Poison Kiss

Chapter 20:

Poison Kiss:

Chapter 20:

Ashlynn's POV:

I hurriedly glanced at the clock, before slinging my backpack over my shoulder and scampering out the door. There were only two weeks left of school, and they were packed with exams. I couldn't afford to be late anymore, so Nico's dad had offered to pick me up.

As I dashed down the driveway, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand up. A prickly sensation ran down my spine as if someone was watching me. I whirled around just in time to see a thin and haggard figure dart into the shrubbery that lined my yard. I stepped forward to investigate, but was interrupted by the honking of a horn. I grumpily glanced over my shoulder, ready to reprimand whoever had been foolish enough to thwart my sleuthing.

Nico waved to me from the passengers seat of a silver Subaru. "Come on Ashlynn. Hurry up!"

I glared at him and quickly scampered over to the vehicle and hopped into the back. Nico raised an eyebrow, noticing my pissed off frown. "What's wrong?" he mouthed. I shook my head grumpily.

"So Ashlynn," Mr. Watson asked pleasantly. "How have you been?"

"Just peachy.." I grumbled, the creases in my forehead wrinkling further. I hadn't slept well the night before.

He chuckled. "High-school can do that to you. You know," he winked. "The peachiness."

I shrugged and turned to gaze out the window. That figure had seemed really familiar. I faintly remembered seeing someone that looked kind of similar the day before. Oh well, it was probably just some creepy weirdo.

"We're here!" Nico exclaimed, hopping out of the car and slamming the door.

Mr. Watson rolled his eyes. "Teenagers. They can't stand to be seen with their hair uncombed, much less with their parents." I nodded and hurriedly followed Nico out of the car in order to avoid anymore awkward conversation.

The school campus was almost empty. For once in my life I had arrived early to school. Since I had a little extra time to myself, I headed over to the library to study for my precalculus final.

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My precalculus finals took up the majority of my first four periods, and I found myself feeling hungry by the time lunch rolled around. For the first time in my life, I headed to the cafeteria for something to eat. As I entered the lunchroom, only a few heads turned to glare at me. The rumor was most likely dying down, whatever it was.

I quickly grabbed some lunch and headed to a lone table near the wall. I had just taken the first bite out of my crappy tuna fish sandwich, when some angry whispering caught my attention. I glanced over, and almost choked in reaction to what I saw. Stacy and Hayley were huddled over by the trashcans, clearly having a heated dispute. After a few moments of steadily raising voices, Hayley caught the attention of the entire lunchroom by lifting her hand and slapping Stacy. The echo of the impact radiated throughout the room as everyone fell silent. Stacy froze in shock, while Hayley began to cry and ran out of the room. Something within me tugged at my heart, as if telling me to go after her. My brain screamed otherwise, though. If she didn't care for me, then why should I help her.

I casually returned to eating my now mushy sandwich as the room began to fill with hushed voices and the sounds of phones being taken out. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to a bunch of random teens to spread gossip better than the drama queen bitch herself.

Hayley's POV:

How could she haves lied to me? I had truly believed that we were friends. Poor Ashlynn. I had treated her so badly. Now I would never earn her love or trust. I had believed Stacy over her. I had to apologize, but I couldn't just do it in front of the entire student body. It had to be special.