Sarah's P.O.V.

It's been a few days since the incident in the bathroom with Zander. Gina and I had our girls day out, bought lots of stuff we didn't need, then went back to her house to eat dinner with her mom and hang around the house.

Today is Monday morning, and so far nobody has said anything about the bathroom incident so I'm guessing nobody else knows. Which is good, considering how much they would laugh at me if they knew.

Laugh at the weak girl who couldn't even defend herself but instead fell to the floor crying, hilarious isn't it? First period class was pretty boring. The teacher just droned on and on about something I forgot to pay attention to. I was too busy worrying about a certain boy sitting behind me who I haven't seen since I ran away from him in the rain. How lovely, what an ice breaker!

Tapping, that's all I hear.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Almost like a song stuck on repeat, a very annoying song. A very annoying song that gets stuck in your head until you hear an even more annoying song to overlap it in your mind.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Constantly there, never ending. It's all you can hear.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Until finally,

Tap

Ta –

You snap. Whipping around in my chair I catch the culprit, his pencil froze in mid-air as he stares at me wide eyed. I narrow my eyes at the pencil, then reach out and take it. Zander looks so confused, then a little angry that I stole his pencil.

"Hey! Give that back!" He reaches out to grab it but I hold it behind me where he can't reach.

"No. Not unless you swear to stop that annoying tapping. Otherwise, this pencil? Say your goodbyes!" I bring the pencil back around, placing both my hands on each end, ready to snap it in half.

"Okay okay! Don't snap my pencil, it's the only one I have!" His eyes look almost desperate but the anger is still there, slowly bringing me back into reality. My body instantly gets hot as the embarrassment rises through me. All the students in the classroom are either staring at me in humor or annoyance.

"O-oh s-sorry about that. . ." I gently place his pencil down on his desk and quickly turn back around in my seat. My hair shields the sides of my face from the piercing stares, but not from the annoyed look on the teacher's face from the interruption. I steal a glance through my hair at the students around me, most of them are either still looking at me or talking to their friends and laughing.

That's so awkward. Sarah, you idiot. Why would you make a scene?! My fingers are wrapped tight around my locket, trying to find some type of comfort there. My teeth are locked on my bottom lip, biting down enough to bring pain but not hard enough to draw blood.

The teacher continues her lesson and what do you know, the tapping also continues. I don't know if he's doing it because he's bored or if he's doing it just to annoy me, but either way is getting on my nerves.

Slowly time ticks on and the tapping continues, Zander will stop for a minute or two to write down something then go right back to tapping again. There's only a few minutes left in class, and thankfully the teacher is basically done with the lesson. She had told us to write down the stuff on the whiteboard, then we could pack up our stuff and leave when the bell sounds.

I just want this day to be over already. Is that too much to ask for? I'm so tired.

The bell rings and everyone starts leaving. The tapping finally stops. Zander stands up the same time I do, grabs his bag, and follows me out the door. I grip the shoulder strap on my bag as I feel him still following close behind me. I walk faster, weaving through students and dodging locker doors. Hopefully he won't try talking to me about it, I can't do that today.

~•~

Second and third period were a breeze. Zander didn't say anything to me, and far as I know didn't even look at me. The bells for lunch ring and everyone is off to get their fair share of food and gossip. Getting in line for my food, I grip my money in my hand as not to be a bother when it's my turn to pay. Someone bumps into me, causing me to drop my money to save myself from kissing the floor.

"I'm sor - Oh hey, Cupcake!" Zander leans down and picks up my money for me as I gain back my balance.

"Um, hi. Thanks for picking up my money . . . May I have it back now?" Slowly my light brown eyes trail up to his dark green ones.

He smirks slightly and leans against the lunch counter, "Sure, maybe later." My mouth drops open in shock as he turns and walks away, tucking my money in his back pocket. I'm completely dumbfounded at it that I didn't even notice the line was moving again and people were yelling at me to go. Oh my fudge! He just stole my money!

What an arrogant little – "Sarah! Snap out of it!" Gina interrupts my thoughts, her hand waving in front of my face. Taking my hand she drags me off to our usual lunch table.

"He stole my money, how dare he?!" Gina looks at me confused, her fork freezing mid-way to her mouth.

"Who stole your money?" She sets her fork back down in her salad, and takes a sip of her water.

"Zander! He stole my money from me right after he bumped into me." Water. Everywhere. I'm covered in water after I finish talking. Gina starts coughing wildly after her spit-take, holding her hand over her chest to pat out the water.

"He did what?!" Laughing at her, I hand her a napkin and use another to wipe off the water on the table and my face.

"Yeah, he stole my money. I can't believe it!" I frown slightly and look around the room. He's no where to be seen. Must have taken off somewhere else to buy his lunch, with my money.

She throws her hands up in the air, almost knocking her salad over in the process, "What an A-hole!". She picks up her fork again and starts stabbing the lettuce. Those poor carrots never stood a chance.

I shrug and rest my head on the table, "There's nothing I can do now I guess, but I told you he didn't like me." My words are slightly muffled by my arms as I rest my head on them.

"Oh, Sarah. Maybe this is his, dare I say it, middle school way of saying that he does like you?" She rests a hand on my shoulder, softly sighing.

I snort a little more louder than I would have liked and look up at her, "I highly doubt that G, I might as well kiss that money goodbye. I just can't believe he'd be such a butt. I thought he would be different."

~•~

The rest of the day was filled with disappointment and slight anger towards Zander. I mean, yeah I'm pissed he stole my money, but I'm more disappointed that he turned out different. Gina left school after lunch to go with her mom to a doctors appointment, leaving me alone to my own thoughts.

Only a few students were left to fill the halls, their bags either empty or full of books and papers. I fit into the group of an empty bag. I finish putting my stuff into my locker, a soft smile on my face as I glance at a picture of Gina and I at the beach when we were twelve.

The locker door slams shut, barely missing my face and causing me to jump in fright. I follow the arm to the person, looking up to see Zander leaning against the locker next to mine. And boy he does not look happy.

"Let's take a walk, Cupcake." He seems upset yet he's still calling me nicknames . . . Weird . . .

"Oh um okay." The words barely leave my mouth before he's grabbing my wrist and basically dragging me down the hall. His grip was so tight that I couldn't feel my hand anymore. He takes us towards the bottom of the steps where a little janitors closet is.

My heart starts beating out of control, the fear of what to come creeps up my spine and takes over. "Uh . . . Zander? Where are we going?" Oh my fudge, he's going to rape me isn't he?! He's going to use me then kill me! Oh my fudge, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gon –

"Calm down. I just want to talk to you."

"Oh, okay." He rolls his eyes and pulls me into the closet. Locking the door behind him, he turns and slowly walks towards me, backing me into the corner. I take a step away every time he takes a step towards me, my back eventually hitting the wall with no way out. He moves closer, so close that our chests are barely touching. His dark green eyes only a few inches from mine. His full, pink lips only a lean away. If I just move my head forward slightly I could just . . . Head-butt him and possibly get away! Yeah that's a good idea!

"I just wanted to apologize for what I did earlier today. I didn't mean to do that to you." His face softens, his hand ever so slowly brushes against my cheek.

I'm shaking in my boots here. "U-uh o-okay that's fine I-I guess."

He sighs softly and hangs his head, his hands move to rest on my shoulders. "No, Cupcake. It's not fine. I was out of line. I shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me?"

Yet again I'm dumbfounded by this boy. First he's a total jerk, now he's being a total sweetheart? I don't know what to believe! "Um, okay. I forgive you. Uh so, now what?" He smiles softly and leans back.

"Thank you," He grabs my hand and turns my palm outwards. "Now, we keep going." I feel him drop something in my hand but my eyes are locked with his.

He smiles and slowly leans forward. His lips lightly brush against my cheek, his soft breath fanning across my face. He gently kisses my cheek and moves up to whisper in my ear, "See you later, Beautiful." With that he backs away, a small smile on his face. He leaves me alone, My face burning, and my cheek where he kissed me feeling like fire from hell.

And in my hand? The money he stole from me not hours before along with a note. I shake my head quickly, and race out of the closet straight towards home. What the fudge is going on?! When I get outside I finally open the note, gaping at the contents.

Let me buy you lunch tomorrow, with my own money ;) - Zander

~•~

Boi best be buying her two lunches for making her miss the first one, PFFT! Anyways 😂😂

So here it is people's! I'm so happy with this chapter, all of your votes and comments literally motivated me to write this ASAP. They mean THE WORLD to me, thank you all so so much!!! Please continue to v/c and feel free to point out any mistakes you see or to ask me any questions you want!

^^^^ Old me is so happy and appreciative awwwwee!! (This is like a year later now LOL!) Oh how far we've come❤️❤️ Still mega thank you's all around for all of y'all, and I swear I'm much cooler now so you'll definitely wanna stick around 😉❤️😂😂😂 (And now that I said that I'm cool I'm actually way less cooler than I was before 😂😂😂😂😂😂)

A special thank you to @DawnReadings for your comment yesterday, it made me laugh and especially motivated me to write this chapter!

Also, shout out to my home girls! Y'all know who you are! Love you all!!

Don't forget to Vote, Comment, Share, and Follow me! 😘❤️

Stay confident!
~Molly