Ariella sat quietly in the car as Cooper drove to Beth's house. She could feel his eyes looking at her, to the ring, and back to her.
"See you tomorrow." Beth said and climbed out of the back seat.
"See you." Ariella said and Cooper saluted her. He began driving again and Ariella opened her mouth and closed it.
"I'm sorry." Cooper said and Ariella looked at him, bewildered.
"The self-centered bad boy is apologizing? Nonetheless to me?" Ariella said and faced forward again.
"I'm serious. This whole Black Hood thing is sudden I know and I feel bad for watching you and keeping it a secret and, well, you know." he said and pulled into Ariella's driveway. He stopped the engine and Ariella breathed in and spoke slowly, her voice shaking.
"I don't know how this happened or how this is going to play out or anything like that. I just know that there's someone after me, and you and the other guys are supposed to help. To be quite honest, I didn't read the full contract. I don't know why. So I don't know the full terms of this." she said but she knew exactly why she had signed the contract without reading all of it thouroughly.
Because she wanted the guys to stay around her, especially Cooper. But more important than that, she was scared to see what was in the paperwork. She wasn't ready to fully accept the fact that she was a target for someone's sick games.
"It's okay. I want you to take it all in slowly. I have a copy of the contract. Whenever you want to read it, you can." But Cooper was hesitant. In the contract was a rule of no romance. He didn't want her to see it. Because he knew they would have issues with that. He was already struggling and had slipped multiple times.
"And the whole thing we had with the 'sassy, sarcastic, hateful frenemy' thing we had has to end I guess. You need to let me, I mean us, protect you." Cooper cleared his throat and Ariella looked at him.
"Won't it seem suspicious if we're suddenly buddy-buddy with each other? I mean, anyone in that school could be the one after me." Ariella said and slipped the ring off her finger and handed it to Cooper. He took it and looked into her eyes like he had that morning over coffee.
"I uh, I can't keep this." he said and put it on the dashboard. Ariella took it back into her hand and examined it, turning it over in her hands.
"See you tomorrow." Ariella said and opened her car door.
"See you, loser." Cooper said, slightly smiling, trying to lighten the air.
Ariella softly smiled and jogged to the front door.
***
"I have your dirty clothes from yesterday." Beth said and handed Ariella a small bunch of clothes.
"Thanks." Ariella said and stuffed it into her backpack.
"So what's up with you and Cooper?" Beth asked as Ariella closed her locker and looked over at Cooper who was already looking at her.
"Probably desperate for my booty." Ariella joked with a sly smile and Beth laughed, scrunching up her face.
"Let's go." Ariella said and they walked to English.
When the two walked in, there was a guy standing at the teacher's desk, talking to the teacher.
"Who's the hottie?" Beth said and Ariella laughed at her.
"You've only seen the back of him." she pointed out and just as she said that he turned around.
"Brandon...?" Ariella said a bit hesitantly, not sure if she had gotten the name right. He flashed a smile at her, then Beth. Beth pinched Ariella's arm out of excitement and confidently walked up to him.
'How does she approach guys like that?' Ariella wondered and walked towards the two. They were already having a conversation.
"Hey Ariella." he said with a dazzling smile and Ariella smiled back.
"So what are you doing here?" she asked and regretted it, feeling like she was too forward.
"I transferred. My parents didn't want me to keep going to a private school." he said smoothly and Ariella almost believed him. She knew this was to protect her, and he was only saying that for Beth's sake.
"Here, why don't we all trade numbers because I don't have any friends other than Cooper in this school." he said and took Ariella and Beth's phones. They sat down, and Ariella looked through her contacts. She realized that Brandon had put not only his number in, but Cooper, Luke's, and Michael's. She looked over at Beth who was making googly eyes at Brandon.
Ariella knew she was in more 'danger' than before but was it really necessary for Brandon to transfer?
Cooper walked into class late, his hair a mess and his clothes also a mess. He sat down and looked over at Ariella, Beth, and Brandon. He quickly looked back to the board and began to scribble notes down. Ariella took a mental note to confront him.
"I'll see you later." Ariella called to Beth as they split up for lunch. Brandon caught up to Ariella with Cooper.
"The 5 of us need to meet up today, after school." Cooper said bluntly and Ariella just looked at him.
"Is that a demand?" she snapped as she put her hair up in a pony tail.
"Yeah." he responded, and the tension in the hair was so strong it could spark electricity.
"Lunch?" Brandon suggested and walked in between them.
"Yeah. Lunch." Ariella said and faced forward. What had gotten into Cooper? Why did the four guys and her have to meet up?
The three walked to the cafeteria. Ariella sat down at a table with her friends when Brandon sat next to her.
"Maybe it's not the best idea for you to sit here..." Ariella whispered and Brandon clumsily stood up.
"Right." he said and walked back to where Cooper was, getting his lunch.
"Who's that?" she heard one of her friends ask and she looked at Brandon, who seemed to be in a somewhat serious conversation with Cooper.
"Some new kid, I guess I seemed approachable." she said flatly and began to eat her food. She almost choked when she saw a certain someone watching her.
"Luke?" she said after recovering as he approached the table.
"Hello Ariella. And Co." he said and he had her friends wrapped around his finger. She smiled at him, then frowned.
"Did you just transfer here too?" she asked and he nodded, a message of guilt and a bit of pity in his eyes.
"I need to talk to you." he said and practically dragged her by the arm to a secluded hallway.
"What is it?" she asked and he scratched the back of his neck.
"They're here. The guys that want the ring." he said and glanced at the ring on her finger before adding,
"In the school."
YOU ARE READING
My Ammunition
ChickLit"You don't like me." "Yeah. And you don't like me." "Then why are we doing this?" Ariella and Cooper were practically opposites and were most definitely not meant to be. But as soon as one party ends in a drunken Ariella and a "heroic" Cooper, the t...
