Chapter 15: 1.4

❀Courtney's P.O.V❀

To say it's awkward being in the same room as Alexander, is an understatement.

"How's school, kids?" Mr. Mendoza asks us and I finish chewing my toast before I swallow.

"School's good, I guess." I answer, shoveling some eggs into my mouth.

"Good." Is Alexander's simple response and his dad nods his head, before he sips on his morning coffee.

He checks his wrist watch, setting the mug down on the table. "You two better hurry, school starts in ten minutes."

I widen my eyes, quickly standing up from my seat and I hurriedly put my plate in the dishwasher, before giving my mom a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to be late. Love you, bye."

She chuckles as she waves at me. "Love you too."

I pick up my backpack from the ground and throw it over my shoulder, rushing towards the door.

"Alexander can give you a ride." Mr. Mendoza's voice stops me in my tracks and I mentally wince. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"I won't, but I'm taking my bike today." Alexander interjects.

"No, thank you." I answer, not bothering to turn around. "I'd much rather be late." I mutter to myself, fixing the strap on my shoulder.

"What was that?" Alexander's voice sounds from beside me and I jump up in horror, turning my head to face him.

"I said, no thank you."

"I heard that." He tells me. "I meant the part that you whispered."

I ignore him and continue to make my way towards the door, exiting the house and walking down the pathway.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" He asks me as he closes the door behind him and I turn on my heel.

"I would much rather be late than be in the same car as you." I tell him, watching him twirl his keys around his index finger.

"I'm taking my bike."

I snort. "Yeah, not happening."

"Okay, see you in school then." He says and I roll my eyes as I begin to rush towards school.

By the time I get to the front of our neighbor's house, Alexander is already making the engine to his motorcycle roar as he speeds off towards school.

With a huff, I fix my strap on my shoulder one last time and continue to make my way towards school.

* * *

"You have detention?" Emily asks me, scoffing when the teacher tells her to keep quiet.

"Yeah." I whisper, not taking my eyes away from my textbook.

"That sucks."

"Ms. Ryder." The teacher snaps at her, and she turns to look at him.

"Yes, Mr. Lamenter?" She replies in an innocent voice and I turn to raise an eyebrow at her.

What is she up to?

"Have you finished reading the story I assigned?" He asks her.

"Did you know that part of your name, lament, means; to regret deeply?" She questions, ignoring him, and my eyes widen as I can already sense a comment of pure savageness coming out of her mouth. "I have a feeling that you regret that haircut; it doesn't make an effort to hide that bold spot, sir."

I laugh through my nose and I shield my face with the book as I can barely contain my laughter.

"Detention, after school!" The teacher announces and Emily turns to wink at me.

"We have a date in detention now."

"I will not tolerate talking inside of my classroom, get back to reading!" He scolds and Emily rolls her eyes.

"You need some pussy in your life, you're so grumpy all the damn time."

And again, she always seems to amaze me with her comments of pure savageness because–

"Out of my class!"

–He definitely heard that.

* * *

"Wow, it's barely our second week back and we already have to stop by in the detention room for an entire hour." I say to Emily and she throws her arm over my shoulders.

"It's a date." She tells me. "A date in which we will pretend to do work until Mrs. Presley lets us out early, telling us how she's only letting us out because we were working in silence."

"You? Being silent?" I question, arching an eyebrow. "You can't even be quiet for five minutes."

She smacks my arm.

"Ow!"

"You're such a bully." She tells me and I turn to look at her, rubbing my arm.

"Me? You're the one who just smacked me."

"Do bullies buy their victims food?" She asks me, raising her eyebrows at me and my eyebrows crease in confusion.

"No?"

"Okay then, I'm not a bully because after detention I was planning to buy you Chick-Fil-A."

I instantly stop walking and lean up to kiss her cheek. "I love you so much, you know that right?"

"You better." She laughs, as we walk into the detention room.

"Sign in, sit down, and do your work from your classes. I will determine whether I want to let you out early, on time, or later." Mrs. Presley says in a somewhat bored tone and we both do as told, signing in and sitting down at the back of the class.

We both take out assignments from our classes and I instantly start to work on my rough draft for my essay.

"Courtney, I need help." Emily whispers over to me and I turn my attention to her. "How do you do this problem?"

She gives me her paper and points to number 17 on her math worksheet.

"You flip them and then you multiply square root of three to the top and bottom." I tell her and her eyebrows crease in confusion. "Reason being, because you can't have a square root in the denominator so once you multiply them, it will be two with the square root of three over the square root of nine. What is the square root of nine?"

"Three?" She doesn't sound so sure about her answer, and I laugh softly to myself.

"Yes, correct, it's three. So, your answer will be: two with the square root of three over three." I explain.

"That actually helped a lot, thank you."

We both go back to working and soon enough, Mrs. Presley dismisses us because we were working in silence – just like Emily said.

* * *

"What are you ordering?" I ask Emily as we enter Chick-Fil-A and she shrugs, getting in line.

I look over the menu on top of the cashier's head and smile as I see the nuggets.

"I want nuggets." I tell her.

"You always want nuggets."

"That is true."

It's finally our turn to order and Emily gets herself a spicy chicken sandwich, while I get the twelve count of nuggets. We both get a medium soda and we exit the building, a bright smile on my face.

"Free food – life is great." I speak proudly and she looks at me from across her car, unlocking it.

"Well to me, it wasn't free. Life is still great though."

I open the passenger door and slide into the car, immediately digging into the bag and picking out a nugget. She slides in after me and asks me to hold her food as she starts the engine.

"Your house, or my house?" She asks me, pulling out of the parking lot.

I don't have to think about my answer.

"Your house."

* * *

"I did what?" I screech, completely aware that Nichole might hear me from downstairs.

"You kissed him." Julian repeats himself, letting out a laugh that sounds strained.

"Oh, dear lord." I grumble, falling flat on my back on his bed. "What else did I do?"

"Well, you were close to dancing on top of a table with my sister. Only reason you didn't was because you both fell off. I caught Emily and Alex caught you, after that the kiss happened." He explains and I lay my arm over my eyes, letting out a groan.

"Never let me drink again."

I hear him chuckle. "I tried to take your drink away but you somehow managed to take it back and you gulped it down, which is why it took such an effect on you."

The bed dips beside me and I look to my right, offering him a smile when I see him laying down.

"What?" I ask him when he only stares at me. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Beauty." He answers, leaning closer. "You have a face full of fucking beauty."

Then his lips are on mine, déjà vu instantly kicking into my senses as I kiss him back.

My first kiss. I remember – he was my first kiss back when I was in fifth grade and he was in sixth.

I had fallen and scraped my knee. He was instantly by my side and I asked him if he could kiss it better. And he did, but instead of kissing my injured knee, he had leaned in for my lips.

The memories blur when Julian moves above me, and I let out a soft sigh of satisfaction when he trails his kisses down along my jaw.

I bite my lip when his lips meet the skin of my neck and my eyes flutter open when he pulls away, his breathing ragged.

We stare into each other's eyes in silence and mine mindlessly go down to look at his full, pink lips. I bring my bottom lip between my teeth and a groan erupts from his chest before our lips meet again.

His hand slides up my side and my skin heats up with his touch. I run my fingers through his hair and tug at it gently, earning another groan from him.

He sucks my lip into his mouth, and I can't help but feel heat between my legs when his teeth pinch it softly.

As if sensing this, his hand finds its way down my front and my breath hitches at my throat when his warm fingers touch my skin above the hem of my jeans.

"Courtney," his voice is hoarse, his breath fanning my lips. "God, fuck, I can't."

And just like that, the heat from his body leaves me and the cool air from his room replaces it when he climbs off of me.

A groan of dismay leaves my lips before I can stop it and I instantly feel my face flush in embarrassment, but he doesn't seem to notice as he's pacing around the room.

"Julian?" His name leaves my lips in a whisper, so I clear my throat. "Julian." I repeat, a bit louder.

"What?" He asks, not bothering to look at me as he continues to pace the room.

"You can't, what?"

"I can't, Courtney." He snaps. "I can't keep my mind off of you. I can't look at you without wanting to kiss your sweet, tempting lips – just like right now. I can't go a day without being afraid to confess what I feel towards you."

"Which is?" I dare myself to ask.

He finally stops pacing and turns to look at me, his eyes bearing into mine. "I love you, Courtney."

I feel my stomach tighten, as well as something between my legs.

I'm such a virgin. I think to myself, mentally shaking my head.

"I fucking love everything about you, Courtney Salazar." He continues, approaching me. "I love the simplest things from you; your hair, the way your left eye twitches when you're lying – so adorable, the little freckles on the back of your hand, the way you snore when you're really tired." He chuckles, and I stay stunned on the bed.

"I-" That's all I'm able to say, before he speaks up again.

"I fucking hate that I love how you're so stubborn sometimes. For the love of god, Courtney, I just feel like throwing you over my shoulder and making you listen when you act that way."

"Well, I-"

"But you want to know what I love the most?" He asks, standing in front of me – his face so close, I can feel his breath on my lips again. "I love that I can do this-" His lips touch mine in a simple peck. "-and I remember that I was your first kiss when you were in fifth grade."

✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿❀✿

I can already sense many of you freaking out. She's supposed to be with Alexander! He's the title of the book! Stepbrother! Yeah, well there's many books out there with misleading titles, I mean hello, plot twists and such things as that? Relax, guys, it's only a book and this is my book. I can have plot twists and all if I'd like.

I don't mean to be rude, but you guys instantly begin to freak out. I can't please you all at the same time, so at this point I have the right to choose how I want the story to be. I still love you guys, though.

❤︎Much Love with Hugs & Kisses❤︎

Kimmy Hers 💋