Author's Note: I present to you humble readers Chapter Eight! :) I am absolutely ecstatic about this chapter simply because both Creston and Essa - though like fire and ice - finally establish some kind of equilibrium between one another! So please do enjoy! And thanks so much for the wonderful reviews!!

Chapter Eight

Essa Evans sighed out of frustration, not knowing which books to choose out of the mini collection she had accumulated within a matter of minutes. It had been easy to pick books and other hard cover novels from shelves, but when it came to choosing six, Essa pretty much wanted to pull out her hair.

Lugging an additional armful of novels, she seated herself at a coffee table. A cup of hot chocolate was waiting for her as she tied her long, wavy jet-black hair back into a ponytail. Releasing a sigh, Ess stared at the mountain of hardbacks and paperbacks before commencing to tackle the hard choices she was to make. By eleven she planned on having Sophia’s birthday shopping done.

Lifting a thick leather bound covered novel that was filled with old poems, Essa moved it to the right, knowing full well she had to purchase it. It was something she had seen Sophia eye for the past week. As she reached over for another book, she noticed from the corner of her eyes a tall figure taking the seat across from her.

Trying to act unperturbed, Essa lifted her head, taking in the profile of the form before her in an inconspicuous fashion. With her eyes studying the clothes the individual was wearing, she decided that the person was male and was young. They were clad in a pair of loose fitting blue jeans and a white shirt that wasn’t fully buttoned. Essa also didn’t fail to notice the familiar shade of honey coloured skin of the person’s bare chest, immediately knowing who it was.

Mystery solved, she returned her attention back to the pile of books, not in the least surprised when the recognizable, masculine voice of Creston greeted her.

“And good morning to you too,”

Blowing her fringe from her eyes, Essa lifted her gaze in acknowledgement whilst placing another book in her ‘to keep’ pile before being rudely interrupted again by a certain six foot tall soccer-captain.

“You might as well buy the entire library,” she heard him say.

Frowning slightly, she glanced up and met grey-blue eyes. “Spencer,” she said with great patience. “I don’t know why you are here, but you’re presence isn’t helping at all seeing as I have so many important decisions to make. So…” She drifted and lifted a finger to her lips, signalling for the devil to be quiet.

Never one to take a hint, Creston could only smirk in return. Leaning forward, he grabbed a book from the large pile Essa had collected. He had to admit he’d been astonished to find her at Borders so early in the morning and now that he had approached her, he decided to make it his goal to find out why she was here.

Scanning the many titles spread over the coffee table, he found himself grinning wider. “Let me guess,” he voiced. “You’re finding a present for your sister,”

It took a while for the dark head to respond. Shaking her head Essa continued sorting through books. “Nope, try Chris,” she lied, attempting to suppress the quirk of the corner of her lips.

It was obvious the books she had picked off the shelves were for a female companion - if not herself. Her collection ranged from poems to astrology, all the way to 'dating' tips. None of her choices would have suited Chris seeing as the only thing the blonde liked to read were magazines about cars or novels written by Dan Brown. And Essa hardly thought Chris needed any dating tips seeing as he was already so popular with the ladies.

Smirking and not believing her words, Creston placed the novel he was holding back into the large pile. “Well, if you wanted to get Chris books, I think he’d prefer porn.” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone, waiting for his words to register.

As Essa comprehended his sentence, the expression on her face altered from nonchalant to one that screamed 'I'm-not-impressed'.

Pursing her lips, she lifted angry eyes at Creston. “And why did I expect anything different from the biggest man-whore at school?” She shot at him, accentuating the word that would hurt the most – at least she hoped it would ruin some of the ego Creston was filled with.

Cringing, Creston placed a hand over his heart. “Ouch,” he groaned in a wounded fashion, “That really hurt.”

Satisfied with his response, Essa went back to the task at hand, attempting to ignore the fool. However try as she might, the idiot couldn’t seem to take a hint. She was done with him and in a way she was sick of him and his usual ways of being a pure prick. Today’s Creston Spencer wasn’t the one she had spent an entire evening with just two days ago.

The Spencer that she actually liked was the one that didn't make disgusting remarks about porn. She preferred the Creston that didn't constantly have an arrogant smirk spread across this lips. The guy she saw at her best friend's house was the guy that appeared to be genuine and defy all that she despised about the Creston Spencer at school.

Unconsciously grasping another book, her thoughts were interrupted.

“I’d keep that,” she heard and her eyes took in the title.

It was a Stephen King book, one that she had picked out for herself seeing as she finished her last novel.

Breathing in, Essa placed the cover in her lap. “And what do you know about books Montgomery?” She asked and narrowed her eyes when she saw a smirk dance across his features. “And I mean books that don’t have pictures,” she accentuated, just in case the moron started breaking out into graphic details of skimpy nude women found in those horrible magazines.

Observing as he chuckled under his breath, Essa found herself feeling slightly irritated by that smirk that was making its way to his features. She guessed that her tolerance for Creston had only increased a little and today she had reached her limit.

“So it’s Montgomery now?” Creston inquired, “And I’m guessing you got my middle name from Tynan?”

Spencer watched as she nodded briefly. Settling back into his chair, his grey eyes studied her momentarily. She had on a pair of black skinny leg jeans, a simple white t-shirt and a grey cardigan. He found that he liked it better when she had her dark locks pulled back for it showed off her beauty. Able to see that she had closed herself up and was back to the usual Essa Evans he had met from day one, Creston decided to drop his usual act of arrogance and cockiness. He wanted nothing more than for her to just open up to him and look at him like a normal person as she did on Friday.

Crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes fixed onto her now stoic features. “Does Chris not tell you anything?” He found himself asking, only to realise she was going to answer.

There was silence for a moment before he decided to make a witty remark. “A book from my understanding…” He voiced aloud, sensing her eyes transfixed onto him. “Is something with letters that makes words which make sentences or statements and eventually make up paragraphs, which then turn into essays and then finally many pages which is bound into something that looks like this.” He huffed, holding up a thick novel in his right hand as the corners of his lips quirked up at the expression across Essa’s face.

She was staring at him with a brow cocked, an odd glimmer to her eyes as her expression screamed ‘you’re an idiot’. But as his eyes trailed down to her lips, he noticed her pearly white teeth were clamped down on her lower lip as if to refrain from laughing.

"Tell me you did not just say that," she demanded and received a casual shrug. "That is the most idiotic description of a book..." She informed. "But," she breathed, spotting the way Spencer arched a brow. "It was quite entertaining."

Blinking for a moment, it took a few seconds for Creston to realise that the girl had complimented him. As a smile replaced the obvious smirk on his features, he sat up in his chair bending forward.

"So I've finished playing the clown, and now it's your turn to amuse me."

Grey eyes locked with blue-green ones, her head shaking in reply. "Not until you help me pick out six books from this pile that will make a potentially great present for my dearest friend Soph," Essa responded, attention falling back to her current choices. "By the way, why are you here?" She added.

Not knowing what to say, Creston decided to play it cool. "This is my usual hang out area," he informed, “And you’ve invaded my usual table.”

Essa scoffed at his words. "I don’t see your name here,”

“Mmmmm-Hmmmm…” Creston drifted, “And how old are you? I haven’t heard that comeback since 7th grade.”

Plodding the urge to strike up another mini-argument, Essa pursed her lips. Taking a gulp of her now cold chocolate, she inwardly cringed at the taste - hot chocolate wasn’t enjoyable when it was cold.

Sighing aloud as if he was getting impatient, Creston grabbed the remaining books off the coffee table, earning a protest from the figure seated across from him. He had seen the way she fought an internal war within herself at making simple choices and had decided to speed up the process. Within a matter of minutes, he had selected six books, handing them to Essa.

There was silence for a moment as she took in the various headings of the novels Creston had chosen. She had expected different, but was completely satisfied with his selection. Lifting her head, Essa smiled…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Creston was still stunned with the current circumstances he was in… After assisting Essa in finding a present for Sophia, the girl had casually invited him for lunch. Practically jumping at the opportunity, he managed to shrug nonchalantly at her and now here they were, just the two of them sitting in a booth at a nice café which was famous for their foccacias and wonderful drinks.

“You still haven’t gone into the details as to why you were at Borders on a Saturday morning.” Essa pointed, digging into her pumpkin soup.

Contemplating briefly, Creston allowed some suspense to build. “Well,” he began, inwardly smiling at the look of interest in the girl’s eyes. “I came here to check out some chicks… Specifically, the ones that work at the coffee shop in Borders,” he lied. “You know… The pretty faces and short shorts. It’s great to be single,”

Ripping a piece of fresh bread, Essa dipped it into her soup before gazing up into his stormy eyes. For some odd reason she didn’t believe a single word he said – well maybe the short shorts part and being single. Speculating, it occurred to her that the usual heartbreaker Creston was had been single for over two weeks and in her opinion, that had to be a world record for the guy.

She acknowledged the fact that Spencer was a prick at times, but now that she got to know him, she found that she understood some of his humour. It scared her just a little to find that she knew the true Spencer. Although Essa felt uneasy at the thought of seeing the real Creston, she knew that deep within she liked him better than the arrogant jerk he was from day one. And right now, Creston was definitely being a prick.

“Jealous?” Spencer queried, and saw the look of indifference on the girl’s face. Chuckling, he shook his head. “I was just joking with you,” he explained.

Dropping her spoon into her bowl, Essa arched a brow. “Well thank you for being honest,” she replied curtly, a speck of sarcasm in her tone. “Now back to your story, minus the ‘checking out racks’ part.”

Amusement danced across his handsome features. “I never said anything about ‘racks’,” he quoted. “Is there something you’re not telling me Ess? Cause for a girl, you sure do look at your gender rather attentively.”

“Puh-lease,” Ess responded in a rather bored tone. “If it meant liking the kind of girls you date, I rather date my dog.”

Chuckling softly, there was a short silence before Creston spoke again and when he did; his voice was soft and sincere. “I was searching for a planner,” he revealed. “A planner for my step-mum,”

Feeling rather awkward now, Essa found herself speechless. She never knew Creston had a step-mother, but by the tone he was using, it was evident he had done something wrong. Unsure of what to say and rather curious, she could only stare at him.

“Did you end up finding one?” She found herself asking, no longer interested in her pumpkin soup. “There is a store around here that sell really nice leather ones,”

Creston noticed the way her demeanour altered a little. From the first time he met her, Essa had been cold and unkind, but now that they were somewhat acquaintances, he realised that she was a person capable of care as well as kindness. He knew he had been a total jerk to her from the beginning, but he wasn’t used to the tone and the way she greeted him when they first met. Looking back now, he was stunned at how far they had come. They had gone from being a bickering pair, to well… civilised people that actually enjoyed one another’s company.

Only just breaking out of his reverie, he smiled softly to let the girl know he was okay. “That would be great,” he breathed.

Watching with her heterochromial eyes, Essa observed as the smile Creston had just exhibited, deepened the dent slightly in his right cheek. She was never one to see the fuss accompanied with guys and dimples, but seeing that lone indentation near Spencer’s mouth made her want to touch it. He was one of the first people that she noticed had one dimple, and to her utter bewilderment, it was quite fascinating…

As the two chatted about various topics, Essa found herself slowly drawing away from the one subject that she was fond of and trying hard to pry into - Creston’s family. She wanted to know more about his background but she felt a little odd asking. As the topic moved from music to soccer, Essa listened to the way Spencer described his team. From the sound of things he was a proud captain and took great pride in his team’s achievements.

“…And Kieran Wolenski is a fantastic player. He’s pretty damn good as goalie,”

Perking up at the name, an unconscious scowled made its way on the girl’s forehead. “I don’t want to hear about him.”

“Is it because of Sophia?”

Astonishment was etched across her face as Essa stared at Creston. “H-how did you know?” She questioned, “I don’t think I told you anything about them…”

Shaking his head, Creston drank deeply of from his cup. “You didn’t,” he agreed, “But Kieran did.”

Feeling a little speck of anger rise within, Essa pursed her lips. “If that guy said anything horrible about Sophia it’s not true – and I will kill him,”

Placing his hands up in mercy Creston smiled. “Easy there sweetheart,” he demanded and realised his mistake in using such an endearment seeing as her eyes narrowed. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “Kieran said nothing derogatory or anything else that would ruin her.” He stated and was relieved that Essa had relaxed a little. “He just punched one of the guys on the team because of something they said.”

Frowning, Essa thought for a moment. She remembered seeing Rowell Parker – one of the guys from the soccer team – wearing a heavily bruised eye a month ago. She had also heard various rumours around school accompanying that bruised eye. Apparently Rowell had sported that injury because he had made a move on Bailey Reed who was and still is Kieran’s girlfriend.

“Rowell Parker had the black eye but I heard that it was because of Bailey Reed,” she whispered.

“Not bad Einstein,” Creston complimented, “But this just proves that you should never believe everything you hear,” he warned, leaning back in his seat.

“On with the story Spencer,” Essa demanded.

Smiling, Creston continued. “Well seeing as majority of the guys were at the locker rooms, we all knew what had really happened.” He explained, “Rowell was busy changing, and like some of the jocks in the team, he was boasting about a girl and what he’d do to her if he had his way with her,”

Arching a brow Essa moved her half empty bowl aside, “You’re really toning this story down aren’t you?” She queried, but Creston didn’t answer.

“Turns out this girl Rowell was pining for was your friend…” He drifted.

“But I don’t get it; Sophia never told me anything about Rowell Parker. From what I know she’s never spoken to the guy,” Essa said, brows creasing in thought. A second lapsed before she finally put the puzzle together. “Tutor classes,” she whispered. “Soph is responsible for holding after school tutor classes for students who are interested.” Lifting her head, her eyes met grey ones. “You mean to tell me, one of your egotistical jerk-players was man enough to go to tutor classes?”

Shrugging, Creston had no idea how to respond. “Don’t generalise,” he exclaimed. “Not everyone on the team is bad. And yes, Rowell did take tutor lessons for English – and as surprising as it sounds, the guy does give a damn about his education.

Nodding her head, Essa had to agree with the brown-haired figure. She had always had a thing for Rowell, simply because he was the nicest guy on the team – aside from Chris. The guy was tall, dark and handsome. He was Spanish, and he had a sexy accent but he was also decent in the way that he only dated girls he truly desired and remained in a long-term relationship with them.

“The guy would have been perfect for Soph,”

“And a moment ago you were saying what a prick he was,”

As Essa opened her mouth to retort to Spencer’s statement, her phone started ringing. Bringing the device to her ear and giving Creston an apologetic look, she heard the recognizable tone of Chris. Eyes glancing to her watch, Essa only just noticed the time - remembering she had plans to meet up with Chris at two – only now it was quarter past two. Inwardly cursing at herself for her tardiness and forgetfulness, she apologised quickly over the phone before revealing her whereabouts and hanging up.

“Ahh, Chris calls.” Creston voiced, “Off you go then,”

Essa shook her head. “Who said I had to go anywhere?” She asked rhetorically. “We still haven’t finished shopping, and with Chris’ help, we’ll be done in no time.”

At the mention of Chris’ name, the blonde haired, blue eyed figure stood before them at their booth, seating himself beside Essa. Staring at the two boys, Essa noticed herself smiling. She really was going to enjoy the rest of the afternoon even if she despised admitting it.

“Gee, I’m so loved. I come in here to be greeted with: ‘Chris this and Chris that’.” The blonde mocked, “’I love Chris and he’s the sexiest man alive. Sexier than Creston Spencer who’s a loser compared to the blonde God.’ My goodness Ess, I’m beginning to think you’re infatuated with me.”

Throwing a piece of bread at her childhood friend, Essa shook her head. “Infatuated?” she repeated, “Whatever.”

“You lurve me,” Chris replied in a teasing tone, earning a soft laugh from his childhood friend. “Creston my dear,”

Laughing, Creston shook Tynan’s hand in a manly fashion, noticing the odd expression etched across Essa’s features. She was staring at the two of them in an odd fashion, a distant look in her eyes. Just about to wave a hand before her face, he was surprised when that her eyes locked with his as she broke out of her day dream.

Seeing the studying gaze Creston had used on her, Essa felt her cheeks burn slightly as she pulled her eyes away from him. Oddly enough, the pair of stormy grey eyes she had once despised appeared to get sexier and more attractive as time lapsed. But the girl would be damned if she admitted that to anyone.

And that's the end of Chapter Eight! What did you think of it?

It seems my Author's notes get longer and longer... But oh well, I must show my gratitude to my readers :) Next chapter will be a bit of a shock, and I do plan to have a few twists and turns to keep your attention! As for exams... I need to keep studying my ass off! For some odd reason, the days seem to go by so slow when you want something over and done with... However I'll definitely update next week. So until next chapter, keep safe!

To: WanderingLight: Haha, a short attention span. Yes that definitely describes me too - so you're not alone! As for Essa and her moodiness, well I suppose a lot of girls are like that. And in a way it shapes the character that she is, I definitely didn't want her to be kind and boring... But for some reason, girls and wittiness really impresses me, and in this case I think I like Essa the best that way. Thanks so much for reviewing! And I hope you enjoyed this one! :)

jayniee: I have updated! :) Hope you enjoyed this one too - Trisha and Soph will definitely come into play in the next few chapters.

buffyeesummers: Haha, no I am actually quite amused by lame jokes... Guess I'm a really lame person ;P But yes, Creston is human! Afterall, he can't be good at sports and with the girls and be superman! That wouldn't be fair! And yes, sharing is hard, but I think Essa's gotten over it.

jaicedl: Hello and welcome! Thanks so much for reviewing and taking the time to read! I am grateful you enjoyed the dialogue - sometimes it's so hard to write them! But yes, Essa is finally seeng the charmer in Creston... And it sure did take time! Hope this chapter interested you! :)

Lady of Confusion: Yes indeed! I have updated again - as promised! Do enjoy!

TropicalStormFay08: Glad you liked seeing things from Trisha's perspective! Hope you liked this chapter too.

WriterGurl123: Yes that would be such a drama! But then again I had intended for this story to be dramatic and so on! I'm loving the idea, and you kinda read my mind as to how I want this romance to go - but then again I can always change my mind :) Thanks so much for your lovely words!

Keemii: Welcome! I am glad you are loving this story so far, and yes! I also liked that line, I always try to find different ways of phrasing sentences - the thesaurus and dictionary are my best friends... I'd definitely be lost without them!

crayonsss: I have updated. Don't you kinda have that with some people too? How you one moment get along, and then you don't really like each other the next second? (Not to mention you get over it in a flash?) Haha... Maybe that's just me! But thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed! :)

Searching Crystal: Yes yes, I have realised I do tend to overuse those kinda expressions. But for some odd reason I don't like to overuse the character's names, and 'she' and 'he' sometimes don't suffice. But anyways, thanks for pointing that one out! And I hope you liked this update!