We Have A Lot In Common: I'm Hot, You're Hot-Let's Date!

Chapter 8: Fight

omg!!! :D :D chapter 8 <33 lol so yes, for all of you on team noah- here's your chapter! please vote/comment/support. i realize i've posted both chapters 7 and 8 within a day of each other, but that's because i won't be posting for the next week :O *queu gasp* i won't have internet access where i'm going, so i tried to make it up to you all, by leaving with two good chapters. i really hope you all like them <333 love you all! thanks!

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Chapter 8: Fight

(Noah’s POV)

“Can you seriously just stay out of this?” Liv says sharply.

My jaw tightens. Stay out of this? Out of what? Out of her chasing around one of the biggest tools our schools ever seen? She can’t really be that clueless, can she? I sigh. Maybe it’s not so much of her being clueless than it is of her being hopeful. I can feel my frustration fading already and my shoulders begin to relax. I’m not really one to stay mad for that long. It’s not Liv’s fault for saying that.

She doesn’t know what she’s saying because Kale’s blinding her sense of judgment. He is going to pay for that. I don’t care how long we’ve been friends. It was fine when it was any other girl, but not Liv. Nobody messes with Liv’s head and gets away with it—especially if I’ve got something to say about it. And I’ve got plenty to say about it.

Gym class ends and I don’t say anything more to her. The last thing I want to do is fuel the fire. Liv’s like a fire—wild and uncontrollable, and sometimes, it’s just best to give her time to die down and cool off.

On the way to the locker room, I see Kale blatantly flirting it up with Chloe McKinnon. Is that why Olivia had asked be about her yesterday—because of Kale? I feel a shiver crawl up my spine as I wonder why she cares so much about him. I shrug it off and push through the locker room doors. When Kale enters with his smug little face all worn in a smirk, I feel angry again.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I confront him.

My voice seems foreign to me. This is so unlike me. I never get fired up like this. The locker room drops silent and everybody’s listening in. Regardless, the adrenalin kicks in and I can feel myself burning red.

“What do you mean?” he cocks an eyebrow.

“I mean going around flirting all lovey-dovey with Chloe when you went and kissed Olivia yesterday?”

“Olivia knows there’s nothing between us, what happened yesterday was nothing. Besides, I’ve got my eye on Chloe.”

“If someone says you leading Liv on with a kiss is nothing one more freaking time I’m gonna—”

“Dude, chill out,” somebody from behind me says. “Olivia’s gotten around. It’s not like she’s always been the victim.”

I spin around so fast that if I wasn’t so focused with fury, my vision would have gone blurry for a second. I glare at the boy who said that to me. He looks like a junior, but he’s about as big as me. I don’t recognize him by name, but I know I’ve seen him around school once or twice.

“Wanna say that again?” I dare. Then I suddenly remember that he had been checking out Liv earlier during class. “I bet the only reason you say that in the first place is because you can’t get her.”

“Coming from the kid who’s been following her around like a lost puppy for the past two years,” Kale mutters.

“What the hell did you say?” I throw a punch, connecting clean with his jaw.

For a moment the whole room freezes. Kale’s eyes are wide with surprise and the second they narrow, reality sets back in. I can feel my heart throbbing in my ears. What had I just done? Just before I had the chance to run, the Kale clenches the back of my shirt, sending me crashing into the lockers.

My breath escapes me and I slide halfway down the lockers. Before he had a chance to take advantage of my weak position, I force myself up and drill my fist into his stomach and his knees buckles beneath him.

“We’re done here.” I walk past him, with no intention to fight any longer. Fighting’s not really my style, I save it for the ice.

“Hey!” he shouts.

I quickly whipped around to meet his fist. I stumbled backwards, wiping the dribbling blood from my busted lip with the back of my hand.

“Now we’re done here.” He walks by, shouldering me as he does so, but I don’t do anything about it. I deserved that.

The noise and chatter in the locker room finally starts buzzing again and I make my way over to the sink to wash up. I stare at myself in the mirror. Some hockey player you are, I sneer at myself. I can’t even win a fight.

I slouch over the sink and begin rinsing my busted lip. That was my first fight off the ice. Over a girl. Both, actually. It was my first fight and my first fight over a girl. I study my face in the mirror, I can already see a bruise starting to take color. Luckily, my busted lip isn’t noticeably swollen, but it still feels like it.

“Olivia Beckett, what are you doing to me?” I whisper to myself as I dry my face.

I leave the locker room after everyone else had to avoid having to look anyone in the eye—especially that junior boy who thought he was a real hotshot talking about Liv like that. The bell for class had already rung, but I’m not exactly in a hurry.

I spot Kale in the hallway and am tempted to walk over to him. I’d say something like “Look, man, I’m sorry,” and then something about Liv, and he’d probably be cool with it. Kale’s a pretty chill guy, plus we’ve been buds for years. But I was too stubborn and childish to swallow my pride and do it.

Later that day I see Liv in lunch, sitting with her usual friends, Carly and Maddy. I don’t mind Maddy at all, but Carly tends to get under my skin sometimes. Normally I’d sit with the guys, but they’re all probably sitting with Kale, and I’m not exactly ready to see him just yet.

“Hey, Liv,” I greet her, setting my tray down across the table. I look to her friends and nod, “Carly. Maddy.”

“Hi Noah!” Maddy says.

“What happened to your lip?” Carly asked in a way that let me know she already knew the answer.

My tongue’s tied, and I feel completely reluctant to answer.

“Just an accident.” I reply reassuringly.

Lunch passes slowly and quietly for me. The girls are engaged in some gossip that I’ve tuned myself out of. Normally, I’d be talkative and joke around, but right now, I honestly just want to sink into my seat and vanish. After lunch ends, Liv sends Carly and Maddy ahead without her.

“I told you to stay out of it,” Liv scolds me.

That comment right there hurt more than Kale’s punch. If it was anybody else in the world, I’d retort with something sarcastic, but not Liv. I’ve already hurt her enough today with my foolishness.

“Sorry,” I shrug and offer her a smile, “I’ll stay out of it from now on.”

She frowns and lowers her eyes, not seeming to be too mad with me anymore. She waits a moment, as if trying to think of what to say. She lifts her eyes and studies my face. In the midst of all this frustration and guilt, is it wrong to say how adorable she looks? Liv raises her hand and lightly brushes over my bottom lip with her thumb.

“Just take care of yourself before you go off worrying about me,” she says sincerely and walks away.