Chapter One by Pamela Forbes (ebook reader for manga .txt) 📕

"Where is she?!"

Michael Knight sat against the cold brick wall of an abandoned apartment building, staring at the two young men in front of him. He shook his head and opened his mouth to reply, only to snap it shut when a fist flew and punched him in the jaw.

"No lies." The first man growled. Michael knew who he was; he'd seen his file before. James Clark. He had short dark blonde hair, which looked like it hadn't been washed in days. His bloodshot eyes were narrowed, glaring down at Michael. "Just tell us where she is, and we'll leave you alone."

Michael cocked his head to the side, swishing the blood in his mouth back and forth before finally spitting it at him. He instantly regretted this action when he saw him pull out a gun.

"You think this is a game?" James laughed. The second man still stood behind him, a smirk playing on his face. Michael didn't know who this was. He had the same haircut as James, only dark brown and spiked.

"We know you know… so just tell us." Michael watched James kneel down in front of him, the gun still in his hand. He watched with wide eyes as he pressed the gun to his leg. "Or we'll go after your family."

"Fuck you." Michael says through gritted teeth. James narrows his eyes at him, before smirking.

"Nice choice." He pulled the trigger.

Caroline Knight made her way through the halls of her high school, her black backpack hung loosely on her shoulders, and a gloomy expression resided on her face. Her dark brown hair was swept up into a messy ponytail, and bags rested beneath her eyes. She looked like a mess.

"Caroline!" She looked up and saw her best friends waiting for her at her locker. She gave them a small smile and quickened her pace. "How's your dad?"

"He's a lot better." Caroline sighed, trying to remember what the doctor had told her and her family. "The bullet didn't hit any major arteries or bones, so he's going to be okay. If we're lucky, he'll be coming home sometime today."

"That's great!" Lauren exclaimed, a huge grin on her face.

"I still can't believe he was mugged, though. I mean, who does that in this area?" Mason said, confusion written on his face. "I'm surprised they weren't caught."

"Me too…" Caroline trailed off, biting her lip. It really did make no sense. With her fathers job, the muggers surely would've been caught by now. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing noise that filled the hallways; the bell.

"Ugh, class already?" Lauren groaned, slinging her messenger bag over her head.

"See you guys later." Caroline turned and slowly headed to her first class. She actually really loved this class, but only because of the teacher. Mrs. Lewis was her favourite teacher, and Caroline was almost positive she was her favourite student.

But when Caroline entered her homeroom class, she didn't see her favourite teacher. Instead of the short blonde woman she saw every morning, a tall handsome man stood in her place. She furrowed her eyebrows and walked to her seat. This was their first supply teacher so far this year. She hoped it was the last.

"I'm Mr. Sharpe." The man said, after the second bell signalled class had begun. He walked over to the chalkboard and wrote his name in clean, neat writing. "I'm sorry to inform you that Mrs. Lewis will no longer be teaching here. She's found another school to teach at. I'll be replacing her."

Caroline instantly scowled, completely filled with anger. Mrs. Lewis found a better job? That was so out of character for the woman, she loved it at this school.

"So!" Mr. Sharpe clapped his hands, smiling at the class. "Let's get started, shall we?"

He continued teaching the class, either completely unaware of the narrowed eyes staring at him, or ignoring them completely. Caroline didn't like this teacher. Sure, she was being biased and judging solely on the fact that Mrs. Lewis was her favourite and therefore better, but that didn't matter to her. She didn't like him.

But looking around the room, she saw that she must be the only person who didn't. Every single one of her classmates were staring at the man. The girls were looking at him like he was some kind of God and the guys were looking at him like he was a famous rock star.

"Miss Knight." Her head snapped back around to face the front of the room where her new teacher stood glaring at her. "Pay attention."

She felt a blush creep up to her cheeks, but pushed it away. How did he know her name? He hadn't done attendance yet… But maybe Mrs. Lewis made a seating chart for him. It made total sense.

A sudden vibration in her pocket made her jump, and she quickly looked around to make sure no one saw. Thankfully, no one did. She took her phone out from her pocket and hid it underneath the desk while opening it. It was a text from her mother; 'He's home.' Caroline grinned, and went to type a message back, but her phone was ripped out of her hands.

"Texting in class?" An amused voice asked her. Caroline felt her face heat up and all the happiness her mothers text brought her dissolved. She looked up at Mr. Sharpe to see him smirking at her. "You can come get your phone back after school."

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. Caroline sighed as she packed up all of her books. With one final glare at Mr. Sharpe, who was putting her cell phone in his desk drawer, she left the classroom.

"I hate him!" Caroline exclaimed, before angrily shoving a french fry in her mouth. Lauren, Mason and her sat at a table in the school cafeteria.

"Oh come on, Car, he's not that bad." Lauren gave her a small smile.

"You're just saying that because of his looks." Caroline glared at her. "You know, he's not even that good looking. I mean, if you shaved all his hair off, he'd look just as average as everyone else."

"What?! Have you seen his eyes? They're so blue, and… dreamy." She sighed, deeply. Mason hit her on arm lightly and tried to resist the urge to laugh.

"He took my phone away. None of the teachers do that here! They just give you a warning and that's that. He obviously hates me, too."

"Or he secretly likes you." Lauren raised her eyebrows, a smirk on her lips. Caroline nearly choked on her food.

"Ew." Her and Mason said in unison.

The rest of the day passed quickly, much to Caroline's dismay. The faster time went, the sooner she'd have to see Mr. Sharpe. But the faster time went, the sooner she'd see her father, too. It was a win/lose situation. So when the final bell rang at 2:30, she didn't know what emotion to feel.

"Mr. Sharpe?" She knocked on the open door of his classroom and didn't see him anywhere, which is probably why she jumped when he popped his head out from the other side of the door. "Oh my gosh!"

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." He chuckled, before extending his arm out towards the classroom. Her cheeks turned bright pink as she made her way inside the room, completely embarrassed that he frightened her. She watched him walk to his desk and open the drawer he put her phone in earlier. She held her hand out and waited for him to give it to her. After seeing her outstretched hand, he held her phone back with an eyebrow raised.

"What's the rush?"

"Look, I really don't have time for this… My dad just got out of the hospital today, and I wanna get home to see him." She sighed, frustrated, and wiggled the fingers of her extended hand.

"The hospital?" He asked, setting her phone carefully on her palm. "What happened?"

"Long story. Well, it's not a long story, actually." Caroline bit her lip, wondering how to say it simply. "These guys tried to mug him, and shot him in the leg."

"Oh… um," He looked down, searching for how to respond. "That's pretty crazy."

"Yeah, it is. So, um… I'm gonna go now." She pointed to the door. He smiled at her, and shooed her away with his hands. She was relieved at that; glad he didn't make her stay any longer. She quickly made her way to the door.

"Miss Knight?" She stopped, and turned around.

"I'm glad your fathers alright." He surprised her with his words. And for a moment, she just stood there, staring at him, unable to think of how to reply. Then she smiled gratefully at him.

"Me too."

Maybe Mr. Sharpe wasn't so bad after all. But she still didn't like him.

Publication Date: 12-30-2010

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