"Never mind."

"Fine, I'm starting over."

"Good luck with that," I mumbled.

The burr was back in his smile, his voice bristly. "It's nice to meet you, Nearly."

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call you what?"

I stomped past the library doors, marking the halfway point to class. I wished I could move faster, but my legs burned and my lungs were tight. I was all elbows and knees, hands in my pockets as I pushed through the crowd.

"Leigh. You can call me Leigh."

"Leigh?" He wasn't even breathing hard. "Why? Don't you like your name?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just trying to blend." A point a narc should sympathize with. "And for the record, no, I don't like my name."

"So, Leigh," he said. "Can I ask you something?"

In two minutes this conversation would be over and I'd walk into a class he wasn't qualified to set foot in. "What?" I kept my pace brisk, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Well, you obviously dislike me."

"That's not true," I said. "I'd have to know you to dislike you, and I don't know you at all."

"That's exactly my point!" He blocked me with a long, deliberate stride just before I reached the door to the science wing. "I'm trying to get to know you. Why are you making this hard?"

I tried to step around him, but he wouldn't let me pass. "I didn't think easy was part of the job description." I cringed, berating myself for saying it out loud. I told myself I should just walk away, ignore him and he'd lose interest. But he kept pushing. And even though it was stupid, something inside me couldn't resist pushing back.

He shook his head. "You're not making any sense. I don't follow."

"Yes, you do follow me. You've been following me. And I'd like you to stop!"

I looked at the clock behind his head. I had thirty seconds to end this conversation and get my butt to class. I felt the curious onlookers hovering nearby. "This is a complete waste of my time," I muttered.

He ground his teeth and glared at me, looking insulted. "What are you saying? You think I can't learn this stuff ?"

"Move!"

"Not until you tell me why helping me is a waste of your time." His peppermint breath touched my face. Who was he trying to impress?

"Seriously?" I threw my hands up. "One day you're kicking my books across the hall. The next, you're giving me your phone number. Who the hell do you think you are?"

His dark eyes flashed back and forth between mine.

"What do you want me to say?" He raised his arms over his head in surrender. "You're right. It's no secret where I've been. I did some pretty stupid shit and spent a whole semester in juvie. I'm probably not worth your time." He rested his hands loosely on his hips, glanced furtively around, and lowered his voice. "But aren't you being a little hypocritical?"

I stiffened, darting nervous glances as people walked by. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He answered in a low rumble, the words barely a whisper. "I know where you live. What your mother does for a living. That's no secret either. So why is it okay for you to try to make something of your life, but not me?"

I'd expected him to bring up what he'd seen on Friday night-my daring escape from the crime scene at school. Not my mother. I wasn't sure which was worse.

"Rankin says you have to tutor me to qualify for some scholarship."

"I don't have to do anything," I snapped. But he was right. If I refused to take Reece on, I'd fall short on my qualifying hours. The door to my future would zip shut like an empty suitcase and I'd be stuck in Sunny View for eternity. I let out a long breath, taking in the winding tattoo on his arm and the piercings in his eyebrow, already regretting what I was about to agree to.

"What?" His half grin curled like a beckoning finger. "Do I look dangerous?"