Maximillian Lynch didn’t see what was so great about Aaron Hale. He was too perfect.

The guy did everything he was told without question, spent all his free time doing hobbies his parents chose for him, and didn’t have a single thought in his head that didn’t directly pertain to his future in the business world.

Sure, he was supposedly good-looking, but there were plenty of other rich guys in school that actually had personalities. Why was he so popular? Even Lacy was obsessed with him…

It boiled his blood just thinking about it. Max was the one who had been by her side since the age of three.

All the adults in their families whispered about how they would get married when they grew up for as long as he could remember. He was counting on it. Everything else in his life had been given to him on a silver platter except Lacy’s heart.

The only reason he did stupid favors like this was so she could see how reliable he was. Max would make a far better choice than that stone statue. He just had to prove it to her.

So even though it was annoying, he devoted himself to stalking Keeley Hall at a distance.

It was no easy task—that girl was paranoid. She checked over her shoulder so often he seriously worried about getting caught.

Lacy gave him Keeley’s schedule so he could follow her to and from class. The work was dull and repetitive. She was nearly as boring as that Aaron.

Sometimes Keeley chatted with friends in the halls on her way to class but for the most part she kept to herself. She ate lunch alone in various hiding places around campus and spent all the time she wasn’t eating doing homework.

Every day after school she took one of three routes to nearby subway stations and got on a train bound for Brooklyn.

Lacy was wrong. This girl had absolutely nothing to do with Aaron Hale.

In all the time he conducted his surveillance, Max hadn’t seen them talk once. If anything, Keeley seemed to be avoiding Aaron.

A couple of times he noticed Aaron heading towards her but she immediately changed course and disappeared into the throng of students trying to get to their next class.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Max said confidently to Lacy after school about a week after he started watching the target. “She’s avoiding him.”

Lacy drummed her fingers on her thigh.

“So she was telling the truth. She really doesn’t want anything to do with him. Interesting. You can stop following her now; just let me know if you see anything strange from here on out.”

“Alright. So about those dates…there’s a great Moroccan restaurant that opened up on 35th Street. Does tomorrow night work for you?” he asked, trying to play it cool even though he was excited.

Lacy never wanted to be alone with him anymore since she was afraid people would think they were an item.

“Make it the day after; I’m getting a manicure with some friends.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up at six!”

Max was satisfied with a job well done that earned him a date.

He forgot all about Keeley Hall until the following day when he saw her exiting what appeared to be a janitor’s closet on his way back to the cafeteria from the bathroom. She frantically wiped tears off her face before disappearing around a corner.

He was only passingly curious what happened until he saw an unusually ruffled Aaron come out after her twenty seconds later. He looked almost angry.

Max had never seen a single emotion other than boredom on his face before.

He hesitated for a moment. Lacy was more likely to drop it if he didn’t mention anything about this. On the other hand, if she found out later somehow and knew he hadn’t told her on purpose she would be furious. It was probably better to bite the bullet and do it now.

With a sigh, he sent her a text. ‘Just saw Keeley run crying out of the janitor’s closet. Aaron came out after her and looked mad about something’

His phone buzzed immediately. ‘We’ll talk about this later. Come back to the cafeteria’

Lacy smiled and laughed and flirted with the boys at their lunch table as usual but Max knew her well enough to see the storm brewing beneath her happy exterior. She was one wrong comment away from murdering someone.

He prayed that nobody would set her off while he was there. Lacy could actually be quite terrifying when she wanted to be. He certainly didn’t ever want to be on her bad side.

“Oh Max,” she called sweetly after the bell rang. “I need to speak with you.”

The sweetness was almost more frightening than if she was angry. He gulped. “Yes?”

“Tell me exactly what you saw,” she demanded.

“I already did! Keeley ran out crying, Aaron followed less than a minute later looking pissed off. I have no idea how long they were in there or what they were doing. I came upon them by chance.”

Lacy crushed her water bottle in her fist. “I knew there was something going on between them! Something needs to be done that will scare her away from him forever.”

“Look,” Max said nervously, regretting that he ever said anything to her about what he saw. “I don’t think that’s necessary. She’s already plenty scared of him. He’s the one who keeps coming onto her.”

“That makes it even worse! I can’t control him so I need to control her. If she’s scared enough, she’ll have even more incentive to stay away. He won’t stay interested in someone who hates him forever.”

A smug expression marred her otherwise beautiful face. “Don’t you worry, I’ll come up with something good.”

That was exactly what he WAS worried about. So much for their date. She would probably want to spend the entire dinner hatching her scheme. Beautiful things weren’t meant to last.