All I Ever Knew

Chapter 2 - Joined by him

My room was nice and spacious; probably bigger than the one I had back at home. And thank god for the ensuite bathroom, I don't even want to imagine having to share showers and toilets with a bunch of hormonal lads.

I'd finished unpacking most of my things and was just hanging up my last pair of jeans when I heard a knock at my door. Of course it was Ronnie.

"Hey you ready to go grab some coffee now?" she asked, looking overly excited for somebody who's just going to grab coffee.

"Yeahhh, I'm ready, just let me grab my purse". I grabbed my purse and took out my card and my ID. It's easier to just slip them in my pockets than carry that big purse around with me. "Okay, let's go!" I said, almost as cheerfully as her.

We walked out the flat and down the four flights of stairs. God I am seriously unfit, I was out of breath as soon as we reached the bottom. Ronnie was standing there laughing at me as my small legs tried to keep up with hers. I was just about to cross the road when a car came screeching to a halt in front of me. Where the fuck did that just come from?

I jumped back in fright and Ronnie laughed again.

"Sorry Ari, is it alright if I call you that?" she asked. I nodded my head slightly trying to catch a look at who was in the drivers seat of the car. "Jace wanted to tag along I hope you don't mind...and besides he's our only lift".

"I could've drove" I mumbled under my breath, but she didn't hear me as she was already scrambling into the passenger seat of the car. Why did he want to come with us? If I remember correctly less than an hour ago he was making rude comments at me in the hallway of my flat and now he wanted to join us at a coffee shop.

I was sulking as I climbed into the back of the car, but I thought to myself, I couldn't let him ruin my first day at Uni, I'd  just have to ignore that he's here. Even if that was proving out to be difficult.

"So Ari" Ronnie said as she turned to face me in the back as Jace sped off out of the campus.

"I thought we were going somewhere on campus?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, we were but there's this great coffee shop not far from here that serves the best hot chocolate ever".

"With marshmallows?" I asked.

"Oh yeah and all the cream you can get" she smiled.

"I know which cream Ronnie would prefer" Jace mumbled from the front, turning to smirk at Ronnie. She gave him a playful slap on the arm.

"Shut up dickhead! At least I've got values, you'd fuck anything that walks on two legs". He scoffed but I saw in the rear view mirror that a smirk was still plastered on his face.

What? What were they even on about? They must have noticed my confusion because Ronnie laughed again whilst I heard Jace mumble 'prude' under his breath. I sighed. Of course he couldn't go one car ride without insulting me. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, I was ready to punch him.

"Soooo, anyway Ari, what're you studying whilst you're here?" Ronnie asked trying to start up a new conversation. I smiled, now this is something I can talk about.

"I'm studying Psychology. What about you?" I asked her. I heard Jace scoff when I said that.

"What?" I asked, exasperated. What could possibly be wrong now?

"Nothing" he smirked.

"No, come on. You've obviously got something to say so say it" I pushed. He raised his eyebrows at me as if he couldn't believe I was talking back to him, before gathering himself and replying.

"Nothing, it's just that, that's the typical, innocent, boring girl degree to be studying" he stated bluntly, like he couldn't really care less about this conversation.

"How the fuck does studying Psychology mean that I'm innocent and boring?" I threw my arms up, what the fuck is wrong with him?
He just smirked and shook his head turning on the radio, completely ignoring my question.

"Well I think it's cool Ari" Ronnie pronounced happily, obviously trying to break the tension that was oh so obvious in the car right now. "I'd have no idea where to start with that. I'm doing English Lit".

I raised my eyebrows, wow she must be quite smart. Don't get me wrong I don't normally judge a book by its cover but she seemed so carefree and so outgoing, I always thought people who loved literature were more quiet and loved to involve themselves in their books more than anything else.

"Oh wow! That's amazing! I love reading too, I'm just no good at analysing them in essays" I explained, completely forgetting about Jace in the front as I became intrigued by what Ronnie had to say.

"Yeahhh. That's the kind of boring part, I just love to read, but if I get a degree out of it, it'll be worth it" I nodded my head, glad that we were on a topic that I could easily talk about. I'd always been good at school, I loved it, well the education part anyway, I hadn't had loads of friends at school, like I said I was quite shy. I had a couple of girl friends that I used to hang out with but I don't see much of them nowadays, they've all got boyfriends and have moved on with their lives.

After all the shit that had happened back home, I was kind of glad that I wasn't friends with them anymore. They were no good for me, it was one of the many reasons why I was glad to be away from there.

I was in my own world, daydreaming, when I felt the car pull to a stop. I looked up and realised we were outside a little coffee shop called "Chocolates and Coffees". Original! But it looked so cute and cosy, I was actually quite surprised. This is my type of place!

I was still staring at the little shop when I realised that the other two had already climbed out of the car and were waiting for me to get out. Jace stood there with his arms crossed and his back facing towards me, looking into the coffee shop as if he was growing impatient with me already. I opened the car and jumped out. But just as I thought I was safely on the ground, I got my leg trapped in the seatbelt and just like that I was falling flat on my face.

I braced for the impact but it didn't come. A strong pair of arms were holding onto my elbows, holding me just above the ground. I looked up and Jace was staring down at me with an unamused expression on his face.

"Would you watch what you're doing?" he snapped at me. I quickly scrambled up and brushed myself off before looking up at him. Ronnie was standing behind him trying to hold in a laugh. I gave her a glare before turning back to Jace.

"Well sorry I accidentally tripped!" I snapped back. I ran my hand through my hair, taking deep breaths.

"Better luck next time Amara" he sneered, dragging out my name in a mocking way. I gritted my teeth willing myself not to say anything that I would regret. He's such a jerk!

He smirked at me before turning around and walking towards the door and just as he had his back to me I heard him mumble "Yea thanks for that Jace!" in the most sarcastic and mocking tone I'd ever heard.

I waited for him to walk through the door until I collected myself and followed him and Ronnie inside. Of course clumsy old me had to go and make a fool of myself in front of somebody that already hates me. How the fuck was I going to survive the rest of the afternoon with him?