Addicted To You

14| Pop rocks

Chapter 14: Pop rocks (Nathan's POV)

I sat down in my seat as Brandon walked through the door. I groaned, putting my head down. 

What is wrong with me? Why am I so... hostile towards her? She's been nothing but nice to me. 

"Yo, yo, yo," Brandon said, plopping in his seat, "Why so glum? Chum," he smiled. 

"Don't," I shook my head. 

"Okay." He put his hands up in surrender and we sat in silence while students started filing into the classroom. Kendall walked into class on her own. Emma isn't here. Where the hell is Emma? 

"Where's Emma?" Brandon and I asked in sync. 

"She went to the bathroom," she replied while sitting in her seat. 

Mr. Cole walked in and Emma still wasn't here. "Ms. Hayden, you're-" 

"Right behind you, sir. I'm not late," she said, running over to her seat and settling down just as the bell rang. 

"Saved by the bell indeed, okay, let's get to work, shall we?" 

She took her notebook and pen out and was zoned in. No hi, no smile. I know we just saw each other outside but still... no hi? She must have realized I was watching her because she turned to me. "Hi, Nathan," she smiled as if she just read my mind. I looked at her in confusion. "I didn't say hi earlier, I say hi to you every day," she shrugged. I shook my head, biting back a smile while getting to work. "You owe me a pack of Pop rocks," she whispered. 

"Why do I owe you a pack of Pop rocks?" I asked.

"Because of the stunt, you pulled this morning. Call it a make-up-gift," she said, focused on her writing and taking notes. 

"What stunt did he pull this morning?" Brandon asked. 

She looked at me, then at Brandon. "He didn't say hi back when I saw him outside," she said, flashing me a grin. 

"Then I'll buy you a pack of Pop rocks," I shrugged. 

"Let's not talk about Pop rocks, Mr. Sterling, focus please," Mr. Cole called me out. I'm always the one who gets called out, this is totally unfair. 

The day went by as it would normally and it was now lunch. "I have to go to the library, I'll meet you guys at lunch," Emma said. 

"Why are you going to the library?" Kendall asked. 

"Brandon, you're supposed to go too, you know? You know the three books our English Lit teacher told us to issue? Turns out we don't need one of them, I'm going to return my copy, you wanna come?" she asked. 

"I was gonna go at the end of the day but sure," he shrugged, going with her. She linked her arm with his as they walked. He said something, she laughed, she said something, he shook his head and laughed. 

"Can I ask you something, Nathan?" Kendall asked as we took our seats. 

"What's up?" I asked. 

"How come you're... how come you're different with Emma?" 

I frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?" I questioned. 

"You know you're different with her, right? You're a lot nicer to her than you are to a lot of other people." 

That's not true, I'm such a prick to her. "That's not true," I shook my head, "I'm actually really rude to her." 

"No," she said slowly, "You think you're really rude to her because she's always been so nice. That makes you think you should be nice in return, and you are. But there are a lot of other people who are nice to you and you don't exactly reciprocate that."