I'm Waiting | ✔

Chapter 4-

Beckett's POV

Okay, Vanessa's been cold towards me before, but what was that? I'm swimming in pain right now. What did I do? I run my hand through my hair in frustration.

A hand snaps in front of my face. Someone trying to get my attention. I look up...

...into Carly's angry face. "What did you do to her?" She yells.

"Jeez, Carly," I say sarcastically. "I wonder." My hands throw themselves into the air and I yell back. "Do you think that if I knew, I wouldn't fix it?" Annoyance is flashing in my eyes, and I step closer to her, towering over her. "For all I know, it could've been you!"

She tenses, taking a step back as though hit by a blow. Her hand goes to her ear, tugging it hard. "Like it even could've been me! You were the one she was screaming at for RUINING HER LIFE!"

Ouch. That actually stings, but 'Karma is a bitch' after all. I don't flinch, though it is a definite blow to my ego. I snort, not saying anything.

"Oh, so that's your best comeback?" Carly shoves her face into mine. "No wonder Vanessa keeps insisting that she doesn't like you. Pa-thet-ic."

I draw in a breath. That was crossed the line. Without any thought, my arm comes up and smacks her across the face.

She flinches, unmoving. The shock is written all over her features.

Someone cuts between us.

"That's enough, both of you!"

A small crowd has been watching us—great.

I glance up, prepared to fire a few of my comebacks. But when I see who it is, my jaw drops.

"That's enough, Ms. Cato and Mr. Bradstreet. My office—now!" The principal shouts.

Carly gulps, nervousness showing on her face. But a moment after, she turns, following him. Her hand reaches up still, tugging her ear as though it's her life force—if only! I kind of wish because—nope, Vanessa would kill me.

I sigh. I don't want to go to the office. I don't. Against my wishes, I stand. If I don't follow, I'm likely to get in more trouble. Heh.

A thought strikes me. This is the first time I'm in trouble at Keaton—not in trouble with my mother, because she doesn't count. A smirk molds into my lips for a minute before I bite it back, remembering the situation.

I could get expelled. And as much as I don't want to admit it, I don't want to get expelled. Just another disappointment to my mother....and there's no way I could leave without knowing how Vanessa truly feels. She would feel like I bailed on her, again. No way that relationship would go anywhere.

I kick a rock ahead, catching Principal Durani's attention.

"Leave that rock alone, Beckett," he grunts, in a tone that leaves no room for my ego to stay intact—it's not like I can talk back.

I stifle an exaggerated sigh, gazing longingly at the rock that was keeping me from actually thinking about the situation, but now I do.

Vanessa's going to hate me. I literally slapped her best friend in the face, and who's she going to favor? The guy who slapped a girl, her best friend, and was yelled at by her to say that he ruined her life? Or her 'perfect' best friend? I snort. There's pretty much no competition.

A feeling of dread settles over me. I don't believe this. I'm probably going to get detention in the least, and my crush is gonna start hating me. Not that she doesn't already with that super awesome speech she gave me about how much she loves me.

(Please note the sarcasm.)

I shuffle my feet.

We're getting weird looks; we're trailing Durani. Carly's keeping her head down, but I don't care what anyone think about me except Vanessa. I don't give a crap about anyone else. But still—all of the attention is making me uncomfortable.

Is that weird? A dancer being uncomfortable with attention? Yeah, I don't give a crap.

I only dislike negative energy. Anything else is just kind of...eh.

The hallway floors are gleaming as the bell rings, students shuffling to and fro. Everyone's busy to get to their classes.

Classes. Oh, no. Mom is going to kill me and Carly. Crap.

I sigh. My life is so messed up. I run my fingers through my hair.

"You alright there, Mr. Bradstreet?" Principal Durani asks curtly, yet another worry line appearing on his forehead.

Carly spins, giving me a questioning look. Maybe she actually cares.

"Fine," I say. Blunt. When someone says 'fine', that's pretty much saying that they aren't fine and they need space. I've learned the hard way.

The principal buys it. He walks on normally.

But, unfortunately, Carly doesn't.

"Beckett!" She hisses, her tone now concerned. "What's up?"

"Vanessa's gonna hate me now," I mumble under my breath.

"Why do you care?" She asks with a nonchalant shrug.

My jaw drops. Vanessa hasn't told her? Well, she probably has a reason. "Just...she seemed really upset. I don't want her to throw a tantrum on her parents," I lie smoothly.

Carly's studying me. It's like she can read me like a book. It's really creepy and unnerving. Her lips are curved into a frown. I feel like she's picking me apart, piece by piece. Not that there's anything interesting about me in reality.

You know all that stupid stuff they give you about being able to read the person you like, like a book? Yeah, no. I just take my best guess normally. Hope my life turns out okay, people. You better hope.

"You like her," Carly finally says, giving her final verdict.

My shoulders slump from their casual/confident position. She can read me. Darn. "Um...yeah, I guess." No wonder she calls me pathetic, I think rolling my eyes.

Her eyes grow to the size of saucers. (So, maybe that was exaggerating, but if only they would actually pop out of her skull...) "You have a crush on Vanessa?"

I nod, ducking my head.

What? It's embarrassing! A boy admitting his crush to someone, anyone. Like you wouldn't be embarrassed!

I blush, a rare occurrence for me. I hope she doesn't notice.

The only reason I'm telling her this is because there's a slight chance that I may be able to convince her not to tell Vanessa about me slapping her. A slight one.

But the plan has two faces. It might actually help break out their friendship. Then V might go back to relying on me. (I don't really want this part, but whatever. And I meant that about the breaking-friendship part, not the relying on me. Duh.)

Carly explodes into a firework crackling with squeals and giggles. "Oh-em-geeeeee!" She's bouncing around me. Who knew that the somewhat dangerous blonde could actually even do this.

"Yeah, about that...," I respond, awkwardly. "I think she might be mad at me."

"Well, obviously." She chuckled. Her expression clouded over as she realized I wasn't talking about the previous fight. "About what?"

"Um," I scratch the back of my neck. "Well, you see, I might've let anger get the best of me and slapped her best friend...will you tell her that I'm sorry?"

Carly pursed her lips. "The best friend or V?"

"The best friend...and V," I say.

"Nope, nope, nope," she says, shaking her head. "I ship you guys way too much for that!" She shoots me a glance. "I won't tell, alright?"

"Wow, really?" I ask, faking my surprise. Little does she know that I'm manipulating her.

"Of course!" Carly exclaims with enthusiasm. Apparently that's all it took for her to forgive me.