Chapter 3

                                                                               ***

"Watson!" Carter yells from behind.

Ignoring him, I roll my eyes and increase my pace to try and get away from him. When he matches my pace, I hear his feet stamping on the ground and as soon as he catches up with me, I give up and turn around to face him. When he leans against the wall, he slightly curves forward and clutches his stomach while trying to catch his breath.

"Jeez,Watson. You're training for a marathon or something?" He pants.

"What do you want Carter?" I scowl at him and looking impatient as always every time I'm around him. How he still talks to me despite the I don't like you signs I've given him is still a mystery to me. How many more signs does one need in order to understand?

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, again." He comments faintly but audible enough. When I arch my eyebrow in response, he notices and his tone declines right away, this time sounding polite.

"So about that project in Chemistry, what do you think, perhaps we should pair up?"

His suggestion baffles me and I give a derisive laugh.

Carter's not one to take things to heart, so instead, he brushes it off and plays along. The dimples curve deeply on his cheeks upon seeing me laughing at his silly jokes and though they're dry, weirdly they're low-key funny.

"I know it's shockingly surprising that I'm asking you but, you're one of the smartest people I know, who else would make a better partner than you?"

Surprised by his response, my forehead furrows and I keep my arms folded over my chest. Did he just say that?

"I mean like a lab partner pff don't get ahead of yourself Watson I'm not into you." He says bluntly.

I'm getting angrier the more he speaks. I don't know what makes me more angry the fact that he doesn't find me attractive or that he's too comfortable telling me this. Not that I care if he finds me attractive anyway.

"What?" He chuckles softly, "I don't mean to say you're not attractive it's just --"

He pauses, almost as if he's looking for a better way to say it without stepping on my toes. Noticing how easily triggered I am by his unfiltered comments, he takes his time to construct his words.

"Well --" He says thoughtfully and cautiously, "You come off aggressive sometimes, all the time -- it's as if you've built up a wall that no one can get through. If I'm being honest the only person I can say is not afraid to break your walls down is your best friend."

Not knowing what to say I stay quiet and watch him nervously scratch the back of his head and kick his leg into the empty space before proceeding to speak.

"I know this is making you uncomfortable but someone had to say it, do you know how many people have wanted to talk to you? I mean the guys on my football team drool over you but none of them have perked up the courage to come up and talk to you. I'm just saying sometimes you gotta loosen up."

Dismayed, I heave a saddened sigh, my mind is flooding with so many questions I can barely construct a sentence.

Am I that mean to people? Too defensive? Too arrogant?

Almost choking by the sensation of a lump lodged in my throat, I manage to say something.

"I don't mean to push people away, I just like to set my boundaries. I didn't think it would come off as being mean and, I know I've said a lot of things to you the most, does that hurt you too?"

"Do I need to pull out my journal to answer your question?" He quips.

"You have a journal?" My eyebrows shoot up, and my eyes widen in astonishment.

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you about it," He says nonchalantly, ignoring the disappointment he's brought upon my face, "But honestly speaking you're harsh at times"

"Only to people like you,"

"People like me?" His eyebrows scrunch in perplexity.

"The arrogant type, you know the ones with the attitude,"

"Ouch!" He pouts and his face starts to crumple almost as if he's been hit in the stomach.

"Truth hurts huh?" I smirk. Having this moment that I've waited for so long finally coming to pass feels good. Someone had to tell him even if it's under these circumstances.

"Not as much as seeing that smirk on you, it's terrible. You need more practice," He utters, completely wiping off the excitement on my face.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, it takes me a while to put off the flames burning inside me. 

Will he ever let me have my moment of victory?!

"Maybe I'll see you later Watson, and don't forget about that chemistry project, remember you're not doing this for me but your future. Think about how good it would look on your recommendation letter!" He exclaims as he starts to retreat and gives me a single nod before blending into the crowd.

Standing still and silent, I watch him walk away, his unfiltered words are still swirling in my mind. Knowing how others feel about me is a harsh wake-up call, maybe not everyone is out to hurt me. There are nice people with good intentions and even though there're some that put on a haughty facade, they're not all like my stepdad, others are like Aiden Carter Reed.

Tessa's voice from behind startles me and prompts me to whip my head to her like a deer in headlights. Palming my hand on my chest, I heave a deep breath and I can feel my heart returning to its normal rhythm.

"You okay? I didn't mean to startle you," She says while her inquisitive eyes scan over my face.

"Ye-yeah I am, are you okay?" I swallow hard.

"Apparently not as good as you, guess somebody's been keeping you occupied," She says as she glances at Carter who apparently is standing a distance away conversing with his friends, and her eyes widen when I don't respond.

"Oh," I revert my eyes to her upon noticing him in the background. I'm like a cat on hot bricks and her prying eyes are only making it worse.

Wait why am I nervous? It's not like there's anything going on between him and I.

"Yeah he was just talking to me about the chemistry project," A nervous voice rips out of my chest.

"And?" She urges.

"I didn't say anything," I chuckle nervously, "You know Carter he likes to joke around a lot it's hard to take him seriously even if he's being serious,"

"Sooo... why did I catch you staring at him?" She folds her arms over her still chest. Is she even breathing?!

My hands start to sweat and I struggle to keep calm. Hearing Tessa asking me all these questions about Carter sounds as though she suspects something is going on between him and I. Knowing so well how loudly I've voiced out my thoughts about him to her, I would be surprised too if I were in her position.

"He said something to me that felt like a harsh wake-up call but I'll tell you all about it later. How've you been? I missed you,"

Drifting in silence for a couple of seconds while her ocean eyes are still scanning my face, the furrows on her forehead start to fade away.

"I missed you too," She replies and right away, my chest loosens up. Standing at a close proximity to each other, it doesn't take us long to fall into each other's arms. Swimming in her warm embrace, her warmth radiates to me and travels all the way to the corners of my mouth.

I missed her so much.

"I'm sorry --" We speak in unison, and after a slight pause we both giggle at how silly and awkward that was.

"I'll go first," I say and she takes a step back and waits for me to speak with her eyes still gazing into mine.

"I'm sorry that I shut you out when I shouldn't have. I know you were worried sick about me, and not knowing what I was going through must have been so hard for you to deal with. I was so mad that I didn't want to talk to you or anyone else and I hate the way I handled the situation. I should have at least said something to you."

"I'm sorry too," She pauses and I can tell that she's biting back a laugh, "I'm sorry that I have such a birdbrain friend who's afraid of guys and runs off whenever she's about to be kissed," She bursts into laughter and I chase her down the hallway all the way to the empty classroom.

When we both grab chairs, we place them in front of each other and sit down. She hunches over and props her chin in her palm, her eyes are impatient and filled with excitement.

"So tell me what happened, I know he tried to kiss you but I want to know the full details," She drums on her thighs.

Not knowing how she'll respond has my heart racing. I've had a couple of times when guys would try to be romantic with me and I'd always end up running away, literally.

"Well...when you both left, Micheal and I went for ice cream and he started being too overly familiar with me. I was uncomfortable so I pushed him aside and ran off."

For a while, she looks at me in silence and then burst out into a fit of laughter.

"You're hilarious I don't know what to do with you anymore. For how long will this keep going? I know you've been hurt in the past but when are you going to move on? You know not all guys are like the douchebags from your past, right?"

"I know but-"

"But nothing." She says -- completely disregarding my reasons, "Free your mind Becca, give these guys a chance and you'll see that they're totally different from what you think of them."

My mind immediately goes to Carter upon hearing that. We don't talk much but based on the conversation I had with him today, I saw a side of him I've never seen before, I saw his good side.

The way his eyes spoke to me each time they met mine. Even without a word, he showed me that he cares, he cares about my well-being, he worries about how I may end up alone if I keep pushing people away, he cares enough to put a smile on my face with his silly jokes, and the dimples -- I can't deny that they're cute although he shows them off to every girl he comes across.

"Micheal," She utters, "If you don't think he's cute then I don't know who is. You lost a jackpot B, I just hope there's still a chance you can mend your relation-ish-ship with him cause you don't know how lucky you are that he's interested in you."

She rests her back on the chair, her arms are folded over her chest and her eyes are searching for my thoughts. I don't meet her gaze and neither do I respond, my eyes are ducked down but I can feel her eyes lingering. She knows I'm thinking about something, something I wish I could tell her.

                                                                         * * *

                                                                     **********

My legs weaken with every step I take, dragging my tired self for a whole 20 minutes has me drained and I'm just looking forward to getting home and throwing myself on the bed.

Deciding to walk back home after making a stop at Burger King was the stupidest idea. What was I thinking? My belly's bloated from the extra large burger Tessa and Jake dared me to eat and I feel like I'm going to pass out.

When my house comes in view, I gather up all the strength I have in me to reach home. Finally, I've made it! A cry of victory escapes my mouth as I raise my hands overhead in a gesture of triumph.

Taking a few steps toward my driveway, I come to a halt when I hear the sound of a lawn mower. Turning my head in its direction, I see a figure of a shirtless man, and when I take a closer look at him, I realize that it's the new neighbor mowing his grass.

It's odd to see him shirtless but I can't deny how good he looks while doing it. With his muscles contracting with every strength he puts in that mower, he looks like the models you'd see in a photo shoot, or perfume ads.

Who knew I would have a model living right next to me?