Rivals?

Chapter 14

I was now in my truck, heading to school, on a Bluetooth call with Chase.

"So, Chase. I have a question for you," I say, not letting him say whether to ask it or not, "Did Daniel tackle you last night? You know, when I left?'

The other end is silent except for the sound of his truck.

"Chase?" I ask, losing my patience. 

I hear him groan on the other line and he finally spits it out, "Joey told you, huh?" 

"Yeah..? Why? Why did he do that? Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me?" He can't see me but my face is red and I'm pissed off more than I was when Joey first told me.

"Yes, Kay. He did. I don't know why. He's such an... I don't know. He's got issues. People have different reasons and opinions why he did what he did but I know exactly why." Chase sounds pissed off too. Not at me. At Daniel.

"Why?" I ask, tapping my finger on the steering wheel as I am stopped at a red light. 

"Kay, he's jealous. Jealous of you. You and he are always competing about something. He's a virgin, you know? I mean, we both are too, but he has also never had a relationship or even kissed someone. He's mad you have. He's mad his disgusting personality is holding him down."

I don't respond right away. I'm about to pull into the school parking lot so I say, "Oh."

"I'll see you at school?" Chase asks with his soft voice. He knows I'm in awe. 

"Yeah," I say, pulling into the parking lot and hanging up. 

I sit in the car for a few minutes, thinking, Daniel is so cocky, there is no way he's jealous. Jealous of me. He's... so tall... and fit and muscular. I mean he could pull anyone he wanted. Why... why hasn't he?

I finally get out and grab my bags. Chase catches up with me but doesn't say anything. I walk down the hall to my locker and throw my bags atop it. I ignore Chase, not intentionally, just because I'm too caught up in my mind. I walk over to my usual table with Haylee. Abby isn't here. Chase follows me shyly. His friends end up walking over too, which makes him visibly more relaxed. 

"Mickey!" Haylee squeals and hugs me tight when I sit down beside her.

"Hey, Mick," Joey says as he walks over with Mike, Arthur, Paul, and Chris. 

"Hey. Oh, and Paul, where's Abby?" I ask, turning to face him. 

His face turns red, "Oh, she said she wasn't feeling too good so she stayed home." 

"Oh, okay. Understandable." I say, looking around for Daniel. His friends, I mean, minions are here but not him. Hung over like Abby I guess.

"So, are you okay, Kayla?" Mike looks at me sincerely. I've always found him caring. Even though he doesn't like showing it.

"Yeah, Mike. Thanks." I say, looking behind Chris. It's Shandra. 

"Hey, guys! Hey, Mikayla. I heard what happened," she says as she turns her focus on Chase. She eyes him weirdly and then looks back at me, "Did you two... you know?" She giggles.

Gross.

"Shandra-" Chris starts however Shandra puts her hand up in his face to make him stop.

"Oh, it's okay Chris. Let her talk her bitchy mouth off. No, we didn't fuck, actually, but he can do some cool shit with his tongue and I apologize Chris can't do that for you. However, I wasn't feeling good, so I left. Drank too much." I say with barely any attitude. I was pretty much stone-cold.

"Do you wanna go?" She walks over to me and gets in my face.

"What are you gonna do? Slap me with your breasts?" I ask, standing up so my face isn't blocked by her c-cup breasts. 

Chase pulls her back away from me, him still sitting down. However, she squirms out of his grasp and charges at me, slapping me weakly. 

"Holy..." Joey trails off, rushing over. 

Before anyone could even do anything, I shoved her off of me and then became on top of her. I punched her in the nose, as hard as I possibly could, and then got pulled off by Chase and Joey. 

"You've always been a daddy-issued girl, Mikayla Shapiro, and you always will. That's right, everyone in this town knows about your messed up dad. At least I have a family who cares about me. Admit it. You're a piece of crap! Chase will never like you. He was drunk."    

I stand there in Joey and Chase's firm grasp on both of my arms. I want to cry. Everything she said was probably right. Chase doesn't actually like me. There is no way. It all happened too fast.

"Shut up, Shandra. The only thing you have going for you is your looks. You suck at cheerleading and it's not even a sport and who's going to want to marry a piece of crap like you?" Chase looks at Chris. Chris looks painfully hurt. He looks like he's been stabbed. 

"What the hell, Chase?" Chris takes Shandra's hand and they walk away from all of us, Shandra flipping all of us off as she does. 

"Kay, don't fall into that trap, okay?" Chase asks, still gripping my arm. The warning bell goes off and he kisses me quickly on the forehead and walks off with Mike and Arthur to class. Joey stays with me. I fall to my knees and Joey holds me as I break down into my hands. 

"I know, Mickey, I know. Sh..." He says, pulling me into a hug.

"She's right... everything she said... he doesn't like me..." I say in between sniffles and gulps of air, "And dad... I am a daddy-issued-"

"No, Mick. Don't say that. Dad loves you. He loves us. I promise. Please just calm down. We have to get to class. Chase does like you. He told me he did last night. He even told Daniel."

I stare at my wet hands. 

This is all so stupid.