Not Never (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 2 - Part 2

"Is he bothering you?" Logan asked from behind her. She hadn't heard his approach. What is it with guys? she thought with growing frustration.

"No." She had seen Maddox in action before and knew that—despite their similar size—he would win, hands down. Maddox sent him a challenging look that dared him to even try. She didn't want this to spiral and attract more attention, they were already drawing curious looks from some of the surrounding students.

She glared at Maddox as his gaze went from her to Logan, who was playing the 'jealous boyfriend' role well.

"See you around, Ash." He shortened her name, giving a false impression of intimacy to her already seething boyfriend, before he swaggered off. She turned to face Logan, who looked like he was debating whether to take him on.

"You gonna explain why you have his jacket?" His eyes bore into her accusingly. He was in full blown jealousy mode now.

"Um..." she began, but her mind went blank. She couldn't think of an excuse.

Not a single one.

His frown deepened. "Are you cheating on me?"

"No." She felt insulted he had even suggested the idea. The thought that she would cheat on Logan with Maddox was laughable. She didn't even like him. But no matter how much her mind was disgusted by the thought, she couldn't ignore the fact her skin still tingled from his brief touch and the way her heart did strange things when he was near.

"Then why can't you tell me why you had his jacket?"

She bit her lip while she tried to come up with an explanation to appease him, but her mind was still muddled from her brief interaction with Maddox.

"It's not what you think," she mumbled, and Logan's frown remained.

Technically she hadn't done anything close to what was going through his mind, but to explain why she had Maddox's jacket, she would have to open up about what had happened, and she couldn't do that.

"We bumped into each other yesterday. It was cold so he offered me his jacket." As soon as she said the words, she could see the disbelief in his eyes. It had sounded so much better in her mind, but now tumbling from her lips it made her sound so guilty. This was going to cause a bigger mess than she had first feared.

"There's nothing going on," she insisted.

She could read the indecision in his features.

"I want to believe you..." She held his eyes, hoping her steady look would assure him she hadn't done anything wrong. "But I don't."

It was playing out exactly the way she had feared it would. Damn Maddox! She was left with a mess she would need to clean up.

Logan shook his head before he stalked off, and she watched him stride into the school.

What a marvelous start to the day, she thought sarcastically as she trudged forward.

Maybe he just needed time to cool off and then they could talk about it. She was a lousy liar, so if she wanted to soothe things between them she knew she would have to tell him the truth and that was something she was set against.

If it weren't for Maddox, her perfectly well-ordered life wouldn't be a mess right now.

As she entered the school, she spotted her friend Diane approaching her. She had been her closest friend for as long as she could remember. They were two peas in a pod, inseparable, but even she didn't know about the emptiness Ashley hid.

"What's wrong with Logan?" Diane asked when she fell in step with her. Her long auburn hair was so naturally straight it didn't look real, whereas Ashley's honey blonde hair was naturally wavy.

Diane tucked her hair behind her ear as they walked, her long, dark eyelashes highlighting her light green eyes that were stunning. It made her own dark blue eyes seems dull. Unfortunately for Ashley, her pale coloring meant her eyebrows and eyelashes were too light to make any impact. It meant she needed to wear mascara daily.

Ashley hitched her bag over her shoulder. "It's just a misunderstanding."

"Really? 'Cause he looked like he wanted to hit someone."

She really hoped not, as the last thing she needed was two guys fighting over nothing. It would just bring added attention she didn't want or need.

"Boys," she muttered. They had a way of making life more complicated than it had to be.

"Amen to that," Diane said.

Ashley gave her friend a surprised look. As far as she was aware, Diane was loved-up with the guy of her dreams. She'd been dating Noah for nearly a year. Ashley pulled her friend to the side, out of the crowd of students trying to get to their classes.

Diane kept her books up against her chest and refused to meet her direct gaze. There was something up. Ashley frowned.

"What happened?" Ashley asked softly.

"He broke up with me," her friend said with a hitch in her voice.

It was unbelievable. For a moment she was at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry, Di," she whispered, unsure of what else to say.

Diane lifted her shiny eyes to her. She was clearly upset and on the verge of tears.

"Can we not talk about it?" Diane whispered. Her eyes flickered to the students bustling past us.

Ashley nodded, knowing her friend didn't want to make a scene at school, but she would find out everything later, when there weren't so many people around.

Ashley gave her a tight hug while she still struggled to believe what her friend had told her. They had seemed to be the perfect couple. What on earth had happened for Noah to break things off with her?

It made her think of Sally, their other friend, who hadn't shown up yet. Was she off school for the day? She would have to message her later. Sally would have done a better job of consoling Diane. She had the sensitivity to deal with people, unlike her.

They had a few more months to go for their senior year and Ashley couldn't wait to finish. She was hoping to continue working as a waitress to save enough to move out on her own. Her home life had made it impossible to consider staying after she finished high school.

It was daunting, but it was something she had to do. The constant charged atmosphere at home was suffocating her. While she knew her parents loved her, their inability to get along day to day was tearing her apart. She didn't know how much more she could take. Once she moved out, they could figure things out on their own and she wouldn't be stuck in the middle of it. She believed the only right thing at this stage would be for them to split and go their separate ways.

They had been high-school sweethearts who had been deeply in love. It hadn't taken long for their young love to be threatened by the real world, where money was scarce. Her mother worked as a secretary at a local lawyer's office, and her father worked in construction. Her arrival just after they had graduated from high school only put more strain on them. It reinforced her belief that they had rushed into a grown-up life on the high of first love. How on earth could you love someone enough to spend the rest of your life with them when you hadn't even had a chance to figure out who you were?

She believed getting married at a young age was a mistake. People grew up and in that process their wants and needs changed. The person you fell in love with at the age of eighteen would not be the same person you would want later in life.

"Let's get to class," Ashley said, aware they were already cutting it close, and if they didn't make it to their classes on time they would be headed to detention this afternoon instead of cheerleading practice.

Ashley walked Diane to her classroom, which was on the way to hers anyway, and she made it to her own class just in time.