Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews. I've been updating pretty quickly because my muse has been supplying me with a plot bunny thus far, so let's all hope that she continues at this rate until the end!
Once again, I apologize for the awkward scene changes. I tried something differently in the last chapter then the first two chapters, but it doesn't seem to be working. Let's hope that third time is the charm and it works for this chapter.
Please continue to review! It makes my day.
CHAPTER THREE
Sarah woke up the next morning at the sound of her alarm. She groaned and rolled over, slapping the OFF button on her clock. Stretching, she rolled down the sheets and stepped out of her bed. As she grabbed her toiletries to take a shower, she heard Kate rustling behind her.
"Morning," Kate mumbled grumpily. "What time is it?"
Sarah laughed. "Good morning, sunshine. It's 10:30 am. Why are you up so early? You usually don't wake up earlier then noon on the weekend."
Kate smirked. "Did you think I would let you go into town by yourself? I have to pick up some stuff too, so I will be coming with you."
Sarah smiled. "Good. I've only been into town once or twice, so maybe our trip will go a little faster with a seasoned Ipswich veteran."
Kate rolled out of bed, giving Sarah a look. She grabbed her toiletries as well, and the two girls walked out of their room and down the hall. They greeted other students who were already awake, Sarah in a cheerful mood . . . until she caught sight of Reid walking down the hall back into his room. Of course, with her unfortunate luck, he had to be coming back from the showers. His hair was wet, lying in clumps across his forehead. And worst of all, he was in a towel. It looked to be halfway slipping down his torso, and he was holding up the front of it in his clenched fist. Tyler was beside him, in a similarly undressed state. She looked up, feeling tempted to ask the heavens why Reid had to be so sexy. It made the fact that he was an utter and complete jerk that much more aggravating.
Kate whistled under her breath. "I have to say, swimmer's definitely have the best bodies."
Sarah cringed. She still was smarting from the comments Reid had made yesterday and his cold demeanor towards her. Try as she might, she seemed to think of him constantly. And yet, he wanted less then nothing to do with her, unless it involved her willingly spreading her legs for him.
Kate noticed her discomfort, and too late realized she probably shouldn't have brought Reid to Sarah's attention. On the ride home with Caleb and Pogue yesterday night, she had heard what happened briefly from Sarah. Kate was unsure to why Reid was being such an asshole to Sarah; it was obvious he had a little thing for her. Even Caleb and Pogue had agreed that he had mentioned his crush to them. Kate chalked it up to his massive ego and his inability to carry on a functional, emotional-based relationship with another human.
Reid and Tyler were talking about Caleb's upcoming Ascension at the other end of the hallway. Caleb had gotten them curious when he had accused one of them using last night. Tyler kept repeating that it most likely had to do with Caleb's own apprehension toward his Ascension, but Reid wasn't so sure.
"Do you think there is a possibility that there is someone else besides one of the group using?" Reid asked.
Tyler sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think so. I guess we'll just wait it out, and see what happens. If one of us feel it again, then it can be considered a problem."
Reid shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah and Kate walking towards him. He had decided that until he figured out why he kept putting his foot in his mouth around her, he would avoid her. She seemed completely immune to his advances, and yet every time he saw her he desired her more and more.
It was turning into a large problem. And Reid had never had a female problem before.
The girls passed by them. Sarah greeted Tyler, giving Reid a look but not saying anything. Kate said hello to both of them, though when she looked at Reid her voice had turned chilly.
Reid's heart sank. Sarah had definitely over reacted from the night before; and so what if he was having sex with another girl? Just because you liked someone, it didn't mean you were off limits to anyone else available. He would try and apologize to her somehow. As the girls stepped into the bathroom, Tyler turned to Reid.
"She definitely hates you," he said with a smirk on his face.
Reid glared at him. "Thanks, baby boy. I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it."
Tyler laughed as they walked into their room, thoroughly enjoying his friend's distress on a female matter. This had never happened before, and he found it satisfying to see Reid brought back down to earth.
Sarah was giggling as she walked back to her dorm later that night. Another student, Chase, was walking with her, a smile also on his face.
The girls had gone into town for their errands, and ended up running into Chase Collins, another transfer student at Spencer. Kate had met him previously, and so she had invited him to spend the day with the two of them. Chase had agreed, taking an obvious liking to Sarah. The three had done lunch and had decided to go to an early movie. Kate had slyly told them on their way to the theatre that something had come up with Pogue, so the two would be left alone to spend the rest of the day. Though Sarah had been unsure in the impression she got from Chase, she had ended up having a lot of fun. He was charming, and most importantly, he seemed like a very nice guy. She ignored her mind's obvious comparison between him and a certain other student at Spencer.
The two had just gotten back to the school. As they reached Sarah's room, both stopped in front of the door, turning towards each other. Sarah gave him shy smile, pushing back a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I'm glad I happened to run into you and Kate today. I had a great time," Chase said softly.
"I did too." Sarah answered. Chase took a step closer, resting his hand on her door.
He smiled. "Then we'll do it again soon." He leaned closer to her.
Sarah was smiling, but she felt a little uncomfortable as he came near. She was getting a weird vibe from him. As he came in to kiss her, an unbidden image of messy blonde hair and an arrogant smirk popped into her head. She didn't know why she felt as though she was betraying Reid; it wasn't as though he cared about her in the least.
Sarah kept the kiss light and brief, pulling away after a few seconds.
He gave her a last, lingering look before he turned and walked down the hall, turning around a corner. Sarah had no clue about his ulterior motive in establishing a relationship with her.
Sarah rustled through her purse, looking for the dorm key. She felt a presence behind her, and as she turned around she almost jumped out of her skin to see Reid Garwin standing in the hallway, giving her a murderous glare.
Reid had been waiting for Sarah to get back, thinking it would be a perfect time to approach her and fix the tension between them. Pogue had passed along to Reid that the girls had been out all day, but Kate had left with Pogue. Reid had figured Sarah had gone back to her dorm, and after knocking on her door and finding she wasn't back yet, decided to wait in the hallway, pacing until she arrived.
He had actually been anxious, worrying about what he would say to her in his head. Reid had never expended this much effort for any female, and figured that there had to be something special about this one. He would even break his no-dating rule, and had decided he would ask Sarah on an official date. He had never been on a date with a girl before having sex with her; this would be a first for him.
But when she had come back, she had been with that guy, Chase Collins. She had been giggling with him, and then had kissed him on top of it! Reid's blood was boiling, and after seeing them kiss, he had wanted to pound Chase's face in. More then that, he had wanted to use his powers in very dark ways.
Sarah looked up at him awkwardly, eyes wide. "Hey, Reid. What brings you here?"
Reid clenched his jaw. "Sorry. I didn't realize I would be interrupting anything with your boyfriend."
Sarah swallowed hard. "He's not my - " she cut herself off. Her resolve hardened. She didn't know why she thought she had to defend herself to Reid. He wasn't her boyfriend, he wasn't even anything to her. And besides, he was clearly having sex with whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Why did it matter to him what she did with her personal life?
"So what did you need?"
Reid chuckled harshly. "So, he is your boyfriend?"
Sarah looked at him. She sighed. "No."
Reid nodded. His face didn't display any change in emotion, but inside he was more relieved then he would have liked to admit. What was it about this girl that made him feel unsure and nervous?
"I just came to apologize. Yesterday night . . . I was an idiot." Reid said reluctantly. It was clearly evident that he was not one that apologized often. Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"No kidding." She said.
He lifted up his arm, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. He gave her a small, patented-Reid smile.
"So we can start over?" Reid said, and Sarah studied him for a minute. Finally she sighed and nodded.
"Why not," she muttered, against her better judgment. Sarah was sure that being 'friends' with Reid was the exact opposite of a healthy relationship. She was unbelievably physically attracted to him, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, couldn't stand to see the way he flaunted his multitude of girlfriends around.
"Good," Reid said solemnly. He studied her with an intense gaze, and Sarah's cheeks reddened under his scrutiny. His eyes took on a fierce quality, and he took a step closer to her. Her breath quickened as she tried to hold her own gaze steady.
He watched as she licked her lips, internally groaning. "You're driving me crazy," Reid said softly, and caught in a spell, he lifted a hand to hold her chin. Sarah swallowed hard. "And I don't understand why."
"It's only because I'm the first girl you can't have," Sarah replied, more harshly then she intended. "And it drives you crazy because all your life I'm sure you've always gotten everything you wanted."
He grinned, taking another step closer. There was barely an inch in between their bodies. "Is that so?"
She was sure of it. His little fascination with her ran only as deep as the day she gave into his erstwhile charms. In that moment, she made a fierce promise to herself that she wouldn't be like all the other girls at Spencer.
And then he leaned in, and kissed her, interrupting her train of thought. The kiss was hot and frenzied, and Sarah latched on to his forearms as he pulled her closer to his chest, crushing her to him. His hands moved down her waist, and she could feel the burning heat from his fingertips through her shirt.
She pulled away, gasping for breath, and he caught her lips again before she could decide that this was wrong.
The kiss continued endlessly; time seemed to stop and speed ahead all at once. Sarah's scrambled brain was telling her to pull away, but her body was encouraging her to continue as Reid kissed a path down her chin, to her ear. He whispered, "What would Chase say if he could see you now?"
Sarah froze as though a cold bucket of water had been dumped on her. She pushed herself away from him, leaving him panting.
"You're such a fucking dick, Reid. That's all it is for you; a game. First with Caleb, and now with Chase." Sarah said angrily, tears filling her eyes. Reid took a step towards her, his eyes wide, feeling like the biggest piece of shit on earth.
She took a step back, as she ruffled through her bag. "Don't even try it. Just leave me alone and stay away."
She located her key, and she shoved it into the lock. Reid touched her shoulder but she jerked away, swinging open the door and then slamming it in his face.
He could hear her muffled sobs filtering through, and he tensed. He punched the wall beside Sarah's door, the sound cracking through the empty hallway. Reid had been jealous about the Chase thing, and of course he had to gloat about finally getting the prize he had been lusting after for weeks. Now, he had ruined any chance he had with Sarah for good. He stormed away, all the while wishing that for once, he would have kept his big mouth shut.