The New Boy

chapter 11

After a solid four minutes of awkward silence, I exploded. "What the fuck was that?" I exclaimed, pissed at them for intruding on my date. It wasn't that serious, but I had really wanted it to go well. Noah would probably never call me back now.

None of them answered me.

I waited, but my patience was diminishing quickly. I finally turned around and slapped Asher on the leg. His head spun to look at me, surprised. The silence was finally broken when Jacob, who had watched the whole thing, burst out laughing.

That seemed to soften Asher up, because he sighed and answered me. "We just saved you, trust me."

I scoffed at his cryptic answer. "Seriously? That's it?" I asked. I was tempted to have Shawn pull the car over and go back to the date I had just abandoned. Asher frowned at my annoyed expression.

"Look, those are bad guys. You do not want to hang out with them." Shawn muttered from the front seat, eyes focused on the road.

Asher smirked at me, thankful for the backup from his friend.

"Retweet!" Jacob added in a sing-song voice. Both Shawn and Asher rolled their eyes at him.

"I told you to stop saying that. You sound like a girl." Shawn lifted a hand off the steering wheel to punch Jacob on the shoulder.

"Why shouldn't we hang out with them?" I asked, refusing to be distracted by their antics. "And how do you know them?"

Asher ignored both of my questions, turning to stare out the window again with a clenched jaw. It was probably a bad time to notice how sharp his jawline was, but I did anyway.

It was Jacob who finally answered me, obviously feeling bad for his friends' silences.

"I'm sorry Olivia, really. Both of you just need to understand that those guys are bad news. I'm sure they seemed nice, but you probably don't know them as well as you think you do." His words were meant to pacify me, but they just ignited my curiosity further.

To my surprise, Mia spoke up. "We don't know them at all, actually. Olivia just met Noah last night." Something about her statement made Asher's lips twitch, but I ignored him.

"Mia! I thought you were on my side. Don't forget they ruined your date too." Mia blushed at this, and I realized I probably shouldn't have said it was a date around her crush.

"Liv, that guy was horrible." She stated plainly, and all three guys nodded in agreement. "He was totally cocky and bleh! All the guy talked about was beer and his old lacrosse team, and he didn't seem that smart. And I know you liked it when Noah put his arm around you, but Mason's was all sweaty! It was awful!"

I had to laugh at that. "Okay, okay, fine. Mason was awful. But I liked Noah!" I complained to her. Shawn, Jacob, and Asher all turned to stare at me with open mouths.

"Nope." Jacob muttered. "Incorrect."

"What?"

"Nope, you can't like him. That douche is awful." Jacob stated definitively as Shawn rolled up to my house. I huffed and got out, slamming the door behind. As Mia and I walked to my door, I was surprised to hear three more doors slam. I turned around to see Asher, Shawn, and Jacob following us.

"Will you leave me alone?" I asked them. "I'm pissed." I didn't really know why I was making such a huge deal out of it. I like Asher and his friends, but I had been having a fun date and trying to forget Thomas. They had interrupted that, and I didn't like people trying to control me.

The boys just laughed, walking into the house. Mia let them in, using the spare key to unlock the door.

Mia led Jacob and Shawn to get food since they hadn't gotten to eat in the restaurant, except for the fries they stole from our plates. Asher loitered behind, grabbing my wrist to get my attention.

I stared at him, raising my eyebrows. He met my eyes, hesitating.

"We've already established that I suck at apologizing, but I'll try. I'm sorry Olivia. I shouldn't have ruined your date, but I really didn't want you and Mia to be in with that crowd. I promise I did it for a reason." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward. Wow, he definitely wasn't used to apologizing.

I bust out laughing, sidestepping him to walk into the kitchen. As I sauntered away, I looked back at him over my shoulder. "It's okay, Asher."

His face lit up as he followed me into kitchen with everyone else. I still had questions, but I could save them for a later date. Besides, if I was being honest, hanging out with Asher and his friends was more fun.

I stopped flat in the doorway of the kitchen, Asher running into me from behind. "Do I even want to know?" I asked.

"Nope." Shawn and Jacob said in unison. They were on the ground, covered in whipped cream and various other snacking foods.

"There was a collision." Mia whispered to me from across the room."

"What should we do?" Shawn asked, shaking a few crushed chips out of his hair. He extended a hand to Jacob, pulling him off the floor. "I can clean this up. Well, Jacob can." He reassured me, looking a bit guilty. Like Asher, they had both made themselves right at home, despite only hanging out with me once before.

When Jacob heard him, he tackled Shawn back on the floor. "No way in hell I'm cleaning this up." I heard him growl. I made eye contact with Mia and we silently left, Asher soon behind us. They could figure that out themselves.

"Idiots." I heard him mutter under his breath. Even though he always made fun of them, I could tell they were a close-knit group.

I collapsed on the couch, grabbing the remote. Mia and Asher plopped down on either side of me. "Should we watch a movie?" I asked them.

"The Conjuring." Asher said.

"Mean girls." Mia said at the same time.

"No way, Asher." I muttered. I hated horror movies.

"Wait, I kind of want to watch a horror movie right now." Mia said, betraying me once again. I threw a pillow at her, which she failed at deflecting. The girl had the worst hand-eye coordination of anyone I knew.

Jacob and Shawn sauntered in, holding bags of microwave popcorn and sodas. "How did you even find those?" I asked, but they ignored me.

"What are we watching?" Jacob asked.

"The Conjuring." Mia and Asher responded in unison.

"Fuck yeah!" Jacob said, jumping onto the couch beside Mia. She gave him a shy smile before turning her face to mouth "OMG" at me. Asher must have seen it too, because he smirked at Jacob.

"No," I emphasized. "We are not watching the Conjuring."

Asher just chuckled, grabbing the hair tie out of my long hair and ruffling it with his hand. I shoved him away, shaking my head at Mia's questioning stare.

"It's four against one. Sorry, Olivia." Shawn spoke up from the other side of Asher. He didn't sound very apologetic, though. He grabbed the remote and turned on the movie.

"I hate horror movies." I whined under my breath.

Asher leaned down to whisper in my ear, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind me. I felt his soft hair brush against my cheek as his lips touched my ear. Shivering at the feeling of his cool minty breath, I felt my heart race.

"Don't worry," He smirked. "I'll protect you."

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this chapter is dedicated to @harrystylesxxlove for all your continued support! i'm also obsessed with harry styles so i love the username

also, thank you for #81 on cute!

next update on Wednesday!