Opposites Attract (On-Hold) - Chloe Knox (novels for students txt) 📗

ready to run as fast as I could only to collide into someone and fall on the ground anyway. Without bothering look up to see who had knocked me on my butt, I began to cry.
I didn’t care that all the teachers and students were watching me, I didn’t care that everyone would probably be talking about this tomorrow, I didn’t care…later I probably would, but right now I didn’t give a SHIT about ANYONE! I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted to go home, crawl into my bed, and cry like the gullible and pathetic blonde I was.
“Ashley, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” I looked up and saw Zane. His voice trailed off as he looked outside to see what I was too naïve to even believe would ever happen.
“Ashley…I…I’m real sorry,” he began to mutter again, as his brown eyes slowly slid from Josh and Rebecca back to me.
This only made me want to scream. I was so embarrassed and felt so stupid! The last thing I wanted was someone’s pity, especially fake pity! Zane was probably laughing at me, inside at least.
Poor little rich girl!
“Do you…do you need a ride home?” Zane asked slowly and hesitantly, but I ignored him.
I got off my butt, and pushed him as hard as I could, making him stumble back only because he was surprised. Without saying anything or even giving him one last glance I took off, running down the hall past all the students and teachers telling me that running in the hall weren’t allowed.
“Ashley! Wait!” Zane yelled, but I didn’t look back until I saw Lucy and Nathan.


Chapter Seven

Josh might be Nathan’s best friend, but Nathan has not only been my best friend’s boyfriend, but my neighbor for the past few years. And because of that, he considers me to be the little sister he never had, which I am—especially now—very thankful for.
The moment I came running out of the school he ran up to me and embraced me in a big hug that made my beating heart immediately being too slow to a normal pace. He held me tight surrounding me with warmth, while Lucy slowly rubbed my back. They both whispered words of encouragement and sympathy as I tried to explain what happened between sobs and gasping breaths.
Stuff like, “He’s a dick! He’s a douche bag! He’ll regret it! Want me to chop off his microscopic penis?” came from Lucy, but Nathan couldn’t completely bash on his best friend, so he stuck with the neutral yet comforting comments, “You’re a beautiful girl, Ashley! You deserve better! He’s not worth your tears!”
And now looking aimlessly at the trees and fast moving ground beneath me, as Nathan drove me and Lucy to the nearest grocery store to get supplies for a last minute girls night—plus Nathan—I begin to realize, I never like Josh.
When we kissed, my heart didn’t flip. When we went out, I never felt excited. He never complimented me, or even held open the door…with him, I felt nothing. But that realization only took away part of the massive hurt in my heart.
No matter how much I admitted that I had no feelings for Josh, I still felt stupid and naïve for letting the thought of love drive me into this situation. Like many girls my age, I was in love with the thought of being in love, especially since Josh was supposedly the most popular guy in school next to the rest of the football team. I had wanted it to work, and so I was blinded by my wants and dreams…
Nathan and Lucy? Why couldn’t I have what they had?
Every one insisted it was puppy love. It was just young love, and once senior year was over, they’d leave each other! But I think they’re wrong…
Nathan and Lucy have been together ever since freshman year when Lucy had accidentally bumped into Nate when at lunch, smashing her mashed potatoes all over his shirt. She was so embarrassed, but he only laughed. The very next day was Valentine’s Day, and he had bought her a carnation asking her out.
They always fight, over the stupidest things. They always complain and pick on each other. They always push each other over the edge.
But I’ve grown up with both of them, and its obvious how they feel about each other. They’re pretty much inseparable.
Their eyes always sparkle whenever they talk about the other. They’re always smiling, and holding hands, and the things they do when they’re not fighting…it’s so unbelievably cheesy, it’s cute!
They’re the pure definition of ‘High school Sweethearts’, and the school year book apparently agrees with me…
“Stop mopping, please,” Lucy said with a sad frown as she through yet another bag of candy at Nathan, who barely caught it before dropping it and all the other bags to the floor, “It’s kind of depressing.”
I offered a sad smile.
“C’mon, hun!” Nathan said with a sigh, “Can’t you be a little more sensitive?”
“Sensitive? I’m sensitive!”
“Just give her a break! She just found out her boyfriend was cheating on her!”
“I know! Exactly why you shouldn’t be moping! Smile, party! You’re single!” Lucy said turning to me as she hopped up and down and patted my cheek.
“Luce, this isn’t something that she’s going to get over in one hour!”
“She might be able to get over him, in a few minutes if you’d stop bringing it up, Nate!”
Nate laughed at Lucy, and she went agape.
“You like Twizzlers right?” she asked, as she picked up a bag of the classic red licorice, and tossed it right at Nate’s head.
To avoid getting smacked in the face by a bag of candy, Nate dropped all the other bags on the floor to catch the one.
Lucy stormed up to Nate and took the bag from his hands and threw it onto the floor with all the other bags of candy, “Why do you always have to fight with what I say?”
“Why do you always have to have the last word? I’m not your slave, Luce!”
“Oh yeah! Who where’s the panties in this relationship, huh?” Luce yelled making plenty innocent bystander stare, and I laugh.
“That’s completely irrelevant!” Nate yelled back as he glared.
“So…”
“Besides, it wasn’t that hard getting you to take off your panties last night.” Nate mumbled with a devilish smirk that reminded me a little too much of the one Zane wore twenty-four-seven.
Lucy gasped, and began to slap and punch Nate all over his chest, but he didn’t budge. He only stood there and took it for a moment as she screeched, “I can’t believe you’d say that in here, you freakin pig—“
Nate without hesitation, or a care in the world about what anyone saw, cut her off by wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her to his lips.
The bickering immediately stopped and instead the sloshing noises and soft moans of two teenagers were echoing through the mini-store. Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist, and I couldn’t help but laugh both in disbelief and amusement.
Most of the people in the grocery store, even at the register, were teenagers so there weren’t many complaints. Infact most—even the small number of adults that where there—where whistling as they walked by.
And then Mrs. Talbit, the elderly guidance counselor from school, began pushing her cart through the aisle which me, and the excited Nathan and Luce where in. She stopped and mumbled a, “Oh dear,” before turning to me with an amused smile, “I can see they’re as happy as ever.”
I laughed, and helped Mrs. Talbit check out; to get away from Nate and Lucy’s make out session which was still happening by the time me and Mrs. Talbit exited the store.
“Thank you so much for your help, Ashley.” Mrs. Talbit thanked me as she shut the trunk to her punch buggy.
“Any time, Mrs. Talbit.” I said genuinely glad that I helped Mrs. Talbit.
I had never really been into Mrs. Talbit’s office, since I never actually needed the aid of a counselor, but I knew and hung out with her all the time at school. She was like the hip grandma that everyone wanted, but never had.
She nodded climbed into her car, and then before smiling and driving off, tossed me a bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans. My favorite candy in the world!

Ten minutes later Lucy and Nathan finally walked out of the grocery store, shirts wrinkled, hair messed up, and huge smiles on their faces.
“That must have been one great make out session because I know you two did not just do it in the bathroom?”
Nathan laughed, but Lucy wrinkled her nose in disgust, “Of course not…Nathan’s just one hell of a kisser!” she whispered as she took a seat next to me on the loitering bench outside of the store.
I giggled and…then I saw Zane…
He was leaning against a jeep, surrounded by a few guys who looked like they were maybe his age, maybe older. They were all laughing and each one was holding a small white stick in between their fingers that was a bright orange on the tip…they were smoking!
It wasn’t that big of a surprise to see Zane smoking, especially considering some of the rumors that have gone around about him over the years. What surprised me was that he handed the cigarette to a kid who looked like he belonged in junior high. It was obvious since like most kids in the middle school, he was wearing skinny jeans, and had that annoying Justin Bieber hair cut.
“Is that Zane?” Lucy suddenly asked making me quickly tear my gaze from him and the kid, “Umm, yeah I guess.”
“You know what you should do? To get over Josh?”
“What?” I asked simply to amuse and entertain Lucy.
“You should go over there, and kiss him.”
I froze for a good minute just looking from her, to Zane, to a chuckling Nathan, back to Lucy.
“What? Are you crazy? No! I’m not doing that!”
Lucy laughed, “Why not? Live a little!”
“No! I’m not going to kiss him!”
“C’mon, Ashley! What’s wrong with him? He’s hot!” Nathan flashed Luce a glare, but she shrugged him off and smiled at his automatic jealousy.
“Just do it!”
“No!”
“Do it!”
“No”
“I’ll give you twenty bucks!”
“Where’s the money?” I asked, and without hesitation Luce reached into Nathan’s pant pocket to pull out a twenty dollar bill. Nathan sighed and rolled his eyes but he didn’t bother arguing with her.
I laughed, “You’d seriously give me twenty bucks, just so you could watch me peck a guy on the cheek?”
“Nope. I want to see some lip action.”
I sat and glared at Luce, but she didn’t falter. She just continued to bore into my eyes with her narrowed one, holding the twenty dollars in front