I didn’t know what came over me then, but I pulled back instantly, slapping him so hard, my hand was red and shaking.
He rubbed his sore cheek gingerly. “Ouch, what the hell was that for?”
“You think after everything you did to me—you can just show up here and kiss me? Well I’m sorry, but I have news for you, that isn’t the way life works. I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to play here, but I want no part of it.” I stood quickly, my mind still reeling from the stolen kiss.
“You’re different Peyton…” he exclaimed softly, rising up next to me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, still attempting to contain my rage.
“It’s like, we’ve gone to the same school our entire lives, and our paths have never really crossed until now, why is that? What changed? It’s like you’ve been standing here in front of me the entire time, but only now am I seeing you clearly.” He ran his fingers through my hair.
I pushed his hand away from my face roughly. “We have multiple classes together—you know me, and yet, you still treat me like crap. What makes you think you deserve to say any of this to me? Did you suddenly forget what an asshole you’ve been to me; what you put me through? You must have a death wish.”
My patience was wearing thin. For all I knew he was recording our entire interaction with some hidden camera and was going to put it on YouTube for a chance to humiliate me even further. I had already changed my number because of his rude, snide remarks, and been avoiding him for months, but I wasn’t sure how much further he could take it.
“Peyton, I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I was an asshole—I know. I’m the quarterback of the football team, I have an image to uphold…you just got mixed up in the crosshairs.” His apology felt lackluster to me.
“Why now Jax? Why now after all of the pain and agony you put me through should I give you any of my time?” I crossed my arms in front of my body protectively. Maybe I should have left with Brooklyn and Isaiah. Maybe then I wouldn’t have had to deal with the snake.
“You don’t put up with any of my crap. You are blunt and aggressive and you aren’t scared to say what’s on your mind.”
“So?” I had no intention of making his apology any easier on him.
“So, you’re unlike anyone I have ever met before.” He sighed, folding his arms across his chest as well.
“If you kiss me again, I’ll punch you,” I threatened, still unsure of what to think about the situation as a whole.
He stepped back, throwing his hands in the air as surrender. “I promise not to kiss you again until you ask for it.”
Cocky one he was…
***
Gossip was in high gear when I returned to school that following Monday. I was the main attraction; again. Everywhere I looked people were whispering, pointing, looking. This instance though wasn’t because I was being made fun of, it was because since Jax had kissed me Friday night, everyone, and I do mean everyone was dying to know what his next move would be.
People who never gave me the time of day usually were coming up to me and congratulating me. I got asked to eat lunch with more people than I could count. Everything was so out of control, and I wasn’t prepared for any of it. The only thing that hadn’t changed was Kari Ann’s extreme disgust for me, and oddly enough it was the thing I looked forward to now.
I was slightly relieved to be able to start my morning off with theatre class. An environment I could hone my craft, and really take my mind off of all of this mess. But I quickly laughed to myself, remembering I had the class with Jace, and it was just a little hard to take my mind off of Jax with his twin brother burning holes into the sides and back of my head. I was dreading the thought of him speaking to me, I knew he had to have heard the rumors…I wondered slightly what he thought about it all.
It was scenes week in class and to my mortified knowledge, I had been cast in a scene alongside none other than Jace. It was all too much. Glancing over the script I realized it was going to be a romantic scene that Jace and I would have to play and it called for a kiss! Can my life get any more complicated? I secretly cursed to myself. As I was digesting what was going to take place, I noticed Jace approach.
“Hey.” He waved, taking a seat beside me. “So, what do you think about the scene?”
“Umm, I haven’t really given it much thought,” I lied. “But are we really talking about the scene here or…” I trailed off.
“What are you talking about?” Jace asked. I wasn’t sure if he was being honest or playing dumb. So I just decided to nip it in the butt.
“I know you’ve heard Jax kissed me.” I looked up at him through lowered lashes, not sure what his reaction would be.
“Uh huh,” he replied, almost monotone. “And what does that have to do with our scene?”
Suddenly I felt extremely stupid. Here I was thinking it was going to be this huge deal to him because it was for the rest of the world, but it was obvious to me now he didn’t give two flying fucks.
“Nothing,” I responded after what seemed like forever, and we left it at that. I had been so sure he didn’t care one stinking bit that when he finally commented on the situation over an hour later, I wasn’t prepared.
“Can I just ask you one thing?” He stopped highlighting his script and turned to face me. “Are you buying all the bullshit he fed you?”
My cheeks were red in a matter of seconds. What if Jace knows something I don’t? What if everyone does? Did I get played by Jax? I wouldn’t put it past him; after all he had put me through. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. Jace looked at me with sympathy in his eyes, which just made it that much worse. Tears were forming at the corner of my eyes, but I was determined to blink them back. He probably thought I had something stuck in my eye, when in reality, I was trying not to have a full on break down in front of him.
“Peyton,” he said softly, rubbing my arm with his hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he whispered. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, especially by him. I haven’t been around him much my whole life, even though we are brothers…but from what I’ve seen in this past year, I just don’t believe he has your best interests at heart. Just promise me you won’t buy everything he says right away. Promise me you will think before moving forward with him, please.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said softly, looking down. It was true. All I had ever wanted after everything Jax had done to me was invisibility. I just wanted to be left alone. I never asked in a million years for him to torture me and then play with my emotions.
“Peyton, you deserve someone who wouldn’t dream of hurting you the way he did. Don’t fall for his lies…he hasn’t changed.” Jace’s forehead looked crinkled and worried.
I nodded lightly, not even sure what to say. I had never been more confused in my whole life. It’s like I sat there wishing on a star for my prince charming and fate fooled me with three potentials, who probably would not have ever been in my life if I was still the old Peyton. I didn’t know what to think, whom to trust.
“You deserve better than him, Peyton,” he got out before the bell rang, announcing the end of class.
***
Lunch had made its appearance, and as I made my way to my locker I caught sight of Jax, leaning there, waiting on me. This time I didn’t book it in the opposite direction. I couldn’t avoid him forever, so I held my head up high and walked directly toward him.
“Hey,” he said, probably the quietest I had ever heard him.
“Hey,” I replied back, opening my locker and throwing my backpack inside. “What do you want, Jax?” He had responded so well in the past to my blunt statements, it only made sense to continue down the same path.
“I thought we could spend lunch together.” He reached his hand up to open my locker wider, his blue eyes suspended on me.
I laughed out loud, but after looking into his face, I quickly realized he wasn’t joking. “You’re serious?”
r />
“Yeah, why not?”
“I don’t want to eat lunch with you,” I answered honestly, before beginning to walk away from him and towards the cafeteria.
“Peyton, I’m trying to make up for my mistakes here…you have to give me something.” He grabbed my arm quickly, stopping me from my escape. He was basically pleading with me through his intense stare.
Even though he had been a terrible person to me, his appearance had never changed. He was still the most beautiful boy I had ever laid my eyes on; so deceiving. “Actually Jax, I don’t owe you anything and I’d appreciate it if you left me alone from now on. I accept your apology from your past wrong doings, but I want nothing to do with you.”
I felt a little pang of guilt as I watched his face fall.
“Now, if you could let go of my arm, I’d really appreciate it. My real friends are waiting for me.” His grip loosened almost immediately.
“Peyton, I’m trying to get to know you,” he said softly, after realizing a few peers were watching.
“Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t want to get to know you?” I snapped rudely back at him before walking away.
***
That day at my locker was not the first or the last of the Jax appearances. In fact, he had been waiting in that same spot every day at 11:45 on the dot. Eventually, I stopped trying altogether, he would not budge. After a week of his persistence I begrudgingly agreed to hear him out.
“Let me take you out to lunch as celebration.” He smiled big, baring his pearly whites.
“What would we be celebrating?” I asked, curiously.
“That you finally warmed up to me.” He laughed and then put his hand on the small of my back, already pushing me towards the front doors. I wasn’t sure what I should do. On one hand, there was Jace telling me that Jax was full of it, and on the other hand, I could get a glimpse into a world I had only wished and dreamed and hoped to be a part of for as long as I could remember. I would be entering the world alongside the guy I had been crushing on for just as long, and the new Peyton was all about taking risks, so I agreed to let him take me.
We ended up at a local favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. It was so authentic and the staff was so friendly, I had become a regular back in my bigger days. The staff had never seen me in there with any guy, other than Liam, so seeing me walk in with such a handsome face, made all of them grin from ear to ear.
After getting our food, we took a seat across from each other in one of the cozy booths. Jax grabbed my hands in his, and started rubbing them softly. “So I heard you’re in a scene with my brother?”
I nodded, not sure where he was going with it.
“Do you have to kiss him?” I was surprised to hear a pang of jealousy come through his voice.
I nodded again, swallowing slowly. “Okay, well, just as long as it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Picture time!” Jax exclaimed, scooting out of his side of the booth and next to me. “Smile!” I wasn’t sure what his intentions were with the picture, but I hesitantly smiled as he took a selfie of us.
After talking and eating, I understood why Jax had asked me out to lunch with him. He was trying to solidify the status of our relationship. Without even knowing it, I had sealed my fate as Jax’s girlfriend. And in less than ten minutes after leaving at the restaurant my phone started going off nonstop. I picked up my phone to see what all the hype was about and was dumbfounded to find Jax had posted our selfie on Facebook and the caption read, ‘lunch with my beautiful lady’. He had basically announced to the world that I was his girlfriend…
Well that is news to me.
***
When I made it home that night I finally took the time to sift through my millions of notifications and tons of texts. As I was doing this I came across a text from Colton. It had been from the morning, before the news had even broken. Then, I found two more from him; the second one was a repeat of the first, almost like he sent it again when there was no reply. The third one was more of a plea, it read, Please Peyton, I really need to talk to you. I’m sorry for what happened with us, but please just give me a little bit of your time. I wasn’t sure what he could want, other than just to confront me about the rumors he had heard. But Colton had always been so good to me in the past, and I didn’t want our friendship ruined forever, so I agreed to meet him to talk.
The sun was just setting when I made it to Winslow Park. I saw a silhouette of someone sitting on the swings, and I knew it was Colton. I approached, hesitantly, not sure what to expect from this mysterious meeting of ours. “Hey,” I greeted him as I plopped myself in the swing seat next to his. “You wanted to talk.”
“I heard you have a boyfriend, or I should say I read it rather.” He glanced over at me.
I nodded lightly, still unsure what to make of the entire situation. I never thought in a million years Jax Austin would ever refer to me as his girl. It was something I had dreamt about throughout our adolescence, growing up, but never dreamt would come to fruition. My mind was reeling with a million different thoughts.
Jax had been my dream man…and then he had crushed that dream in the matter of a few minutes at Cooper’s party—only to continue to obliterate it as he continued his torture reign on me. Now, suddenly, he wanted to be with me—the same girl he had worked so hard to humiliate? I had never been more confused in my entire life. I had never felt more torn. Jace’s voice was still replaying in the back of my head almost like a loop. If this was all a big scam, why would Jax go through the trouble and humiliation of linking us together for the entire world to see? Wouldn’t that hurt him more than it hurt me?
“Is it the guy from Friday night?” Colton asked, his expression difficult to read.
I nodded again. “How did you know?”
“There was some gossip Friday night about some guy you were kissing outside of the venue.” I didn’t have to search for a pang of jealously in his voice, it was more than apparent.
“Why does any of this matter to you Colton? You are engaged remember? Why do I mean anything to you?” Each question gained momentum in me.
“It matters because I think I am falling for you! I’ve tried everything I can to stay away from you, Peyton, but I can’t.” He looked me in the eyes then, long and hard before pressing his lips to mine. My mind and heart were more confused than ever. But one thing my body was not confused about was my longing for Colton. I couldn’t help but kiss him back. The intense spark and chemistry was too much to bear. “I hate being away from you,” Colton murmured between kisses.
We spent the next couple of hours wrapped up in each other; kissing, cuddling, holding hands, just being near one another. I never wanted to leave his arms. “What are we going to do?” I gasped for breath.
“It’s complicated, Peyton. I live with Tara.” Hearing her name hit me like a ton of bricks across the face. Colton obviously noticed this, because he caressed my face with his hands. “Hey,” he said softly, looking me deep in the eyes. “Let’s just take it day by day. All we know is you have a boyfriend and I have a girlfriend—“
“Fiancée,” I cut him off.
“Fiancée, but hopefully not for long.” He closed the distance between us and lowered his lips to mine, parting my lips with his tongue. “Peyton, you’re my future…” I heard him whisper as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the closeness.
Chapter 7
I was Avoiding Colton Like the Plague
No One Knows (The Real Me)
The walls are caving in
Nowhere left to go
My air is wearing thin
How was I to know?
I’m shutting myself down
Away from the free world
Always wearing a frown
No longer a naïve, little girl
Everyone pretends this is the way it’ll be
They like to believe everything they see
A joke of perfection, they’re all naïve
No one knows the rea
l me
Spring break was quickly approaching, and with only one week of school remaining, there was only one thing on everyone’s minds, The Spring Formal. It would be our last hoorah for school, before spring break began.
Instead of calling Jax’s bluff on his newly found affection for me, I was curious to how far he would be willing to take it. I decided to allow him to flaunt our relationship and go along with it until I could make a clear decision on whether he was playing me or not. If I found out our entire relationship was only a cruel joke, I figured I could blow it up before he did. So, I agreed to accompany him to the Spring Formal.
We would be attending alongside a big group of our peers. Brooklyn with Isaiah, and Madison with Liam so they wouldn’t have to go stag—the list went on. Jax’s parents got us a hummer limo and it was going to be the aforementioned group, along with Jace and his date, Olivia Jenson, a black haired, emerald eyed junior from a neighboring school, and about twenty more of Jax’s usual group.