Wished

Chapter 9 - Jocks Suck

If Shauna poked my arm one more time I was going to kill her. Not literally,  I love Shauna way too much to actually hurt her. She had been there with me for years. I felt another sharp jab in my arm and snapped my head in Shauna's direction where she gave me a grin and stuck her tongue out at me. She was waiting for me to snap at her or something. I could see her desperation for something to happen.

Shauna had lots of friends, she was just the kind of person who connected with a lot of people. She was really my only good friend, the rest were just the people I talked with in class and I rarely acted myself around them. It was fake and plastic just so I could have someone to talk to. Shauna had more good friends than I did but I was her favourite, or at least, thats what she said and I believed her.

"If dogs could talk, what do you think they'd say?" I asked her, trying to distract her from poking my arm again. Tapping her finger against her chin, she went straight along with the question.

"It depends. 'Play with me', 'feed me', 'I love you'. Something like that," Shauna answered with a thoughtful expression on her face. "What do you think they'd say?"

"Squirrel!" I answered, turning my head sharply to the side and making Shauna crack up. I knew she'd understand, that's why I made the reference. Her little brother had an obsession with Up for a month and watched the movie every single day. Shauna had been absolutely sick of the movie so of course I decided I was going to make a reference whenever I could.

"That was smooth. I didn't expect that one. Nice job," Shauna joked with a nod of approval. The bell rang, cutting off our conversation and we both headed our own way with a quick goodbye. I was buzzing inside though. I had class with Jordan

*     *     *     *     *

The butterflies came back when I took my seat in front of him. He was already in class and talking to his friend but just the sight of him made my heart pick up just a bit. There were times when I resented those butterflies that I felt because it was like they were trying to get me to be hopeful and I just did not believe there was any chance that Jordan would speak to me let alone like me but now the butterflies just got me excited because there was a chance that Jordan might, may, could, like me.

"Hey E," Jordan greeted, tapping me on the shoulder so I would turn around to talk to him. Turning around, his smile brought on a whole new wave of butterflies. Damn he was perfect. Just, ugh, gorgeous. He was the only one who called me 'E'. Everyone else who shortened my name called me 'El'. Then there was Luke with 'Kitten', the name that made my insides go all mushy and my eyes roll.

"Hey," I replied with what I assumed what an embarrassingly goofy smile on my face because I was still in awe at this guy. Those eyes, that smile, even his nose was too cute to handle. Not cute in the puppy or kitten cute but cute as in makes me sigh dreamily.

"So you don't seem like the type of girl who goes to parties, are you?" Jordan asked with a small smirk on those adorable lips. I laughed softly and shook my head at his question. I was definitely a party girl but then again, I had never really been invited to one so  I had never gone to one. Shauna tried to bring me once but Adam had caught me, a secret he still held over me when we were fighting. He would always win because of it. I needed to talk Zach into giving me something over Adam.

"I don't think so," I answered with a shrug. I knew I was kind of leading the answer so I could say I've never been to one but I was taking a huge risk with it. What if he laughed at my patheticness? Is patheticness even a word? I don't think it is but it works in my head.

"What do you mean you don't think so? Have you like never been?" Jordan asked looking slightly shocked and a little puzzled. I wasn't exactly sure why he was surprised that I hadn't been. I didn't seem like the type after all but maybe he was just saying that as a conversation starter about some party that I probably should have been at or something and I just ruined that.

"Uh, no. Never been," I answered slightly awkwardly, lightly biting the side of my bottom lip. Jordan was looking at me like I had two heads and that was probably one of my biggest insecurities. Just before  I was about to turn back around and forget this ever happened, Jordan grinned.

"That's weird but perfect. Kind of like you," he replied and my eyes dropped down to the back of the chair as the blush burned it's way up my neck. Jordan chuckled lightly and the butterflies in my stomach fluttered at the sound. "Does that mean that  I can see your first party? There's one in my friend Dylan's house on Sunday. You should definitely come," Jordan told me with that heart melting smile. It took me a second to reply because I was attempting to stop myself from stuttering which would have been extremely embarrassing and I'd already had plenty of embarrassment when it came to Jordan.

"I'd love to," I answered with a smile, cheering myself on inwardly for actually playing this one cool.

"That's awesome. I'll see you there then. I'll make your first party memorable," Jordan said, winking at me and I heard my inner fangirl screaming. There was a faint blush still colouring my cheeks and I bit the inside of my lip to try and stop myself squealing or something equally as embarrassing.

"I don't doubt you will," I said, biting my bottom lip lightly as I smiled. I knew if I didn't then my smile would be scarily, unattractively huge and I really didn't want that. Jordan Taylors. Party. I needed to go shopping.

*     *     *     *     *

I was just walking to class normally, innocently. Shauna was on the other side of the school and I had no one else to walk with so I was just on my own with my books loose in my arms as I walked.

I'm not an outgoing person. I'm not exactly confident and I'm awkward at times but not all the time. There are certain situations however, where my inner justice shines through the surface and I can't help but take a stand whether it's big or small. It's always small though. I've never done anything really big. Seeing a guy getting shoved repeatedly into lockers, that was one of those times.

There was a circle of jocks and the were all taking turns pushing a smaller guy into a row of lockers over and over again. Why no one had said anything or a teacher hadn't noticed Ii didn't know but they were just there laughing and the guy was grimacing.

"Hey!" I called as I walked over to them. A few of the turned to look at me and a few got flirty smirks as they made it no secret that they were looking me over. It was slightly flattering but more disgusting because they hadn't seen anything wrong with what they had been doing a few seconds ago. "What's your problem?" I demanded, throwing my hand out in the direction of the boy who definitely seemed younger than any of us.

"I don't know your name," One of the replied smoothly and I rolled my eyes at him with a scowl. I was serious and they didn't care.

"I meant mentally but clearly the problem with your brain is that you don't have one." That didn't seem to phase him so I decided I was going to have to be a bit worse. "Or maybe your problem is physically," I said with a quick glance down and a sarcastic wince. This seemed to strike a nerve thankfully and the guy's face went red. One of his friends stepped in before he could say or do anything.

"Is there something you wanted because I would be very happy to help," He said with a flirty smirk. "With anything," he added, with special emphasis on anything.

This was off putting because this never ever happened to me but there had been something going on with my life for a few days now and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Okay, I definitely liked the attention from Jordan but other than that I wasn't sure. Maybe the makeover too.

"You could get the hell out of my way and leave this guy alone," I suggested with a nod at the boy holding his shoulder. My blood was boiling at how they didn't seem to care that they were just injuring him for the heck of it. They were laughing. Having fun. It was completely disgusting.

"Or you could forget about him and we could go have a bit of fun somewhere else," he suggested, taking a step towards me but  I just raised my eyebrows and scoffed at him.

"Cocky, arrogant jerk," I scoffed at him. "I'd prefer to kill myself by climbing up your ego and jumping to your IQ."

"Excuse me?" he asked, looking shocked and his eyes alight with anger. The guy they had been pushing tried to get passed when they were all looking at me but the guy I was talking to pushed him back again and that just really set me off.

"Why are you even here? Who left your cage open? Because honestly I'd slap you but that would be considered animal abuse," I insulted, my face blank but I was boiling with anger inside. "No wait sorry, I can't tell if you're an animal or if your face caught fire and someone tried to put it out with a hammer. Then again, I heard your parents took you to a dog show and you won so I guess there's that. But there was that blind kid who cried when he saw you. Oh well, at least your funny. People just have to take one look at you and they're cracking up. " His face was bright red and all of his friends were either stunned or looking at me like I was amazing. I pushed passed him, took the guy they had been pushing by the wrist and pulled him away with the guy shouting things at me as I went.

"Jerks," I seethed as I walked around the corner and let the guy go. He looked absolutely relieved that I had gotten him out of there.

"All jocks are jerks," the guy replied. "Thank you so much by the way. I would not have gotten out if it wasn't for you."

"No problem. I feel horrible that I said that but I'm glad you're pretty much okay," I said to him with a small smile. The bit of adrenaline was leaving my system and I was becoming aware of what I had actually said to the guys and I was feeling horrible. I wasn't about to go back and apologize and I didn't regret helping the boy out but now I felt terrible because I was horribly mean. I didn't even think about what I was saying. I was just so in the moment and the words were coming. Stupid doesn't accurately describe it because the insults were pretty good I guess but they were mean and I just threw them at him and now I'm a horrible person. Yay me.

*     *     *     *     *

"Zach you do have a home right?" I asked him jokingly as I closed the door while still waving at Shauna who was driving away. I let my bag drop beside the door, underneath the sparse coat rack . I could see him in the kitchen, leaning against the counter behind the sink, downing a glass of water. He had a navy beanie on and normally I don't like beanies on guys but apparently I was just looking at all the wrong guys because he made it look really hot.

"You're house is better than my house. My house is overrun with crying children. Your house is so nice and quiet," Zach answered as I walked into the kitchen and jumped up onto the counter beside him. Zach's mother was a childminder but she ran it like a day care from her home with her sister so they had a house full of children every day. It was fun for a while and then the kids go from adorable to annoying so I understood why Zach liked to be out of his house so much.

"I like being taller than you for once. It's refreshing," I told him with a smug smile and he rolled his eyes at me with a small smile at the corners of his mouth before trying to push me off the counter. I gripped the edge with both hands but he was too strong for me and I slipped down from the counter so I wouldn't hurt myself. "You ruin all my fun," I complained jokingly, sticking my tongue out at him.

"I like being taller than you," Zach replied with a shrug and I tilted my head back further when I took a step closer to him. I hated being short. I wasn't really short, I was average but I was short compared to Zach. I huffed lightly as I took in the actual height difference. It wasn't like he towered over me, it was a nice comfortable height difference. It was the kind of height difference that made you feel cute and small and protected when you hugged. The kind of height difference that meant his arm fit around you perfectly. The kind of height difference that made you feel petite and feminine. I liked it.

I gave Zach a hug, just a one armed hug around his waist. It was only meant to be short and sweet. A cute little gesture or something but he wrapped his arms around me immediately so I gave him a proper hug. The doorbell developed impeccable timing and rang just before it was about to get awkward. Hugs are great, honestly, but there comes a time to let go and some people just don't understand that and it goes on for way too long and becomes awkward and uncomfortable.

Luke was standing outside with his finger hovering over the doorbell like he was about to press it again. It wouldn't surprise me though, he seemed like the kind of person who would keep ringing the doorbell constantly until someone answered just to annoy people into doing what he wanted. It had completely slipped my mind that I had t tutor Luke today. I had reminded myself all day but the last few minutes had just made it slip my mind.

"Oh right, sorry. Luke come on in. I forgot you were coming," I apologised and held the door open for him to come in, closing it behind him as he brushed passed me.

"I don't even get a hello Kitten?" Luke teased with a smirk as I walked into the living room to set up. One things I loved about my house was that most of the ground floor was open.  The living room had no walls connecting it to the dining room  and there was no walls between the dining room and the kitchen but there was a wall that divided the living room from the kitchen but there was a big gap in it like a window or something and the hall had no walls either. It was nice and open and meant you could see everything that was going on.

"Kitten?" Zach asked, his voice harder than it had been a few seconds ago and his usual small smile that almost always played on his lips was completely gone. It was strange, he was usually as happy and friendly with everyone as he was with me but that didn't seem to be the case with Luke.

"Yeah. Kitten. She's cute and adorable like one but she's fiery and fiesty too," Luke explained with an almost smug smile, probably because my face lit up like a Christmas tree with a blush when I heard and turned my back on the so they couldn't see even though they had both seen it anyway.

"Seems like a pretty generic pet name. El's too special to have something generic," Zach replied, making my stomach flip and my face burn a deeper red than it had been before. It was like the were competing to see who could make me blush worse and I wasn't exactly sure who was winning yet.

"I don't give people pet names. Ellie's an exception. Kitten's not generic, it actually means something. It actually suits her. You just shortened her name," Luke quipped back and I felt the need to say something  to make this weird tension between them stop but knowing me I'd probably end up saying the wrong thing and it would just turn embarrassing.

"Ellie I'm going upstairs to Adam but call me if this guy's bothering you," Zach said to me, his jaw clenched. My eyebrows drew together with the slight confusion at his suddenly guarded yet soft tone so I just nodded and with a strange glare at Luke, he jogged upstairs. I shrugged it off and sat down on the couch in front of the coffee table.

"Who is he?" Luke asked, taking a seat beside me.

"That's Zach," I answered, giving him a weird, confused look. "You met him yesterday."

"I know what his name is but who is he?" Luke clarified and with a soft 'oh', I nodded at him.

"He's my brother's best friend. He practically lives here now because his mom owns a daycare and his house is full of loud children so he spends most of his time here," I answered him again and he nodded stiffly.

"I don't like him."

"You don't even know him," I retorted with a roll of my eyes.

"I know enough." Then with a sudden attitude change, Luke moved closer to me and threw his arm over the back of the couch so that if it moved an inch or two it would be resting on my shoulders instead. "So Kitten, how bout we study some chemistry," Luke suggested with that smirk that let me know he was flirting now.

"I take chemistry. There's only one class in our year and you're not in it," I replied, biting my bottom lip nervously as he leaned a little closer. I would have run away or something but it was my house and he would just follow me. I could call Zach or Adam but that would be childish and immature so I just stayed there as his smirk widened slightly.

"Then how about I show you what I know and you can help me learn some more," Luke suggested, his hand moving to push a piece of hair behind my ear. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and my stomach flipping with nervousness. I did not want Luke Masters to insinuate anything at all. I liked Jordan, he was the one I'd like to be here with but I was stuck with Luke and he leaned even closer but only slightly.

"Ever notice how we all learn to write the same way but everyone's handwriting is different. It's like despite everything that you learn in school, your personality still manages to shine through," I blurted out of my nervousness. Once again my weird defense mechanism was coming into play. Luke looked at me with a strange glint in his eye and a genuine smile, from what I could tell.

"You're something else Kitten," Luke told me, shaking his head and moving back away from me. Not a lot but enough to make me more comfortable. "I love it."