The first time I saw him, the entire hallway went silent.
Not the normal kind of silence—the kind that spreads slowly, like people are afraid to breathe.
I followed everyone's gaze.
He stood near the lockers, leaning casually against the wall like he owned the place. Dark hair, sharp eyes, and a calm expression that somehow made him look even more dangerous.
People avoided him.
Actually… they moved away from him.
"Don't stare," my friend whispered quickly, grabbing my arm. "That's him."
"Him who?"
She looked at me like I had just asked the dumbest question in the world.
"Adrian Vale."
The name meant nothing to me.
But the way everyone reacted to it did.
Whispers followed him everywhere.
Trouble.
Bad news.
Stay away.
He started walking down the hallway.
Students stepped aside instantly, like an invisible line surrounded him.
And somehow… his eyes landed on me.
For a second, everything else disappeared.
His gaze was steady, curious… almost amused.
Then his lips curved slightly.
Not a friendly smile.
The kind of smile that warned you to run.
My heart should have told me to look away.
But I didn't.
Because for some strange reason… I felt like he already knew me.
Later that day, I learned something important.
Adrian Vale had a reputation.
Fights. Suspensions. Rumors that followed him like shadows.
Teachers watched him carefully.
Students avoided him completely.
Everyone had the same advice for me.
"Stay away from him."
And I fully intended to.
Until that evening.
I was walking home when I heard footsteps behind me.
Slow.
Unhurried.
I turned around.
He was there.
Adrian Vale.
Hands in his pockets. Calm. Watching me like he had been expecting this moment.
"You've been staring at me all day," he said.
His voice was low and smooth.
My cheeks burned. "I wasn't staring."
"Really?" His eyebrow lifted.
He took a step closer.
Then another.
Now he was close enough that I could see the faint scar above his eyebrow… and the way his eyes seemed darker in the evening light.
"You're new," he said.
"How do you know that?"
He smiled again.
That same dangerous smile.
"Because if you weren't," he said quietly, leaning slightly closer, "you'd already know you shouldn't be talking to me."
My heart pounded.
"Why?"
For a moment he didn't answer.
Instead, he studied my face like he was memorizing it.
Then he said something that made my stomach flip.
"Because people who get close to me," he said softly, "usually regret it."
He turned and started walking away.
But just before leaving, he glanced back at me.
"And yet," he added, almost teasingly,
"I have a feeling you won't stay away."
And that was the moment my story truly began.
The moment I met the boy everyone feared.
The moment I met the devil I would end up loving.