The Valiant

Chapter 6

I wake up in my bed back at the apartment. I sit up, confused. I yawn and look around and freeze when I hear voices from the TV. I stand up and exit my room. I am still in the clothes I was wearing yesterday. I enter the main room and see Drake on the sofa, watching the Avengers.
"Jealousy is among the most cliche of sibling quarrels," I say, watching the part where Thor is talking to Loki on the mountaintop. Drake looks back at me and smiles and pauses the movie right when Loki says 'I'm listening,' to no one after Thor is tackled off the mountain by Iron Man.
"I do agree," he says, putting his hands in his pockets, "so, you're awake," I nod and hug myself awkwardly as I look around. It seemed as if Drake has been staying here while I was sleeping. The couch had a pillow and blanket on it and some clothes were scattered on a different chair. Dirty dishes line the countertops and a few bags of Doritos and a few cans of Dr. Pepper litter the coffee table.
"How long was I asleep?" I ask him, studying his face, making sure he is telling the truth.
"About two days," he says, looking into my eyes. I raise my eyebrow then stifle a laugh. He gives me a confused look.
"So you really do care, huh?" I ask, smiling at him. He blushes and studies the room as if noticing it for the first time, "anyways, thanks, for staying here while I was...asleep," he nods and smiles at me then checks the time.
"Oh crap, we need to head to school," he says and grabs his school bag while handing me mine. We then bolt out of the door and down the stairs and into Drake's Jeep.
Five minutes later, we are at school just before the bell rings for the beginning of the day. Drake and I have Science together for first period and we stop at my locker so I can gather my materials. He stands next to my locker, watching me as I grab my stuff. I slightly blush and shut my locker. As we walk down the hallway, I spot Cheryl Manson. Her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She is wearing a lot of make up and it makes her even more uglier, but everyone thinks it makes her look more hot. She is wearing her revealing cheerleading uniform, the skirt being too high, but the teachers never said or did anything about it since her parents are one of the richest in town. She has had several boyfriends, but her last one was about a year and a half ago. His name was Aaron Smith I believe and he was kidnapped and never found. The police gave up on the search and said that Aaron is dead. It devastated Cheryl since this was one of the very few relationships that she was fully devoted too. She looks at us from her cliche of friends ,who are desperately trying to be like her, and winks at Drake, completely ignoring me as if I was a cow pie.
I look over at Drake through the corner of my eye, expecting him to be blushing and smiling like a weirdo like every other boy does after being winked at by Cheryl. But to my surprise, he is not doing that and has a hard face on and looks as if he didn't see Cheryl wink at him. This confuses me, but once again, I haven't known Drake that long and I don't know how he reacts to stuff that well. So I just ignore it and assume that he doesn't want a girlfriend or already has his eyes set on one.
We arrive at the Science room and enter. There are a few kids in there and the teacher is nowhere to be seen. Drake and I sit in the back corner and wait for class to begin. The bell rings and the teacher doesn't show up. Bu Cheryl does and she sets her stuff down between her two best friends then walks towards us, ignoring the stares the boys in the room give her. She reaches us. And once again, ignores me completely, which is fine by me. She sits on top of Drakes desk and beams down on him. He looks up at her curiously.
"May I help you?" He asks, looking at me through the corner of his eyes as I watched the scene. He didn't seem to be liking this, but yet again, he doesn't want to be rude to Cheryl, which will undoubtedly, make her his enemy. And trust me when I say that you don't want Cheryl Manson as your enemy.
"I want to know if you would like to come to my party on Friday night at eight," she says, a wide, flirtatious smile on her face. Drake looks over at me, which causes Cheryl to as well. She studies me carefully before smiling, "you can bring a friend, if you'd like,"
"Sure," he says, "we'll be there," my eyes widen slightly that Drake just decided that I am going or not. Cheryl seems pleased enough and leans down and kisses Drake on the cheek then hops off his desk and walks back to her own, swaying her hips seductively as she walked, causing the rest of the men in the room to go crazy. Drake blinks, confused on what just happened as I just stare at him, annoyed. He sees this and looks at me, confused.
"What?" He asks, as if he knows he didn't do anything wrong. I sigh and close my eyes before answering.
"You told her I am going to that stupid party!" I say in a loud whisper, "what if I didn't want to go? Which I don't!" Drake smiles at me.
"I knew you would want to go, and besides, between the two of us, I'm the only one that can legally drive. You can't for one more month. So that means, you need to come to keep me sober," he says, a smirk on his face. I glare at him, knowing he is completely right about that. I sigh and turn around in my seat as the teacher enters the room and starts to talk about genes and such.
"You will be partnered up with someone in the classroom and you will need to decide what you and your partners baby will look like," the teacher says, "you will have two weeks to do this project," she picks up a piece of paper and starts matching people up.
"Cheryl and Peter," Cheryl looks disappointed that she is partnered with someone other than Drake.
"Sue and Mike,
Jim and Lynn,
Lily and Richard,
Payton and Drake,
Mary and Bob,"
I try to ignore the angry stare Cheryl gives me, but I feel a light blush creep into my cheeks. The bell rings and everyone stands up to leave. The teacher stands at the door and hands everyone a sheet of paper with the information about the project and what we will need to get a good grade. I collect mine and stick in between my books as I walk to my next class.
~
I walk out of the building, my bag on my shoulder as I look around for Drake. I finally spot him by his jeep. He smiles at me and I smile back as I begin to walk towards the jeep. I stop when Cheryl reaches him first. I stand there awkwardly as I watch them talk from a distance. Eventually, it looks like they are almost done. Drake says something that looks like goodbye. But Cheryl doesn't say goodbye with words. She stands on her tippy toes and kisses him. Ew! Cheryl shows no sign of backing off and Drake looks like he doesn't know what to do. I close my eyes and sigh as I walk up to them and shove Cheryl off of him. I stand next to him, glaring at her with narrowed eyes. Cheryl stumbles a bit, but regains her balance. She stands up and sees me and glares at me as well.
"What the hell!" She shrieks, causing a few surrounding people to look at us before walking away, "why did you do that?!"
"Because you, being the slut you are, forced yourself upon him!" I yell back then turn around and get into the jeep, fuming. Drake slides into the drivers seat and starts the jeep. There was silence the whole ride home until Drake parks the car on the side of the road and looks at me. I avoid his gaze as I glare at the road ahead.
"Payton, speak," he says. I turn to him and give him a look that says 'shut-up'. He blinks and I roll my eyes.
"I'm not a dog, Drake," I say harshly, causing him to flinch, "it's just so stupid how she thinks she has to have everything just because her parents are wealthy," I look over at Drake to see him smirking, "what?"
"Aww, you care!" He says, smirk still on his face as he uses my line from earlier. My eyes widen as he leans over and starts tickling me. I laugh as I sink low into the seat, trying to escape his tickles but it is no use. I swat his hands away until he stops. I sit there, trying to catch my breath as he just smirks at me. He eventually starts the car again and continues towards the main building.