Not What it Seems

Chapter Five

~Cash~

I could hear Kory or someone walking down the hallway with the shower stalls.

"God dammit!" he yelled, and the voice sounded a lot like Brian- this guy in my English class. "Where the hell is this fucker?"

I nearly laughed, it was so stupid. They hated me because I was, supposedly, rich and privileged? It wasn't as if it was something we chose. It was just what we were born with.

Also, the sound of a geek like Brian cussing was almost comical.

I looked up at Jane, my eyes skimming down the pale skin of of her throat that was exposed to me as she leaned her head back against the wall.

I knew it was stupid, but when was I ever going to get a chance like this again? I ran my the edge of my nose up her throat, and gently nuzzled into her neck. I felt her stiffen for a moment before relaxing again.

Then, I felt her hand sliding up my back and into my hair, gently rubbing my scalp.

To be totally honest I was seriously turned on and I hadn't even kissed her yet!

The footsteps got closer, and I realized they were getting faster. I sucked in a breath and pressed us even farther back into the corner.

"Brian!" Jason yelled, just as the footsteps stopped by the stall to the left. "What the hell is taking so long? Let's go! He isn't here!"

Brian took a step towards us, I could hear it echoing in my ears, but stopped as Jason yelled out again.

"Someone must have tipped him off, come on, I bet we can catch him before he gets too far," he said, and then I heard the locker room door slam shut. Brian's footsteps were faster as he ran, but I could hear them growing more distant as he ran towards the door.

I heard the sound the door made when it was pushed open exactly nine times before it clicked shut. Jane let out a breath.

"Oh my God," she sighed, and looked down at me.

~Jane~

That was probably one of the scariest moments of my life, to be honest.

It was also one of the hottest.

"That was..." he started, and I stared up at him - at his ice blue eyes, and golden hair and perfectly curved eyebrows.

"Horrifying?" I supplied. "Scarring? Terrifying?"

He cracked a grin at me. "All of the above."

"We should go," I said, and he headed over to his locker and pulled out his shirt. I almost groaned aloud as he slipped it over his head and tugged it down to cover his torso.

"Where?" he asked, not even bothering to point out the fact that I was asking him to go somewhere with me.

"I think we should go to your house, you know? So they don't find you?" I didn't know why I needed to go with him, but a sudden look of fear crossed his face.

"Let's go to your place, instead, okay?" I was stunned. He actually wanted to hang out with me?

I wasn't going to argue with the boy, so I lead him out of the locker room and peeked around the corner. There wasn't any sign of Jason, so I made a mad dash to the front of the school. I had been so concerned about Jason finding us, that I hadn't even noticed that Cash was holding my hand.

~Cash~

When she suggested going to my place, I panicked. I was too busy flipping out that I didn't even notice that she'd basically said we were going to hang out. Together.

She pulled me down the halls to the front entrance and then poked her head out the door. She motioned for me to follow her, which wasn't necessary considering how I had impulsively grabbed her hand the second she started running.

We had already missed the bus, that was for sure, but as we rounded the corner into the parking lot that wasn't our biggest problem.

"Well, well, look at this. Mr. Popular and Mrs. Wallflower holding hands. Care to explain?"

"Go to hell, Alex," I cursed under my breath, and he laughed.

"Come on now, Cash, we used to be friends, remember?"

"Yeah, used to. Until you started doing drugs and hanging out with gang members. Don't get us involved in your shit, man."

"Wait," Jane said, frowning, and I loved the little crease that formed between her eyebrows. "You're the kid who shoved me on the bus!" Alex laughed.

"When? I shove people daily, sweetheart."

At the sound of Alex calling her sweetheart I stiffened and pulled Jane discretely closer.

Apparently, it wasn't discrete enough.

"Woah! Look at that," he said deviously. "You two like each other."

"No," I snapped, "we don't."

~Jane~

I don't know why, but it killed me to hear Cash say that.

But Alex, God, he seemed like an asshole. He had that stupid cocky smile, and the typical bad boy look. Dark hair, jeans ripped along the thighs, tight shirt. I didn't know how I hadn't recognized him when he shoved me on the bus. We had been together in school since the second grade! And Cash was right. They had been best friends.

"Stop lying to yourself, Cash," Alex said, rolling his eyes, "You always did care about your reputation more than your friends."

"Alex," he growled, "I don't want to get into this right now, okay? Please, we can fight some other time, but not while Jane is here."

Alex snorted, and stared me down. "Are you really naive enough to believe he doesn't have feelings for you?" he retorted, and that was Cash's final straw. He advanced in the blink of an eye, and punched Alex in the jaw with a crack that echoed around the parking lot.

Alex stumbled backwards, and then launched forward, catching Cash's shirt collar and pinning him to the wall behind us.

"I'm not going to hit you back, on one condition," he snarled, and Cash crossed his arms.

"What?" he grunted out.

"I know you don't have a car to go wherever it is you're going together," he said, and I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing what was coming next. "So, I'll give you a ride, if you let me come with you."

Cash shook his head and opened his mouth to say no, but I cut him off quickly.

"Okay. But on one of my conditions." Alex looked at me expectantly, his brown eyes boring into mine. "No fighting, Alex. I'm serious."

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Deal."