Country Girls Do It Better... Book 1 Of The Healing Through Horses Trilogy

Chapter 26

Kate's p.o.v.
          "Hey, beautiful."
          "Shut up, Chase."
          I climbed into his Subaru, not up for taking his, or Hunter's crap today.
          Mother Nature had decided to pay me a visit. Early in fact.
          "Oooh... Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He put the car in drive and began the journey to school.
          "Yeah. Mother Nature." I replied and leaned my head against the passenger door window.
          "Wha-oh. I get it." he smirked, turning out of my driveway.
          Again, dad hadn't exactly been ecstatic about Chase picking me up, but he got over it. At least, hopefully he would...
          It was kind of like the whole Twlight love triangle. Me, Chase, and Hunter. It was obvious that Chase liked me, and it was obvious that that made Hunter jealous.
          I banged my head against the window lightly.
          "Hey, hey hey. Careful. Don't hurt yourself." Chase glanced over at me, a concerned look on his face. "You okay?"
           "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't miss the turn."
           He looked back to the road just in time, almost missing the turn into the school. "Oh thanks. What would I do without you?"
            "No Idea."
            He pulled into an empty parking space and cut the engine.
           I drug my butt out of the car, not especially wanting to. Chase was met by a few guys that I hadn't seen except for a few sightings in the hallways. There were three of them, and they seemed like the kinds of guys to be in a gang. Or lead a gang. They were all a few inches taller than Chase at least, and one of them had piercings all over his face. The second had a sleeve tattoo and sleeveless shirt. 
              I shrugged past them, trying to make myself as small as possible. 
             Needless to say, it didn't work. 
           "Chase. Who's this pretty little lady? Your girlfriend?" The one with the multiple piercings asked. 
           Chase ducked his head as if ashamed. "No, Jack. It's just some random girl I picked up off the street." 
             I was hoping there was some sarcasm or something in his voice, but there was nothing. He didn't even look up at me.
             I glared at him and turned to go into the school. I hurried to my locker, slamming the door open. It clanged against the locker next to it and rattled my teeth. I shoved my books in, not really caring what order, or anything else at this point. 
            My eyes caught on a giant poster hanging on the wall next to my locker. 
            It read: Do you have a date for the Christmas Dance?  The words were surrounded by festive looking bows and pictures of Holly. 
          You see, my school is extremely into dances. The Thanksgiving dance, the Christmas dance, Prom, Homecoming, the Graduation dance. There were so. Many. Dances. Most schools only have a few dances, so a person buys a dress, only to grow out of it within a few months. I guess here you get a few good uses out of your expensive dress. 
        "Hey." 
         I jumped a little, before turning to my right and seeing Chase. I scoffed, slammed my locker door shut and stalked past him. I heard the soles of his Converse hit the linoleum as he hurried after me. 
          "Wait, Kate! What did I do?" He caught my arm, turning me to look at him. 
          "What did you do? Really?" I wrenched my arm out of his grasp. "I'm just someone you picked up off the street? Smooth, buddy. Real smooth." I turned away and began walking away again, but he easily caught up to me. 
         "I didn't mean it. I was just trying to make sure they leave you alone. You don't know them." He had a cautious look in his eye. A warning look.
         But at this moment, I just didn't care. 
       "You know what? I don't care who they are, or what you meant. Leave me alone." This time he didn't follow me, but I could still feel his gaze drilling holes in my back.
        Usually, I wasn't this touchy. Must be a that-time-of-the-month thing.
       As soon as I got into my first class, I sat down, dropped my head on the desk and closed my eyes. My stomach felt like it was eating it's way out from the inside. I was dreading seeing Hunter later. I sent up a quick prayer.