WOW. It's been almost an entire year since my last update. I am procrastination's bitch.
I apologize for being a terrible person.
So yeah, this story was pretty much abandoned. Life got in the way of writing. I decided to try and resurrect it but I never really had any idea where I was going with this... I'm kinda making it up as I go along... so bear with me, please. This chapter has reached new levels of suck, 'cause it's a bit difficult to get the story back up and running since I interrupted the creative flow for an entire freakin' year. But oh well. If this chapter makes you want to remove me from your story/author alert list, please do so now. It's only gonna get worse from here on out. xD
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When the lunch bell rang, I practically jumped out of my seat. I hurried to my locker to put my stuff away and then booked it to Jason's little personal piano room. I was positive that he would go there, and I wanted to beat him to it.
I hastily made my way inside the room, closing the door beside me. I sat down on top of the piano, dangling my feet over the edge and I unbuttoned my shirt (well, his shirt) completely, trying to look sexy but feeling ridiculous instead.
Then again, he was a guy, so it probably wouldn't be ridiculous to him.
I sat staring at the door for about a minute and, just like clockwork, somebody began to open the door.
Jason looked surprised that I was there before him. I smirked at him.
"Jesus," he muttered, ogling me. He seemed reluctant to walk over to me so I decided to be the assertive one and I leaped off the piano, walking over to him with a mischievous grin on my face.
"Hello to you too," I chuckled.
"So you're really hoping to win today, aren't you?" he inquired.
"I'm not hoping. I know I will," I replied, bringing my face close to his.
"What if I don't let you?" he said, trying to intimidate me.
"Oh, you will. You'll be begging me, in fact," I whispered. We locked eyes, our gazes filled with determination and competitiveness because we both just wanted victory.
I took a step back, not breaking our stare-down.
"You know," I said mischievously. "This shirt is much too big for me. Do you like how it looks on me?"
"No," he breathed. "It's horrible. I don't know why I bought it." I let the shirt slip from my shoulders and it fell to the floor. His lips parted slightly but his eyes didn't leave mine. I think he was reluctant to look because he wouldn't be able to control himself. He fought the urge to look and continued to stare into my eyes.
"How about this skirt? Isn't it bland?" I inquired. He gave in to his instincts and his gaze wandered down my body. He looked transfixed.
"Hideous," he agreed. "Get rid of it." I unzipped the side slowly and then it fell to the ground, pooling at my ankles. I stepped out of it, getting very close to him by taking that step. He backed up a little but then his back hit the wall. I pressed my body right up against his and moved my lips up to his ear.
"You have nowhere to run," I whispered. Today was a bad day for Jason Collins.
"Who says I want to run?" he countered. I smirked. I moved my mouth near to his and let our lips just barely brush. His mouth trembled and he lunged forward to kiss me properly.
I could tell by the way his mouth attacked mine that he hated me. He hated me so much that he wanted me more than anything. I was very proud of that.
I broke our kiss so I could unbutton his shirt with my mouth like he had done to me before. I took my time with it, too, dragging it out as long as possible. When I had finished unbuttoning his shirt, I looked up at him and his eyes were burning with need. When I leaned in to undo the button of his pants, his entire body tightened in restraint. I stopped and brought my face back up to his.
"Don't resist, Collins," I whispered, meeting his lust-filled gaze with my own. "You only have to say two words and this will all be over. Say it. Say, 'I lose.' " He was quiet for a while and his breathing was now ragged and heavy. His mouth opened and, for a second, I thought he was going to say it.
"No," he said sternly. I pressed my body as tight as I could against his and he kind of snarled. Then I gave him the most mind-blowing kiss I could possibly give, determined to make him lose his cool.
I pulled away suddenly and he groaned in frustration.
"Do you want me?" I said with a smirk. He glared at me, refusing to answer. I repeated myself, more seriously this time. "Collins. Do you want me?"
"I need you," he replied gruffly.
"Then tell me what I want to hear. Tell me that you lost and then you can have me," I said smoothly. "All of me. In every possible configuration." I could tell that I had given him some pleasing mental images, which had been my intention.
"Never," he whispered stubbornly.
"Suit yourself," I sighed, stepping away and starting to put my clothes back on. I glanced pointedly at his pants before adding, "I'm guessing that a cold shower would be a good idea right now."
He looked pissed. I smirked and walked towards the door, and just before disappearing out of his sight, I glanced back at him over my shoulder. He looked shocked and amazed and turned on and furious and frustrated all in one. I winked at him slyly and then walked away.
As soon as I was out of earshot, I started chuckling inexplicably. I felt so fulfilled, having finally made Jason helpless. At that point, I was almost positive I could win.
As I walked through the hallways of Northwest Academy, I noticed a girl sitting all by herself on one of the few benches that lined a wall. She was kind of in a corner, separated from the rest of the world. I didn't really recognize her, but then again, all the faces of my fellow students started to blend together after a long time of not attempting to get to know any of them. As I neared her, I could see that the book in her hands was Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. A literate girl, no doubt.
"Hey," I said, sitting down beside her. Her big blue eyes glanced up from her book and the look on her face turned to surprise. She snapped the book shut.
"Isabel, hey! Why are you... talking to me?" she questioned, looking confused.
"You know my name? And what do you mean? Do you want me to leave? I'm sorry if Iā"
"No, no!" she cut in. "Stay! That's not what I meant. I know your name because a) I'm in your math class, and b) you're Isabel Cooper; everybody knows your name. And I wasn't implying that I wanted you to leave, I was just wondering why the hell a person of your standing would talk to a wallflower like me. It defies the rules of social hierarchy."
"A person of my standing? I don't believe in social ranking. And right, you're in my math class! Your name is..." I paused to think. "I'm sorry. I really don't know it."
"You see what I mean about the social hierarchy?" she chuckled.
"That's not it at all. It's not you. I barely know anybody in this school. I have trouble even remembering the names of the idiots I hang out with. I'm not a people person in general."
"Right," she grinned. "Well, I'm Ashley, if it makes any difference. Ashley Glover. Hopefully you won't have any trouble remembering my name."
"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Ashley Glover. And I have a feeling your name is one I won't forget," I smiled. This girl was extremely qualified to be a friend. A real friend. Not like Jennifer or Tyler or Tom or any of those losers. This girl was genuinely cool. Why hadn't I noticed her before?
"I'm honoured. Really," she said modestly, her pale cheeks turning a rosy pink.
"Don't be. So how come you're all alone?" I inquired. "You must have a bunch of friends, a boyfriend..."
"Me?" she replied, looking astonished. "No. Not really. I mean, I used to hang out with a bunch of people who were nice and funny and everything but they never really paid attention to me. I was just kind of a nameless, faceless addition to their group. I decided that listening to their conversations was a waste of time and that I should make use of that time by doing something productive, like reading. And as for a boyfriend... that's the most ridiculous assumption I've ever heard."
"First of all, your friends are losers. Second of all, look at you! If you don't have a boyfriend, then guys must be fighting over you all the time."
She burst out in laughter. "I'm sorry," she said between chuckles, "but that's just so funny. I'm guy-repelling. No guy likes a nerd."
What?! It didn't make sense to me how this girl could lack friends and attention just because she was smart and well-read. She had everything going for her! She was shy, no doubt, but she was intelligent and beautiful. And she wasn't the generic, fake kind of hot that seemed to currently be all the rage. She has this really unique and almost ethereal beauty to her. She was a delicate, petite little thing with smooth ivory skin and stunning sky blue eyes. Her slender, angular face looked like it was carved out of marble and her shiny hair was a beautiful brown colour. Not chocolate brown like mine, but a really deep brunette that was almost black but not quite. It was styled in a layered and choppy bob.
"Stop being modest," I said. "And never say the word nerd again. It's an ignorant stereotype. People who like reading and actually give a shit about their grades are not nerds. If they are, then I'm definitely a nerd."
"Wow," she said quietly, shaking her head softly. "This is the strangest day of my life. Isabel Cooper is not only talking to me, but she's telling me that she's a nerd and that I'm not a loser."
"Yeah, I don't get this whole 'Isabel Cooper' thing. What does it matter if it's me talking to you or if it's that guy over there? And darling, I only speak the truth. Most of the time. But I'm definitely speaking the truth now."
"Well, you're popular. Like really popular. And you're pretty. And smart. And nice! The first two don't generally come with the second two," she explained.
"Ashley, we're going to have a talk about all these stereotypical ideas in your pretty little head. And I'm not popular. Unless notoriety counts as popularity. But still, I'm not stuck-up or exclusive or any of those other traits that are generally attributed with 'popularity.' I'm just me," I stated.
Her mouth stretched into a happy grin. "You know, Isabel, I've heard a lot of things about you. But you are not the same Isabel Cooper that people are always talking about. It's only now that I realize how little truth there is to the things people say."
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. "Teenagers live to talk shit. I thought they'd gotten over that in like, 8th grade, because I sure haven't been noticing any trash-talk. Or maybe it's just that, somewhere along the way, I stopped caring. Either way, people still look at me with the same disdain, new rumours or not. There's really no point in paying any attention to it."
"See, I admire that. I admire you. You're Isabel fucking Cooper. You overlook all the shit people say, just brush it off your shoulder like it's nothing. I don't know anybody who is sure enough about themselves to be able to do that."
"Well," I smirked. "Don't be under the impression that everything you hear about me is a lie. Trust me, Ash ā can I call you Ash, by the way? ā I'm not the slightest bit worthy of the praise you give me. Stick around a bit longer and you'll see."
"Wait, are you saying you want me to stick around? As in me, Ashley Glover, hang out with you?" she questioned, still not understanding that it wasn't absurd for me to be talking to her and that I had no greater value than she did. The bell rang as she looked at me in bewilderment.
I got up and, before leaving, grinned and said, "Ashley, my dear, we're going to make a tremendous pair." And with that, I walked away.
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I spotted Ashley after school as I made my way to the parking lot. She had her backpack slung over her shoulder and was walking with her head down.
"Asher!" I yelled at her. She spun around in confusion, and smiled and gave me a little wave when she saw me. I jogged up to her. It was now, standing beside her, that I realized how small and fragile she was. She probably just barely made it over 5 ft in height. She also had a tiny waist, but she was still sufficiently curvy in the right places.
"Hey," she greeted me.
"Do you need a ride?" I offered.
"Oh no, I'm fine walking," she denied politely. People always do that. Even if they really do want what you're offering, they'll politely deny you at first because a) they don't want to inconvenience you and b) they want to make sure you're not just offering to be polite so they test this by seeing if you'll insist. Sometimes they'll deny you like 5 times until you can actually convince them. I always found this incredibly stupid.
So I sighed before stating, "Okay, here's the deal. I'm not going to play this "I don't want to trouble you, I'll walk," "No, I insist," "No, don't worry about it," game. You're going to hop in my car and I'm going to drive your ass home whether you like it or not. Comprende?"
She gave me an army salute and barked, "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"
I chuckled and led her to my car. On the way there, I felt obliged to mention, "Oh, and by the way, never throughout the course of our friendship should you call me anything other than Isabel. People always try to call me Izzie or Iz or Bells or whatever, but I can't stand it."
"Why do you hate pet names so much?"
"Because pet names are for pets. I don't belong to anybody. Nobody owns me, therefore they do not have the right to call me pet names. They're more degrading to me then they are endearing."
"Come on, I can't even call you Coop?" she pleaded.
"Well..." I pondered. "I'll consider it. Just stick to Isabel for now."
"Alright. You're free to call me anything you want though."
"'Kay, douchebag," I said casually.
She burst out in laughter. "That's not what I meant!"
"I jest, I jest, petite one," I smiled. We were now nearing my car.
I looked at Collins' motorcycle which was parked next to my car and grimaced. He was leaning on it and chatting up 3 beautiful girls with that smug little smirk of his plastered on his face. That smirk was mine. He had no right to be flashing it every which way.
Ashley caught me looking in his direction and followed my gaze. "Oh," she said.
"Hold on a sec," I said to Ashley, not looking away from Jason. I tossed her my car keys so she could open the passenger side door (manually; I had an '86 Jetta) and made my way towards him.
"Hey, Collins!" I exclaimed when I was within 10 feet of him. He and the bimbos directed their attention towards me. "Did you get your results back from the STD screening? Wouldn't want to be contaminating the students of Northwest Academy, now, would you?"
The girls gave him looks of disgust and immediately turned and began to walk away. Jason gave me a mocking grin.
"Thanks, Cooper, thanks. Oh well, no worries. Plenty of other fish in the Northwest Academy sea which, mind you, is probably already the contamination equivalent of a cesspool."
"That I do not doubt," I replied.
He glanced behind me for a second before asking, "Who's that?"
I looked back to see who he was talking about. It was Ashley, unlocking the passenger side door of my car. "Oh, that's just Ashley." He gave me an irritated look, urging me to be more specific. "I met her today," I continued. "She's my new best friend!"
"Aren't you going to introduce me to her?"
"Always with the ladies, Collins," I sighed. "Ashley's a little shy. And please, leave her alone. She doesn't need you to complicate her life."
"Oh, is that what I am? A complication?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Only to girls who don't know how to handle you," I countered. Something sparked in his eyes like a flame being lit.
"It's not like I'm asking you to hand her over to me and let me have my way with her. I just want a simple introduction. It's the polite thing to do. And even if she's shy, I'll just work my Jason charm on her. No girl can resist."
I rolled my eyes. "Alright," I said with a sigh. I turned to my car and tapped on the glass of the window. Ashley looked up at me and I motioned for her to get out. She did.
As she went to stand before Jason, her eyes were cast down. I couldn't blame her for not making eye contact with him. He had eyes that made a girl's words turn into incoherent psychobabble.
"Ashley, you probably already know this, but this is Jason. Jason, this is Ashley Glover," I said. Ashley looked up at him and he gave her a swoon-inducing half-smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, Ashley," he said, taking her hand and kissing it, trying to be all chivalrous and shit. I rolled my eyes.
"The pleasure's mine," Ashley replied politely, blushing. I was surprised. Most girls just responded with 'Um, h-hi, um.' Ashley got back into the car.
"She's cute," Jason remarked. "How come I haven't heard of her before?"
"I'm not sure," I replied. "Apparently she's a wallflower. She's really shy, and therefore not very social. But I'm going to change that. I need to make this girl confident. She's my best friend, after all."
"Huh. If I were Ashley, I'd be scared."
"She has no idea what she's in for."
"When it comes to you, I don't think anybody has any idea what they're in for."
"What's that supposed to mean, Collins?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"What do you think it means?" He countered playfully, getting awfully close to me. My insides were melting. No, Isabel. Don't go into swoon-y, helpless mode. Hold your ground.
"I think it means that you really want to sleep with me," I said bluntly.
"You know what that's called? Projection. It is really you that wants to sleep with me."
"Wow, thanks for the psych analysis, Dr. Collins. You know what that's called? Deflection. You're turning the conversation around so that the focus is not on you."
"Okay, fine. Let's just say that the desire to sleep with each other is mutual."
"I never realized that. Thanks for cracking the case, Sherlock."
"Don't get all smart with me," he snapped. He paused and then he went into seductive-Jason mode, getting extremely close to me and speaking in a soft voice. "Isn't there a part of you that just wants to end this already? Don't you ever feel like pushing your ego aside and just giving in to the desire?" His lips were so close to mine that I wanted to tell him yes and just end the whole thing already. But NO. I couldn't. Bad Isabel.
"Nope. I'm not one of your little bimbos, Collins. I'm not going to open my legs for you just because you bat your eyelashes at me. I'm not your bitch."
"This is going to be harder than I thought," he sighed. "But I'm not giving up, just so you know. And you can try to act impervious all you want, but you will fall victim to my charm. I will win this." Wow. What an asshole. He had an ego the size of Russia. But damn it, how come I still wanted to sleep with him?
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." I replied. Before he had a chance to say anything else, I walked away and got into my car.
As I drove out of the school's parking lot, Ashley looked at me like she had something to say but wasn't sure how to say it.
"So... are you two... dating?" she finally asked.
"As if."
"Friends with benefits then?"
"Nope. You can't believe all the rumours you hear, Asher," I replied. She was silent for a little while.
"Are you in love with him?" she said out of nowhere. I turned to her and burst into laughter.
"Buddy," I said between chortles. "Were you not just there when he introduced himself to you? How could anybody love that?"
"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "Maybe that was a little too bold. But it's just... the way you two look at each other..."
"Well, I'm attracted to him. And he's attracted to me. But that's it. He loves himself too much to love anybody else. He's an asshole," I chuckled.
"Why do you say that like you love it?" she inquired. I had no response to that. I thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with an actual answer.
"It entertains me. I get easily bored. He's so frustrating that it's entertaining."
"Okay... just... be careful."
"What, you think I can't take care of myself?"
"Oh, I know you can take care of yourself. But I alsothink that Jason is an asshole and that even you're not sure how you feel about him right now. So just... be careful."
I sat in silence, pondering this. I was touched. She was so insightful and she cared about me, even though she just met me. "Thanks. I appreciate that," I said sincerely.
"What are best friends for?" she grinned. She reached over to turn on the radio and some oldies radio station was playing. So the two of us listened to oldies music and chatted about mundane things on the way to her house.
"You know, I'm really glad I met you," I said to her at one point. And I truly was. I felt this instant connection with her, as if she were my long-lost sister or something.
"So am I," she smiled. We went back to our miscellaneous jabbering.
Before long, we were at her house. I said goodbye to her and then I went home.
On the way home, I reflected on the day's events. Jason had proved himself to be an asshole, yet again. He was just confirming what I already knew so well. But even though it was so obvious that he was a bad person and that he was no good for a girl, why was I so fascinated with him? It was clearly not emotional, because Jason didn't seem to have any emotions aside from lust. It was probably just the fact that he was so damn attractive. Stupid hormones. Stupid curiosity.
There was only one solution. Make him finally give into temptation and win his stupid little game, sleep with him, and get him out of my frigging system. He was not good for my mental health.
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Yeah... so that was.. that.
No cliffhanger. I just... this chapter just... no. Just.. no.
I just realized now that I need to start introducing new characters. Gee, I'm a great planner. I am so sorry for being inadequate, guys. Just stop reading now.
Feel free to tell me how much I suck in your reviews. :D