CHAPTER 2

Jayla turned to her with a shocked look. She scratched the back of her neck and bit her lip nervously.

"He's…somehow mysterious," she said.

"Well, girls like hot and mysterious boys." She winked as she skipped happily. Jayla chuckled and held her books tight to her chest.

"Why are you asking that?"

"Because he's my cousin, and also he can be grumpy sometimes, so don't mind him at all." She shrugged and opened the door of the classroom. Jayla frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

"You look cute," someone said, scaring her. She widened her eyes when she saw a young handsome man in front of her. He was gorgeous. He had brown hair and blue eyes just like Max. He looks just like him, she thought, surprised.

"Who are you?” she asked.

"My name is Giovanni. I'm Max’s brother. Maybe you know him?" he said with a smile on his face. Jayla was confused. He had the same face as the mysterious boy, except he was smiling, which made her heart flutter.

"Yeah, you guys look like twins,” she chuckled.

"We get that sometimes. Shall we go inside?" he proposed, letting her enter the room first. She smiled and went inside, followed by Giovanni. She searched Eleanor who had sat next to her boyfriend Huxley. Eleanor glanced at Jayla and urged her to come sit with them. Jayla nodded and went to them.

"Hey, I'm Huxley,” he said. He had blond hair with grey eyes just like Eleanor.

"Hey, I'm Jayla. Nice to meet you,” she said, and held a hand out for Huxley, who gladly shook her hand. Then he shook Giovanni’s hand.

"Hey Beta—I mean Giovanni," Huxley stuttered and Eleanor sighed with relief. They thought that Jayla hadn’t caught what he stuttered on, but she had.

"Hey Eleanor and Huxley. Let's sit behind them," Giovanni whispered in Jayla's ear quietly. She nodded shyly and sat behind them. They waited patiently for the teacher to arrive.

"Where are Cole and Maxwell?” she asked, the foreign name of the boy coming out of her mouth made her stomach knot. He had a beautiful masculine name that matched him.

"Well, they are seniors, and we are sophomores. Eleanor was only in your class because she had senior courses just like them, but how did you meet them then?” he told Jayla. Even though she had average scores, she was good at math. Her brother was really good at math too, and her father was an accountant.

"I'm really good at math." She blushed. It was her first time having a long conversation with a guy she thought was hot and sexy, except for Nolan. It made her nervous and she was overthinking everything. She didn't want him to find her annoying or crazy.

"Math is literally my worst nightmare. I don't know how you can be good at it." He laughed and cringed in disgust. She giggled and lifted her hand to fan herself.

"Are you hot?" He noticed the way she fanned herself. She shook her head. Her cheeks were bright red.

Actually, she was hot and sweaty. She wanted to get out of the room, but the teacher had just arrived.

"Don't lie, I know you're hot,” he said, and used a book to fan some cold air in her face. She blushed as she watched his arms flexing.

"I'm not feeling hot,” she said. She was stuck watching Giovanni flexing his arms in front of her.

"You sure?” he asked, and she nodded.

"Jayla, wanna hang out at my house?" Eleanor turned her head toward the flushed girl. She frowned in confusion as she looked at her state, then she looked at Giovanni who only shrugged.

"Hm, don't you think that’s a bit fast?” she asked. It hadn’t even been a full day and Eleanor was inviting her to hang out? They barely knew each other. And why did she want to hang out at her house? Maybe she wanted to humiliate her? Or worse, she might see Max, the grumpy man.

"Not really. Besides I'm sure the guys won't mind,” she said with a smile looking at Gio and Huxley, who smiled as well. Jayla gulped nervously and scratched her collarbones.

"I don't know. I have to ask my brother then,” she said.

"You have a brother?" Eleanor asked and she nodded.

"Yes, his name is Darby and he's a senior in college."

"Oh, the Darby Jacobs. I heard he was popular last year," Huxley said, and Jayla nodded quietly. She didn't like to talk about him. Senior girls would ask about her brother all the time. She hated that they tried to be friends with her just because she was Darby's sister.

"Well, then you can ask your brother if you can come to our house,” Eleanor said and smiled. Jayla frowned as she said our instead of mine.

"You look confused. But we all live in the same house. Me, Huxley, Eleanor, Cole, Marco, Peyton, and Max." Giovanni said, but Jayla was not dumb. She had the sense that he was lying because she stared at Gio, who glanced at Huxley and Eleanor hesitantly, as if he was communicating with them or something.

"Oh alright." Jayla nodded even though she knew they were lying, but she decided to keep it to herself.

"Well let's go," Huxley said when he heard the bell ring. Eleanor nodded and put a hand on Huxley who smiled gently and hugged her. Jayla was feeling jealous of them. She always wanted someone to hold her and cherish her.

"Shall we go?" Giovanni asked, cutting into her thoughts as he held her bag. She nodded and grabbed the bag from him.

"Do you like mozzarella sticks? I love them so much," Giovanni said as they walked out of the classroom to leave the school. Jayla was wondering if her brother was already here to pick her up, so she checked her phone to see if he texted her, but there were no messages.

"That’s cool you like them.” She rolled her eyes and looked for her brother’s car in the parking lot, much to her relief. But then she realized he was talking to Max.

She paled and widened her eyes. She frowned, and a lot of questions popped in her head. She wondered how Darby knew Max. What was their relationship?

"Hey Jay, how was English?" she heard Nolan asking her. He draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Do I know you?" Nolan asked Giovanni, who had a tight smile on his face. He looked at Jayla who shrugged nervously.

"I'm Giovanni, Max's brother,” he said and held his hand to shake with Nolan.

"Older or younger?” he asked.

"Same year as Jayla."

"Oh, I thought that Max was a sophomore but he’s actually in my year. Jay, you know that he literally crashed the soccer team with Cole. They are so strong!" he exclaimed in awe.

Nolan was a senior, so it made sense that Max and Cole were in his class. She nodded tightly and glanced back at Darby where Max’s piercing blue eyes glared at her intensely.

"I see my brother talking to your brother. Let's go over to them," Giovanni said, suddenly breaking off Jayla’s stare. She nodded and turned to Nolan.

"See you tomorrow,” she said, and he nodded, pecking her on the cheek. She blushed and pushed Nolan away.

"Fuck, she's dead," she heard Giovanni muttering.

What does he mean by dead?

"See you tomorrow, Jay,” Nolan said and ran toward his red car that his parents bought him for his 16th birthday. It was the first time that Jayla had ever been invited to his birthday. It was wild and a lot of people got drunk. Unlike those cliché nerd girls, Jayla loved drinking to escape her mind. She loved the adrenaline running through her blood and she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Nolan was surprised when he caught her drinking but found that she wasn’t even drunk.

She walked toward her brother’s parked car. Darby saw his sister running toward him, and he hugged her as she reached him. He was sitting on top of his car with Max, who was vibrating with anger. She frowned, confused as she looked at Max, but he just scoffed and looked away from her.

"Don't mind him, sis, how was your day?" Darby asked and she grinned.

"It was fun, I made friends, but how do you know Max?” she asked and smiled.

"Well, Max is my friend, right?" Darby chuckled as he pushed him playfully, and Max responded with a groan. She narrowed her eyes on Max. She knew Darby’s friends, all of them, since they used to come to their house to hang out. It was weird because, first, Max and his gang were new, and second, Darby didn’t even go here anymore. She wondered how they met. How did they become friends? It made her suspicious about the new kids. She wanted to unveil their secret or whatever they were hiding.

"Hey, Darby and brother," Giovanni said. Max rolled his eyes and turned to Darby who grinned.

"Gio, my boy, I hope Jay didn't bother you,” he said, ruffling Giovanni's hair.

"Bro, I'm nice,” she grumbled and pouted.

"Of course, you are,” he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Jay, I think someone wants you to go to their house," Darby smirked as he glanced at Max with a mischievous wink.

Max grumbled and cursed at him, "Fuck off."

"Anyway, Huxley’s girlfriend asked you to go to their house. Do you want to go?" Darby asked. Jayla widened her eyes in shock.

How the heck does he know them, she thought.

"Yeah, she asked me. Can you tell dad and mom that I will come home later?" she said, and he nodded.

"And also, sorry that you have to come here. It must be tiring," she apologized to her brother who went to picked her up but only to leave the school without her.

"It's alright. Besides Principal Hills wanted to see me and I had a talk with little Max here,” he said and ruffled his dark hair. It was messy, but it looked hot on him. It was like he had just woken up from a nap.

"Don't touch me,” he snapped and smacked her brother's arms. Darby chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm going home. Have fun at their house," Darby said and jumped off his car then got in. Max stepped down from the car and put his hands in his pocket.

They watched her brother leave the parking spot in a rush. She sighed and looked at Giovanni, who smiled at her.

"I hate to interrupt this happy moment, but we have to go. I have work to do," Max said and walked to his car. Jayla frowned and searched for help in Giovanni's eyes, but she only found guilt.

"Sorry, but my car is broken and he's my driver for now." He shrugged and walked to his brother’s car.

She sighed deeply and realized that she would be staying with two hot and sexy boys. Nobody would believe her. It was like a dream come true for her. It was as if god answered her prayers and granted her wish to be in between two hot boys.

But little did she know that these boys would change her whole life.