I Wasn't Supposed To Fall For You #1

  I Wasn't Supposed To Fall For You

  I Wasn't Supposed To Fall For You, Volume 1

  Jessica Madden

  Published by Violet Hearts Publishing, 2020.

  Copyrighted © 2020 Violet Hearts Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Jessica Madden to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  All characters in this publication are fictional and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Amygdala design

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  For anyone who feels they aren’t good enough, because you are

  Chapter 1

  “You all did well in your essay,” Mr. Lane says as he walks down the aisle, handing back the essays he had gotten us to write last week. “Although, there are others who I’m fairly disappointed with.”

  Mr. Lane stops in front of my desk, smiling proudly as he hands me my essay. “Congratulations, Mary-Kate.”

  I take the paper from him and he moves on to the next student. On the top right hand corner in red ink was an A plus. I smile to myself knowing I had gotten the highest mark, even if Mr. Lane hadn’t announced it to the class. Unlike the rest of my classmates, I was excellent at writing essays. I once entered an essay competition last year, and came first in the entire country.

  A hand taps my shoulder from behind. I spin around in my chair to face my best friend Keegan. “How did you go, MK?”

  I smile, holding up the piece of paper proudly. “I got an A plus.” I put it back down on my desk. “What about you?”

  Keegan looks shamefully down at her paper before turning back to me. “B for me.”

  I give her an encouraging smile. “That’s a good grade.”

  “Yeah, but it’s nowhere as good as yours.”

  “You just have to keep writing them to get better.”

  “Is that what you do in your spare time? Write essays?”

  I laugh. “No, I do not do that in my spare time.”

  Keegan raises her eyebrow to show she didn’t believe me.

  “Okay, sometimes I do. You know how my dad is this perfectionist. He expects me to write them perfectly. He gives me a topic to write about and expects five pages to be written. If I don’t, he keeps making me write them over and over again.”

  Education is very important to my parents. Growing up, I have always been expected to do well in school. I was never that girl who would go off to camps for the summer. No. School break or not, I was always studying to stay ahead. Sometimes, I hate how my parents are both teachers - always pushing me to make sure I’m on top of my education.

  You would think I’d dislike school with how strict my parents are about my education, but I really do enjoy school. Like my parents, I’m planning to become a teacher.

  “Girls, do I need to give you detention?” Mr. Lane says to us from where he was standing in the back row from the other side of the room. “Please turn and face the front, Mary-Kate. Keegan, no talking unless you have a question to ask. You can talk once my class is over.”

  I obey my teacher.

  The door opens and closes. It was no surprise who had walked in. Jordan Gates was always late for class. He was the biggest bad boy of the school who no one liked. He has a reputation. His entire family does. His father is in jail for manslaughter after drink driving and knocking down a pedestrian, killing them. As for his mother, she was a gambler and drug addict.

  “It’s nice of you to join us, Jordan,” Mr. Lane says. “Is there a reason why you are late to my class?”

  Jordan shrugs, not giving a care in the world. He takes the empty seat in front of me that’s right in front of the teacher’s desk. Every teacher in the school makes Jordan sit in the front row so they can keep a close eye on him.

  Mr. Lane finishes handing out the rest of the papers before walking over to Jordan. He had a single piece of paper in his hand, which I assume is Jordan’s essay. He stands in front of Jordan, placing the paper on his desk.

  “You have detention today,” he says. “And while you spend some time in detention, I want you to rewrite this again. When you do, I do not want you to hand in a paper with one sentence.”

  “Whatever,” Jordan answers, slouching back on his chair.

  Our teacher frowns at him. He gestures Jordan to stand up. Jordan rolls his eyes and stands, his chair scraping against the floor. All of the attention is on him. He is in some of my classes and always finds a way to interrupt the class.

  “Spit out your gum,” Mr. Lane scolds, pointing to the bin beside the door.

  Jordan strolls over to the bin, spits out his gum and returns to his seat. Mr. Lane continues on with his lesson.

  All throughout the lesson, Jordan kept interrupting with his awful jokes that weren’t funny. Half of me wanted to get up and smack him in the back of the head. He may not want to be here to learn, but I wanted to.

  The tension of annoyance I feel ends as soon as the bell rings, but I wasn’t sure for how long it will last until I begin to feel it again. Algebra was my next class, and unfortunately Jordan was in my class. With his disrespectful behaviour, sometimes I wondered why he hadn’t been expelled from school yet.

  I gather up my stuff, placing everything into my bag. Everyone rushes out the door to head to their next class, except for Jordan who is sitting there like he didn’t have to be anywhere in a hurry.

  “Can you even believe Jordan Gates?” Keegan says to me as we walk out into the corridor.

  “I know,” I reply back. “I’m surprised he hasn’t been expelled yet.”

  “He is such a loser.”

  I wanted to tell her not to speak like that about Jordan. He isn’t a likeable person and maybe he is a loser, but I didn’t agree to call him or anyone by that name. Jordan is more of a jerk than a loser. He just has no respect for himself or for anyone.

  But instead of saying anything to her what I think, I tell Keegan I will meet up with her during lunch and make my way to algebra.

  “Hey, babe,” my boyfriend of six months says as he joins me in the hallway, wrapping his arm around my waist.

  I smile. “Hey, Kyle.”

  “How are you today? I didn’t get to see you this morning.”

  “I’m great. I’m just annoyed from the last lesson. Jordan Gates came to class late.” I let out a frustrated sigh, “I hate it when he interrupts class. I don’t know why he even brothers to come to school.”

  “That’s because the community doesn’t want him. The school is stuck with him because no other school would want him either.” He chuckles at his comment.

  “I just wish he could show more respect.”

  Kyle chuckles. “Yeah, that is never happening. His parents have no respect for anyone, and Jordan is exactly like his parents.”

  I was suddenly pushed hard into Kyle, pushing us into a couple who was making out at their locker. They curse at us for interrupting their make out session. I apologise to them, and then turn to see who had ran into me. Jordan. He didn’t even bother to apologise to me or even Kyle for what he did. He just continued walking down the corridor like he had nothing to do with what happened. Jerk.

  Kyle walks me to my classroom, kissing me goodbye before heading off to his social science class. Surprisingly, when I entered the classroom I find Jordan seated inside. He usually wanders the school halls in between classes to ensure he’s late.

  I walk over to him. He looks up at me when I stand in front of his desk.

  “Yes?” he says.

  “Why did you push me in the hall earlier?” I ask, even though I knew I probably wasn’t ever going to get an answer from him.

  He looks at me innocently. “Are you sure it was me and not someone else?”

  I cross my arms. “It could have been someone else, but no one is that big of a jerk than you are.”

  He throws me a dirty look. I thought he would tell me off for what the insult, but he doesn’t. I turn away when it seemed clear he wasn’t going to reply, heading to my seat in the back row. Just as I turn to walk, Jordan sticks out his foot, tripping me o
ver. I manage to grab a hold of a table to stop me from hitting the floor.

  I don’t dare to look back at him once I steady myself to my feet.

  “Klutz,” he chuckles.

  I ignore him and take my seat in the back. He glances back at me as I take out my textbook from my bag. He rolls his eyes, mumbling “nerd” and turns back to the front of the class, putting his feet up onto his desk like he was lounging on the couch of his own home.

  I watch Jordan as the other students pile into the classroom. He never once tries to trip any of the others over, continuing to have his feet up on the table.

  Class couldn’t end any quicker. I avoided Jordan as I leave the classroom so he couldn’t trip me again. I didn’t even make any eye contact with him.

  I head to my locker, placing the books I no longer needed for the day, and grab the next two period classes. The good thing is that the rest of the day I didn’t have to worry about Jordan Gates, except for chemistry, which I didn’t have until last period. I’m so not looking forward to it, not wanting to know what interruptions he was going to do this time.

  Putting Jordan out of my mind, I make my way to the cafeteria where Keegan and Kyle were waiting for me. I spot them in the lunch line and join them. I usually bring my own lunch, but I felt like buying my lunch today. Lunch here is never good, but sloppy Joes are served on the menu today.

  Jordan became the topic of our conversation as we waited in line to grab our food. I didn’t want to gossip about him, since it’s unkind to talk about someone behind their backs, but my friend and boyfriend both had something mean to say about him. Keegan spoke about his behaviour in English, while Kyle talks about what he did to me and him in the corridor. I didn’t tell my friends what he did in algebra. They don’t need to know.

  “Are you able to come over to my place after school today, MK?” Keegan asks me once we were seated at a table. “I have a history test tomorrow and I was hoping you could help me study.”

  I smile at her. “Yeah, I’ll be happy to help you.”

  I bite into my sloppy Joe just as Mr. Heckenberg, our school principal, approaches our table.

  “Mary-Kate Rowe?”

  I quickly swallow the food in my mouth before I answer. “Yes, Mr. Heckenberg?”

  “Can I see you in my office, please?”

  I smile at him. “Yeah, sure.”

  I leave my food on the tray, hoping I won’t be in the principal’s office for too long, and follow Mr. Heckenberg to his office. I wasn’t worried about being in trouble for anything since I have never been in trouble by Mr. Heckenberg or by teachers. Whenever I get called to his office, it’s always a good thing.

  I take a seat in front of his desk. “So what’s up, Mr. Heckenberg?”

  He sits down in his leather desk chair. “Have you ever thought of tutoring for extra credit for college?”

  “Tutoring?” I shake my head. “No. I never thought of it. Extra credit sounds great.” My parents will be proud of me.

  He smiles, leaning back in his chair. “That’s great to hear because I need you to help tutor a student. He is failing his subjects, and his teachers are concerned about him. We need him to pass his final exams. If he fails, he will have the lowest grade in this school’s history. I have never seen a student fail their finals before. I have seen students struggling with their school work, but with the help of tutoring, they have pass their finals. Since you’re one of my honour students, I’d like you to tutor him.”

  I nod. “I’d be glad to help. Who is the student?”

  “Jordan Gates.”

  Chapter 2

  I burst into laughter at the mentioned of Jordan’s name. There is no way Mr. Heckenberg wants me to tutor him. Jordan Gates is not even worth tutoring. He doesn’t have respect for himself, for anyone and he most definitely did not care about his education. Why should I help him?

  “You are joking, right?” I ask with the laughter in my voice. “Jordan Gates? Seriously?”

  Mr. Heckenberg doesn’t return the humour. “This is no joke, Mary-Kate. I would really like you to tutor Jordan.”

  I shake my head. I hated the idea of disappointing my principal, but there was no way I could tutor Jordan. I would help anyone except for him. There was no point in helping him. “No I’m sorry, Mr. Heckenberg, but I’m not tutoring him. Can’t you get someone else to do it?”

  “I’m sorry, Mary-Kate. At the moment, Jordan is the only one who really needs help with tutoring. I believe you’re the only one who could really help him.”

  I couldn’t understand why Mr. Heckenberg would want me to help him. Even if I did decide to help him, how do I know if Jordan is serious about getting help? This tutoring arrangement will just be a big joke to him.

  On the plus side, at least I will be getting extra credit for college even if Jordan doesn’t cooperate with me.

  I nod. “Fine, I’ll do it. I just need to work out when is a good time. I work part time after school.”

  A smile spread across his lips. “Thank you, Mary-Kate. I really appreciate it.” He grabs a piece of paper from his desk and hands it to me. “Here is the list of subjects I need you to help him with.”

  I take the paper from him and read it. Jordan’s subjects are English, algebra, chemistry, German and social science.

  “Are you ready for this?” Mr. Heckenberg asks, double checking in case I change my mind at the last minute.

  I nod, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake by agreeing to do this. “Yes, I’m ready. When do you want me to start?”

  “I would like you to start tutoring him as soon as possible. Once you leave my office, I’m going to call Jordan in to speak to him about it.”

  After Mr. Heckenberg dismissed me, and I head back to the cafeteria. I think about Jordan and wonder how he was going to react when our principal discuss the news with him. He will no doubt be a pain once the lessons start. He wasn’t going to like this as much as I didn’t, and even though he wasn’t going to care about his grades, at least the tutoring will help with credit for college.

  “You will never guess what Mr. Heckenberg wants me to do,” I say to my friends as I sit down at our table.

  “What?” Kyle asks, chewing on a fry. He also has some ketchup on the corner of his mouth. I gesture to him about the sauce, and he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “He asked me if I would like to do tutoring for extra credit. You will never guess who he wants me to tutor.”

  My friends think for a moment, wondering what student I was talking about. There were a couple of students in our grade who were struggling with their grades, but I wasn’t sure if any of them were in a need of a tutor.

  “Jordan Gates.”

  Kyle spits out the drink he had in his mouth, spraying it on the table and some of it on Keegan. She scolds at him, but he takes no notice of her, keeping his eyes on me. “What?”

  “I’m tutoring Jordan Gates.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Keegan says.

  I shake my head. “I’m not kidding.”

  Kyle snorts. “Why him?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. He is failing school and Mr. Heckenberg thinks I’m the only person who can really help him.”

  Kyle bursts out laughing. “He actually thinks you can help him?”

  I nod. “Yeah, he really does.”

  ***

  By the time it was sixth period, I wasn’t looking forward to chemistry. I wasn’t sure how Jordan would be after receiving the news from Mr. Heckenberg that I will be his tutor. That is of course if he will even bother to show up to class. If he does, he will find a way to interrupt the lesson.

  Mr. Perks is already in the classroom when I walk in, writing something on the blackboard for today’s lesson. He looks towards me and calls me over to him.

  “Mr. Heckenberg informed me that you have agreed to tutor Jordan Gates,” he says.

  I nod, smiling. “Yes, that’s correct, Mr. Perks.”

  “Would you mind if I pair you two up as lab partners?”

  My smile disappears. “Lab partners?”

  “Yes. I think you two should work together if you’re going to tutor him.”

  I nod, knowing that what my teacher had said made sense. “Yes, of course. If that helps me with tutoring him, then I’m up for the idea.”