A big, big thanks to everyone for reviewing, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

Also, thanks for motivating me to continue writing, I've been busy trying to procrastinate from revising for my exam on Thursday...so thanks for helping my out in that department ;) I was so overwhelmed by the amounts of emails I got from the number of you guys who reviewed, favourited or alerted this story! Kudos to y'all :D

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

I attempt to suck a deep breath into my screaming lungs but the refreshing oxygen got lost somewhere in the rhythmic pants that coincided with the beating of my feet against the pavement as I jogged down the road.

Luckily, the early hour of the morning meant there were few people around to see a sweaty Ashley Davies jog around LA and I know what you're thinking; since when has Ashley Davies, so-called celeb and total geek started exercising?

Truth is, I know that if I ever want to search for a social life around here, I'm going to have to fit in.

I turn the corner and nearly have an asthma attack right there in the middle of the street.

It's her.

The biggest bitch in school. I think I heard someone call her Spencer? God, she is a babe.

And she's sitting at the bus stop, in all her perfect glory, even though she's only going to school. My my, she does look fine today, designer labels all but flashing in the early sun. As if she'd be caught dead in anything else…She untangles her iPod earphones with perfectly manicured nails, looking like the next Madonna.

And I'm looking all sweaty and most likely a nice shade of beetroot red. Damn this California heat.

Honestly, the last thing I need in my quest for even a smidgen of popularity is for her to see me like this. 'Cause right now I'm really not doing myself any justice.

I self-consciously push the ear phone of my iPod further into my ear, diverting my gaze to the ground in the hope it will swallow me up before I catch her attention.

Dream on Ashley, you will NEVER catch that girl's attention.

I didn't look up as my feet carried me on. I don't think she did either.

After my run, I showered and changed, hollered up the stairs of our admittedly rather large house for my older step-sister Kayla to drive me to school and managed to avoid any unnecessary staring competitions with the student body as I arrived at school.

I'm sure Kayla wouldn't complain; she loves the attention.

Bathes in the fact that we have a claim to fame and spends most of her nights at the hot-shot club 'Ego' with her friends.

I wish I could take a leaf out of her book, but I seriously don't want to embarrass myself. She's almost cocky in her lifestyle, and try as I might, I could never pull it off and still seem like a decent person.

Kayla can.

The bitch.

I amble slowly to registration class, taking my time seeing as I'm actually really early for once.

I enter the classroom and take a seat by the window, near the back, pull my iPod out of my pocket and push the buds into my ears as I allow my eyes to wander out beyond the glass and the time to pass for school to start.

I had to get the bus.

The bus for Christ sakes!

Spencer Carlin does NOT do buses.

But my ass-wipe of a brother refused to drag his sorry ass out of bed to drive me to school and so I had to leave extra early to get the bus and pick up my usual morning Starbucks before school. And Madison slept over at Aiden's last night so mooching a lift off her was off the table this morning as well.

Which is why I found myself at the bus stop at some ungodly hour of the morning. Okay, slight exaggeration there; it wasn't that much earlier than I would normally leave for school anyway but I still had to pick up my Morning Mocha and walk the few blocks to King High.

That's right.

Walk.

Jimmy Choo's were not made for walking in! Still I manage to trudge into homeroom just before registration was due to start, dropping my empty Starbucks cup into the bin as I make my way over to my usual seat to find…

Nobody-Girl in my chair.

Who the hell does this chick think she is?

I mean, she's been here a few days now. Surely she knows the score.

This is my chair, at my table.

"Uh, excuse me?" I place a hand on my hip, eyebrow arched in distain in my perfected 'Bitch, what the hell?' pose.

She doesn't respond, doesn't even notice me as her eyes have a far-away look about them as they gaze absently out the window. She continues bopping her head slightly to whatever garbage music she's listening to.

I ignore how pretty I think her eyes are and tell myself they're a painfully pain shade of brown, that there aren't specs of lighter and darker shades riddled through the iris and aren't big and beautiful enough that I could easily get lost in them.

Instead of dwelling on that rather disturbing thought, because really; she's a girl, I rip the earphones from her ear.

"Bitch, I'm talking to you and you're in my seat."

She looks shocked and a little frightened, her glasses sliding a little down her nose as she tried to compose herself.

"S-sorry, I, uh…I didn't think there were s-"

Sick of listening to her stuttering I cut her off.

"Well you thought wrong, this here seat is my seat. No one else sits here and that one," I indicate to the table next to me, "is for my home-girl Madison. So why don't you take yourself and sit yourself over there, by the door, so that when the bell goes you can scurry out of my sight before I school you on the rules of this place myself."

She sits frozen for a moment, her mouth slightly agape and a look of total fear shining in her eyes before I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms across my chest and she hastily pushes her glasses further up her nose, collecting her books and bag and vacating the table like a frightened rodent. She scurried to the opposite end of the classroom, a faint blush covering her cheeks.

The small crowd of spectators return to their previous conversations and I take a seat in my chair with an air of finality. I see her flinch as I slam my bag down on the floor and smirk.

I know she can feel my eyes glaring at her as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat throughout the class, squeaking out a terrified "present" when her name was called on the roll.

I almost laugh out loud when the bell finally rings for first class and she all but sprints from the room, gone before I can even pick my bag off the floor.

I don't see Madison until lunch time. Apparently her sex-a-thon with Aiden got a little out of hand. I didn't want the details but she took the liability to indulge me in them anyway.

Let's just say the whipped cream and strawberries got a little messy which resulted in them going at it again in the shower…several times.

I guess many guys admire Aiden and his built-in Viagra stash…eww.

Anyway, after a rather traumatising lunch time, I left Maddy and headed to Sports class. A little bit of a waste of time for me seeing as I'm on the cheerleading squad, but Coach gets a little pissed when I don't take part in class. Apparently my excuse of 'already having a perfect body and wanting to save my strength for our routine' was wasted on him.

So it's with a huff and a few grumbles that I emerge from the changing rooms, confronted with the sound of sneakers squeaking against the wooden floor of the gym as the class plays dodge-ball.

What are we like five?

Coach blows into his whistle, signalling the end of this nonsense. Thank heavens.

He calls the class to gather round him, like some kind of squad-like group huddle which I am totally above. I stand back slightly, away from my sweaty and panting peer group tuning out the voice of coach telling the class how they "all throw like a bunch of sissy girls".

I'm too busy focusing on a slight chip in my nails that I'm pretty sure I caused while chewing through my nails while Madison simply horrified me with her Aiden tails. That was simply a horrible experience that I'd honestly rather not dwell on.

Although apparently I'm dwelling on it a little too much as I'm brought from my musings by Coach's insane whistle blowing again and the sight of the rest of the class pairing up.

I groan as soon as I realise that the only person left is that stupid dumb bitch who stole my seat earlier.

She nervously pushes her glasses up her nose as she apprehensively approaches me.

"I, uh, think we got off on the wrong foot-"

I snort, "Please, there's no need to apologize. We aren't friends and we never will be." I cut off whatever rant she may have been planning in her head before she gets into it and thinks she's coaxing me into some sort of acquaintance with her.

She looks slightly put out by my bluntness, before I flash of anger crosses her eyes.

"Fuck you, bitch," she spits venomously, a flare in her shockingly brown eyes that I've never seen before.

Wow, Nobody-Girl talks back.

I think she's the first person to ever do that.

"I think you're the first person to ever do that," I voice out loud.

"Do what?"

"Talk back to me."

She snorts and mumbles something under her breath.

"Spencer," I extend my arm.

A moment lingers, and I raise an eyebrow, a look of intimidation that I have long perfected gracing my face.

Her eyes search mine for a minute, anxiety reflecting in them before her soft skin touches mine in a gently handshake.

"Ashley."

That crazy blonde girl is…well, crazy.

I mean, what the hell? Throwing a fit like that all because I was sitting in her seat? Frankly, I was terrified and scrambled out of homeroom as soon as the bell rang.

But it played over and over in my mind, how pathetic I felt.

Kept bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

Anger, which left me so incredibly fuming I'm sure my glasses would have steamed up at any minute.

I didn't see her in any classes throughout the morning, half glad she's not in any of my lessons, half gutted that I don't get to release my pent up anger on her pretty little face.

'Anger management' I hear you say? Well, trust me I'm just as surprised by all this aggression as you are. Quiet, four-eyed, nervous Ashley really doesn't match the description on violent, aggressive, bad-ass bitch. My guess is that it's all the pent up frustration between moving here, adjusting to the new lifestyle and what not…

Still, I'm kind of enjoying this daring side of myself, makes me feel invincible.

Or at least it did until I find myself on the receiving end of her glare again, her piercing, and shockingly blue eyes cutting through me and making me squirm in discomfort as I slowly approach her, realising with a sinking feeling that we are probably paired up for the rest of this class.

I try to open with some light conversation, the clichéd 'I think we got off on the wrong foot' speech, but she cuts me off again.

I don't really listen to what she's saying because that just unlocked the bitchy Ashley, the annoyance bubbling within me all day finally rising to the surface and the No-shit-taking Ashley spits a venomous "Fuck you, Bitch," in her direction.

As quickly as she showed up, that side of me left again, the confidence replaced with its usual nervousness. The In-Your-Face part of me disappeared, leaving behind the current Ashley who is absolutely shitting herself.

I watch as a flurry of emotion crosses her face; shock, anger, amusement.

Eventually, she holds out her hand.

"Spencer."

I eye her cautiously, several different situations playing out in my head of what she might do if I meet her out-reached digits; ranging from her hauling me into a headlock and beating my ass in front of this entire group of students to her somehow managing to throw me off the roof…

Taking my chances I grasp her hand lightly, mumbling a quiet "Ashley" in reply, bracing myself for the worst.

Instead of some brutal massacre, she chuckles softly and releases her grip, backing away slightly and lounging on the bleachers for the rest of class, leaving my standing on my own in the middle of the gym, dodgeball in hand, like the loser I am.

Coach blew into his whistle to signal the end of the class what seemed like an age later. Somehow, I had managed to pass the entire lesson tucked away in the corner, bouncing the ball against the wall while my supposed 'partner' lay sprawled across the bleachers, sunbathing without the sun.

I hurried into the changing rooms and got dressed quickly, nervous about anyone seeing me half naked and passing some unnecessary comment about how my body wasn't a 'California Ten'.

Just as I'm about to scram out of there a twinkling catches my eye.

Spencer's standing against the far wall of the room, away from the rest of the class, talking to the girl I always see her with who I will assume is Madison.

She has her cheerleading skirt on, standing in just that and her bra and she unfolds her top, too caught up in laughing with Madison to pull it over her head and hide away what caught my attention in the first place.

Glinting in the light, and protruding from her belly button is a navel piercing, and I gulp because I know they are illegal for minors.

I duck my head and shut it door hastily behind me, my mind reeling. Sure, my dad's a rock star and his band, Purple Venom, are pretty bad-ass. But he always brought me and Kayla up to abide by the law. I guess he never wanted us to get into as much trouble as he did. Still, I was never one to break the rules, hence my altogether geeky aura. I guess people here are more relaxed about that stuff…

I seriously need to chill out here. So the girl has a navel piercing, it doesn't mean she's suddenly part of a drug-dealing, nerd killing cult of some kind.

Oh God, she's a nerd killer! Calm, Ashley, calm…

I never thought fitting in would be so damn hard.

I run the back of my hand across my forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat that have formed there, as Madison calls for everyone to finish up and get changed.

Yeah, Maddy's the head cheerleader. It was a little intense between us to begin with, but I let her have the spot, seeing as I'm not sure she could handle someone else telling her what to do. I mean, I'm obviously second in command and we make most decisions together, but that girl is in her prime when she's bossing others around.

I lock up the gym as I leave and head to the changing rooms to shower before I head home. Maddy is waiting for me by the parking lot and we leave the school together, walking down the road towards Starbucks because right now I have a coffee craving.

We make our orders and flirt shamelessly with the barista, resulting in 'two cappuccinos, on the house' and a cheeky wink to go.

"Eugh, please tell me he did not wink!" Madison exclaims as the door shuts behind us.

I fake a gagging noise and we giggle, continuing down the road sipping on our coffees.

God, we are such two-faced bitches.

As we turn off the high street towards the residential housing we notice a little motor scooter parked on the side of the road, a shabby 'For Sale' sign stuck to it.

It's a perfectly normal scooter, actually kind of cute, except for its hideous golden yellow paint job, with a bright pink stripe down the front and a random orange flower on the front. We simultaneously stop and stare for a moment, before bursting out laughing from its randomness.

Continuing down the road, we periodically glance back at the little mobile, snorting in laughter every time.

I swear, only something like that would be found here in LA.

What weirdo would buy that?

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Again, thoughts would be greatly appreciated, they really help motivate me to continue so drop a comment! :D

Also, sorry if it seems a little slow starting? I've yet to really get into this...

Or do you think the pacing is okay?

Should a pick it up a little?

Big thanks to every one who has actually managed to read this far, you're my favourite!

*Skips off to start next chapter*