[ C h a p t e r - E i g h t e e n ]

Chapter 18

Normally, going back to school is terrible, but it's so much worse now. For one, I still didn't figure out who my mystery kisser is and two, I have to deal with Waverly's pestering about my whereabouts during lunch on Wednesday, December 23rd, the day that her dress was sabotaged.

As I got out of my car, I yawned, imitating a baby dinosaur. I laughed at that thought before heaving my bag out of the passenger's seat. I groaned, muttering about the stupid thing as it got caught on the head rest. "Saltines," I snapped as I finally managed to yank it out of the passenger's seat.

The amount of strength I put into the tug was more than enough, it caused me to fall backwards into the empty parking spot beside mine and I glared at my car. I was currently sitting in snow that was drenching my pants as we speak, or should I say as I speak? I got up and slammed the door, making sure the vehicle was locked. As much as I hate the car right now, I can't deal with it getting stolen. "Having fun there?"

I turned around to see Jonah, taunting me, as usual. Isn't it the other way around? "So much, why don't you join me?" I glared as I pulled my bag over my shoulders and slowly walked to the entrance to the school, partially because I was tired and partially because I wanted to spend a bit more time with Jonah before Waverly rips him away from me.

Jonah wrinkled his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. "I would but it seems that I'm busy."

"With what?" I curiously asked as I glanced at him.

He smirked. "Not helping you."

I bumped into his shoulder with my own, too lazy to lift my arm and bring it down on his upper arm, hitting him and feeling his muscles. "You know what? Day by day, you're getting crueler."

"You seem to be rubbing off on me," he replied, bumping his shoulder with my own.

I couldn't reply because a loud screeching came from the middle of the parking lot. We turned to see Waverly barreling towards us, ignoring the snow under her feet and jumping into Jonah's arms. He just stood there with her in his arms, staring at me with a stunned look plastered on his face.

I smiled slightly before waving and walking off towards the school entrance, picking up speed. I noticed Sierra watching me with a knowing look but I just turned and entered the school, ignoring the feeling of hurt.

~~~

During the class before lunch time, I found myself worrying. Where am I going to sit? Because I'm definitely not welcome at Waverly's table. As I finished my work early, I waved my hand in the air, beckoning the teacher.

"Yes, Savannah?" the teacher asked tiredly. I'm guessing he assumed that I'm going to ask of some tiring favor that includes him walking to Asia and back, carrying an elephant on his back.

I put on an innocent smile. "Do you think you could let me out of class early?"

He glanced at the clock before looking around the classroom. There were five minutes left before the bell would ring and he sighed. "For what?"

I frowned slightly. "I have to call my father to make sure he landed safely. I can't exactly call him in the hallway in 5 minutes because it'd be loud and so would the bathrooms."

Even though I lied slightly, he gave me a sympathetic look while he sighed. He nodded his head, taking my paper to his desk as I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of class. I even took out my phone but put it back as soon as I exited the classroom.

I quickly scrambled to the cafeteria, ordering my lunch and sighing in content as I exited just as soon as the bell rang. I had approximately 2 minutes to get to the library; that's when the students will begin diving down the stairs. I entered the library, slipping past the oblivious librarian who had her head in a book. It was rare she had visitors...or maybe I rarely passed by the library so I wouldn't know.

I made my way to the back of the library, sitting down at a table meant for two. I placed my bag beside me as I dug into the pasta. It was weird eating alone for once; I haven't eaten alone in a while. Other than the time Jonah and I were in an argument, I ate with Jonah or Waverly's friends (Which thankfully came to a quick end). And now, if I'm caught eating in the library, I'll be eating alone in the hallways, or even worse- the smelly bathroom.

Once I finished eating, I decided to look at the books. Maybe they have a few Manga books or comics that I haven't read yet. I walked down the aisles of books, my hand trailing down each of their spines. Most of them are in extremely good condition; people rarely use the library anymore.

I looked at the books that my hand was touching and slowed down as I came across an interesting title. I pulled the book out, memorizing the spot I'd taken it from. My eyes skimmed the back of it. "That one's good," a voice approved.

My head snapped up at the sound of the voice. My eyes met Franny's and he looked shocked. His face contorted into annoyance. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, Frankie," I retorted, placing the book back onto the shelf. I probably wouldn't read it if I checked it out anyway.

He glared at me for the use of his unfitting nickname. "Unlike you, I knew that we actually have a library."

"I knew we did, too," I retorted. Honestly, I didn't know we had a library in the school until the beginning of this school year. I didn't step foot into a library until my encounter with Jonah, and that was the public library.

He rolled his eyes. "You're not a good liar, Savannah."

"I'm not lying," I retorted and he smirked before he pushed himself off of the bookshelf.

"Why are you here?" His eyes were curious and I shrugged, turning back to the bookshelf.

I looked up at him momentarily before deciding to look away. "Maybe I want to check out a book; that's what a library is for, right?"

"Yeah, Savannah checking out a book; that's as likely as your chances at getting a boyfriend," he snorted while I glared at the book on the shelf.

I continued walked, running my hand over the spines of the books. "I'm here to check out a book," I repeated.

His laugh went quiet as I pulled another book out of the shelf.  "Yeah, for a project, I bet."

"Actually, no, it's just to read, Francis," I replied formally. I stood up straighter and began approaching the librarians desk. Francis surprised me by grabbing my shoulder. I shrugged his hand off and turned to look at him. "What?" I snapped.

I lost the formality the moment his hand touched my shoulder. "I saw you at that dumb teen thing on Christmas Eve."

My eyes widened slightly. Is he the one that kissed me? Please don't be, it'll just complicate things more. Iswallowed the lump in my throat. "Yeah? So?"

He stared at me, his eyes intense. I noticed the swirling green of them; a girl could get lost in them. He was no Jonah but he wasn't ugly. Definitely not ugly. What am I saying? This is Francis! The boy who annoys me all the time by just being in the same room as me! Get a grip, Savannah.

"You looked pretty," I felt my stomach flip in anxiousness. Please don't be him. Please don't be him. "Pretty...pretty ugly."

I shoved away from him, listening to his condescending laughter. Despite the cruel insult, I felt a sense of relief run through my body. Maybe even a little hope.

~~~

I entered my job, sighing loudly. Mere glanced at me and grinned. Her date with my brother is this Friday and she can't be happier. Lucky her. "How are you?"

I grinned at her. "Just peachy," I replied in a sarcastic voice. She sat on the counter with a grin on her face, except this one was real.

"What am I going to wear?" she asked me and I shrugged carelessly.

I placed my name tag on my shirt. "Well, seeing as this person is my brother, you could wear a Barney costume and win him over." Her eyes sparkled and I took a step forward, holding my hands out. "I'm not saying that you should, though."

She groaned. "Then what should I wear?"

I rolled my eyes. "Anything, wear anything," I retorted, grabbing the broom and casually sweeping. Mere is on register duty today.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked me and I shook my head.

"It's nothing," I sent her a warning glare and thankfully, she didn't press.

~~~

Once I got home, I took a shower. I always bring my phone into the bathroom and today, I proved that it's a mistake. My phone was incessantly ringing and I couldn't answer it in fear of ruining the cellular device.

Once I got dressed, I decided to call whoever decided to spam my phone with calls. I didn't bother to glance at the number and just clicked around until I heard the familiar ringing. Whatever it is, it better be important. "Hello?"

"Savannah? I've been calling you nonstop!" Waverly's annoying voice caused me to face palm. I internally debated whether I should just hang up and not answer her calls again. I decided against it because she must be calling for something important. "I have to talk to you about Jonah." And there goes my theory out the window.

"What?" I snapped angrily. My eyes widened slightly. Where had that come from?

Waverly didn't take a second to reply. "Watch your tone with me. As of right now, you're in the clear thanks to Jonah."

"What are you talking about?" I retorted, staring at myself in the mirror. My hair was up in a messy bun and I was making funny faces.

She sighed exaggeratedly. "My dress! Of course you heard about it! It was ruined, ripped, shredded!"

"Your dress?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I felt a smirk tugging at my lips. "You mean the one you went on and on about?"

"Yes, that dress!" she snapped. "My first suspect was you! But Jonah said you weren't anywhere near my dress."

"And you believed Jonah?" I asked her slowly. She made a sound of confirmation. Jonah had lied for me. He had lied for me to Waverly.

"He wouldn't lie to me," she replied jauntily. I rolled my eyes, pursing my lips.

I casually ran my hand down the side of my mirror. "So...what are you and Jonah now?"

"Well, he hasn't exactly asked me to be his girlfriend yet but I think he's going to pop the question sometime this week," she said confidently. I winced at the thought of Waverly and Jonah holding hands, walking down the hallways, kissing before and after each class. The last one made me want to vomit more than it made me want to wince.

"Really? That sounds nice," my voice wavered and I pressed my lips together.

"Yeah, I just have a favor to ask of you. Since you and Jonah are friends, do you think you can ask him when he's going to ask me out?" she casually requested with a tinge of hope in her voice. Her hope burned my hope to ashes.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, ending the phone call immediately. I pressed my hands against my face, shaking my head slowly.

~~~

Once I was fully composed and ready for a conversation, I dialed Jonah's number. It rang twice before he answered it. "Hello?"

His voice was chirpy and it made me a bit more anxious. "Hey, Jonah."

"Hello, Savannah," he replied. It was quiet for a moment. "Any particular reason why you're calling me? Not that I don't want to talk to you; it's just that I usually call you and you reply with 'what.'"

I smiled slightly before I frowned, remembering the task at hand. "Well, I'm calling on behalf of the girl with an enormous crush on you," I started kicking my floor.

"I know you're calling for yourself, silly," he replied, laughing. I glared at the floor before I slumped down onto my bed.

"I don't mean me, moron; I mean Waverly. She called me personally to ask me to do a favor that she was too much of a wimp to do herself," I retorted, glaring up at my ceiling.

"What is this favor?" he asked. I sighed, pressing my hand to my forehead.

"She wants me to ask when you're going to ask her out," I replied, trying to sound casual. I'm pretty sure I sounded pained. Jonah was silent for a moment.

"I'm not going to," I felt relief course through my body and I almost laughed.

In fact, I did laugh. I felt myself laughing out of relief, humor, and embarrassment. I was relieved that Jonah wasn't going to date Waverly, but only because she's my enemy and I can't have my friend dating my enemy; that'd be bad. I was laughing out of pure humor because she was so confident that she was going to be Jonah's girlfriend. I'm laughing out of embarrassed because I was so worried for nothing.

"Did you really need to ask me that to know my answer?" he asked, laughing slightly.

I sighed, letting out my last chuckles. "I didn't want to seem possessive and tell her that you aren't going to ask her out."

"Possessive? You think you own me, Savannah?" he asked me jokingly and I rolled my eyes.

"No, Jonah, I don't think that," I replied.

"I'm the man of this relationship," he joked and I grinned widely.

I heard laughter from the background and I recognized it as Weston's. "Please, Savannah would wear the pants in the relationship. You'd wear a skirt."

"Is it a frilly skirt?" Jonah asked in a feminine tone. I rolled my eyes. Why do you put up with this boy?

I'm not quite sure why but I know that he makes me happy and isn't that a good enough reason?