"Hey, Gem." Ashton walked up my front steps.
I looked around. "What are you doing leaving so early?" I closed the front door.
"I didn't get much sleep last night. I heard Mom crying on and off most of last night." He looked down, then out toward his car. "Want to follow me to Sweet Escape?"
"What about Claudia? I don't need her jumping my ass because I'm talking to you."
"She won't be there this early. Trust me." He motioned to follow him as he turned and walked down my steps. "C'Mon, Gem." He smiled, getting in his car. He put his passenger window down. "Hurry up, Gem." He motioned to my car, then put the window back up.
I unlocked my car and tossed my bag in the backseat. I backed out of the driveway and followed Ashton through the city to Swee Escape to get coffee before school. I kept praying that he was right and Claudia wouldn't be there this early. We were five to eight minutes from Sweet Escape when Chloe's face appeared on my phone for video chat. I clicked accept call.
"Hey, Chloe." I kept my eyes on the road.
"Are you in your car?"
"Yeah..."
"Girl, what time do you get up in the morning?"
I glanced down at my phone briefly. "I woke up at six-thirty this morning," I said, returning my focus to the road. "You're almost ready, so you must have got up early, too," I smirked.
"I did. I was going to see if you wanted to go to Sweet Escape, but I take it you're already heading there."
"Yeah...Do you want me to get you something?"
"I'll just meet you there. See you in ten minutes." She clicked end before I could say anything. I looked out the windshield at the beautiful pinkish-orange sky, the sun rising in the distance. It was too early for so much drama.
I managed to park beside Ashton in the parking lot. I grabbed my phone from the stand and put it in my purse. I opened my door right as Ashton walked up to it. "Um...Chloe will be here in a few minutes." I took off walking toward Sweet Escape.
"Wait...Why is Chloe coming?" He caught up with me. "She called me a few minutes ago; I told her I was driving, and she said she'd meet me here in ten minutes." I opened the door, and the aroma of coffee tickled my senses. I walked over to the counter about to order when Aston reminded me that Chloe was on her way. I got so lost in the caramelized, nutty aroma that I had to get my latte. I stepped to the side, letting other customers order their delicious cup of heaven while I waited for Chloe to get there.
"Hey, Gem...Ashton," Chloe's brow furrowed when her eyes landed on him. "I didn't think you got up this early, Ashton." Chloe walked up to the counter.
Ashton pressed his lips together, shooting me an I told you so look. "What did I tell you?" He whispered close to my head.
I raised my hand for him to stop. I wasn't in the mood to listen to either of them. It was too early in the morning to play referee. I just wanted to get my cup of heaven and be lost in its sweetness before we had to go to school. I walked up to the counter, minutes away from enjoying my cup of caramel goodness, when I heard the most annoying sound.
"You just don't know how to stay away from my boyfriend."
I rolled my eyes. "What the hell do you want, Claudia?" I asked, not turning around to face her.
"Wondering why you can't stay away from my boyfriend."
"I'm not with your boyfriend. I'm here with Chloe, getting coffee before school. If you must know." I snapped, rolling my eyes even though she couldn't see me do it. "Can I order my coffee now, or do I have to listen to your babble some more?"
"Whatever."
I looked at the poor barista who had to listen to that. "Sorry, I'll have a Caramel Mocha latte with oat milk," I told Chloe to order and I'd pay. We got our drinks, and I glared at Ashton as we walked toward the door to leave. He stood by and let Claudia harass me for no reason, and I was getting tired of it.
Thanks to Claudia, I spent most of the morning fuming about how Ashton just let her harass me the way she did. I knew a girlfriend always came before a friend, but that doesn't give the girlfriend the right to be a bitch, either. I didn't need a knight in shining armor, but he could've told her to back off a little bit. Now, I just had to avoid her for the rest of the day, which could be tricky, seeing she just shows up out of nowhere.
I walked into the library and spotted Ava and Chloe toward the back at one of the nice big tables today. For once, we wouldn't feel like we were sitting in each other's lap at the table. We could sit far apart and sprawl our stuff out on the table without getting in each other's way.
"You look stressed," Ava said, glancing up from her books. "Ow." Ava gritted her teeth, glaring over at Chloe. "Why'd you do that for?" Ava rubbed her right side. "You've got bony elbows, bitch."
"Maybe she looks stressed because she keeps chasing after other girl's boyfriends."
"Claudia, shut the fuck up, bitch." Chloe smarted off, flipping her the middle finger, too.
"Whatever...He feels sorry for you, just so you know. There's no way he'd ever leave me for someone like you."
"Why don't you leave her alone." An unfamiliar voice said, walking up behind us.
I didn't want to turn around to face Claudia, but I had to see who was talking to her. By the wide-eyed look on Chloe and Ava's faces, it wasn't Ashton or any of his friends. I put my books on the table, turned around, and saw Rhys glaring at Claudia. I glanced over my shoulder at Chloe and Ava, who were still sitting there with raised eyebrows and their mouths halfway open.
"Why are you sticking up for her?" Claudia glared at me, snubbing her nose.
"Leave. Her. Alone." Rhys said it again, stepping in between Claudia and me, keeping his back to me. Ashton would never stand up for me like this; he'd just stand there and let his girlfriend shit-talk me. To be honest, I didn't know what to think. All I did know was that Rhys had a hot ass. I closed my eyes, trying to get the image out of my head, while I repeated to myself that I wasn't going to fall for him.
"Fine. Whatever. You're making a big mistake with her. Let's go."
I peeked around Rhys's sexy body and saw the bitch storm across the library to their table. They swapped glances over our way while they whispered amongst themselves. I stepped out from behind Rhys and looked over at Chloe and Ava, who were sitting there smiling while trading glances between Rhys and me.
"You okay?" Rhys asked.
"Yeah...Thanks."
"No problem. I've noticed the past few days, she harasses you a lot. Why? I can see she's a fuckin bitch."
"Sit down." Chloe motioned her head toward Mrs. Harris, who looked rather annoyed at us standing there talking. "I don't feel like dealing with Dragon Lady today because you two refuse to sit down and stop talking so loud." She pressed her lips together.
Rhys pulled a chair out and sat at the table before we could ask if he wanted to sit with us. And it wasn't like we would tell him he couldn't sit at the table either. Rhys took his books from his backpack, set them on the table, and started working on our Math homework. "Thank you for sticking up for me," I whispered, not taking my eyes off my books.
"Anytime. Why does she go out of her way to be such a bitch to you all the time?"
"Her boyfriend is my neighbor slash friend, and she thinks I'm after him." I rolled my eyes, looking up at Chloe, who nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you just tell her you don't want him?"
"I have. Numerous times. She's too stupid to comprehend the message." I glanced over my shoulder at her; she glared back at us in disgust. I started to turn around and get back to work on my homework so I could binge-watch TVD tonight for the millionth time. The show gave girls unrealistic ideas of how relationships ought to be. True, she falls in love with a vampire, so from the start, it's unrealistic, but at least she's not being dumped on the first date for another girl.
"What are you doing after school, Gemma?" Rhys asked.
"Nothing."
"Would you like to go to Sweet Escape with me after school?"
"She'd love to," Chloe answered for me.
My eyes flashed to Chloe, wondering why she did that to me. She knew I didn't want to go out with any more guys for a while. I couldn't take another incident like the one with Jude and Noah. My heart couldn't handle being broken by another guy leading me on and then stomping on it as if it were nothing. I wasn't going to put myself in that kind of situation again... no matter how hot the guy is.
"I'm sorry, Rhys. I can't today."
"Oh...Okay. Maybe another day then."
Another day? I couldn't keep dodging him forever, coming up with excuse after excuse. I sighed. "Just coffee. Nothing else?"
"Great." He beamed, returning his attention to the Math homework.