Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (28)

Though we were about to get two weeks off from school, I wasn’t exactly about to call that a vacation. I had to deal with Claudia, Cassidy, and Eli, so I definitely wasn’t on any type of vacation at all. It seriously felt like school was my vacation, not the other way around. Even though I still had to deal with Eli and Cassidy at school as well…

“Freedom!” Chloe shrieked when the last bell of the day rang. I couldn’t help but grumble unhappily to myself. Two weeks in complete hell… How fun. “I thought the bell was never going to ring! But finally, we’re free for two whole weeks! I’ve been waiting for this day since Thanksgiving break ended!”

“Haven’t we all?” I drawled, blowing a piece of my hair out of my face as two boys loudly went running past us. “No one likes school, Chloe. Except for Stephanie. And me, but only because I don’t like being home. Now all we get to do absolutely nothing for the next two weeks. Of course we’re all happy about it. Well, except for Stephanie… and me.”

Chloe giggled, and then shrugged. “Do you want to go hang out today?”

I shook my head, my grip on my backpack tightening just a little as I adjusted it on my shoulder. “Sorry, I told Simon I would hang out with him and the rest of my friends from my old school. I haven’t really seen them in a while. But we’ll definitely hang out sometime during the break, okay?”

Chloe smiled, nodding at me. “Alright!”

We continued heading toward the front of the school, chatting about what we were going to do during the break. Chloe sounded so busy, and yet I had pretty much nothing planned for the entire two weeks. I was probably just going to lie around my house or hang out with Jack. I was just glad that I didn’t have to deal with school. But no school meant having to deal with Eli and my family…

It had only been a week since he had moved in, which meant that he had already paid my family fifty thousand dollars. I still couldn’t believe that Eli was able to afford to actually spend all of that money on us… My dad only worked for three days a week now, and it was obvious that he was a lot healthier now.

“Does Jack know that you’re hanging out with Simon and your friends today?” Chloe asked once we finally got outside. The cold air smelt so much better than the stuck up smell inside the school. “It’s kind of obvious that he doesn’t care for Simon very much considering the fact that Simon--”

“Don’t say it,” I snapped, cutting her off before she could continue. “I’m not listening to lies.”

Chloe giggled once again. “Okay, Ivy, think whatever you want.”

“Jack knows that I’m hanging out with my other friends,” I informed her, rolling my eyes before looking around for Simon. “And he didn’t have a problem with it. Nope, not at all. I told him I’d call him when I got home. He doesn’t own me, you know.”

“He acts like he does,” Chloe teased, and I chose to ignore her comment when I saw Simon coming toward our direction. I knew I couldn’t talk about Jack in front of him, because he still didn’t like Jack, and the feeling was definitely mutual. Those two were going to have to start getting along or things weren’t going to work out…

I quickly said goodbye to Chloe, told her I would see her soon, and made my way over to Simon before he could get over to us. I knew Chloe would make an even worse comment about Jack if she knew Simon could hear her.

“I hope you’re looking forward to seeing Henry’s boyfriend today,” was the first thing Simon told me when I got closer to him. Not hey or hi, like he usually said to me. Not even a hello. He was obviously still pissed off about me going out with Jack. “He’s gonna be hanging out with us today.”