So many errors.

Chapter 16

I winced as I poked at the bruise on my face. I sighed and walked down the steps, towards the kitchen. My father was making breakfast and my mother was sitting at the table, a file in her hands. It's rare that we have breakfast together. This is one of the days where my mother doesn't have to leave before I wake up. "Good morning."

"Morning." My mother absentmindedly muttered as her eyes scanned the papers in her hands. I dragged a chair out from beneath the table, plopping down and reaching for the plate of bacon my father set on the table. "What happened to your face?"

I looked up at my mom, ready to reply with a sarcastic comment about how whatever it is, it's probably from her side of the family before realizing that something is actually wrong with my face. A large, purple bruise, all thanks to Audrey Peters. In her defense, I was being a jerk but that doesn't mean she should go all Chuck Norris to my face with a door. "Oh, it was just Audrey."

"Audrey did that?" My mother questioned as she looked at me, her eyes narrowed slightly and her lips parted. She held my face between her fingers as she inspected the bruise.

I nodded, helping to loosen her grip on my cheeks so I could pull away. "Yeah, I deserved it, though."

My father turned around, walking towards the table with a pan full of eggs. It was cut equally into thirds so he could put a portion on each of our plates. When he looked at me, he let out one short laugh. "Ha, you look like a little bi—."

"Honey!" My mother replied, laughing quietly as she turned to him.

He shrugged. "What? He does!"

I frowned as I ate a piece of bacon. "What a great way to start off the day."

"With rhymes, son." My father sighed as he sat down.

~~~

I entered the cafeteria, where most people sat before the day started. Some of them were eating breakfast, provided by the school, and others had bags of fast food. I found Kyle, Carson, and Shane all sitting at a table. I walked over, plopping down across from Shane, who snorted once he caught sight of my face. "What? Is your neck too mainstream?"

"It's a bruise, you idiot." I quickly demolished whatever assumptions he had about the bruise on my face. "Audrey slammed a door in my face, it's nothing big."

"What? Audrey did that?" Kyle asked as he stopped what he was writing in order to look up at me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I deserved it, though."

"You deserved to be smacked in the face with a door?" Carson snorted before jokingly continuing. "You must really like her if you think it's okay for her to physically assault you."

"I don't like her anymore, guys. It was just a phase and I shouldn't have said anything about it." I responded, glaring at Carson.

"So what did you say?" Kyle questioned as he repacked his bag.

"Something that I shouldn't have." I sighed.

"Something that earns you a door to the face? I'd love to hear this." Shane scoffed, yanking his chair closer to the table.

"I said that Natalie would look better in her Halloween costume." I admitted.

It was silent for a moment before Shane coughed. "And then did you insult her mother or something?"

I shook my head. "No, I said that Natalie would look better in her costume."

Shane shook his head. "Wait, can you tell us exactly what happened? For some reason, I'm not seeing the offensiveness of this statement."

"Well, she obviously likes him." Kyle muttered, stirring the coffee in his hands. He's had an addiction to it since freshman year.

"Don't assume things." I responded before looking at Shane, who was waiting patiently for my explanation.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I remembered the events that took place just last night. "Okay, well, we were leaving her room and—."

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Shane stopped me, shaking his hands around wildly.

"What?" I snapped tiredly. First, he makes me tell the story, and then he cuts me off barely two seconds in.

"You can't just start a story off with 'we were leaving her room,' man." Shane told me.

I sent him a disgusted look. "You're disgusting. I helped her bring her bag of candy upstairs."

Carson snorted. "Like Audrey would even let Grayson—."

"Eh, eh, eh, who is telling the story here? Me? I thought so. Like I was saying, we were leaving her room and I had this brilliant idea—."

"Obviously it wasn't brilliant if you ended up with a bruised face and a bruised ego." Kyle murmured quietly.

"Quit cutting me off!" I snapped before continuing. "I was going to say something to see how she reacts. Once we got to the front door, she held it open and I stepped outside. Right as she was about to close it, I told her that her costume was cute."

"Wait! What did you say exactly?" Shane asked me.

I gave him a flat look. "I don't know! Does it matter?"

"Yes, I wouldn't be asking if it didn't!" Shane retorted and I sighed.

"Uh, I said, 'that's a really cute costume,' or something like that." I told him. "She blushed and glared at me so I started to freak out. She didn't giggle or say thank you so I decided to go with plan b."

"Which was?" Carson questioned curiously.

I ignored his statement. "So I took a step forward and she looked at me like I was crazy. I put my hand on her cheek and leaned in to her ear and whispered, 'but it'd look a lot better on Nat,' and then she slammed the door in my face. The end."

The guys all stared at me as if I was a criminal who just confessed to murdering nine people, which I might do if they don't say something. Kyle shook his head disappointedly. "Are you serious?"

"Bad move, bro." Shane sighed.

"So does this mean that I'm not the stupid one anymore?" Carson asked, looking at our two friends.

Before I could respond, a chirpy voice called out from behind me. "Grayson!"

I turned around, my eyes widening slightly before they returned to normal size. "Natalie..."

"Hey! Didn't you say that we could walk to class together?" She asked, smiling widely at me. It's too early for all of this happiness.

Please slam my face on the table, please. If only Shane could receive telepathic messages. Carson would probably try and send me pictures of old men on toilets while laughing immaturely; Kyle would go to NASA and claim that he's special and has the brain power to send immediate pictures of the moon and other planets to the NASA team; Shane wouldn't hesitate to slam dunk my head through this lunch table. "Oh yeah..."

"Well, come on!" She exclaimed, reaching down and yanking me upward. Curling her arm around mine, she practically dragged me towards the stairs. I barely had enough time to grab my bag. "What happened to your cheek?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, my face just got hurt by a door."

"Ouch!" She overdramatically stated. "How did that happen?"

"Audrey." I responded, realizing that I'd rather be fighting with the little munchkin than having this conversation with Natalie.

"What?" Natalie drawled. "She did that?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Why?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I thought she was your friend."

"She is; I just made her upset. I said something that I shouldn't have." I responded, rubbing my eyes with the hand that wasn't practically taped to Natalie's side.

"That's no excuse for her to hurt you." She frowned and I just shrugged.

"It doesn't matter." I told her.

"Well, I think that you look cuter with it." She told me and I nodded, awkwardly looking at the floor. Remind me to never get a bruise again.

~~~

When lunch came around, I wanted to groan. Time for me to meet back up with Clingy McClingerson. She may be pretty but boy, is she annoying. Shane says that I'm lucky and that he would gladly step into my shoes. I'm grateful that he's not capable of doing so because he'd just mess things up. At first, she was only around to annoy the life out of Audrey. I had fun watching that happen, but now she's just overstaying her welcome.

When Audrey made her way towards the table, she made some crappy excuse of having to "finish a paper that was due tomorrow." She said that she was going to the library. Carson eagerly tagged along and Shane kept sending Audrey these guilt filled looks. Audrey glanced at everyone but me and Natalie. I want to take back what I said last night but I can't.

Natalie quickly turned my attention towards her as she talked about how her mother and her sister got into an argument last night, which ended up with her getting no sleep. "And my sister called my mother a few names before heading off to sleep."

I tuned back into the conversation and feigned a frown. "That's terrible."

"Yeah, I know. My cat ran away, too. Normally, I'd tell him all of my problems." She sighed. I rested my face on my palm, struggling to mask my bored look. I wish I could run away like that stupid cat.

~~~

Natalie insisted on walking with me towards my car and I wanted to crawl into a hole. "It's okay, you don't have to. Besides, don't you have volleyball practice?"

"Yeah, until four." She nodded. "But I can spend ten more minutes with you."

I nodded tiredly, wishing that I could just get away from her. "Okay."

We walked towards my car and she was grinning widely. At least one of us is happy. "So what are your plans for today?"

"I have to work at four." I shrugged as I unlocked my car. I threw my bag into the backseat before opening the driver's side and wedging myself between the car and the door, trying to appear casual.

"Sounds fun, mind if I stop by?" She asked, smiling flirtatiously.

"No." I quickly answered. I coughed to try and cover up the bluntness of my answer. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."

She nodded, a frown covering her face. "Okay, well I have to go."

I awkwardly nodded, offering her a half wave. She glanced at my body, which was purposely lodged between the car and its own door, and realized that she couldn't hug me. "See you."

I nodded, holding back a sigh. Once she was out of my hearing range, I let out a grateful sigh. I saved myself from a hug and from being forced to hang out with her. I got into my car and drove back to my house.

~~~

When I arrived at the library, Audrey was nowhere to be seen. Her car wasn't in the parking lot. Ms. Janie was sitting at the desk in the front of the library, her glasses on her nose as she read from a book. Once she saw me, she smiled and glanced behind me. "Hey, Grayson."

"Hello." I replied, putting my bag down behind the desk.

"Where's Audrey?" Ms. Janie asked. "She's usually here before you or right after you."

I quickly thought of an excuse. I was a few minutes late, but Ms. Janie doesn't seem to mind. The ten minute mark is when she gets upset. "She had to stay after school to take a test. Don't worry, she'll be here soon. She wanted to call you but the teacher confiscated her phone."

I felt bad lying to my boss but I quickly shrugged it off. "Okay, well I'll be going. Tell Audrey to check in once she gets here."

I nodded, watching as she left. Once I heard her car drive off, I checked myself in. A few minutes later, I checked Audrey in so that she only appears ten minutes late. Where is she?

Once the middle school girls arrived, I had a feeling that Audrey wasn't going to show up at all today. The elementary school kids showed up only moments after and I quietly groaned aloud. I have to handle practically a classroom full of kids. I dealt with the elementary school kids first, setting them on the right track to finishing their assignments. I then walked over towards the middle school girls who spent the last ten minutes giggling about whatever it is middle school girls giggle about.

"Do you guys need any help?" I questioned as I quirked an eyebrow. One of the girls nodded, smiling at the other girls before extending her notebook. I began helping them, ignoring their annoying whispers as I did so.

Audrey arrived at roughly 4:40. She was lucky that I checked her in when she was supposed to be here or else Ms. Janie would have a fun discussion with her regarding punctuality. "You're late." I spun in the chair, momentarily forgetting the fact that I insulted her last night. I soon realized it once she ignored me.

She ran over towards the middle school girls who looked surprised to see her. They began talking indistinctly. I carelessly spun around in the chair, occasionally glancing at the elementary school kids who were busy coloring. Only moments later, after making sure that the middle school girls weren't in need of anything, Audrey disappeared up the stairs.

Once all of the fetuses left, I walked up the stairs. I noticed Audrey lying across the couch, her legs extended over the other two cushions while her torso was on its own cushion. "I don't think you deserve a day's pay."

She offered me a glance and I continued. "What happened, anyway?"

"I was out." She calmly replied.

"Out as in sleeping?" I joked as I lifted her legs off of the other cushions and dropped them on the floor. I sat down quickly before she could place her legs back onto the couch. She was now sitting with her legs crossed over each other, the abandoned book in her hand.

"No, out as in with someone." She glared at me as I looked at her in shock, my lips involuntarily parting.

"With who?" I inquired. Please say Sam, please say Sandra, please say Lola.

"You won't know him." She responded. Him. Let's hope she's talking about the creepy devil guy from The Powerpuff Girls.

"I bet I do." I convinced and she sighed, resting her head on the back of the couch. Seconds later, she sat up a bit straighter. Haha that rhymed.

"Sebastian." She responded. Sebastian? Why does that sound familiar?

"Does he go to our school?" I questioned and she shook her head. I narrowed my eyes and bit my lip, thinking about all of the Sebastian's I know.

"He goes to Tiberius." I practically screamed in frustration as the words left her lips. Out of all of the guys that she can hook, she has to choose a Tiberius student?

"Is he on the football team?" I asked, earning a nod from her.

"That guy is an idiot." I retorted angrily, my eyes narrowing as I glared at her. Her eyebrows shot upward.

"He's not an idiot; he's actually really nice." She attempted to convince me. I scowled at her, shaking my head.

"He is not nice. Do you want to know why they call him Bash?" I spat. "He gave a kid a concussion by bashing his face into the ground."

"Do they call you Miss?" I stared at her in confusion. "Because you miss the ball so often."

I glared at her. "Fine, have fun with him. You better hope he doesn't bash your head in."

"Grayson!" She called after me as I stormed down the steps. Really? Sebastian? Of all people, it has to be that idiot?

"You're overreacting! He won't hurt me!" She called after me.

I walked down the steps and flipped the bird over my shoulder. I didn't bother to look back as I grabbed my bag from behind the desk, got onto my motorcycle and drove in the direction of Shane's house.

~~~

I was sitting in the lunch room, making small talk with my friends when I noticed Audrey walk into the large room. I wanted to scowl at her but held back. Shane tossed a french-fry into the air before catching it in his mouth. "I didn't see your motorcycle this morning."

"Yeah, I had to take my father's car." I sighed with an annoyed look on my face. "He's carpooling with his friend until it warms up or I decide to buy a car for myself. It's too cold for me to drive the bike."

Audrey decides to sit down at the table with a stupid grin on her face. She was probably up all night talking to Sebastian, telling him how dreamy it must be to slam someone's head into the football turf. She probably had him describe it in full detail.

Carson and Shane shared odd looks before glancing at Audrey. Kyle was too busy talking to Lola. Audrey had this stupid look on her face and I wanted to slam a door in her face in order to make it go away. She's never smiled like that because of me. I wanted to shake Natalie's hand off of my shoulder as she tried to tune me into her never-ending conversation. What seemed tolerable a few seconds ago was now driving me insane.

"Why are you so happy?" Carson asked from across the table. Sandra was lying on the table, her head on her arms as she sighed occasionally.

Audrey grinned widely, preparing to answer when I stopped her. "She's seeing Bash."

She glared at me before glancing at Lola, who had an odd look on her face. Sandra raised her head from her arms and looked at Audrey with an expression that I could only describe as constipation. I wouldn't be surprised if she was. I mean, she did vomit yesterday. Shane mouthed something to Audrey and I wanted to kick him under the table. Carson was laughing silently and Kyle shook his head at Audrey. I didn't bother to look at Natalie to see how she was taking the news. She probably has no clue who Sebastian even is and she probably doesn't even care. The only thing she seems to care about at the moment is gaining my attention.

"How can you date someone who goes to Tiberius?" Carson asked after catching my glare.

She shrugged, a small smile on her face. "He's cute, nice, and treats me right." And there aren't guys like that here? Like, I don't know, me?

I glared at her, digging my nails into my palms under the table. "He's violent, wild, and rude."

"Not to me." She sang girlishly, offering a giggle at the end of her sentence. My breathing was heavy and I felt something that I can only describe as anger. And jealousy, a whole lot of jealousy.

I stood up and stuffed my fists into my pocket, exiting the cafeteria. Natalie's familiar heels resounded behind me and I wanted to turn around and yell at her to get lost but decided against it. I heard faint laughter from the table and I grimaced from the pain I was digging into my palm.

~~~

"I'll see you later!" Shane called out, Carson offered fist bumps, and Kyle just waved as we parted ways. I turned to see an unfamiliar blue car drive up beside Audrey. The car drove right past me and sitting in the driver's seat was Sebastian. The anger that I managed to shove down into the pit of my stomach decided to make a guest appearance but I couldn't peel my eyes from the sight.

Audrey got into the car and Sebastian kissed her cheek, whispering something in her ear. I swore under my breath several times, letting out little flames of anger with each word that left my lips. I turned around, digging my hands into my palms as I walked towards my father's car, counting to ten under my breath.

1...2...3...4...4...4. What's stopping me from turning around and ripping that kid's head off? Why do I even want to? Because she's innocent and he isn't; you know what he's capable of. He's on his way to steal your girl. She was never mine to begin with. 5...6...7...8...9...10. I managed to start my father's car and drive up behind Sebastian's without ramming into the back of the car. I might have if Audrey wasn't in the car.