Benefits

Chapter Three: Again

The next morning, I was not looking forward to seeing Justin. Since our kiss last night, I was afraid that it was going to be even more awkward than it usually was. Since it was his turn to drive us to school, I went out and met him by his car after getting ready. "Morning," he said, grinning slyly as I slipped into his car.

"Hey," I said awkwardly.

"Oh, come on. Things don't have to weird now that you've succumbed to my charm."

I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "I definitely didn't. I was totally just using you."

I could have sworn I saw his grin falter for a split second, before it returned to his face. "Well, if that is so, feel free to use me anytime. Preferably use me much more than you did last night."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes, before feeling some fear suddenly. "Wait... You're not going to tell anybody about what happened, are you?"

"Why? Don't want your little crush finding out about it?" I was shocked by the sudden harshness in his voice.

"No, I don't care if he knows... It's not like he'd care anyways. I just don't want anybody to know."

"Well, as rude as that is, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"Thank you." I don't know what made me decide to do this, but I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. I could have sworn I saw his cheeks turn slightly pink, but when I looked back at him, he looked normal again. We went the rest of the way in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Once we got to school, we said a quick "see you later" and then we were off.

When I got to my locker, my best friends, Jaida and Gabriela, were already there and waiting for me. "Hi!" Gabriela said, looking relieved when she saw me.

"Where'd you go last night?" Jaida asked immediately. "You left to go get drinks and then you were gone. I thought you were dead a little bit."

"Yeah, sorry I... KC was kissing someone else..."

"Oh, no!" Gabriela said, her big eyes getting even wider. "That's terrible! I'm sorry, Annie!"

"It's okay, Gabs. It's not like we're together, and he doesn't even know I like him. Justin drove me home and I just... went to bed." I lied to them, because I didn't want to be judged. The girls that hooked up with him were normally thought of as idiots for putting themselves through it.

"Wait, Justin was there?" Gabriela questioned.

"Oh, yeah. He helped me sneak out and drove me. It was no big deal. He was making out with someone when I found him, so it isn't like he went without rewards." They both laughed, and we went to class.

Unfortunately, my third class of the day was art, which I had with KC. Normally, I sat behind him and stared at the back of his head, but today I just didn't want to see him. He walked in a few minutes before the bell rang and found me, before shooting me a smile that made my heart sink. It got even worse when he started walking towards the empty seat beside me. "Hey, Annie. Mind if I sit here?"

"Uh, no, go ahead."

"So, did you like the show last night? I didn't end up seeing you afterwards, you must've slipped out early."

"Oh, yeah, I really liked it. You guys were great! I just wasn't feeling really well, so I left without saying much."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Are you feeling better now?"

This was why I liked him so much. He put on a scary punk persona, but he was always so sweet to me. "Yeah, I'm feeling alright. Thank you."

We spent a lot of class as we were working on our drawings, talking and laughing. I was always so on guard with him, though. I didn't want to say anything stupid or mess up any chance of him liking me. That was the most difficult part about being around him.