Something There

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine:

I give myself a second to regain my composure, then leaving the hallway and heading towards the cafeteria.

I find Bryce already seated with everyone, and he appears to be deep in conversation with my brother.

I grab my food, my usual salad, before heading over to sit with my friends.

Inconveniently, the only available seat is in between Bryce and Jordan.

"Do you know an annoying ginger with crooked teeth and a pathetic attempt at a beard on his face?" Bryce asks my brother right as I sit down.

He doesn't even acknowledge me.

"Yeah. His name is Asher. He's a dick. He's on the soccer team with us and he got pissed at Charlie on the weekend thinking it was his fault that we lost our game," Daniel answers instead, and Charlie nods in agreement.

"Well perhaps you should reconsider pissing off that idiot because him and his buddies just cornered your sister in the hallway because of it," Bryce scolds, taking a large sip from his bottle of water.

My brother's face goes white. "Shit, really? I'm so sorry, Lex. I promise that it won't happen again. I'll beat their asses later," he says, and I give him a small smile, shaking my head.

"No worries. Nothing actually happened. You seem to care more than Bryce does anyway," I say, trying to be a little aggressive.

Bryce rests his hand down on the tabletop just hard enough to make a loud noise.

It causes me to jump a little in my seat, and I spin around to glare straight at him.

"What? Can't handle the truth? You know exactly why I would think that, Bryce," I say quietly, recalling how he was more concerned about my sex life than my safety.

"So you want me to be truthful, but when I tell you the truth you don't like what I have to say. Interesting, and not at all confusing," Bryce drawls sarcastically.

"We wouldn't be having this issue right now if you weren't so controlling in the first place!" I exclaim, and Bryce is now staring at me, looking annoyed that this conversation is happening in front of everyone.

"I'm not controlling. I was just expressing my feelings," Bryce lies, and I'm about to literally lash out at him before Jordan stops me.

"Can you guys shut up? Nobody wants to hear this. You two need to stop arguing all the time. It's annoyingly as hell," Jordan grumbles, and neither Bryce or I say anything in return for a moment, until a thought strikes me.

"I'm capable of defending myself. If you're going to be such a jerk to me, you can just leave me to save myself," I finally say to Bryce quietly, and he laughs out loud.

He shakes his head, shutting his eyes for a second. "Not physically. You're five feet tall and weigh literally twelve pound," he says, and I scowl at him.

"That's not true," I pout, and Bryce gives me a doubting look.

"I'm serious, guys. Stop it," Jordan says once again, and I turn to him slowly.

"Sorry everyone. Bryce is just acting like an immature jerk," I say to the table, and Bryce doesn't both to defend himself any further.

Jasmine clears her throat from where she's sitting across from us, and we all turn to see her with an innocent smile on her face.