Love Me Not? (I)

Chapter 3

3

Reece

I found Lana at a table with a few other girls and a couple guys. Maybe two of the girls were in a guy's lap. Lana and another girl were sitting in their own chair. "Hi..." I said kind of nervously.

Lana beamed up at me the same time the table grew silent. "Reece! Here! Sit by me!" She pulled up a chair from the table behind her and placed it beside her. I gave a shy smile and sat beside her.

"Guys, this is Reece!" Lana introduced me. "She's the new girl, so I expect you to be nice to her!" Everyone mumbled an agreement and went back to the previous conversation they were having.

"Lana," I whispered to her. "I kinda feel awkward sitting here."

She giggled. "It's fine. Here, I'll introduce you to the people here. That couple there," She pointed to a guy with golden blond hair and striking green eyes and a girl with dyed black hair and pink contacts. "Is Lacy and Jackson." They looked up briefly and waved.

"The couple smooching beside them without a care in the world is Ally and Austin." Austin had coal black hair and the girl in his lap, completely ignoring us, and sandy blond hair. Austin halfheartedly waved at me. I quickly averted my eyes.

"There's this lovely single lady beside me." She nudged a platinum blond beside her to get her attention. "Her name is Lola. It's you, me, and her for the single ladies at this table!" We chuckled and I soon felt a little more comfortable around them. Lana has some pretty neat friends...

Someone suddenly sat down at the head of the table. I glanced up from pulling an apple from my bag and held in a groan. Asher chose this time to join us. Almost instantly, Ally pulled away from Austin to simply sit on his lap. What a kill joy.

I kept my gaze from Asher as I shrunk back in my seat. I listened intently as Asher struck up a conversation with the two guys while us girls chatted over them. I, of course, didn't chime in. I didn't want to attract attention to myself. I bit into my apple and chewed slowly, suddenly losing my appetite.

"Reece! Are you even listening to me?" I jerked out of my daydreaming to see the entire table staring at me, even Asher. His eyes were full of confusion and hate.

I swallowed the bite of apple I forgot I had in my mouth. "Sorry, Lana... I spaced out there."

"Yeah, I could see that!" She giggled and playfully pushed at my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and pushed her back. Childishly, she pushed back.

I sat up straighter, forgetting about everyone else at the table. "Gurl, you did not just do that!"

She caught on to my playful tone and tried to make herself more "intimidating." "Oh, yes I did!" And so started a pushing war between us. I don't think we really cared where our hands grabbed to push each other back.

"OW! Fuck!" I jumped and saw my other hand was empty. Slowly, I let my eyes wander to the voice of the person. Asher. Oh my God... I JUST THREW MY APPLE AT ASHER!! I'M GONNA DIE! I leaped up from the table the same time he did and I practically ran from the cafeteria to my next class. I had to put as much distance between him and I before I get hurt.

Someone suddenly grabbed the strap to my bag and slammed me into the wall. I winced and looked up into the cold, hard, golden eyes of Asher. I gulped and told myself to hold my ground.

"That was uncalled for, bitch." He kept a firm hold on my bag, keeping me in place.

I tried to swallow down a snide remark. "It was an accident." I said instead of the other thing I wanted to say.