CHAPTER 39: My IQ points drastically drop when I see your face

Of all days, today should definitely not be the day she chooses to mess with me. Her ankle boots annoyingly clank against the floor as several students make way for her royal highness bitch.

My morning didn't quite go as planned. Firstly, I had to walk to school because my huge ass ego couldn't partake in the daily carpool Jason and I used to have. I even woke up extra early so I could get out undetected. But alas, that plan turned out to be unsuccessful and I ran into my judgmental brother in the kitchen. I wasn't the only one who was trying to run away. Anyway, the gigantic ego gene seems to run in the family since neither of us said a word to each other and I simply stormed out of the house.

Without a morsel of food in my damn stomach.

Screw you, brother.

Aggravated by the constant hunger, annoyance at basically anyone who crosses my path and the fact that Veronica fucking West is headed towards me, I shut my locker loud enough for people to naturally stay away from me.

"Summer Bella Jones. How lovely for you to cross my path."

"I can't say the same about you, Veronica. Now scram." I roll my eyes and decide that walking away will be the best thing instead of ending the day with an expulsion letter in reference to the attempt of murder of Veronica.

"Oh. You're angry. That just makes our conversation more interesting." She places a hand at her hip and smirks at me, her fur coat elegantly hanging off her torso.

Those clothes need a better personality for sure.

I place my hands in my pockets and exhale loudly.

"What the hell do you want? I don't have time for you."

"Some little birdie told me about you and Caleb." Her sick, sweet voice is revolting and I had the urge to slam her head into the nearby lockers. I clench my fists but continue keeping them safe inside my pockets, away from her 10-pound make-upped face.

"What about me and Caleb?"

"He did this to me because of you. You're gonna pay for this. Remember my party, Summer? You do know right the consequences of messing around with me?"

I freeze at her words and gulp at the memories of the night. Her words run around in my head once again, canopying the brave part of me and rendering it helpless.

No. No. I couldn't fall weak. All she did was talk about the woman you've been ignoring all your life. She is gone and so is the little amount of memories associated with her name. She should not be the source of your weakness.

I take in a deep breath and clench my jaw, taking a step forward to get near Veronica's face. Her smirk disappears but triggers my own. She crosses her arms over her chest, gulping as I continue nearing her.

"Listen to me very, very carefully, Veronica. I am not one of your puppies you could boss around. You do not control my life, get it? I don't give a flying fuck about whatever the hell you do to me because let's face it. You can't harm one hair on my body. So before you try to go all scary macho on me, think twice, alright?"

My cold voice seems to penetrate into her mind since her eyes blink several times and something definitely flashes in them. I take a few steps back, still smirking at her and I begin my usual walk to Math class.

"Are you dumb or something?" I halt in my tracks as her screechy voice, rolling my eyes at her desperate behavior to probably get the reaction she wished for.

Hell will freeze over before she gets her way around me.

"Duh. My IQ points drastically drop when I see your face." I scoff and turn around, continuing my walk as people start laughing, gossiping and gasping at my rude conversation with the bitch herself.

"Don't you walk away!"

I sigh and flip her off, turning around the corridor and fleeting down the flight of stairs. The class starts pouring in once I settle down and I close my eyes and lie down on my table, hoping that no one makes a huge scene out of this.

"Summer!" A loud bang makes me sit up and glare at the culprit.

Culprits.

"Wow. Did you just do what we heard in the hallway?" Noel asks me as he takes a seat next to me while Blake, Maddie, Shawn, and Caleb sit behind and in front of us.

"If you know better then don't ask." I flatly say and stare at my textbook.

"That's so cool! You finally put that bitch to her place. I'm so proud of you, girl." Maddie gushes and I smile slightly at her.

"Yeah, whatever. No big deal."

"No big deal? If it was anyone else, the person would probably have scratch marks all over their face by now." Shawn chuckles and high fives Blake.

"I know right. She's definitely shit scared of our little fighter here." Blake punches me playfully on my arm and I roll my eyes at their exaggeration. I admit it's definitely nice to see that I got my revenge on Veronica from that night at her party and showed her who has the upper hand here. Although, she still didn't say why she approached me in the first place. I mean, of course, it gives her immense pleasure to pick on people but she said something about me paying for something that happened to her.

He did this to me because of you. You are gonna pay for this.

Who the hell was she talking about?

I look up and see Caleb staring at me while the rest are chattering like usual. His lips form a thin line and he smiles slightly. A fake smile, at that too.

"I broke up with her."

I take in a sharp breath and the guys' conversations fizzle out as well. Caleb looks down and runs a hand through his hair before looking back at me again.

"She called me yesterday night several times. After getting out of the ice cream parlor and getting back home, she called me again after seeing I ignored all her messages. So I called her back and broke up with her. I told her I want nothing to do with her anymore." His monotonous words seep into my brain and I finally register the fact that he's...done with her.

Wow.

I feel my foul mood getting better after hearing that but I control myself and my stupid feelings. Why am I elated at this news...?

Ugh.

It is not any surprise when I say that the previous animosity between Caleb and I had gone down by a humongous percentage and we are actually friends now. Even after trying to convince myself of this, the fact that several things have happened between us as of late doesn't seem to agree to be buried with the rest of the absurd feelings I get around him. I let myself slip yesterday – I was practically wishing for him to get close to me and kiss me. Moreover, it doesn't really help when you know that there is always some thick ass tension between you and the guy you li-

NO. NO. NO. NO FEELINGS.

I inhale and exhale while fidgeting with my fingers profusely. Caleb is getting closer to me way more than I expected and I am not sure on how to take that thought. Does he harbor any feelings for me? I couldn't possibly know unless he tells me or even makes a move on me. God, what am I thinking?

I keep quiet during the entire time Mr. Reid teaches, deliberately dodging the stares Caleb threw my way all the time. I didn't know how to handle all these foreign feelings and what to do about them or how to control them. I desperately racked my brains for any ideas and I also know that I cannot talk to Maddie about it or she will surely die of a stroke before even providing me with a remedy on how to subdue feelings regarding an ex-enemy who is now turning into someone I cannot put into words.

The day passes in a blur and I spend most of my time with Maddie, ignoring Jason effortlessly and dismissing off Aaron's attempts at reconciling the both of us.

Fumbling with the knob, I kick the door open and Maddie runs straight to my room to switch on Netflix. I grab a few snacks and tumble in my room, locking the door to avoid any disturbance from a certain arrogant brother of mine.

"We haven't had a movie marathon in ages." She mumbles as her fingers scroll through the numerous movies displayed on the screen.

"I know right." I huff and pop a skittle in my mouth. "We've become as busy as bees."

A ding from her phone makes her jump to the other side of the bed and she quickly picks it up. Her eyes widen and in a fraction of a second, she tackles me with a shrill squeal.

"Fucking hell, Maddie!" I shout and chuckle at her questionable mental state.

"Save that for when you hear this. Bonfire of the year! Happening. Today!" She claps her hands and does a little happy dance on the floor. I laugh and throw a pillow on her head.

"That's great. Now can we go back to the part where you and I were about to ogle at some drool-worthy guys on Netflix?"

"No, no, no. I'll show you drool-worthy guys live!"

"I'm not going."

"You so are."

"Why?"

"It's the bonfire of the year. A fucking tradition. Party at the beach, man! You have to be there."

"No, I do not. Netflix calls."

"Summer, ugh. Don't do this. You have to come. It'll be fun. Besides, Caleb will be there." She wiggles her eyebrows at me and opens my closet.

"What makes you think that can change my mind?" I throw another pillow at her and cross my arms.

"I tried."

"Well, you failed."

"Oh, come on. You won't get this experience anywhere. Just have fun for one night, please? Please? Please? Please?"

"Don't eat my head." I groan and fall back on the bed.

"Pretty please, best friend? For me? What if I get drunk and someone-

"Fine! No need to be so melodramatic." I glare at her and slap her thigh. She rubs it and quickly gets off my bed once again to fumble for clothes in my closet.

"You won't find anything there. All the more reason I should not go."

"You wanna piss off Jason?"

I turn around at her words and spot a slight smirk dancing on her lips.

"I'm listening."

"Look, Jason knows you hate and avoid such gatherings and parties. He also knows you dress like a hobo and will not do anything out of the ordinary or anything you wouldn't normally do. How about we change that tonight? Come to the bonfire. In a dress."

My eyes widen and I vigorously shake my head.

"Huh. That will be a no. Me? Dress? Hell to the no!" I deadpan and unlock the door, sauntering to the sofa and falling back in the heap of pillows.

"You sure know how to ruin the fun of a great plan."

"First of all, that's a bogus plan. There is no way-

"Jason!" Maddie greets him as he enters in and throws the keys on the kitchen counter. I turn my back on him and stare at the TV angrily.

"Hey, Maddie."

"Jason, you've heard of the bonfire tonight, right?"

Oh, come on.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I'm thinking of taking Summer. It'll be fun."

He keeps quiet and I smirk at that. Well, that is definitely a good plan, Maddie.

"But does she-

"Let's go, Maddie. We don't wanna be late." I pull her out of the house, slamming the door in the process. That certainly feels great.

7 pm rolls around quickly and we run down the stairs, bidding goodbye to Maddie's mother in the process. We make our way to Maddie's car and then leave for the Dockweiler Beach.

"I'm not so sure about this." I stutter out and pull at the hem of my white dress. The dress is definitely comfortable since it's open and sleeveless but I feel conscious of wearing it since it does expose my long legs. I've never been in a dress and wearing it for the first time ever feels weird.

"You walk in those legs and the stares thrown in your way will definitely trigger that damn confidence in you, Summer Jones. Trust me. You look bomb!"

"You didn't say anything about people staring!"

"Do you really expect people not to stare at you in that dress? And those legs?" She whistles and continues, "I envy you."

"Wow. That makes me feel so much better." I glare at her and cross my arms as we reach the beach and she parks her car near the rest of them. I can hear the music from a distance and notice small groups of people walking here and there. I rub my palms on my thighs and take a deep breath.

"Relax." She says and puts a hand on mine. "It's a party. Let your hair down for once." She softly says and adjusts my open hair. I smile at her and we both get out of the car.

"You good?" Maddie asks and holds my hand.

"Yup." I nod and we start walking down the promenade, the music growing louder and louder with each step we took.

Now, where is that damn confidence?