STOLEN KISSES, TUTORING AND HEARTBREAKS

HARPER'S POV

“Hey, Herpes! How's it going?” I shut my eyes tightly and groaned. God, not today. I was having a bad enough day already and hearing HIS voice just made things worse. The voice belonged to none other than my mortal enemy, Hunter Wilder. I turned to him, giving him a dazzling smile. “Oh. Hi, wild rat. Wonderful day it is, don't you think?” I retorted sweetly. He looked the same as every other day since middle school. Cocky and arrogant. He grinned and walked closer to me, his hands stuffed in the pocket of his pants.

“What are you up to? More boring stuff? Assignment? Classic nerd sh*t? Or just existing?” He asked, rambling on as he walked after me. I kept walking trying to ignore him. But he seemed in quite a chipper mood today. Ignoring him was definitely not going to work. “F*ck off, Wilder. I have enough on my plate as it is.” I said, murmuring.

Of course he heard me. The next minute he was walking abreast with me. “Ooh…tell me. Boyfriend drama? I give good relationship advice, you know.” He said.

I didn't answer as I finally got to my destination and stopped in front of Mr Baldwin's office. I just had to go in and collect my tutor program. I wondered which student I would be tutoring.

“Oh, you're here to see Mr Baldwin? This is going to be fun.” He said, grinning widely as he rubbed his hands together.

I gave him a weird look and shook my head before going in. I didn't have the energy for his shenanigans today. I should have known something was up from his reaction.

And from Mr Baldwin's reaction, a sick feeling started to rise in my chest. Mr Baldwin smiled tensely when he saw the both of us together. “Good, you're both together. Have a seat.” I hurried to take a seat and Hunter's leg shot out in front of me.

Caught by surprise, I tripped but caught myself from falling. My chest burned and my cheeks reddened. The f*ck*ng b*st*rd. I turned to glare at him and his face was an image of innocence, like I hadn't just tripped because of him.

Mr Baldwin sighed and grimaced as he watched us. He shuffled through a cluster of paperwork in front of him and finally picked one and handed it to me.

He took out another one and handed it to Hunter. I looked through the paper and I froze. Forget about sitting down! What the hell?

My hands shook as I looked up at Mr Baldwin. “What is this supposed to mean, Mr Baldwin?” I asked, my voice breaking. He adjusted his glasses and coughed awkwardly.

“Your tutor program, Miss Williams.” He replied. Of course it was. I wasn't f*ck*ng blind.

“Why the hell does it list Hunter Wilder as my student?” I asked, my blood roaring in my ears. The devil in question chuckled beside me and I turned to glare at him.

“You think this is funny, right? There's no way in hell I'm tutoring you! I'd rather die.” I yelled.

Hunter smirked and leaned in closer to me. “Oh, baby. You're going to tutor me, unless your Preston application means nothing to you anymore.” He whispered in my ear.

I shivered as he pulled away. I scoffed. Was he…threatening me? I knew Hunter had connections, there was that rumor about his dad being a multi billionaire…he could make that happen…and if he gave bad reviews about my tutoring, it would ruin my recommendation and ultimately my application for Preston.

Was this a new way to torture me? “Miss Williams…this is how things work. The best student gets assigned to the worst student.”

My chest heaved at Mr Baldwin's words… Oh God, this isn't happening! “I have the right to switch students right?” I asked.

Mr Baldwin looked almost sympathetic as he adjusted his glasses again, and spared a glance at Hunter. “It doesn't work that way. Also, Wilder specifically asked you to be assigned to him as well. You're stuck with him.”

God, this was ridiculous. Turning on my heels, I stormed out of the office in anger. Hunter was hot on my tail and I turned on him the moment he came out.

“So what? You thought of a new way to torture me? What the hell do you want from me? You don't even care about your grades.” I yelled, my chest vibrating with anger as I glared up at him.

But he just stood staring down at me, a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his lips, his hands stuffed into the pocket of his jeans. God, I hated him!

“You're right, I don't give a f*ck about my grades. But you…you're obsessed with Preston.” He paused and leaned closer to me, his face was just inches from mine.

I could see his features clearly in this proximity and I shut down the part of my brain that noticed how handsome Hunter really was.

He would always be a wicked b*st*rd to me. The guy who had made my life miserable since middle school.

The guy who bullied me and pranked me and all I did was strike back in ways that didn't hurt him because Hunter Wilder was heartless and shameless and nothing could hurt him.

“You're going to tutor me, Herpes. Or you can kiss your precious Preston University goodbye.” He whispered.

And then he was pulling away from me and walking away. He paused again and turned to me with a grin, “And oh…see you later, neighbor.” He said, and then he left.

Neighbor? What the hell did he mean by that? Whatever it was, something told me I hadn't seen the end of Hunter's taunts today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I realized what Hunter was talking about later that evening when I heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Lexie who was coming over for a sleepover, I ran to open the door.

My heart stopped when I saw Hunter standing on the porch looking like he belonged there. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?” He grinned and moved aside for me to see the moving truck parked next door.

“I just moved in. I'm your new neighbor.” No f*ck*ng way. In just a single day, Hunter Wilder had managed to turn my life into a nightmare.

HARPER'S POV

This had to be a f*ck*ng dream! It had to be! I shut my eyes hard and opened it several times but each time I opened my eyes, Hunter Wilder was still standing on my porch smirking at me.

“Hey, hey. Careful now, we wouldn't want you to get a heart attack.” He said, his tone serious. I glared at him with all the hate I could muster.

No way I was listening to him, maybe if I closed the door and opened it again, he would f*ck*ng disappear from my porch and from my life.

I started to close the door but he wedged his feet in the door, and pushed the door back open. “Oh f*ck off, Wilder. Leave me alone!” I growled.

He grinned and folded his arms across his chest. “You called my name correctly, careful or I would think you were starting to like me.” He teased me.

“In your f*ck*ng dreams.” I said through gritted teeth. He shrugged. “Anyway, Herpes, I just thought I'd be neighborly. Say hello to my new neighbor. See you around, neighbor.”