Not What it Seems

Chapter Seven

~Cash~

God, she's pretty, I thought the next morning when I spotted her at her locker.

I saw Alex walk her into school, and I had felt anger flare within me. Then, I remembered that he had asked her out, and I was in no place to protect her.

To be quite frank I really had no idea what I was doing with Jane. We couldn't be together, could we? We'd be ostrasized! I watched as she kicked her locker door so it would shut, and quickly snapped the lock shut. She turned, meeting my gaze, and gave me a small smile. She leaned her head against her locker, still looking at me, and I knew I was screwed.

I was falling for Jane Mathews hard and fast, and there wasn't any way to stop it.

~Jane~

Mom had come home really late last night, slurring her words and dragging some guy behind her and into her room. I could hear them all night long. The grunting, the moaning, the creaking of the bed. And it made me sick.

It ruined sex for me. Sex was supposed to be something intimate, and beautiful. Something you shared with someone you loved in private. Not something you did with any random stranger when you were drunk. Not something you did when your seventeen year old daughter was in the house, just across the hall.

I had gone down in the morning to grab a muffin before I left for the bus, only to find the same guy from the previous night lurking around in the kitchen. He looked startled to see me.

"Looking for something?" I snapped, and he flinched back, opening the fridge casually.

"Your mom - that's your mom, right? - she wants some animal crackers."

I sighed. Mom was addicted to animal crackers. Apparently, they worked for her hangovers. I pointed to the top cupboard, and grabbed a muffin before practically sprinting out the doors.

»»»»

On the bus, Alex plunked himself down beside me before I could even object.

"Where's your car?" I asked, frowning, and then frowned even deeper. "Why was your car at school when you rode the bus yesterday morning?"

"We got a real Sherlock Holmes here," he said, and propped his knees up against the seat in front of us. "I left my car here a couple days ago when I went home with a friend. Thats why it was at school."

I shrugged. "Okay," I said, looking over at him- at his leather jacket, and his gelled up hair. "By the way, Grease called. They want their actor back." He scowled at me.

"Hardeeharhar. Hilarious."

I laughed and then looked at him again. "Seriously though, why are you riding the bus if you have your car back?"

"I needed to settle on a time with you for our date." He raised his eyebrows and winked at me.

"Friday at six," I fired off absently, not really concerned about the date. It was only once, after all.

"Sounds good. Are you gonna shank me if I take you to dinner and a movie?" I laughed, watching as he grinned at me.

"No, but that's real creative. You sure that isn't code for some super illegal drug pickup?" He rolled his eyes.

"You take Cash too seriously."

Alex walked me into school and stopped by my locker.

"Friday night," he reminded me, and then he was gone, strolling down the hall the way all bad boys do - nonchalantly, like they are king of the world.

I set my stuff in my locker and slung my bag back over my shoulder. I shoved against the locker door, kicking it until it lined up, and quickly snapped my lock shut. The door bulged from the inside.

I turned, and caught Cash staring at me. It wasn't a creepy staring though. It was sweet. I smiled at him, sighing as I caught my breath from the beating my locker had just recieved.

He made his way over to me, and cautiously opened his locker, not quite looking at me when he spoke.

"We still on for lunch today?" he asked pushing his textbook onto the top shelf. I nodded, leaning back against my locker and watching people passing by us.

"Meet me out in the parking lot," he said, and I agreed, watching as he shut his locker and gingerly turned to me.

"I know, Cash," I said, cutting him off as he opened his mouth. "Be careful, no one can see us and all that jazz. I've got it alright?" He nodded, smiling gently as he headed off in the opposite direction as I.

~Cash~

I couldn't wait to see her again. It was so stupid! I had never felt like this before, and I wondered all of a sudden if Jane knew how I felt. Was I as obvious as Alex thought I was, or could he just read me better than most people?

I walked into English, my last class before lunch, and sat down beside Chris. Alex walked into the room and sat on the other side of the class, cocking a smirk at me as he did.

I wondered about Jane's mother. She sounded like... like the kind of man my father was and maybe even still is. My Aunt used to call my Dad a drunkard and a cheater, and I always used to ask my mother about why Dad left, but she wouldn't speak a word about him. It was expected I guess.

"Cash!" Chris yelled from beside me, jerking me out of my thoughts. My head snapped to attention and Chris was frowning at me. "Someone on your mind, man?" he asked, reminding me of the locker room conversation the previous day.

I scowled at him. "Shut up, dude. Okay? I've just got a lot going on right now," I said, giving him a noncommittal answer to settle him down.

And even as he did, I could see Alex grinning at me from across the room.

»»»»

I didn't really know what to do when I saw her. It was like my heart threatened to beat out of my chest, even though there was a seemingly insurmountable barrier between us as she sat down.

"Hey," she said, crossing her legs beneath her. "How's it going?"

"Good!" I said, too enthusiastically. I gave her a small smile and took a bite out of my sandwich.

"What are you reading?" she asked, and I grinned, holding out the Book Thief. I knew she would have read it.

She smiled back at me and nodded. "Its a great book."

An uncomfortable silence settled between us and we looked anywhere but at each other. Suddenly, her voice jolted me from my thoughts.

"Cash, what are we even doing?"

As I looked at her, the answer didn't come to me at once. It didn't come to me the next second, or the one after that. But, as I looked at Jane - at her dark brown hair, and her pale skin, and and the chocolatey color of her eyes- I realized that I didn't have a reason, or a goal in mind when it came to Jane.

And that was okay, because we were defying the social classes as we sat there on that bench. We were breaking rules and making up our own, so maybe our intertwined lives didn't have to be as orthodox as we thought.