Chapter 6:

Beckinsile's Point of View

"And..." the bell interrupts Mr. Mitchell mid-sentence much to the relief of our class.

I can almost hear the sighs of relief as I walk out into the noisy hallway. Oliver follows me and is rubbing his eyes. I think he might've fallen asleep during part of it which is bad since we sit in the very front row. I laugh and walk ahead of him to marketing.

"Look who it is...little Miss. Brilliant, here to fight another day." My shoulders stiffen at the sound of Danika's annoyingly sarcastic voice.

I relax them and turn to face Danika.

"Wow, I didn't think it was possible but your insults actually got worse. Danika, I'm so glad you can insult at a first grade level." I applaud her and wait for her to make the next move.

"At least I can read at one." Danika sneers and puts her hands on her overly exposed hips.

"Really, I didn't know gossip magazines were on a first grade level. I thought anyone with even a sliver of a brain could read the crap that's printed in those."

"Explains why you can't read them." A chorus of ooo burns erupts from our class, who's now huddled around Danika and I.

"Danika, I don't read those because I'm deeper than a kiddy pool. You read them because you're just that shallow." I smirk at her as Mr. Walker finally realizes his students haven't even sat down yet.

"Get to your seats before I start handing out detention slips the way you people hand out your phone numbers." Mr. Walker gives Danika and I a stern glare.

I return with one that says, "It's your fault." I walk grudgingly to my seat next to Oliver. He holds out his hand under the table and I high five it.

"You think you've won but I'm just getting started." Danika sneers and crosses her arms.

"Could you two be mature for like one second?" Oliver directs his gaze towards Danika and I.

"I can be mature but I don't know about Miss. Brilliant." Danika gives Oliver a fake sweet smile. I can see him roll his eyes as he pulls out the planning sheet.

"Listen, we all need to pitch in and do this project. Soon enough we won't have to deal with each other anymore; can we all just survive until then? Just put aside your idiotic arguments and do the project, got it?" Oliver looks exasperated and for some reason the look in his eyes shuts me up immediately.

"He's right," I mumble. "Truce?" I offer my hand to Danika.

"For now, Beckinsile." She sneers. I give Oliver a shrug as if to say, "I tried."

He gives me a knowing look and we move on with the project.

~~~~~~~

By the end of class we have an idea and have decided that we would film it this weekend at my house. "Oh joy, Danika Blackwell is coming to my house; the one place I'm supposed to be able to get away from her." I think as I walk towards the cafeteria. I text Fiona to see if she has lunch now; the response is a no because she has class right now and apparently Ed does too. I groan and search for a place to sit. The cafeteria is noisy and unappealing. I honestly hate it because you can never hear what the person right next to you is saying. It would be a lot easier to sit in the courtyard but I don't want to be out there like a loaner so I go back to my search for somewhere to sit.

"Beckinsile, why don't you come sit with my friends and I?" Oliver whispers in my ear.

He said it as more of a statement than a question but I gave an answer anyways.

"I'd love to." Oliver leads me to a table where three noisy boys are already seated.

"Ooo, Oliver brought a girl." The boys whistle and then break down laughing.

I try to laugh with them but I can already feel my cheeks reddening.

"Don't let them get to you," Oliver smirks as he sits down.

"Oh, you mean like how I don't let you get to me?" I smirk and sit down too.

"Exactly like that," Oliver chuckles and begins introductions.

"Boys this is Beckinsile." I give him a death glare for once again using my full name.

"She doesn't seem too fond of you, Oliver." A boy with bright blue hair chuckles and looks up at me.

He has deep brown eyes and is wearing a Nirvana t-shirt.

"That's Eli," Oliver says indicating the blue-haired boy.

"The one next to him is Xavier." Oliver points to a tanned boy with shoulder length black hair.

He also has on a rock n' roll t-shirt on which seems to be a trend among Oliver's friends.

"Next to Xavier is Cody." Cody is pale and has blonde hair paired with clear blue eyes.

I wave at each person as Oliver finishes off introductions.

"Welcome to our table of misfits." Oliver grins as I pull out my lunch.

I eat my sandwich in silence while the boys talk about some band I've never heard of. Oliver looks over at me mid-conversation with a smirk.

"Eli's in a heavy metal band called Death by Diamonds." He says as if that explains their whole conversation.

I roll my eyes and give him a small smile. I pull out my bag of strawberries and see Oliver's eyes light up.

"You look like a small child on Christmas." I laugh and open up the bag for him.

"Ooo goody, strawberries; my favorite." Oliver claps his hands a little as he takes one.

I give him a look and he suddenly reddens.

"I mean oh good strawberries. They're my favorite." Oliver coughs and steals another strawberry.

"There is no way you can say that and have it sound manly." I chuckle and pop a strawberry into my mouth.

He sticks his tongue out at me.

"Hey Beckinsile," I whip around, half expecting a snarky remark to follow but nothing does.

"What's your favorite band?" Cody asks with a smile on his face.

"I have lots but my absolute favorites are Mayday Parade, Stereo Skyline and A Rocket to the Moon."

"Those are some of my favorites too." Xavier butts into the conversation.

The bell rings a few minutes later. The boys say goodbye to Oliver and I as we walk out of the cafeteria.

"Your friends are a lot of fun." I say absentmindedly as we walk into the French classroom.

"I'm glad you think so," Oliver chuckles as we take our seats up front.

Madame Rousseau hands us a sheet of paper and tells us to start the worksheet in her thick French accent.

"I get lectured all day and then I get a French worksheet; this has been a joyous day hasn't it?" Oliver pulls out a pencil and begins to work.

I chuckle and begin to work as well.

We both finish within ten minutes but the rest of the class is still working furiously. Oliver has a bored look on his face but a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"What are you planning on doing?" I groan in a whisper.

"Nothing big," He smirks.

"As long as it doesn't get me in trouble. Wait, how long have you been at this school?"

"Since freshmen year," Oliver says as he pulls out a piece of paper and begins folding it.

"You're an idiot. Madame Rousseau will murder you and then force us to do an autopsy of your body just for fun."

"She's not a science teacher and I'm not going to throw it around the classroom." Oliver hisses and goes back to his folding.

That's when Madame Rousseau comes to his desk and sets a bony finger on his paper airplane.

"This nonsense is not permitted in my classroom." Madame Rousseau says in her thick accent as she rips up his paper airplane.

Oliver looks crest fallen and stares daggers at her while she throws away the remains.

~~~~~~~

I'm surprised that I actually survived an hour and a half of French; that was a feat in it of itself. I am practically walking on air as I push open one of the side doors of the school. The fresh air clears my senses and my head. I have a huge smile on my face as I take a seat on the curb awaiting my daily ride from Ed. Then I hear a buzzing coming from my bag. I fish around until I find my phone. I press answer and hear Ed's voice come through on the other side.

"Becks, I'm so sorry. I can't pick you up. I have detention because of the teacher I sass-mouthed. Can you get a ride from somewhere else?"

"Yeah; I'll figure something out. See you tomorrow." I say and hang up.

I quickly scan the parking lot and my eyes lock on Gabe's car. I speed walk over there and find him busy with blonde girl. I walk around to the driver's side and yank on the door handle. It opens and I pull Gabe out of the car.

"You have quite a grip when you're angry; which I'm guessing you are after the prank Nate and I pulled on you this morning." Gabe smirks and makes sure the door is closed.

"I'm guessing you are too busy to give me a ride."

"You could say that. I don't think you'd really want to hang out with Terra and I."

"Not exactly, since I know what you two probably have planned." I smile sweetly.

"What did you need from the great Gabe Williams?"

"I need to know where you actually were last night." I state simply.

"I was at a party." Gabe says as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Liar; Oliver says that the party you were probably at got shut down around 10. Spill; where were you until 3 A.M.?"

"What are you, the cops?" Gabe smirks but then looks down at the ground.

"At the moment, I am." I say and cross my arms.

"The girl I was with yesterday, who just so happens to be Terra, invited me to watch movies with her. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 3 A.M. Becks, Terra's my girlfriend now." Gabe says sheepishly.

"Are you serious? Did I hear correctly? Is the great Gabriel Williams actually tied down to one girl?"

"Very funny; I really like her though."

"Does she have a normal IQ score?" I ask teasingly.

"Higher than most girls I've dated." Gabe chuckles as Terra gets out from the car.

"Gabe, why is it taking so long?" Terra whines.

"Go back to Blondie. She needs you more than I do at the moment." I walk away with a smirk on my face.

I think about walking home but decide against it since I'm at least a mile from my house. I sigh and sit down on the curb once again. "How am I supposed to get home now?" I sigh and pull out my phone. I try to think of someone who could give me ride but Ed is the only friend I can think of with a car.

"Beckinsile, are you okay?" I hear Oliver sit down beside me.

"Yeah; Ed has detention so I don't have a ride home."

"You want me to give you a ride?" Oliver looks sincere.

At the moment he's my only way to get home. I nod slightly as he gets up. He offers me his hand and I gratefully accept it. He pulls me up effortlessly and leads me to his bike. He can see my shocked expression which probably reads, "You honestly expect me to get on that thing?"

Oliver chuckles and hands me a helmet. I put it on and straddle the bike. Oliver hops on in front of me and starts up the engine.

"Hold on tight," He smirks and starts out of the parking lot.

I immediately understand why he said that because the minute he gets on the road, I grab onto his stomach, fearing for my life.

The wind whips my hair all about and I can my feel an ever growing collection of goose bumps all over my body. I hold onto Oliver as tight as I can and press my face against his back. I can almost make out his heartbeat through his thick leather jacket. His breathing is level despite weaving in and out of traffic on a motorcycle. I, on the other hand, can feel my nervous pulse in every part of my body. The motorcycle ride is invigorating though; it gives me a sense of freedom that a car could never measure up to.

My fingers stay firmly planted on Oliver's abs until we get through traffic. I can feel them through his thin t-shirt. He's more built than I gave him credit for. I should've seen it coming though since he's been on the soccer team at our school since freshmen year. I only know this because Gabe is also on the soccer team.

"I almost forgot to ask, what's your address?" I can hear the humor oozing from his voice.

"I live on high mountain drive." I say through the wind.

"Oh great; that's right over where I live." Oliver says as he weaves around a red pickup truck.

I go back to fearing for my life as our short conversation comes to an end.

We arrive at my house in one piece; much to my surprise. I can still feel my heart beating as I get off of the bike. Oliver gets off too and when I turn around, I almost run into him. He chuckles and loosens the strap on my helmet. He pulls it off and I run my fingers through my hair. Oliver puts the helmet in his backpack and pulls his own off. His hair is messy from the helmet but for some reason it works on him.

"Thanks for the ride," I say with a smile.

He brushes a piece of hair from my shoulder and gives me a smile.

"I'm glad I could help you out; if you ever need another ride don't be afraid to ask." I nod and walk up to my front door.

I wave to him and unlock my door. I step over the threshold and shut the door behind me.