The Other Side Of Fear[1]

Chapter 8

Thank you again for reading this book! Also my other book Defy Desire is completed and is a romance suspense novel I hope you will all give a chance!

That night Archie had called me when I was about to settle down for the night. It was pretty late, but of course I wasn't going to ignore his call. I was curious as to why I hadn't heard from him and couldn't ignore the flutter in my chest at seeing his name on my phone. He told me he had a few family issues and that he was sorry that it seemed like he had ghosted me. Of course, all was forgiven and we spoke on the phone for three hours before I had to say goodbye before I passed out on him.

The next day at school, Archie was waiting for me by the entrance and he wrapped his arm around me as we paced through the hallway, inviting stares and whispers from almost every student standing by their locker. Of course, I was the new girl and Archie was one of the most popular guys here and every guy wanted to be friends with him. More so, every girl wanted to be with him and now I was here, dating him when I hadn't even lived in this town more than a few weeks.

I smirked at the looks I got from the girls in the hallway. They could be jealous all they wanted; it was a nice feeling being shown off by Archie and knowing he wanted everyone to know we were dating. This made me feel a sense of ease in that he was sure about us and I was glad other girls now knew he was going out with someone.

Archie was waiting for me outside of every class and I wondered how the hell he managed to get out of his own so quickly to be at mine every single time. He carried my books for me and then we spent lunch together. He took me into the cafeteria and I sat down with all of his friends; the guys who had been at the bonfire that night. They all greeted me and had their cocky little smirks on their faces at seeing Archie acting all "under the thumb" carrying my books. It was amusing.

The girls entered the cafeteria and I signalled them over, to which Kady didn't look so happy, but she followed Tiff and Millie anyway. Millie seemed thrilled to be getting a seat at the table with the popular guys and Tiffany seemed a little awkward and quiet. Kady sat herself down the farthest away from Dylan as she could get and every time he tried to talk to her she just gave him the finger.

When the school day finished, Archie walked me to his car and offered to drive me home.

'I was wondering if you wanted to maybe hang out?' I asked him, biting my lip nervously. I wasn't used to asking guys out; they always asked me before I could get the chance.

'I can't,' he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 'I've literally missed so much biology that I can't even begin to tell you how behind I am. I have a tutor session with some nerd in the library. I was going to drop you home then come straight back here.'

'Oh of course!' I smiled. 'I'm glad you're trying to keep your grades up. Maybe you should just turn up to biology though.'

'Yeah maybe,' he laughed, as he pulled out of the school grounds.

He drove me home and pulled up outside my house, taking off his seatbelt again to walk me to my door.

'Archie it's fine,' I giggled. 'You don't have to do that every time.'

'Sorry,' he smirked, putting his belt back on. 'Hey...I'm sorry I've had to say no to our plans. How about I pick you up after my session and we go out?'

My face lit up. 'Yes, I'd love to.'

'Maybe...our third date?' he asked, carefully.

'You mean the waterfall?' I asked him.

'If you want to, of course,' he shrugged, coolly.

I thought about it. I knew it would be getting dark soon and I didn't think it would be a great idea to go there at this time but I was sure Archie would know that it was safe to do so, so I figured it should be okay.