Across the Adversaries

Chapter 4: Jekyll and Hyde

The next day, Miles was outside of the classroom, waiting for Margo. He was pacing back and forth, nervously. Margo walked to class with a little extra pep in her step, excited for the big test. She noticed Miles pacing outside of the classroom and quickly switched to her flustered persona. She was a little confused at his nervousness, but she kept her act up as she approached him. She pretended to accidentally make eye contact with him and tried to step around him into the classroom.

Miles saw her and chuckled quietly. He stepped in front of her to block her entrance to the classroom. He spoke in a relaxed tone and looked at her directly. "Hey, Margo." He had a big smile on his face.

Margo kept her eyes trained on the floor. "Hi." She squeaked.

Miles chuckled and stepped to the side so she could enter the class. He looked at her, his eyes studying her as he spoke. His voice was calm and reassuring. "You good? Cause if you're scared, I can always try to comfort you." He smirked at her.

Margo ignored him and took her seat. She started to nervously fiddle with her pencil. Miles knew that Margo was trying to ignore him, but he knew she would give in to the flirting. He took his seat right behind her.

He smirked again and stared at her hair. Then he reached out and started to play with her braids, trying to get her to break.

Margo made her fingers tremble as she pulled her braids out of his grasp. She still didn't look at him as she took out her notes to review before the test.

Miles noticed the way her fingers trembled and he could tell she was trying to keep herself together. His smirk grew as he scooted in closer. "It's cute how my touch makes you tremble." He whispered. He chuckled and looked at her notes. "Let me see your notes for a second, Margo." He spoke in a flirty tone, wanting to break her focus.

Margo moved her notes away from him and scooted forward in her seat. Miles laughed lowly, finding her adorable and gently grabbed her shoulder. His hand slowly slid up her shoulder until he reached her neck. "What would happen if I kissed your neck right now?" He whispered. "Just one little kiss. No one will see."

Margo closed her eyes. "Please. Just...stop." She said weakly.

Miles smiled at how weak she sounded. He was so close. He whispered again, his voice was soothing and his tone had completely changed. "You wouldn't have to tell anyone. No one would even know." His voice was even more seductive now. "I'm not gonna stop. You'll love my touch on you."

Margo let herself tremble under his touch. "Miles, please." She pleaded, her voice cracking.

Miles giggled quietly and moved in closer, trailing his fingers down her neck. He smirked. "That's right, I won't stop until you break." He caressed her hair and moved in so close, his lips brushed her neck as he spoke. "Your weakness...it's adorable, Margo."

Margo gasped and scooted all the way forward in her desk. The teacher walked in before anything else could happen. As she started to pass out the tests, Margo took a deep breath to regain her focus. It was go time.

The answers to the test came easily to Margo, her diligent studying paying off. She finished within 15 minutes, having enough time to triple check her answers. After she turned in her test, she turned to see Miles sleeping, already finished with his. She rolled her eyes and sat back down, feeling triumphant. 'There was no way Miles scored better than me.' Margo thought. She made a point to avoid him for the rest of the day.

***

The next day, Margo rushed to class, excitement radiating through her as she waited for the teacher to come in with their test scores. When Miles walked in, he looked a little disappointed, but didn't say anything to Margo as he sat down behind her.

Margo turned around to him. "So, how do you think you did?" She asked, smugly.

Miles saw her smirk and knew she was trying to make him jealous. He chuckled and scooted in closer to her. He looked in her eyes and spoke softly. "Are you nervous that I scored higher than you? Don't worry, I'll comfort you if I did." He teased.

Despite his smirk, Margo could still see the nervousness in his eyes. She smiled sarcastically and turned back around, knowing her plan of psyching him out had worked.

The teacher walked in with their graded tests in hand. Margo took a deep breath and sat up straight as she passed them out. As the teacher laid her test face down on her desk, Margo closed her eyes and flipped it over. Her breath caught her throat when she saw her score.

100

She smiled widely and quickly turned back to Miles and showed him her test. "Well, will you look at that?" She said as smugly as possible. "A perfect score!" She noticed the disappointment in his face and glanced down at his test: 96.

Miles tried to keep his cool as he smirked, but he couldn't help the cold tone to his voice. "Congratulations."

Margo ignored his coldness, too happy with herself to care. "Thanks!" She said, overly sweet. "So, I guess this means that I'll probably rank first for our class, then." She gasps dramatically. "Which also means that I'll win the award for Best Academic Performance."

Miles saw how excited she was and grew even more jealous. He still kept his smirk as his eyes remained on her test. Margo's grade didn't just shock her, it shocked him too. He was so confident that he would do the best in the class, but he let Margo get the best of him.

He cleared his throat and his voice grew a bit tougher than before. He wanted Margo to lose her smile. "You could win the award for Best Academic Performance," He spoke in a firm tone. He wanted Margo to question her position in the class still. "Or, I could win."

Margo scoffed, still feeling full of herself. "Yeah, right. That seems highly unlikely since I currently hold the best record in the class. And you..." She sighed. "Well, I guess you just couldn't handle the pressure."

Miles saw that Margo was still confident about winning so he decided to try something he knew she'd be curious about. He laughed a bit. "Oh please, I could handle the pressure, Margo." He smirked and looked straight at her. "I just wanted to let you win. You've been dying to beat me and it was getting annoying." He chuckled again, his voice still cocky.

Margo narrowed her eyes at him, not falling for his comment. "Very funny, Miles. You just can't admit that I'm too smart for you."

Miles scooted in closer. "It's true. I could have beaten you. I could've gotten a 100 on the test too."

"Oh, yeah?" Margo challenged. She leaned in closer. "So why didn't you?"

The challenge only seemed to excite him. He looked down at her body as she leaned in closer. He moved her braids out of her face and stared directly into her eyes. "Do you want me to kiss you, Margo?"

Margo's face fell a little as she realized he was still trying to mess with her. "I want you to answer my question. Why did you let me win?"

Miles smirked. He knew she was getting tired of the games, but he was just getting started. He paused for a moment to think of an answer she would believe. He spoke softly, trying to be as sweet as possible. "Because you needed a boost. I knew you were always tired of getting second place so I thought you deserved a victory." His eyes were locked on hers, hoping this answer would break her.

Margo felt her anger start to bubble up, but she pushed it down. She knew he was lying, but it didn't matter. She got a perfect score. He didn't. She still had the best shot at winning the award. She leaned back in her seat and gave Miles one last smirk. "I'll see you at the award show."

Miles spoke in a light voice. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."