Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Maddy

I found maths to be boring at the best of times, getting easily distracted because it just didn't hold my attention. I was good at it, but Mr Collard had one of those dull, boring voices that, if you hadn't had a good eight hours sleep and a couple of pints of coffee, would put you to sleep. His drone on algebra usually resulted in one of our class taking a nap.

Today's lesson was no different, except from one major thing. Zak Hoyland was sitting at the desk in front of me, leaning forward and giving me a glimpse of the waistband of his underwear. Now, where most guys in school wore Calvin's Zak did not. His waistband said Oddballs. Seeing them, I found myself grinning. It just showed how rad he was, that he could get away with it.

"Hey."

I turned to the whispered voice on my left to see Ana's raised brow.

"What?" I glanced up to the front of class to see Mr Collard was writing on the board.

"Stop looking at his arse." She pointed at Zak and shook her head.

"I'm not."

"You so are." She leaned across the small divide and pulled me closer by tugging on my jumper. "You're looking at that fine arse and wondering what it would look like if it was pumping between your legs."

The gasp I let out wasn't supposed to be so loud, but I could practically feel the wind created by the whip of heads. I quicky looked forward, seeing that half our class were looking my way. That included Zak and Mr Collard.

"Do we have a problem, Miss Newman?" He couldn't even chastise without sounding boring. "Hmm?"

"Nope. No problem here."

"You think we can concentrate, then?" He didn't even wait for an answer before turning back to the board.

I blinked slowly and deliberately at everyone else and waved my hand, indicating for them to turn back around. They all did except for Zak who smirked sexily.

"You okay, Maddy?" he asked, tapping his pen against his bottom lip. "Anything bothering you?"

Swallowing hard, I searched desperately for an answer, but his blue eyes were too magnetic and mesmerizing. Trapping me in a vortex of silence.

"I'll take that as a yes," he added when it was clear I wasn't going to reply.

"I'm fine," I added quickly, desperately hoping he wouldn't turn around and move his attention back to his textbook.

He studied me, and it felt like he was looking beyond the clothes, the skin, and the bones, right into my soul. My blood warmed as his stare intensified. He was beautiful and dark, with perfect teeth, a straight nose, a little dimple in his right cheek, and a tiny scar on his chin. It was so small it was almost unnoticeable, but I'd seen it.

"What about you?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

His eyes twinkled with a whole host of things, and I imagined all of them were bad, but in a good way.

"I'm a little stuck on the problem which Mr Collard has set. Do you think you could help me? I hear you're a bit of a brainbox."

I frowned. I'd heard he was so clever that had his pick of universities. "Didn't I hear that you wanted to be an accountant or something?"

His shoulders shook with silent laughter. "No way. I want to be a vet. Who wants to be a boring accountant?"

I nodded to the front of the class. "Mr Collard, apparently."

"Not surprised. He's a boring bastard."

Wow that accent was just the sexiest thing ever. Having lived in Norford since infant school, no one I knew sounded any different. We all had the same flat Cheshire accent with a hint of Manc, which made Zak's all the more interesting. He was the exciting new boy. He made my stomach a little bit squishy despite how much I denied it to my friends.

"You should go and sit with him," Ana said as she looked down at her black painted nails. "Help him with his…" she looked Zak up and down, "problem."

I narrowed my gaze at her and silently told her that I hated her. Ana shrugged and grinned.

"Well," she sighed. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

" Ana ."

"What is going on back there?" Mr Collard asked.

Zak turned around to face him. "I'm stuck on a problem sir, and Maddy was just offering to help."

"I can help you," Liam offered from his desk in front of Zak.

"It's fine, mate." Zak pointed a thumb towards me over his shoulder. "Maddy offered." He leaned forwards. "No disrespect but I think she's a bit cleverer than you."

Liam laughed, balled a piece of paper and threw it at his new friend. "Dick."

Their banter was good-natured, and it made me smile. I liked Liam and, in many ways, he was like a brother to me—or the very least, a cousin—and he'd often hung around with me and my friends when we were young. Now, though, it seemed that he and Zak had become really good mates.

"That's true," Liam answered. "She's got all the brains. Sit with her, but keep your hands to yourself."

"Liam," I hissed.

He grinned and turned back to his desk, leaving me to the deal with the discomfort he'd created.

"You going to help me, then?" Zak asked.

"Yes, she is," Ana replied.

"Whatever you've decided to do, Miss Newman," Mr Collard droned, "do it quickly."

Rolling my eyes, I stood and moved my chair next to Zak, ignoring the giggles from Liv and Emma two rows down.

"Okay," I sighed as I sat down. "Tell me which one you're stuck on."

Zak's long fingers pushed the paper of twenty problems toward me and he tapped at the one third from the bottom.

"How come you did all those others but this—probably the easiest one of them all—you can't?" I asked.

"It's just really hard," he groaned, with a hint of the bad I'd seen in his eyes.

"Okay, if you multiply this number by?—"

"This film night you girls are having," he interrupted me. "Is it a pyjama party? Where you all wear skimpy pj's and nighties?"

I turned to him. "Do you really need my help?" He didn't. All the other answers written in his neat, blocked handwriting told me that much. "And yes, maybe."

He grinned and shrugged one shoulder. "Good to know."

"So, the maths problem."

"What should I wear?" he asked not interested in the maths problem. "My Oddballs undies?"

I felt the colour rise in my cheeks as I looked down at the test paper. I cleared my throat. "Can we just get on with this?"

"Sure." I heard him chuckle beside me. "But make sure you get back to me on the outfit situation, won't you? I'd hate to look like a prat." He swivelled the ring around on his thumb, and for some stupid reason, it made my stomach twist with excitement.

As for the sleepover, I wasn't sure that he was being serious. But as he leaned closer, I stopped thinking about it because his pure presence overpowered me. I had no idea how to be around this boy. My dad had taught me to be strong and independent and take no shit from anyone, yet I had a feeling that Zak Hoyland might just test everything that I'd ever learned.