The Chosen One

Finally my favorite time of the day, lunch time. Derek and I were heading to our lunch table when Jessica and Zoey walked up to us. That was the girl from earlier who bumped into me, I learned her name from Derek in second period.

“Hey Derek.” Zoey purred placing her hand on his arm. I rolled my eyes, what a slut, isn’t she supposed to be dating Blake?

“Hey Zoe.” He replied in a bored tone, I chuckled.

“This is my new bestie Jessica.” She tells him pushing Jessica forward. I see what’s going on here, she’s trying to hook them up. This should be entertaining. Jessica pulled her shirt down more while batting her eyelashes. This was almost pathetic to watch. But hey why turn down a free show?

“Hi.” She purred, sounding like an exact replica of Zoey. Once again, I rolled my eyes, this time Derek joined.

“Where’s Blake?” Zoey questioned Derek. So now she cares about his whereabouts? As if saying his name was the way to summon him another voice joined.

“Right here.” That same husky voice answered from behind me. I whipped around so fast I lost my balance, strong arms wrapped around me keeping me steady. I felt tingles shoot through my entire body. What the heck was that? I blushed moving back, putting as much space between us as possible. I barely know the guy and he’s already making my body have special effects. “Falling for me already I see.” His tone was playful.

“N-no.” I looked away quickly. Did I just stutter? I’ve never stuttered around a guy.

“Blake! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Zoey whined moving closer to him, while cutting me a glare. What did I do to her?

“I was busy.” He tells her looking directly at me, making it look like his words held a double meaning. I looked at Derek, but he simply just smirked at me. I don’t know why I looked to him for answers, he was useless.

“With her?” She growled out.

“Maybe.” Blake answered at the same time I said “No.”

“I’m your girlfriend.” She whined some more. Didn’t she hear me say no?

“Why would you be with her anyways? She’s a loser.” Jessica says finally speaking since Blake showed up. Wow what a great sister. She should’ve kept her mouth shut.

“Shut your mouth before I rip your tongue out.” Blake growled at her. All our heads snapped in his direction, but he was too busy glaring daggers at Jessica, making her cower in fear. I’d be scared too if that anger was directed towards me. It was quiet for several tense minutes because of his outburst. It seemed like no one knew how to respond to that. I just wanted to go eat my lunch. So, I took it upon myself to break the silence.

“Well this is awkward.” Jessica and Zoey both glared at me. Derek laughed, and Blake smirked at me, amusement clear in his eyes.

“Come on.” Blake grabbed my hand and lunch tray pulling me towards the side door that leads outside. Why was he grabbing me and not his girlfriend? I hardly knew him. I looked back at Derek with questions in my eyes. He just shrugged. Wow! So he’s just going to stand there and let me get kidnapped by his brother?

***

I followed him outside where he led me to a bench table. There weren’t that many kids eating out here, even though it felt nice out. He sat down with my lunch while I just stood there looking very stupid. I didn’t know what to do in this situation. I had planned to have lunch with Derek not Blake.

“Sit down.” He demanded. Being the stubborn girl I am, I said,

“No.”

“Now Ashley.” His eyes had gotten darker, so I quickly sat down. His personality changes very fast. One minute he’s all flirty and smirking then he’s demanding. He pushed my food towards me.

“Eat.”

“Ok dad.” I replied sarcastically. He growled at me. Like actually growled. I didn’t know what to say so I proceeded to eat my lunch. French fries and pizza, not a bad combination. It was quiet while I ate, he just stared at me. Doesn’t he know that makes people uncomfortable? He didn’t even have a lunch to eat I just noticed.

“Would you stop staring!” I glared, finally fed up.

“How old are you?” He finally asks still staring.

“None of your business.” Is that why he was staring so much? Trying to guess my age? I did look a bit older than the average eighteen-year-old.

“Tell me now.” He growled. He was so demanding.

“Why do you keep growling?” I asked instead. He choked on air at my question while I just stared at him. The tables have turned.

“I don’t growl.” He answered looking away from me. I laughed at his embarrassment.

“You’re just like Spot growling at everything.”

“Who is Spot?” He asked confused. I laughed harder.

“My dog.” He looked like he was ready to murder me. Jeez, someone can’t take a joke. I stopped laughing long enough to place a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the tingles. “Relax it was a joke, I don’t even own a dog.” He seemed to have relaxed when I touched him. I wish I owned a dog, but my mother refuses to get one. Says there’s enough animals living in her house.

“Now how old are you?″ He asked the same question from earlier. Might as well give him an answer.

“18.” He nodded. I asked him a question I have been wanting to ask for a while for some reason.

“Are you really dating that girl Zoey?” It seemed they were more like friends with benefits than in a relationship. I mean who lets their boyfriend leave with another girl? And openly flirt with them?

He stared at me for a minute, as if processing my question. See what I mean? Why does he need to think about it? It’s a simple yes or no question. I thought he wasn’t going to answer since it was none of my business, but he eventually did.

“It’s more of a fling really.” He shrugged. Just as I thought. I was hoping he’d elaborate more, but he didn’t. I just nodded my head.

“What about you?” He asked.

“Nah I’m not lesbian,” I laughed at my own joke. “What do you mean what about me?”

“Do you like my little brother?” It was an innocent question, but the way he asked made me think he would kill Derek if I said yes. Which wouldn’t make sense since he barely knew me.

“Yes, as a friend.” I honestly did like Derek as a friend and nothing more. No matter how hot he was. We just didn’t click like that. Blake nodded, and his tight stance relaxed. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch, I jumped off the bench so fast you would have thought it was on fire.

“Was my company that bad?” He asked with a smirk on his face, but I saw a flash of hurt in his eyes.

“No I just don’t want to get lost, so I have to find Derek.”

“I could show you around you know.” Was that jealousy I detected in his voice?

“No it’s fine, I’m sure Derek is already expecting me.” I just didn’t want to be around him any longer. My thoughts were all over the place and I didn’t know how to act around him. He nodded as we both got up walking back inside, going our separate ways.

I was walking around looking for Derek when I bumped into Jessica and Zoey. Definitely not the people I was looking for.

“You just can’t stay out of my way, can you?” She sneered in my face. She was like a rabid dog when she was angry. Two seconds from spewing saliva.

“You just can’t stop touching me, can you?” Feeling bold I added, “Just like your boyfriend.”

“I’m going to tell you this once! Stay away from him, he doesn’t want trash like you.” Her jaw clenched, it was clear how furious she was, guess I hit a nerve. He’s not even her boyfriend and she acts like this over him? I’d hate to see her with a husband.

“Could’ve fooled me.” I smiled smugly at her. I enjoyed pushing people buttons. I’m surprised Jessica hasn’t added her two cents.

“Well you’ll find out soon that he only wants me.” She flipped her hair walking off with Jessica following her. I sighed, where the heck is Derek?

Twenty minutes later I realized I was late for class and I still hadn’t found Derek. I probably should have taken Blakes offer. I turned a corner and luck was once again on my side when I saw a girl at her locker. I walked as quickly as I could up to her, making sure I didn’t startle her.

“Hi, I’m new here can you help me find my class?” I asked out of breath. I may have looked fit, but I was far from being fit. I despised doing anything physical. Unless it was lifting food into my mouth. She looked up and I realized she looked just like Derek, which could only mean one thing.

“Are you related to Derek by any chance?” I hope I was right with my guessing.

“Yes, my name is Lizzy.” She looked at me in confusion.

“Oh good Derek was helping me but I lost him after Blake dragged me off at lunch.”

“Well it seems like you met the whole family.” She chuckled “Let me see your schedule.” I handed her my schedule, she scanned over it before handing it back. “Looks like we have a few classes together.”

We started walking down the hall together, I had to take long strides to keep up with her. Her legs were long compared to mine.

“So, what’s your name?” She asked as we turned a corner. I should remember this route for next time.

“Ashley.”

“Nice, how exactly did you run into my brothers?” She asked curiously.

“Derek showed me to my locker and Blake just popped up in first period.” Is it a coincidence that I met all of them my first day here? What are the odds?

“That explains why you look a little bit annoyed.”

“Why do you say that?” I didn’t even know I looked annoyed.

“If you met Blake it’s obvious you met the wicked witch Zoey.” She rolled her eyes.

“You don’t like her?” It seems like none of them really likes her.

“No but my dad does.” I was going to ask her what she meant by that, but she cut me off. “Here’s your class Ash.” She says pointing to a door right in front of my face. I hadn’t noticed we stopped.

“Ok, thanks bye.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“What do you mean bye? This is my class too. Now I have an excuse for being late.” She looped her arm through mines before pulling the door open. The teacher didn’t even acknowledge us as we walked in. If this were my old school, we would’ve been shunned in front of the whole class. There were two empty seats in the back next to Derek. I glared at him, as we made our way to the back. He just smiled showing off his dimples. I moved to the seat next to him and Lizzy sat on my other side.

“I couldn’t find you.” I hissed in his ear.

“Well you’re the one that left with my brother,” He snapped back. I rolled my eyes. Not like I left voluntarily. “I see you’ve met my lovely sister.” He said in a softer tone, I nodded.

“It seems like the whole family likes you. Now all you have to do is meet the parents.” Lizzy laughed at him on the other side of me.

“That’s exactly what I said!” She said.

“Quiet class!” The teacher barked from the front of the room. Oh now she wants to say something? Lizzy and Derek just rolled their eyes. I felt eyes on me, looking towards the window I caught Blake staring at me, I didn’t even realize he was in this class. I guess I should’ve just left with him earlier. He winked when he saw me looking, I blushed and turned around, only to catch Zoey’s glare.

By the time our free period rolled around I decided Lizzy was a good tour guide. Better than Derek at least. The more we hung out the more I realized how much we had in common. I could tell we were going to be friends.

“Do you want to hang outside with me and a couple of my friends until next period?” Lizzy asked as we walked out of chemistry. As much as I wanted to hang outside on my free period I needed to work on my history assignment instead.

“Not today I was hoping to go to the library and check out a book for my history assignment.” She looked disappointed but nodded anyways, waving as we went our separate ways.

One place I remembered how to get to was the library. I was most likely going to be spending a lot of time in here. It was nice and quiet, I enjoyed the silence. I made my way to a book shelf close by to look for something that would help with my assignment. The teacher told us to write about a famous historian, I didn’t know where to even begin my search.

As I was scanning through the rolls of books I noticed someone on the other side watching me. I frowned and pulled a book down to look through the hole. I didn’t see anyone. I walked around the shelves to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. When I rounded the corner, no one was there. Strange, I was sure someone was watching me. I shrugged before grabbing a few books and going to find a seat.

I was reading pages on things that could help me, when someone slammed their book down on my table. I jumped looking up.

There was a guy standing there around my age with bright orange hair glaring down at me. “Can I help you?” I asked.

“You’re in my spot.” He said harshly.

“There was no name here when I sat down.” He looked angrier after my comment. The hell is his problem? It’s just a seat.

“But this is where I sit. Why are you even in the library? Shouldn’t you be downstairs with the other stuck up witches?” He snapped. My eyes widened. What did he just say to me?

I waved my hands around my books glaring at him. “Clearly I’m here to read moron. Just like the other people in here, so don’t talk about me like you know me.”

“I don’t need to know who you are to know you’re just like the rest of the girls here.”

“I’m not moving, so unless you have something to say worth listening to can you leave? Cause you’re blocking my light and I no longer want to look at your face.” He looked shocked at my outburst, guess he wasn’t used to people talking to him like that. To my surprise he pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. I ignored him as I tried to work on my research before the bell ring.

“You’re not going to find anything to help you in those books.” I looked up as he spoke. “That paper is for history, right? We have the same assignment.”

“Yeah....” I said slowly. Not too long ago he was yelling at me to move and now he wants to help me? He pushed a book he had over to me.

“You’ll find better answers in there.” I reached over opening the book.

“Are you bipolar?” I couldn’t help but ask. He laughed.

“No, I’m sorry about my rudeness by the way, just wasn’t expecting you to be here.” That much was obvious. I nodded accepting his apology.

For the next few minutes we worked in silence. He was right the book did have a lot more to work with. I was almost done with my paper when the bell finally rang. I packed my stuff and left, not bothering to say anything to the bipolar guy. Not like we were suddenly friends.

**

Three classes and ten sheets of homework later I was finally released to go home. As I was walking to Jake’s car I noticed Blake leaning against it. Jake texted me earlier saying he was catching a ride with a couple of friends he made, asking if I could take his car home. Lucky for him I had a license. “Can I help you?” I asked him as I approached.

“No.” He answered.

“Then why are you here?” I asked, once I realized he wasn’t going to say anything else.

“Because I want to be,” I rolled my eyes moving past him to get in the car. “Did you enjoy your first day?” He asked before I was fully in. I blinked at him.

“Yeah I guess.” Not mentioning the drama that came whenever he was around.

“That’s good.” He nodded before walking away. What a weirdo. Surely he had better things to do than stalk me.

I shrugged, getting in the car to drive home.

When I walked in the front door I heard voices in the kitchen. I headed towards that way hoping to find a snack or something. My mom was moving about in the kitchen cooking while Ben sat there reading a magazine. Ben was my mom’s new husband. I think they’ve been married for about two years now? I didn’t really pay much attention to him. He wasn’t a bad guy or anything, he just wasn’t my dad.

“Hey guys.” I peeked my head in, no snacks. “You need help with anything?” I asked my mom hoping she’d say no. She usually liked cooking on her own, but sometimes she’d force me to help, saying it’s practice for when I get a husband. Jokes on her though, I’m never getting married.

“No honey you just go upstairs and relax.” She said. Thank god, I quickly darted up the steps before she could change her mind.

I’ve never been so happy to be home in my life. I’ve been home for at least two hours now and have done nothing but watch cartoons. Too say I had no life was an understatement. After a while I decided to use Jakes car to go get some ice cream since he’s still not here. I searched the nearest super market in my GPS before putting on my shoes and running down stairs. I walked into the kitchen looking for my mom.

“Mom can I have some cash, so I can go and get some ice cream?” I asked when I found her at the kitchen counter mixing something, it smelled divine.

“Have you finished unpacking? Done your homework?” She asked.

“Yes, it’s all done,” I rolled my eyes at her questioning. She stared at me for a moment longer before getting her purse and handing me ten dollars. “Thank you!”

“Drive safely! And hurry up dinner is almost done.” She called after me as I ran out the front door.