Boy vs. Girl ✔️

•XVI•

"Asher was fucking a girl in the locker room?" Kate gaped, a look of disgust passing her face.

"Yeah," I crinkled my nose in agreement, and pressed further, "that means he doesn't like me, right?"

"No. That means he definitely likes you," Kate chuckled, looking at my confused expression tainted with irritation. "He got jealous," she shrugged.

"No he wasn't," I shook my head vigorously.

"If that's what you want to believe," she shrugged again, her tone unbelieving.

"That's what I want to believe," I nodded, turning away from me.

It wasn't possible, right?

Just like me liking him wasn't possible?

•••

"Kara, you told me you would try," Jace said softly, pushing a bowl of apples towards me.

"I'm just not hungry," I feebly explained, pushing the apples back towards him. He gave me a warning glare, and I groaned loudly. I picked up an apple slice, and nibbled on the end of it. He looked at me, obviously not appeased, but went back to eating his lunch.

As I sipped my juice precariously, Asher walked into the cafeteria, a peppy blonde strung on his arm. He muttered something under his breath, and she giggled discreetly.

God, what a fake.

He scanned the cafeteria slowly, and my breath hitched unnoticeably as his eyes found mine. His gaze, however, slid right over me, to land on Jace.

Of course he was looking for Jace. He was his friend.

As I thought about Jace, I felt a pang of guilt, because I had been completely ignoring him. I turned to face him, taking a large bite out of the next apple slice. His face held a worried expression, with a hint of confusion, but when he saw me looking, it slipped back into easy nonchalance.

"What's wrong?" I whispered slowly, my voice tentative.

"Nothing," he smiled, turning to face back to his history textbook.

"You sure?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," he nodded, and then sighed deeply, adding the dreaded words, "I'll talk to you later. Can you stop by the library?"

"Yeah sure, I need to pick up some books for physics too," I shrugged, sending him a small smile, as I felt my heart sink. He returned it, however warily, and attempting to placate him, I took another bite out of the apple slice.

It actually didn't taste that bad.

•••

"Kara!" I heard a familiar voice call from behind me. I groaned loudly, and turned to face him.

"What do you want, Asher?" I asked him, my tone snappy and malicious.

"I just wanted to say sorry. For, you know, pulling you under the swimming pool... and almost drowning you," he trailed off, digging his hands into his pockets, as if he was nervous. An awkward silence passed both of us, as I decided what to say.

"Were you expecting an apology back?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. "Because I'm not really sorry for what I did."

"You could've drowned me!" he exclaimed, both anger and humor apparent in his voice.

"You could've too! What if I didn't know how to swim?" I yelled, my voice raising a pitch.

"Then I would've jumped in and saved you," he smirked, before adding seriously, "you could say sorry though. Be a kind soul. Maybe that way you can reduce the intensity of the hell you're sentenced to."

I smacked him angrily with my binder, before snarling angrily, "I am nobody's damsel in distress."

"You're probably right," he agreed, earning a confused expression from me, "you're more like an ogre in distress."

"Jerk," I muttered, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"I already knew that," he shrugged, "but I bet you don't know that you're a bitch."

"I am so not a bitch," I rolled my eyes.

"It's okay Kara," he said softly, my heart stuttering as my name rolled off his tongue, "the first step to solving a problem is accepting it."

"How do I solve this problem?" I asked, gesturing to him.

"Easy," he told me, "with a kiss."

My heart dropped to my stomach. Then my brain restarted.

"Not even in your dreams," I sneered, turning to walk away from him when I felt his hand on my bicep, tugging me towards him.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride to the library," he suggested. I rolled my eyes, before snatching my arm back.

"No thanks," I told him, "I'd rather not get into cars with potential rapists. Walking's probably safer."

"True, but who ever wanted to live on the safe side of life?" he asked me, a smirk growing on his face.

"Me. And every other conservative child who played the game," I smiled widely, trying to exude sarcasm.

"You're no fun," he whined, probably trying to annoy me so I would agree with getting in the car with him. Abruptly, he grabbed me by the waist again, throwing me over the shoulders. This was becoming an annoying habit of his.

"Asher, PUT ME DOWN!" I screamed, causing everyone in the parking lot to turn to stare at us. Most of the guys just shrugged, turning back to the girls they were talking to. Others looked like they wanted to come help, but decided against it, as Asher's towering figure loomed into view.

What a great school community, I thought sarcastically.

With that, he dumped me in the car, and locked the door, making it harder for me to get out.

I sighed deeply, as I decided against smashing his window open, and fell back onto the seat.

I guess I was going to the library with Asher.

Yay.

•••

Boy: 12          Girl: 10