funny?â
âWhatâd I do now?â
âWhere is your truck parked?â
âIn the front lot.â
âMy bike is in front too. Iâll see you at last bell.â Then she walks away. No good-bye. No thanks. To Arden, itâs hard to view this as a victory.
Hopefully this will all be worth the headache.
As he turns to go to his next class, he catches Carly out of the corner of his eye being rammed into a locker. The force is so hard she loses her grip on her backpack and it drops to the floor. The guy who ran into herâAshton is his name, he thinks, because he tried out for the football team freshman yearâsimply keeps walking as if he didnât nearly just dislocate her shoulder. Heâs a big guy, bigger than Arden, and seems oblivious to what heâs just done. Carly recovers quickly, throwing her backpack over her shoulder again and moving on.
Arden scowls. Has he ever done that to her? He wouldnât know. Up until just days ago, when he started planning his attack on Cletus, he hadnât been aware of her existence. It could very well have been me who ran into her, and just kept walking . She definitely acts like sheâs used to this sort of thingâshe doesnât even bother to unleash her crabbiness on her assailant.
Why does it bother me that neither party seems affected by what just happened? And why am I walking toward Ashton like Iâm about to do something? âHey, Ashton,â Arden calls out, passing Carly in his wake.
Ashton stops and waits for Arden to reach him. âWhatâs up, man?â
Carly tries to walk by them, but Arden grabs her wrist before she can. He pulls her in beside him. âDid you know you just ran into Carly?â
Ashton has a solid eighteen inches on Carly. He glances down at her. âCarly?â
âItâs not a big deal,â Carly says quickly. âI was in the way.â
Arden shakes his head. âNo, you werenât.â He turns his attention back to Ashton. âYou ran right into her, man. She hit the lockers pretty hard. I think you should apologize.â
Ashton shifts his books between his hands. Arden can tell he doesnât want to apologize. He probably doesnât even believe he ran into herâa rhino wouldnât notice running into a mouse either. But Ashton knows Arden outranks him in every kind of social status there is. And heâs probably aware that Arden doesnât back down from a fight. Ever. After all, itâs the best way to get suspendedâand piss off his father.
Ashton looks at the small crowd gathering around them, then back at Carly. âIf I ran into you Iâm sorry. I didnât mean to.â
âItâs fine,â Carly chokes out. âReally.â
Arden nods to Ashton, an unspoken signal that all is well again. Having been dismissed, Ashton turns and walks away. And Carly melts wordlessly into the crowd.
Â
Eleven
Something like wasps flutter in my stomach when I see that Arden is holding me to my word. He pulls around to the car pickup lane and hops out, already reaching for my bike. âYouâre sure?â I ask.
Because the truth is, I donât know why heâs doing this. Why heâs harassing me into friendship. Iâm thinking heâs feeling guilty for what he did at the Breeze Mart, and if thatâs the case, then Iâm going to clear the air for good on the way home. I donât need Arden Mossâs pity friendship.
Still, I feel that I should show a little pity for him , because of what he did for me in the hall today. I know he sees it as coming to my rescue instead of bringing more attention to me. And ⦠it was nice to get an apology from Ashton. Thatâs not the first time heâs slammed me into the locker. The last time he did it, I had a nasty bruise on my arm that took weeks to yellow and disappear. I get that heâs this big muscular beast and Iâm small and