Chapter 2 Evelyn Hart

Evelyn Hart's Point Of View

The moment, muddy water dripped slowly down Asher Collins’s face, staining the collar of his perfectly pressed shirt, the weight of what I had just done crashed into me all at once.

Around us, the entire entrance fell into complete silence. Conversations stopped midway, footsteps slowed, and dozens of students stared at the scene with a stunned expression.

My fingers trembled a little at my sides, but I quickly curled them into fists before anyone could notice and I forced myself to remain calm, keeping my chin up despite the panic settling inside my chest. Fudge the what, had I just done?

Never in the history of Kingsley Academy had challenged or retaliated against Asher Collins and yet I had just thrown muddy water directly into his face in front of half the school.

He wiped the dirt, away from his eyes and looked at me. To be honest, the look alone nearly shattered whatever confidence I had left. His expression remained calm, but the coldness in his dark eyes made my stomach growl in fear. He looked furious in the most terrifying way possible.

He took a step towards me, each and every student immediately moved aside and pulled out their phones to record whatever was about to happen next. I should have walked away, but I stayed rooted to the spot, refusing to move even though my heartbeat pounded violently in my heart.

He stopped in front of me, towering enough to force me to tilt my head a little upward to maintain eye contact.

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life,” He said, his voice was calm, the kind of calm that came before destruction. Muddy water dripped slowly from his ruined perfectly styled hair onto the shoulders of his blazer while his eyes stayed locked onto mine without blinking.

I swallowed my own saliva and forced myself to respond, refusing to let him see even a fraction of the panic building inside me. “That’s interesting,” I replied while tightening my grip around the strap of my bag. “I was about to say the same thing to you.”

“You think this is funny?” Asher asked, in a cold tone. The muscles in his jaw looked tensed almost instantly.

“No,” I answered immediately, forcing myself to hold his gaze even while panic coursed through my chest, “But I do think you deserved it. At least now you know how it feels.”

For one brief moment, neither of us spoke.

“What exactly is happening here?” A familiar voice cut through the silence. Mrs. Bennett pushed through the crowd with an irritation across her face. The moment students noticed her approaching, several immediately hid their phones while others hurried away pretending they had not been watching. I stepped back, pulling my eyes away.

“Would either of you like to explain this situation?” Her gaze shifted between the two of us while she crossed her arms tightly against her chest.

“It was an accident,” I said quickly before Asher could answer. My voice came out steadier than I expected.

Mrs. Bennett looked highly unconvinced as her eyes moved toward the muddy stains covering our blazer and hair. Beside me, Asher let out a humourless laugh under his breath, clearly not so amused by my obvious lie. He dragged a hand through his damp hair while shaking his head.

“Whatever,” Mrs. Bennett ordered firmly as she looked between us again, sounding exhausted by the entire situation.

The moment she stepped aside, I did not wait for another second and walked toward the academic building as quickly as possible without outright running. My chest still felt tight by the time I reached the girls’ washroom. As soon as the door closed behind me, I gripped the edge of the sink tightly and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was still unable to believe I had actually thrown muddy water at Asher Collins in front of the entire school. My face looked calm. Meanwhile, inside, panic had completely taken over, inside my chest.

“What the fuck, is wrong with you, Evelyn?” I whispered to myself. I quickly turned on the faucet before wetting a paper towel and trying to clean the muddy stains from my uniform shirt.

Kingsley Academy was not simply a school for me, It was my only chance of having a good future. My scholarship covered almost everything, and students like Asher Collins could destroy everything with a single rumor if they wanted to. I lowered my head for a moment, and let out a shaky breath. One could hear the whispers through the hallway, outside the washroom.

After calming myself down a bit, I took a final look at myself in the mirror, fixed the collar of my blazer properly and gathered my books against my chest. The muddy stains on my shirt were still visible no matter how much I had tried cleaning them, but there was nothing more I could do about it now. I pushed open the washroom door and stepped back into the hallway.

Students openly stared at me while I walked past them, few looked completely shocked, and few looked oddly impressed by what had happened outside. I kept my gaze forward and pretend that none of it bothered me even though there was a tornado of anxiety building inside my stomach with each and every passing second.

The moment, I reached the classroom door things somehow became worse.

Sophia, Nathan, and Lucas immediately surrounded me before I could even make it to my seat. Their expressions ranged from amusement to disbelief. Nearby conversations slowly died, more students turned their attention toward us, a few phones were lifted again under their desks, ready to record whatever happened next.

“Move,” I said in a firm tone. I looked directly at the three of them standing in front of me, my patience was already in the stage of extinction after the morning I had endured.

“Or what? Enjoy your final days at Kingsley, Hart." Sophia said, while examining her perfectly manicured nails. 

I stepped forward and shoved past all three of them hard enough to make Sophia gasp in annoyance, my muddy blazer brushed directly against her pristine uniform sleeve.

“Move or,” I said, while forcing a tight smile onto my face, "I will make sure your uniforms end up looking exactly like mine.”

The amusement on Nathan’s face faded almost immediately while Sophia stepped back in disbelief, clearly horrified by the possibility. Lucas seemed curious. Before I could beamed in excitment, a familiar presence stood, behind me.

I turned back and found Asher standing only a few feet away from me in a fresh set of Kingsley Academy uniform. His hair, appeared a little damp but clean.

“I assume, you did all of this just to get my attention? Well then, congratulations, Hart,” He said, the corner of his mouth lifted into the faintest smirk while sliding one hand into the pocket of his trousers. “You finally got it. Now, let’s see how well that works out for you.”