365 Days To Save The Campus Bad Boy

A Fool

Elijah:

I've always noticed Aurora Kennedy. Not because I wanted to.

It was hard not to when she spent half her life sitting outside our lecture halls, waiting for Jace while he flirted with every girl who smiled at him in class. Now and then, my eyes would drift to her lonely figure beyond the window. In those moments, only one thought ever crossed my mind.

‘What a fool.’

It was a pity. She was really pretty too. Unfortunately, stupidity had a way of making people overlook beauty — hers included. It was also that stupidity that always caught my attention and managed to rile me up every time I caught a glimpse of her, for some reason.

She was in her own little bubble, dying for a guy who didn't give two f***s about her. Typical.

But things started becoming weird the day she hugged me at that dorm. At first, I thought she was trying to use me to make Jace jealous, and that alone made me want to strangle her. I've always disliked Jace. He reminded me of a mosquito. Loud. Annoying. Pointless.

His family was falling apart. His father was going bankrupt and screwing anything that moved. Yet Jace still acted like some rich young master, even though everyone knew his allowance barely covered his lifestyle.

People like him disgusted me.

So naturally, the thought of being used to provoke someone like that pissed me off.

But the look she gave me that day wasn't the look of someone playing games. For a split second, she looked relieved. Like she had genuinely been worried about me. It caught me off guard. It was ridiculous.

Nobody worried about me. So why did she?

Maybe that's why I hadn't completely chased her out of my life. Or perhaps I just hadn't found a creative enough punishment yet.

Other girls who dared cross me had all paid for it.

But she was different.

She wasn't trying to be flirty, or get laid, or come after me for money. She was just… crazy. Any time I encountered her, I couldn't help but question my sanity for a split second.

"Elijah, what did you do? You sent her away." Sebastian complained from the bleachers.

I stood, watching the path where she had disappeared, and scoffed. She was a really fast runner, wasn't she? Always running away from the messes she caused. One of these days, I was going to catch her. And when I did, she was going to pay for every embarrassing thing she'd done to me.

"I can't believe she ran off. I'm not going to let her off." My gaze drifted to the nerdy guy who had come with her.

I climbed the bleachers.

"What are you guys doing?"

He looked up at me with a glare.

"A survey project, and you made her leave. She's going to get punished thanks to you."

I c****d a brow. What the hell was his problem? But I had to give it to him, not everyone could speak to me with such a tone fearlessly. He wasn't a coward.

"A survey?" My eyes dropped to the tablet in his hands before sweeping across the students lounging around the bleachers.

"Okay then. All of you, come down and fill out his survey."

They looked at one another. Nobody moved. I sighed.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

That got them moving. Within seconds, everyone was climbing down from the bleachers, grumbling under their breath as they took the tablet and began answering the questions.

Satisfied, I looked back at him.

"There."

His expression softened slightly, though he still looked reluctant to thank me.

"She shouldn't get into trouble now."

He didn't speak and instead huffed and looked away. I shrugged as if it meant nothing, then grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler nearby and twisted off the cap. I dropped down beside Sebastian. He pushed up his shades.

"For someone who claims to hate her, you're helping her out. That's uncharacteristic," Sebastian stated.

I took a long drink from the bottle.

It ‘was’ uncharacteristic. I did want to punish her, but not by making her fail a project. The nerdy guy didn't look too forgiving. He had also seemed to be yelling at her earlier when they came.

I had caught a flicker of sadness in her eyes then, something I had never seen before, not even when the truth about Jace's bet came out — I had expected her to be devastated at that, but instead she had actually tried to ask me out. Crazy.

Perhaps that's why I chucked the ball at the nerd’s head, to make him stop talking. But she just had to be the hero.

"There are far better ways to get back at her," I answered.

My mind drifted back to the look on her face when I threatened to strip her in public. It had been oddly satisfying.

Sebastian snorted.

"You're smiling. That can't be good."

My face immediately flattened. Was the thought of seeing her begging for mercy that thrilling?

"Don't be too harsh on her. She seems like a really nice person."

"We'll see about that."

"Remember when you used to talk my ears off anytime she followed Jace to class?"

"Shut up."

He laughed and leaned back.

After a while, he nudged my shoulder. "Enough about that. My father's fundraiser is this Saturday. Are you coming?"

I clicked my tongue as my mood soured.

"I don't have a choice. My dad already ordered me to come back home. We haven't talked in two months, and this is the first time he's contacted me."

Sebastian grimaced knowingly.

"Is the witch going to be there?"

I nodded. "And her little spawns."

He chuckled. "I bet she's preparing another rich heiress for you. She hasn't sent any girl to your bed in a while."

A muscle ticked in my jaw at the memories of waking up to random girls in my room and apartment. I'd had to kick a few from my bed when they got too far, all because of that woman. I'd also had to change apartments a few times.

The rumors spread fast, and few girls stayed away. I was grateful for that, but it wouldn't hold her back for long.

"If another random woman magically appears in my bedroom, I'm throwing her out the window. Maybe that will get them all to stay away permanently."

I looked toward the basketball court, where the others were already beginning another practice game.

I hated high society parties.

The fake smiles. Forced conversations. Businessmen pretending to be saints after writing one oversized cheque. Women pretending they weren't evaluating every surname in the room.

A den of vipers dressed in expensive suits and dresses. Unfortunately, I was born into it. There was no escaping people like them.

I stood and slung my gym bag over my shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go."

We headed toward the parking lot in comfortable silence. For some reason, my thoughts wandered back to Aurora.

At least she hadn't tried to climb into my bed yet. Her pestering was a unique approach, though. Despite everything she’d done, I couldn’t bring myself to be irritated with her as I would have with other girls. Another thing I couldn’t figure out.

Why was I even thinking about her anyway?

Annoyed, I shoved both hands into my pockets and kept walking toward my car. Unfortunately, she refused to leave my head.