Ava

A car door slammed somewhere outside and my eyes flew open.

After talking to my mom on the phone for hours last night, I must have fallen asleep doing homework. The papers crumpled under my weight as I rolled over and a few fluttered to the ground from my movement.

One glance at the clock and my heart dropped into my stomach. I'd slept through my alarm.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." I muttered to myself, scrambling to climb out of bed. I grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out of my dresser, quickly throwing them on as I ran into the bathroom and hurriedly brushed my teeth.

I glanced out the window, noticing that Lily's car was gone. I wondered if she had tried to offer me a ride again, and if I'd slept through her knocking.

My feet thundered on the stairs as I rushed down them, throwing my book bag over my shoulder. I jammed my glasses onto my face, not having time to deal with my contacts.

"Bye Zoey!" I yelled, slamming the door behind me.

"Dammit, I need a car." I thought angrily as I ran down the block. The bus stop for the shuttle was two more blocks over, and I still had two minutes to make it there.

I skidded to a stop as I reached the sign for my bus. My chest heaved and I leaned forward, placing my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. There were a few other students still waiting there as well and I huffed in relief.

I had just pulled out my phone to text Brandon when the bus pulled up.
We climbed in single file and I found an empty seat toward the back.

The bus was quiet as it lurched forward. Every now and then someone would yawn or stretch, still tired at this early hour.

The two girls in the seat behind me were whispering to each other, and in the silence of the sleepy bus, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation. My ears perked up when I heard a certain name being muttered.

"Jax totally ditched us last night." The one whined.

I sat up straighter in my seat, leaning back slightly to catch the others reply.

"Really? Are you sure you got the right time?"

I feigned a stretch, glancing back to put faces to their voices.

"For scientific purposes." I told myself.

A pretty, petite blonde shook her head at her friend, annoyance clear on her face.

"Yea, I'm sure. He wouldn't answer our texts and kept denying our calls. Eventually his phone just went straight to voicemail."

I pressed my lips together, suppressing the smile that threatened to grow on my face.

"Stupid." I thought to myself. So what if he blew off the chance to have a threesome? I shouldn't be happy about that. I repeated the promise I had made to myself yesterday. Jax Hadley didn't matter to me, he had no effect on me. And I definitely had no interest in him whatsoever.

The bus pulled up to the school and I happily got off, away from the reminder of the guy who may or may not have made an appearance in my dreams last night.

After buying my breakfast, I found my friends sitting in the cafeteria where I had met them yesterday and huffed as I sat down next to Maci.

"Whoa, Ava, I'm diggin' the bed head." Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows at me. "And the glasses? You've got a real sexy librarian vibe goin' on." A very unladylike snort left my mouth and I ran a hand through my mess of hair. My fingers snagged on a tangle and I winced.

"How did your first day go?" Maci asked, taking it upon herself to pick apart my tangled curls.

I relaxed into her touch, humming as her fingers worked against my scalp.

"It was ok, a little... overwhelming." I admitted, closing my eyes.

"Hate to break it to ya," I peeked one eye open at Brandon. "But you've got a whole new day of classes to find. Today's your alternate schedule." He said.

I groaned and closed my eyes again.

"Don't worry A, I'm in your first class. I'll help you find it." Tyler said.

I smiled at him and dug into my breakfast.

                     *             *           *

"So what are you majoring in?" Tyler asked as we walked through the halls. "Your classes are kinda all over the place."

"I want to be a veterinarian." I smiled. "I'm trying to get my Bachelor of Science. But I needed a few more credits so I took a bunch of classes." 

We turned another corner and I felt a little proud of myself. I was getting better at getting around the school, Tyler hadn't had to give me any direction to get to our classroom.

"What kind of animals are you interested in?" He asked curiously. We reached our classroom and I thanked him as he held open the door for me.

"Canines." I said, sitting down in the desk next to him. "I love them. I'm fascinated with how humans were able to domesticate such beautiful, wild  creatures like wolves, and now we have dogs like chihuahuas and corgis."

"Oh really?" He asked, a mischievous smile spreading across his lips. I frowned, not understanding what his inflection meant. His smile grew devilish as his eyes darted to the door and I followed his line of vision.

My heart stuttered in my chest. Arsen had just walked through the door and paused in the doorway when he saw us. Without my permission, my eyes swept over him, enjoying every inch of his tall muscular frame.

I looked at Tyler with wide eyes and he smiled back at me, looking far too innocent to be believable. Oh goddess, I looked like a nerdy hot mess. I hadn't had time to do my hair or make up as I rushed out the door this morning.

"You couldn't have warned me he was in this class too?" I hissed at Tyler.

He tilted his head to the side. "Why would I need to warn you Arsen was in this class Ava?" He asked too loudly with a knowing smile. I shushed him, glancing back at Arsen who looked like he was trying to hide a grin.

My face turned hot and I wished desperately to disappear into the floor.

"Because I- uh.. just.." I stuttered. Damn, had I really been that obvious about it yesterday? Tyler chuckled, his eyes glinting mischievously.

I pushed my glasses farther up my nose nervously as Arsen approached us and took the seat behind me.

"Sup dude?" Tyler said casually.

"Hey." Arsen replied, giving him a pointed look. I busied myself with inspecting a lock of my hair, if only to distract myself from gawking at him.

"Hi Ava." He said quietly. My head snapped up and I found myself staring into his gorgeous hazel eyes. Sitting this close, I could see the golden hue intermingled with light green in his irises. My gaze wandered over the small freckles that fanned across his nose and cheekbones. The one at the corner of his mouth was still my favorite.

"Hi." I squeaked, feeling my face turn warm. His mouth turned up into a grin and I did my best not to swoon when I noticed that he had dimples.

It shouldn't be physically possible for one person to be this attractive.

"So..." Tyler said, causing us both to look at him. "I just learned that Ava wants to be a vet. A canine vet."

Arsen's eyebrows rose and he grinned at me again. I didn't understand why it seemed there was some kind of inside joke going on here.

"Oh really?" He said, in almost the exact same tone that Tyler had. I frowned. There was definitely something they weren't saying.

I looked between the two of them, unsure of what to say.

"Yea, I um.. just really like dogs." I said stupidly.

"Oh c'mon," Tyler said, "you were just saying how you're fascinated with wolves and how beautiful they are. Arsen loves wolves too."

Arsen had on a full blown smile now and I was speechless for a moment as he beamed at me.

I shook my head, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. Staring at him for too long was disarming.

The professor spoke up and I sighed in relief, turning back around in my seat. Although I could still feel his eyes burning holes into my back.

We were half way through the class when I felt something tap my shoulder. I glanced up front to make sure the professor wasn't paying attention before turning to look at Arsen. He was leaning forward over his desk toward me.

At his close proximity, his smell hit me as soon as I turned around. He smelled so... delicious. My mouth practically watered as I drank in the sight of him. I hadn't noticed that I had leaned in closer and inhaled deeply until my eyes met his.

He was watching me carefully, unmoving, but his eyes had dilated again and I watched his nostrils flare as if he was doing the same. I sat up straighter, away from him, remembering that I had forgotten to put on deodorant in my rush this morning.

I did not want this man thinking I stink.

He grinned again.

"Has anyone told you that your shirt is inside out?" He asked quietly.

My eyes grew wide and my hand flew up to the hem of my neckline. There was the tag, on the outside of my shirt.

He chuckled as I ran my hand down my face, shaking my head.

"I woke up late this morning." I whispered to him. "I had ten minutes to catch the bus."

"You're taking the bus?" He frowned.

"Um, yea?" I said, confused as to why that seemed to annoy him. "I don't have a car yet, I didn't need one up home because I only lived two blocks away from the school."

He ran his fingers over his strong jaw like he was thinking about something. "Where are you living?"

"Alamo heights." I told him.

"Where in Alamo heights?" He pressed.

"She's living with Lily Adderson, on Verdant Street." Tyler muttered. I threw him a glare. I wasn't the type to just give out my address spontaneously. Arsen could be a serial killer for all I knew.

Arsen nodded and looked back down at his notes. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat with a huff, earning a chuckle from both of them.

When the bell finally rang, I crammed my papers into my back pack. It was already a mess from how hastily I had thrown everything in it this morning, I just didn't feel like going through it right now.

"Hey Ava," Tyler said, making me look up. "My class is in the opposite direction of where you're going. But Arsen here," he clapped Arsen on the shoulder, "his next class is right by yours. So he's gonna walk you there." He grinned.

"O-okay." I mumbled, adjusting my heavy bag on my shoulders.

Tyler threw Arsen a very obvious wink and left the room. I glanced at Arsen who awkwardly rubbed his neck.

"He's not being very subtle, is he?" He chuckled, his eyes sliding to mine.

I couldn't help grinning. "No, not at all."

Arsen held the door open for me and we started walking through the hallways. He seemed so nervous, and I didn't know what to say. I adjusted my backpack again as the strap bit into my shoulder and he paused, holding out his hand. I frowned at him, confused.

"Your bag." He said, twitching his fingers to tell me to hand it over.

"Um.." I slid it off my shoulders and handed it to him. He threw it over his shoulder easily and resumed walking. I blinked a few times, before jogging to catch up with him.

"You don't have to do that." I said quietly.

He shrugged and smiled at me. "I want to."

I stared at him, slightly dazed by his smile. "Okay."

"So what made you want to be a vet?" He asked finally.

I shrugged. "I've always loved animals. It used to drive my parents nuts that I would bring all kinds of strays home when I was a kid. Especially cats and dogs. But there's just something about dogs that gets me. I'll never let my cat know that though." I laughed.

"You have a cat?" He questioned. I nodded, pulling out my phone to show him my background picture.

"Her name's Zoey. She's an enormous bitch." I laughed.

He took my phone from my hand and looked closer at the picture.

He hummed, then to my surprise, unlocked my phone. I watched in mild shock as he typed his number into the contacts before sending it a message.

I blinked a few times, trying to believe that that had just happened. "Smooth." I said sarcastically. He laughed and handed my phone back and I pretended that my stomach wasn't doing flips right now. I wanted to hear him laugh again. I could get addicted to that sound.

Holy shit, I had Arsen's number. This guy was way out of my league, why in the hell would he want my number? I hadn't missed the other students throwing us curious glances as we walked together through the halls either. They were probably thinking the same thing as me. Why was he even giving me the time of day?

We turned the next corner and I stumbled as my eyes took in the sight in front of me.

My breath got caught in my throat. Jax was leaning with his back against a row of lockers, the blonde girl from the bus this morning was pressed firmly against him as his hands held tightly to her ass. They were making out so heavily that other students were staring or shaking their heads as they were walking by.

I clenched my jaw, feeling my chest ache as his hands ran up her sides and into her hair. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I quickly blinked them back.

I glanced at Arsen out of the corner of my eye. Guilt gnawed at my mind. Just a moment ago, I had been so excited about getting his number. Now here I was, acting fucking heartbroken that his best friend making out with some girl in front of us. What must he think of me?

But to my surprise, Arsen was glaring daggers at Jax, his hands were clenched into fists as his jaw flexed in what seemed like agitation. I frowned as he growled at the two. Did he have a crush on that girl or something?

Wait, did he just growl?

He shook his head in clear disgust and looked back at me. I tried to regain my composure. Tried to hide the fact that I felt so inexplicably hurt. But I know he saw it.

"God dammit Jax." He sighed, nudging me toward the classroom door. He placed his body directly in my line of vision of Jax and what's-her-name, and I couldn't help but be thankful for it.

"Bye." I said quietly, wincing when my voice cracked.

"Bye Ava." He smiled sadly, handing my book bag back to me. "I'll text you later."

I nodded my head, not trusting my voice and entered the room. I didn't pay attention to any of the other students as I sat down in one of the open seats, my mind was just replaying the image of blondie basically dry humping Jax over and over again.

A moment later Jax walked in and I quickly looked away. He looked pissed.

He sat down next to me and my throat ached like I wanted to cry. Why couldn't he just find a different seat? I turned away, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared pointedly at the wall.

"Hey." I heard his voice rumble beside me.

Reluctantly I looked at him, concentrating all of my energy on looking bored.

But as soon as I saw his hand-messed hair and slightly puffy lips, I winced. I couldn't help it. I was past lying to myself that I wasn't drawn to him in some magnetizing way, and that the crazy reaction I'd had to him yesterday wasn't insignificant.

I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't deny it.

His eyes widened as he looked at me and I knew my face was giving all of my emotions away, as usual.

"Fuck." He muttered. "Ava..."

Look like you don't care. You don't care. Why would you care?

I stared at him blankly as he looked like he was trying to think of something to say.

I noticed he had a bruise blooming along his jaw beneath his stubble. I hadn't noticed that before, but I also had been specifically trying not to look at him while he sucked blondie's face off.

My phone buzzed and I looked at the text, smiling when I saw Arsen's name on the screen.

"Ignore Jax. He's a complete idiot."

I laughed, that was exactly what I needed to hear.

"Hey, he's your best friend, what's that say about you? 🤔"

"We've been best friends our whole lives, that's about where our similarities end."

"We'll see."

I pushed my phone into my bag and ignored both the buzz from it and curious look Jax was giving me.

This class was an hour and a half long. I could survive that.

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Hey readers!

I called off work today because the roads here in PA are slickernshit and I drive a truck for a living. So I was able to get this out earlier than I usually would.

I started rewatching supernatural 😌again so my attention has been stuck there so I haven't written much in the last week or two. But I'll get there.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please don't forget to comment and vote!

Xx mandabrandie