The Nerd Girl’s Two Captains

Emma Carter knew the art of invisibility. It was a necessary skill to possess at Westbridge Academy. A school that belonged to people like Ryan Kingsley. The golden boy. The basketball captain. The boy whose smile could make half the female population swoon. The boy whose last name was carved on one of the academy’s largest buildings. And unfortunately, the boy who had been making Emma’s life miserable for the past three years. Emma pushed her glasses up as she walked down the crowded hallway, her books held tightly to her chest. First day of senior year. New year, new rules. Rule number one: Stay away from Ryan Kingsley. Rule number two: Avoid Ryan Kingsley at all costs. Rule number three: Ryan Kingsley is a colossal pain in the rear that Emma Carter will not tolerate for one second longer. Simple, really. If only the universe hadn’t seen fit to throw him in her path. “Carter.” Emma didn’t need to turn around to know that Ryan Kingsley was standing behind her. She could hear the deep rumble of his voice as he spoke. Feel the heat of his gaze as it landed on her. Ryan Kingsley was the type of guy who could make women feel beautiful and ugly all at the same time. With his tousled dark hair that took him twenty minutes to style and his basketball jersey that hung loosely from his lean frame, he had the appearance of a heartthrob. But it was the smirk that curled his lips that set Emma’s teeth on edge. The one that said he was far too good for someone like her. Standing beside him were his basketball teammates, all grinning like fools. Emma let out a sigh. “Good morning to you too, Kingsley.” Ryan pushed himself off the lockers and strolled over to her. “Wow. No insult today?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Should I be insulted? Are you finally done hearing them?” His teammates chuckled. Ryan’s smirk grew wider. There it was again. That look in his eyes that sent a familiar brand of irritation through Emma. “You changed your glasses.” Emma blinked. Out of all the stupid things for him to say, she would have expected anything else. Anything but that. She pushed her glasses up. “So?” Ryan shrugged. “So nothing.” But his eyes held hers for a fraction of a second too long. Emma noticed. And she hated that she did. “Are you done yet?” she asked. “Not even close.” Before she could do anything about it, Ryan plucked the notebook off the top of her stack. Her eyes went wide. “Ryan.” He flipped it open. “Let’s see what the genius has been working on.” “Give it back.” She reached for it, but Ryan held it up over his head, out of her reach. Of course. He was tall, one of the many things she hated about him. “Still short, Carter?” She glared at him. “Still immature, Kingsley?” His teammates laughed. Ryan looked genuinely surprised for a moment. Then he smiled. Not the usual smile he saved for annoying girls. A real smile. And somehow, that was worse. Because Emma had seen Ryan smile at thousands of other girls. But she had never seen him smile like that because of her. “Careful,” Ryan said quietly. Emma narrowed her eyes at him. “About what?” “You’re getting brave.” She took a step closer to him. “Maybe I finally got tired of being scared of you.” Something flickered across Ryan’s face. Only for a second, but Emma saw it. A flash of something she couldn’t quite place. Respect? Surprise? Interest? Then it was gone. Ryan handed her back the notebook. “See you around, Carter.” Emma took it from him. “I’m hoping I won’t.” She walked away before he could say anything else. But she didn’t see the way Ryan watched her go. She didn’t see the knowing looks exchanged between his teammates. She didn’t hear the captain of the basketball team say, “She’s different this year.” Emma reached her locker and groaned in frustration. She should have known better than to think today would be different. A group of students had gathered around her locker, whispering loudly. “What happened?” someone asked. Emma pushed through the crowd and her stomach twisted with unease. Her science project lay on the floor in pieces. The model she had spent three months constructing was ruined. The presentation she needed to give for her scholarship evaluation was destroyed. Her future lay in splinters on the hallway floor. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Then she heard the hushed voices around her. “Wasn’t that hers?” “She probably did it to herself.” “Why would you care about a scholarship girl’s project, anyway?” Emma clenched her fists. She hated that last phrase more than anything. Scholarship girl. As if it defined her. As if it made her any less deserving of success than anyone else. She reached down and picked up the nearest piece. Then she noticed something. A small indentation on one of the broken pieces. Her heart sank. Slowly, she looked up. Ryan Kingsley was standing at the end of the hallway. Watching. The disappointment on his face was almost more than Emma could stand. Because for once, she wasn’t angry at him. She was hurt. “Ryan…” His expression softened. “Emma, I - ” She shook her head. The fact that he was even using her first name surprised him. “I actually thought maybe you were different.” The hallway suddenly seemed to fall silent. Ryan stared at her. Because everyone in this school saw him as a hero. A champion. A guy who could do no wrong. But Emma looked at him like he had just destroyed something precious to her. Her trust. “I didn’t do this.” His voice was quiet. Emma let out a bitter laugh. “Of course you didn’t.” Then she turned and walked away, leaving Ryan Kingsley standing alone in the hallway for the first time in his life. Later that afternoon, Ryan sat alone in the basketball locker room. His teammates had already left, leaving him to his thoughts. The broken science project kept replaying in his head. The way Emma had looked at him. Like he was just another rich bully who didn’t care who he hurt. It was annoying, really. Because the truth was, Ryan did care. He just had no idea how to show it. His phone buzzed in his hand, catching his attention. A text from one of his teammates. Someone destroyed Emma Carter’s project before school started. Do you know anything about that? Ryan frowned. Then another text appeared on the screen. Because I saw someone from the senior class near her locker. Ryan’s eyes narrowed. Someone else had destroyed her project. And Emma blamed him. The girl who fought him at every turn. The girl who never seemed to be afraid of him. The girl who somehow had become the only person in his life whose opinion actually mattered. Ryan stood and grabbed his jacket. He needed to find out who had done this. Because whoever had hurt Emma Carter had just made the biggest mistake of their life. Ryan discovers Emma’s project was destroyed on purpose, and he is determined to find out who did it.