Chapter 9: Chapter Eight

31/08/12: This chapter has been edited.

Thank you so much to BrambleBriar for the banner! I love it :D

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Connor’s speeding.

And when I say “speeding”, I don’t mean going the odd five miles over the limit that any normal person will sometimes do. Oh, no. The definition of “speeding” in reference to Connor means hurtling down the street at a pace closer to the speed of light rather than the limit of the road.

And quite frankly, I’m scared for my life.

Gripping the edge of the fabric seat, I steal a glance at him behind the wheel. However, Connor doesn’t seem to share the same fear-stricken expression as me, and is watching the road ahead of him with such a relaxed air that you’d think he was waiting calmly at a stoplight. My eyes flicker over his face, mostly in disbelief at how he can keep his cool in such a potentially dangerous situation.

I’m not being melodramatic. All it’d take is for a car to pull out from its driveway, and we’d go crashing into them just milliseconds after they came into view.

Crap. Now that mental image is burned into my mind, only increasing my terror.

I’m biting my lip anxiously when Connor notices me staring out of the corner of his eye. Instantly his head snaps toward me, shooting me a sharp icy glare.

“What?”

“Keep your eyes on the road!” I scold.

A flicker of amusement crosses his irises. “God, don’t be so touchy. We’re not even going fast.”

“Yes, we are!” I say exasperatedly. “You’re going at least twenty miles over the limit! Slow down!”

Connor groans loudly, making a point of rolling his eyes and easing his foot off the accelerator until the car slows to a fraction over the limit. “God, you sound like my mom.”

“Excuse me for not wanting to die.”

I avert my gaze, choosing to focus on the view of the road past the windscreen rather than Connor’s face. The gray concrete disappears under us; rows of suburban houses, all practically identical, whip past the windows. As we continue driving through the streets, I notice the number on the speedometer slowly creeping up to where it had previously been residing.

“Seriously, can you slow down?” I say, my voice sounding a lot more whiny than I had intended. “I do have eyes, you know. I can see when you’re speeding again.”

“God, are you always this annoying?” Connor snaps, effectively cutting me off. “Constantly going on, complaining all the time... do you ever think to just leave me alone?”

I’m so startled by his outburst that I can’t form any coherent comeback. Instead, I just sit frozen to the spot, feeling stupider by the second.

“Thank God,” he mutters.

That’s when I snap. His sulky attitude I can handle, but sitting here while he throws insults my way is crossing the line. Anger surges through me, and suddenly, argumentative Georgie is being brought to the forefront.

And let me tell you, she doesn’t get out a lot.

“Seriously, Connor, what is your problem?” I ask, shooting him a glare to rival his own. “Why are you being like this to me? I haven’t done anything to you!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes remain glued to the road ahead.

“Oh, sure,” I say. “How about the way you cause a huge argument every time we come within three feet of each other? And hitting me with that dodgeball earlier – was that really necessary?”

“It’s dodgeball,” he answers, speaking as if I’m mentally challenged. “That’s the point of the game.”

“You’re not supposed to throw it at my head!”

“You were fine.”

“You gave me a bloody nose!”

He doesn’t have any response. Instead, he just rolls his eyes, which infuriates me even further.

“And it’s not just that, either. The way you acted in front of all those girls earlier. You’re so argumentative and moody around me, but for them you put on this great big flirty act. And you didn’t have to come out with that crap about the past in front of them.”

“I’ll say what I want,” he says, tightening his grip on the steering wheel as he comes to the end of the street and rounds the corner, “and I don’t care what you think.”

“And in the cafeteria?” I challenge, as I think back to lunch today. The memory’s still clear in my head, vivid as ever. Ava and I had been sitting at our usual table, minding our own business whilst deep in discussion about the hot senior transfer student she’d seen in the hallway after first period. It had been completely normal up until that point, but then Connor had made an exaggerated display of striding past our table and ignoring me, when just moments before he’d been making eye contact and flirting with pretty much every female in the room. And, to top it all off, when Charlotte had waved him over to the A-list table, he’d accepted her offer loudly, ensuring everyone heard his comment about “getting away from this table”.

“What about it? I went to sit with Charlotte. Is that a crime?”

“No, but it’s the way you act with all of them. I can see right through it. It’s so fake, the way you laugh along with them and flirt almost constantly. You don’t have to make eye contact and smirk at every female you see.”

If I’m honest, I don’t know why that’s getting me so riled up. What has Connor’s incessant flirting got to do with me? Nothing, really, but it still irritates me beyond belief. The arrogant way he was talking to Sophie, Jade and the other girls in the hall was just the start of it. There’s no reason for me to care, but still I feel ravenous for any tiny reason to hate Connor even more.

“Jealous?” he taunts.

I probably should’ve known that was coming. “No,” I retort, folding my arms over my chest and staring ahead stubbornly.

“Yeah, right.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm.

A pause follows, in which silence consumes the inside of the car. It’s uncomfortable and possesses an almost stifling quality. I tense, waiting for it to be broken; something has to shatter the awkwardness at one point or another. What I’m not expecting, however, is exactly how this is done.

“You know, I bet this is the closest you’ve ever been to a guy since I left.”

“What?” My head spins round to stare incredulously at him, but he continues staring past the windscreen, refusing to even spare me a glance.

Did he really just say that?

“Oh, don’t even bother to deny it. I can tell just by the way you act that you’ve barely talked to a guy before.”

I open my mouth to retaliate, willing myself to think of something smart to say as my lips part aimlessly. The words seem to have got choked up in my throat, although I’m not convinced anything coherent, let alone clever, is there in the first place. So maybe Connor does have a point; I’m not the most experienced in the dating department…

Okay, okay, my experience is limited to absolute zero, but it’s not like I’m going to admit that to him. I’d rather confess to being  a complete slut (if Charlotte didn’t already have that covered) than tell him the truth.

“I’ve dated plenty of guys!” I force out eventually, tripping over my words in my haste to get them out of my brain and into the open air.

And the award for the least convincing answer goes to... multiple-time winner, Georgie Howard.

“Oh, sure...” he drawls, still smirking. “Name them.”

“Well, there was...” My voice trails off when I remember I’m absolutely awful at thinking under pressure. I suppose I could name any of the guys in my class, but I don’t want the danger of Connor asking them outright about our alleged dating escapades. Think of a name, Georgie! Any name! “There was... James...”

“Really? Was James a long-term boyfriend? How far did you go with grand old James?” he asks, obviously mocking me. “I’m guessing you’re still a virgin…”

“That’s none of your business!” I snap, sinking back into my seat whilst feeling my cheeks flush. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be almost luminous by the end of this conversation. I should’ve invested in some foundation with the covering power of wall plaster.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says, his voice containing undertones of amusement.

“Can you just shut up?” I yell, surprising even myself with the volume and severity of my voice. As the words hang in the air, the silence returns to the car, leaving only the rumble of the engine standing between us and complete stillness. “Just hurry up and drive me home.”

Connor says nothing, easing his foot onto the accelerator to increase the car’s speed. I breathe deeply as we continue along the street, growing nearer to our destination with every second. If I get out of this car instantly, it’ll be a million years too soon. Already I’m regretting my decision to ever go along with this; once again my laziness had come out victorious over my rational side at the prospect of a free ride home.

All I can think about is how much I hate Connor right now. He seems absolutely determined on making my life a misery, and he’s only been here three days. How am I going to cope with him being here permanently?

I dread to think.

As we round the corner of the street where both our houses are situated, I peer over at mine. Much to my dismay, my mom’s car is parked on the drive, and I can see the faint outline of her leaning inside, probably retrieving a pile of her students’ exercise books. Crap. I could really do without this right now. After the day I’ve had, all I want to do is lock myself in my room and distract myself with some loud music and chocolate.

Listening to my mom gush about my apparent crush on Connor is even less appealing now.

We pull up on their driveway, sitting in silence for a few moments as the steady growl of the engine diminishes into nothing. I stay rigid in my seat, not daring to move, even though I know full well it’s impossible to hide from Mom. Unless we back up off the drive and hurtle off in the opposite direction.

Which, I think, may be a little too obvious.

Just as the thought crosses my mind, she emerges from the depths of the car, slamming the door behind her. It’s then that she notices Connor’s Ford idling on the adjoining drive.

“Please,” I murmur, shattering the tense atmosphere, “keep quiet about any of this to either of our moms. It’ll be way easier for us if they think we’re friends.”

“Fine,” Connor responds reluctantly, sighing. “As long as I’m not forced into hanging out with you.”

Charming.

At this moment, Mom suddenly notices me sitting in the passenger seat. Her expression gives it all away; there’s no denying the way her blue eyes light up when she sees Connor and I together. As I smile forcibly back, I realize that we have totally made the right decision. If she knew the real situation between my ex-best friend and I, it’d crush her.

I wouldn’t put it past her to be planning our real wedding already.

“Hi, Mom.” I greet her with fake enthusiasm as I hop out of the passenger side of the car. As much as it kills me to act cheery right now, it’s got to be done.

“Georgie!” she says, her grin growing wider. “You decided to ride with Connor after all?”

“Um, yeah. He offered, so...” I tactfully skip over the part about me being physically assaulted by a red rubber ball and being sent to the nurse with a beat-up nose, courtesy of the same guy.

“It was no problem.”

I’m startled by the sound of Connor’s voice from behind me. My head spins round quickly, catching sight of his forced smile. Even I can see that it’s practically killing him to act happy, and I really want to laugh.

“Well, thanks...” I say awkwardly. “I’ll, um, see you around.”

“Yeah.”

And with that, he heads off. He jabs at the lock button on his car keys and makes his way up to the porch of his house, without bothering to say a proper goodbye. I stare at his retreating back, feeling my cheeks heat up again for reasons unknown. Why do I feel so... weird all of a sudden? Just minutes ago I had been arguing determinedly with him, unbelievably angered by his bad attitude and direct insults. My annoyance has disappeared now, replaced by something I can’t quite put my finger on.

“You two are so cute together.”

Suppressing a grimace, I turn back to my mom and prepare myself for a few hours of constant – most likely embarrassing – questions about mine and Connor’s relationship.

If only I wasn’t so damn confused about it myself.

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As we agreed, a day early :) I was in shock with the amount of support I got on the last chapter. 98 votes and 70-something comments? I've never had that on one chapter before. AND I'M #18 ON TEEN FICTION. Wooooooooooooo!

So, now I know you guys can do it, I'm going to be a little more demanding ;) 50 comments = upload on Saturday instead of Sunday :)

And... here's to still trying to get on the homepage! Until next time :)