet, ashamed after being dumped for cheating?" she shot back.

The flames must have risen in Reagan's head as her eyes widened and her jaw clenched tight.

I bit my lower lip, trying hard not to let out the laughter bursting in my throat.

Rather than turn to Quinn, she turned to me instead. I was always the easiest target.

"At least I'm not going to die bitter because no one wants to have sex with me," she smirked.

Quinn wanted to respond again but I grabbed her hand across the table and stopped her. I did not want any trouble with Reagan. It was just six months, and I had endured her torture for longer than that.

But Reagan was already pissed. She picked up my drink and her friends moved quickly to hold me as she poured it down my chest.

Quinn rushed over to push them off, loud chuckles escaping their throats and attracting eyes to the table. I gasped, tears rushing to my eyes.

"Are you crazy?" Quinn shouted.

Knowing what she might do, I quickly stopped her again and dragged her along, out of the cafeteria. On the way out, we ran into Jace who was just strolling in, his eyes catching mine.

His gaze dropped to my juice-stained top and a small frown crept onto his face. But then he turned away coldly, like he always did, and walked past me.

I swallowed hard and continued out of the hall to the bathroom to clean up.

As I walked the hallway, I imagined every eye on me, mocking me in the ridiculous cheerleading dress I had on.

I had no spare clothes at school and had to borrow Quinn's cheerleading outfit.

The tight dress was split-cut and barely reached my knees. I tried to pull it down as I walked but it didn't help much. I felt like my whole thighs were exposed and everyone was making comments about them.

I struggled to get out of the door without meeting anyone's eyes. Just as I was about to step onto the road, a car stopped in front of me.

"Marla?!" I called, surprised, and at the same time really grateful.

I didn't ask why she was there but quickly rushed to get into the front seat.

"Are you here for me?" I asked as soon as I sat down.

"You think?"

I heard the awful asshole's voice from behind and turned quickly to find him relaxed in the back seat. His eyes lifted from his phone.

For a moment, I had forgotten I was living with him.

"I didn't know you were a cheerleader," Marla said, pointing at my clothing.

I turned to her.

"Oh gosh, no."

"I had a little accident and my friend lent me this," I explained.

Jace's sneer cut in.

"It's funny you'd assume someone like her could be a cheerleader," he said.

I almost couldn't resist the urge to punch him. It was his fault Reagan had picked on me today. He was the one who had started it.

"Harper is beautiful, why can't she be?" Marla said in my defense.

I knew she was being sweet and supportive and all. But that went overboard. I had seen myself in the mirror.

Jace chuckled again and wanted to say something, but Marla's sharp glare cut him off.

I exhaled slowly and relaxed into the seat.

The car moved soon and we were out of there.

_

Jace's POV

As the car moved, I lifted my eyes from the screen of my phone and stole a glance at her.

The cheerleading dress made her look… different. My mind flashed to earlier, at the cafeteria.

I knew Reagan must have troubled her again, but I ignored it.

At first, I was satisfied watching her get humiliated, but somehow it also felt horrible. I didn't stop or prevent it.

I watched her again and she was dozing off, her head tilting to the side. I resisted the urge to push back the strands of hair falling over her face and turned away to look out the window.

She bothers me, even when she does nothing but just stay still.