Chapter two | The nerdy choice

Andrea: 'Jacob is picking us up.

Be ready by 7.'

I grimaced when I read Andrea's text.

I will need to sanitize my hands a thousand times after sitting in the back seat of his car. God knows what things he has done there.

Ok, maybe I knew what things he had done there. I was there once, riding in the back seat. As the memory resurfaced, I grimaced once again. Sex with him certainly was one of the biggest mistakes ever.

I licked my lips and formulated a reply in my head. Quickly my fingers moved across the screen, typing the words.

Cynthia: 'I can't.

Will be late, gotta wash my hair.'

Ending the text with a pout emoji, I nodded my head in approval. Instantly a bubble with three dots appeared. With a 'K' and a sad emoji, she ended our conversation.

I sighed as I put my phone down and leaned against the bathroom vanity. It was evident that I lied about washing my hair, considering I was already almost ready. I picked up my mascara wand and brought it close to my eyes. I stopped as I noticed my shaking hands.

Anxiety induced hormones still flooding through my veins were making me fidgety. I pursed my lips and sat down on the closed toilet seat. It wasn't like I was trying to avoid Jacob, because practically that was impossible. I was just trying to limit our contact, that's all.

I sighed and leaned forward, hunching over my knees. I just felt guilty, guilty about the fact that I was lying to my best friend's face. This constant feeling had been churning my stomach since last year when she and Jacob started dating. I found his smug smile whenever he looked my way extremely annoying. It was as if he was mocking me for having sex with him. Having sex with her best friend's boyfriend.

Finally, when my thoughts were under my grip, I got to my feet. I slowly completed my look and gazed at my well-practiced hard work with satisfaction.

As I had time to kill, I settled on my bed and checked the social media updates. Most of them were bemoaning the start of school. I chuckled at the dramatics of most of these students and shook my head.

A noise caught my attention, making me turn my head towards the source. I saw the six feet tall figure of the guy next door rush past his front door into the car. With a sandwich tucked between his lips, it was obvious he was rushing to school. A snort slipped past my lips, watching him drive away.

I checked my phone and groaned. My bed was too comfortable to leave, but with the first day of senior year here, I had to leave.

Walking down the stairs, I beeline towards the kitchen. I fussed around the kitchen, looking for my granola bars box.

"Looking for this?" I heard a voice behind me, making me jump.

My eyes met the familiar brown eyes of my sister, giving me a mocking smirk. With a bland expression on my face, I rolled my eyes. Snatching the box away from her hand, I quickly took one out. I ignored her presence just like she did every day and grabbed my car keys.

"Remember the rules," she called out just as I pulled the front door open. I sighed but nodded nonetheless. Some part of me wanted to stop and point out the fact that she wasn't in high school anymore, but I reigned my urge in. It would instigate an argument I wasn't ready to take part in, yet.

The school was buzzing with students as cars filled the parking lot. Parking the car in my usual spot, I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my bag.

Just as I pulled my car door open, after pulling on my heels, a storm of a human with a fruity smell clung to me. Andrea wrapped her arms around me and engulfed me in the hug. She smelled faintly like cigarettes too, but I guessed it was Jacob's scent, most probably.

"Oh God! I missed you so much," she squealed near my ear. I swear, I would have almost turned deaf if she hadn't pulled back.

I returned her energetic smile with one of my own. "I saw you last weekend at that party," I said, reminding her.

She pouted adorably, scrunching her eyebrows together. "But that was last weekend. I missed you already. Didn't you miss me?"

I laughed at her words and then nodded. "Yes, I missed you, babe."

Her dark eyes lit up at my statement and turned a shade lighter. Her painted full lips stretched even more.

"Good!" she huffed. Linking our arms together, she dragged me along with her.

As soon as we made our way inside the school premises, eyes followed our movements. It was cliche but true. The students here were busybodies, eager for any kind of gossip. Being at the top of the social ladder made us more prone to these gossips and hence, the ever-present eyes.

Voices hushed over as they started talking in whispers. The click-clack of our heels echoed loudly off the walls as if the scene was straight out of some teen chick-flick.

"Babe!" said a familiar and very annoying voice. My fists clenched, but my face was an impassive mask. I took in a calming breath and turned my head towards him.

With his hair all over the place and dark gray eyes shining with amusement, Jacob Everett made his way towards us.

His eyes flickered between me and Andrea with amusement. He was enjoying this way too much for the first day of high school.

Rather than his amused eyes, I focused on his leather jacket covering his bulging muscles, thanks to being a quarterback. I analyzed his features for a moment, noticing the swollen lips. They had a red tint to them as if he had just stopped kissing someone... Oh!

Realization dawned with a heavy weight of disgust. He was cheating on her, again. I turned my head towards Andrea, hoping that maybe this time she would notice the clues. But to my utter misfortune, she was giving him a bright smile. This time, I couldn't contain my scowl.

Andrea Lawson was innocent, so innocent that she never noticed the signs. She was hopelessly romantic and smitten with his bad-boy charms. She would never believe that he was cheating on her until she saw it with her own eyes.

This trait of her made her both adorable and irritating.

I sighed dejectedly and turned my face towards him. He gave me a brief smirk, silently mocking me once again. I bit my lips hard, almost drawing blood to stop myself from hurling curses towards him.

"Hey, baby," Andrea said, gaining his attention. She twirled her hair around her finger. "Did you meet your friends?"

I internally rolled my eyes at the lame-ass excuse he gave her.

At her question, he once again turned his gray eyes towards me, giving me a brief look. "Yes, it was fun meeting them after so long, but I still have to get familiar with some old ones." A smirk danced on his lips.

His words ripped through my soul, making me panic a bit.

You are a disgusting whore. His voice echoed in my head. There were days when he was my tormentor, saying words that made disgust crawl up my skin.

"Andrea, let's get to my locker. I need some stuff," I said as I decided to cut their conversation short. Pulling her with me, I tried to drag her away from him.

We had only moved a few steps when Jacob wrapped his arm around Andrea, making me abruptly pull away from them. I shot him a glare which he successfully ignored. He halted our movements and turned towards me. A smile was on his face, but his gray eyes were calculating. "How was your summer, Cyn?"

His eyes trailed over my body, stopping on my chest and my exposed legs. My fists clenched at my sides as I stopped myself from punching him. Even if he was imagining my naked body underneath.

"Great until I saw your face," I muttered under my breath with anger fueling my words.

"What?" he asked expectantly, displaying fake innocence.

"Great!" I said as I gave him a too-sweet-to-be-true smile and silently hoped he died from diabetes.

Seemingly satisfied, he turned towards Andrea. He landed a full-fledged kiss on her lips, weaving his hands through her hair. He wanted to push my buttons and irk me till I burst with anger. Sadly for him, I controlled my temper very well (mostly).

He needs to be removed from her life. What should I do? Run him over with a car? Okay, that sounds good, but that escalated quickly. He is not worth going to jail. Maybe I should set Andrea up with someone else, someone who likes her.

Andrea's voice broke me out of my stupor. Once again, back to the hallway, I realized that she was talking to me.

"You fine, Cyn?" She looked concerned.

I gave her a reassuring smile and nodded vigorously. "Just great!" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Oh, ok," she said, accepting my response. "Jacob and I were discussing the last party. It was amazing, right?"

"Yes, it was awesome." If you count waking up a horrible headache awesome. Oh, and I woke up at a stranger's place with the same stranger in the bed. Awesome, right?

Before she could respond Jacob leaned closer to her and cracked some lame-ass joke. He had that cocky grin on his face, enjoying the small fits of giggles Andrea produced. Enjoying his attention, Andrea leaned into his side.

"Hey, Eli," Andrea called out of the blue. She focused her eyes on the lanky guy leaning against the lockers.

Elias Rodriguez, the school chemistry nerd, returned her greeting with a smile. He wasn't exactly a nobody, but his status in the school hierarchy was just around the average. Someone you could past without even noticing their presence.

He was like many other guys in this school, harboring a crush on Andrea. The only difference, Andrea noticed him, and he was more attracted to her personality than her looks, setting him apart from other boys.

My brain suddenly was filled with thoughts after thoughts, about a plan. A series of ideas jumped across my head, almost making me grin.

He is the one!  The perfect guy for Andrea. My consciousness screamed. 

I suddenly had an urge to laugh in joy, but I controlled the feeling and pushed it away at the farthest corner of my mind. I pressed my lips together tightly, just in case.

As he was awe-struck with Andrea, I turned and noticed his appearance. He wasn't bad looking with his cerulean eyes, dark brown hair and lanky but firm body.

A smirk made its way onto my face, and I turned ahead. Andrea gave me a questioning look, but I dismissed it with a shake of my head.

Elias Rodriguez, be ready because I have plans for you.