Taming the Beast

(Caroline's POV)

High school was boring. There was no question about it. People smelled, no one understood the concept of personal space, and if you were breathing, expect to be talked about. I was just glad that I had my two best friends by my side. Mariana had thick, long black hair and black almond eyes. She was tall and had 'model' written all over her. For a Latina, her skin was surprisingly pale. She was the shy one. Stacy was a mess of freckles and frizzy red hair. Her eyes were light brown and always filled with excitement. She was the wild one. Me on the other hand, I had long, wavy blonde hair and greenish-blue eyes that liked to change colors. We were all on the volleyball team together.

We walked to our table at lunch and took our seats. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair as I opened my salad container. I forgot my lunch at home today and I swore to myself in middle school that I would never eat the school's hot lunch... ever. It was gross and no one ever knew what it was. Mariana nudged my shoulder gently and motioned over to a table near the stage. When I looked at her, she was smiling softly.

"There's Brighton," she said softly. A smile pulled at the corner of Stacy's lips and I tried to hide the blush that was starting to creep into my cheeks. Brighton ran his hand through his short-ish brown hair. I knew why they pointed him out to me. I currently had a tiny bit of a crush on him, and they knew that. I used to see him all the time when I went riding, but I hadn't been in a while. Stacy's smile set into a seductive one as she bit her lip lightly.

"And his friend is looking like my new flavor of the week," Stacy said under her breath. I heard her anyway. It was no secret that Stacy liked to get around, but we didn't condemn her for that. Mariana practically pushed me out of my seat. I looked at her with amusement written all over my face.

"Go talk to him, Caroline!" she said. I sighed and walked backwards, glaring at my so-called best friends, before I turned to walk to where Brighton was standing. As soon I turned, I ran into someone... hard. I almost fell back on my butt but the stranger caught me before I could. His touch sent electric shocks across my body. I turned to see my destroyer/savior. My eyes were met with hard amber eyes. He was glaring until he really looked at me. Then his face went to one of shock. I broke out of his grasp and just stared at him. When he kept staring at me, I crossed my arms over my chest. It was my turn to glare at him.

"Got a staring problem?" I asked, tapping my foot impatiently. He looked at me amused and took a step away.

"You're the one who ran into me," he countered. I rolled my eyes and adjusted my arms.

"I was walking backwards. What's your excuse?" I asked impatiently. I had no idea why but he was getting under my skin. I knew he was trouble. Every fiber of my being told me so. I should be avoiding him at all costs, but I was also drawn to him in a way that I couldn't explain. I was drawn to him in a way that I shouldn't be. I was pushing him and I knew it, but I couldn't bring myself to stop.

"I wasn't paying attention," he answered honestly. That threw me off. My arms dropped and my eyebrows shot up. There was a moment where we just stared at each other. I looked at him curiously after a moment and crossed my arms again.

"I don't think I've seen you here before," I noted. He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. His bicep rippled with the motion under the sleeve of his simple black shirt. His hand hanging at his side twitched slightly.

"I just started school here. I was homeschooled," he said.

"Oh," was all I said. We stood there another moment before I decided that I wouldn't make him suffer any longer.

"I'm Caroline," I said holding out my hand. He looked at it a moment like he was contemplating whether or not to shake it. Finally, he reached forward and gripped my hand. I gasped lightly as tingles shot up my arm and straight to my heart. It stopped for a moment before it started beating two times faster than before. I just stared at our hands a little out of breath. He let go quickly, but it still felt like he was touching me. I blinked at his face. This time, I really looked at him. He had short-ish jet black hair and tan skin. His amber eyes had small flecks of gold and black in them. His face was narrow but his jaw line was strong. He had this overall look that said 'warning, I'm trouble'. He was saying something but I couldn't hear him.

"What?" I said breathlessly as sound returned to my ears. He smirked a little and looked off beside me. When his eyes reached mine again, his smirk was still in place.

"I said: the name's Keegan," he repeated. I blink a few more times before I took a step back.

"I have to go," I muttered as my cheeks turned bright red. I forgot why I got up in the first place. I shuffled back to my seat and hid my face in my arms. I had no idea what just happened, but he affected me in a way I didn't know possible. I could hear Mariana laughing.

"Well that failed," she said as she pat my back. I peeked up at her curiously.

"What failed?" I asked. Her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"You going over to talk to Brighton," she said. I groaned a little before I took a deep breath and sat up. I ran my fingers threw my long dirty blonde hair, letting it fall in a curtain to the side. I had completely forgotten.