Before We Begin (ON HOLD)

It's All About The Stop & Go

Chapter 15: It's All About The Stop & Go

During the rest of my classes, I had tried to focus on the teacher as much as I could. However, only a few of them made the class bearable. We were still in the back to school phase of syllabus week as we introduced ourselves to the teacher and the other students. Since everybody had known everybody in our small town, most of the students took this as a chance to catch up on the sleep they missed.

I walked towards my locker to finish packing up for the day so that I could head to practice. My hands reached for my phone that I had stashed towards the back of the locker. There was a notification for a text from Coach. I unlocked my phone to see that it said that practice had been canceled for the day: "All of us worked hard for Hell Week. So, rest up and be back tomorrow!"

The slam from my locker startled me into jumping a little bit. I felt someone's arm fall onto my shoulders as a second hand messed up my hair. I could felt it tousling and haphazardly moving everywhere in front of my face causing me to go blind for a few seconds.

"Jace!" I screamed with a high pitch that accompanied my annoyance quite well. " Do you have any idea how long it's going to take me now to fix the knots?"

"How long," Jace laughed out almost amused by how much I was huffing to get rid of the strands of hair that were floating in front of my face as the two of us began walking down the hallway.

Shaking his head, he moved his hand up to finish what I had started. He moved the remaining strands- which were most of them- out of my face so I would see again. "You're so lazy. You know that right?" He stated a fact as though I didn't know about it already.

"Tell me something I don't know and technically you made the mess. Therefore, and hence to, it is your responsibility to fix it. I rest arrest my case," I said laughing.

"I'm pretty sure it's 'rest,' Sweetie. So, am I giving you a ride home? I mean I'd rather not have to ask your dad about it like I had to this morning" He shaded as he raised an eyebrow up.

"I had forgotten to text you not to come by?" I uttered those words with a wave of realization that had flashed over me as I felt caught in the middle of a heat wave. I was completely flushed and I clenched my feet and my fists feeling guilty in every square inch of my body. I stopped dead in my tracks as I faced him. 

"I. AM. SO. SORRY. My house is the opposite way to get to school and you had to drive there and back for no reason. How were you so nice to me in the morning? I would have knocked me in the head and said how much of a bad friend I was being..." I started to ramble on without making any eye contact with him from the guilt that started to stack up.

"If you don't stop talking I'm going to mess up your hair again," He began to say as he placed both of his hands on my shoulders looking straight down at me. "Mistakes happen, that doesn't make you a bad friend. Alright? Anyways if I stopped being your friend for every time you annoyed me we would've stopped being friends in the second grade."

"But, we weren't even close friends back then," I began to say confused as we once again began to walk.

After he had calmed me down, the two of us ended up in what I called our Iconic Interlocked Arms move as we walked through the hallways that were now empty. I would look up at him as the two of us strolled along and talked. So, he became my designated walker guiding me through the obstacle course of that is our halls. 

 

"I know, but you really annoyed me with the whole goody-two-shoes Justice-wearing vibes," He laughed entertaining himself with his own jokes to which I couldn't help but smile. "Who were you friends with? I remember you hanging a lot with Chelsea, and oh, Ev-" He stopped which caused me to stop once again in my tracks.

I stumbled slightly at the abruptness of his stopping. My eyes saw his looking forward in shock as he raised his arm to point at something. I followed it with my gaze to where his fingers were now pointing. At the end of it, I saw Aiden and Leah really close with their bodies almost pressed against each other as Leah had her hands on his shoulders and Aiden had his hands on her waist. But within the fraction of a second, I saw Aiden's body get rigid and then, push her away.

"What hell are you doing? I'm dating your sister," He said turning away from her only to have his eyes meet mine and then, get shocked.

"Avery, when did you get here? I'm so sorry you had to see that. Your sister fell and I tried to help her. But, then she started hitting on me..." Aiden began to drone on and on.

Jace led me closer to them as Aiden talked. Though there were four people in the halls, I gulped my eyes looking only at Leah. There was a smirk that had formed on her face as she looked at me. That one look told me everything. 

Leah just couldn't help herself, could she?

Hey Y'all! This is the chapter for the one I missed last week since I was on a little vaca. So, I'll be posting the chapter for this week shortly as well. I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I have some exciting news coming up for... Homecoming week. Any guesses as to what might happen? Comment, like and that whole shebang! Thank you so much :)