"Even though you hurt me beyond repair, I would care for you despite everything, cause there was a time when you would've done the same"

❃ B l a z e ❃

As Rafael set down, I saw his jaw clench. Was he angry at being paired with me? Maybe he was. He probably thought I was a freak after the way I acted earlier. Maybe I should do all the work. We could avoid each other that way.

My heart hurt as I thought about how rude I was to him. He was being nice, but despite only knowing him for a day, I felt intrigued by him. It was a spark that I couldn't put into words. But Aiden would not be pleased. And I didn't want to drag Rafael into my mess.

I thought about apologizing to him. I was the one who was blatantly rude to him after all. I should be the bigger person if we were to work together. Mrs. Reynolds gave us the rest of the class free to work out our projects. It consisted of about 40% of our grade and I didn't intend on slacking off.

I dreaded sitting in an uncomfortable silence as it could trigger another anxiety attack. Silence meant more time with my thoughts, which never ended in anything nice.

"I'm sorry" I whispered, so as to not garner anyone's attention. Rafael's eyes darted to me. His eyes immediately softened and he smiled. A smile that could make a girl go weak in the knees. You have a boyfriend, get a grip. I smiled back and he started to speak. "I'm sorry too. I just want to know you, sweetheart" My heart warmed but doubt trickled it's way in.

"Why me?" I muttered and he looked at me so gently as if I would break down right now. Maybe I would, I thought. "Just because" he said, barely audible. I grew confused at that, but he spoke again. "It seems like you're stuck with me for the entire year" he smirked and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at the table. It was hard meeting his gaze.

I had learned that he wasn't the guy everyone had painted him out to be. He wasn't some Big, Bad Wolf. He was just a regular guy and I knew best not to judge based on others' opinions.

"Yes. What are we going to do?" I asked him as I didn't want to beat around the bush. Chemistry was one of the few subjects I took interest in and I did not want to screw that up. "Whatever you says goes, princesa. I'll help you with everything" he grinned. It was as if his words held a deeper meaning but I brushed it off. I blushed at his nickname. Stupid body.

"I told you not to call me that" I groaned but he just kept smiling. It was pretty obvious that I couldn't stay angry at him for long. We started brainstorming. Well, actually I did. He just stared at me the entire time like a freak and muttered a few incoherent words to show me he was paying attention. I knew he was not. "I guess you can do the whole project by yourself, as you've been paying so much attention" I sassed but he just hummed in approval. What the hell was he staring at?

I know I wasn't the most prettiest girl out there. But the way he looked at me, just made me feel inadequate and raised a lot of self doubt inside of me. He definitely thought I was a freak. I shook my head and stopped talking. I was getting shaky again. I looked down as my hair covered my face. I just needed to get out of here. I heard all of Aiden's taunts being repeated in my head. Ugly. Slut. Worthless. Freak. Disappointment. I hated myself for letting him get to me.

He noticed that I had stopped talking and looked at my shivering hands. "Look at me, Blaze" he whispered and I realized he was whispering in my ear. I felt shivers throughout my entire body. His voice was husky and I could hear the rough edge clearly, when he was close.

I kept looking at the table and continued with my thoughts. He gently tilted my face to look at him and I flinched hard. He had touched the bruise where Aiden had hit me. He gave me a pointed look as if trying to figure out what was wrong. Too bad it was something he wasn't even going to expect. As if I was even going to tell him.

I kept on avoiding his gaze and then whispered, "I'm sorry for being rude earlier, but that doesn't mean I want to be friends with you. We're solely partners for this project and nothing more". I looked up to gauge his reaction but this time there was no hurt. His eyes held an emotion I couldn't decipher.

"We'll see about that, Blaze Davis. I'm not one to give up so easily. You're a mystery and I intend to solve you" he genuinely replied. I was shocked at his words. I felt him staring at me and I stared back. We held each other's gazes but I suddenly jumped at the sound of the bell ringing. It was time to go home. If you could even call it that. I packed up my things and started walking out. Surprisingly, Rafael started walking with me. I panicked. Aiden could not see us together.

I started walking faster, but he caught up. He towered over me. "School's over. You can go now" I muttered. "We're both going into the parking lot. It seems more logical if we walked together, don't you think?" he quirked an eyebrow as we walked through the hallway together. Smartass. I said nothing but walked as far away from Rafael as I could. I felt the hidden part of me come out more when I was around him. That part of me was sassy and swore a lot. She ceased to exist the day Kiara gave up. The day I lost myself with her.

As we started nearing the entrance, I saw Aiden standing by his car. I didn't want him to notice me and Rafael together. "You can go now. Aiden doesn't like to see us together" I told him. He just gave me an intense stare and then glanced towards the parking lot. "I think he's too busy to notice, Blaze" he gritted through his teeth. For some reason, I loved it when he said my name and I smiled but it quickly turned into a frown. I felt a pang in my heart at the sight in front of me.

Aiden was leaning on his car and he had his arm around Summer's waist. She was whispering something in his ear and he gave her a smirk. They were quite obviously flirting. Did Summer know that Aiden had a girlfriend? He didn't show me off much but I thought everyone knew we were together. A small part of me hoped that Aiden would push her off, saying he had a girlfriend who he loves very much. Yeah, the possibility was quite slim to nothing.

"They're just friends?" I tried to state, but it came out more like a question. "Princesa, this is not how friends act and I know you know that too" he glared at me. His words were not playful anymore, they were dead serious. At that exact moment, I felt Aiden's eyes on me and he smirked as I noticed Summer put a hand on his chest. Then his eyes fell on Rafael and his face instantly dropped. A look of pure rage settled on his face. One I knew all too well.

"I need to go" I whispered, but Rafael pulled me back by my wrist. Wrong move. Aiden visibly grew livid and I winced as he had grabbed onto my wrists that held cuts. Pain seared through my skin and I feared maybe a cut had opened up. Rafael was too busy to notice my reaction as his eyes were shooting daggers at Aiden's. He never let go of my wrist once. "Let go. You're hurting me" I whispered.

Rafael instantly whipped his head towards me and let go. He started to pull my sleeves up to see if he had bruised me but I pulled away. He gave me a confused look and I backed away as I saw Aiden walking over. He looked furious. Rafael kept staring at me and began to approach me, unaware of Aiden walking up behind him.

For the first time in my life, I was grateful to see Aiden had shown up. Ironic. "You're forgetting she has a boyfriend" Aiden sneered from behind Rafael and walked towards me. Aiden pulled me towards himself. I didn't protest. I knew better than to do anything suspicious. We were a 'couple' after all.

"It sure didn't look like it, when you had your arms all over her, there" Rafael sneered and pointed towards Summer who was watching our exchange with curious eyes. "Mind your own business, you bastard" Aiden yelled and I flinched as he tightened his grip around my upper arm. Rafael saw my reaction and fury shadowed his features.

"Let go of her" Rafael spoke in a deadly calm voice. It was even more frightening than his angry voice. Aiden looked confused at first but then retorted. "She's my girlfriend and I can do whatever the hell I want with her". I felt anger surge through me at his harsh words but it died down just as quick. I had no more fight left in me to argue back. If he had said the same thing a year ago, I would've slapped him.

I kept looking at the floor, hoping it would swallow me whole. "Let. Go. Of. Her" Rafael spoke once again and this time his voice was loud and clear. It was menacing. Chills spread up my spine.

I saw Aiden tense and then he let go of my hand. My eyes widened as I came to a realization that maybe Rafael scared Aiden. Rafael started walking away but he turned around just as quick and threw a powerful punch to Aiden's face. I heard a thump as Rafael's fist connected with Aiden's jaw. "Don't ever try and provoke me again because I'll come back and beat you ten fold. And don't ever disrespect Blaze or any other girl for that matter. This isn't the last you'll see of me." Rafael growled in Aiden's ear and I heard every word of it. His voice was unwavering and feral. Aiden clutched his jaw and anger dominated his features. But he knew better than to fight back.

Rafael casually walked out and gave me a wink that only I could see as Aiden was busy slowing his breathing. It was as if he wasn't even affected by all this. Rafael walked over to a black car and slid in. 'That car looks really expensive. Of course he's rich' I internally rolled my eyes.

Aiden had a massive bruise already forming on his jaw. Rafael had thrown quite a punch. As if he was used to it. "What are you looking at? Get the fuck in the car and don't speak a word of this to anyone" he screamed and I saw the hallway was empty. I meekly nodded and walked over to the car and saw Summer leaning on it.

She looked extremely beautiful as she flaunted her body. I wish I had that much confidence. No wonder Aiden was giving her so much attention. I would never be her. Self doubt clouded my thoughts and I heard a voice break my train of thought.

"Who are you?" Summer looked at me up and down and visibly was disgusted. "I'm his girlfriend" I muttered not maintaining eye contact. Summer scoffed. "As if he'd date a freak like you. Have you ever seen yourself in the mirror?" She rolled her eyes and I felt every single word hurt. I was never attacked by anyone before. Well, except for Aiden.

I clenched my jaw to stop myself from saying anything. I kept my head low and waited for Aiden to come. He forgot to give me his keys so I wasn't able to sit in the car. He was probably cleaning up in the bathroom.

"I give him all the things you can't, so the sooner you realise that, the better" she leaned down to whisper in my ear. I didn't give a response but stiffened at Aiden walking over. He saw Summer standing next to me and tensed. Then he continued walking and asked me "I thought I told you to wait in the car" he gritted through his teeth. "You didn't give me the keys" I muttered and he huffed. "Babe, why the hell did that guy punch you? Rafael right?" Summer's voice inquired.

I clenched my jaw. Apparently, everyone knew him around here. Summer leaned over to Aiden and ran her manicured fingers over his arm.

He stiffened as he saw me staring at her hands. "We had an.. altercation. He's just lucky I didn't retaliate. He's got quite the nerve, fighting a Senior" Aiden said, anger seething through his words. As if you ever stood a chance against him. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. Oh No. Aiden saw that.

"Get in the car" he said and I quickly obliged as he unlocked the car. I waited for him to get in and saw Summer press her body into his and whisper something in his ears as they hugged goodbye. Friends do that, right? But even I knew I was lying to myself.

Aiden got in the car and sped off. "I thought I told you to stay away" Aiden said calmly. I was scared because this was just the calm before the storm. "I-I wasn't the one talking. He w-was following me around" I stuttered and cursed myself for appearing so weak. "Hmm. We'll talk about that once we get home". His hands gripped the steering wheels till his knuckles turned white. He was visibly pissed.

Today was going to be painful. I had a feeling there would be a lot more action than words.

Hey Babes! How are y'all? Hope everyone's doing great! How did you like this chapter? We're back to Blaze's POV. Rafael and her made up. Kind of. We'll get there don't worry people. Slow and steady.

How hot was Rafael's punch? I need me a man like him. And Aiden finally got what he deserved.

Excuse my sudden burst of excitement. I've gone a little cuckoo due to social distancing. But stay home babes! It's for our own good. Anxiety hits me every time I read the news. I hope all of you and your families are doing great! We'll get out of this soon if we stick together *not in the literal sense* Practice Social Distancing.

So we finally have the first meeting with Summer and Blaze. How do you think things are gonna play out in the following chapters? I would Loveeee to see your comments ! It would literally make my day if even one of you left a comment! I'd really appreciate it.

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