"Was it as awkward as you thought it would be?"

"No. It was worse." I groan loudly, slightly banging my head on the lunch table. Gina giggles from beside me, her hand gently patting my back.

"C'mon now! It couldn't have been that bad!" She encourages, her hand moving to rub my back in small circles.

I groan again and turn my head towards her, a small pout on my lips. "It was so embarrassing though."

"It wasn't too bad. It's normal to ask those type of questions to the guy their daughter has been hanging out with, Cupcake." Zander chuckles and sits down beside me. I turn towards him and pout even more, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "Besides, I wouldn't mind knowing a few of them myself."

My eyes widen in shock. He looks over at me, his eyes holding my gaze until I awkwardly look away. He wouldn't mind knowing . . . He wants to clarify about the roof kiss. Oh my gosh, he's going to tell me to go away, isn't he?

Gina looks at me curiously, oblivious to what he could mean. Oh my goodness, I haven't told her yet! She's going to kill me!

I quickly glance over to Zander, "Okay." I whisper softly, my eyes filling up with silent tears. I look away before he can see them though, fixing my stare on the sandwich in front of me.

I feel him shift around beside me, "Okay great, meet me at my bike after school then." He then gets up and leaves, his steps fading into the sounds of the many voices around us.

"What was that all about?" Gina inquires from beside me, shoving a few chips in her mouth in the process.

I look up at her and smile weakly, "I'll tell you after school, okay?"

She furrows her eyebrows and stares down at her plate for a second then looks back up at me smiling again. She holds out her pinky finger, "Okay, promise?"

I smile widely and link our pinkies together, "Promise."

~•~

I groan softly, banging my head against my locker. "Man up, Sarah. Just go already."

I'm currently hiding in the girls locker room, pretending that I had to get something to avoid going outside with Gina.

C'mon just go, it won't be that bad.

Who am I kidding? It's gym, it's dodgeball, of course it's going to be bad.

I sigh and push off the locker, shakily making my way towards the door. I take in a deep breathe then push the door open, causing some eyes to turn in my direction. I blush brightly and quickly scurry over to Gina, hiding behind her as best I can.

Thankfully, our gym classes aren't combined with the boys class. Which leaves us with half the female high school population and a loud female coach. But it's still better.

"Alright, ladies! Today is dodgeball, you know the rules!" Coach Mathers blows her whistle, bursting all the eardrums in a ten mile radius.

Gina and I wince, "I wish someone would take that from her and throw it away." Gina mumbles under her breath. I nod in agreement, grimacing as my ears start ringing.

Everyone else groans in protest, yet we continue to line up on opposite sides. We're so used to playing this that we already know which sides we want to be on and who will be team captains.

Jenny, our team captain and a really nice girl, smiles over at us. "Alright girls, let's kick their butts!" I smile back at her, a sense of confidence washing over me. Even though we lose to the opposing team almost every single time, Jenny never seems to lose faith in us and never talks us down for it. It's one of the things I like best about her, the other thing being our combined hate for the opposing team's captain.

Samantha.

She turns away from her teammates, a sly smirk on her face as she faces Jenny and the rest of us. "You ready to lose again, Kenny?" Samantha's little group snickers at the nickname, the rest of her team looking oddly comfortable with the trash talk coming from their captain. Then again, nobody has had the guts to speak against her so it's completely normal.

Jenny rolls her eyes, "Sure thing, Samuel."

Samantha glares at Jenny, the rest of us holding back our laughter and silently applauding Jenny's comeback. Samuel, ha!

Samantha continues to glare daggers at us, then roughly throws the ball at Jenny's chest. "Whatever."

The coach claps her hands, drawing our focus back to her. "On the count of three we'll start."

We all take our stances, getting ready to race towards the balls laid out on the floor.

"One."

I ready myself, Gina slightly bending lower beside me.

"Two."

Jenny shifts her feet, giving us the signal to stay back. I connect eyes with Gina and nod, both of us putting our game faces on. C'mon, C'mon!

"Three!"

Everyone leaps forward, sounds of shoes squeaking on the floor filling the room. Gina shuffles backwards, taking on the defense. Jenny grabs a ball, quickly throwing it towards one of the other girls and getting her out. Balls fly around the room, girls getting knocked out of the game but then brought back in. Soon, it's down to three of us. Jenny, Gina, and I on our side then Samantha and her two goons on the other.

She slightly smirks and tightens her grip on the last ball, "Say, Kenny, who should I get out first? Nerdy or wanna be miss popular?" She laughs maliciously, her eyes staring daggers towards us.

Jenny rolls her shoulders, "Or you could just give me the ball and surrender."

She laughs again, shaking her head slightly. She sighs and looks down at her feet, seemingly thinking over her response before her eyes snap back up at us. "Wrong answer." Her icy glare swings over to me and before I could block, the ball comes barreling at my chest. I fall down with an 'Ompf!' the wind leaving my lungs.

"Oh my goodness, Sarah!" Gina rushes forward, quickly dropping down beside me to help me breathe. I struggle to take in air, Samantha's evil laughs ringing in my ears. The other girls sit on the edge of their seats, worried but not daring to get up.

Jenny leans over to check on me, "Are you alright?" She asks worriedly. I take in some deep breathes, weakly shaking my head yes. She nods back then turns towards Samantha with a vengeful glint in her eye.

"You shouldn't have done that." She spits out at Samantha, glaring at her darkly. Gina pulls me up to rest my head on her lap, both of us, and the rest of the female gym class, watching the exchange intently.

Samantha rolls her eyes and turns towards her friends. Jenny grabs the ball off the ground, swiftly throwing the ball at Samantha's two friends. The ball connects with their arms, surprisingly knocking both of them out of the game.

Our team cheers Jenny on, everyone at the edge of their seat as Samantha turns towards Jenny with shock. She grabs the ball from the floor, throwing it back at Jenny so fast she couldn't dodge it. The ball connects with Jenny's shoulder, knocking her to her butt. Samantha's team screams in triumph, all of them praising her for the swift throw. Gina snorts and quickly gets up.

I frown and sit up on my elbows, "Where are you going?" I whisper over to her, glancing over at the other team to make sure they're not looking.

She looks back at me with a sly smile, "I'm going to win." She stands up with the ball in hand, then throws it and directly hits Samantha in the shoulder. Samantha whips around in anger, glaring at Gina darkly.

"What the hell was that for?!" She shrieks, her arm turning red from the impact. Everyone around us goes quiet as we await Gina's response.

She plants her hand firmly on her hips, giving Samantha a confident smirk. "You seem to have forgotten that I was still in the game, thus meaning we won. Not you." Realization dawns on everyone's faces, then our team hollers in victory. I laugh and quickly get up, running over to develop Gina in a giant hug.

"I swear, Gina, you're my hero." I giggle into her neck, my arms gripping her tightly. She laughs and pulls away.

"I know." She shrugs then looks back at me with a grin. The other girls on our team run over and praise her. Samantha stomps off in a huff, her minions following close behind while throwing glares at us over their shoulders.

Jenny comes over and grins at us, "That was awesome!" She shocks us both by pulling us into a hug, then jumping up and down in excitement. "Did you see Samantha's face?! Oh my gosh, she was pissed!" We all laugh and nod, giving high fives to our team mates.

"Well done, Gina. Truth be told, we're all glad you guys won instead of us." Tina, one of Samantha's teammates, smiles at us proudly. "She needed put in her place, that's for sure!"

Coach blows her whistle from the sidelines, effectively shutting us all up. She walks into the little crowd and stops in front of Gina. She eyes her over, a hard frown on her face. Slowly, her eyes light up and a smile spreads across her lips. "Well done, Gina." She nods in approval then pats Gina's back. We all cheer again, patting Gina's back then heading back to the locker rooms.

Gina smiles at them all then comes over to me and links our arms together. "Well," she sighs out with a smile, "That was dramatic!"

I laugh and nod, "Yeah, it was." We start walking back towards the locker room, both bringing up details of before to laugh at again. Someone runs up beside us, then steps into pace with us.

I look over at Jenny and smile, "That was great leadership Jenny, we couldn't have done it without you."

She blushes lightly and smiles, "Thank you, but I was actually here to congratulate Gina. And to make sure you were okay!"

Gina grins over at her as well and nods, "Thank you!"

I grin too, then move to link my arm with Jenny's. "I'm okay, thanks. Now, let's go!" Jenny looks down at our arms in shock, then her eyes shine brightly in happiness and she nods excitedly. We skip off to the locker room, giggling in joy.

What a rush!

~•~

Zander smiles at me brightly, "There you are, Cupcake."

I blush softly and nod, my stomach twisting in knots from nervousness. "Here I am." I shyly fiddle with my locket, stopping a few feet in front of him.

He leans back against his bike seat, his eyes cast down to his shoes. I watch him curiously, my brows slightly furrowing in confusion. He said he wanted to talk, but he's not talking?

I clear my throat awkwardly, "So uh - what did you want to talk about?"

His eyes flicker back up to me, his smile dimming slightly. Worry grips at my heart, fear of what's to come coursing through my veins. Prepare yourself, it'll only hurt a little.

He bites his lip then takes a deep breathe. I take in one as well, my heart hammering against my chest. Slowly, he looks back up at me and stands. He takes a few steps forward, stopping merely a few inches away from me to where our shoes just barely touch. He gently reaches forward and takes my hands in his, keeping our eyes locked. I shakily release the breathe I was holding in.

"Sarah," He begins, "I -" he stops for a second, his eyes dropping down to our hands. My heart stops and tears well up in the back of my eyes. No! Don't cry!

He smiles then, causing me to instantly be confused. He looks back up at me, his facing showing a new found confidence.

"Sarah, I would like to take you somewhere. On a date."

W-What?

~•~

HAHAHAHHAHAHA you thought! Ohhh the next chapter is going to be so much fun to write!!! I hope you all enjoy this one as much I as I did writing it!!

Omg that Samantha drama?! About time she got knocked off her high horse a bit!

Song added: Battleships by Daughtry simply because it was my inspiration for the remainder of this chapter! (And I have a slight obsession with it but it's like....only slight....)

THIRTEEN K READS?!?! OVER SIX HUNDRED VOTES?!?! Y'all I am so blessed and spoiled ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you all so so much ❤️❤️❤️

It's late, I'm tired, and I still have stuff to do so with that said -

Vote, Comment, and Share!

Stay Hungry! (What? I don't even know, I'm just hungry right now 😂)
~Molly