27. Standing up.

[Emily]

Olivia and her minions looked at me in shock, it took a while for them to recover, Emily had shied away from conflict as was usual but Emilia had come out to face her bullies.

"Oh, are you suddenly mute now?" I asked them and Jenny laughed behind me.

"You think you're so brave now because you have Ace and this brute behind you but let me just tell you, you'll always be that nerd no one cares about, Ace is just using you, when he tires of you, he'll dump you like—"

"Like he did you right?" I interrupted Olivia and her face turned red, and even around us gasped and chuckled, even her minions.

"You stupid bitch." She yelled and raised her hand towards me but Jenny pushed me aside and caught her hand.

"No, you don't." Jenny shook her head and she snatched back her hand angrily.

"I'm not done with you, you bitch, you'll see, I'll find you, I'll find you alone and you'll take back your words, I promise you."

"Get outta here." Jenny chased her away and she left seething with anger.

"Hey, you did it." Jenny turned to me and hugged me. "I'm proud of you, you stood up for yourself." She said and I laughed.

"I guess I did, she won't be bothering me in the future anymore."

"Get out of the way." Someone yelled and we moved to the side, Vicky Owens the School's princess was passing and no one was meant to be in her way.

She was a senior like Ace and many junior girls looked up to her, Olivia worshipped the floor she walked on and wanted to be her in senior year.

"What's our next class anyway?" Jenny asked me as Vicky walked past.

"Do you think the rumors are true?" I asked her.

"What rumors?"

"About Vicky and Ace."

"I mean they're going to be voted Prom King and Queen." She said and I felt an unfamiliar feeling well up in me.

"But that doesn't mean they're involved."

"We're still talking about Ace right and Vicky, you have seen how hot she is, all the students and teachers want her, I'm sure Ace has seen and tapped that ass." She said and I frowned.

"Enough, let's just get to class," I said and walked ahead of her.

"Hey, chill." She walked up to me. "Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I for one am team Ace, but you gotta understand the reality of the matter, I don't think Ace is one to be exclusive."

"It's not like that." I shook my head and tried to deny it.

"Whatever you say." She smiled and we walked on.

"Yeah, that reminds me, my mom is working overtime tonight, we can hang out at your place or mine after school."

"Oh, um, that's great but um…"

"You have somewhere to be, Jen?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I have after school lessons with Mr. Ivan." She said and quickly walked away.

"Mr. Ivan." I stood rooted to the spot and when it clicked I chuckled and ran after her. "You don't have problems with English, Jen."

"What?"

"You know very well that you can hear me, spill it, Jen."

"Look Emily, I don't ask about your relationship with Ace, you don't ask about mine."

"What, I have no relationship with Ace." I pouted.

"Yeah, exactly, let's get to class." She chuckled.

"So you'll leave me alone after school today?"

"No, I'll come by after I finish my lessons."

"Yeah, sure." I smiled.

Our classes went by really fast and I didn't see Ace throughout the whole day and though I tried to deny it to myself, I felt sad that I didn't see him at all.

I checked my phone every single time it chimed expecting a text from him and was sorely disappointed that I didn't get anything from him, no one even talked about him today.

By the end of school, I grew really restless. I checked for him at the field where he usually practiced with his team but he wasn't there. I went to check for his bike at the parking lot but it wasn't there either.

So it could only mean one thing, Ace didn't come to school today, it wasn't a surprising thing, he usually skipped school a lot but I guess I was used to seeing him in the halls, that today It felt weird.

"Looking for something?" A voice spoke behind me and I spun around immediately.

"Yeah, um, I mean, no."

"Shouldn't you be getting home, Emily?" He asked me and I nodded.

"I should," I said and turned around.

"Wait." He caught my arm before I walked too far. "You know you're really fast, you should consider joining track." He said.

"Really?" I looked up at him in shock.

"Yeah." He chuckled and then let go of my arm. "You know you have really pretty eyes."

"Dave." I blushed and looked down.

"I'm sorry for what happened at Olivia's party, I was just trying to make you feel welcomed, I shouldn't have led you to the backyard if I hadn't—"

"It's not your fault, Dave and I don't blame you, you were really nice to me, I'm thankful," I said and looked away from him again.

His gaze was pretty intense and I couldn't hold his stare for a long time.

"Let me drive you home." He said suddenly and I looked back at him.

"Um, okay."

"Let's go." He said and grabbed my hand, leading me to his car.

The drive home was nicer than I thought it would be, I thought it would be silent and awkward but it wasn't, Dave was really nice and he kept talking and he even made me laugh.

This was a side of him that I didn't think many people in school knew he had.

"Thanks for dropping me." I thanked him when he pulled up in front of my house.

"No problem, take care." He said and drove off.

"Who was that?" A voice bellowed behind me and I turned to see the person I'd longed to see all morning, Ace but he had a dark look on his face.