Chapter 6 06

MONICA 

Taking a deep breath, I did my best to ignore the stares and gossip. I found my usual spot. The table by the window, farthest from the main entrance, half-hidden behind a stack of encyclopedias that hadn’t been touched since 2008. 

I sat down, letting out a quiet sigh, and started pulling my books out. Chemistry notes. Essay drafts. I had a lot to catch up on after my self given week break from Havestone and all of its toxicity. 

But even as I tried to focus, I could still feel them. The occasional side glance. The whisper followed by a stifled laugh and at the back of my mind, the stupidly curious part of me desperately wanted to know what they were on about.

The truth was, I didn’t even like the version of me that the world seemed to see now. I don't want to be visible only on make-up. Is my worth really justified by my beauty, social standards or finances. 

I’d only worn makeup to look a little less more confident after the entire scandal, but apparently that was enough to flip the entire social order of the library.

I’d been trying to read the same sentence for about ten minutes when a shadow fell across my table. I looked up, expecting maybe a librarian or Jules–God, I would’ve given anything for it to be Jules—but no. It was a guy I barely recognized.

Tall. Tanned skin. Expensive hoodie that hung loosely around his shoulders that probably, most definitely costs more than my annual rent.

“Hey,” he said, grinning. His teeth were so white they could probably light up the entire section. “You’re... Monica, right?”

I froze up, my pen halfway to the page. “Uh… yeah that's me.”

“I knew it,” he said, sliding into the seat across from me like he’d been invited. “You were in Mr. Dalton’s class last year, right? Chemistry?”

“Yeah...” I said again, more quietly this time, hoping that would be enough to make him lose interest. But I was always so wrong with judging men.

He leaned closer, a bit too close that I had to move back a little bit. “Thought so. You know you look different now. Like... Way different. Didn’t even recognize you at first but... what changes is it the none virgin glow? Oh shit.” 

There it was—he had to make reference to it. He suddenly bursted out laughing so loudly I had to look around praying the librarian pushes us out of the library for noise making. 

I forced a small smile. “Guess having a glow up works wonders.” He chuckled, eyes scanning my face a little too long. “Nah, I think you were always pretty. Just… hiding it, maybe? I mean you used to tie your hair up in a pony tale.”

My stomach churned. Compliments weren’t supposed to sound this disgusting, but his did. “I’m kinda busy right now,” I said softly, hoping he’d take the hint. “I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” he said, but he didn’t move. He just got even closer, staring at me with a strange admiration mixed with lust. “What are you working on? Huh? Maybe I can help, then afterwards we can make plans.”

“I’m fine.”

“Come on, don’t be like that,” he said, grinning again. “I’m just trying to talk. You don’t gotta look so serious all the time, you know?”

I glanced toward the librarian’s desk, but Mrs. Keane was too busy stamping returns to notice me silently begging for her to rescue me.

The guy kept getting more and more closer. Invading my personal space like he didn't even know what personal space meant. “So, what do you do for fun, Monica? Besides studying. You look like you could use a break, get a personal massage.”

I closed my notebook, my patience thinning fast as bile rose up my throat. “Really. I’m fine.”

He smiled wider, like he thought I was interested or something. “You sure? ‘Cause you don’t look fine. You look like you need someone to talk to.”

“I don’t,” I snapped before I could stop myself.

That wiped the grin off his face for a second, but it didn’t stop him. If anything, it made him brazzen, his hand brushing the edge of my open book. “Relax, I’m just being friendly. Don’t gotta bite my head off.”

I pushed my chair back an inch. “Then maybe try being friendly somewhere else.”

The way his eyes darkened at that made my heart skip uneasily. “Damn, chill. Didn’t realize you were so uptight.”

He reached out like he was going to touch my arm, and that’s when I’d had enough. “Don’t touch me,” I said, 

He smirked. “What? You scared of me or something? Because you sure weren't scared of getting touched in that video.”

“I said—”

“Hi, baby.” The words suddenly rang out not too far away and my head whipped up so fast I nearly knocked my pen off the table.

Gabriel.

He was standing there just a few feet away, his expression was unreadable but his blue eyes locked directly on us. On me.

“Baby?” the guy repeated, blinking. “Wait, what?”

Gabriel got closer, closing the space between us in two strides. His hand came down on my shoulder, in a possesive stance and before I could even process what was happening, his arm slid around me, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My brain went blank. My lungs might’ve too.

“What are you—” I started, but he didn’t look at me. His focus stayed entirely on the guy across the table. His stare was cold enough to freeze hell over.

“Who’s this?” he asked without staring at me. “Is he bothering you?”

“Yo, man, chill. I was just talking to her.” the guy got defensive 

“Yeah?” Gabriel’s tone was calm but had that underlying threat that made the air feel heavier. “Didn’t sound like she wanted to talk to you.”

“It’s not that deep, bro.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow, “Funny. I didn’t hear her invite you to sit.”

Everyone nearby was pretending not to look, but I could tell by the way heads turned that they were focused on us. 

The guy stood up abruptly, scoffing like he still had some pride left. “Whatever, man. Do your thing. Didn't know she was taken.”

“She’s not,” I muttered before I could stop myself. My cheeks were burning hot from embarassment at this point.

I could still feel Gabriel’s arm around me but my brain was going a hundred miles a minute trying to process what just happened.

I tilted my head slightly to look at him. “Did you just—call me baby?”

He looked down at me then, lips curling in a small, knowing smirk. “It worked, didn’t it?” My heart was still pounding so loud I could barely think. “That was—”

“Effective?” he offered.

“Insane,” I corrected.

He chuckled softly, finally letting his arm drop, but he didn’t move away. “You didn’t have to do that,” I said quietly.

“Maybe not. But he was bothering you.”

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him I could handle myself, but before I could, he leaned in a bit closer. Not too close but just enough that I could feel his breath against my temple when he spoke again.

“A pretty girl like you shouldn't be bothered by perverts.”

For a second, my brain just… short-circuited. He's close. Like so close his scent began messing with every rational thought I had left. 

His fingers brushed lightly against the side of my arm, and I swear, I forgot how to breathe. My pulse was stupidly loud in my ears and my mouth dry.

Did the air between us just… shift.

I snapped out of it so fast you’d think I’d been electrocuted. I moved out of his grasp, my chair screeching slightly as I pulled it back. “You—uh—you can let go now,” I muttered, staring down at my books so hard I could’ve burned holes into the pages.

He didn’t say anything else. Then, casually, he sat down in the chair right next to mine and I thought of how he just sent a pervert away from that exact spot after sitting without an invite. What on earth tells these men they could just crash my study session after fake-claiming me in front of half the library.

“You okay?” he asked, 

“Yeah,” I said too quickly. “Totally fine.”

He nodded, resting one arm lazily on the back of his chair. “You don’t look fine.”

“Why are you here?”

He chuckled softly, “Well, because you are.” 

Of course. 

“How’d you even know I’d be here?” I asked, hoping to sound casual but failing miserably. He shrugged. “Your best friend told me.”

I froze mid-scribble, my pen stopping halfway through a sentence. “Julian? Are you fucking kidding me.” he smiled triumphantly

I cursed under my breath, low enough for only him to hear. “Of course he did. Backstabbing dick.”

“He seemed pretty happy to help, actually.”

“He’s dead,” I muttered. “I’m killing him.”

“Maybe go easy. He did me a favor.”

“Did you a favor?” I shot him a look. “You showed up out of nowhere and called me baby in front of like twenty people. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Would you rather I punched the guy?” he suddenly said with a face so serious I almost laughed.

“You were going to punch him?”

“I was thinking about it,” he admitted with a half-smile. “But then I thought... nah. Getting into a fight on my first day would be bad on my records so I should probably try something that doesn’t get me suspended.”

“That was your better option?” I said accusingly. He grinned, looking ridiculously proud of himself. “Hey, it worked. He left, didn’t he?”

I rolled my eyes, but the corner of my lips twitched anyway. “You made the wrong choice new kid.”

“Oh I know, seat partner.” he said easily.

And we both laughed then. It surprised me how easy it suddenly was to laugh around him. “So, wanna tell me why you don't seem okay with my presence in the school. Am I stealing your spotlight or something?” he asked. 

"Spot?- look the issue is with spotlight. Please take it away.” 

“Wow.... Alright fine I will.” we bursted out laughing again but quietly since we were still in the library. This was probably the first time I'd laughed in here. Julian rarely ever dropped by and when he did I'd be more worried about him getting me kicked out to do any of these. 

“So… It seems we kind of need a do over, don't you think?”

“A do over? Why do we need a do over?” I asked with creased brows. 

“Because I feel like our first greeting got weird so....”

He extended his hand toward me, palm open. “Yeah. I’m Gabriel Anderson. But I’d prefer if you just saw me as Gabriel because it's really all I am. I wanna be your friend.”

I stared at his hand for a long moment. The same hand that had been around me a few minutes ago. My eyes moved up to meet his. He was serious, not in a flirty way or a manipulative one. Just… honest. But then that's what I also thought when...

“Well,” I said finally, starting to stack my books together slowly, giving my hands something to do. “Gabriel Anderson. I’m Monica Lee. We have a few of the same classes, and that’s all.”

“That’s all, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said firmly, zipping my bag closed. “That’s all.”

When I was finally done, I stood up, slinging my bag over my shoulder. “Bye, Gabriel Anderson.”