Lydia’s P.O.V
I got up from my seat as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I had another class today but that was about an hour later. Maybe I would go grab an early lunch?
As I was about to exit the classroom, someone stopped me by calling out my name. Turning towards the sound of the voice, I found a boy running to catch up to me. He was around five feet nine in height with sandy blonde hair and light green eyes with a lean athletic build. He handed me a piece of paper as he came to a stop in front of me.
“Hi,” he panted. “I’m Ethan Stonewall. You might not know me but we’re in the same class.”
“Hi, Ethan.” I tilted my head to the side. “I’m Lydia McKenzie.”
“I know…,” Ethan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “We’re partners in Psychology 2. The teacher paired us together for the project that is due next week. This is the entire list of reports we need to make, I’ve divided our parts, so it’s easier for us to handle.”
“Oh? Thanks.” I took the paper from his outstretched hand and noticed how he had outlines certain points and also divided our project equally. “This is very detailed. Thank you. I’ll get my part done and hand it over to you on Monday?”
“Monday sounds great.” Ethan smiled and I noticed he looked quiet cute with two dimples.
“So…are you and Lyric dating?” Ethan asked when I would’ve left, making me halt mid-step.
“Huh?” I turned to look at him again. “What made you think that?” I was a bit annoyed that people were assuming stuff about me, but I couldn’t stop my heart from beating a little faster.
“It’s just that…both you and Lyric don’t have a lot of friends and Lyric only makes friends with girls he’s interested to sleep with.” Ethan shrugged. “But he’s different with you. He actually laughs when he’s with you and you were the first person who actually got him to stop a fight. Everyone had been talking about it for the past couple days while you were away.”
“Oh?” I tilted my head to the side. “Is this the part where you tell me I’m different and I was the only one able to tame the beast?”
Ethan gave a startled bark of laughter. “Well, not the beast but Lyric does hold the title of ‘The Virgin Killer’.”
“The virgin killer?” I blinked at Ethan as his smirk grew in size. “Isn’t that like some kind of a serial killer crime drama on TV?”
Ethan’s laugh echoed through the hallways, making a few interested eyes turn towards him. “Yeah, that’s what I said to the women who kindly informed me of his nickname. But you can rest assured; he’s not a serial killer.”
“Says every serial killer ever.” I muttered under my breath but clearly Ethan heard me because he was once again in a fit of laughter.
“You’re funny, Lydia. I think we’ll work well together.”
“Work well on what exactly?”
Speak of the devil and he shall appear in all his bad tempered glory.
“Morning, Lyric.” I greeted him sourly. “You’re in a cheerful mood.”
“Morning…honey.” Lyric said with an evil smirk and swung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his chest while Ethan seemed to be chocking on thin air. “Hey Ethan.”
“Morning Lyric.” Ethan said after he had his coughing under control. “Well, it’s time for my next class, so…gotta run. I’ll see you later Lydia.”
“See you.” I waved him goodbye as Ethan hurried down the corridor but Lyric caught my hand and turned us in a different direction. “What are you doing? Don’t you have class?”
“Nope, free period.” Lyric said casually while pulling me towards the cafeteria. “Now tell me, what exactly was that sneezele suggesting you to work well on?”
“Sneezele? Really?” I rolled my eyes at his innovative slang. “We are project partners.”
“Well, at least Ethan has a girlfriend.” Lyric shrugged. “So he won’t be trying to get into your pants.”
“Speaking of,” I turned to face Lyric, shrugging his hand off my shoulders. “The virgin killer?”
Lyric groaned and rubbed his face. “Why did you have to hear that of all things?”
“Go on. It’s your turn to explain the reason behind this delightful nickname.” I put my hands on my hips for extra effect. Although I found the nickname hilarious, I did feel a bit annoyed as to why he even had such a ridiculous name. Was he the kind of guy who only slept with virgins? I didn’t think Lyric was such a kind of person, but I couldn’t help feel annoyed at the thought.
“A few girls…virgins…slept with me when I was a freshman in college.” Lyric cringed. “Don’t get me wrong, them being a virgin wasn’t the problem. But them thinking that I would take responsibility for taking their virginity and become their boyfriend was the problem. They wouldn’t listen even when I told them that I had clearly stated a no-strings night of fun and in front of witnesses too. Ultimately, I had to scare them away for good.”
I blinked my eyes slowly, trying to absorb the information. It wasn’t the explanation I was expecting but it did make sense. ‘Taming the bad boy’ was a fantasy many women strove for, even though they had no idea what they were getting into. Real life bad boys were a lot different from the romanticized version they were used to in books and movies.
“I understand…I guess.” I shrugged.
“So…are you free for dinner tonight?” Lyric asked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his washed out blue jeans.
I really wanted to go out for dinner with Lyric, especially because I loved spending time with him, but the two days of absence from school has caused a lot of homework to pile up and one of my projects was due tomorrow.
“I can’t today.” I told him ruefully. “I have tons of homework piled up and I have some unpacking to do as well.”
“Oh…okay.” Lyric sounded a bit disappointed but smiled nonetheless. “I guess I’ll catch you at school tomorrow.”
“That sounds great.” I nodded. “And maybe we can go for lunch this weekend? George was telling me that Avery wanted to meet me.”
“Ah!” Lyric grinned. “Sounds perfect! I’ll pick you up this Sunday at ten in the morning. It’s a date!”
“It’s not a date!” I told him but Lyric was already walking in the opposite direction, without listening to anything I had to say.
Damnit!