Keep your friends close and your enemies, closer

I awoke the next morning feeling strangely moody. I think it was probably because of the amount of sleep I had gotten, which wasn’t a lot. I tried to go back to sleep, to try to get my good mood back, but I couldn’t. I gave a huff before I got out of bed. I trudged to the toilet and slammed the door shut before I got ready.

I couldn’t even choose what I wanted to wear to school. I just picked some plain tee and jeans. I wanted to tie my hair back into a plain ponytail, but I couldn’t because of my new hair. I growled at my reflection in the mirror. The hair does not suit the mood.

I dragged my way down to the kitchen where I was greeted with a cheerful “Good morning!” by Ranger. Of course, the folks were already gone. Apparently, work never stops to be first priority.

I rolled my eyes at my brother’s obnoxiously happy greeting, and pulled up a chair to have my breakfast.

“Is somebody in a bad mood today?” He asked in a baby voice, complete with an idiotic pout.

I narrowed my eyes and pointed my fork at him. “If you ever use that voice again, I will stab my fork in your right eyeball and feed it to Caleb’s dog.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What- is that threat supposed to scare me?”

He knew I hate being challenged, yet he does it anyway. What was his problem?

I pushed my plate away from me, and picked up my bag to get ready for school. I heard a sigh behind me as I headed for the front door. “Ash, come back.”

I ignored him and pushed open the front door. I checked my watch to see if I had enough time to walk to school, instead of taking the car with Ranger.

I did, so I made my way to school. I could hear Ranger locking the front door, and starting the car. I tried to ignore it, but in practically no time at all, he was driving slowly to match my speed.

“Get in, Ash.” He ordered. I didn’t look at him as I shook my head.

“Ashlynn, I’m not playing. Get in the damn car.”

Ranger hardly uses his big brother voice on me, but when he does, it usually means he’s serious. I knew I couldn’t defy him when he was like this, so I pulled the passenger door open and slammed it shut as I buckled myself in.

“I don’t know what the hell your problem is. You’re pissed off for no good reason at all, and you start to go off on me. You need to see a therapist.” He grumbled, switching on the radio. It was obviously to calm himself down.

I couldn’t get angry at him, because I knew he was right. I was being totally unreasonable. Still, everyone knows not to mess with me when I’m in one of my ‘moods’.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to calm myself down and to start being rational. I wasn’t going to apologize to Ranger; I have too much pride to do that. I will, however, try to shake off the moodiness I’m feeling.

By the time we reached school, I was feeling much better. I got out of the car and made my way to school without waiting for Ranger. I could hear him grumbling for me to stop but I ignored him.

As soon as I stepped through the front doors with a huge smile pasted on my face, I could feel it slowly sliding off. Not too far away from me, I could see Summer looking at me. When I caught her eye though, she hastily turned back to her locker.

I couldn’t stop myself from frowning. I walked briskly to my own locker, ignoring Summer’s eyes on me. It wasn’t my fault this fight had happened; there was no way I was going to apologize… first, anyway.

I yanked my locker open and snatched my books from it. I was getting angry again! I turned to the mirror that was on my locker door, and faced myself.

“Breathe, Ash. Just breathe deeply.” I muttered, closing my eyes. Those meditation classes I took with Mom were definitely working. I didn’t get any closer to her, but I sure knew how to calm myself.

Once I decided I was calm enough, I opened my eyes and smiled at my reflection. I closed my locker door gently, and blinked as I stared at the person leaning against the row of lockers.

“’Morning.” Kent greeted, with a half-smile.

I smiled without meaning to. “Good morning yourself. Had a good night?” I started to walk ahead, knowing he’d be following me.

“Not really.” He admitted, already keeping pace with me.

“And why is that?” I teased, turning at the corner to get to homeroom. “It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

Kent grinned. “You wished.” He didn’t say anymore as we got to class. Summer was already in her seat, shifted away from mine.

If that was how she wanted it, fine. Two can play the game. I strode over to my seat, and moved it closer to Kent and away from Summer. I caught the subtle glance Kent shared with Dustin before he sat next to me, but I ignored it.

Because I had already shifted myself closer to Kent, we were sitting as close as the chairs allowed us to. I could see Aimee behind Kent, shooting me the preppiest death glare I have ever seen. I couldn’t help but snort a laugh.

“What?” Kent smiled, leaning closer to me by placing his elbows on his desk.

“Aimee is so pissed at me.” I replied, unable to stop feeling smug.

“How do you know that?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at Aimee, who doesn’t even bother to look away.

“I’m right, right?” I smiled. Our foreheads were practically touching.

“Right.” Kent replied, returning my smile.

Brrrring!

Kent and I immediately pulled away as the bell sounded. Mr. Flores was sure to come in any second. He doesn’t mind his students sitting in pairs, but I don’t think he would really like to see his students flirting with each other, instead of paying attention to him.

What more, I don’t think I would want for him to get the wrong idea anyway. I mean, I like Kent. Obviously. And he likes me too. Which is amazing. But where do we stand now? He’s not my boyfriend, but he’s definitely not an ‘enemy’ anymore. So, what exactly are we?