Smile For Me, A. Paris [best romantic novels to read .txt] 📗

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“Hello.”

“You didn’t answer me, what are you doing here?” Jamie asked. She didn’t seem to realize the way her brother’s eyes were trained on her friend.

Michael coughed lightly, his cheeks tinting with a slight red before turning away from Ella. “Mom wanted me to let you know she’s not coming home for dinner tonight,” he ran his hands through his hair embarrassed by his half hearted excuse.

Jamie stared at him. “Why didn’t you just wait till I got home?” She was at a loss for words.

“Do you walk home Ella?” Michael asked ignoring his younger sibling. She nodded her head, not paying him much attention. “Could I walk with you?”

Ella was shocked by the sudden question, alarmed even, “Why would you want to do that?” She asked. She was unphased by his good looks; her guard had gone up even higher.

Michael swallowed caught off guard by her bluntness. “You don’t want me to?” he evaded.

“I don’t think there’s any reason for you to,” her eyes cast a quick glance towards Jamie before turning her attention away from both of them. “Bobby’s waiting for me. I’ll see you tomorrow Jamie,” her voice was quite, the slightest shakiness in her words.

“Ok. I’ll see you then,” Jamie watched as he friend walked away, then turned towards the frown her brother was now wearing. “What’s up with you?” She asked eying him suspiciously.

“Nothing. Let’s go,” he pulled his sisters elbow and headed towards the white convertible that waited for him. He wasn’t sure what he had expected from the girl. Not this however. She had been too blunt, harsh even. Not just her words, her eyes, her posture, and the way her lips mouthed out the words. She was icy and dangerous. She was something he realized he shouldn’t try to touch. Even if his mind was filled with her image, he shouldn’t try to enter her world.

But in his mind….

In his mind she was already consuming his thoughts. He wanted to enter her world, even if he knew he shouldn’t. He felt unsatisfied and disgusted with himself. He’d heard of people falling in love at first sight, he’d heard of things as absurd as that. He just never thought something like that would ever happen to him.


Uncertain attention

Ethan stared out the window of the plane. On his lap was a thin file. Inside the file were various pictures of a woman that had been haunting him. He’d been gone for nearly three months now. At first he was able to ignore the slight nagging of her floating face inside his mind, but as the weeks passed and turned into months, her face had not left him.

The file was now well worn, the pages curled along the edges from his frequent glances. He was borderline obsessed with his desire to become unburdened by her. The more frustrated he became with not being able to forget her, the more he thought of her. It was a cycle that was driving him mad.

“Young Master,” Butler Amos said softly. Ethan turned to him slowly. His dark brown eyes stared at him agitated and burdened. He had been edgy for quite a while now. Butler Amos had been walking on egg shells trying to avoid his anger over these months. “We’ll be landing soon. Would you like me to arrange anything for you on arrival?”

Ethan glared at him, and for the umpteenth time threw the thin file away from him. The scattered pages flew across the small plane floating through the air, before slowly falling one by one. The girls face was now staring at Ethan from various places. He growled unhappily and pulled at his hair.

It was the first time for Butler Amos to see the young master act in such a way. Hewas certain the boy had become infatuated with the girl, but was still uncertain why it bothered him so much. Not even the recent death of his father caused him to look upset, but just looking at pictures of this girl seemed to send him into chaos. He’d never seen Ethan take an interest in a girl before this one. Even though he’d just turned seventeen, no one had so much as sparked an interest for the young master before. He mulled over these thoughts for the remainder of the flight. When they landed he, like always, sat beside him in the car.

“Take me to school,” Ethan ordered when he was situated. The driver nodded and the trio drove silently to the school. Neither Butler Amos, nor the driver dared to suggest he get some well needed sleep.

The morning was still young. School would have only just started. The air had become cold, chilly and crisp. September had only just arrived bringing in the feel of nearing winter. Ethan hadn’t slept on the flight from France, nor did he sleep on his way to the school. For the entire hour’s drive his mind was a swirl of chaotic jumbled flashes. Her face! He wanted to forget that face!

So he was left wondering why he had wanted to go to school.


He walked towards his classroom, his gait quicker then normal. He was worn out, his body sending signals that he needed rest, but his mind wouldn’t allow such a thing. He pulled the door open, his heart suddenly picking up in pace and entered the class room. A sudden mixture of whispers hit the air. Students shocked to see the young master back, but also to see the young master looking as he did. His hair was wild, his eyes burning with intensity. Even his cloths looked haggard. It wasn’t quite right to see the normally sophisticated heir to Hallowood Group looking as he did.

Ethan zeroed in on the girl, paying no heed to the other student’s stares.

Her head only looked up briefly, glancing at him with disinterest before turning back to the book she was reading. In that brief moment however Ethan had felt his heart race, his hands had begun to sweat and it was suddenly hard to swallow. He walked in woodenly and took his seat. The class was still not entirely over the shock of his sudden appearance, but the teacher soon had everyone back at attention. The Young Master’s eyes were locked on the small girl who was lost in her book near the window.

“Ella,” Jamie’s voice whispered.

Ella put her finger on the word she was at in the book before turning towards her friend. She looked at her questioningly.

“Did you do something to upset Ethan? He’s glaring at you,” Ella paid attention to the worried expression in Jamie’s eyes before turning towards Ethan. He was indeed staring at her. His eyes held a sense of hostility and it was seemingly directed at her. Her brows furrowed in question. She couldn’t think of a time she had even spoken to this person.

She couldn’t even remember seeing him before.

“Is he new?” Her question was innocent in nature, but shocked Jamie. Jamie had been under the impression that everyone knew Ethan Hallowood.

“You don’t know who he is?” Jamie asked leaning in closer.

Ella shook her head.

Jamie was more then willing to fill her in, “For one, his family owns this school. Two, his family has their hands in almost ever business or trade in the state, country, even world in some instances. In other words, of everyone in this school, he’s the one person you should be careful around…..” Jamie hesitated momentarily glancing at the glaring boy for a moment before turning back to Ella, “I’ve heard that a student got on his bad side last year……long story short the father ended up committing suicide by the time he was finished…”

A sudden fear engulfed Ella. She couldn’t imagine her new found peaceful life being swallowed in one swoop by this person. It hurt her to even think of such a thing. Not Bobby, she wouldn’t allow anyone to jeopardize her small brother’s happiness. Ella turned her deep blue eyes towards Ethan; she allowed a smile to spread over her lips in hopes of quelling his anger.

He watched as her face became so bright he was nearly blinded by it. She had smiled at him. He felt momentarily light headed, lost as if he was suddenly floating. He turned away from the girl at a loss for words, at a loss for his own thought patterns. He didn’t know what to do.

Michael stood at his usual waiting spot. His life had been crazily turned upside down by the girl. More and more often he found himself drawn to this place, if only to hear her polite hello before she drifted away from him. The initial feeling of sudden attraction he had for this girl had only intensified.

He leaned against his car watching a few students as they left. Some of them had grown used to seeing their senior waiting at the gates; others were still slightly bemused by the good looking man.

He spotted Jamie first. It was often the case. Although the two of them walked together Janie’s bright ensembles were easier to detect then Ella’s low key ones. The two girls seemed to be in a conversation, led by Jamie, from the looks of it. Ella’s soft pink petal lips would smile at various points, or her head would nod softly in agreement. Where as Jamie would nod vigorously and wave her hands around excitedly. The two girls were polar opposites.

Michael admired Ella from the distance. Today she wore a pair of fitted jeans and a white blouse with a plain black hooded jacket. She never wore jewelry he noted. Her hair was always down as well. She never wore makeup either. Not once had he even seen lip gloss on her lips. She seemed perfect in her natural beauty. He didn’t think she needed it anyways.

Jamie spotted her brother and noticeably rolled her eyes. He was becoming a nuisance. As much as she loved him, his attention towards her friend had become something of a burden. Ella was always too polite to outright tell him she held no interest, but she was not subtle in her hints. It left Jamie feeling awkward.

Michael pulled himself off the car and headed towards the girls. “Hello Ella,” He greeted.

Ella offered him a soft smile, her hair bounced slightly as she turned towards him.

“You came again,” Her voice held neither pleasure nor discomfort. It was just a statement.

“How was your dad today?” He asked her, ignoring her indifference.

Ella sighed. She was still thinking about the