Author's Note: Here is the next part of the chapter. I am truly proud of my editor for how dedicated she has become to this project of ours. Sometimes, it is easy to forget that what you read in five minutes is the work of so many hours. So I ask my readers to not overlook someone else that has helped me present such awesome work. Hopeless4U rocks!
I walked quickly outside and sank down on the single set of bleachers facing away from the softball field. Joseph followed and sat down next to me with a smug smile on his face. I scooted away from him and placed the camera in between us, being very clear that I was perturbed about the entire situation. If I could, I'd put the Berlin Wall between us.
No one else was around since classes were in session. Occasionally, I could spot cars as they drove past the school. I watched the empty bus drive absently, momentarily distracted by the unusually peaceful atmosphere. I saw a flash flicker from the corner of my eye. I swung around and saw Joseph holding the camera up to his eye. He paused for a second and pulled it down to examine his effort.
"Why did you take a picture of me?" I questioned.
"You're rather photogenic," he said smiling at the view screen on the camera. "Although, you'd look better with your hair down."
I reached out to snatch the camera away from him, but he kept it well out of my reach. He grinned as I unsuccessfully tried to get the camera. I gave up and rolled my eyes at his idea of amusement. Sure, I thought the game of keep away was fun, in elementary school.
I heard a low chuckle escape his lips.
"What do you want?" I asked bluntly.
He bent his head and brought it closer to mine. His smile grew serious, and he looked directly into my eyes. His cool breath swept my cheeks and sent shivers down my spine. Joseph was even more handsome up close. I suspected an ulterior motive to his entire entourage. Why else was he insisting to close the distance between us?
I knew how effective his face was in swaying the female population. Liz was just a small example. But I was always immune to skin-level attractiveness on men. I could see every guy for the immature idiots they were. Even though that made me slow in social maturity, I was glad that my mind didn't become a hazy blur around every pretty face I saw. Although, Jason and Joseph seemed to be a different species of men, and I was impartial to their faces, it didn't affect my logic.
Joseph put down the camera on the side farthest from me without taking his eyes away from me at all.
"I wonder why my brother chose you," he said searching my eyes with his. I wonder if he could see through to what I was thinking.
He spoke of his brother. I assumed he was talking about Jason. It didn't surprise me that they were related. They looked a lot like each other. But that didn't explain why they were so distant to each other or the hostility I sensed between them yesterday.
"Your appearance," he said holding my chin and turning my head to the right and to the left. I kept an eye on his hand, not knowing where he was going with this. His touch was as cold as Jason's; it must run in the family. "Is very ordinary."
I had the sudden urge to stick out my tongue at him, but decided to wait until he had finished his conceited description of my existence. After all, if I was going to let him have it, I should do it once for everything. So, I smiled slightly and silently encouraged him to continue.
"Your personality," he continued lifting my chin up. "Is rather boring." At that, I began to get agitated. I held my breath and began to construct my comeback.
"Your figure," his eyes began to evaluate the rest of me as if he was buying a product at the market. "Is average."
"So basically," I concluded, finally having snapped from his criticism. "There is nothing appealing about me." He nodded in agreement. I returned his smile and pushed away the hand that he still had on my chin.
"Well, I am still better than people like you. Having an attractive face, but a mind as shallow as a mud puddle. Its men like you that lower the value of human kind. Oh, I'm so sorry for not being qualified to be your eye candy, but I wasn't born for your sake. So you can take your stupid comments and just-"
Before I could finish, he grabbed the sides of my face and kissed me on the forehead. I was shocked and completely lost the other half of my ad-lib riposte. I was yelling at him, what gave him the idea of kissing me? He grinned when he pulled away, but kept his hold on my face.
"But I like you," he said, grinning and completely ignoring what I had just said. "I like the way you seem indifferent to my existence. I like your expression when you're irritated. I like that you have no problem standing up to me. I like your loud personality." I stared at him in confusion.
This guy was insane. I made it obvious that I didn't remotely like him one bit, but here he was saying he liked me. He sighed heavily and then pulled away completely so that we were simply sitting side-by-side again.
"Oh dear," he said looking at the cloudy sky with a large smile. "I think I may have fallen for you. Isn't that just unfortunate?"
"Are you serious?" I said, truly hoping he wasn't. He couldn't be; he had a girlfriend. He looked down at me, the smile disappearing without a trace. He moved his face close to mine again. I held the air in my throat, feeling really uneasy about the sudden turn of events.
"Look into my eyes," he requested his eyes meeting mine. "Am I speaking the truth or am I lying?" I searched his eyes for any wavering, any signs of humor, but there was none. If he was lying, he was a great liar. I looked away, not wanting to accept that he was completely serious.
I've intentionally treated every guy that liked me in the past like dirt, so that they would stay away from me. It wasn't totally successful, but it kept them from confessing to me, and I had avoided many awkward situations. That way, I could still pretend to be completely oblivious and naive. Unfortunately, Joseph liked me because I treated him the same way I treated the sidewalk I walked on.
"How can you like me?" I said jumping up from my seat.
"Why can't I?" He questioned innocently.
"You have a girlfriend." I thought that had settled this issue, but he laughed at this.
"Who told you that ridiculous thing?"
I gave him a questionable look. He couldn't possibly be denying his relationship with Rita. He made that completely obvious yesterday in front of Jason. He noticed my expression and reached out to pull me back down. I shook him off and slid away from his reach. That only seemed to amuse him more.
"In my entire lifetime, I've only had oneā¦. girlfriend. That was a long time ago," he explained lightly.
"Then what is Rita?" I asked still not fully understanding the situation.
"Rita?" He shot back with a musical laugh. "She is just a close friend. I treat her as a sister. Jason, on the other hand, has always had unique feelings for her. It puzzled me that he would suddenly change his mind."
It seemed he was trying to make me dislike Jason while trying to clear his name. It was understandable, because he thought I was in a relationship with Jason. Or rather he suspected I was, but nothing could be farther from the truth. I didn't really want to clear that misunderstanding up at the moment. It would only make things worse for Jason and myself.
The realization hit me that Joseph could be using me to spite Jason in some odd way. That would explain why he was like that with Rita in front of Jason and his sudden interest in me today. But why would he treat his brother this way if he had no feelings for Rita? What could cause such distance between them?
"You're insane," I said, turning away from him turning from him to face the school, dropping the subject.
My heart almost stopped at what I saw. Standing right outside the school's doors was a gorgeous Rita. She held the door open with one hand. The escaping air from inside tossed her hair about making her look even more like a runway model. Her expression was a cross between disappointment and devastation. She stared directly at me with her hands clenched in fists at her sides. I had a hunch that she heard everything that was said. Even worse, she saw everything. I felt guilty even though I truthfully did nothing wrong.
"Rita," I whispered in panic.
Joseph looked up slowly, as if he already knew she was there. His expression didn't change a one bit as his eyes landed on her. They stared at each other for a brief second before Rita turned and went back inside.
From how quickly she moved, I knew that tears would be brimming in her eyes. I expected Joseph to run after her to explain himself, but he didn't budge. I thought about going myself, but I was probably the last person she wanted to see right now. I would only make her feel worse. My appearance would only make her more angry, and besides that, may end in violence.
I bent down and hit him in the back as hard as I could. The collision made a loud sound and my hand felt like it was going to fall off. He was really thick-skinned and muscular. It was like hitting a boulder. That must've hurt me a lot more than it hurt him. My violence merely earned a curious stare from him.
"Go after her!" I ordered, rubbing my hand to ease the stinging pain.
"For what?" He asked. I couldn't believe he had just asked me that. Was he stupid or just insensitive? I grabbed his hand and dragged him up in frustration.
"What do you mean, for what? Just go explain yourself," I demanded pushing him toward the school. He sighed and obeyed.
I watched as he made it back to the school building. He dragged his feel and moved as if he had all the time in the world. I grunted in frustration and sank back down onto the bleachers. I didn't know why I had gotten myself involved in all this drama. I spent all fifteen years of my life avoiding this sort of thing. Now, not only am I involved, I'm the cause of it.
I picked up the camera and snapped some random shots of the softball field and the sky. I still had to get the assignment done no matter what. These pictures would have horrible composition, but at least I would have some pictures to develop.
"Abby," A voice called.
I looked up and saw Jason crossing to me hurriedly. Why does the one who needed to rush didn't, and the one that didn't did? Anger was written all over his face and body language. He must've heard Joseph explaining to Rita. Still, what reason did he have for being so mad? I took a deep breath, placed the camera back down, and stood up.
"What?" I said, crossing my arms across my chest as he approached. His breathing was unusually heavy, and he looked as though near a major melt down.
"You are truly amazing, you know that?" he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I've misjudged you. I had no idea you were so shameless." My jaw almost hit the ground. Had this become "The Insult Abby Day"? My fuse had already burned out with Joseph, so Jason was really pushing it with what he was saying.
"What did you just say?" I said through my teeth.
"I really didn't think you were that kind of girl. I thought you at least had some maturity and self-control, but apparently, you are lacking of those too. If you hurt Rita, I will never forgive you."
I scoffed at him. This jerk was actually yelling at me because he thought I did something to Rita. Yet, he was so cold to her yesterday. I had never met someone as idiotic as he was. He obviously still couldn't let go of whatever they had before. I could understand him wanting to protect the person he cared about, but I didn't deserve any of his crap.
I grabbed onto his shirt collar with both of my hands and pulled down hard so that he bent and we were eye to eye. I gave him a deadly glare to shut him up. He looked surprised and shocked at my actions.
"You listen and listen well. Don't judge what you don't even understand," I snapped. "I have done nothing against myself or anyone else, and you have absolutely no right to insult me like that." He stared down at me with his lips pressed together in anger. I was going to wipe that expression off of his face, because I was far from finished.
"If you have enough courage to yell at me for her sake, then you should have enough courage to stand up to your feelings instead of hiding behind a lie. If you have feelings for her, then why don't you do something about it?"
"You don't know anything so don't act like you do. I've already offered her my heart, but she stomped on it. Why would I do that to myself again?" His voice was loud and sharp, as though he was barking at me.
Instead of feeling sorry for him and apologizing, that just pulled the string harder. Not only was he a stupid jerk, he was a coward.
"Then let go of her!" I challenged meeting his volume and more. He kept silent, and I knew that meant he couldn't. "You can't, right? Then isn't it better to do everything you can, so you won't regret it for the rest of your life? If she really is the one you want to be with, isn't she worth another try? If I felt something for someone, I would do everything I could to let him know. Unless you can look her in the eye without feeling a thing, then you aren't through."
His expression grew softer as I spoke. After I scolded him, I felt much better. When the anger disappeared, my rationality returned. I let go of his collar and backed away. I could hardly believe I just said all that. It was really none of my business. Why couldn't I ever keep my mouth shut?
I swung around and snatched up the camera. Jason still stood still as a statue, and I wondered if I'd gone too far. Maybe I was a bit too harsh. I heard the bell ring from inside the school. Jason didn't budge at all, as if he was in a daze. I decided it was best to just let him think alone, so I stalked away, still fuming slightly.
It was like the situation with Liz all over again. I made her cry, because I couldn't keep my comments to myself, and now, I'd turned Jason into a zombie. Things are going to be awkward between us for weeks. I just hoped he decided to change his entire schedule, so I would never have to see him again after the contracted two weeks.
Author's Note: I am still trying to decide whether the fashion show should be put into Abby's or Jason's POV. If it is in Abby's, this will be a three-part chapter. If not, then everything will go as before. The final decision is mine, but why don't you try to convince me? Review!
