CHAPTER TEN

Skylar Anderson never ceases to amaze me. He sings, he dances and guess what? He is an amazing... Actor. 

My goodness if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's in love with me.

Last night, I face timed Jenny and Stacy to tell them I'm dating Skylar. And not so surprisingly, they squealed and screeched and I swear it made my phone's screen crack.

Jenny kept on chanting that her ship sailed and Stacy was practicing on how to laugh at Madison's surprised face.

It's lunch time and I'm in the most uncomfortable position ever. I'm sitting on Skylar's lap while he's feeding me my chicken nuggets. You guessed it, our PDA has started... Man it's sickening. Once again, the stares increase a notch, now consisting of admiring looks—probably from those who shipped us—and malicious glares.

Skylar's talking with Mason, Connor and Stacy while Jenny's tapping away on her phone. Suddenly he kisses me. I look up to see what or who triggered the kiss and that's when my eyes meet his. The one's I've been dreading.

Chase.

He's sitting in our usual table with the guys when he looks from me, then to Skylar and then he looks away. His look held anger and hurt. I'm sure it's because we're close friends and I'm dating his enemy. 

I've always had this feeling that Chase and I would end up together. But I don't see that happening any time soon. I like him, but this stupid contract just ruined everything. I really hope he'd be able to forgive me.

"What are you doing with my boyfriend, bitch?!" I hear a screeching voice hiss. The cafeteria suddenly becomes quiet, obviously anticipating bitch drama. I breathe out a huge sigh already knowing who it belongs to. I turn to look at Skylar for help and he just shrugs. I have to deal with this bitch on my own.

Sigh. Time to act like a possessive girlfriend.

"Your boyfriend?!" I raise an eyebrow, my voice comes out harsh and hard but I keep my countenance calm and composed, "Uhm sweetie, last time I checked, this is Skylar Anderson. MY boyfriend, not one of the random guys with microscopic dicks you like to fuck around with".

The whole cafeteria erupts into laughter. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a slight upward curl playing on Skylar's lips.

"At least guys pay attention to me. I wonder what on earth even made him to ask you out," she snarls.

"Maybe it's because he prefers real boobs to plastic ones," I shrug, throwing a chicken nugget into my mouth.

Another annoying round of laughter.

I have no idea why or how that came out of my mouth,  but I don't regret it. She's so annoying. I swear, people like her are the reason God created the middle finger. She pouts in anger and I smirk, reveling in her mortification.

Then she turns to Skylar, "This is what you left me for? Wasn't I good enough?"

Skylar sighs and speaks for the first time since she came, "Don't take this personally, but I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. It was just a fling Mindy".

"It's Madison," she corrects.

"Right," he says with a look on his face that shows he'll probably forget it before 5th period, "I'm with Ashley now and I love her. I hope for her to forget my past mistakes and you being here right now isn't exactly helping".

See?!

Be nice to everyone but me,  that's probably his motto. He even let Madison down nicely. Also, am I the only one who heard the sarcasm dripping from his voice when he said he loves me?

"You!" Madison turns to face me again, "You gold digger, admit it, you're only dating Skylar because of his money".

I feel Skylar stiffen beneath me. Okay,  this whole gold digging thing is absurd. I've been called that before and I can't take it anymore so I snap.

"That's it ugly Betty, you've been spitting in my food ever since you came here, now I have to throw it in the bin". I get up from my position on Skylar's lap and toss my food into the nearest bin.

Adios mi amore... I'm sorry nuggets, I have to do this to prove a point. 

My action earns laughter from the cafeteria. Seriously, all these people ever do is laugh. I walk back towards our table where Mason, Connor, Jenny and Stacy are laughing hysterically.

"Oh and sugar, one more thing," I start to take my previous position on Skylar's lap, "People don't dig what they've got in billions".

A round of 'ooohs', 'burns' and 'savages' rings out through the cafeteria and I smirk in satisfaction.  

I turn to Skylar and open my mouth, he gets the message and starts feeding me from his tray.

"You'll regret this Ashley, I swear," Madison sneers as she storms of with her minions—dumb and dumber. I mean seriously, don't these girls have anything better to do?

"Remind me not to get on your bad side, Ash," Mason says.

"Yeah! You were on fire, bitch," Stacy praises. 

"Your outburst was way beyond my imagination," Jenny adds, loudly munching on her turkey sandwich. 

"I really underestimated you, Ash," Connor says, shaking his head.

I look over to Chase's table and sight him following Madison out of the cafeteria. Something in me shatters. I suddenly feel bile rising up to my throat, giving me an urge to purge.

Hey, that rhymed... not a good time, Ash.

The thought of what they might be doing alone crashes all my hopes of being with Chase after Skylar and I break up.

"I'll be back," I mutter and without waiting for a reply, I walk out of the cafeteria. 

#~#~#~#~

The indoor pool has always been my relaxing place. I always come here when I have panic attacks or whenever images of my past come flooding in. I think of it as my... haven. I feel a sense of relaxation wash through me as I walk in.

The atmosphere is cool, quiet and peaceful. One of the many reasons that made me fall in love with this place.

Quick fact: I dread water.

One might wonder, why on earth is this place your haven when you could get a heart attack just by peeping at the pool? The truth is, being around water gives me a sense of peace, but being in it does the exact opposite.

I take of my converse and socks to dip my feet in the shallow end of the pool. This terrifies me and at the same time calms me down. Confusing?... I know.

After a few minutes, I feel a presence around me.

"Hey," the voice says and I immediately recognize it.

Chase.

I whip up my head to look at him, "Hey".

He sits beside me, taking off his own socks and shoes to dip his feet in the water. Just like I did. We sit in a very awkward silence—which is unusual for us because we always have a weird topic to discuss about.

Not being able to take it anymore, I break the silence, "I'm sorry if you feel like I betrayed you by dating Skylar even when I'm well aware of the fact that you both can't stand each other".

He turns to look at me with a neutral expression on his face. Something about his gaze makes me feel uncomfortable, so I look down at my hands on my lap.

He places his index finger on my chin, lifting my face up for  my eyes to meet his, "I'm not mad at you for following your heart. Sure I feel a little annoyed it had to be him, but I can't be mad at you for that. It's... It's just that I didn't expect it. When you guys would bicker, I thought you only tolerated each other. I didn't know there was something going on between you two. I thought I had a—"

He cuts himself off, as if realizing what he's about to say.

"You thought you had a what?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Never mind," 

I want to mind, Mister. 

"I don't care if you're dating that asshole, you'll always be my friend," he smiles at me.

I've been friend zoned. Yikes, that actually hurt a lot. I give him a nod, not trusting my mouth to stay silent.

He places his large hand over mine and interlaces our fingers. His expression becomes serious as he looks right into my eyes, "And I'd be happy to shove a scorpion down his ass if he hurts you". 

I let out a soft chuckle. Classic Chase.

I move closer to him and lean into his warmth. He rests his head on top of mine and we stay like that in a comfortable silence. 

This is how it should be. This feels so right but I know it's only momentarily. Chase thinks I'm in love with Skylar making me off limits for him. And the fact that he just friend zoned me hurts like a bitch. I feel like ripping my hair out.

This is not how things are supposed to be. I'm stuck with a big–egoed freak while I let the guy who I actually like, slip away. Life is so unfair.

I feel my eyes slowly closing when suddenly the bell rings, indicating that lunch is over.

#~#~#~#~

After school, I don't bother waiting for Skylar, instead, I head straight to the parking lot in search of my car. As I neared the parking lot, realization hits me.

I didn't come in my car.

Skylar picked me up this morning with FOREVER ALIVE'S limo. Ugh. Two options: either swallow your pride, go back and wait for Skylar OR you walk it 

5 minutes later...

Being the proud person I am, I walk it... And I immediately regret it. I've not even walked up to 10 minutes and my tiny legs are aching. I guess this is why we need exercise. Not trusting my facemask to hide my identity, I keep my face down and tie my hair into a low bun.

I can do this, it's just a 40 minute walk, how hard can it be?

30 excruciatingly painful minutes later...

I wish I had just swallowed my damn pride. I'm fully drenched in my own sweat, panting like a turkey on Thanksgiving Eve. Few minutes later, the Massive black electric gates of my house come into view. Once I'm there, I punch in the security code and the gates open. I greet Rick—the head security guard—who tells me that everyone's out and not coming home till morning. 

Climbing up the stairs to my room, I can only think of one thing... Skylar. 

And of course chocolates. 

#~#~#~#~

A/N

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