Chapter 17

Chloe

Chloe walked towards her bike. She hadn't seen Nash all day and she wished she could be happy about it, but instead, she found herself worrying that she had ruined everything with him. He must hate her. After the things she said to him, Nash must finally be sick of her. And she should be happy about that, but instead Chloe felt even more miserable. She thought she wanted nothing more than to be left alone with her dad, but pushing away Nash had turned out to be a lot harder than she expected.

She finally reached her bike and she unlocked it, pulling it away from the bike rack. She had spent the last hour studying after school and now after a long day, she was ready to go home and complete her chores. Lately, life had been flying by and Chloe found herself more and more exhausted, but she reminded herself just two more years until she'd graduate. And then, life had to become easier.

"Chloe."

Chloe froze at the sound of Nash's voice. She turned around slowly to Nash in his car, his window rolled down as he stared at her with a pained expression. Her heart hammered against her chest. She thought Nash would never talk to her again, but there he was.

"Hi," Chloe said, feeling breathless. She flushed, stunned by how high her voice became around Nash.

"Look, I still need to beat you in one contest before the year finishes," Nash said. "So how about another contest. A lemonade selling one."

"We're going to be selling lemonade?"

"Yup. Best salesman wins."

Chloe bit her lip. What an interesting contest. Her eyes roamed around Nash's face, curious, but he had become expressionless - almost disinterested, reminding Chloe of his former self. And wishing to be distracted like old times, Chloe nodded.

"Ok, game on." Chloe smiled. "I accept the challenge."

"Good, then hop into the car. I'll drive you to my place."

Chloe hesitated, remembering their fight the other day. Nash sighed as if realizing where Chloe's thoughts had trailed.

"I'm not doing you a favour. You're going to be too slow on that bike so just hop in and let me take you to our contest. It's not that serious."

Chloe hesitated before nodding. He wasn't helping her. He just wanted to beat her and Chloe put her bike in his trunk before hopping into the front seat. Nash shot her a small smile before driving off, and Chloe anticipated their upcoming contest. It had been too long.

*****

Chloe had a lemonade stand a few meters away from Nash's and she already had five people lined up for her own homemade lemonade. Nash also had exactly five people lined up for his own homemade lemonade and she poured cup after cup for her customers who paid exactly one dollar per cup.

They had gone to his home and made fresh lemonade using their own special recipes and then created cardboard stands that they brought to a street a few streets down from Nash's home. Chloe had thought no one would care for their cheap lemonade, but to her surprise, in the heat, people had lined up over and over again to both their stands, devouring their lemonade and making them profit.

She glanced at Nash who spoke to a girl around their age. She was batting her eyes up at Nash, her silky brown hair flowing down her back and Nash was smiling as he poured her another cup. Chloe's eyes lingered on them, surprised to see someone clearly flirting with Nash. Although he'd always been attractive, most people were wary of Nash at school. He had a rep for his anger and girls avoided that, but for once, Nash didn't seem so angry. He almost seemed to be reciprocating the girl's flirting, and Chloe found her heart dropping. She pulled her eyes away, stunned.

What was wrong with her? She was being unfair to Nash. She had been the one to insist he leave her alone, but yet when he listened, she had grown hurt. And now when he had his attentions on another girl, Chloe found herself disappointed. It was selfish of her, but she also knew she was too broken. Nash deserved better. He said he worried about her and Chloe knew he should keep his focus elsewhere because Chloe wasn't someone you should care about. Because something bad always happened to the people she loved.

"How's it going?"

Chloe jumped. Nash was now in front of her stand, leaning against it. His face was so close she noticed the splatter of freckles across his nose and she gulped. His eyes were on her and only her.

"Good," Chloe squeaked out. "I'm definitely beating you."

"Oh really? What makes you so sure."

"Trust me. My salesmanship is impeccable."

Nash laughed. His laugh was warm and low, a laugh that dived right into Chloe's heart. She smiled at him and his eyes grew gentle.

"Can you believe it, my salesmanship is impeccable, too. I'm sure this will be a close tie."

Chloe smiled and Nash pushed off her stand and wandered back to his own. Already, two people had lined up and he served them. Chloe went back to serving her own customers as well.

But, she kept glancing at Nash, watching the way he interacted with others. She had always known there was more to the angry boy and after their months together it was nice to see him lightening up. He deserved a better life than he got. She wished his parents were more present because it was obvious Nash was lonely, but she also knew Nash was invincible. His struggles didn't make him a coward like Chloe. Instead, he had became one of the strongest people she knew.

Soon, the sun began to set and they decided to end the contest. They pulled their stands down and stood on the sidewalk with the orange glow of the sunset colouring their faces with warmth. They held their bills and counted them, ready to declare the winner.

Chloe bit her lip, hoping to win. Despite everything, the competitive parts of her never wanted to let Nash win. She was the first Elite and she would remain that way. Not just for her scholarships, but because Chloe worked hard. Despite what others thought, Chloe knew she had worked hard for her achievements.

"Forty dollars," Nash said. "How much did you earn?"

"Forty one." Chloe grinned. "Close game, but looks like I won. As usual."

Nash shook his head, but he grinned. "Dammit. Looks like these competitions must continue. Until I beat you just once, you're stuck with me."

Chloe laughed. "Good. I enjoy these contests."

Nash smiled, his eyes growing soft. He stepped closer to her and Chloe noticed the way his eyes looked browner with the sun seeping into them. They were the same colour as his hair - a rich chocolate brown and she slid closer unconsciously, wishing to keep this snapshot of Nash under the sunset forever.

"Here," Nash said, handing her the money. "Keep it."

Chloe frowned. "It's fine. You worked hard for it. You can keep it."

"It's fine, I don't need more money."

"Neither do I."

Chloe found herself hardening, her shield forming around her. And she hated herself for it. For her pride. For her ego. But she just couldn't accept help. Not financial. Not physical. Not anything. She wouldn't be a burden. But she also wouldn't be a charity case.

"You're only offering me money because you saw where I live," Chloe said. "I'm not a charity, Nash."

"No, I'm doing this because I care about you. Can you stop being stubborn and understand that?"

Chloe stilled. Nash stepped closer to her, his eyes locked on hers and her heart began to race. He seemed exhausted. Tired. And all his restraints fell away as he kept his focus on only her.

"Chloe, I promise the last thing I want to do is make you feel bad about your circumstances," Nash whispered. "I just want to be there for you because I care about you. I know you don't believe it, but I care about you a lot. That's why I've been trying to help you for weeks now."

"I just don't understand," Chloe whispered. "Why do you care so much about me? When you know... When you know about my life and me. I've been nothing but annoying to you these past few weeks. Does this make you feel better? Pitying me?"

"Enough about the pity! Why do you have to assume that everything is out of pity. Why can't I just care about you and want to help you because that's what you do when you care for someone. You be there for them."

Chloe found her chest rising and falling rapidly. It became hard to breathe. Nash's eyes were so intense, so focused on her and his words threw her into a loop. Nash cared about her. He kept repeating that he did, but yet she found it hard to believe. How could someone like him ever care about her?

"Where did this come from?" Chloe asked, her words coming out fast and strained. "You never cared about me before. All you ever wanted was to beat me and now after you know about my home situation, you suddenly became more gentle. You have to understand how that makes me feel."

Nash tensed. His eyes grew hard and his body became rigid. But, his eyes remained locked on Chloe's. "You know why."

"What do you mean I know why? I don't know why. And I've been so confused these past few weeks. Over you. Over your change. Over everything."

Now Nash seemed afraid. His body shuddered. His eyes grew wide with panic, but Chloe didn't back down and it didn't seem like Nash would either. That was the one thing they had in common. They were both annoyingly stubborn.

"It's because..." Nash began, gulping. "I..."

"Because you pity me. Just be honest and-"

Nash cut her off with a kiss. Chloe gasped against his lips, caught off guard by the suddenness of it. One second she was yelling at him and now his lips was on hers, molding onto hers perfectly, and his hands were on her hips. He kissed her passionately. With a longing that reached her toes, making them curl, but she kept her eyes open. She didn't kiss him back. Too stunned to react, all she could think was oh. Nash Andrews was kissing her. Her rival. Her fellow Elite. The last guy she ever expected to kiss her.

Nash pulled away, his face flushed and his lips parted. He took a shuddering breath in and Chloe remained frozen. She was the opposite of snow white. Instead of awakening from a kiss, she had fallen into a slumber. In a trance, she could do nothing but stare at Nash who looked like Prince Charming.

"Now do you understand?" Nash whispered, his voice cracking. He seemed both embarrassed and pained, and Chloe still couldn't react. "It's because..."

He ran his hand down his face, his embarrassment clear and Chloe's heart went out to him. Say something. She wanted to say something - everything, but too stunned to think straight, she could only lamely say the one thing on her mind.

"I'm so confused."

"By what? By what I did. Did you not realize why I always tried to spend time with you? Why I'm so desperate to help you. Why I want to be gentle with you and only you? It's because I like you, Chloe. You're the only thing I can think about lately."

Chloe teared up, stunned by the confession. Her entire world felt like it turned upside-down. Because how could Nash Andrews like her? Her, pathetic, poor Chloe. He could do so much better and she wondered if he was delusional. Because how else could he think Chloe was worthy of him.

"This is all too much," Chloe said, tears streaming down her face now. "I'm sorry."

She whirled around and sprinted off, uncaring when Nash called after her, his own voice cracking. She kept running and running, her vision blurred from her tears. Because how? How could he like her? How could something good be happening to her life when her life had been one tragedy after another her entire life. This had to be a joke and Chloe told herself to forget about Nash. Because often, good things were yanked away before you were ready.