673A/N: Wow, this was an unusually long update gap. I've been going through a lot lately and I haven't really been in a writing mood. One of my best friends moved to Arizona on Christmas Eve and it's really taking a toll on me. :[ So yeah, sorry for the wait. I hope you guys like this chapter; it took me long enough to write it.
And an interesting side note for those of you who liked my first story. I had a really good idea for a plot twist and I'm actually working more on that story at the moment than I am on this one. Maybe I'll post that one soon, but I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to kill one of the characters or not. Their fate will change the outcome of the first chapter, so I need to make a final decision before I post it.
Shout-outs anyone? :]
xxsourgirlxx: I'm glad you like it! As one of my most faithful reviewers, your insight counts the most to me! :D Sorry it took so long to update! I sent you that PM explaining your question, but I know you got it because you responded, so no need to explain it again. I hope you like this chapter!
Live4Lolz: Considering I changed the summary to this story, you now know why he's a "professional heartbreaker". He's going to have his own POV in this story, but it's mainly Eve's for now. And I'll shoot someone if I want to! So HA! xD As you said, I write roller coaster endings, so you never know how I'll end this one! ;] I have some ideas, though.
thenutrunningthenuthouse: Wal-Mart is the most amazing store ever created. You should come over to the-middle-of-nowhere PA where I live just to shop there! xD And I love the name Adam, but not as much as I love the name Aiden. :] As for your observation, both your way and my way are correct grammatically. Saying that she hates it, even though it's told in the past tense, can be considered correct because it's an ongoing feeling. She hated it, but she still hates it, so either one works. I actually like your way better, though, and I considered using it. I don't know why I didn't. Good observation! And thanks for clearing up that age thing in your story. It makes more sense to me now! :]
Okay, here's chapter 2!
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Chapter 2: A Chemistry Catastrophe
Eve's POV -
I reached my house about 20 minutes later. Instead of walking calmly through my front door and slowly taking off my damp hoodie and shoes, I barged dramatically into my front room and nearly took my dog's head off by flinging my shoes across the room.
Skippy (don't look at me; Chastity's the one who named him), yelped and darted out of the room, fearing for his life. Chastity entered the room and jumped to the side to avoid being knocked over by our Chihuahua before she looked up at me.
"Hi Eve!" she said, running at me and literally tumbling into my arms. I should've warned her that my shoes (which were now lying in the doorway of our nearby dining room) left a trail of dirty water on the floor in their wake. Whoops.
"Hey Chastity," I said as I ruffled her reddish-blond hair. It wasn't exactly strawberry blond; it was more red than blond. I like it a lot, though. It was a lot nicer than mine or DawnMarie's.
Speaking of which, where was the irresponsible bitch? I have a projectile history book with her name on it. Well…considering it is her history book since I lost mine about two weeks ago, it does have her name in it, but that's not the point.
"Mom's really angry," Chastity informed me with a nod. "She says you're in a lot of trouble."
Okay, now I was pissed. "Why am I in trouble? DawnMarie was supposed to pick me up! But did she? Of course not! I had to walk home in freaking stiletto heels and-!"
Chastity coughed and motioned behind me with her head. I turned around and felt my stomach drop into my feet when I saw my mother giving me the lock-down stare from the other side of the kitchen.
"Oh, don't mind me. Continue with your rant," she said blandly.
"Mom! C'mon! You knew DawnMarie was supposed to pick me up! I shouldn't be the one getting in trouble for this!" I sighed and flung my hair out of my face for dramatic effect.
And, of course, she didn't buy it. "I wasn't aware that DawnMarie was supposed to pick you up," she said. "I thought Cole was giving you a ride home. He's on the yearbook committee too, right?"
I opened my mouth to argue right when Satan herself walked into the room. I spun around and, before anyone could stop me, I grabbed the cookie Chastity just took from the baking pan on the counter and chucked it at DawnMarie.
"Hey!" DawnMarie and Chastity snapped at the same time. I'm guessing Chastity said it due to the fact that I just stole her cookie to use as a projectile weapon, but I really didn't care.
"What was that for?" DawnMarie snapped with her infamous smart-ass sneer. I seriously wanted to rip her nose off her face when she did that.
"Forget something at school?" I asked her innocently. I even added in my angelic smile/pout just to make a point. I was being unusually overdramatic today.
DawnMarie hummed with a fake thoughtful look on her face. After a good amount of time in which the Jepordy theme song could've played twice all the way though, she finally responded. "Oh yeah! I knew I forgot to bring my math book home! I guess I'll just have to get the assignment off somebody," she said with a sickly-sweet smile.
I stared at her with the most threatening look I can muster. If looks could kill, DawnMarie and Chastity both would've dropped over, considering Chastity was looking at me now, too.
"What?" she added on, the smile still plastered on her face.
"Dawn, were you supposed to pick Eve up from her yearbook meeting today? Did your dad ask you to do that?" my mom asked her, still keeping her 'I'm gonna ground your sorry ass!' stare on me.
"No, I don't think so," DawnMarie said. "At least, I don't remember him ever mentioning it."
My mom nodded, which indicated a losing battle for me. "Eve," she said in that sure-to-be-final-decision voice, "you're grounded."
"For what?!" I snapped. "For being forced to walk home through snow and slipping on black ice?! Seriously, look at my knee!" I spun to the side and showed my mom my torn leggings.
"Well, that's wonderful," she said as she shook her head. "Alright Eve, get going. I'll call you when dinner's ready."
I groaned. "How long is my prison sentence?" I asked dully.
"I'll let you know when I think of it."
My mom walked past me and Chastity, being her shadow, followed her. Chastity looked just like her and I had a feeling that she'd grow up to be like her. I wasn't sure if that would be a good or a bad thing.
Once they were out of earshot, DawnMarie smirked at me. She strutted past me and flipped her almost waist-length dark brown hair in my face before taking a cookie off the tray next to me. Was that tray still hot…?
"You're evil," I growled at her.
She laughed a seriously legit witch cackle. "I know," she replied as she bit into the chocolate chip cookie. "How was your walk home?" she said once she swallowed what she was eating.
"Well," I said, "it was actually quite nice. I met a cute guy along the way," I said. Knowing DawnMarie, she'd either grill me for details or get conspicuously jealous. Either result would make me smirk right now.
To my surprise, DawnMarie's response wasn't either of the above. "Oh really?" she said with a snort. "What did he do? Laugh at you when you fell on your face?"
"No. He actually helped me up," I said bitterly. "That's more than I guy ever did for you."
"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that," DawnMarie said. "Alright then, what's the guy's name? Did you get his phone number? What did he look like?"
I'm pretty sure I was slowly turning red by this point. "I don't know his name because I didn't ask. No, I didn't get his phone number. He had long black hair with a dark red tint to it, blue eyes, an eyebrow piercing and two broken fingers."
DawnMarie held back another snort. "Wow, you're creative! Two broken fingers! Why not a broken arm instead? That sounds more romantic!"
I used all the self control I had to stop myself from diving at her. "Well," I said defensively, "maybe he's new to our school or something. The next time I see him, I'll make sure you meet him!"
DawnMarie rolled her eyes and took another cookie. "Alright Evelyn," she said. She spun around and started to head towards the living room.
"I hope you choke on that," I mumbled as she bit into the cookie.
She spun around and smiled. "Shouldn't you be in your bedroom?" she retaliated with a laugh before she disappeared into the next room.
I watched her go and bit my tongue to stop myself from yelling after her. I watched as Skippy reentered the room and started to chow down on the cookie I had thrown at DawnMarie earlier. He lived the easy life; not a care in the world except for when another dog tried to steal his chew toy. If I was a dog, I wouldn't have to worry about a life filled with stupid teenaged crap.
I sighed and picked up my shoes before I headed towards my room. This was going to be a long few weeks. Or months. Or years, since my mom likes sentencing me to cruel and unimaginable torture.
My life sucks.
"Hey Evie!"
I completely ignored Cole's usual enthusiastic greeting as I threw myself into our booth in the cafeteria the next morning. I rested my head on my arms and groaned in exhaustion.
"Tough night?" I heard a female voice ask. That was Chelsea; her voice was unmistakable.
"Apparently," Cole said. I heard someone (who I assumed to be Chelsea), sit next to Cole on the seat across from me.
"Hey," Chelsea said as she poked my elbow.
"Whuh?" I grunted almost inaudibly.
She poked me again, so I looked up. There was a poppy seed muffin directly under my nose.
"Thanks," I said, taking the muffin and unwrapping it. Every morning the kids in my school were gathered into the cafeteria for a few minutes to eat breakfast if they wanted to before homeroom. I usually always get a poppy seed muffin, but considering I'm an idiot, I forget my money half the time. Since they're both awesome, my best friends Cole and Chelsea end up buying them from the line for me most of the time. I repay them by buying stuff for them, like buying their tickets when we go to see a movie.
"Let me guess," Cole said, flinging his legs up onto the table and coming within an inch of kicking me in the face. "You had another fight with DM?"
"That was a tricky one," I said sarcastically before I bit into the muffin. I continued to rip the muffin apart as fast as I possibly could because the dismissal bell would be ringing within the next two minutes.
"Would you stop mutilating that muffin for just two seconds so you can tell us what the bitch did?" Chelsea asked exasperatedly.
"Nophink," I said through my mouthful of muffin. "The ohsiful."
"…Was that English?" Cole asked, grabbing my garbage off our table for me as we stood up to leave the cafeteria.
I swallowed and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand in a very unladylike manner. "I said "Nothing; the usual"," I repeated as we walked into the crowd that had formed in the hallway.
I walked with Cole and Chelsea until we came to a split in the hallway. Cole and I were in the same homeroom, so we both said goodbye to Chelsea as we went down different hallways.
"Did you do your homework for Smith's class?" Cole asked as we reached our lockers. Not only were we in the same homeroom, but our last names were so close that our lockers ended up right next to each other.
"Probably not," I said as I pulled out all my morning books. "You know how bad I am at chemistry." I smiled innocently at him as he glanced over at me.
He sighed and ran his hand through his short blond hair. "Alright Evie," he said as he handed me a dark blue notebook. "The worksheet's marking the book questions we had to do. Give it back to me in third period."
"Thanks, Colie! I love you!" I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Ew!" He said as he shook my arms off him. "Do you always have to do that when I do something for you?!"
"Well, you're gay, so I didn't think you'd mind," I said. I'm not being an ass, either. Cole's legitimately gay. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We met back in preschool and we became friends on our first day after I spilled my juice box all over his lap and made him cry. He came out of the closet when we were 14 and I went after anyone who had something negative to say about it. Nobody messes with my best friend.
Chelsea was our other best friend, but I didn't meet her until our first day of middle school when we were in 7th grade. Cole met her over the summer and he introduced us in our first period class. Truth be told, she scared me a little bit, but she grew on me after a while. She tends to get annoying every once in a while, but who doesn't? As far as I was concerned, Cole and Chelsea made the best friends a girl like me could have.
True, our styles were completely different. I was into dark clothes and more hardcore music, while Chelsea was more of a cheerleader type girl who was into preppy music and make-up. Cole…well…Cole was Cole. He didn't really have a specific style. He pretty much got along with anybody. He's the type of guy who you automatically like once you meet him. I was definitely lucky in one aspect of my life.
"So you throw yourself on me because I'm gay?" he repeated after we closed our lockers.
"No, I throw myself on you because you're adorable," I said. I may not be good at flirting, but being around Cole and flirting with him always made me feel comfortable. Maybe that's because he doesn't get creeped out and back away from me when I do it. It's a part of the whole "best friend" package.
"Alright class, shut the hell up!" Mr. Darker snapped the second we sat down in our seats. The room became so silent you could hear a pin drop. Mr. Darker had that effect on people.
"Role call," he said bluntly as he flipped open his grade book/attendance list. "Erin Leonard," he called out. Once he started talking, the room started to fill with quiet whispers.
"Cole, what does this say?" I whispered, waving his open notebook in his direction.
Cole leaned slightly to one side. "It says…'the'," he said.
"…'The'?" I repeated. I squinted at the paper. "I thought it said 'shit'!"
"…Why would I write 'shit' in my chemistry homework?"
"I don't know. That's why I asked you!"
"Cole Masterson."
"Here!" Cole said, raising his hand. Mr. Darker nodded and marked Cole's name on his list.
"Evelyn Mayfield."
"Here!" I mimicked Cole and raised my hand. Once Mr. Darker had me marked down, I turned back to Cole.
"Work on your handwriting," I said jokingly.
"Work on your reading skills," he retorted in the same manner.
"Asshole."
"Bitch."
"Hoe."
"Slut muffin."
"Whore bagel."
"Bastard sugar wafer!"
That's when we realized the room had fallen silent again. We both looked up to see Mr. Darker staring at us. "I won't ask," he said dully as he turned back to his grade book.
We both started laughing as the class turned back to whatever they were doing. "Bastard sugar wafer?" I repeated as we stood up to leave for first period.
"I was running out of ideas!" he said defensively.
"You have the mind of a true poet," I said with a laugh.
We continued to laugh until we had to go our separate ways. I walked towards my math class with the smile still on my face. That smile wouldn't last for long, though. It never did.
Third period rolled around and I handed Cole his notebook the second he walked through the door. I had to do it quick before Mr. Smith came back or we'd get detention. I had detention a few times, but Cole never did, so I didn't want to muck up his clean record.
"Alright class, settle down," Mr. Smith said as we sat at our tables. Unlike in other classes, we had tables instead of desks. We had to move when we took tests, but Mr. Smith was one of the nice teachers and let us sit together on any other occasion. My class had a running joke about him, actually. Almost all the girls had a crush on him because he looked exactly like Brad Pitt, and the fact that his name was Mr. Smith only made that coincidence funnier. A lot of us called him Mr. Pitt outside the classroom just for the hell of it.
"Well, I hope you did your homework from last night, because it's going to play a role in the lab we do today," Mr. Smith said. There was a collective groan around the room, which I was included in. Cole was the only one who wasn't in the groan group, but considering he was a genius, I wasn't surprised.
"So, get with your partner so we can-"
Mr. Smith stopped talking when the door opened. The whole class turned to look at who was responsible for the sudden interruption. I gasped when I saw who it was.
It was that boy; the one I talked to yesterday! I felt my jaw drop as he walked into the room and flipped his hair out of his face.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "I had to get my schedule from the office."
"Oh," Mr. Smith said. He looked down at his attendance list. "You must be the new guy. Um…," he paused for a second, "Sean Parker?" he finished a few seconds later.
The guy nodded. Mr. Smith looked around the room until his eyes landed on my table. "There's a free seat at this table," he said.
I felt my heart jump into my throat when I realized the seat he was talking about was the empty chair next to me. Sean walked over and sat down before he slammed his books on the table next to mine.
"Hey!" I said excitedly.
Sean looked up at me like I just slapped him. "…Hey?" he replied slowly.
"So you're new here?"
"…Yeah…"
"How are you?"
"…Really creeped out…"
I huffed. Why was he acting so weird? I decided to take a different approach to this conversation.
"I didn't slip on any more ice on my way home yesterday!"
He blinked. "…Congratulations?" he said. He shifted away from me so there was a sizeable gap between us.
"Don't you remember me?" I asked him.
"Uh…no."
Sean and Cole both gave me confused looks now. I started to get confused myself.
"Your fingers are better," I said as I looked at his hand.
Sean leaned in towards me, so I leaned over, too. "Are you stoned or something?" he whispered to me.
I looked into his light blue eyes and blinked a few times. He had this scared, twisted frown on his face.
"What?! No!" I said indignantly. I backed away from him.
"Sean," Mr. Smith said. "Now that I have your attention, I'd like to assign you to a lab group. Since there's an even amount of people in this class, I'll have to double you up with another group. Since you seem to be getting along with Eve and Cole, you can work with them!"
Sean's facial expression suggested he just got hit by a speeding car. "You put me with the stoner?!" he said incredulously.
Mr. Smith gave us a confused look. "Um…I guess?" he said. He turned back to the class as a whole. "Anyway, you guys know the drill. Get your stuff and grab your lab sheets off the end table. I'll be around to explain the directions in a minute! Eve," he spun to face me, "help Sean out. Teach him everything he needs to know."
"Alright," I said gloomily. I didn't know what the hell happened to Sean from yesterday into today, but I was really annoyed. Maybe he suffers from short-term memory loss? Today was going to be a long day…
"Colin, can you hand me that beaker?"
Cole glared at Sean from his spot next to me. "It's Cole," he said bluntly as he handed me a beaker to hand to Sean.
"Sorry Cole," Sean said with an unnecessary amount of emphasis as the snatched the beaker out of my hand.
I sensed tension, so I decided to change the subject. "So Sean," I said nonchalantly.
He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows. Wait…where was his eyebrow piercing? He must've taken it out. Now that I think of it…was his lip pierced now?!
"What?"
I shook my head and looked at him. "So, are you a junior?" I asked. Might as well learn something about him.
"No," he said. "I'm a senior. Since I moved here last week, I didn't get to finish my semester of chemistry at my old school, so I'm forced to take it at level one here. It sucks," he said as he started to sort through the chemicals Mr. Smith gave us.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Do you like it here?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Sean looked up at me and sighed. "Do you always ask this many questions?!" he snapped. "You're worse than my brother!"
"Your brother?" I repeated.
"No, I said my second cousin twice removed," Sean said sarcastically.
I exchanged glances with Cole as Sean started to write something down on our group lab paper. He was a lot more sarcastic than I thought he'd be.
"How old is your brother?"
"He's younger than me."
"What grade is he in?"
"Good God woman!" Sean snapped. "Shut the hell up! You're so fucking annoying!"
"Hey, leave her alone! She's just curious!" Cole snapped right back.
"Was I talking to you?" Sean growled at Cole.
Cole flung his safety goggles off, which caught Mr. Smith's attention. "Hey, Cole! Keep your safety goggles on! You know better than that!"
"I was going to shove them up Sean's ass," Cole growled quietly before he slid them back on his face.
"That's funny," Sean said with a smirk. "I wouldn't expect you to use a threat like that. Don't people like you enjoy stuff like that?"
Cole's mouth dropped open, but he didn't have enough time to react because I got there first. I grabbed onto the front of Sean's lab coat and forced him back into the table as hard as I possibly could. "Listen, you son of a bitch," I snarled. "Nobody talks to Cole that way. Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Sean laughed before grabbing onto my hands. "I'm Sean Parker," he said smugly before forcing my hands off his coat. He kept his grasp on my wrists and pulled me right up against him. I tried to shake him off me, but his grip tightened every time I'd move. "I'm not threatened by you," he added on quietly. "You better watch your step. I'm not afraid to hurt you just because you're a girl. You've got such a cute face," he let one of his hands slip from my wrists and used it to tilt my face towards his. "You don't want me to do anything to it."
"LET GO OF HER!" Cole snarled. We both looked towards him, but he didn't move towards us because Mr. Smith had grabbed onto his shoulders to keep him in place.
"Cole, what are you doing?!" Mr. Smith snapped. He looked up at Sean and I, but Sean had dropped my hands and pushed me away from him. "What's going on?!" he asked us as Cole tried to shake loose from his grip.
"I was just talking to her," Sean said. "Colin just decided to go ballistic."
"IT'S COLE, YOU RETARDED ASSHOLE!" Cole snarled.
"Cole!" Mr. Smith said. "What's the matter with you?! You never act like this! If you don't knock it off, I'll have to write you up, and I don't want to do that!"
Cole stopped struggling and continuously ran his hands through his hair to calm himself down. He was bright red, so after shooting Sean a pissed look, I walked over to Cole and started to rub his back.
"Calm down," I said to Cole. "He's not worth it. Don't get yourself in trouble for my sake."
Cole glared at me as Mr. Smith let him go. "He better watch his step," Cole said loud enough for Sean to hear him.
"I'm not worried. I'm not a very clumsy person," Sean said with another maniacal smirk.
Cole looked at me and smiled. "He should hook up with DawnMarie," he said before he turned back to our lab sheet.
Our group was silent for the rest of the period as we worked on our lab. Thank God we weren't working with Hydrochloric acid; I'd hate to see what Cole would do with it if we had it.
What the hell was up with Sean? Why didn't he recognize me? Why did he turn into such an asshole? Chemistry was confusing enough without hormones getting in the way. Maybe this was just a bad first impression. …a really bad first impression. But who knows? Maybe there's more to this than what I'm seeing. Maybe he'll turn out to be okay.
We'll see.
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A/N: This chapter was going to be longer, but I didn't want it to be overkill. You guys should know by the summary that Eve's interpretation of the situation is off. And Cole's my favorite character in this story. :] I don't know why, but he is. He reminds me of my friend who just moved. Well, my friend wasn't gay, but they're pretty much the same in every other aspect.
Okay, rambling over. I'll post chapter 3 as soon as I can!