Red Oak Academy Book One: Mount Up

~Chapter Twenty Three~

I hurried to where I had left James that morning and didn't see him. I started toward the dorms. As I turned the corner, I bumped into someone. I took a step back and saw Matt, a boy from my History class.

"Hey Matt!" I said. "Have you seen James recently?"

"Yeah," he nodded his head. I just left him. We were down at the basketball courts playing one on one. He's a pretty good player."

"Mhm," I nodded, not paying much attention. My eyes zeroed in on a blond figure moving quickly in the direction of the courts and I turned to Matt quickly. "Thanks, I have to go."

I gave a quick wave and sprinted off as he raised one hand in a small half wave. I ran down the paths until I reached the courts. Flouncing in from the other direction was the Royals. Regina's nostrils flared when she saw me.

I pulled open the door and closed it softly behind me as I saw Regina enter through a small side door. There were three full size courts side by side. James hadn't seen any of us yet and I paused, studying him. He dribbled toward the hoop and did a pull back jump shot. The ball swished through the net and I smiled.

My smile quickly ended though when Regina trilled, "James! Imagine seeing you here!"

He glanced over at her, confused, "Umm, hi? I guess. I don't really know you."

She tossed a flirty smile at him and winked, "Oh, but you could." He smiled and made his way towards her.

"James, don't!" I cried out. He whipped his head around and his glance landed on my head.

"Hey Ri!" He said, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." He gave me his lopsided smile and I blushed.

"I'm just that irresistible huh?" He asked, changing direction and walking over.

Regina glared at me as he wrapped me in a hug. "What did you want Sunshine?" He whispered in my hair.

"It's a long story, do you want to go to the SC and talk over warm chocolate pie?"

He glanced at the court quickly and hesitated. "Well... I wasn't completely done but who can say no to two of my favorite things- you and pie? Especially if you're buying."

He winked and I fake punched him in the arm. "Oww, I've been murdered!" He dramatically fell to the ground and I laughed.

Regina was glaring at me with a murderous look. "Well girls," she said, "let's go. I thought he was better than that, but if his standards are so low, he's not worth the energy." And with that they left.

"Ugh, are they gone?" James asked rolling over to look up at me.

"Fortunately," I replied, pulling him to his feet.

He looked at me curiously, "I'm assuming you don't like them?"

I snorted. "Absolutely not. I'll tell you about that too when we get to the SC." I grabbed his hand and we went back outside in the cold.

We ordered our pie and ate it together, sitting in a small booth in the corner. I told him all about me and I learned a lot about him. He was an only child from New York city. His parents were both lawyers and to get him out from under their feet, they had sent him to several boarding schools since he was in fourth grade. He had been expelled from all the previous schools.

"Really!? So I'm getting involved with a bad boy? How did you get kicked out of Mirror Lake?"

"Do you really want to know," he said mysteriously. I nodded quickly and he leaned across the table so no one else would hear. "I left on my own." He sat back with a smirk on his face.

"What!?" I asked in confusion. "I thought you got kicked out!?"

"I didn't say I got expelled from Mirror Lake, just all the previous schools." He laughed at my facial expression.

"They why did you leave?"

"Well, I was one of the popular kids, mainly because I was dating Jayde so I had to be popular or else fear the rath of Jayde," he laughed. "Well after the show I was telling Jayde about you and she got mad, she thought I was going to break up with her so she broke up with me to save her 'facade'. Well after we broke up I was no longer popular. Jayde started publicly attacking me and saying things that weren't true."

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry. I feel like in a way, I  caused this."

"No!" James said shaking his head fiercely. "You are not  the cause of this. It would have happened on its own anyway. We weren't right for each other. That's why I left, I wanted to find you and get away from it all."

"Well you found me," I smiled at him.

He smiled at me, "I sure did Sunshine, I sure did."

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Hey!! I updated!! Sorry for the long wait- I almost had this chapter completely done but then it deleted and I had to restart. :( Anywho... it's up now but apologies for it being shorter than usual, this chapter is mainly a filler so you could learn a little about James.

I have decided to finish at 35 chapters than move on to book two! Thanks for everyone's feedback!

I love you all!! Thanks so much for the support you have given me!

Please comment and vote!! I love reading comments, it makes my day!! ♡

Kisses!
Abbi ♥♥