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Dan was left alone in the middle of the abandoned room. The silence, broken only by his heavy breathing, pressed against his ears, but the dull thud of the door slamming shut still echoed somewhere deep inside. He clenched his fists, feeling his fingers whiten from the tension. His jaw was so tight that his neck ached. Rage churned in his chest—burning, scorching. Everything had been going according to plan. Until now.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! She was almost ready! What the hell?!" His thoughts surged like wild waves. "She just... snapped! Walked away! Over some stupid book and all that nonsense of hers!"
He took a step forward and struck the concrete wall with his fist. A hollow thud, a slight ache in his knuckles, but it didn't help. His heart was still pounding, the metallic taste lingering in his mouth. She had just... run away.
"Who the hell does she think she is to do THIS to me?!"
He always got what he wanted. Always. Why was it so hard this time? Normally, he just did what he wanted, and people followed. How many times had it worked? Girls fawned over him, guys either respected or feared him. Even Maddie, the so-called "queen"—he knew that all it would take was a snap of his fingers, and she would come running like a loyal dog, no matter how hard she pretended otherwise.
But with Emma...
— Shit... — he exhaled through clenched teeth, angrily running his hand through his hair.
His breathing was evening out, the pounding in his temples no longer deafening. But the bitter sting of failure still gnawed at him, raw like a fresh burn.
"She ran away... right under my nose. I did everything the way I always do! But what do you mean 'the way I always do'? I was way out of my depth with all this... her nonsense! Why the hell didn't it work?"
Dan exhaled sharply, lowering his head and closing his eyes. The anger still simmered, but something else was breaking through the heat—dull, heavy, something he didn't want to face.
For a moment, he saw it again—how she had stood before him, flipping through the pages of that damned book, her fingers trembling as she turned them one after another. Her breath had grown shallow, lips slightly parted as she muttered under her breath, faster, more desperate. Her eyes—so deep, so wide, with that mad yet strangely captivating gleam—darted over the text as if searching for something crucial. Something that would explain all this madness.
And in that moment, he hadn't heard a word she said.
He'd just watched. Watched the way her long lashes quivered, how a strand of hair had slipped loose from her braid and brushed her pale, delicate neck. He'd noticed how her lips moved, slightly damp, pink, even when she bit them in frustration.
Then the book had hit the floor with a dull thud.
She'd dropped it, as if losing her last hope.
And he'd just stood there, unable to look away.
"I just wanted her to stop talking about... about those stupid curses."
That face... That look, those soft, slightly parted, tempting lips when he had looked at her in that moment. It had been so close—too close. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he'd lost all resolve at the worst possible moment. He'd almost kissed her, but, forcing himself to stay in control, he finally did it. And... nothing. She had just turned away. Then came the outburst.
— Why the hell should I care about her, anyway? I've just gotten too caught up in this game, — he muttered, not even believing himself.
A game. Yes, that's how it had started. His goal had been to get under Maddie's skin... She played the untouchable queen, but Dan knew the truth. Behind all that arrogance, she was obsessed with him. Those secret glances, the tense silence whenever he was nearby... She was just waiting for him to make the first move.
But he wouldn't.
No, it was more fun this way: to play with her, make her jealous, break that mask of confidence.
And "Crazy Em," as Maddie called her, had been the perfect tool.
That day on the bus, when he first talked to her, he hadn't even noticed her beauty—though now, if he was being honest, he saw her eyes every night. Back then, Emma had been... different.
Not broken. Not shattered, though everyone around, including Maddie, had tried to crush her. She had held on. Clenching her teeth, sometimes too stubborn, too proud. As if she was proving something to herself. Her beauty hadn't stood out then—not like now. Back then, she had seemed... ordinary. Or maybe she only seemed that way until he looked closer.
And in that moment, he had seen her differently. Though, of course, he hadn't shown it. He'd made a comment—something so unlike him, a jock, a troublemaker: "You're stronger than you think." It had just slipped out. Maybe a tease, a joke, sarcasm... probably. But Emma... Emma hadn't reacted the way he expected.
She'd blushed.
Not with anger, no. Her cheeks had turned pink, her gaze lingered on him just a second longer, and then she turned away sharply, as if ashamed of her reaction.
And that... got to him.
He hadn't even understood why.
Something inside him had shifted—warm, strange. And he had buried it, like always. Because weakness? Not his thing.
But then... then he kept catching himself watching her. Noticing the way she shook her hair back, how her lips pressed together when she was deep in thought, how her fingers clutched her backpack strap when things got too loud around her.
And of course, he made sure she never noticed.
On the outside—the same cocky, confident alpha.
Inside—something unfamiliar. Almost painful.
It made him angry. So he decided to handle it his way. To win her. For real. Or... break her? Did it even matter? As long as she looked at him the same way she had that day. And sometimes, it worked. Which only made this twisted feeling stronger.
"Damn Emma. Damn... stubborn, strange Emma."
Had he fallen for her?
— No. — Dan shook his head violently. "I just... I wanted to play with her. That's all."
But damn it... why did it feel so empty now?