Never Say Never (Completed)

Six {It's in Your Head, Love}

It didn't seem possible for the day to get any worse, but I must have jinxed myself, because Bryan just happened to have Psychology with us as well.

Ian tried to act oblivious to this fact, but I could tell by how tense he was beside me that he was very much aware of the bad boy behind us. Ian tried to make small talk with me, asking how my other classes had went, but I had decided it'd be best to keep it to myself who I shared Chem with. He already had enough of an issue with Bryan, I didn't need more to be added to it. They'd always had it out for each other. A lot of it was Ian's resentment toward Bryan for being so rich he could roll around in his money, and Bryan's reputation only added to my best friend's disgust with him.

Now, glancing over my shoulder, I had the fear that Bryan would have the sudden urge to throw himself over the table and two students occupying it behind me to strangle Ian.

"You look ready to blow chunks." Ian joked. "Should I move?"

I flipped him off, but couldn't stop the impulse to look over my shoulder again to make sure Bryan hadn't decided to stand and cross the room to us. This time, though, Ian followed my gaze and started laughing.

"Is that what you're worried about? Grace?" He rolled his eyes as I turned back to him. "He's not going to do shit. He's all bark, no bite, Char."

Half the male population at this school would have disagreed, but I left it alone. He was probably right. Bryan didn't even seem to really be paying attention to us, if anything he was actually paying attention to the lecture, which I should be doing. Just as I started to listen to Mr. Howell, watching as he touched a hand to his bright red bald head, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled around to find the boy behind me, a Junior I shared one of my Elective classes with, was holding a piece of paper. I raised an eyebrow, but the dark haired boy gestured toward Bryan behind him with his thumb. When I looked toward him, Bryan winked, then averted his eyes back to the whiteboard.

I glanced sideways to make sure Ian wasn't paying attention to me, and unfolded the paper.

Might want to take a picture. Gonna hurt your neck if you keep looking back here.

Against my will, I could feel a smile break out across my face. It was such a dumb comment that I couldn't help but want to laugh at it. He was just as oblivious to my worry as Ian was, which was good, I suppose, since neither of them seemed as if they were going to throw hands anytime soon.

"What?" Ian reached for the paper, but I crumbled it in my hand and shoved it into my jean pocket before he could see it. This only made him suspicious. "Did Steph tell you about this shower incident this morning?"

Thankful for the opportunity to change the subject, I nodded. Even though she definitely hadn't said a word about it. He started ranting on about her and how she needed to stop talking so much. I looked back to find Bryan smirking, tapping the eraser side of his pencil against the paper Mr. Howell had thrown in front of him. He glanced up, the smirk shifting a little so it became a genuine grin. I flipped him off, but he only winked and fell back in his seat with a quiet chuckle.

**

The fact that I had been so distracted by Bryan throughout Psychology that I hadn't heard what the project we were supposed to do, scared the hell out of me. It definitely wasn't like me to zone out or not know what we were doing. But Ian, chalking it up as it having something to do with Mom back at home, didn't hesitate to give me a full rundown of what we had to do. Now the only thing to do was find a subject for our Psychology project, which we were both at a dead end with. Not that we would have any chance to talk about it, because as soon as we walked into the cafeteria for lunch, Tristan decided to join us. I couldn't stop the hostility from radiating off me, and he picked up on it too, because he kept his distance.

"Disgusting." Ian grumbled bitterly, followed by something in Spanish under his breath. I looked up from the bottle of Gatorade I'd been nursing for a few minutes, feeling a pang of sympathy for my best friend.

Bryan was sitting at the end of a table across the cafeteria, girls swarming him on one side, and a few of the football players on the other side, all of them laughing so hard that it could be heard throughout the entire room. Tristan muttered something about it all being a façade to Ian as a reassurance, but my best friend had already started ranting.

"He gets all this attention for no reason. I don't get it."

Before I can stop myself, the words slip out. "He's a Bad Boy, and as history has shown, every girl loves to break the rules every once and a while."

The minute the words slipped out, I threw my hand over my mouth, dumping the remainder of my red Gatorade across my white band shirt and jeans. My best friend looked ready to reach across the table and smack me, but only stared at me the same way he'd been staring at Bryan a few minutes before.

"Seriously?" Ian snapped as I stood, knowing very well my shirt would become see-through any second now. I also wasn't keen on looking like a modern day Carrie the rest of the day. If I could find Stephanie, I'm sure she had a spare shirt I could borrow.

"Charlotte, did you seriously just say that?" Ian caught my wrist on my way around the table. "I thought you were on my side."

"There are no sides." I whispered, feeling my cheeks starting to flush. More and more eyes were falling on us the longer I stood here. "Grow up, Ian. I gotta go."

*

There was a large part of me that was sure that Ian would lose it on me as soon as I climbed into his SUV, my brother and Stephanie not far behind. Instead, he was smiling, drumming his fingers on the outer edge of the steering wheel.

"I have an idea for the Psychology project." He stated proudly.

I crossed my arms, then nodded. "Go on then."

"You have to promise you aren't going to laugh in my face."

"I promise."

"Okay, hear me out." Ian paused. "What if I start to change into a "bad boy." Then we can test the Psyche of the school to see if they start to become drawn to me the same way they are Bryan."

I frowned as soon as I processed his idea. This would in no way, shape, or form, benefit either of us. "I don't think Bryan would be happy about that."

"I don't give a shit about what he thinks." Ian defended. "I'm asking you what think."

"I think it's going to end up hurting you, Ian." I whispered. "That isn't who you are, even if it's who you want to be. It's going to change you."

He sighed. "That's kind of the point, Char."

"I don't think it's a good idea." I admitted. "But it's a pretty good subject for Psychology."

He grinned, knowing I was starting to cave. "So?"

I slumped against the passenger seat, shaking my head. "I think you aren't going to let this go unless we try it. So hell, let's do it."