A/N- This chapter contains strong language that may be offensive to some readers, this is a warning so you are prepared.
"So, how do you think your mid-term geography test went today?" Asks my mom as I hand her the croissants from the top shelf.
"Good, I suppose," I answer with an imperturbable hunch of my shoulders, assisting her whilst reaching the bread off the third row. I push the shopping trolley around the corner, following her to isle three.
"How did Lacy find it?" She goes onto ask with an interested tone. I always find that if I tell her everyone in the class found the test really hard, she will be more understandable if I get a bad grade. So interpreting that logic into my response, I don't build her standards up too high by telling her a skeptical answer.
"She found it ok. The whole class was complaining after it though as it was really hard."
"Well, I'm sure you did your best love. After all, you always do. Um, would you mind going to the fruit section and pick me out some apples and bananas?"
"Sure," with an excepting smile, I walk over in the direction of multi coloured fruits, ranging from the vibrant colours of pomegranates to pineapples. I locate the banana and pick out the freshest batch. Then I weigh the apples.
"Hi Paige," I flinch to the side as Bailey appears in front of me, also hand picking a bag of apples.
"Hello Bailey," I greet with a welcoming smile, seeing my reflection in her pearly white teeth. "How are you doing?" I tie my bag and smile down at her.
"I'm doing great! Started cheerleading, I got into the squad," she goes onto tell me with a huge grin. Impressed, I rose my eyebrows with a beam of pride.
"Bailey that's amazing. I knew you really wanted to be a cheerleader," I say, commenting on the time when I was invited round for dinner and she told me her aspirations for the future.
"It's all thanks to you."
"Me?" I point my finger towards my chest. Why have I influenced her? I had basically told her that cheerleaders were bitches yet she still had the determination to be one.
"Yes. After what you said about not being friends with the cheerleaders, I wanted to prove that a cheerleader is more than a stereotype of being popular. And I have. I love it and even if I'm not that cool, I have still been accepted onto the team." Her pink cheeks glow as her smile couldn't expand any more. The joy that sparkles in her eyes warmed my heart to know I had made a difference for a young teenage girl, just like Bailey.
"I'm so proud of you, I really am," I praise her even more with a supportive hug of encouragement. A giggle slips from her mouth as she twirls on the spot.
"That means a lot Paige."
"Bailey!" The sudden call of her name makes Bailey spin around on her heels, her hands reaching out and catching onto the front of a trolley. I trail my eyes from Bailey's hands, across the metal mesh, over the piles of food and up the length of the body of... Nathan.
His eyes remain locked on Bailey, despite the fact I know he has detected my presence. Without any acknowledgment, Nathan ignores me completely and loads his trolley up with fruit and vegetables as if I was simply another stranger he doesn't want to talk to. Soon enough the silence builds too thick I thought it was impossible to break. However with an awkward giggle, Bailey lets out a laugh to break the tension.
"Hey Nathan, mom wants oranges too," she says whilst pointing on her tip toes to the highest shelf.
Nathan leaves his eyes from the floor and looks directly at the fruit, targets it and reaches for it with his hand. As his arm extended upwards, the bottom of his T-shirt raises an inch above his jeans, exposing a tanned strip of toned muscle under his skin, visible to my eyes.
Stop staring! I mentally slap myself.
"Here," Nathan grunts as he tosses the oranges into Bailey's arms. She stacks them up in the trolley as my eyes wonder from her and up to her brother who, in spite of knowing me, still decides to imagine I am a ghost.
"Um, nice seeing you Paige," Bailey scratches the side of her neck with a twitch of her nose.
"Yeah, hope to see you again soon."
Then with the push of my trolley, I shift my gaze away from the two siblings and transport the fruit back to my mom. She is currently observing the toilet rolls, presumably calculating the most efficient pack to buy for money's worth.
"Thanks dear," I hand her back the trolley so she can put in the six pack of toilet rolls as well as some cheap brand kitchen roll that is never good enough to earn itself its own advert on TV. "Oh I forgot the margarine!" My mom exclaims with a tiresome throw of her hand to her forehead. "It's all the way back on isle one," she complains with an effortfully long sigh.
"I'll get it if you want," I say, offering to run back and get it. I don't understand why grown ups stress about these sorts of things.
"Thanks love."
I locate the isle I need and jog over in its direction, dodging around fellow shoppers as I go. "Butter... Butter... Marge!" I silently celebrate as I spot the last remaining tub of low fat margarine on the shelf- the only brand my mom would dare consume.
"Hey, that's mine," I hear a voice cry out as I tug on the tub, wondering why it doesn't fall into my grasp. Suddenly a pair of eyes dart my way from the opposite side, their eyes connecting with mine through the gap between the lower and upper shelf.
"Nathan, I saw it first. My hand's practically holding it," I whine, persistently grabbing it back as he tugs on it harder. He still doesn't utter a word, his mouth sealed as we fight for the tub of low fat margarine. If this wasn't pathetic, I would have enjoyed it. Unexpectedly, Nathan releases his hands and I fall, tumbling back onto my bum, the tub lying face down beside me.
"Are you ok?" He exclaims, heavy footsteps race around the corner. Next thing I know I was being lift up by the support of two strong arms. When my eyes reopen, I gasp inside to see Nathan staring into my eyes with a flat smile of concern. "Are you ok?" He repeats, a deep husk to his voice.
"Y-yeah," I cough, breaking the nerves flooding around my bloodstream. Just the mere glimpse of his eyes on mine makes me go weak with butterflies. "I'm good."
I step back and look down to see margarine splattered all over the floor. Nathan takes my hand. "Run," he whispers, leading us away from the isle as a shop assistant notices the mess we have left on the floor. We swerve around the closest corner before anyone can stop us.
"That was close," I laugh.
"Yeah, my mom would have killed me if she saw that," Nathan chuckles. Our eyes connect as I turn my face towards his. The light reflects his brown orbs perfectly, making them glisten like a thousand fire flies on a dark misty night. His eyes wonder down my arm and to my hand. A slight smirk evolves across his lips as he studies our interlocked fingers.
"I better go find my mum," I cough loudly, turning away from Nathan with a harsh blush filtering to my cheeks.
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Bye..." He releases my hand.
Approaching my mom, I notice her talking to another women. The lady has her back towards me, making it difficult to identify who she is. Every step I make closer towards them, I can just about uncover the words to their sentence. When Bailey's name arose from the mumbles about cheerleading, I knew I recognised the middle aged women with dark curly hair.
"Hello Mrs Johnson," I smile as I join my mom and Nathan's mom at the back of the supermarket.
"Paige, you know Julie?" Asks my mom. I nod with a smile.
"Paige here came over for dinner one night and my son Nathan invited her round the other day. Oh, here he is now," points out Mrs Johnson, extending her arm towards Nathan as he turns the corner and stands beside his mother.
"Oh, so this is Nathan," my mom begins. I shield my eyes from hers to restrict myself from blushing or feeling embarrassed.
"Yeah, Paige is always a delight when she comes over," blesses Julie, beaming my way with a confident grin. Bailey is by her side, nodding as well. This family is so sweet.
"That's lovely to hear," my mom wraps her arm around my shoulders to pull me into a side hug. I restrain by keeping my feet planted firmly on the ground with my eyes peering timidly down to my shoes.
"She's welcome any time," Julie goes onto say.
"That is so kind of you," my mom catches eye with me. "How about you all come round to our house tomorrow, to properly thank you," my mom suggests.
"That sounds lovely. How about it?" Mrs Johnson asks her children. Bailey jumps up and down in agreement as Nathan purposefully avoids his eyes from mine. "We'd love to."
"Great! Hey, how about you invite the Crawford's too?" My mom nudges me. I stare up at her with expanded eyes. As in Josh?
"Pardon?"
"Well, we went over for dinner at their house, would only be polite to invite them round as well."
"Oh, Nathan knows the Crawfords. That's Josh, isn't it?" Nathan nods in response to his mom's question. He then returns his eyes back on the ceiling. I have to stop this!
"We don't have enough room at the table," I snap back, trying to exclude that idea out of the picture, tense with fear to the thought of me and Josh in the same house again...
"You could make it a BBQ?" Mrs Johnson speaks out. "Only a suggestion."
"That's a wonderful idea!" My mom glues her hands to her cheeks and exhales with a satisfied smile. "Hey, we'll need burgers and sausages if we are doing a barbecue."
"I'll help," says Julie, pushing her trolley around to face the meat isle.
"Text Josh," whispers mom into my ear.
"What about Lacy, can her family come too?" I ask rapidly, not wanting to be with Josh and Nathan alone. "Please?"
"Sure. Text them both now, we'll need to know how much food to get." As my mom races off to catch up with Julie and Bailey, I levitate my eyes back up and unintentionally lock with Nathan's. He blinks once, twice, three times. Then he backs away with a low grunt under his breath, shaking his head with the drag of his fingers through his hair.
***
Josh's p.o.v
"Josh! You've got a text!" Hollers Ethan from my bed, disruptingly yelling to beckon me away from the computer.
"What?" I exhale with the rake of my fingers through my blonde messy hair.
"Paige text," he informs with a grunt.
"What does that bitch want?" I scowl, going over to Jace and snatching the packet of chips out of his hands.
"Hey," he murmurs spitefully, letting the bag get pried out of his hands.
"She says something to do with a barbecue. Asks if you want to go," Ethan answers with a shrug of his broad shoulders. I motion for him to toss me my phone. I catch it and peer down to the screen with studied eyes.
"Hey Josh," I read aloud. "Having a BBQ tomorrow, 5pm, wanna come?" I let a breath slip from my mouth with a humorous huff of air. "Can't believe she texts using punctuation, what a-"
"This is your girlfriend you're taking about," reminds Jace, sending me a knowing look. With the rise of my middle finger, I curse at him as I throw the bag of left over chips at him, aiming for his face.
"You know why I'm dating her, you bastard, and it's not to be invited to some lame barbecue."
"I know but... But what exactly is your plan? I mean I know you want to be more popular than Nathan but how does Paige come into it?" Ethan rolls off my bed and lies on my carpet, throwing a stuffed football into the air then catching it again. I snatch it off him and throw it at Jace, who instantly groans and lobs it back.
"Listen! My plan will work. If I get Nathan to admit his true feelings about Paige where everyone can hear, I can put that fucking nerd back into his place. No one will like him for trying to steal my girl."
"But how will you do that?" Comments Jace.
"Easy you dick head." God I need to get some more intelligent friends. Defeats the purpose of getting rid of Nathan, but he's a nerd, I never saw anything worth while in him. "I'm going to make that douche jealous! Hey, do you think Nate's going to that barbecue too?"
"I'll ask," Ethan picks up my phone and sends Paige the message. "Yeah, he is," he responds once she replies back.
"Great," I smirk, rubbing my hands together with a devious smirk. This will work.
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm going to get some fun out of this. Fun from Paige, and the satisfaction of taking that nerd down."
I know exactly what I'm doing, and soon enough, I'll be back in my rightful place at the top of the popular hierarchy, with that pathetic nerd down at the bottom where he belongs.
"All I need is Paige, her bed, and the nerd."
A/N-
WOW! Long chapter...
First of all, damn! What do you think of Nathan and Paige's encounter at the supermarket? Awkward right?
Secondly, how do you think of Josh's plan? What do you think will happen at the BBQ?
Turns out Josh never liked Nathan. Who guessed?
Quick shout out to my friend sapphire470
Go check out her account!
NOW! NEWS!
I am sorry to announce that this Friday- 12th Feb, I will be away for a full week on a ski trip.
With school we are going to Italy and I will be gone from Wattpad for a week...
I won't be able to read or write whilst I'm away. This will probably be my last update for over a week now (unless I can write another update for tomorrow.)
Sorry if this has affected you, will write more as soon as I can.
Love Vic xxx