https://youtu.be/G3bcW_-ujtU

(Author's Note: If you would wish to listen to Chapter 18 parts 1 and 2 on audio, please click the videos. I hope you enjoy it!)

 I barely make it on time to class. I wish for once, I could make it to class early and not run late like I always am. I take off my headsets, and spotted Chris in the seat next to mine. Is this where he plans to sit for the entire semester? I look out of curiosity, to see if his friends might be here this morning and with utter shock they are. Since his friends are here today, shouldn't he go sit with them?

  "Nice of you to drop by. I thought you were going to ditch the exam," Chris teases.

  I roll my eyes. "Yes, I was going to miss the exam, and next week I was thinking of missing the final too," I exclaim and he chuckles.

  "Hello, Chris." A girl says standing next to the rows where we are seated. I look over Chris's shoulder to find a dirty blonde-haired girl with her breast almost popping out of her strapless shirt. Her shorts are incredibly short, with tears all over the fabric. Goodness, can the girl wear any less clothing? Why wear clothes if you're going to show a lot of skin? Just come naked to class.

  "Hello, Meg." Chris groans, keeping his eyes focused on his notes that we had studied, yesterday.

  "I haven't seen you at the parties for a while. Is everything okay?" Meg asks.

  "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He glances up from his notes to meet her green gaze.

  "I just thought-" She begins, but is soon cut off by Chris.

  "Just because I haven't been to those lame-ass parties, doesn't mean I'm not okay. I'm fine, just been busy, and don't ask what I been up to because it's none of your business," he says when he turns his attention back to his notes.

  Apparently, I'm not the only person he interrupts.

  "Okay, I won't. Jeez someone is pissed... Anyway, are you coming to the party on Friday?" She asks.

  "Yeah. Maybe," he answers.

  "Are you coming?" I look from side to side to see if it's me she's talking to, and I know she is speaking to me when I notice her eyes locked on mine. I'm about to shake my head no when she laughs and says, "Why am I asking you? I know you never go to parties. You are too much of a goody-two-shoes, Susie."

  Excuse you? I'm not a "goody-two-shoes." She wouldn't have called me that, if she knew me in the past, I used to go to a lot of parties, I would dance, and drink, and... after I started drinking everything else becomes a blur.

  "It's Sussianna and yeah, I'll come," I say with a smile I can manage, but my inner thoughts want me to tackle this bitch. I don't feel like fighting; just calm down Sussianna and focus on your breathing- breathe in, breathe out.

 Chris looks up at me and shock is clear in his expression, and Meg shakes her head in disbelief.

  I don't know why I said I'll go to that party; I don't want to go back to those parties, not after... what happened. Memories, mostly a bad memory floods my mind, but I push them behind me because right now, I would say anything for her to stop acting like a bitch toward me.

"You're sure you don't want to stay home and read your books?" She mocks me.

  How does she know I stay home and read? She doesn't even know me. Okay, I do stay home and read, she must have seen me around campus reading, but I would not let her talk to me this way.

  "No. I'm going, maybe you shouldn't go because I think there are no bitches invited to this party," I smirk, staring up at her. You don't want to mess with me. 

  Her eyes narrow and she seems surprised at how I'd stand up for myself. "Excuse me? You did not just call me a bitch!" She yells and I look around the room to find everyone staring at me and Meg. Great cause a scene.

  I growl. "No, I didn't... I'm just looking at one." As I say the words out loud, everyone gasps throughout the room. I know I'm being disrespectful, but I don't let people push me around and I'm certainly not going to let this bitch push me around.

  She steps closer trying to get towards me and I stand up from my seat- I glare towards her to bring it on. Right now, I'm thanking Camille for teaching me how to fight. I ball my fists to my side, waiting for her to try and hit me, but Chris stands up, blocking her path to get to me.

  "Everyone, take your seats and clear your desks, except for your pencils. Exam time." Professor Young announces when he strides into the classroom.

  "This isn't over," Meg says and gives a dirty look.

  "Meg, go sit down," Chris demands.

  She gives me one last dirty look before she goes to take her seat.

  I sit back down, huffing. What a fucking bitch! Chris sits and turns his back to make sure Meg's sitting down and she is. He then turns back around to face me and I can see a huge smirk on his face.

  "Why are you smiling at me?" I huff and I try to get my breathing under control.

  "I'm just shocked at what happened. I mean no one has ever stood up to Meg before, until now."

  "I just can't believe her. How dare she; she doesn't even know me, Chris. I mean, who does she think she is to talk to me like that," I whisper, so no one will hear me, but I hope Meg hears me because I'm not afraid of her, I could take her white skinny ass anytime.

  Professor Young comes towards us. "Is everything okay over here?" He asks, concernedly.

  Chris and I both nod. Yeah, everything is okay, just almost got into a fight with Meg in your class today. Nothing to worry about.

  Professor Young hands Chris a stack of exam papers. "Take one and pass it amongst yourselves." He smiles and Chris nods. Chris takes one and passes it to me and I pass it along to the gentlemen next to me.

  Mr. Young takes a seat at his large desk in front of the room and pulls out his timer. "You have an hour. You may begin." He instructs us and I begin to circle the bubble sheet as soon as he said: "begin."

  After I finish the exam, ten minutes until our time is up, I let out a breath of relief. I glance to the right of me to see Chris already done with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He's done already? I guess studying together paid off for him.

  The timer beeps and Chris's eyes fly open. I quickly divert my eyes away and look back at my test.

 "Pencils down everyone. Turn in your papers on my desk and see you all on Wednesday," Mr. Young says, dismissing us.

  I watch as Meg goes up to the front, and turns in her paper. She locks her eyes on mine and we both glared at each other. I don't take my eyes off of her until she leaves the classroom. 

  When she leaves I look toward Chris. "Do you want me to turn in your test for you?" I ask Chris, just to be nice.

 He stretches his long arms into the air and yawns. Was he taking a nap? "Sure. Thank you."

 "No problem," I say as I grab his and my test.

  I stand and take our tests to the front, setting them on Mr. Young's desk. I wonder when he finished his test? I didn't pay attention because when I'm focusing on anything, I don't realize what's going on around my surroundings.  

  Chris is standing by the doorway- waiting for me. He holds my bag and hands it to me. "Thank you," I say and he smiles.

  We head outside. Today is beautiful and not too cold. It's warmed up since this morning- but I have my jacket on because it's still a little chilly. We decide to sit out at the table to discuss how we're going to arrange on studying together for the final.

 "I can't fail this final or I'll think I won't pass the class," he says with concern in his voice.

 "Don't worry I said I will help you to not fail this class, so don't stress about it," I assure him and give him a charming smile. My smile quickly fades as his friends come to join us. 

  "Hey, you're Susan. Right?" The boy with the nose and ear piercings asks. He smells of cigarettes with a mixture of marijuana. I slide the sleeves of my jacket further down my arm and put it over my mouth and nose to block the smell.

  "Actually, it's Sussianna," I say calmly, trying not to sound hurtful toward him.

  "My bad. I'm Adam," he gives a cocked smile, something inside of me is frightened by the way he smiled at me. "This is Ethan and John." Adam introduces his group of friends to me.

  They nod and smile at me. The brown-haired boy with chestnut-toned skin and yellow eyes named Ethan has no piercings, but a distinct snake tattoo is on the left side of his neck. John has dark green eyes, ivory-toned skin, and golden hair. He has no piercings and no tattoos, I can visibly see.

  Adam turns his attention to Chris. "Hey man, I haven't seen you in a while, have you been hiding from us," he puts his hand on Chris's shoulder. Why is Chris not answering him? He stares back and forth between me and Adam; he looks... nervous.

  He eventually answers him. "No. Of course, not..." He glares at me and hands me his keys. "Sussianna, why don't you go to the car?" He demands. I hear his anxiety coming out of his voice and worried in his eyes. What's going on?

  No. I'm not moving, not until I find out what's going on.

  "Please," he says while trying to hold back his temper. I roll my eyes before grabbing his keys. Fine. Since he said please, I will go. "I'll be there in a while."

  "Okay. I have to get to work, anyway. I'll just take my bike." I hold out his keys, so he can take it- he doesn't. "Where do you want to meet?" I ask before I go.

  "Meet?"

  "You know to study for the final."

  He looks back to his friends and then turns back to me with a huge grin on his face. "I don't know what you are talking about."

  Is he serious right now? Or is this some kind of joke?

  "Wait... I'm so confused. Didn't you want to come over so we could study together?" He chuckles and his friends begin to join him in the little joke they're having. What is so funny about studying together? Oh, I see what's going on, he does not want his friends to know about us. Okay Chris, if you want to play this little game of yours, then let's play. No. No, I shouldn't step down to his level. I should be the bigger person here.

 "If I had the right mind, I would tell you to shove it. But as your friend, I suggest you-"

  "As your friend?" He laughs. Why is he repeating most of everything I'm saying? He's being an ass. "I don't know where you got the idea that we are friends. I'm sorry to disappoint you-"

  I interrupt him this time. "I recall, you're the one who said we were friends," I snap.

  "I think you're insane for thinking such a thing. You and me friends, in your dreams," he smirks out of cruelty. His friends laugh even harder.

  Alright, have it your way, Chris. Forget about being the bigger person, I had it with him. "You're such a jerk, Chris!" I shout and throw the keys aiming at his face, but he ducks before it hits him. He's shocked and not only him, but also his friends. Good, now that will get them to shut up and stop laughing at me. 

  I get to my feet and walk as fast as my legs can carry me. I'm so angry at Chris for making fun of me and to top that, he made me feel like a dumbass in front of his friends. How dare he make me look stupid and he called me insane. Fucking asshole! I should have slapped him when I had the chance.

  He will want my help eventually, but he's not getting it, not after what he did to me. He can forget about ever speaking to me and he can forget about studying with me. I don't care if he fails the final and doesn't pass the class. He can suffer. 

  Riding to work doesn't go so well, either. I end up getting a flat tire, and I have to walk the rest of the way. First, that girl, Meg was being a bitch and then Chris was an asshole to me. Why are people being brutal with me today? What did I do to deserve this? Great, can my day get any worse? To answer my question, I spot a black Chevrolet El Camino pulling up to the sidewalk. Today is not my day.

  "Sussianna get in the car," he orders.

  Who is he to boss me around after what he did? I pretend to not hear him and continue walking while pushing my bike down the sidewalk.

  "Did you hear me?" He asks nearly screaming at me.

  "Yes, I heard you." I'm just ignoring you.

   He steps out of the car and approaches me. "Get in the car then," he points his long finger towards his car.

 "I'll rather walk. Thank you."

 "You have a blown-out tire..." He waves his hand at my flat tire. "Stop being difficult-"

 "I'm being difficult. You're the one who humiliated me in front of your friends!" I snap.

  He moves to grab my bike, but I jerk it away from him. "Don't you dare touch my bike!" I shout. I don't care if I'm making a scene out on the street.

  "Just come to the car and let me give you a ride to work."

  Hell no. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" I move to the side and continue walking to work without looking back.

  "Dammit, Sussianna. Stop walking away from me!" He yells through the emergency sirens passing by us.

  In no time he's in front of me holding the handles of my bike to get me to stop. "Move out of my way!"

 "Not until you let me explain," he growls.

 "Why should I?" I ask harshly.

 "Because..." He stops.

 "Because why?" I'm losing my patience.

 "Get in the car and I'll tell you."

  "No, tell me now," I protest.

  I know he's getting frustrated with me, in the way his eyes flash with anger, but he can get angry all he wants, I'm not leaving. He sighs in defeat. "Fine. I didn't want to tell them we're friends because I know them and they would keep asking me about you and I didn't want them to know about us."

  "You're embarrassed by me?" I ask.

  "No. I just don't have many friends especially girls, the only friends I have are Adam, John, Ethan, and Lucas from the Auto shop. And if they found out we're friends, then they would think I was using you for my own personal game."

  "Are you using me?" I have to ask, especially when he said his own personal game. What does he mean by that?

  "No! Of course, not..." He says quickly defending himself. "I would never do that to you," he says flatly.

   He already humiliated me today, who's to say he might not be using me to help him with the class? Should I trust him? My subconscious says, don't trust him, you're stupid if you do, and the more naive part of me says, to give him another chance. But my subconscious is much wiser and keeps telling me, if he can't be my friend in front of his friends, then don't waste your time with him.

  "So, you want to be my friend when we're not around your friends. Is that it?" I ask him as this keeps playing around in my mind.

   "Yes, exactly," he chuckles. Does he think this is funny? Well, I'm not having it, this is complete bullshit. 

   "Okay then, how does this sound: you can study by yourself; we'll stop being friends and no longer speak to me again. Sounds reasonable enough." I'm trying to stay calm as I possibly can, but it's quite difficult to do so.

   His eyes go wide and his cheeks flare. He should not get mad, he's the one who acted the way he did and doesn't want his friends to know about us. Anyway, there's nothing to tell, we're just studying together that's it. Well, we were studying together.

  "No. It's not reasonable!" He shouts. "Sussianna, please, I need your help," he begs when he tries to lower his voice.

  "No Chris. Now if you can excuse me, I need to get to work."

  I try to push my bike forward, but he grips it tighter and pushes it backward. "No. Sussianna, let me give you a ride. You're going to be late."

  "I would rather be late than ride with you. Now get out of my way!" I shout. He's really pissing me off.

  "No, not until you get in the car!" He shouts back.

  I give a warning glare to move-out-of-my-way-or-I'll-actually-slap-you.

  "Alright. Fuck. I'll tell my friends about us if that will get you to get in the car."

  "Don't do it on my account." I don't want him to do it because he feels the need he has to, but because he's not afraid to tell his friends.

  "You don't want me to tell my friends?" He anxiously asks.

  "No. It's not that... I just feel you should want to tell them, not obligated to do it." He remains silent. He can't even speak to me, let alone move- like he's frozen in shock. "Well, if you're not going to respond, then move out of my way, please," I say calmer than I expected.

  "Fine. I know you're not going to go with me. Have it your way, but know this I will tell my friends about us, I mean every detail between us," he says when he walks back to his car and slides inside. "I mean it..." I hear loud purring as he starts the car. "And maybe I'll get a camera just to show them everything as well!" He yells as he drives away.

   When he said about the camera, I knew it was to make another insult to me, just so he can get under my skin. At least I hope it is, he won't actually do such a horrendous thing like that to me. Would he? No. That would be sickening if he did. He just already knows how to affect me, and would do anything it takes to get me pissed off. Why is he such a jerk sometimes and other times he can be thoughtful? This man drives me crazy. 

    Wow, guys! A lot happened in this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I loved the support you guys give me rather it's by commenting or for your votes. I want to say thanks for taking the time for reading my story and also thank you to all who have read it. You guys are amazing! LOVE YOU, GUYS!