Tuneage: If I'm Lucky - State Champs

***

God the next few days were awkward. I kept my distance from everyone, except Max and Summer. I kept trying to make them make a move on one another, it was painfully obvious they liked each other, but it seems they were each too shy to notice.

Principal Young barely looked at me. Every time I entered a room he was in he'd leave almost immediately, while if I entered a room where Damien's gang was they'd all watch me. I caught a few of them actually following me through the halls a couple of times, but I always hid and lost them.

Damien himself was a different story. He wouldn't touch me, talk to me, he'll he'd barely even look at me. Every once in a while I'd catch him looking at em from the corner of his eye, or he'd watch me from the corner of a room when he thought I wasn't looking.

I was a shell for two days afterwards, and that's when the goons really began following me. I knew they were telling Damien stuff about me, my whereabouts and bullshit like that, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the hell he cared.

It wasn't until I got to my art class after about a week of this exchange between the two of us when it everything pretty much changed; not to sound cliche about everything. I walked in and sat in my usual corner, tensing when Damien walked in with Joey and another boy behind him. They sat in the corner opposite of me, easily accessible into my line of sight.

Our teacher walked in and clapped her hands together, her mousy brown hair practically flying everywhere. She was like me in the sense that our hair was never flat and sat still, it constantly moved and had a life of its own.

"Okay class, today we have a project! It's a partner project where I already chose your partners and printed them on a paper that's hung up on the bulletin board." Cue the groans. "You have a month or so for this project, the due date is a bit rocky because of the senior trip, but it'll at least be a month from now. You're going to paint a self portrait, of how you feel you look to the world, and then paint your partner. I want you to get to know your partner, go on a date with them, spend time with them, learn their secrets and fears and ambitions in life."

I practically rolled my eyes at her words while looking around. I seriously hoped I didn't get stuck with an air head, nor did I want to get stuck with one of Damien's boneheaded goons. I huffed and watched as everyone stood to go to the bulletin board, the squeals of girls hitting my ears.

I flinched when a girl squealed right next to my ear, my face scrunching in disgust as I looked at two jumping girls. Danielle and Courtney, two beautiful yet equally annoying girls. You know the type, cliche and totally in love with the bad boy?

Danielle wasn't so bad, she was actually kinda kind and didn't let her fathers money go to her head. Courtney on the other hand was a complete bitch. She used her fathers money to get through life and constantly put others down, including me. She knows where I live and knows about me being kidnaped years ago, perks of her father being the chief of police and a impeccably good hacker.

She constantly drops innuendos about gang kidnapping and someone being a drunk, the police presence at my house tipping her off to the type of home life I have. I sighed as I made my way to the paper, my finger trailing to my name and following the dotted line to see who I was matched with.

Damien Asher.

"Dammit." I muttered before turning back around, a smirking Damien sitting in his desk in the corner of the room.

Stupid bastard.

I rolled my eyes as I picked up my bag, making my way across the room. "Oh look, the freak got partnered with the gang leader. I'm sure you remember what a gang leader is like, huh Fern?"

I stiffened at her words, Damien's eyes narrowing at me. I grit my teeth before turning back to Courtney, her hands on her hips and her eyes trained on me. Danielle stood by her side, sending me sympathetic looks the entire time.

"Courtney, don't say things about tha-"

"No Danielle! Everyone should have the opportunity to know!" I grabbed Courtney's hand and dragged her out of the room with a shriek, tugging her along the hallway until we reached the girls bathroom.

She looked at me like she was truly afraid when I shut the door behind us, clicking the lock in place. "I'll pay you to shut up, name your price and I'll give it to you."

"What? No! I don't want your money, I have more than you fucking do!" I rolled my eyes as I walked closer to her, anger practically rolling off of me.

"Then what the hell do you want!" I shouted as the bell rang, knocking on the bathroom door grabbing my attention. "Occupied!"

"I want Asher."

"How the fuck am I supposed to help you there?" I threw my hands up as I talked, my eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Switch art partners with me." I immediately shook my head. No offense to Danielle or anything, but she was an airhead. A complete and utter dunderhead. "Find a way to set me and him up on a date. If not, I'll tell everyone. They'll all know it's your fault, they'll all know about Stella."

I grit my teeth before nodding my head curtly, unlocking the bathroom door and practically throwing it open. I stormed out, my shoulders hitting everyone as I made my way back to the art class. My eyes met Damien's, who was leaning again the wall next to the door.

"Did she punch you?" I rolled my eyes before walking in and taking my bag from the desk I previously occupied, whirling around and walking out to the parking lot.

"Why the fuck would she punch me?"

"Language little girl. And because she doesn't like you, so she punches almost anyone she doesn't like." I pushed open the front doors, making my way down the sidewalk as he followed me.

"Seems like you know a lot about her Romeo." He followed me down the street, until we were about a hundred feet from his car. "Why the fuck are you following me?"

"We need to start this art project, can I come over?"

"No!" I shouted almost immediately, my face flushing as I realized how embarrassing that sounded. "Sorry, er-, lets go to yours."

He grabbed my shoulder and whirled me around, his dark eyes narrowed as he stared down at me. "You're not just saying that so you can see my house, tell the entire fucking school how I live, are you?"

I furrowed my eyes, ripping my shoulder from his grip. "No, why the fuck would I do that?"

He stared at me a moment longer before turning and walking back into the parking lot, where the car I had stolen the first night I met him sat dormant. "Wouldn't be the first time."

I felt guilt in my stomach at his words and it wasn't even my fault. I had no idea who had done that to him, but it was awful, and I'd had something done to me like that before. I got in the passenger side seat at the same time he slid into the drivers side, watching his nimble fingers start up the car in silence.

"I had a girl pretend to be best friends with me, for close to six months. I told her everything, and then one day she told the entire school my deepest secrets." I broke the silence as he drove, my eyes locked on his knuckles. They were tinted purple, like they were just getting over hurting someone.

"You don't have to tell me bullshit stories like that, once his projects over we're going back to not speaking nor even seeing one another." I rolled my eyes once he pulled up to his house, a mansion of sorts with multiple cars surround it.

It was a cliche gang house, que my eye roll.

I walked up the steps trailing behind him, not bothering to retort to his words earlier. He was right, I had to keep my emotions out of this. Because to be perfectly honest, being in a gang house was making my insides freak out. I knew I wasn't here to be tortured, or to see anyone die, but I was still freaking out internally.

"Are you going to come in or not?" That's when I realized I was standing outside the front door with wide eyes, my hands shaking behind me back. I nodded curtly and readjusted myself, strolling in like I was perfectly fine and sane.