05

« Hell yeah he is, » Chloe replied, right about the same time you-know-who came flying around the corner with a vengeance. For the briefest of seconds, their eyes locked and the air between Justin and Chloe crackled with an electricity of epic proportions.

But as fast as the moment came, it disappeared. Justin’s face distorted into an angry mask of fury. Any normal person may have felt rebuffed, but Chloe considered herself anything but normal. She just smiled sweetly and waved her fingers at him.

He snarled and pointed his finger directly at her, mouthing the words this is not over.

Chloe’s smile never once wavered as she grabbed Erica’s arm, and mouthed back to him, bring it, big boy. The two girls haughtily walked right on past him as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

« Believe me baby, I will, » Justin announced out loud and before she could say anything, he spun on his heels and exited the hallway.

When she turned around to retort, he was gone. She simply shrugged her shoulders. After all, all is fair in love and war.

Erica headed off for her English class and Chloe made her way to Spanish. After this class, the two would meet up again for lunch. Chloe’s stomach growled, reminding her that she missed breakfast and she could hardly wait for this class to end because she was starved. Evidently, playing a player had worked up quite an appetite.

Halfway through her Spanish class, she notice that a piece of folded up paper landed on her desk. Chloe lifted her head and glanced around to see where it came from. To her left, there was a guy with rich auburn hair and the greenest eyes that she had ever seen who was smiling back at her. Her first inclination was to hand the note back without reading it because everything about the guy screamed Player Central. But then her curiosity got the best of her and after a second thought, she decided to open the note anyway.

Great job with Pinnix. I really like your style. It was about time that someone gave him a dose of his own medicine.

Troy

She quickly folded the paper back up and stuffed it in her back pocket. She looked up at Troy and smiled at him. She tilted her head in acknowledgment. His smile widened into a full-fledged grin and he winked back at Chloe. She dropped her head and shook it in disdain. It took everything in her to not roll her eyes at him. He was definitely another player.

The bell then rang and Chloe jumped up from her desk. Finally, it was lunch time. She grabbed her bag and stuffed her notebook in it. All of her thoughts were centered on food. In her haste to get out of the class room, she didn’t realize that Troy was right behind her. When she spun around, she smacked her nose into his extremely hard chest.

« Ow, » she mumbled and rubbed at her now sore nose. She felt his sturdy hands grip her lightly by the shoulders in an effort to steady her.

« Are you okay ? » He asked and for a moment Chloe had a weird sensation of déjà vu.

« I’m fine, » she answered him with a little bit of bite in her tone. She didn’t want to deal with this guy right now. She had other things of importance on her mind. Namely, pizza with lots of cheese and ranch dressing. As far as she was concerned, he was impeding her progress to satisfy her stomach.

Troy held his hands up in surrender, « Sorry, » he said. And that damnable grin of his lit up his face, « I just wanted to get your name if that’s okay with you. »

Chloe huffed out a breath of irritation. Staring back at him, she silently weighed her options. The easiest thing she could do, would be to give him her name so that she could leave as planned. But would that be the smartest thing to do ? Her stomach growled, this time loud enough for Troy to hear and he chuckled which only fed her irk.

« Chloe, » she found herself breathing out her name, « My name is Chloe. » And not wanting to take the chance that he would delay her any longer ; she turned away from him and quickly walked away.

As she was leaving she heard him repeat her name.

« Chloe, it suits you, » he said while she continued to walk out of the room. She couldn’t do anything but shake her head. She didn’t think that she would ever be able to figure guys out. They were the most peculiar of species. One minute hot, the next cold. It only reaffirmed her belief that the best way to deal with them, was to stay away from them.

Going down the hall, Chloe began to notice a lot of people were staring in her direction and snickering. She slowed her walk as she headed for the cafeteria and tried to figure out what it was that everyone found so funny. At first she wondered if she may have started early and maybe she had something on her pants and then instantly she mentally calculated the days and knew that just wasn’t possible. Then she wondered if maybe she had something on her face. Chloe suddenly decided to make a little detour to the restroom to double-check and make sure nothing was out of place.

When she reached the bathroom there was another group of people huddled in front of the door. None of them noticed Chloe standing there ; they all seemed fascinated with whatever it was that was tacked on the door. Losing all of her patience because she was beyond starving now, she yelled out, « Excuse me, do you guys mind ? A girl’s got to go when a girl’s got to go, you know ! »

Every student in the group turned around at the same time and with expressionless faces, they slowly parted for her like Moses parted the Red Sea. Feeling a little self-conscious and maybe even a little like she had just entered the twilight zone, Chloe glanced at everyone as she started for the bathroom door. When she went to open the door she spotted exactly what everyone had been looking at. It was a poster that had her own picture glued to it. The message listed below that picture was what really stunned her the most.

DESPERATE SINGLE WHITE FEMALE

SEE PICTURE BELOW

***IN NEED OF STICK REMOVAL***

LOOKING FOR AN EXPERIENCED PERSON

TO REMOVE STICK LODGED IN THE ANAL AREA.

CALL 555-4281 IF INTERESTED.

Everyone behind her erupted in fits of laughter. Chloe growled under her breath and with both hands angrily ripped the poster off the door. One of the girls standing to her side said, « There are more of them. » She looked over at her friend and grinned, « They are posted all over the school. »

Chloe narrowed her eyes in the girl’s direction and watched her flinch back from the icy vibes that she was directing strictly at her. She had no doubts as to who the mastermind was behind this little stunt. He must be delusional if he thinks that he can play with the likes of her and actually win.

« Ha ! » Chloe cackled hysterically out loud.

He’s lost his freaking mind, she thought to herself. This boy really had no idea exactly who it was that he was messing with. Now, she told herself, it’s time to play hardball. This means war.

It had been twenty four hours since Chloe had last berated Justine for the poster incident. He thought the scene had been rather comical, especially the way that she marched right up to him and proceeded to give him a big piece of her mind.

He was with the guys of course and by the time that she had finished with her rant, they were in hysterics, all but rolling on the floor.

Ivan even joked with the girl and offered to help relieve her of that stick problem she seemed to have. She promptly rewarded him with a loud smack on the face and then just as pretty as you please, she turned on her heels and walked off, leaving an icy trail in her wake.

But really, what did the chick expect ? She embarrassed me, Justin though to himself. Me of all people, Justin Pinnix, in front of the entire school. Retaliation was all but inevitable and he couldn’t help but to think that the payback he delivered was pretty damn funny himself.