Chapter Two
BY THE TIME THE AFTERNOON sun beat down on her face, Daisy already felt exhausted. Her mom had scolded her, Sean had embarrassed her, Anna had a brand-new social life, and Daisy… well, Daisy had survived. Maybe freshman year was just going to be one long string of survival.
Daisy slipped into biology and claimed a second-row seat with a view of the football field.
As the last bell rang and students shuffled in, she silently prayed that whoever took the seat beside her would be at least somewhat competent.
Partner work was inevitable, and chances were, her partner would be whoever landed there.
It wasn’t that Daisy wanted to coast while her partner—God willing, a capable one—handled the assignments.
Quite the opposite.
She just wanted someone who would pull their weight so she could focus on her art without drowning in extra biology homework.
The chair next to her scraped. She turned—
And met those same baby blues from the cafeteria.
The kind that could change everything.
“Hey, darlin’.”
The word rolled off his tongue in a smooth lilt, the kind that made something ordinary sound covert.
Daisy wanted to shrink back at the casual endearment, but instead forced herself to meet his gaze and smile. “Hey.”
“Jameson Kingston.”
He extended his hand, and when Daisy took it, warmth shot up her arm, stealing her breath. Jameson noticed. Of course he did. He bit his lip, as though he was used to this kind of reaction.
“An accent?”
“That’s an odd name,” he teased.
She pulled her hand away.
“No, that’s not my name, I… oh.” Daisy frowned, realizing his little joke a moment too late. “Funny guy,” she muttered under her breath.
“Some may say. The accent is English, in case you were wondering. Born and bred in Surrey.”
Daisy’s eyes lit with curiosity. “That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to go there. I heard England is beautiful.”
Jameson gave her his now infamous side smirk, one that made her insides turn liquid. “Ehh, it’s all right. Say if you ever go, I’ll give you a list of all the best places to visit.”
Daisy sat back in her seat, biting down a smile. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”
Jameson opened his mouth to say more, but their biology teacher’s greeting cut him short. They turned their attention forward.
Only a minute later, Daisy realized she’d forgotten something important. Her name. That fact gnawed at her.
Because she was an upstanding student, she didn’t want to whisper during class, so she carefully tore a piece of paper from her notebook and slid it his way.
Daisy Daniels
Jameson traced the letters with his fingertip, glanced at her, and smirked. “I know.”
After class, Daisy lingered, tucking her books slowly into her backpack.
She had been wrong about her assumption; her tablemate wasn’t her official lab partner for the semester.
When the teacher announced this, disappointment had stung sharper than she wanted to admit.
At this point, it didn’t matter if Jameson was dumber than a box of rocks. She just wanted to be near him.
He fascinated her. Yes, he was handsome, but it was more than that. There was a maturity in his voice, a confidence in the way he carried himself that felt rare for a boy his age.
“Do you live close by?” Jameson’s question broke her thoughts.
“Uhh, not really. My mom usually picks my brother and me up. Why?”
Jameson shrugged as they spilled into the parking lot, late sun flashing across his dark hair.
“Thought I’d offer to walk you home, if you lived close.”
“That’s sweet… but why?”
He ran a hand through his locks, not meeting her eyes. “No reason. See you around.”
He turned away, falling into step with two boys who looked startlingly like him. Daisy watched until he disappeared in the crowd of students.
Biology quickly became Daisy’s favorite subject, and she would be the first one to admit that it had nothing to do with mitochondria or cell division, but everything to do with Jameson Kingston.
Every stolen glance, every shared laugh made her cheeks warm.
Even better were the days when their teacher allowed partner work with their tablemates.
Jameson wasn’t just charming; he was sharp.
And, as it turned out, not dumber than a box of rocks.
He studied hard, asked questions, and made her want to raise her own hand more.
Together, they fit, academically at least. She tried not to imagine how else they might fit.
Tried, and failed, especially with his relentless flirting.
At first, she didn’t know how to handle it. But within a week, she’d grown comfortable with his smirks, his teasing. Comfortable enough to admit to herself that she was, without question, developing a crush.
Which was why, on Friday afternoon, Daisy’s heart plummeted when their teacher assigned lab partners for the day.
Not because of who was selected to be her lab partner, but because of who was selected to be Jameson’s.
Rochelle Higgins.
She was quite possibly the prettiest girl in the entirety of the sophomore class.
Anyone with eyes couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was.
Her blonde hair was never frizzy, her makeup was always perfectly applied, and her large chest was constantly on display.
Rochelle had caught the special attention of many high school boys and probably a couple of teachers.
Daisy hoped she would not catch that type of attention from Jameson.
But Daisy was a realist. She knew that in comparison to Rochelle, she was… well, honestly, there was no comparison.
Daisy was short. Rochelle was tall.
Daisy was cute. Rochelle was gorgeous.
Rochelle had confidence, while Daisy was still a work in progress.
Daisy kept looking over her shoulder, sneaking peeks at Jameson and Rochelle, neglecting her own lab partner.
Her stomach was in knots as she watched Rochelle shamelessly flirt with Jameson.
It became tight when she saw her playfully push against his shoulder.
It got even tighter when her finger began tracing the lower part of his bicep.
She told herself to stop looking, but her eyes betrayed her, flicking back just in time for Jameson to catch her staring. Heat flooded her cheeks and she turned away. Not embarrassed that he’d caught her, embarrassed that she cared this much, this soon.
In less than a week, she’d let him crawl into her heart. The boy with the blue eyes and that infuriating accent.
The rest of the class blurred. Daisy kept her eyes on the clock, counting down the seconds. When the bell rang, she shoved her books into her bag and bolted from the room, the tightness in her chest following her all the way out the door.