She didn’t know why Ryan called her by her last name, but somehow it always felt like an insult or a way of making her less than she was, and she hated it.

“May I have my book back please, Lawrence?” she asked, trying to keep her tone even though she couldn’t stop the blush of anger rising in her cheeks. Getting mad just made them happy. Sometimes, if the person they were tormenting stayed calm, they’d get bored and leave their victim alone; so she always tried to stay calm, and most of the time it worked.

Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that today was her day.

Lawrence looked at Ryan for a cue of what to do, but Ryan was still looking at Eleanor.

“Hey, Sandler, you’re not bad for a freshman. How about you give me a kiss and we’ll give you your book back?”

Ice slid down Eleanor’s spine, spiking through her body and into her hands. Geezus... no.

It wasn’t that Ryan was bad looking. He wasn’t. None of the trio were. Blond haired, blue eyed, square jawed, and tall for his age; Ryan looked like he should be quarterback of the football team - and he might be in a couple years. Kevin was taller than him, with rich mocha skin, his curly hair shaved close to his head, and melting, chocolate brown eyes. The shortest of the three, Lawrence was also the most muscular; he had wavy black hair that was constantly falling in his hazel eyes and lashes which made every girl who met him sigh with envy. Put together, they were gorgeous. Unfortunately, their insides didn’t even come close to matching their outsides, and Eleanor had absolutely no intention of kissing Ryan.

“No,” she said in a low voice, keeping her gaze averted from all of them because if they saw how mad they were making her, they’d never stop. At least, she told herself it was just anger they’d see in her eyes. She glared at the textured green back of Kevin’s bus seat, halfway between looking at him and Lawrence. “Please just give it back.”

“What’s the matter, bookworm? Too good for me?” Ryan moved closer, crowding her, and Eleanor fought her instinct to move away, because she could only move in one direction - further into her seat.