Mirabel's POV
I came to school today In high spirits, ready to have some fun with my friend Elizabeth after school and catch up during lunch break. In Mrs Princeton class she called out the results from our group project and as usual, I aced it but Alexa my partner got a C which was a little more than she deserved if you ask me being that she didn't put in any effort on the project.
I could feel her staring daggers at me as she tried to protest her scores but Mrs Princeton cut her off. I didn't care about that. All I wanted was to meet Elizabeth by the locker room as usual and bounce off to the cafeteria together.
When I got to the locker room I was pleasantly surprised. My locker was sprayed with the words;
LOOSER!
SLUT!
CHEAT!
I got angry when I saw it but my hands were cramping with textbooks. I was just going to open my locker and dump my books inside before dealing with the situation. I had a faint idea that this was Alexa's handwork but right now I couldn't prove it.
When I reached out to the locker, my hands got stuck on the handle. I tried desperately to remove it when Alexa and her friends cornered me, making a little scene and causing a growing gathering of students who pulled out their phones to record.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here," Alexa sneered, her eyes flashing with malice. "The little genius thinks she's so smart, doesn't she? But now her hand is stuck and she doesn't know what to do"
I stood tall, looking Alexa's directly in the eyes. "What do you want, Alexa?" I asked, my voice steady and calm
"You think you're so much better than us, don't you?" Alexa spat, her voice rising. "Just because you passed the project you think you can just rub it in our faces?"
I shook my head. "You didn't study Alexa. You deserved to fail. To even get an E. It's all thanks to my work that you got that C"
Alexa sneered again, faking a puppy face. "Are you trying to say that I cheated? It clearly states here on your locker that You're a looser, a cheat and a slut. Come on girl you're cheap"
I desperately tried to release my hand but it was stuck fast. I was at a loss of what to do and Alexa was approaching closer, smiling maliciously.
"Hey, leave her alone," a guy said from nowhere. His voice was firm and harsh.
I turned to look. It was mathew. Of course it was him. The jackass who saved my life and totally ignored me is now showing up like a knight to aid a damsel in distress.
He stood a few feet away, arms crossed, his signature black hoodie pushed halfway up his arms. His dark eyes locked onto Alexa's like he was daring her to keep going.
Alexa's smile twitched. "Hey, Mathew," she said, voice all sugar again. "We were just—"
"I said that's enough."
His tone was calm, but his eyes weren't. They were ice and dangerous. The hallway suddenly became quiet and the students started to move back.
Alexa cast a confused glance at him.
"Babe what are you doing? It's a public space" she said through clenched teeth desperately trying to avoid the embarrassment.
"You decided to humiliate her in a public space. Now leave. All of you" he shouted.
He was glaring at Alexa like he wanted to burn the room down for my sake. She gave a dry laugh and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's go, girls."
The students cleared the locker room at once. Everybody scurried away to the cafeteria and it was left with just the two of us.
I cursed under my breath as I tried to release my hand from the glue. He took my books from my other hands and placed it on the floor gently.
"I'll get some water to help with that" he said gently and turned to leave.
I blinked. "Why?"
He walked up to me and stopped a few steps towards me. He looked directly into my eyes and said, "I feel it remember?" he said, voice lower now. "The urge."
My lips parted, but I didn't know what to say I just smiled and watched him leave. I quietly wished he'll come back but I took out my phone from my pocket and called Elizabeth.
"Where are you?" I asked when she took the call.
"I was a little busy with something. Are you okay?" She asked.
"No I'm not. I'm stuck to my locker"
"Oh my God," she said, trying to surpress her laughter. "I'll come over right away."
He came back as soon as I dropped the call, carrying a bottle of water and a soap. He started to apply the soap and the water to my hands until it was softer and able to move. He didn't leave until we cleaned off the words written on my locker and put my books in.
Spending this little time with him was not how I expected it to go. He was quiet. No words, no expression, just showing up for me in a difficult situation again. I broke the silence.
"Why did you help me?" I asked
"I don't like bullies," he muttered, not looking at me.
"I didn't need your help, Elizabeth would have helped with the glue"
"It didn't seem that way to me" he said as we wiped the floor.
"You know, you kind of act like one sometimes, I mean a bully."
He gave a shrug. "Doesn't mean I want anyone else doing it."
Elizabeth came when we were done with everything. By now I was starving and we went straight to dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about him, showing up for me the second time. The first time he saved me from an accident and now he was saving me from Alexa, his own girlfriend.
"Mathew is a very strange guy" I said to Elizabeth as I sat down with my food.
She nodded "I agree"
❤️🔥
The next day, I found a note in my locker. It was folded neatly in half, no name. Just a single sentence, scrawled in messy handwriting.
"You're stronger than they think."
It had no signature but I knew who it was from. I stared at it for a long time, surrounded by echoes of footsteps and slamming lockers but lost in my thoughts as all manners of thoughts were going through my head.
I didn't know what to feel. Confused, flattered, or annoyed?
This same Mathew wouldn't talk to me. He was usually a jerk, a mystery and now he was being my guardian angel. As I walked by, everything was different. The people started to notice me. I couldn't tell if it was because of my clash with Alexa or because of Mathew until I began to hear the whispers.
I heard one girl say, "Is she dating him?"
Someone else gasped, "No way. She's not his type. He is Alexa man."
They were right. I wasn't his type. Mathew was the guy everyone wanted but no one really understood. He was smart, athletic, and gorgeous, but also distant. Some girls swore he had a tragic past. Others said he was just mean for no reason.
But me? I didn't know what to believe.
All I knew was that he protected me. Right from the very first day we met he's looked out for me and cared for me like my elder brother Micheal did. Sometimes I found him watching. From a distance, he was always there just like I always thought about it.
During third period, I caught him glancing at me from the back of the room. Our eyes met for a second but he didn't look away.
After school, I stepped outside and found him in his car, Waiting.
I didn't approach. I didn't wave. But he was there just few steps away from my car. It felt like he was watching over me and it gave me butterflies in my belly.
The days that followed blurred.
Mathew didn't speak to me. He hasn't since he helped me out with my locker but when I dropped my books, he picked them up before I could blink. When I got shoved in the hallway, he appeared at my side, glaring until everyone scattered. When Alexa tried to corner me in the library, he sat down at my table, opened a book, and didn't leave until she did.
It was very confusing at first. I couldn't understand the extra attention and the coldness. Then It was comforting. I stopped fighting. I stopped attacking him and rejecting his help. I stopped waiting for him to say something to me when I spoke to him. I started to expect it. It was a strange dynamic between us, but it became our routine.
I would look for him in crowds, glance back while I took a walk and begin to feel a strange, fluttering relief whenever I saw his tall, built figure in the distance.
I was spiraling. And I knew it, but I couldn't stop.
One afternoon, I stayed back late in the library to finish a project. The halls were quiet by the time I left.
I was already exhausted and I didn't realize someone was following me until I heard the echo of footsteps that weren't mine. I began to walk faster and so did they.
I turned a corner, heart pounding. That's when I heard a voice behind me.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
Two older boys I didn't recognize but wore jerseys that signified they were basketball players.
They cornered me fast. One leaned against the locker beside me, grinning. "You're that girl, right? The one that has been distracting the captain."
My stomach dropped.
"Maybe we should find out why," the other one said, reaching for me.
I tried to scream but before I could scream, a fist connected with his jaw.
Hard.
The guy stumbled back, groaning. The other one tried to swing, but Mathew was faster.
He finished them off with a punch and a kick. They scrambled away, cursing and muttering under their breath while I stood there, frozen and trembling.
He turned to me, breathing heavy.
"You okay?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
"You sure?"
I nodded again.
He just had a shower, probably after his training and was about to head home when he heard the commotion. Now he just stared at me for a sometime and draped his hoodie over my shoulders, without a word.
"I told you," he murmured, so softly I almost missed it. "You're stronger than they think. But even strong people shouldn't walk alone."
He said and then he was gone.
I held his hoodie to my nose, taking it in. It smelled like him, faint soap and shampoo.
That night, I couldn't sleep. I stared at the ceiling, wearing his hoodie like armor. My fingers brushed the fabric, over and over. My head was reeling with questions.
Who was this boy?
What did he want?
Why did I feel like I was standing on the edge of something I couldn't name?
I pulled out the note again.
"You're stronger than they think."
Maybe I was, but being strong didn't stop your heart from racing whenever he looked at you like you were something more than invisible. Being strong didn't stop you from falling.
And I was beginning to like him, wether I liked it or not.