After making the coffee and french toasts for Dad, I slung the strap of my bag over my shoulder and picked up the keys of my 2015 Chevrolet Equinox. "Good morning princess." Dad said when he walked towards the dining table. He was dressed in his signature black business suit, looking intimidating as always. "Morning Dad." I said and picked up one toast from the plate. "Are you leaving for school?" he asked as he settled on the chair. "Yep. No time for chit chat." I grinned and then kissed him on the cheeks. After muttering a loud Goodbye, I exited the house and hopped towards my car. "Fuck." A loud curse reached my ears. I turned towards the voice and found Adam struggling with an old, unfashionable bike. His face contorted with anger as he tried to start it but the bike looked like it had already taken its last breath. "Hey." I shouted to catch his attention but he didn't acknowledge my presence. "Adam?" I called again but still no response. Is he deaf or just blatantly rude? Letting out an aggravated sigh, I walked towards him and shook my hand in front of his face. "Earth to Adam." "What?" he gritted through clenched teeth and looked at me with his exhausted face. "Jeez. What did you eat in breakfast. A big pile of salt?" I asked in an annoyed voice. "If someone is not replying to you then it means he didn't want to talk to you in the first place." he responded in a dry voice. I snorted at his remark. What does he think of himself? "I was just being nice you know. I thought you could use a ride." I huffed. "No. I dont." he glared at me. "Fine." I was about to walk away when Tiffany's voice stopped me. "Adam! A beautiful girl is willing to give you a lift and that's how you respond? Tch tch." she scolded him. "Just for clarification, when you said beautiful , you were talking about this annoying little Daddy's princess?" he muttered angrily and earned a glare from Tiffany and a snort from me. "Adam!" Tiffany yelled. "Apologize for your rude remark." "But-" he tried to argue. "Adam Francis McArdle! NOW!" Oops! she used the middle name bomb. "Fine. Sorry." he huffed roughly. "Besides, I don't need her help anyway." he added. "Don't be stupid. How else would you reach school in time? Alicia sweety! Will you please give him a ride?" she asked me in a friendly manner. "Sure. But only because you asked me." I plastered a smile on my face and slid inside the driver seat of my car. "Come on Mr. Hothead. We don't have all day." I heard a deep grunt, followed by the opening of the car door. Adam settled himself on the passenger seat and I revved the engine. The drive was silent. Adam didn't bother to lift his face from his mobile and I, well my eyes were flickering to his face every now and then. His cheekbones were higher than my IQ, the light stubble on his jaw making him more attractive than he already was. Every time he blinked, his long eyelashes would touch his cheeks. And his hair, his oh-so-soft messy hair... Damn. If only he wasn't such a jerk! "Stop staring." Adam raised his head from the phone and muttered. "Or else?" I countered, looking towards the road. "You don't want to know." he challenged. "Believe me, I do." I smirked and stopped the car on the signal. He narrowed his eyes at me and glared. Well, I was not the one to back down either. I mimicked his hard glare which just added fuel to fire. Our little staring competition only broke when the traffic flow started again, forcing me to focus my attention back to the road. "For a tiny person, you sure have a big mouth." he said when I stopped the car in school's parking lot. "For a big person, you sure have a tiny brain." I responded in an equally passive voice. Without bothering to reply, he exited the car and closed the door with a loud thud. I rolled my eyes at his rude attitude and after parking the car, made my way towards the English Literature class. Today, we had to turn in our assignment on plot review of "Pride and Prejudice". One by one, Mrs. Cooper collected the pages from everyone. She stopped when she reached Adam. "I'm sorry Mrs. Cooper. I couldn't do it." he said in his deep voice. "Do you have any excuse?" Mrs. Cooper asked and he shook his head in a no. "I need the report on my desk by this Friday." she announced to him and he nodded in return. After the class was over, I rushed for the P.E lecture where I'd have to endure Noah. Like every other time, he didn't leave any chance to annoy me to my core. ... "You go ahead. I have detention." Emily said as we walked out of the locker room. "Detention?" I asked in surprise. "Yup. Justin mocked me in front of the entire class. And when I tried to fight back, Mr. Edwards caught us and gave us both detention." she whispered in her tiny voice. "Oh. I'm.. I'm so sorry, Em." I whispered. "It's ok." she shrugged. "It's not your fault anyway." "What the fuck is wrong with Justin? Why is he so hell bent on making your life hell?" I seethed in annoyance. "I don't know. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he is obsessed with me." she chuckled lowly. "Maybe he is." I proposed. "Yeah. That's why he kisses my sister like his life depends on it." she snorted and something mimicking hurt flashed her eyes. We stopped when we reached the classroom. After hugging Emily goodbye, I walked towards the exit door which led me straight to the parking. Sliding inside my car, I started the engine and drove past the school. I had just crossed the next corner when a familiar black hoodie vaught my attention. Stopping the car, I rolled down the mirrors and spoke, "Adam!" He turned around passively and let out a sigh when his eyes met mine. "Need a ride?" I asked. "No thanks." he answered dryly. "It's no big deal. We have the same destination." I argued even though I didn't have to. "Sadly, we don't." he responded. "Huh?" I stared towards him with blank face. "I am going somewhere else." he cleared. "Not that I owe you any explanation." I kept staring at his back as he turned to the opposite side of the road. After a moment, I shook my head to avert my mind and settled inside the car again. Throughout the drive to my house, his thoughts and words kept me occupied. What in God's name is wrong with him? ... "Coffee?" I peeked through the door of study room and asked. "You didn't have to do that sweetheart." Dad said, lifting his face from the pile of files. I passed him the mug and settled beside him. He inhaled the aroma of coffee deeply before taking its first sip. "Aahh. Just like your mother used to make." he commented. I just smiled in return and took a look at the clock. "Come on Dad. Close these files and go to sleep. It's already 11pm." He laughed at my words and kept the file away. "You scold like her too." After making sure that he went to sleep, I ascended the stairs and made my way to my room. Turning the lights on, I marched into the bathroom and stripped out of my clothes. The warm water flowed down my skin and I heaved a sigh of relief. A certain boy made an appearance in my mind and I groaned in annoyance. Why does he have to be so rude? Ughhh. After spending half an hour inside the shower, I wrapped the fluffy towel around my body and hopped out of the washroom. Standing in front of the mirror, I ran the comb through my unruly hair. My skin felt uncomfortably dry even though I had just taken a shower. Moisturizer to the rescue! As I was busy applying the moisturizer on my legs, a strange muffled groan reached my ears. I angled my neck to look towards the window. A shriek left my mouth when I observed the sudden closure of Adam's window and I flushed crimson in embarrassment. Damn it! How could I forget that there is a window inside my new room. After struggling with my erratic heartbeat for a good fifteen minutes, I turned the lights off and changed into my night pajamas, not forgetting to close the window before. When I lay down on the bed to sleep, the embarrassing scene again flashed in front of my eyes and I buried myself under the duvet. Why God? Why me?