Chapter 3: Suspicious

I still wasn't talking to Victoria. I mean, I couldn't believe my best friend would say something like that about my first ever boyfriend. I knew Daniel was a good guy. He treated me right, and he never talked to other girls. So why would she make up a lie, about some cheating nonsense? It made me even angrier, just thinking about it.

Daniel and I were walking down the hallway, to the bathrooms. It was after school, and he was supposed to drive me over to his place after he was done using the restroom. I stood out by the water fountain, looking around at some of the art projects the art teacher had hung up, when I saw Kade round the corner.

Damn. I thought. Why did I always have to bump into him in school when I was alone?

When he saw me, he smirked, and made his direction toward me. My palms were already shaking, sweat dripping down my back as he stopped in front of me, glancing at the men's restroom.

"Waiting for you little boy toy to come out?" He asked. His eyes were dark and unwelcoming, his voice more cold and bitter than usual.

"He's not my boy toy." I said softly. "And yes."

"You don't see what most people see in him princess, do you?"

"Don't call me that."

"He's gonna break your heart." His voice was husky, low. I stared at him in surprise. "I've heard things about him. He's not the guy for you."

"And I've heard things about you, too." I snapped back. "You breaking hearts, getting in trouble with the teachers and the police."

He chuckled, his eyes having that troublesome twinkle.

"Well, you don't need to believe me, baby." He said. "Just don't come crying to me when I'm right and he smashes your heart."

Weird. Because that's almost exactly what Victoria said. My gosh, what was up with people lately?

"I won't, because I know what you're saying isn't true." I growled lowly.

"I'm just trying to protect you, sweetheart." He took a couple small steps closer, so his face was inches from mine, his intent eyes looking down at me in interest. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I told you, I won't. And I don't understand why you would want to protect me, you don't even know me."

"Mm, so much to learn." His voice was so seductive, so low, it sent shivers down my body. My breath became shaky as he gazed into my eyes for a while, and then, he sighed, a grin appearing on his face. "I'll come back later, baby." And then, he walked past me without another word, continuing down the hallway. I stared at his back. I seriously wondered about him. He always knew how to make me nervous. I could understand why girls fell for him so easily.

But I didn't like him. I kept telling myself I hated Kade Lander. He meant nothing to me. Just a strange, dangerous bad boy, looking out for me. Or maybe it was just an act. I hoped so.

"Wanna play again?" I asked. Daniel and I were cuddling on his bed, playing Mario Kart. He sighed, and then, his phone vibrated against both of our legs, and he took it out of his pocket and read the person that texted him. I looked over to see who it was, but he kind of turned it away, and quickly stood up.

I frowned, a suspicious feeling growing in my heart.

"Uh, I'll be right back." He scratched behind his neck nervously, and then, he left the room. I frowned as I looked down at my legs. What would Daniel be hiding from me? Could Victoria and Kade be right? No, no. Daniel loved me. I knew he did. He would never betray me in such a terrible way.

I was really thinking of eavesdropping on him though. I crawled out of bed, and then stopped myself. Stop it, Lana. If you really loved Daniel, you would trust him. And I did. I loved Daniel so much. So I sighed, and sat back down on the bed for maybe 10 minutes, when Daniel came back inside.

"Um, who was that?" I asked, raising my eyebrows as he slowly sat on the bed, still looking at his phone screen.

"Just a friend." He muttered, sliding his phone on his end table, and then, he grabbed me, and pulled me back to his side. As we turned off the video games and started watching TV, I felt like I was melting away from Daniel. Why couldn't he tell me who he just talked to? I eventually shrugged it off, and drifted into a heavy, yet slightly uncomfortable sleep.

I was thinking so hard over the weekend. I was stressed out; from Daniel, from Victoria, from Kade.

First, my boyfriend is hiding something from me, and my best friend and I refuse to talk to each other, and now a bad boy jumps in the middle of it? I hated high school.

When I got back to school, I had bags under my eyes, and my face was colourless. I didn't sleep much. I missed Victoria. I wanted Daniel. I wanted to push Kade away.

I kind of ignored Daniel. He approached, but only once, which was highly unusual. He didn't even ask about my depressed looks, he just talked to me for a couple minutes, saw one of his friends, and ran off. Felt great.

Anyway, I saw Victoria during lunch. She was sitting with some other girls, and once she saw me, she sadly turned to look away. My heart ached to sit next to her and laugh. I sat with my other friends. They asked why I was so silent, and I just said I didn't feel well.

And while I was waiting outside after school for Jaxon to pick me up, I bumped into Kade, who was currently smoking with all his stoner friends. He saw me, and jogged over, a cocky smirk on his face.

"Princess." He said. His breath reeked of smoke and liquor. "How nice to see you again."

"Leave me alone Lander, I'm not in the mood." I growled, looking out in the parking lot for a blue pickup truck.

"Damn." Kade looked out in the parking lot too, and then at me. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"My brother." I said angrily. "He's supposed to pick me up."

"I can drive you home." Kade winked at me. "Or maybe take you over to my place."

"Whore." I mumbled, and his face turned into surprise. I could see flames of anger rise in his eyes, but I was not in the mood for caring. Plus, Jaxon's car pulled up, and I left Kade standing there alone, feeling pretty good about myself, for once.