Pretending Not To Love You, page 4
“Watch where you’re going, nerd!”The brunette girl scowled.
“What the heck!” the blonde girl shrieked. “You freak! Look what you did. I’ve got smoothie all over my new outfit! I’m all green!”
“I—I’m sorry. It was an accident,” the thick-horned glasses girl stuttered.
“Sorry, isn’t good enough,” the blonde girl snarled.
Seeing that the thick-horned glasses girl was in distress, I rushed over. “Ladies, it was an accident and she apologized. Besides you guys could’ve watched where you were going too.”
“Mind your own business,” the brunette girl snapped.
“Well, I’m making it my business," I said firmly. My eyebrows furrowed and I stared them down.
The blonde girl bristled and turned to the thick-horned glasses girl. “Know this, freak; I’m going to make your life a living hell this year.”
“Come on, Mary,” the brunette advised. “I think I have some extra clothes in my car.”
Embarrassed, the thick-horned glasses girl glanced around to see if anyone witnessed the altercation. Fortunately, there weren’t that many students around.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I helped her pick up her academic books.
“I—I’m fine,” she stuttered, adjusting her glasses. “Thanks for your help.”
“I’m Raine Robertson.”
“My name is Celia, but people just call me Cici,” she said. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
“Yes, how about I help you carry some of your books to your destination?” I offered with a friendly smile.
“Well, if you don’t mind,” Cici said. “In hindsight, I should’ve grabbed a cart.”
“It’s not a problem at all,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. “Just point the way.”
We started making our way down the school hallway.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Cici blurted out.
“Done what?”
“Stepped in to help me out with those girls.”
“Why not?”
“Well, they’ve vowed to make my life miserable, but now they will make your life miserable too because you stepped in to help.”
“Who were those girls?” I asked.
“The blonde girl was Mary, and the brunette was Cara. They’re cheerleaders and think they are above everyone else. Well, that is, anyone who isn’t popular. Sorry I got you into this mess.”
I shrugged. “I’m not too concerned.”
“No, you don’t get it. They are mean, and they will do anything and everything to humiliate and make you miserable. And I should know, I’ve watched them do it to other girls.”
“I’m not worried,” I replied. “I know how to handle them. Stick with me and nothing will happen to you.”
“Why, what would you do?”
“Kick their butt.”
Cici slowed in her tracks to peer at me, her eyes widened in shock.
I started laughing. Cici’s giggling.
“I’m just messing with you, Cici.”
“Oh, good. Because for a second there, I thought you were serious.”
Chapter 6
Raine
“Let’s talk about a happier subject,” I suggested, and we continued on.
“Okay, so how do you like it here in Hazel Pathway so far,” Cici asked.
“It’s been great. Alex showed me around town not too long ago.”
“Alex? As in Alex Williams?”
“Yes.”
“Mary was Alex’s ex-girlfriend.”
“She is?” I asked, my footsteps faltering.
“No, she was—past-tense.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Cici gave me a curious look.
“Alex is a nice guy, but Mary is totally not,” Cici explained. “I’m not surprised they didn’t last long. They broke up after only a few months.”
“Why? What happened? And when did this happen?”
“I’m not sure what happened. All of a sudden, they just broke up. They were really hush hush about it. This happened last year, our sophomore year.”
I nodded, “Thanks for the tidbit.”
“No problem.”
I chatted with her about different things and what she was up to during the summer. Cici was a junior, funny and quirky. She was what most people would label a nerd, but I only saw intelligence behind those thick-horned glasses.
With books in our hands, we both made our way down the hall. Students were starting to pour into the hallways.
“Speaking of Alex, here comes Alex and his football buddies now,”Cici announced.
I looked up to see several guys wearing letterman jackets making their way toward us. Bystanders turned to look at the group of football players talking and laughing boisterously as they made their way down the school hall. Walking not too far behind them was Alex and a blond guy I’ve never seen before. So these were Alex’s football friends.
There was a brown hair guy holding a football in his hand, making a throwing motion. I hear the brown hair guy say, “Yo, Newman, go long.”
Suddenly, this Newman guy broke out of their group and started running toward me and Cici. The brown hair guy with the football threw it to the guy sprinting straight towards us. Except it wasn’t heading toward this Newman guy, it was flying fast and straight toward Cici’s head. We stopped short. Cici was looking like a deer in the headlights.
I hear a loud curse from the brown hair idiot who threw the football. My eyes flew back and forth between Cici and the ball. There was no time to think. I acted on instinct and with a quick reflex I jumped and gave a reverse roundhouse kick to the football. It hit one of the lockers with a loud thud and then bounced to the floor.
I landed back down in a crouching position. I gave a sigh of relief, steadied myself and righted my body. I was astounded and thankful that I was able to deflect the football while carrying a bunch of books. I could’ve landed hard on my bottom with books flying everywhere and would’ve looked like a complete fool.
“Are you ok?” I asked Cici. She just stared at me with her jaw opened. There was complete silence in the hallway. I looked around. The football players stared at me with amazement, some of them with their jaws dropped open as well. The students around me looked dumbfounded. Okay, so I did a reverse roundhouse kick to deflect a football. Apparently it was something no one’s ever seen before. I guess it was a little bit different—well maybe very different.
“You weren’t just messing with me back there. You would and could kick those girls’ behinds if they ever tried something,” Cici accused.
I grinned. “I wasn’t messing with you. I don’t believe in violence.”
I picked up the football and walked over to the guy who threw it.
“I see you need more practice,” I said coolly and handed it to him. “Watch where you’re throwing, you almost hit my friend in her face with the football.”
“You must be new here? I’m Ollie. That was one kick-ass move. What’s your name?” he asked.
Suddenly, Alex’s football buddies broke out of their trance-like state and started talking.
“Who are you?”
“Are you new here?”
“What’s that move called?”
“That was such a sick move!”
“Yo, that was badass!”
“I’m Raine.” But my attention was directed towards Ollie only.
Ollie apologized profusely to me.
“I think it’s Cici you need to apologize to,” I replied.
Cici came up behind me and Oliver turned to her and apologized. “I’m so sorry, Cici. That was an accident. My throw was off.”
Cici was dazzled by Oliver. “It’s ok. I’m not hurt or anything thanks to Raine.”
“That was amazing!”Someone interrupted. “Hi, I’m Todd Newman.”
I’m surrounded by a group of football players. They introduced themselves to me, asking me questions and complimenting me. They checked with Cici to see if she was okay. Cici was standing there next to me with a big grin on her face soaking in all the attention.
At first I wasn’t digging the attention because it was more my style to stay out of the spotlight. However, I decided to relax and enjoy it for once.
I nodded and answered the football players’ questions, breathing a sigh of relief when the school bell rang and everyone dispersed to class. The football players said their goodbyes and left. I recruited Ollie and Todd to help carry Cici’s books for her.
“It’s the least I could do since I almost hit you with a football,” Ollie admitted.
“Thank you so much. You’re my hero,” she exclaimed and gave me a hug. “I should really get going. I still have to drop these books off.”
“That’s fine. You go on ahead. See you at lunch,” I told her. Cici nodded and bounced off with Ollie and Todd in tow. I smiled and watched them go then pulled out my class schedule. Sigh, I still had to find my homeroom.
Chapter 7
Alex
I stepped over to talk to Coach Miller about some football issues and when I turned around, Raine was gone. I growled in frustration. Now I had to go look for Raine and I had no idea where she’d gone off to. I didn’t want to leave her alone to fend for herself on her first day of school. I had a strong urgency to find her so I quickly walked down the school hall, my eyes scanning around for her. When I rounded the corner, there were several of my teammates heading towards me and Chase was with them. I looked around, wanting to make a quick escape before they saw me. It was too late; they spotted me. I sighed. I would just have to keep an eye out for her. There was no use running around the school building.
“Williams,” they called out.
“Hey,” I fist bumped them.
“Where were you? I didn’t see you at our usual spot,” Chase asked. He fell into step with me and we started walking together. He was referring to the picnic table by the school building that we hung around at before the first bell rang.
“I talked to Coach earlier this morning,” I replied and proceeded tell him about my conversation with Coach Miller. We were so deep in discussion that Chase and I fell several steps behind our teammates. Several of them were joking around and laughing really loudly. Ollie held a football in his hand and kept feigning throwing the football to Todd. I didn’t think he was actually going to throw it.
All of a sudden, Chase and I hear a loud curse from Ollie. I glanced up to see the football flying straight towards Cici’s head. I looked on in horror. Then what happened next, took my breath away. I witness Raine, with books in her hands; quickly jump, then skillfully and smoothly reverse roundhouse kick the football into the locker. She landed back on her feet and straightened herself. My jaw dropped, and I was speechless—so was everyone else around her.
Raine picked up the football and walk over to an open-mouthed Ollie. She said, “I see you need more practice. Watch where you’re throwing. You almost hit my friend in the face.”
Suddenly, everyone started talking away.
“Who is that girl?” Chase asked me. I looked at the expression on his face. It was filled with awe and admiration.
My heart sank. I could tell Chase was into her. I knew this was going to happen. Chase was one of the best looking guys at our high school. He could get any girl he wanted with just a wink of an eye. I’ve heard girls described Chase as so good looking he could be a male model. I knew that once Raine laid eyes on Chase, she would fall head over heels for him. And I knew once Chase met Raine, he was going to fall hard for her.
“She’s my new neighbor,” I said. “Remember I told you about her?”
“That’s the new neighbor girl you were telling me about?” Chase asked.
I nodded.
“Are you interested in her?”
I shrugged, donning my best disinterested look. “Naw, she’s a nice girl but I’m not interested.”
His eyes narrowed, looking skeptically at me.
“I’m serious, dude. I’m not into her. She’s nice and we’re just friends. I could introduce you to her.”
“Are you sure?” Chase asked. He was trying to be sensitive to my feelings since he was indirectly involved in my breakup with Mary. “I’m positive,” I said, rolling my eyes in exasperation. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to her.”
“Raine,” I called out, walking over to her. “That had to be one of the slickest moves I have ever seen.”
The second bell rang so it was just her by herself now.
“I didn’t know you knew martial arts?”
She shrugged like it was no big deal. “I dabble.”
I shook my head, thoroughly impressed. “You beat me at basketball and you deflected a football with one roundhouse kick. What else aren’t you telling me?”
Before Raine could say anything, Chase nudged me.
“Raine, this is my friend, Chase. Chase this is Raine.”
Chase held out his hand. “Raine, it’s so nice to meet you. You have a beautiful name.”
Chase flashed her one of his famous killer smiles and gave her a wink. I studied Raine’s expression, waiting for her to be dazzled and fall under his spell.
“Nice to meet you, Chase,” Raine said politely, shaking his hand.
“I have to say, that was one mind-blowing move back there,” Chase praised.
“Thank you,” Raine said politely.
I was closely scrutinizing Raine and her reaction toward Chase and his charms. Still nothing. No sign of her falling under his spell nor was she dazzled by his good looks. It seemed like she had already moved on when she turned to me. “Alex, I’m so glad I found you. We got separated there.”
“Sorry, talking to Coach Miller took longer than I thought,” I apologized
“That’s not a problem. Can you tell me where my homeroom is located? I have most of my classroom locations figured out except for that one?” she asked.
She handed me her schedule, and I looked it over. “Oh! It’s just actually around the corner. It used to be a teacher’s lounge except they converted it into a classroom. That’s why the classroom number is off.”
Chase leaned in to look at her schedule. “Hey, we all have gym class together!”
Raine chuckled. “I’m relieved I have a class with someone I know.”
“Don’t worry, you can hang out with us,” Chase assured her. “You’ll make friends in no time. In fact, I would love to be your friend.”
I gave a silent groan. Chase was laying it on thick with his flirting.
“Thanks. You’re so sweet,” Raine said politely. If she thought Chase was flirting with her, she didn’t let on.
“Listen, I have to get to homeroom,” she exclaimed. “Bye, Alex. It was nice to meet you, Chase. See you guys later.”
Chase and I were left standing there watching Raine’s ponytail swish softly back and forth. Chase looked puzzled.
“Ummm, Williams? Can you tell me what just happened here?” Chase wondered. He looked puzzled by her indifference to him. He was just so accustomed to girls falling all over themselves for him whenever he flashed a smile but it hadn’t worked on Raine. From my experience, there was not a single girl in existence that could resist Chase. Raine not falling under his spell was actually quite refreshing for a change.
“Whatever do you mean, Calloway?” I beamed, feigning cluelessness and basking in his state of utter befuddlement. For once a girl wasn’t falling all over herself for him.
“I don’t know,” he sputtered. “Nothing happened! That’s the problem! Never mind. Let’s just go, we’re late for class.”
He took off, and I followed closely behind. How cool was she when she did that reverse roundhouse kick? Unfortunately, I knew for sure, whatever chance I could have had with Raine was obliterated. All of my football buddies appeared to be fascinated with her. Some of the guys on the football team were what the girls would consider attractive. Like Ollie, most girls would agree that he was probably the second best-looking guy in high school, but he was a player. Basically, Raine could date anyone she wanted. Why would she pick me?
Chapter 8
Raine
The first half of the day seemed to fly by. The students were whispering and staring at me as I walked down the hall. Some of them came up to me and introduced themselves, asking me all sorts of questions. I even heard a couple of kids call out “Ninja girl.”
I smiled and waved to them and continued making my way to the cafeteria. Cici had asked if I wanted to join her during lunch and I’d told her I would.
I got in line and grabbed my lunch. Afterwards, I scanned the cafeteria. My eyes landed on Cici waving like crazy to get my attention and gesturing for me to go over to her table. I smiled and started to make my way over there.
“Raine! Raine!” Maisy shouted. I turned my head around to see Maisy, with Tom, Alex and Chase sitting together at a different table. “Come sit with us!”
I looked at Alex. He grinned at me and gestured to the open spot between him and Chase.
Cici stiffened and her smile faltered. She eyed Alex and his table and watched me warily to see what my next move would be. Do I go over to her table or to Alex’s table? It was definitely a no brainer. I gave Alex and Maisy an apologetic look and mouthed sorry and walked over to Cici’s table.
“Hi, Cici,” I said. I sat next to her. “Thanks for saving me a seat.”
“You sat with us instead of at the popular table,” Cici sputtered, her eyes wide with wonderment. “Who would do that if they had the choice to sit with us or the popular crowd?”
“I don’t get why people care so much about social status and hierarchies,” I stated. “To me it means nothing. I judge people by their character not by the high school social tier.”
“You’re my hero,” Nica declared. Nica is a small fine-boned girl sitting across from me.
I smiled at everyone at the table.
“This is Janette, Tracy, Nica and Adam,” Cici pointed out her friends to me.
“Hi, I’m—.”
“You’re Raine Robertson aka ‘Ninja Girl’ aka hot girl,” Janette announced. “We know. It’s great to finally meet you.”
