Chapter 18: Bad Dog

I entered Pre-Calculus a whopping twenty minutes early and luckily, Mrs. Geoffrey was already in the classroom writing on the board. She smiled at me as she wrote the objectives. “Do you want to do me a favor?”

I nodded as I approached her desk. “Can you please staple these packets together?”

I looked down at the extremely large yet organized packets of paper. I nodded and grabbed the stapler, walking towards my desk and dropping my bag. A knock on the door pulled me out of my work and I glanced up to see Mrs. Geoffrey standing on a chair as she struggled to write at the top of the board. I smiled at her. “I’ll get it.”

She nodded at me as I got up and walked towards the door. Swinging it open, I wished I hadn't. “Grayson, I thought you forgot.”

“No, I didn’t forget,” Grayson replied to Mrs. G as he grinned at me. Walking past me, he strode towards her desk where she was now standing, searching through her papers until she came upon a packet with Grayson’s name on it. “Thank you.”

“I’m guessing you’ll be off then,” she replied before walking over towards the chair before turning around. “But you’re welcome to stay; I have some work that you can do.”

Please leave; please leave; don’t make things awkward; please leave. As if sensing my discomfort, Grayson smiled and shrugged. “Sure, I’ll stay. What do you need help with?”

“Well, you can start off by helping Audrey finish up those packets.” She motioned to me over her shoulder and I wanted to scream and dive out of the window.

Grayson nodded. “Okay.”

He grabbed a stapler and began walking over and plopping down in Samantha’s seat; he grabbed half of the papers. “Do you guys want to listen to music?”

Grayson nodded. “Sure.” Of course you would.

“Do you guys like John Legend?” she asked and we both shrugged. After a moments time, an unfamiliar song started playing and I continued to staple the papers.

He was humming along and I sighed, continuing to staple the packets. “Want to have a race?”

I turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. “What?”

“Let’s see who can staple the most packets,” he stated and I shrugged. “Loser has to walk the other person’s dog.”

I shrugged. “Have fun walking Tobias.”

“I won’t have to walk the little loaf, but if I did, he’d walk a foot before passing out from exhaustion. Finster is a runner, just so you know,” he winked before grabbing a packet in his hand and the stapler in his other. I did the same thing, shouting ‘go’ and stapling the packet.

I continued stapling packets until there was one packet left. Once he reached for it, I kicked his chair, causing him to lose his balance and fall. I grabbed the packet and stapled it before grinning widely at my finished pile of packets. Staring at me in disbelief, Grayson stood up from the floor. “You’re overly competitive and violent!”

I shrugged. “Am not, but I won,” I told him. He smirked before shrugging.

“Let’s count them up first before you say that you're the winner,” he replied, grabbing his pile of completed packets.

I grabbed mine and silently counted them. 16, not including the ones I stapled prior to our competition. Smirking, Grayson cleared his throat. “How many did you staple?”

“You say yours first,” I told him and he placed his pile onto the table.

“17,” he proudly admitted. I narrowed my eyes at him. “What about you?”

“You’re lying, I demand a recount!” I snapped, reaching for his pile of packets.

“How many did you staple?” he asked curiously.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “18.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You’re lying.”

I frowned disappointedly. “16.”

He laughed as the bell rang and the John Legend song cut off abruptly. “Have fun walking Finster today.”

~~~

Creative writing was a fun class, aside from the strict teacher and Natalie, who was staring daggers into my head. I’m sure that if she had the chance, she’d rip my throat apart and watch me bleed out.

AP US Government and Politics was boring, as usual. The teacher was old and talked slowly, dragging on the lesson. I wasn’t excited for home economics. I wasn’t happy about Grayson winning the competition. Plus, he hasn’t said anything about my crush on him, which puts me even more on edge. How do I know if he’s joking or not?

Placing my tray in my hands, I exited the lunch line and walked towards the lunch table, where Grayson was sitting alone. “Where is everyone?”

He frowned dejectedly. “I don’t know where Sandra and Lola are; they're probably still in class. Natalie has a volleyball game today and she left in third period and I have no clue where Kyle, Shane and Carson are.”

I internally frowned when I realized that he only knew where one person was out of the six of them, and it happened to be Natalie. I’ve been preparing myself for the worst, so when I brought my drink up to my mouth, I wasn’t surprised to hear Grayson’s voice. “So, how are things going with your crush?”

Putting down my soda with a collected look on my face, I pretended to look confused. “What crush?”

He smirked and rested his head on his hands. “I heard Natalie the other day at the library.”

“And what makes you think she wasn’t lying?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow. “She made up an imaginary relationship; what makes you think she won’t make up an imaginary crush?”

Furrowing his eyebrows in thought, he shrugged. “I still think that you have a crush on me.”

I snorted. “Think whatever you want, Grayson, not every girl wants to be with you,” I sighed. Unfortunately, I was one of the girls who did want to be with him, one of many, and one of the many who weren’t even candidates.

He rolled his eyes, scowling. “Whatever, be a killjoy.”

I let out a sigh of relief. All I have to do now is make sure he knows that I don’t have a crush on him, which is harder than it seems. I'll have to be a lot more rude, and violent. “I’m still not going to let this go.”

“I didn’t expect you to,” I muttered as I bit into my lunch.

We ate in silence, finishing quickly. “How about we go look for them?”

He shrugged and nodded, standing up and tossing his lunch into the trash bin. I did the same and we exited the lunch room side by side.

He opened his mouth slightly before closing it. I expected him to suggest where they might be but instead, he just smirked. “What would you do if I ripped my shirt off and written across my chest in big bold letters was the word: Darcie?”

I probably wouldn’t pay attention to the writing if we’re being honest here, so instead I scowled. “I’d punch you in the face.”

“Would you now?” he snickered as he glanced at my red face.

“Yeah, I would,” I snapped.

We searched the hallways for them, going into the separate bathrooms to look for them. We met up outside of the bathrooms and I shrugged. “I don’t know where they are.”

“No, I thought you were just leading me on a wild goose chase,” he snorted.

I tilted my head to the side. “Who says wild goose chase anymore?”

He shrugged. “Obviously me.”

We walked in silence as we gave up looking for our friends. Grayson had his phone in his hands, scrolling every so often with a wrinkled nose. “I was an ugly kid.”

“I see nothing’s changed,” I let out a wild laugh at my own joke while Grayson stared at me with a flat look on his face. “You have to admit, that was a good one.”

He just glared at me before continuing to scroll. He laughed wildly, stopping to put his hand over his mouth as he stared at me and laughed. I furrowed my eyebrows, reaching out and grabbing his phone. I was surprised at how easily he gave it to me. I gasped at the picture on the screen.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, my eyes wide and my voice extremely high. It was me as a kid. I was posed like a model in just a one piece bathing suit. My hair was a mess and I had a stupid smile on my face as one of my eyes was closed slightly. At the angle my head was, my (many) chins layered on top of each other, creating an unattractive result.

Grayson looked at me and continued laughing, taking his phone from my hands. “This is definitely going to be my background.”

I gaped at him, shaking my head. “No! Don’t, Grayson.”

He looked at me with a smirk as he stifled his laughter. “Why not?”

I began biting my lip as I thought. “Um, you’ll look like a creep with a little girl as your background?”

He thought for a minute. “Good enough, just don’t let me catch you at the wrong time. You’re a big girl now, meaning I won’t get in trouble for being a creep.”

I gaped at him as he raised his phone. I quickly looked away while he laughed. I glared at the floor, kicking the linoleum with my foot. My mom just has to post these pictures all over the internet. You can bet that it's going to be deleted by 3 in the afternoon.

~~~

Our friends turned out to be making up tests, aside from Shane who was making out with a random girl in the parking lot. They forgot to notify us of this last minute plan and we found out when we were at the library; Carson called us complaining about how he thinks he failed the test. They all were in the same class and the teacher caught them talking so he gave them the ultimatum to call their parents or retake the test during lunch. Any sane person would choose the second option.

I stared at Grayson’s house from my window. I sighed and walked downstairs, my feet landing heavily on the steps. I exited the house and crossed the street, tucking my hands inside my sweater. I knocked on the front door and heard Finster barking.

I winced at the loud noise and stood there, leaning against the porch’s railing. Grayson opened the door and smirked at me before shoving his dog’s leash into my hand. The large dog exited the house and looked around. Grayson was standing on the porch now, watching his dog. Finster stood up and galloped down the steps of the house, taking me with him. I walked beside the large dog, occasionally begging him not to yank and embarrass me.

“Please be a good boy, Finster,” I whispered as he lifted his leg to pee on a picket fence. I gripped the leash tightly, afraid that he’d start running and I’d be the cause of Grayson’s dog running away. The dog broke into a run, nearly yanking my arms out of their sockets. I winced and struggled to keep the dog in my grip. The dog managed to get the leash out of my hold and charged down the street.

I groaned and looked back at Grayson, who was laughing at me. I began walking in the direction the large dog disappeared in, rubbing my arms. I heard barking and I groaned. I hope he isn’t attacking some kid. Breaking into a jog, I began shouting the large gray dog’s name. “Finster! Finster!”

Turning numerous corners and running down several streets, I spotted the large dog lying down beside a gate. Approaching the gate, I was startled when I saw a dog that was bigger than Finster on the other side, pawing at the gate. When he saw me, he bared his teeth and began to growl. I slowly backed away with my hands up, trying not to let out a whimper. Dogs can smell fear, right? He can definitely smell the mess I've made in my pants. I'll have to burn them later.

Picking my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Grayson’s number, prepared to scream at him. “Yes, Darling?”

“Your dog got lose and is now frolicking around with some huge bear,” I hissed into the phone. The brown dog still hadn’t taken its eyes off of me. “It can and will jump over the fence. It will end my life, Grayson.”

“Lucy?” he asked and I furrowed my eyebrows. “The dog’s brown and black?”

“Yeah, that’s her," I muttered under my breath as I stared at the dog. She got up, revealing her full size. She was a few inches taller than Finster. She stood up on the fence and her face was about two feet away from mine. Her teeth were bared and I slowly walked across the street. “She’s growling at me.”

“Hold on, I’ll be right there,” he grumbled before hanging up. I stood outside for another ten minutes, watching Finster as he and the other dog were beside each other, the only thing separating them was the gate.

Grayson quickly appeared at the corner and I quickly ran over to him. “Do you see it?”

He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around. “See what?”

“The bear!” I snapped, pointing towards the dog that still hadn’t dropped down from the fence. Her face was peeking over at us, her teeth still bared.

Grayson laughed. “That’s Lucy," he told me, grabbing my arm and dragging me over to the dog.

“What are you doing?” I snapped, struggling to stay still.

He looked at me and motioned towards Finster. “We’re going to get Finster.” He told me.

I shook my head. “You can do it! That dog will rip my face off if I go near her.”

Grayson groaned and let go of my arm before turning in the direction of his dog. Without hesitation, he scooped up his dog’s leash and Finster stood up, walking beside his owner in my direction. “How do you know that dog?”

“That’s my cousin’s dog," he shrugged casually. I glanced back to see the large dog pacing back and forth in the yard, most likely plotting my death.

I started to walk a bit quicker. “Yeah, well, I don’t like her.”

“I think she feels the same way about you," he replied.

“Why would you let me walk your dog if you knew he’d come here?” I snapped agitatedly.

He shrugged. “For fun? Because I wanted to see your arms get dislocated and your face all scratched and bloody?”

I gaped at him before crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, it wasn’t funny.”

He smirked. “I think it was.”

It was silent until Grayson’s phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID before stuttering and tossing the phone at me. “Answer it.”

I tossed it back at him but he hastily shoved the phone into my hand, his warmth sending chills throughout my body. I gave him a confused look before pressing the answer button and bringing the phone to my ear. “Hey, Grayson.”

My eyes widened when I realized that Natalie was the person on the other end. “This isn’t him.” I sent a death glare in Grayson’s direction but he was too busy admiring the cement as we walked towards our houses.

“What? Then who is it?” she asked.

I sent another glare at Grayson and he actually saw this one. He sent me a sheepish smile, revealing his white teeth. I swooned slightly before turning and looking in the other direction. I’m supposed to be mad at him. “Audrey.”

“What?” Her voice was sharp and I winced. Grayson gave me a guilty look as he began to pet his dog while we waited for the cars to stop; we were so close to his house where we can drop Finster off and I can go home.

“It’s Audrey,” I replied as we crossed the street and stood in front of Grayson’s house. He motioned for me to put it on speaker phone and I did. He opened the door and his dog ran inside. Grayson grabbed my arm and led me into the living room.

“Why are you answering Grayson’s phone?” she snapped as I placed the phone on the living room table.

I looked at Grayson for an answer and he puckered his lips and wrapped his arms around himself, pretending to kiss someone. As my face burned red, I scowled at him. “We were playing videogames together.”

“So that gives you a right to answer his phone?” she snapped and I rolled my eyes.

“No, Grayson gave me permission to answer his phone,” I told her, trying to remain civil.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

Grayson was sitting opposite to me on the couch but I doubt that’d go over well if I told her that. I gave Grayson a questioning look and he pointed towards the kitchen. “He’s making food.”

“How about I come over and we all play videogames?” she offered and I scowled. How desperate can she get?

Grayson shook his head as he sent me a pleading look. If I didn’t like Grayson as much as I did, I would tell her that he said yes and even give her his address; but because of the fact that I have a growing crush on the boy beside me, I sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She groaned in frustration. “Stop trying to hog him. Don’t let your little cr-.”

Why am I still on the phone with her? “Shut up.” I pressed the off button and let the phone sit on the couch between us before I looked over at Grayson.

He was smirking at me. I stood up and wiped off my pants, ready to leave. He cleared his throat. “Do you want to play videogames?”

I turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. “What?”

He groaned. “Don’t make me say it again.”

I looked at the time on my phone before shrugging. It’s only 7 o’clock. “Sure, I have some time to kill.”

He smirked before turning on his XBOX. “Let’s play.”

~~~

“You’re terrible," he noted as he punched me in the face; well, he punched my character in the face.

“Your instructions obviously weren’t good enough!” I told him as I struggled to remember what each button did.

He groaned and paused the game before scooting closer to me. I internally squealed, inhaling his scent as his shoulder brushed against mine while he pointed to each of the buttons. “This button kicks; this one punches; this one dodges; this one jumps; this one blocks; and this one picks up and uses objects.”

I nodded and he pressed play while moving over slightly, but not as far as he was before. I tried to focus on the game but the instructions that he just told me went through one ear and out of the other. I began pressing random buttons, causing my character to have spasms of violence. Grayson furrowed his eyebrows when my character did an odd combination that made his character fall to the ground. KO appeared at the top of the screen in large letters and I smirked.

“Who’s still terrible?” I asked as I cheered with a grin on my face. My character cheered in a different language and I grinned. Grayson sent me a flat look.

“You are,” he replied. “You just pressed random buttons.”

“Well, those random buttons worked!” I replied as I danced around the living room table. Finster sent us a bored look from the hallway connecting the living room and the front door. I plopped down onto the couch beside Grayson and smirked at him. I noticed a small trace of a smile on his face as he looked down at me. Move closer; do it; do it!

The front door suddenly opened and Grayson and I turned to see Emily walking in. I casually moved over slightly. If she was here then that means that my mom is home, meaning I’d have to leave soon. “Grayson!”

“I’m right here, mom,” Grayson replied from the couch. Emily’s eyes landed on him before they reached me and her grin widened.

“Audrey! What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked into the living room, her cheeks and her nose bright red from the frigid air outside.

“I’m just here playing videogames with your son,” I replied with a small smile on my face.

She nodded. “Do you want to stay for dinner? I’m ordering pizza.”

I shrugged. “Well, it depends…” My eyes drifted to Grayson and he shrugged. “Okay.”

“Great! Do you like cheese? Or bacon? Or pepperoni? Does your mom know you’re here? I’ll call her and let her know!” she rushed out of the room.

Grayson turned to me. “I hope you like plain cheese pizza.”

I shrugged, still not over the fact that we were as close as we were a few moments ago. “That’s the best kind.”

~~~