Author Notes: I hope you enjoy reading the chapter as much as I did writing it. Forgive me for all the possible grammar errors.

Chapter 2: Greed

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Greed - noun. Excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves

Greed - noun. Selfish desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others.

There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, and there is no torrent like greed.

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Greed consumes the human soul as it taints and tears at the seams. It is only human nature to be greedy so no one can truly blame me. After all I am just being what I am known to be.

1 new text message.

Another text message and only 45 minutes apart from the last one. Heh. And they say girls are clingy. Pfft. Like I don’t know who it is. As if he hasn’t been texting me since last Tuesday when I ran away from him. I haven’t bothered texting him back once, which I guess answers his latest text.

“Are you avoiding me?”

Bingo!

Can the male species be any denser?

To text or not to text, that is the question. Now if only I knew the answer. I don’t have a genuine reason to be upset with him, but then again when does any female need a legitimate reason to be angry with a male. Besides if I really stop and think about it long enough I am sure I will find a reason. Either way I don’t think what I’m doing can be considered as ‘avoiding him’.

Sigh.

Everything reminds me of him. No matter how hard I scrub away at my skin I can still feel his hands on me. I can feel – or worst yet remember – the sensation of his lips crashing into mine in a forced kiss. He is everywhere on me. Even his smell has somehow managed to transfix its self in memory. It sickening to think he is placing his hands on something as filthy as me. If he knew the truth – the actual and factual truth – would he be so willing to touch me? To taint himself with there mere presence of me. He probably would. That is just the type of naïve fool Tyler Simms really is. Up to this point, nothing has discouraged his pursuit after me. Not that I have tried very hard to discourage him: a few harsh words are easily brushed off and forgotten.

1 new text message.

“Meet me between the north stairway in 15 mins.”

Yeah. That might actually be a good idea. Meeting him, that is after I take a few precautions. Because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and wiser in the long run: it’s a wake-up call. Sorry for the pain I am delivering you’re way blue-eyed prince, but you have to wake up to reality.

--

“Have you had your first kiss?” An innocent question from the curious mind of a sixteen year old boy. A question I refused to answer on past occasions. But he had cornered me now. He led me away into our secret hideaway where we were binded not to speak a lie.

“No.” Though I hated to, I spoke with the truth. With cheeks burning an intense shade of cherry red, I stood ready to make an escape from the compromising situation one Tyler Simms had just put me in.

“Can I kiss you?”

Those words made me stop cold in my tracks. And I swear they just made my heart stop beating.

--

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

Aaron Abbott seemed baffled by my sudden intrusion on his space, and the awkward proposition for an actual date. And here I thought he was incapable of human emotion. My bad. Just call it perfect timing. There he was standing with his groupies and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling him aside. The words actually flew from my mouth before I could think twice about them. Not that I wanted to take them back. I thought about this enough during my last three classes. The Prince needs to realize me for what I am: the illusion he’s under needs to be broken.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me out?”

Behind him I could see the lips of the student population moving with haste. Passing from one to another. Ah, the commencement of spreading fresh gossip has begun and once again I am attached. It was as if I could hear the words coming from their mouths.

The school whore is on the move again – quick – someone alert the masses.

I stepped closer to the blond boy, doing the whole coy act of batting my eyelashes and giving him a bashful smile. “That depends on your answer now doesn’t it?”

“I thought you were going out with Garwin’s fag boy,” his voice was even but there was no mistaking the underlying distaste. In translation: he didn’t want sloppy seconds from a Son of Ipswich.

“I am not an object, I have no owner.”

He nodded his head as if he understood what I was saying. I know he doesn’t. His feeble mind couldn’t possibly grasp even a fraction of the implication I was addressing. But whether or not he truly understands my intentions is not of importance. Not if it means I can use him to my will. Without realizing it or not, Aaron Abbott has just become a pawn in my web. What a little foolish puppet he is.

“Right yeah, sure I’ll go out with you tomorrow night. Pick you up at your dorm room at 7 tomorrow night.” I offered a meek response, which he didn’t bother hearing before he moved away from me. Back he went to his little group of bimbos and lunkheads.

This is it: the mark for the start and end of this game.

--

“Can I kiss you? Will you let me be your first kiss?” The question wasn’t laced with cockiness or overconfidence. It was timid.

I managed to suppress a shiver.

Forcing a laugh, I shook my head. “No.” I moved towards him with swiftness I didn’t even know I possessed and successfully pinned him against the wall.

“Wha-What are you-”

“I am being your first kiss,” with those whispered words I sealed his lips with mine.

--

It doesn’t feel right.

That is, having to sneak around the school in order to avoid running into him. Every where I step foot I can hear the hushed whispers. The news about my date for tomorrow evening spread like wildfire, which is also why I am avoiding Isabel too. I don’t need any guilt trips from her. But I know the enviable is coming. It goes without saying that I missed the secret meeting with Tyler. There is no way I am facing him out of my own free will if I can help it. But this school is only so big and I can avoid him for only so long. That’s not taking into account the couple of classes I have with him this afternoon. This of course meant having to take detours and shortcuts around places I knew for sure he didn’t walk past.

This is just so lame. No. This is more than just lame, this is downright… “…stupid. I stood just go and-”

The air was knocked out of me before I could even finish my train of thought. Everything spun as I was dragged across the hallway and through the north corridor wing. It wasn’t until I blinked and looked up into his azure eyes that I realized what had actually transpired within the last few seconds. I was pinned against the wall with Tyler Simms looking down at me: I was trapped.

Sigh.

A sneak I'm obviously not.

“Elisa! Where were you?!” His breathing was coming in jagged breaths: he must have been running around looking for me. Wow. That almost makes me feel guilty. “I know you got my text message. I was waiting for you – I skipped class just waiting for you.”

“I didn’t force you to do that. Besides I was occupied.”

“Why are you acting like this? You’re avoiding me and don’t say that you’re not. If you want me to apologize again for the other day then say it and I’ll do-”

“It’s not about that,” I snapped as my short leashed patience shattered. It wasn’t possible for him not to have heard the new rumor by now. Especially because of whom it persisted of. “Did you hear the new one? Word around here is I asked out Abbott.”

The expression on his face shifted and he almost seemed relieved with my statement. Was he insane? Maybe this was a bad time to have this conversation; perhaps he has had some head trauma during swim practice or something. Worse yet, perhaps this was the exact excuse he needed to stop caring. Maybe this was the escape he was looking for.

And I’m the one who gave it to him.

It is all part of the game I suppose…

“I should-” His wrist caught mine before I even managed to back away from the wall, and now I stood staring into his eyes again.

“Is that all it is…” His voice trailed off as he cupped my chin within his hands. “You know that I don’t care about what anyone says right?”

I scoffed, moving away from his touch. “You’d be better off if you did.” The words stumbled out without haste. “I don’t belong to you.”

He let go of me almost immediately, like if my words had somehow managed to burn him. “What are you saying? The rumor is true, you really did ask out Aaron?” The solemn expression on his face nicked and pressed: it suddenly felt hard to breathe.

“Yes,” I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.

“I understand,” he mumbles the words. Risking another look at him, he was already a few feet away from me.

I really doubt he does.

--

“It is all over the school, you know. I heard all about it.” Isabel had been nagging at me for the past two hours and 45 minutes. I knew I could stand it only a few minutes longer before I snapped. “Want to talk about it? Talking about it might ease the heartbreak.”

I flinched. Heartbreak… And the break down has now been set off.

“Of course you know. Everybody in the entire school plus their mothers and grandmothers know by now. The entire planet knew within the ten second time span in which it happened!” Except for him, of course, he had to be the only single person not to know. “I don’t want to talk about it because there is nothing to talk about it.”

“You never want to talk about anything, do you?” I ignored her question and turned my back to her. “So I suppose you’re over it then, whatever you had with Tyler is over and you could care less about anything remotely associated with him?”

“I never had anything with him.” The words were so easy to say that perhaps they held an underline of truth. “I don’t care about him.”

Whatever we had was nothing more than a dependence of forbidden sex in broom closets and hidden kisses behind staircases. It was good sex. I’d be lying if I said it was anything less than good. But that was the sole reason this thing lasted for as long as it. Sex – when powerful enough – can blind all other senses.

“Sure. Sure.” Isabel scoffed as she shook her head. “So it wouldn’t bother you that I heard him asking out Sasha Hudak.”

3…

2…

1…

WHAT?!

“No. It doesn’t. It actually doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

How could he go and ask someone out, it hasn’t even been a full day. Was everything that happened between us so meaningless to him? It didn’t mean a thing to me, but that was different. I am supposed to mean something to him!

“If you really don’t care like you say you don’t, then why are you killing Mr. Snuggles?”

I blinked. Sure enough both of my hands were around the neck of stuffed teddy bear. A little tighter and it would snap right off. Great. I’m a teddy bear murderer now.

“I’m going out for a walk.” I tossed Bella the bear. “Don’t wait up for me I’ll probably be a while.”

“Say hi to Tyler for me.”

I flipped her off before slamming the door shut.

--

What am doing standing outside Tyler Simms dorm room? At what moment in time did I become this stupid and pathetic? I’ve been outside his room, pacing back and forth for the past couple of minutes. He should know better, but he obviously doesn’t. What could possibly make him think any of this was okay! Is asking her out supposed to be a step up or something? That’s really it. He’s going out with her to show the Spencer idiots that he has realized the whore I am and moved on to someone with class.

I hate him!

Knock. Knock. Knock. (narrow eyes)

I should never have spoken to him.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. (clench fist)

I wish I’d never kissed him.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOC-

The door opened and I soon as I my eyes locked with his unmistakenable blue ones I swung my fist. I didn’t even think twice about it. My fist collided with his jaw making him step back. I was really aiming for his nose, but I should be thankful I managed to hit something.

“Shit!” His hands moved to massage his chin. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

(eye-twitch)

Wrong with me? Right. Because something has to be wrong with me, this can’t be about something he did. Maybe this was further proof that he belongs in some fairytale land where nothing he ever does can be wrong or bad. Maybe this was actual proof that his ‘innocent’ act isn’t just an act and that he’s much more of a naïve fool then I gave him credit for. Either probability doesn’t defeat my purpose for coming here.

“What do you think you’re doing? You asked out Sasha ‘camel-toe’ Hudak!” I screamed it all out in one breath. I meant to space the words out and not blurt them out all in one shot. Too late now.

His hands fell to his sides. Confusion etched on his features. “I thought you said-”

I didn’t allow him to finish the thought, my lips crushed into his without restraint. It didn’t take a full minute before his lips began to move against mine. The feeling of anger vanished instantly and was replaced with a haze of something different. A different churning feeling at the pit of my stomach; it was making my entire body tingle.

With a final nip at his lower lip, I backed away breathless. “I said I didn’t belong to you. You on the other hand belong to me.”

“Elisa.” His voice was low. Hot.

I kissed him again. And again. Tyler moved his hands with a gentle frenzy. I was lifted from the ground flawlessly; wrapping my legs around his hips he carried me inside his room.

Everything was fixed. It was as if nothing had occurred and Tyler Simms was once again mine. All mine.

How greedy of me…of him…of us…

But that was how it always was. Our relationship was built on greed and oddly enough my blue-eyed prince doesn’t seem to mind. That’s because as innocent as the school prince may be, he’s also a glutton for attention. No matter what its shape may be.

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Author notes: The line after the definitions of Greed was said by Buddha. Wow. Writing this was much tougher than I thought it was going to be. At first I was just going to ‘wing it’ but at last minute decided against it. I want the sins to obviously make sense with the story line as it flows. For those wondering who is displaying the sins… it is both Elisa and Tyler. The sin in the chapter title is Elisa’s and through her point of view you can see the sin Tyler is displaying. And yes it is a different sin for each. So enjoy trying to figure out which sin Tyler is displaying.

The next sin is… nope not telling. hehehe. But half the fun is for you to try and guess. All reviewers will receive an exclusive sneak peek into the next chapter!