I'm not falling for him maybe.

chapter three.

I wake up to ice cold water being poured over my head and sit up, gasping and sputtering. My vision is blurry and my eyes are burning, but after I blink them a few times, I see Chase standing in front of me, grinning. Then I see the cup in his hand.

"I'm going to kill you!" I scream, kicking my way out of my dripping sheets.

"It's a good thing you don't sleep naked," He smirks, backing away like he expects me to hit him.

"Why would you even do this? Where the he- where the heck are my parents?"

"Ooh, you almost said it, didn't you?" He's still grinning. I'm shivering like crazy and I'm ready to slap him. It doesn't even appear to be light outside. "Your dad is at work and your mom had some sort of emergency with a friend. She left a voicemail asking me to make sure you got up."

"But why did you have to wake me up this way?" I glance at the clock. 5 am. "And why now? I don't usually get up until like 6:45."

"I don't know. I always wanted to try that. And because I wasn't going to sit around your house with you sleeping for more than an hour."

I rub my eyes, letting out a long breath. I didn't go to bed as early as I should have. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to get through the day. "I need to take a warm shower," I say, grabbing the outfit I'd laid out hours before. "What were you even doing up this early?"

"Uh..." He pauses, rubbing the back of his neck. "I actually hadn't went to sleep yet."

"What?" I stop halfway out of my room and spin around. "Why in the world weren't you in bed?"

"I didn't say I wasn't in bed. I just hadn't fell asleep yet." He shrugs. "Whatever. You need to get a move on or we'll be late for school." He says sarcastically, sitting down on my bed.

"I hate you," I mutter under my breath, smacking him with the sleeve of my shirt.

- - -

 "I am one hundred percent done with school." I glance up from my half eaten chicken salad sandwich as Chase takes a seat beside of me, dropping his tray with a thud. Mashed potatoes splash onto his face. "Seriously, I'm ditching tomorrow. Care to join?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday," I snort, rolling my eyes.

"Really?" I nod. "Oh. Good. Because I can't take another day of this crap."

"What crap?" I laugh.

"I don't know. Everything." He shrugs, looking at my lunch. "Hey, did your mom pack an extra brownie?"

"Yes."

"Can I have it?"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have dumped a bucket of freezing water over my head and you could."

"Okay, it wasn't freezing and it wasn't a bucket. It was a cup."

"Same difference," I reply, taking another bite of my sandwich.

"Alright, fine." I find one square of baked chocolate in the bottom of my bag, wrapped in plastic to keep it fresh. Before I dig out the other one, I toss it to him. "But you owe me."

"I actually owe your mom."

"No. You owe me."

"Fine, fine." He throws his hands up as if he's surrendering. "Thank you."

"No problem." I steal a french fry from his tray. He smacks my hand. "So, what are you doing this weekend?"

"Nothing really," He shrugs. "What about you?"

"Oliver's coming over Saturday."

"Oh." He doesn't normally reply with only one word. I glance at him, curious. He looks tense all of a sudden, picking a nut out of his brownie.

"What?"

"Just oh."

He shrugs, avoiding my eyes. He doesn't say much the rest of the day, listening to music on the bus instead of talking to me, but I shrug it off. I really don't get boys sometimes.

"Hey sweetie," My mom greets me at the door. "Where's Chase?"

"He went home. He got all mad about something." I drop my backpack.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Grace? Don't throw your backpack on the floor."

"Right. Sorry." I grab it and hang it up. She rolls her eyes. "So, what emergency did you have that gave Chase permission to dump a cup of water on my head?"

"He dumped water on your head?" She holds back laughter. "I'm sorry. Sarah- you know Sarah, right?" I nod. Sarah is one of her friends. "Well, her son started having some sort of allergic reaction during the night and she had to take him to the hospital but she needed a ride."

"Didn't she have a car?"

"Her husband goes in early and he took it to work."

"Oh. Well is her kid okay?"

"Yeah, apparently he's allergic to peanuts."

"Wait, how old is he?"

"Five," She replies.

"And they didn't know yet?"

"Guess not." She nods to my backpack. "Don't forget to do your homework."

"Are you telling me to leave you alone?" I ask, pretending to be offended.

"No, I'm telling you that you need to do your homework before your dad gets home and we eat dinner. Now, shoo."

She waves her hands at me. I grab my backpack and start to my room, yawning. Doing my homework now isn't a bad idea; I think I'll turn in early tonight.