CHAPTER 1: FALLING FOR THE FORBIDDEN
988 Words
The art classroom always smelled like paint, paper, and something faintly metallic like creativity had a physical scent. Sunlight filtered through tall windows, spilling across scattered easels and half finished sketches pinned to corkboards. Savannah Blake liked sitting near the back, where the noise softened and people forgot she existed.
She had just settled into her seat, fingers brushing the edge of her sketchbook, when she felt it again that familiar distance she carried everywhere,observant , quiet, careful. It wasn’t loneliness exactly,it was control.Around her, classmates laughed too loudly, chairs scraped, someone dropped a pencil and cursed under their breath. Savannah didn’t react. She rarely did.
Her world had been like this since her father died three years ago. Everything after that felt slightly misaligned, like a picture frame hanging crooked on a wall no one fixed. Her mother worked until exhaustion softened her voice. Her brother, Aiden, turned into something sharp,protective in a way that felt more like a warning than comfort.
And Savannah became the quiet space in between them all.
Then the classroom door opened.
The change was immediate.
Not loud,not dramatic,just … noticeable.
Savannah didn’t look up at first. She didn’t need to. The energy in the room shifted the way it always did when certain people walked in,like the air itself was adjusting.
“Late again, Carter,” the teacher said, not even looking surprised.
That name landed differently.
Savannah’s pencil paused.
Jay Carter.
Of course.
She lifted her gaze before she could stop herself.
He walked in like he belonged nowhere and everywhere at the same time hands in his pockets, uniform slightly undone, expression unreadable in a way that suggested he didn’t care who approved of him. There was something restless in the way he moved, like standing still wasn’t something he practiced often.
And then, without warning, he turned slightly.
Their eyes met.
It lasted less than a second.
But it felt like something had shifted under her skin.
Savannah looked away first.
She told herself it meant nothing.
But her grip tightened on her pencil anyway.
Jay took a seat not far from her.
Too close.
She could hear him now,the faint rustle of his sketchpad, the soft tap of his pen, the casual way he leaned back like the room was his to interrupt.
Savannah focused on her page. Draw the lines. Stay steady. Ignore him.
It should have been easy.
It wasn’t.
“Careful.”
The voice came suddenly beside her.
Low,Calm,almost amused.
Savannah turned her head slightly.
Jay Carter was looking at her sketchbook.
Not her face yet,Just her work.
“You nearly elbowed my desk,” he added, as if that explained everything.
She blinked once, caught off guard not by what he said, but how close his voice felt in the space between them.
“I didn’t notice,” she replied quietly.
That was all she intended to say.
But Jay finally looked at her then.
Properly.
And it felt like being seen in a way she wasn’t used to.
His expression wasn’t cruel. That was the first surprise. It was more like curiosity layered under something guarded.
“You don’t talk much,” he said.
Savannah held his gaze, even though her instincts told her to look away. “I only talk when it matters.”
A faint smirk pulled at his mouth. “And does this matter?”
She hesitated.
That pause betrayed her more than any answer could have.
Jay noticed. Of course he did.
He leaned back slightly in his chair, studying her like she was a problem he hadn’t decided whether to solve or leave alone.
“You’re not like the others,” he said finally.
Savannah’s pulse tightened. “The others?”
“The ones who look at me like I’m supposed to be avoided.” His tone wasn’t defensive,just factual. “Most people don’t stick around long enough to talk.”
There it was.
The reputation. The warning her brother repeated like law.
Savannah forced her voice to stay steady. “Maybe there’s a reason for that.”
That made him pause.
Just a flicker.
Then he let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “Yeah. I get that a lot.”
Silence stretched between them again.
Not empty this time.
Loaded.
Savannah became painfully aware of everything how close he was sitting, how warm the room suddenly felt, how wrong it was that her attention kept drifting back to him when she had spent years training herself not to be distracted.
“You know,” Jay said after a moment, lowering his voice slightly, “your brother talks about me like I’m something dangerous.”
Savannah’s stomach tightened at the mention of Aiden. “He’s protective.”
“Or paranoid,” Jay replied simply.
Her jaw tensed. “He’s trying to keep people safe.”
“From me?” A faint edge entered his voice now, but it wasn’t anger. It was something more complicated. “Or from what he thinks I am?”
Savannah didn’t answer immediately.
Because she didn’t know.
Jay studied her reaction carefully, then looked away first this time, breaking the intensity he had just created.
“Forget it,” he said, picking up his pencil again.
But something had already changed.
The space between them didn’t feel neutral anymore.
And Savannah hated that she noticed.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She didn’t need to check to know who it was.
Aiden.
Still, she did.
Stay the f**k away from him. For your sake.
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
When she looked up again, Jay was already watching her.
Like he knew.
Like he was waiting to see what she would do next.
Savannah slowly lowered her phone.
And for the first time in a long time, she didn’t follow the rule that had kept her safe.
She looked back at him.
And didn’t look away.
- Writer
