I Stole the Bad Boy's Skateboard

Chapter 9: Lunch Buddies (Edited)

"What has gotten in to you?" Hayley asked, gesturing towards me from head to toe.

"What do you mean?" I asked back, raising and eyebrow.

"Come on, Lex," Hayley shrugged. "You look freaking badass!" she replied, squealing.

Alright, maybe I did do my research this time. After Hayley described me outfit yesterday as "girl boss vibes," I downloaded Pinterest and searched it up. I'm not sure why I did but, I just felt good waking up this morning. For the first time in my life, styling myself didn't seem like a chore. After a quick shower, I was staring into my closet longer than I usually did.

In the end, I chose a grey, checkered button down shirt over a white crop-tank top. I left it unbuttoned and wore it like a jacket. I paired it with high-waisted denim jeans and black military boots. My hair was tied into a high ponytail again, but sleeker this time around. I accessorized with my only pair of Ray Bans resting on the top of my head.

"You know what, Hayley? I'm gonna go back home and change," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Your tone suggests that you're not happy that I finally decided to dress like a normal fashion-updated seventeen year old for a day."

Hayley smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," she said. "It's just so new to me that you put effort into dressing up today. What's with the change of heart?"

I sighed as Hayley and I made our way to some picnic tables outside school. "I don't know," I replied, honestly. "I just...woke up in a good mood today. I think I'm radiating girl boss vibes. Don't you?" I winked.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me what happened last night? Why are you feeling like a girl boss?"

As I took my seat on a bench, I nervously shifted my gaze to Hayley. I was about to stutter out some words when I heard loud sounds of banging doors from behind us. Both Hayley and I averted our gazes from each other to look behind us.

There, furiously walking out the cafeteria doors, was Chase with his hands tightly balled into fists. His eyes were blazing in anger and frustration. The biker jacket he was wearing made his appearance look even more fearless and intimidating. He glared at anyone who stared at him, successfully averting their gazes. The poor janitor and and bookclub table were terrified.

Looks like someone's in a really bad mood. I wonder why?

I turned around to face my lunch, secretly smirking. Maybe he finally decided to be pissed about his skateboard.

Taking a bite from my Caesar salad, I felt an elbow nudging me on my side. I turned to look at Hayley who seemed to have tensed up a bit.

Biting her lip, she asked nervously, "Why is Hunter Chase walking furiously towards us?"

"I don't know and I don't care," I replied, going back to eating my almost untouched lunch.

Hayley decided to do the same, but not without asking another question. "It's about his skateboard, isn't it?" she asked. "Lex, you're so dead. He definitely knows -"

"Definitely knows what?" a furious voice asked, making Hayley and I tilt our heads slightly upwards.

Hayley forced a smile. "Definitely knows t-that...t-that..."

I rolled my eyes. "That you shouldn't be here," I replied for Hayley. "You're presence at our table is making those cheerleading oompas glare at us. I think they're waiting for us to melt to the ground."

Chase smirked, but his eyes were still had hints of rage and annoyance. At least he doesn't look like he'd stab me with a fork anymore.

The three of us just stared at each other awkwardly. Chase stayed standing up while Hayley and I continued to eat our lunch with our eyes fixated on him.

I can do this. Act innocent.

Suddenly, two guys appeared behind Chase. One guy had blonde hair that fell effortlessly down his forehead and nape. He had grey eyes and an almost identical smirk to Chase. By the looks of it, I think he's Dylan Haynes - Hayley's big time crush. The other guy had black hair styled up with gel. His eyes were hazel brown and surprisingly, he had the most genuine smile I had ever seen on a guy.

"Sup, Chase?" the blonde guy, Dylan, asked. "This where we're having lunch today?"

Chase didn't look behind him. Instead, he turned his smirk directly at me and nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "You guys keep this girl company. I need to talk to Lexi." Chase took a step closer towards me. "Alone."

"I like where this is going," the brown-haired guy replied, clearly teasing Chase. He made it obvious by patting him on the shoulder. He quickly turned to me and added, "Don't worry. Chase doesn't bite. I think."

Dylan hit him on the head as he winced in pain, rubbing the back of his head. "I was talking about meeting new friends, genius!" the brown-haired guy exclaimed, slightly making me smile.

"Sure you were," Chase replied, shaking his head. "Lexi, a word?"

I stared at him blankly, unimpressed. He's gonna have to do better than ask if he thinks I'm ever gonna go talk to him alone.

I rolled my eyes in reply. "Whatever you need to say to me, you can say it in front of your friends," I replied. "You've already made a scene so I'm sure there's no need for privacy."

"Don't you understand what the word alone means?" the brown-haired guy asked sarcastically. "When Chase says alone, he means -"

"That's enough, Dave," Chase shrugged. "I think I can take it from here."

With that, Chase gave one of those guy nods to his friends and walked away towards the school building. I watched his retreating image slowly getting smaller and smaller. For some reason, I was waiting for him to stop and turn around to wait for me but, he didn't.

"If you think he's going to stop and wait for you, he isn't," said Dylan, taking a seat across Hayley.

He wasn't looking at me when he said that. He was looking at Hayley.

I turned to glance at everyone on the table. Dave appeared to not be paying attention to anything happening around him as he dug into his food. Hayley was fidgeting with her fingers on her lap, obviously trying to hide the huge blush Dylan was unconsciously giving her. Dylan was on his phone.

"So what does he want me to do?" I asked. "I think by now you should have a pretty good idea that I'm not going to follow him."

"He'll just find another way to get through to you if you don't. It just gets worse for you if you wait it out. Just follow him and get it over with," Dave replied, suddenly appearing to be paying attention.

I glanced at Hayley hopefully, waiting for an answer. She sighed and smiled in return. "You can go and follow him," she replied, "You know I'll be fine here," ending with a small wink.

With that, I took a last spoonful of my salad and walked towards the school building. I dug my fingers into my jean pockets. Smirking at myself, there was only one thing going on in my mind.

Everything might just be working out the way I wanted it too. Take that Chase.