“I’m surrounded by retarded fucks,” Chase grumbled, one of Eric’s friends and, undeniably, the second most popular guy at school.
I couldn’t suppress a giggle.
Chase had started sitting with us at lunch a few days after the incident with those other guys. After that, Justin started avoiding me like I had a contagious disease. It was irritating at first, but I pretended not to care. Except, I *did* care. A lot. He acted as if he didn’t know me, as if I wasn’t even worth acknowledging. Maybe he never had cared at all…
Noah glared at Chase. He leaned closer to me, his voice deliberately loud enough for Chase to hear. “I think he’s on his man period.”
“What did you just say, Evans?” Chase yelled, his face contorting with fury.
Noah and I dissolved into laughter, and the rest of the table joined in. Chase laughed lightly, then turned to me, a crooked smile playing on his lips. “You’re something, White.” I blushed furiously, staring down at my lap. He called everyone by their last name, a habit I didn’t understand. Maybe he thought it sounded cool, or maybe it was just another way to distance himself.
Noah rolled his eyes. “We get it, Chase. You haven’t gotten laid, and Avery’s an easy catch.”
I gasped and punched him on the shoulder without thinking. “What the hell?!”
“I was just kidding, Aves,” he chuckled, rubbing his arm.
I frowned at him. “I’m mad at you.”
“Stay mad, you’re hot when you’re mad,” Eric winked, earning a glare from me.
“Gross,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Who’s going to Jacob’s party this weekend?” Nikky asked suddenly, breaking the tension.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know Jacob.”
“Who cares? No one knows everyone at a party. You can stick with me,” she whined, her eyes pleading. “Pleaseeeee?”
“Fine.”
~•~
“Hey, Avery!”
I looked back to see Chase running to catch up with me. “Hi, what’s up?”
“I was um… I guess, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to get a drink sometime? Well I mean, um–”
“That’d be great, Chase,” I smiled softly. Chase was different than the other jocks. He wasn’t arrogant or entitled.
“Oh, okay, awesome! I’ll text you later.”
The bell rang and Chase said goodbye before leaving, revealing Justin’s face—a mask of pure, seething anger. “Avery,” he said, his voice a low growl. I frowned, confused. Why was he even speaking to me? When I didn’t respond, he clenched his jaw. “What? Are you giving me the fucking silent treatment? I always knew you were just a child.”
I scoffed, disbelief bubbling up inside me. “Look who’s talking, Mr. I-Saved-A-Girl-From-Dying-So-I’ll-Just-Ignore-Her-For-A-Few-Days-And-Then-Act-Like-A-Selfish-Prick.” My breath came in ragged gasps. I had bad lungs, and exertion left me winded quickly.
I walked to my next class, determined to ignore him.
Chemistry was always boring, but the news that we had new lab partners didn’t help. And, of course, mine was Jacob. He wasn’t bad, though. He was actually really funny once you got to know him.
“You coming to my party on Friday?”
“Yeah, I’m actually going with Nikky,” I smiled.
He smiled back, and I realized I’d never seen him smile before. “Okay. You should sit by me tomorrow at lunch.”
I looked at him in awe. “You mean like ‘The Popular Table’?”
“Yeah.”
Was he serious? “I’m not popular at all though,” I responded, confused.
“I know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Now do you wanna sit with me or not?” He laughed, and I nodded, smiling. I was glad he invited me, but it felt… unlikely. He’d never invited anyone to sit with him, especially someone like… well, me. “We should probably pay attention now. But, I think I might be a little distracted since I have a beautiful girl that’s way out of my league sitting next to me.”
“I’m not beautiful,” I mumbled, staring at the ground. I wasn’t pretty.
He smiled sadly. “You are, Avery, and I hope you realize that.”
He didn’t say another word for the rest of the class, and I replayed his words over and over in my head. The rest of my classes flew by, and I was relieved I could just go home and sleep. I didn’t have any homework, which was a miracle.
I may be a nerd, but that doesn’t mean I like homework. And for a nerd, I’m pretty dumb—at least socially. I have good friends, and I’m not a complete loner, but I’m definitely not popular. I’m just kind of… there. You know? I’m not special, but I don’t stand out. It can suck, but it has perks too. Like yeah, a majority of people don’t really notice me, which means I won’t be dragged into unnecessary drama.
I reached my front door and searched for my keys in my backpack.
Oh no. This wasn’t happening.
My backpack was empty. No keys. Nothing. Well, I guess patience was pretty key in this situation. Haha.
Why today? Today was the only day I didn’t have homework, and now I couldn’t even get into my house to relax. It was depressing, and true. And it was starting to rain.
Something wet touched my hand.
Great. Just my luck. It was starting to rain, and my parents wouldn’t be home for hours. I wasn’t going to make it through this. I slumped onto the edge of my porch—which, conveniently, didn’t have a roof.
“Hey, are you taking a shower outside? Huh, that’s a new one.”
My head snapped up to see Justin. My possible murderer.
Please note the sarcasm.
I just sat there scowling at him. He was bipolar, I swear. I didn’t understand him—or any boys, for that matter. They were just so confusing.
“What? No ‘Hi Just, my favoritest person in the world’?” He smirked. I wanted to slap that attractive smirk off his beautiful face. Okay, I hadn’t just thought that. I continued to scowl.
“Wow, calm down there, Princess.”
“P- ‘Princess’?” I frowned. What kind of name was that? He was just so annoying and rude and bipolar.
“Got a problem with me calling you that?” He chuckled. He thought this was funny?
I could say so many things, but all I could manage was “yes.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer, Princess,” he said, emphasizing the word. I wanted to knee him right in his… area. Or scream. Or both. Yeah, both sounded really good right now.
I crossed my arms and stared at him. I wasn’t going to say anything, maybe he’d go away.
“Is there a reason you’re sitting out in the rain?” He rolled his eyes. He was bipolar.
Please, just leave already so I can throw a fit in peace.
“Come here,” he sighed, grabbing my hand.
“U-Uh no thanks, I’m fine,” I said quickly, pulling my hand out of his. I felt my cheeks burning. I was such a wimp.
“You’re sitting out in the rain with no jacket on your porch. You’re soaking wet.” He actually looked like he cared. I guess there was a first time for everything. “I don’t live very far—you can stay until your parents get home.”
I looked down at my feet. Should I say ‘yes’? My parents! I’d totally forgotten about their trip. They’d gone to the Bahamas for their anniversary, and they’d left this morning. “They’re on a trip… They won’t be home for a week or two,” I mumbled. I looked up and saw him staring at me, thinking.
He sighed. “Do you need any clothes?”
“Yeah, but I guess I can try to get them from my room or something. But then I wouldn’t have to stay with you.”
He covered my mouth with his hand and frowned. “We’ll figure everything out tomorrow, okay?”
“Won’t your parents care?”
He looked away. “No.” His eyes darkened slightly, and he stared at the ground. Touchy subject. What had happened to them? Were they gone? Were they just mean?
“Why?”
“Let’s just go, alright? I’m not waiting around all day!” He snapped suddenly, grabbing my school stuff. He walked over to a nice car and shoved it in the back.
“Sorry,” I said as he opened the passenger door for me. But he didn’t respond.