Complicated

Chapter | 9 |

"Of course..." I mumbled to myself as I walked the image of the pretty girl taunting me. No matter how hard I try, she comes back into my mind as if to say ' haha, I got the hot bad boy cause I'm prettier ' but what did I expect from him? Did I expect him to chase after me and climb steep mountain to get to my heart? He's just a boy after all, but I've read that boys like challenges, maybe he doesn't; or maybe I came off a little to challenging for him.

I keep telling myself that I don't care because I don't know him, I only uttered few unpleasant words with him and that's all. But, for some reason he'd dug himself straight into my core, implementing himself into my brain, my daily schedule, and recently my dreams. I have this strange sensation of security when I'm with him, and I have no idea when or how it originated. Even though I denied myself to entertain the idea, I'd always hoped that somewhere he'd feel the same. But obviously he doesn't.

"You look sad." A familiar voice said, and my blood froze. The scene with this particular person replayed itself in my head. I was walking, thinking about Liam when I'd bumped into a boy, he looked scary. Forgetting my manners, he'd snapped at me, sending a chill of fear through me, his voice very deeply rooted into my brain.

"It's common curtesy to look at someone when they're speaking to you." He added.

Slowly, I turned and looked at him not wanting to anger him in any way. I had to tilt my head back, just to see his face. To be honest, he was very handsome. "I'm sorry." I replied sniffling without thinking beforehand.

His brows furrowed together and he studied me."Are you alright, you look like someone stomped on your heart."

"Why would you care?" I asked, the scene replaying in my mind again and again.

He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Say, have we met before by any chance?"

For a few seconds I wonder weather or not I should tell him we have met. I could think up many pros and cons to telling him about our in counter, but I came to the conclusion that lying is stupid in this situation. "Yeah, we met outside my building, I bumped into you."

He shook his head. "Nope, I don't think so; wait, Miss. Armechello's class, you sit next to Denise right?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, but how did you; wait are you in my class?"

"Yeah. We talked on the first day remember, well, it wasn't really a conversation of sorts but we chatted for a minute or two."

I tried and racked my brain, trying to remember talking to this boy. I felt like that was impossible, I'd sworn to myself that I would stay away from him. I never forget a promise, especially if I made it to myself.

"I don't recall." I told him.

"Oh, well, that's fine. Do you need help with anything?"

"Why would I need help?" I asked.

"Because, you look upset and upset girls on they're own are big no-nos, they tend to get into trouble." He smiled.

I was beginning to get completely weirded out, why was this stranger being so nice to me. I didn't even know his name, plus he was so rude to me a few weeks ago. The stranger thing, the vibe I was getting from him last time was gone, now I felt completely secure. My eyes drifted down to his clothes, he wore a cream cardigan over a nice shirt and tie. His jeans were a light brown, pressed nice and skinny enough but loose enough; which is what guys should wear. On his feet, he had nice moccasins. His hair was even styled differently, in whiff.

"I don't understand, why're you so different now?"

His brows drew together again. "What do you mean?"

"You wore all black and-"

"Oh, I see what's happening here. You think I'm my brother Oliver, he's a dick. No, I'm Joshua. Joshua Bass." He said extending his hand for a shake.

"Whoa, Joshua Bass, as in Andrew Bass and Nicola Bass?" I asked my eyes wide in awe.

He chuckled uncomfortably. "Ha, you know my parents?" He retracted his hand.

"No, no, but I've heard great things about them and they're businesses, you're like a billionaire!"

"No, my parents are billionaires," He sighed and shook his head, "I was hoping you wouldn't know about my family."

That was like a slap in the face, why wouldn't he want anyone to know about his family? They were wealthy and worked with many different fields of work making their business huge. I dreamed of working with the Bass's, but getting a job there required the highest degree in multiple fields, good work ethic, and many recommendations. They don't just hire anyone you know. "Why wouldn't you want to flaunt your name around. I mean, being a Bass is a big deal, so many doors open for you."

"Yes, I know. That could be great for someone else, but I value the hard work in life and prefer to work just like everyone else before I take over as CEO. Plus, my last name could bring great things my way, but it does bring terrible things too, like fakes who pretend to like or love me in order to get something in return." He explained.

I nodded. "I see where you're coming from."

"I'd just like to find someone who knows nothing of who my family is, so that I could build up a base friendship so when they do find out it won't ruin a thing."

"But- everyone knows who you are, your face is plastered on every single magazine and your parents and family too."

He smiled. "But you didn't know who I was until I told you, you didn't even know Oliver."

"True, I'll give you that one Mr. Bass."

He chuckled. "Please, call me Josh."

I smiled. "Josh."

"May I get a name from you?" He asked.

"Oh, right, I'm Kadence but my friends call me Kade."

Josh looked at his watch. "I have to run, could I possibly get your number and we can meet up sometime and get something to eat?" He asked looked back at me.

I nodded. "Sure." I said taking my phone from my pocket, and handing it to him so that he could put his number in. He passed me his phone, and I typed in my number. The phone was something I'd never seen before, the lay out was indescribable. The phone was holographic, bringing it's screen up into the sky. I didn't even know that was possible yet, but if course a Bass had his hands on such high tech gadgetry.

We gave our phones back and said our goodbyes before going our separate ways. What sucked the most was as soon as Joshua left, the memories of Liam came rushing back to me. I wanted to run back and stick to Joshua's side so that I would just forget Liam and everything. I liked Joshua a whole lot more than his brother, but I felt sad for him and somewhat envied him. I was sad that people pretended with him in order to get what they want, it must suck finding that the people you thought where your friends or your lover never actually liked you as a person but your money. I also envied him for coming from this big name and this large brand, being able to inherit something as amazing as Bass International.

As I walked back to the parking lot, I tried extremely hard to keep my mind of Joshua and Bass International rather than Liam and the mystery girl. When I was driving back to my dorm, I did the same. The last thing I needed on my mind was Liam, Josh had put me in a better mood but it was slowly turning sour when he started butting in. I just want him to go away, which he did; maybe I just want him to come back.

Finally, I got back to the dorm. I gathered my things and got out of my car, making sure it was locked and that I hadn't left anything I would need later. When I was sure that I had everything, I walked into the building and took the elevator up to my floor. When the doors opened, I took my time walking to the room I shared with Lillian, I was in no rush to interact with people. I might as well savor the last few minutes of being alone before I enter Of cave of constant chatter.

I dreaded reaching the door, but I didn't want to stay out in the hallway like a weirdo. So, I put my key in the hole and opened the door, the took was quite indicating that nobody was inside. I sighed with relief closing my eyes when I closed the door. I opened them and my heart stopped, dropping down to my stomach. My lips parted and I let out a scream, clutching my chest with both hands and backing up against the door. My eyes locking with his when the scream was gone.