Chapter 3
I walked into the classroom with the so-called legendary heroine, Sophia Collins, and caught sight of Evan right away, sitting in the back corner.
What a coincidence. There was an empty seat right next to him.
When our eyes met, he forced a half-smile, looking a bit uncomfortable.
Wow, still acting all bashful.
Seriously, at a time like this, he should be waving at me, letting everyone know I was his.
Wait, was Evan already crushing on Sophia?
I looked at Evan, then at Sophia. Crap, they just locked eyes!
I gave Evan a deadly glare, and he instantly looked down, avoiding my eyes.
After the introductions, the teacher said, "There are only three seats left. You two go ahead and pick where you want to sit."
I glanced at Evan. He'd been staring at his desk, but when he heard the teacher, he looked up, gazing at us with those big eyes.
"I'll take the seat in the third row," Sophia said.
The live chat was instantly flooded with disappointment.
[Nooo, why didn't Sophia sit next to Evan?]
[I'm literally dying inside.]
[Seriously, can the Sophia-Evan shippers stop spamming the chat?]
That left only two seats: one next to Evan and one other.
"I'll take that one," I said, pointing right at Evan.
The whole class was grinning like they knew something I didn't. I slung my bag over my shoulder and plopped down right next to Evan, turning to greet him.
"Hey, new seatmate," I said.
He gripped his pen, avoiding my gaze, and mumbled a quiet "Hi."
The live chat started blowing up again.
[Melody probably has no idea that Evan's been totally isolated by the whole class.]
[Back then, Sophia could only help him on the down-low, but now Melody is just straight-up sitting right next to him.]
[I'm shipping them so hard!]
Seriously? My gorgeous little troublemaker looked this good, and he was getting shunned?
Right after class, a bunch of streetwise kids surrounded me.
"Hey, I'd suggest you switch seats. If you sit with him, people will start avoiding you, too," one of them said.
I blinked, not getting it.
I asked, "What do you mean?"
"Can't you smell him? He's got that weird odor," one of them sneered.
"He never showers, for real," another one snickered.
I was even more confused.
"But I literally saw him taking a shower last night," I said, still puzzled.
For a split second, the whole place went dead silent.
One of them suddenly spoke up and asked, "So, what's your deal with him?"
"He's my new bodyguard," I replied, dead serious.
They all burst out laughing.
"Seriously? Who still has a bodyguard these days?" one of them scoffed.
Couldn't help but scoff at their ignorance.
"Please, it's not even that special. I don't just have one bodyguard, I've got a whole team. And it's not just me, my mom, my dad, and my sister all have their own bodyguards too," I said, totally showing off.
The laughter vanished, and they all looked at each other, suddenly serious. "So, what does your family do?" one of them asked.
I raised an eyebrow. "Take a wild guess."
Then it hit them. My last name was Rivers.
"Wait, are you from the Rivers family? The famous one around here?" one of them stammered.
"Oh crap, let's get out of here," another one blurted, and they all bolted.
The live chat went wild again.
[What!? She's actually from the Rivers family?]
[The Rivers family that's been close with the Winters family for generations?]
[So, if Evan hadn't been kidnapped as a kid, he and Melody would've been childhood sweethearts!?]
[I'm shipping them so hard!]
Hold up, what did that even mean?
The Winters family? And Evan was kidnapped as a kid?
Everyone in the chat was throwing out all this wild info, and I just sat there, completely blanking out.
I gave Evan a long, searching look, my thoughts spinning.
Could Evan be the Winters family's kid who went missing all those years ago?
Yeah, that actually added up. If I remembered right, his mom was just his adoptive mother.
The Rivers family and the Winters family were super close back in the day, but ever since my parents' generation, it was all just keeping up appearances.
If I just blurted it out to them, would they even buy it?
"Ms. Rivers... why are you staring at me like that?" Evan finally broke the silence, his voice barely more than a whisper, sounding nervous.
I finally snapped out of it, feeling kinda annoyed.
"Do they always freeze you out like this?" I asked, my tone sharp.
He hesitated, then mumbled a quiet "Yeah."
I let out a sigh, shook my head, and clutched my chest.
My heart just hurt for him.
Seriously, how did this guy go from being so soft and meek to turning into an obsessive type?
I said, "You're way too much of a pushover. How are you supposed to be my bodyguard if you just let people walk all over you?
"You don't fight back, you don't even talk back. Am I supposed to protect you now? If someone tries to mess with me, are you just gonna stand there and do nothing?"
I thought Evan would just stay quiet like always, but out of nowhere, he looked up at me.
"I won't," Evan replied, surprisingly firm.
"Won't what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He bit his lip, those big eyes suddenly burning with resolve. "No one's ever going to bully you while I'm around."
I paused for a moment, then gave him a soft, teasing smile and grabbed his hand. "Such a good boy."
His cheeks flushed deep red in a heartbeat.