“Does it bother you?”

“Answer the question.” I stood up straighter, trying to make my presence more imposing so he wouldn’t realize how much he rattled me.

“Everyone always looks at you,” Finn said coolly. “You’re very attractive.”

That sounded like a compliment, but his voice was emotionless when he said it. I couldn’t tell if he was making fun of a vanity I didn’t even have, or if he was simply stating facts. Was he flattering me or mocking me? Or maybe something else entirely?

“Nobody stares at me as much as you do,” I said as evenly as I could.

“If it bothers you, I’ll try and stop,” Finn offered.

That was tricky. In order to ask him to stop, I had to admit that he’d gotten to me, and I didn’t want to admit that anything got to me. If I lied and said it was fine, then he would just keep on doing it.

“I didn’t ask you to stop. I asked you why,” I amended.

“I told you why.”

“No, you didn’t.” I shook my head. “You just said that everyone looks at me. You never explained why you looked at me.”

Almost imperceptibly the corner of his mouth moved up, revealing the hint of a smirk. It wasn’t just that I amused him; I sensed he was pleased with me. Like he had challenged me somehow and I had passed.

My stomach did a stupid flip thing I had never felt before, and I swallowed hard, hoping to fight it back.

“I look at you because I can’t look away,” Finn answered finally.

I was struck completely mute, trying to think of some kind of clever response, but my mind refused to work. Realizing that my jaw had gone slack and I probably looked like an awestruck schoolgirl, I hurried to collect myself.

“That’s kind of creepy,” I said at last, but my words came out weak instead of accusatory.

“I’ll work on being less creepy, then,” Finn promised.

I had called him out on being creepy, and it didn’t faze him at all. He didn’t stammer an apology or flush with shame. He just kept looking at me evenly. Most likely he was a damn sociopath, and for whatever reason, I found that endearing.

I couldn’t come up with a witty retort, but the bell rang, saving me from the rest of that awkward conversation. Finn just nodded, thus ending our exchange, and turned down the hall to go to his next class. Thankfully, it was one of the few he didn’t have with me.

True to his word, Finn wasn’t creepy the rest of the day. Every time I saw him, he was doing something inoffensive that didn’t involve looking at me. I still got that feeling that he watched me when I had my back to him, but it wasn’t anything I could prove.

When the final bell rang at three o’clock, I tried to be the first one out. My older brother, Matt, picked me up from school, at least until he found a job, and I didn’t want to keep him waiting. Besides that, I didn’t want to deal with any more contact with Finn Holmes.

I quickly made my way to the parking lot at the edge of the school lawn. Scanning for Matt’s Prius, I absently started to chew my thumbnail. I had this weird feeling, almost like a shiver running down my back. I turned around, half expecting to see Finn staring at me, but there was nothing.

I tried to shake it off, but my heart raced faster. This felt like something more sinister than a boy from school. I was still staring off, trying to decide what had me freaked out, when a loud honk startled me, making me jump. Matt sat a few cars down, looking at me over the top of his sunglasses.

“Sorry.” I opened the car door and hopped in, where he looked me over for a moment. “What?”

“You looked nervous. Did something happen?” Matt asked, and I sighed. He took his whole big brother thing way too seriously.

“No, nothing happened. School sucks,” I said, brushing him off. “Let’s go home.”

“Seat belt,” Matt commanded, and I did as I was told.

Matt had always been quiet and reserved, thinking everything over carefully before making a decision. He was a stark contrast to me in every way, except that we were both relatively short. I was small, with a decidedly pretty, feminine face. My brown hair was an untamed mess of curls that I kept up in loose buns.

He kept his sandy blond hair trim and neat, and his eyes were the same shade of blue as our mother’s. Matt wasn’t overtly muscular, but he was sturdy and athletic from working out a lot. He had a sense of duty, like he had to make sure he was strong enough to defend us against anything.

“How is school going?” Matt asked.

“Great. Fantastic. Amazing.”

“Are you even going to graduate this year?” Matt had long since stopped judging my school record. A large part of him didn’t even care if I graduated from high school.

“Who knows?” I shrugged.

Everywhere I went, kids never seemed to like me. Even before I said or did anything. I felt like I had something wrong with me and everyone knew it. I tried getting along with the other kids, but I’d only take getting pushed for so long before I pushed back. Principals and deans were quick to expel me, probably sensing the same things the kids did.

I just didn’t belong.

“Just to warn you, Maggie’s taking it seriously,” Matt said. “She’s set on you graduating this year, from this school.”

“Delightful.” I sighed. Matt couldn’t care less about my schooling, but my aunt Maggie was a different story. And since she was my legal guardian, her opinion mattered more. “What’s her plan?”