Chapter 5

Ophelia

I have never been so thankful in all my life for someone to walk into a classroom. The teacher I have for English was embarrassing me with all his praise for my grades and writing. My old school had sent over some of my writing, and Mr. Nash thought it was great. He was encouraging me to think about a job in literature. I told him multiple times that I wanted to be a literature professor. There was nothing wrong with our conversation, it just bothers me a lot when people overly praise me since I’m not used to getting that much praise. My old teachers had figured that out and made sure to keep the praise to a minimum.

I quickly sat down and felt eyes staring at the back of my head. I turned around and saw the most gorgeous creature God had ever put on the earth. His dark brown hair was slicked back, and he was covered in tattoos. He had piercing gray eyes that held something I couldn’t place, was it mischief, curiosity, or something else entirely. He suddenly smirked, and I knew that mischief was what I was seeing.

Throughout the class, I could feel his gaze on me. I felt myself squirm multiple times as I knew that he was continuing to stare at me. I also felt myself beginning to get angry that he was doing this. Is this a game that he thinks is funny? Is he back there enjoying watching me squirm? When the bell rang, I jumped up from my chair and quickly went to my locker.

“Ophelia!” I turn and see Mason running up to me. “You got plans for lunch? If not, I thought you could join me and my friends.” He is smiling at me, and I want to giggle at how cute he is.

“Sure, she would love to eat with us. Wouldn’t you Ophelia?” The gorgeous creature says.

“Cole, you met Ophelia?” Mason looks back and forth between us.

“Not officially, but we had English together, and I caught Ophelia staring at me throughout the class.” At this point, I know that my jaw is hanging open and that Cole is enjoying every second of this.

“Firstly, I was not the one doing the staring, and Mason, I would love to sit and eat with you, but if he is there, then that will have to be a hard no. See you later Mason.” With that, I walk off to the cafeteria.

Cole

“What the hell was that?” Mason looks at me in shock. “What did you do to my sweet little Ophelia?”

“You’re Ophelia?” He looks like he wants to say something but knows that there is nothing he can say. “I was messing with her. She’s got a fire in her, that’s for sure. I like it.” I chuckle as we head to the cafeteria. Once we are there, I notice that I don’t see her anywhere. I keep looking knowing that she has to be here somewhere.

“There she is. Crap man, she’s with Dominic.” I follow his line of sight, and sure enough there she is, laughing at something Dominic has said. “He knows man. It went out last night, there is no way he doesn’t know. Maybe he’s just being nice.”

I turn and look at Mason, and he and I both know that Dominic is never just nice to pretty girls. From what I can tell, Ophelia has no clue about how attractive she is, and that can be a very dangerous thing here. For some reason, it pisses me off that he is talking to her. Any guy talking to her pisses me off. I’m not sure what this feeling is. I do know that I have never been this attracted physically to a girl before. I’ve thought girls are hot and have gotten turned on before, but this is different. Before I know it, I feel myself getting ready to walk over there, but luckily Mason stops me.

“Hold up man. Don’t want her to get even more pissed at you than she already is. He won’t do anything, he knows better.”

I listen to my friend and sit down at the table. Everyone in this school knows and it shouldn't be a problem. I have to get myself under control. This isn't like me to get all worked up over some girl. In the back of my mind though, I know that she isn't just some girl. She is going to change my world, I can feel it all the way down to my bones. The persona that I have carefully crafted over the years now has a crack in it. That crack grows by the minute.

Ophelia

“So what did you do to draw the attention of Mr. Popular himself, Cole Henson?” Dominic asks as we make our way through the line. I was waiting in line when he just walked up and struck up a conversation. Once again, I find myself talking to a gorgeous tattooed guy. What is this place? Is there a quota of hot guys with tattoos?

“Not sure. I would say that he doesn’t look too happy at the moment. It could be because of what I said to him earlier. He tried to make it seem like I was staring at him during class which is a total lie. If anyone was staring it was him.” Dominic busts out laughing, and I can’t help but join in. this boy is a breath of fresh air today.

“Hey man.” I turn and see yet another tall and gorgeous tattooed guy. The only difference this time is the guy is blonde with messy hair and some black glasses. “And who do we have here? Is it the famous Ophelia?” I involuntarily giggle and think I may die. “The name is Pearce, and it is a pleasure to meet you.” He offers his hand which I take. He then proceeds to kiss it and wink at me.

“So, everyone keeps calling me the famous Ophelia, but I still haven’t heard why I’m famous.” I look at both of them hoping to finally get an answer.

“You’re the new girl.” Dominic states. I shake my head at his answer.

“My sister is new too.” Pearce chuckles and grabs my hand once again.

“You are a beautiful new girl who isn’t a total bitch.” Pearce says as he drops my hand. My thoughts are running wild as I think about what he said.

The first thing I am having trouble with is the whole beautiful thing. Once you’ve been told so many times that you’re ugly, fat, etc. you start to believe those things. So hearing all these attractive guys say that they think I’m beautiful makes me wonder what they are up to. It can’t be true, so I tend to think that I am part of some sort of joke that I have no idea about. I also can’t believe that they are not all over my sister. Katherine was eye candy to the most male population in our old town, so it’s hard to believe that she isn’t the one that they are talking about.

“I can’t help but feel that there is something you guys are leaving out. I’m not beautiful, and I’m not dumb, so you tell me why my BS meter is going nuts.” They look at each other, and I wait to hear an answer.

“I think you are overthinking it all Ophelia. There is not a hidden agenda, and we aren’t pranking you. You are beautiful. It may be that all the people in your life so far have been stupid or just lying to you. That is the truth.” Dominic states with all seriousness. I can’t help but begin to believe him a little.

The walls that I build around myself seem to be cracking. First Maggie and now these guys. I know that I have never been able to trust boys before. But somewhere deep inside, there is a voice that is screaming for me to trust them. It's telling me to let someone in, to try and be happy. I want nothing more in life than to be happy.

I get caught up in my insecurities, and all of them weigh me down to where I struggle to stay above water. Questions that have never been answered, plague me all the time. Why did my life change so much as a child? What caused the rift in my family? Why is Katherine so favored, and I am there in the background?

I need to get this negativity out of my life. I need to make it through these last few months and move on with my life. The pressure of trying to make things go perfectly only adds to my stress. I need to learn to take things one thing at a time. If someone breaks through my walls, then I will deal with it as it comes.