Pride

Chapter 2- Chase

I turn to face a gorgeous brunette about a foot shorter than me, whose arms are crossed over her chest, her pretty pink lips puckered in annoyance. I smirk a little. "Hey, babe."

She smacks my chest, which is kind of adorable because she's so much smaller than me, and despite not fitting Jordan's description of a jock, I am still a basketball player, and so yes I do have muscles (I'm just not enormously buff). She used to flinch whenever she tried to smack me, because it ended up hurting her hand more than me, but she's too used to it now that she doesn't even blink. "You went to the principal's office with Jordan again?"

"Aww, come on. It's not that big of a deal. And he started it!"

She narrows her eyes at me suspiciously, and looks to Levi, who promptly sells me out. "Jordan was walking past and glared, and your idiotic boyfriend provoked him into almost fighting."

"So what's new." She sighs and is about to turn back to me to scowl, but it appears my supposed best friend isn't finished throwing me under the bus yet.

"Well, this time Ms. Marks said she'd kick both of them off their teams if she saw them in her office together again."

She turns back to me, mouth open in furious shock. "You just said it's not that big of a deal, you liar!" She smacks my chest again, and I catch her wrist, tugging her closer to me.

"Ashley. Babe. Chill, it's fine. I already promised Levi I'd stay away from Werewolf, even though I highly doubt Ms. Marks could boot me off the basketball team based on speculation. No unbiased person would be able to prove it."

She's still giving me a small glare, but she allows me to pull her into my arms and kiss her forehead. "I wouldn't count on that."

"And I'm not. I'm staying away from Werewolf, now. And Levi's around me pretty much all the time, so he won't let me anywhere near anyone on the football team. Wait-" I look at Levi- "did Ms. Marks say she'd only kick me off the team if she saw me there with Jordan?"

Ashley yanks away from me to properly glare at me again (yes, I am that much taller than her that she has to be at least a foot or so away from me to make eye contact). "Chase William Jackson!"

"Okay, okay, I was kidding. I'll leave the Werewolf and his pack alone. All werewolves included."

She's still scowling a little, probably at the names, but she allows herself to be pulled against my chest again. I wrap an arm around her and twirl a strand of her hair around my pointer finger, trying not to make it too obvious that I'm thinking through Ms. Marks' exact words. Levi clearly notices, though, and gives me a stern look. I roll my eyes but nod a little to let him know I'll drop it. And I will. Probably.

"Babe, why is Levi giving you that look? What are you doing?"

I love how my girlfriend trusts my best friend more than me. Though, I suppose it's kind of fair. He usually tells her a much more accurate version of the truth than I do. If he wasn't openly 100% gay, I might be worried. Especially since he'd probably be basically the ideal boyfriend for any girl on team-basketball (as opposed to the football fans, or as I like to call them, 'werefans') of the student body. He's tall, fit, charming, attractive- really, there isn't much that he doesn't have going for him. And with the amount of time he and I spend together, it's really a bit of a relief that I don't have to worry about my girlfriends falling for him.

"It's nothing, babe. He's just being the worst friend ever. It's totally normal for him."

"I think he's a pretty good friend."

"To you, maybe."

Levi gives me a small smirk. "I'm really being a good friend, actually, because I'm keeping you honest. Your relationship would otherwise be built entirely on lies."

"Yeah, Chase."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

"I appreciate you, Levi," Ashley tells him, and he flashes her a grin.

"Aww, thanks Ash. I'm glad someone does."

I point at him accusingly. "Hey, you're the one throwing me under the bus. Don't make me seem like the bad guy."

"You got in trouble with the principal again, and then you lied to me about it," Ashley says, but doesn't move away to scold me properly, so she's just teasing me now.

"Fine, I'm awful. But you date me anyway."

She pulls away just enough to put her arms around my neck, grinning as she pulls me down for a kiss. "I do."

I smirk to myself. Even if I can't antagonize Werewolf anymore, life is good.

What is your opinion on Chase? Do you like his POV more or less than Jordan's? Any new thoughts on the characters now that you've seen them from a different perspective? How about Ashley?

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