Chapter 4: Attractions and Jealousy

Ashley's POV

I'm coming out of my cage

And I've been doing just fine

Gotta gotta gotta be down

Because I want it all

My radio sang as it woke me up again from my slumber.

"I love this song!" I laughed, and instead of turning off the radio I raised the volume. I don't know what was up with me today, but I was pretty excited to go to school. I had so much fun last night at Craig's house and I saw him in a new light, he wasn't as wretched and annoying as I thought he was. He was actually really cool, and we had a lot in common. I smiled, remembering the stupid conversations we had last night, as I began to get ready for school. I knew that this whole "Get Manny back" thing was very important to Craig, so I decided to make an effort today. Since I had showered the night before, I had a full hour to make myself look my best. I went through my closet and pulled out my dark blue "Death Cab for Cutie" fitted T-shirt, a faded denim mini with random rips and tears, and a pair of black tights. I thought it would be best if I put my hair down today, since I wear my hair up all the time. After changing, I sat in front of my mirror, and began to straighten my hair.

"Jealousy,

turning saints into the sea

Swimming through sick lullabies

Choking on your alibi

But it's just the price I pay

Destiny is calling me

Open up my eager eyes

'Cause I'm Mr Brightside " I sang with the radio as I boomed through my room that early morning. While straightening my hair, Toby carefully walked in.

"Ash, are you okay?" He asked very concerned.

"Yeah, why?" I questioned dumbfounded.

"Well, you left me hot water for once, and you're singing with the radio," He said shocked.

"Oh Toby," I laughed, "Can't a girl just have a good day?"

"I guess," He answered a little scared, "I'm gonna go now,"

"Bye!" I beamed and did the finishing touches to my hairstyle. I didn't do anything spectacular, but I had to say that my hair down, especially now in layers, looked really nice with my outfit. To finish up the ensemble, I wore my small pair of hoop earrings, eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss. I looked at myself in the mirror, satisfied with the way I looked, I grabbed my Chucks and headed for the kitchen.

"Good Morning, Mom," I smiled giving her a peck on the cheek, "Good Morning, Jeff,"

"Good Morning Ashley," Jeff grinned.

"You seem in a good mood this morning, " Mom smiled.

"I am in a good mood," I beamed grabbing a granola bar.

"Does it have to do with why you came home so late?" She asked nudging me. I looked at her and rolled my eyes. She always wants to get in my business like we're best friends, but she won't ruin this perfect day I thought to myself.

"HONK, HONK!" screamed a car horn from outside. This guy is amazing! I laughed to myself. He always seems to get me out of answering questions I don't want to talk about with my mom.

"There's Craig," I said avoiding the earlier question, "Come on Toby," I picked up my bookbag, purse, and cell phone and headed for his black Mustang. I saw him drumming on the wheel of the car as I walked towards the passenger side, and I laughed a little. I never noticed until now, how much he makes music anywhere he is.

"Hey," I smiled as I sat in the passenger seat. He turned to me, gave me a once over, and immediately turned away from me.

"Hi," He said looking straight. Frowning, I nibbled at my granola bar. What is his problem? I thought. I thought we were cool, and I was slightly hoping for a compliment on my oufit. Not that I cared about what he thought.

"Where's Toby?" He asked impatiently.

"So you finally got his name right?" I smirked. He looked over at me and we both laughed, finally the tension in the car went away. I, though, didn't understand why there was any tension. We were so busy laughing, we didn't notice Toby hop in.

"Hey guys," He greeted, "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Craig chuckled and we were off to school. Once we got there, I began to get really nervous. I could remember all the things Craig said that we were going to do, but I didn't have a clue as to when he was going to pull one on me, and if I was going to be prepared. I just have to do my best at covering up, and acting like I was attracted to him, which I wasn't. Just to clear the record.

"Ready Ash..ley," Craig corrected himself.

"You can call me Ash," I smiled as we walked up the steps of the school. He smiled back at me, and we headed off for my locker first, since it was pretty close to Manny's, it would give her a perfect view of her show.

"I didn't tell you this last night," I said while heading for my locker, "But I'm really good at acting, and pretending feelings."

"Really," Craig said questioning.

"I seriously am," I defended, "Just watch how I work this, not only will I get Manny's attention, I'll have her blood boiling by the end of the day, that's a promise."

"Okay," he said, "We're about to turn the corner, Manny has a perfect view of seeing us, let's see what you can do." We continued walking and as soon as we turned the corner, he put his arm around my waist. I didn't mentally prepare myself at all for that! I felt my stomach do backflips, and the skin that he placed his hand on began to sting and burn. Stop it! I ordered my body as we continued walking, You can handle this, do what you do best! As I tried to mask my sudden embarrassment, Craig leaned over to me.

"You know, you look really nice today Ash," he whispered softly into my ear. That's when I almost lost it, I felt my cheeks burn like crazy, and my ear go numb. I wanted to run away right there, but I knew that after talking all that stuff earlier, and needed that $70, I had to pretend that I felt nothing. Remembering what we discussed the night before, I made the exact reaction Manny would make.

"Oh Craig," I smiled and giggled so loud, that everyone turned and stared, including Manny and her posse of brain-dead bimbos and jocks who helplessly follow them. We stopped at my locker and I could feel her evil glare on me, and her friends hissing comments as to what was going on.

"It's working," Craig whispered as he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. I smiled as I could smell the AXE cologne he was wearing and shivers ran down my spine as his warm arms wrapped around my petite waist. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I kept having visions of turning around, and making out with him at that very instant, but I quickly erased it, because A) We were only friends, B) I don't like him like that, and C) This was strictly business.

"I know," I whispered back, while grabbing my books. We continued to stay in this pose, as I gathered my books, and Craig sneakily looked over at Manny, who looked enraged. I closed my locker, let Craig wrap his arms around my waist again, and we headed for his locker. He was trying to lead me one way, but I pulled him back.

"Why don't we pass by her locker, I'll glance over at her, and you keep looking straight like you don't notice her," I explained my budding plan to him, "Trust me, it'll be perfect."

"Okay," he smiled, and we headed towards her locker. I let my body relax completely in his arms as we got closer to her locker. Once we got close enough, I looked her straight in the eyes, smiled, tossed my hair back adding more emphasis, and nuzzled in Craig's shoulder just to piss her off. Immediately her eyes began to blaze.

"Let's go Spinner," she huffed, and dragged him the other way down the hall.

"But our classes are that way," Spinner said confused.

"I SAID let's go," she yelled and took him the other way. Once they were out of earshot, Craig picked me up and spun me around.

"You're a genius!" He cried giddily.

"Thanks," I blushed, not knowing what else to say, after what he just did. He smiled one more gorgeous smile at me, not like I noticed how nice his smile was, put his arm around my waist and we headed for his locker. I was beginning to like the idea of his arms around me, I felt so secure, and loved though he had no feelings for me,and I none for him.

"Well, well, well, look at the two new love birds," Jimmy laughed. Craig and I both blushed, and he immediately let go of me, so much for the secure feeling.

"I told you she was perfect," Emma beamed nudging Craig.

"For a minute, I thought you two were a real couple," Sean added in. I blushed even more, and Craig became suddenly interested in the books in his locker. Out of nowhere he grinned and broke out of his trance.

"Did you guys see our performance this morning?" He smiled.

"No," they all answered.

"What happened?" Jimmy asked. Craig explained to them the whole event that happened just minutes ago, and once he was done they were all shocked.

"Way to stick it to her Ash!" Emma laughed.

"Yeah I'm impressed," Sean chuckled.

"It wasn't a big thing," I muttered, "Just doing my job,"

"No big thing, Ash, you made Manny look like a complete fool in front of half the school, of course it was a big thing!" Craig exclaimed. I stood there awkwardly in silence, not knowing what to say or do. He kept complimenting me, and I didn't know how to respond, should I smile, say thanks, disregard it, I just don't know. All I could do was blush and stare at the tiles on the floor. As the boys began to talk about something else, Emma approached me.

"So, how was yesterday," Emma smiled, "Jimmy,Sean and I wanted to come over to make sure you two weren't fighting, and pulling out each other's hair."

"No, we weren't fighting," I laughed, "Yesterday was actually really fun."

"Really?" She asked very interested.

"Yeah, we realized we had a lot more in common than we thought, like music and other stuff," I explained.

"So, do you find Craig attractive?" She questioned grinning wider.

"What kind of question is that?" I demanded, "Of course I don't like him!"

"I didn't ask if you liked him," She smirked, "I asked if you thought he was attractive, but by the way you're acting, I'm beginning to think that you do like him."

"No I don't!" I said defensively. Who was she to tell me who I like and don't like! We just started to really get to know each other, she barely knows me!

"Okay, okay" She giggled putting her hands up, "Sorry to disrupt your manly talk but me and Sean have to get to homeroom."

"Bye guys!" Jimmy and Craig said as they watched Sean and Emma leave.

"Bye!" Emma and Sean called back, Emma turned around, looked at me with a big grin, and left with Sean.

Media Immersion Class

"Is it me, or is Paige and Hazel giving us the death glare," Craig whispered as we waltzed into the MI Lab. I turned to look at Manny's sidekicks and sure enough they were both glaring at us.

"Who cares," I whispered back. I looked back at them, smiled and sat down beside Craig. I logged into the computer,and began to type something in my journal, when an instant message.

NOLabels: Long time no see. It was Ellie, and she was right, I haven't talked to her in days, I've just been so busy with this whole thing.

Pictureperfect: I know, I'm so sorry. This thing I'm doing for Craig is occupying a lot of my time.

NOLabels: I can see. I saw your little performance this morning.

Pictureperfect: You did! What do you think?Did you see the look on Manny's face?

NOLabels: It was hilarious, me and Marco were laughing so hard when we saw her face.

Pictureperfect: Hehe, it was pretty funny.

NOLabels: I though have a question to ask you.

Pictureperfect: What?

NOLabels: I don't know if it was acting, but you and Craig looked pretty cozy this morning. Am I missing something? Are you two together?

Pictureperfect: NO! Why would you think that?

NOLabels: I dunno, you guys looked like a real couple, so do you like him?

Pictureperfect: It's called acting, and NO I don't like him. I said looking over at her from my computer, she looked up at me and shrugged her shoulders. It seemed like everyone thought that I liked Craig, why would they think that.

NOLabels: Don't lie to me Ash, I know you too well. You blushed everytime he touched you, like you were nervous, and I saw you grin when he put his arms around your waist and his chin on your shoulder. I looked up at her, and I could feel my face getting hot. Ugh! do I always have to blush when something like this happens, I seriously should just dye my skin red. That way, when I blush, no one would notice.

Pictureperfect: I'm not lying, this is strictly business, there is nothing going on between me and him.

"BRING! BRING!" the bell rang, and we were off to our first period.

"Do you want me to walk you to class?" Craig offered slipping his hands around my waist.

"Nah, I'm going to walk with Ellie and Marco, but I'll catch up with you later," I answered smiling.

"Okay, bye!" He smiled and walked off with Jimmy.

"Hey!" Ellie said catching up to me.

"Hey," I smiled, "Where's Marco?"

"We have to meet him at his locker," She explained.

"Oh, so how's Scott?" I asked starting a conversation that didn't involve Craig and I.

"Oh he's great, he's...wait a second, we're not finished talking about you and Craig," She ordered eyeing me.

"What is there to talk about?" I asked innocently.

"Do you like him?" She whispered making sure no one else could hear us.

"He is attractive, very attractive," I confessed.

"I knew you thought he was cute!" Ellie hissed, "Do you like him though?"

"Well..."I was about to answer before getting cornered by none other than Manny and her group of airheads.

"Hi Ashley, hi Emily," Manny spewed glaring at us both.

"It's Ellie," Ellie corrected glaring back at her.

"Whatever," Manny said waving her hand, "So is it true?"

"Is what true?" I asked staring her straight in the eye. I knew what was going to happen, and I was prepared. I wasn't going to let Manny Santos intimidate me, that's just not my style. People began gathering around us as Manny stepped closer.

"Is it true that you and Craig, my ex-boyfriend, are dating?" She questioned emphasizing the words "ex-boyfriend".

"Why do you care?" I asked stepping closer to her, "It's not like you care about his feelings anyways, or else you wouldn't have dumped him like a piece of trash."

"None of your business why I care, just answer the question," She spat, "Are you dating Craig?"

"Yes I am," I spat back. The crowd around us gasped, and whispers were going back and forth between random people. Manny first looked shocked, then smiled and looked at her friends.

"You know he doesn't like you," She hissed getting closer to me, "He's only doing this to make me angry, you're just a pathetic rebound." The crowd groaned as she said the harsh words to me. I had to admit, that did kind of hurt, but was I, Ashley Kerwin, going to let a cheap bimbo like Manny make me feel bad? Yeah right!

"Really, well he seemed to like me fine last night," I glared stepping closer to her. The crowd groaned again, and all her friends gasped at what I just said. I know, I made it sound like we had sex last night, but I wasn't going to let Manny get in my face and me do nothing about it. Manny looked at me completely dumbfounded, she looked like she had no idea what to do.

"Well, I bet he talks about me all the time, and still has all my pictures up," She laughed cockily.

"He does talk about you, he tells me how much of a bore you were, and how you couldn't hold a conversation that didn't revolve around you, or shopping." I smiled, "Oh, and I saw all your pictures, in a box in the back of his garage," The crowd began to stifle giggles and I could tell I had her in a corner, it was time to finish her off, before it was too late.

"But he did say you were a good kisser," I sneered, "I'm sure though, that all the guys here can agree with that, since you probably have made out with all of them." The crowd then began to bust out laughing, and pointing at Manny. I could hear Ellie too, behind me laughing herself. Even Spinner was laughing!

"Spinner!" Manny whined.

"What! It was funny!" He said in between laughs.

"You'll pay for this," She hissed.

"Bring it, I'm not scared of you," I spat back at her. We both glared at each other for a couple of minutes.

"Ugh!" Manny huffed and pushed her way out of the crowd.

"Nice job Ashley!" Marco laughed as he met up with us.

"That was hilarious!" Ellie giggled. I laughed a little too.

"Come on, we'll be late," I smiled and we ran to class.

Lunch

"Do you guys mind if Ellie and Marco join us?" I asked bringing my two best friends to lunch.

"Of course we don't mind!" Emma exclaimed, "Come, join us!" Ellie and Marco sat on beside me and we began to eat.

"Ash, we heard what happened this morning," Sean laughed.

"I heard, you made Manny look like an idiot!" Jimmy chuckled.

"Yeah, too bad I missed it!" Emma giggled, "I would've loved to see Manny's face."

"What exactly happened?" Craig asked curiously.

"Well , Manny and her friends cornered me, she tried to make me look really stupid like I was taking her sloppy seconds,and I told her off." I explained.

"You should've seen it!" Ellie laughed, "She made Manny look like so ridiculous,"

"Yeah, Ash made it seem like you didn't care about her at all," Marco added.

"Perfect!" Craig smiled, "Thanks Ash!"

"No problem," I smiled back. As I looked at him, I could see Manny and her friends walking to their favorite table which was right behind Craig's table.

"She's headed this way," Ellie whispered to everyone.

"I know what to do," Craig smirked and put his arm around my shoulders and began talking to me, we striked a conversation when Manny walked up to our table

"Hey Craig!" Manny smiled. Craig didn't respond and continued talking to me like he didn't even see her, I couldn't help but smile when we were talking because it was so funny.

"I said hi Craig," Manny demanded glaring at the two of us.

"Oh! Hi Manny," Craig smiled looking at her, "I didn't notice you there,"

"Whatever!" She cried and stomped over to her seat. Once she was gone, our whole table burst into laughter. I had to hand it to Craig, I didn't think he would do anything like that to Manny, but he did, and she was pissed. Craig and I ended up sitting that way through the whole lunch period, all of us talking to one another. Ellie and Marco were immediately accepted at the table and we all soon enough became good friends, joking around with one another and just having fun. I did notice something, Emma and Ellie seemed to be whispering to each other most of the period, looking at me, and grinning. I wonder what they were talking about.


A/N: Thank you so much for everyone reviewing my story! I know I keep saying thank you, but this is my first fanfic, and getting input from all you people really means a lot to me. Anyways, things are beginning to heat up with Craig and Ashley, as they're both trying to discover there feelings for each other. Will they finally admit how they feel, or will they keep it to themselves until it's too late?