Chapter 4

**Jason**

I didn’t realise how pissed Blake really was at me until we were all sat in the car. I could practically feel the hostility rolling off her in waves, and it was different to the other times she’d been angry at me. This time it was kind of getting to me; I wanted to be on her good side.

I decided not to wind her up like I usually did and just stewed in the silence instead. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy not to say something that’d usually get me a smack around the back of my head from her, but I managed to keep my mouth shut until we pulled up on the drive.

Blake didn’t say anything as she ran into the house and up the stairs. I could hear her door slamming all the way from the front of the house. She was not a happy bunny right now. Surely that couldn’t have been my entire fault? I was only playing around with her oh-so-perfect boyfriend. Could nobody take a joke around here?

“What do you want to do?”

I jumped slightly at the voice that dragged me back to reality, and I couldn’t help but chuckle that Dave, one of the most skittish people I had ever met, had made me jump. That just went to show how much I was focused on Blake- way too much. I needed to get those thoughts out of my head, god damn it.

“I actually have a ton of homework,” I told Dave. “I need you to help me- well, I need you to do it for me.” Before he could answer I unzipped my schoolbag and handed the stack of papers over.

“Um, okay…” he said, putting them in his own bag.

“Thanks mate,” I said. “You can do them tonight, okay? But now let’s play some basketball.”

Dave just stood there twiddling his thumbs a little. “I don’t know how to play.”

“Where do you live?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “Under a rock? Come on, I’ll teach you.”

I grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him to our basketball court outside. I’d say that homework for basketball lessons was a pretty good trade.

**Blake**

For some reason Jason wasn’t being his usual, annoying self all the way home. It was starting to freak me out when we’d covered half the journey and by the end of it I was just plain nervous. My dad always said that it was when boys were quietest that you should be worried about what they were going to do. I just hoped that wasn’t true now, although I wouldn’t put it past Jason to pull some awful prank on me.

Either way, I was still mad. He knew that he was winding Braydon up; he knew exactly what he was doing. Jason just didn’t care how much trouble he made for me. All he ever thought about was number one, and that just really ticked me off.

By the time I parked up the car I couldn’t stand being so close to him for another second. I got out and headed straight for my room. Braydon didn’t have practice today which meant that I’d be able to call him straight away; I couldn’t waste any time.

He didn’t pick up the first two times I called, his phone going through to voicemail both times. I was losing hope after a few tone dials on my third attempt, but Braydon finally picked up and I plonked myself down on the bed to speak.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s me. Are you still mad?” I held my breath.

“I was never mad at you, babe. That idiot was pushing my buttons and I just needed to cool off,” Braydon told me.

I let out a sigh of relief. But then I heard giggling from his side of the phone. I’m telling you now that Braydon was not one to giggle. My eyebrows flew up and my stomach plummeted.

“Who was that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

“Just my sister,” Braydon answered quickly. “Got to go.”

He hung up the phone before I managed to say anything else. That giggle sure as hell didn’t come from Braydon, and I was pretty sure it didn’t come from his six-year-old little sister either. It sounded more like a teenage girl- one that was having a bit too much fun. And even scarier, it sounded vaguely familiar…

**Jason's POV**

The next morning Blake left without me. I didn’t give a shit, though, because it gave me an excuse to ride my baby again. It’d been too long.

Yeah, yeah, with my reputation I could’ve easily being talking about a girl- I wasn’t. I was talking about something more important than any girl out there: my Audi. It was black, sleek and beautiful, and I hadn’t driven it since we’d moved in with Blake and her dad.

I was even nice enough to offer Dave a ride to school. He didn’t have a car himself and his mom had to drive him to school every morning. How freaking embarrassing is that, honestly?

I held my hand out the window as he walked around the car to get in, and he handed me my homework back.

“Get in, dude,” I told him.

I knew there was a reason I became friends with this guy. You’ve got to love the nerds.

The bell for fourth period rang and I found myself smiling. That meant that there was only one more class until lunch, which also meant that there was only one more class until I could have some more fun in the janitor’s closet with another girl.

On the way to class, though, I realised that I didn’t have my copy of the book we were reading in English. I cursed under my breath and turned back in the direction of my locker. I was going to be late now, which probably meant I’d get a few snide comments off Blake throughout the lesson. As if she wasn’t pissed enough at me already…

I stopped dead in my tracks when I turned the corner and saw something I sure as hell didn’t want to see: Dave being bullied. Did I mention that it was by Blake’s saint of a boyfriend, Braydon?

After the whole episode with that douchebag yesterday at lunch, I did some asking around about him. Something seemed so off about that guy, but everyone was just talking about how much of a golden boy Braydon Harris was. He was captain of the football team; he volunteered locally; and most importantly he was a great boyfriend to Blake. But it seemed like I was right and everybody else was wrong.

Not that I wanted to feel smug about that- not one bit.

He grabbed Dave by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the locker. “You better not say anything to Blake,” Braydon threatened, his voice almost a growl.

“I won’t, I swear,” Dave promised. I could see him quivering from all the way over where I was stood.

It felt like now would be a good time for me to cut in.

“What’s going on here?” I demanded, striding onto the scene and giving Boyfriend Braydon a hard glare.

“I don’t think it’s any of your damn business,” he hissed.

I ignored his cocky comeback and just got closer, stopping when we were just a foot apart. “I can make it my business if I want to, so pick on someone your own size, okay?”

Braydon shrugged. “Fine, I will.”

Without warning I was being pushed against the lockers myself. My instincts kicked in and I took a swing at the oaf, hitting him square in the nose. That would definitely do some damage to Braydon’s brain cells, and to think he was only just pushing the double digits with his IQ… such a shame.

Braydon stumbled backwards, giving me enough time to peel myself away from the cold metal of the lockers. But he bounced back quicker than I’d anticipated him to, and soon I had a sharp throbbing in my left eye and was seeing black spots.

Oh shit.

I was about to take another swing- completely defensive, of course- when I felt myself being pulled away. I fought against whoever was trying to break us up until I realised it was a teacher.

Double shit.