Querencia

Chapter Eight

"Morning!" Ariella squeals as she suddenly comes up behind me.

I jump and turn around with a smile "Morning. Someone's in a good mood."

"We got a little corgi puppy at the clinic yesterday." She says excitedly.

I raise an eyebrow "And?"

"And!?" She exclaims. I simply shrug.

"Puppies are the cutest thing in this world and its a little-witty-bitty corgi."

"And seeing its little face put you in such a good mood it lasted to this morning." I chuckle, amused.

"Okay you have to see it." She says as she starts to dig into her bag. Her movements become frantic before she groans and zips her bag back up. "I left my phone in my locker, I'll be back." And she takes off, jogging to the gym.

I laugh and turn back to my opened locker to switch out my books. I get situated and close the locker only to see Scott standing next to me.

I jump for the second time today and place a hand on my erratic heart. "People seriously need to stop doing that."

"Hey you, sorry to scare." He says casually.

I give him a look "What do you want?"

The last time I saw Scott was the week before summer started when I broke up with him. We had had an on and off relationship since freshman year, and after three years of headache and confusion I became annoyed by his "charm", and seeing his basic blonde hair and dull blue eyes became a chore.

"What do you mean? You know I want you."

I shudder "I dumped you, remember. That means I don't want you. So why try."

He laughs "That's not the first time we broke up but..." he looked me up and down "I hope it'll be the last." We say in unison.

"Yeah yeah, you said that every time we broke up. I got tired of the back and forth Scott. I got tired of the repetition, and I definitely got tired of seeing your face everyday."

"Oh come on." He pouts, making me cringe in disgust. "Don't be like that." He tries to reach out for me waist but I back up.

"Hey I thought that the three months you had away from me would make you realize the world is lonely without me."

I scoff "You're such a Narcissist."

He looks confused "What does that mean?"

I roll my eyes "Look Asshat, distance did not make the heart grow fonder okay, in fact I quite enjoy the distance."

His face contorts to one of anger and jealousy "You really don't think you can be happy without me do you?"

I laugh "In fact I do. I've never been happier. I found someone else Scott, maybe you should find another girl to toy with."

He crosses his arms "Who is he?"

It's my turn to be confused "Who's who?"

"The guy."

I shrug.

"Don't act stupid. Who's the guy you think you can replace me with."

I laugh "Oh god do you really not know?"

"Know what?" He says, steam coming out of his ears.

"Hey what's going on?" Ariella says coming up to us.

He turns to her "Who is he Ariella?"

She looks taken aback "Who's who?"

"The guy!" He exclaims. "The guy Leah's dating."

She turns to me with a is-he-serious look, I smile and shake my head.

She then turns to him "Well he's shorter than you."

He scoffs.

"And has lighter hair." She continues.

"Like an Angel might I add." I wink at her.

I can tell she's trying to hold back laughter "And has green eyes."

"My favorite feature too, could stare into them for hours."

She turns to me "Awwe you're so sweet."

He looks between us "I'm lost."

I push myself off the locker I was leaning on and swing my arm around Ariella. "Ariella is the someone else I found Dumbass."

He looks at Ariella, her wiggling her fingers in a hello motion.

He laughs "So you're going through a curious stage? Please, once you have a man you'll always come back to him."

We laugh "Well I've never been with a man, just a self-centered boy who thinks masculinity comes from his dick."

The bell rings and I pull Ariella away.

"Did he really not know? Like at all?" Ariella asks, disbelief lacing her words.

I laugh "He's dense, and probably doesn't listen to any gossip that doesn't revolve around him and his said dick."

"Why did you guys break up again?"

"I got tired of the on and off-cycle so I called it off. It was always the same, we argued about anything and everything. After everything, I just had to look back and really look at him and what I saw was toxic. The relationship revolved around him and his needs, he only really wants me because he thinks of me as "exotic", and he hated my friends and family though he would put on a fake face."

I sigh "As you saw, he's a child whenever he doesn't get what he wants."

She makes a face of disgust "Elgh."

I laugh "I know, I don't know what I ever saw in him."

We stop outside of her class "Well luckily you'll never have to deal with that behavior anymore."

I lean down to give her a brief kiss. "Lucky me."

"See you at lunch?"

"I'll be outside at the bench under the tree."

. . .

"I heard Scott tried to get you back this morning," Sarah says when I sit down in my seat.

I groan "Don't remind me."

She laughs "Did he really not know you're dating Ariella? It's been the talk of the school."

I groan again "Don't remind me of that either. But yeah he didn't know, you know he's always been a dumbass."

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news," Jackson says coming in and sitting at the desk in front of me.

I drop my head on the desk "What now?"

"Let me guess, Scott's throwing a fit and spreading rumors."

"No."

I raise my head and look at him suspiciously "What do you mean no? What is he doing?"

"He's calm."

I glance at Sarah and we share a nervous look "What do you mean calm?" She asks.

"I mean he's been casually talking to his friend talking, laughing, and worst of all, smiling like a cocky bastard."

"Well, may-maybe he's just really believing that this is just a phase."

He shakes his head.

I sigh "This isn't over yet, is it?

They both shake their heads and I try to brace myself for the worst.