"Mathew, what are you doing here?" I ask as I open the door for him to come in.

"I have some important news to tell you, and I thought it would be better if I told you in person." He responds.

"Uh how about we go to the living room, it's warmer there. Just put your coat in the hanger." I reply before we walk towards the living room.

"What is he doing here?" Ryder asks as he walks into the living room, giving Mathew a weird look.

"He came here to tell me something, can you take the popcorn to Blake and Catherine? Tell them I will be there in a few minutes." I state as I push Ryder out of the living room.

"Alright, alright calm down woman, so bossy." Ryder replies as he walks towards the stairs.

I walk back into the living room and take a seat next to Mathew.

"So what did you want to tell me?" I ask.

"Before I tell you promise not to get mad at me." Mathew answers.

"Why would I get mad?"

"Just promise me." Mathew responds.

I let out a sigh before answering, "Fine."

"I dropped out of Juilliard." Mathew mumbles but I heard him loud and clear as daylight.

"You what?!" I nearly exclaim and he shushes me.

"You promised me you wouldn't get mad when I told you." Mathew states.

"I am not mad, I-I am just surprised," I reply. "But why did you drop out?"

"To be honest I missed going to a normal school were I don't have to drive an hour and a half, plus I missed my bestie too." Mathew responds.

"Aw I miss you too, so when is your first day at Kennedy High?" I ask.

"This upcoming Monday." He responds.

"Well I will wait for you at the front door so I can welcome you to our school." I respond with a smile which he returns.

"I can't wait," He responds.

"Do you want to watch Narnia with us?" I ask.

"I can't, I have to go buy the school supplies." He answers as we stand up and head towards the front door.

"Well I guess I will see you at school." I state as I give him a hug.

"Bye, see you on Monday." He replies.

"Bye Matt." I respond before closing the door and walking back towards my room.

"Lover boy finally leave?" Ryder asks from the kitchen and I look at him with questioning eyes.

"Love boy?" I ask while raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, you know since you like him and he likes you." Ryder responds as he peels his orange.

"I don't like Matt, he is just my childhood friend." I reply.

"Yeah okay." Ryder responds before climbing off the counter. "Then why did you hug him?"

"Because he is my friend." I reply in a duh tone.

"Mhmm sure." Ryder responds before walking up the stairs.

What is up with this guy? Is he jealous?

*** (Monday morning)

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping as the sun shines brightly through my window. My hair is perfect, no strand out of place and I am ready to start my day, not. Instead of birds chirping it's the loud thunder from the storm outside, the sun is hidden behind the dark gray clouds, may hair is a bird's nest, and no I am not ready to start my day. In fact I want to just lay in bed and sleep. I mean who would want to go to school on that time of the month?! No one! With a huff I get out of bed and head over to my closet and take out my clothes for today before walking towards the bathroom. A nice warm bath should do the trick.

Twenty minutes later I step out of the bathtub as I stepped into the steam filled room. I grabbed my black cotton towel and quickly got dried before putting on my undies (and my pad) and  I then clipped on my Mickey Mouse bra. I grab my clothes and change into a pair of navy blue jeans, white Victoria's Secret tank top, and red flannel shirt. I quickly do my hair and make up before walking towards my closet and putting in my blue converses. I grab my black leather cross body book bag before walking downstairs.

"Good morning Carter." Ryder states as I walk in.

"Good morning." I reply before heading towards the fridge and pouring myself some apple juice.

I take a sip before grabbing some bacon and eating it.

"Aren't you going to eat eggs too?" My mom asks and I shake my head.

I normally don't eat a lot during this time, unless it's candy or chocolate. Somehow that makes my mood lift and the cramps to go away.

"And why is that?" My dad asks as he puts down his newspaper.

"She doesn't want to have bad breathe when her boyfriend Mathew arrived." Blake states and I frown at him.

"He's your boyfriend, I thought you said he was just your friend?" Ryder replies as he takes a seat across from Catherine. "You guys sure move fast."

"We aren't dating, but you know I could just brush my teeth right?" I tell Blake.

"Don't matter your breathe will still stink." Blake replies and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Okay stop it you two, Blake leave you sister alone." My dad states before continuing to eat his breakfast.

Blake and dad had made up, and dad told Blake that he would be there for him no matter what which I was happy for.

"So Ashley want a ride to school?" Catherine asks.

"Yeah, that would be great." I reply with a grateful smile.

"Shouldn't you kids get going, it's eight thirty five and school starts in ten minutes?" My mom asks.

We each grab our book bags and coats before walking out the door.

"Bye mom, bye dad!" I exclaim before closing the door and running towards Ryder's car.

I get into the back seat, buckle up and shut the door. Catherine turns on the radio and This Is What You Came For starts playing and we sing along to the lyrics.

Baby, this is what you came for
Lightning strikes every time she moves
And everybody's watching her
But she's looking at you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh
Oh, oh
Lightning, this is what you came for
Lightning strikes every time she moves
And everybody's watching her
But she's looking at you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh
Oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
You, oh, oh, you, oh, oh
Oh, oh
We go fast till they can't replay
Who knows why it's gotta be this way
We say nothing more than we need
I say "your place" when we leave

***

"Finally!" Ryder states before stepping out of the car. "My poor ears hurt."

"Stop being such a crybaby, we weren't even singing that bad." Catherine replies as she too steps out of the car.

I close my door before responding, "He's just jealous we can actually sing unlike him."

Catherine and I high five while laughing at Ryder's expression.

"Ashley bestie!" I hear an all too familiar yell.

"Andrew!" I reply as I hug my friend.

"How dare you make me walk in the rain when I could have gotten a ride from Ryder?" Andrew questions as we pull away from our hug.

"Well for the record we woke up late, and it's not raining anymore." I respond.

"Potato, patato." Andrew states causing me to shake my head while smiling.

"It seems like lover boy is running late as well." Ryder states and I follow his gaze.

Mathew was walking towards us dressed in a pair of blue jeans, white t-shirt, and a blue flannel shirt.

"Hey Ashley." He states as he hugs me and I return the hug.

"Hey Matt, welcome to Kennedy High." I reply as we pull away.

"I glad to finally be he-"

"Well we should go inside before we are late." Ryder states interrupting Mathew's sentence.

"I agree with you, let's go new bestie." Andrew responds before heading inside the building with Ryder.

"Hey, I'm Catherine it's nice to meet you." Catherine states as she extends her hand out for Mathew to shake it.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you to." Mathew responds as they shake hands.

"Well I will see you guys later, bye." Catherine replies before walking after Ryder and Andrew.

"What's your first period of the day?" I ask.

Mathew looks at his schedule before answering, "English."

"Yay we have the same class, but we also have that class with Ryder." I reply.

"So what's with you and Ryder?" Mathew asks as we walk into the building.

"Nothing why?" I answer.

"Nah just asking, since you guys went to New York together." Mathew responds.

"Yeah we did go to New York but we didn't go alone, plus nothing happened. Ryder and I we are just err- friendemies." I lie as we arrive at English class.

"Oh okay." He answers as we walk in.

I walk to the second to last row and take my seat. I am surprised when I find Ryder sitting in the seat next to me which was usually empty.

"Mr. Benson why did you switch your seat without consulting me?" Mrs. Andrews asks.

"Well I being my kind caring self,"

Lies, he isn't kind nor caring.

"I decided our new student would want one of the front row seats." Ryder states as he gestures his hand to Mathew who was know seated in Ryder's old seat.

"Ah, a new student I see. What's your name?" Mrs. Andrews asks.

"Mathew, Mathew Gustav." Matt answers.

"Well Mr. Gustav why don't you stand up and tell the class a little about yourself." Mr. Andrews states forgetting about the seat arrangement.

"Uh sure." Mathew replies.

"Break a leg Matt!" Ryder exclaims before murmuring, "Literally."

My mouth drops before I grab my notebook and smack Ryder's shoulder.

"Ow." He states as he runs his shoulder.

"Stop being mean." I whisper shout.

"Aw, Ashely you're defending your boyfriend, how cute." Ryder states with a smirk.

"He's not my boyfriend." I respond a little louder than before.

"Mr. Benson, Ms. Carter do you have something to share with the class?" Mrs. Andrews asks as she raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest.

I look around and find everyone in the room staring at us causing my cheeks to heat up.

"N-No, we were just um," I stumble through my words trying to figure out what to say.

"Oh, honey it looks like we've been caught, now the whole class knows that you and-"

I jump out of my seat and place my hand on Ryder's mouth causing the rest of his sentence to be caught off.

"We were just talking about the homework Ryder doesn't get." I lie while Ryder just smirks.

"Lies." Ryder mumbles and I give him a death stare. "Yeah miss, we were just talking about the homework I don't get, Ashley here just volunteered to tutor me. We are so sorry we interrupted your speech Mathew, you may continue." 

Once I make sure he won't say or do something else I walk back to my seat and face forward like the rest of the class was now doing. I give Ryder a murderous glance to which he just returns a smirk.

One of these days Benson, one of these days I am going to kill you!

***

I step out of my last class, Calculus Math. As I am walking towards my locker my named is yelled out by a familiar voice. I turn to spot...

"Alexia?" I ask with a questioning look.

"Hey," she states as she walks over to me. "So I heard the new boy's friends with you?"

"Yeah, he is one of my childhood friend. Why do I ask?" I answers.

"I just think he is sort of hot." Alexia replies not shy at all.

"Well if you'd like I can give you his number, and I can talk to him about you." I suggest.

"Oh my god you would do that for me?!" She asks excitedly.

I let out a soft laugh before stating, "Yeah, it's time Matt finds the girl of his dreams."

"Thank you Ash, I am so glad Ryder chose you." Alexia responds. "Now my food is calling me but I will talk to you late bye."

I don't even have the chance to ask her what she meant by "Ryder chose you." What the hell did she mean by that? I just brush it off before continuing my walk to my locker.

Once I get my books I make my way to the loud and very much crowded cafeteria. Kids were scattered everywhere minding there own business and talking about god knows what. I take a seat next to Mathew who was already seated at the same table as my friends.

"Hey Matt, I am so sorry I wasn't able to walk with you to the cafeteria I got caught up with something." I state. "But anywho guys this is Matt my childhood best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend." Andrew replies.

"And I thought Ryder was your new best friend?" I ask with a smile.

"Naha, I only said that because you were completely ignoring me because of him." Andrew states giving Mathew a weird look, almost the same look Ryder had on the other day.

It was a sort of jealous look, is it possible they're jealous of Matt? No, silly me why in the whole wide world would Ryder be jealous of Matt? And Andrew he's just being his childish self.

"Well that hurt Alex, I actually thought you were serious. And here I was about to buy us matching bestie bracelets." Ryder's voice states from behind me.

Ryder walked up to our table and took the seat next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as I scrunch my eyebrows. "Shouldn't you be over there at the populars table?"

"Nah, I rather sit here with my favorite friendemie." Ryder states as he rests his arm over my shoulder.

Then's when I notice that half of the cafeteria had dropped their conversation and turned to look at us. Oh god why do you hate me?

"Ah I feel so honored." I state with a fake smile and sweet tone. "Not."

Ryder's mouth drops as his hands goes to his heart.

"How dare you Carter? I took that to the heart?" He asks causing me to laugh.

"You two," Ryder states pointing at Andrew and me. "Are the worst friends I have ever had."

"Who said we were friends?" I ask and Ryder's expression made me laugh again.

"Well you see I would be your friend if you could actually remember my name." Andrew responds before plopping a chip with salsa into his mouth. "Yummy in my tummy."

"Hey Ryder, hey Ashely." Catherine states as she takes an empty seat at our table along with the rest of Ryder's friends.

Now the whole cafeteria had their attention on us and I squirm under their stare.

"Are you okay?" Ryder asks concern visible in his dark brown almost black eyes.

"Yeah it's just I don't really like attention." I respond.

Why did I just tell him that?

"If you want we can leave." Ryder asks as he was about to stand up but I stop him.

"No, no it's okay. I actually like the company and I don't think Amelia would want Brian to leave." I state as we turn around to look over at Amelia who was talking with Brian.

Ryder smiles down at me causing a funny feeling at the bottom of my stomach. What are you doing to me Benson? They feeling off two people's hard stares burning a whole on the back of my head causing me to turn around and look at the table Ryder and his friends normally sat at. Sandra sat there alone with only two of her lalalupsie friends. Well she certainly doesn't like me. From the corner of my eye I also spot Matt throwing a dirty look at Ryder. And I knew then and there that from that day on I was in for a hell of a ride, and that afternoon I would my prediction was about to proved.

***

The last bell of the day rings signaling the end of the class. I rush out of the class just like the other anima- err I mean students, did. I take out the books I will be needing to do my homework before putting on my jacket and walking towards the main doors. Just as I step into the gray outdoors I hear loud screaming and cheering.

"Fight, fight, fight!" Was being changed by a crowd of people in the parking lot.

I rush over to the crowd of people and push past them to get to the front only to find...

•~•~•
Hey my lovelies!!! So I decided to update today because why not, right? Anywho I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to vote, comment, and share.

QOD: Who do you think was fighting?

I am so happy because I just realized this book has 2k views. I honestly never thought it would get this far, it may seem to be a small amount of views but to me it's a lot. And I wouldn't have this amount of views of it weren't for you, my lovely readers! So thank you so, so, so much for getting this book up to 2k views!!!! Love you guys so much!!! ❤️❤️❤️

(Ashley's Outfit)

P.S. - I made this outfit as well as other outfits in this book, and the banner so if you ever want an outfit to be made for you character or a banner just dm me.