Bad Luck with Love

Chapter 18: Beautiful Soul

“Yo, Ivy!” someone called. I cursed under my breath as I felt an arm being slung around my shoulders. Chad looked down at me, his blonde hair messy and blue eyes bright.

“Hey, Chad,” I mumbled, too tired to even bother brushing his arm off of me. I hadn’t slept at all last night; I kept thinking about Java’s, thinking of what I was going to say to Jake.

“Jeez, what happened to you?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

“Nothing.”

He stopped walking and grabbed my arm to stop me. “Something’s wrong,” he said, searching my face, “What happened?”

I looked away, pulling gently out of his grasp as I stepped away. “Nothing,” I repeated as I took off down the hallway, weaving between all the teenagers in a rush to get to first period on time. I lost Chad within seconds, and made it to first period several minutes before him. I chewed anxiously on my lip, wishing the bell would ring as soon as possibly so Chad couldn’t continue to question me.

Chad walked in, his eyes landing me on immediately. He strode towards me with a determined look on his face as he took his seat next to me.

“Ivy-” he started, but the bell rang and the teacher called the class’ attention.

I exhaled in relief, relaxing slightly in my seat when the teacher said we’d be writing a reflection that, fortunately for me, was going to take all period.

I threw myself into my work, focusing all my energy into my school work for the entire morning. I ignored Chad to the best of my abilities and when the bell rang for the end of class I leapt to my feet and all but sprinted out the door. Second period was much the same thing, ignoring Chad as well as Jolene and Leena. When the bell rang, once again I hurried to my feet and out the door before any of them could react. On my way out the door, I saw Chad talking to Jo and Leena. I was curious, but I wasn’t ready to tell them. Telling Sabrina, Nick and Tyler was one thing. Chad, Jo and Leena was another. It was like admitting defeat. Making our break up final.

God, I’m an idiot, I thought bitterly. Why did I break up with Jake? How could I have been so stupid? For the first time in my life I actually regretted breaking up with someone.

I threw my books into my locker with more force than necessary before snatching my lunch of one of the shelves and hurrying to the cafeteria. I had brought my Ipod along with me and I plugged it in as I walked, putting in my earphones as I started to blast some loud, rock music.

Godsmack was the band of the day it appeared, simply because it suited my mood. 'I Stand Alone'. It was perfect for today, so I put the setting on repeat before I entered the cafeteria. I saw Tyler and Jake already sitting at our table, and I took a deep breath before I walked slowly to the table.

Tyler spotted me first since he was sitting facing me, and he shot me an apologetic look as I took my usual seat next to Jake. I swallowed hard as I scooted sideways, further away from him.

He looked up at me once, his expression so filled with different emotions that I couldn’t even distinguish them before he looked away again. I took out my cookies, skipping out on my sandwich since I was in desperate need of comfort food. But even chocolate chip cookies didn’t make me feel better. I wasn't sure whether or not anyone was talking since my music was so loud I couldn’t even hear the usual loud hum of the hundreds of teenagers talking in the cafeteria. A few moments later, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I looked up with my eyes, keeping my head bent down, and saw Chad sitting next to me. He looked at me, frowning before I looked down again.

If I thought it was awkward before, now it was worse. The few times I looked up, everyone looked slightly uncomfortable and confused. Not to mention, I was stuck in between my ex-boyfriend and new best friend Chad, whom my brother appeared to hate.