Hated by the Ice Captain

ADORE

My eyes snapped open and landed on my window. It was dawn already.

Today was Angelo's birthday and oh my God, I could barely breathe.

I had been lying awake for most of the night, my stomach doing flips that were equal parts excitement and pure terror. Today was the day. I was finally going to tell him.

I stared at the birthday present sitting on my desk and my chest squeezed tight. I had spent the whole night memorizing what I would say, whispering the words into the dark until they stopped making sense.

I jumped out of bed and dashed into the bathroom. Cold water, uniform, bag. Let's go.

"Wow, what's up with you? You're going to school right now?" Adonis asked, his eyes round with surprise.

Adonis and I were fraternal twins and different in so many ways. He was the heartthrob of every girl in Futham High, blessed with good looks, an athletic body and a brain that actually worked. I on the other hand was always shy, always tripping over myself and as for studying, let's just say my report card was basically a parade of F's. Parallel ones.

The only name I never forgot was Angelo. I would happily fail every single subject if it meant he would be my boyfriend.

Just thinking about that made me smile like an idiot.

"I need to submit an assignment," I told Adonis.

He looked confused but I didn't even glance his way again. He knew I was lying. We were in the same class.

"Come and have your breakfast!" Mom called.

My stomach couldn't handle food right now. Not today.

"I'm late Mom, I need to get going!" I kissed her on the head and dashed out of the house before anyone could stop me.

Only a few students had arrived when I got to school. I sneaked into Angelo's classroom, my heart hammering with every step. I was so relieved to find it empty.

I placed a small note under his locker telling him to meet me at the back of the school library during recess because I had something important to say. My hands were trembling the entire time.

I took a deep breath and turned to leave and almost smacked right into Imogen.

"Watch it bitch," she snarled, glaring at me like I had personally offended her entire bloodline.

"What the hell are you doing in my class?" She eyed me suspiciously and craned her neck to peek inside.

"N...nothing," I stuttered and dashed off before she could say another word.

I could still feel her eyes burning into my back as I turned the corner.

The hallway suddenly came alive with giggles and breathless whispers.

"Futham princes are here."

"They're so handsome."

"I don't know what to do, I'm so in love with both of them."

My heart thundered in my chest. The Futham princes were Angelo and Adonis, the two boys who owned the hearts of practically every girl in this school. Just like they both owned mine.

Adonis was my twin brother and Angelo was my adopted cousin and the boy I had been quietly losing my mind over for longer than I wanted to admit.

I slowly turned but didn't even spare Adonis a glance, my eyes went straight to Angelo. He strode in like he own the place with his helmet in his hand. He was wearing a leather jacket over his uniform.

He had groomed his hair so that they brushed over his shoulders and a single stud of black earring was on his right ear.

He exudes the air of being a bad boy and yes, I know he is a bad boy but the bad boy that I love.

His grey eyes met mine where I was standing and held for just a fraction and in just that single seconds, I forgot to breathe.

I stood there long after he had entered his class until Mica came to drag me inside.

I didn't hear a single word the Maths teacher said. I just sat there staring at nothing, wondering if Angelo had seen my note yet.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem lost," Mica my best friend whispered beside me.

"I'm fine," I whispered back, which was the biggest lie I had told all day.

I was nervous the entire period and honestly couldn't tell if I was relieved or terrified when the school bell finally rang for break.

"Let's go to the school canteen". Mica said but I wasn't listening to her.

I shot up from my seat.

"Not today!" I replied before I dashed off.

"What, wait..."

I didn't stop. Angelo would have seen the note by now and I didn't want to keep him waiting.

He wasn't there when I arrived and I huffed, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I had practiced this moment a thousand times but standing here alone with the gift tucked in my bag, my heart was going absolutely crazy.

"I love you Angelo," I whispered and immediately shook my head. Too plain.

"Will you be my boyfriend Angelo?" Worse.

"I care a lot about you Angelo and..." I groaned under my breath.

Footsteps.

My whole body froze.

He was here.

I quickly turned away, fixed my hair and dabbed the sweat from my face. One breath. Just one breath.

I turned around with the best smile I had and said, "Hi Angelo."

The smile melted right off my face.

The person standing there wasn't Angelo. Imogen stood in front of me instead, arms crossed and eyes sharp, her three girls lined up behind her like they had been waiting for exactly this moment.