E i g h t : Build a Badass

"Have you heard?" Dylan says as we walk towards the food court. "That sophomore girl, Andrea, has been expelled."

The casual announcement hits me like a bullet, and I almost stop walking. "What?"

"I don't know how," he mutters, his face solemn. "This new Principal has eyes in the back of his head, I swear. Five days into a new semester, and he's already kicking this girl out for having weed in her locker. He didn't search any others. Just hers."

"Someone must have told on her," Miko says faintly from my left. Dylan nods.

She must sense my immediate discomfort, because her hand finds mine and squeezes tightly. I glance at her as inconspicuously as I can with Dylan present, attempting to translate my panic. We both know exactly how this girl has been kicked out of school- it must be from another of the Principal's dirty-workers. If one of the five is already gone in less than a week, that means my time is running out. Discomfort surges through my stomach like nausea.

"I just wanted to tell you because I know you've been up to some questionable stuff with Chase," Dylan says softly, re-capturing my attention. "It might not be the best time to start living out your rebel fantasies, Ricky. This new Principal is hammering down."

My reply is weak. "Thanks for the warning, Dyl."

He bumps my shoulder teasingly, but his grey eyes betray his concern. "Just don't be too dumb. Chase told me about what happened at the diner on Wednesday."

I almost wince. "Don't worry, I took care of that."

"Took care of it?"

I nod, squeezing Miko's hand tighter. "Don't tell Chase about this but I sent money to the diner after hours, plus a little apology for not paying before we left. I figured that they won't bother reporting the issue to the cops if they get the money."

"That's probably a good idea," Dylan says, smiling crookedly. "Look at you, you've known Chase for less than a week and you're already a criminal."

"I would like to make it known that Erika Monroe has been a bad bitch for far longer than a week," Miko pipes up. "She's just experimenting a little."

"I don't feel like a bad bitch," I mutter. "I feel like a sad bitch."

"Better let me carry some of that baggage then," Dylan teases, snatching my shopping bags away from my hand and looping them over his arm easily. The gesture brings a smile back to my face despite my unease. It's hard not to smile when I'm seeing the captain of the football team strutting around with a half-naked Abercrombie model smouldering on his arm.

"What?" Dylan follows my gaze to my shopping bags and grins. "Am I looking fabulous right now?"

"Hella fabulous," I tease. "Work it, baby. Work it."

Miko and I laugh as he messes up his hair to bedhead-chic and pouts exaggeratedly. The room suddenly feels less constricting and warm, and my steps get lighter and lighter until the anxiety in my chest is almost gone. Left behind, as usual, is the familiar churn of hunger.

"Where do you both want to eat?" I ask absentmindedly, already scanning the food court for options. I ignore the crowded seating area in the centre of the room and focus on the brightly lit restaurants and take-outs around the perimeter. As I'm examining a pizza take-out with interest, I spot the familiar faces standing in front of it.

"Look who's over there," Miko chimes, beating me to it. The pom pom earrings she's wearing bounce happily as she nods in the direction of the pizzeria.

They've noticed us too. Riley waves at us, then beckons us over.

"Let's go and say hi." I grab Dylan's arm and tug us into action.

When we finally reach the opposite side of the food court, my greeting is slightly breathless. "Well, fancy seeing you here."

"Small town life," Riley says in a bubbly tone. She's standing at the front of their little group, holding Alec's hand. Chase and Violet are standing beside them and Joe is ordering at the pizza counter. He offers us an excited wave.

"Are you guys hungry?" Alec smirks, glancing sideways at Chase. "We're about to order some pizza if you'd like to join us."

"Like we'd say no to pizza," Miko scoffs. She releases my hand and dances forwards a few steps to situate herself next to Violet, effectively integrating the two groups.

"Do you want me to order for you?" Dylan asks me. I nod and quickly slide our shopping bags free from his arm. I trust that he knows my taste by now.

"You're an angel. I'll give you the money later."

"Yeah, yeah."

Grinning, I follow Miko's footsteps and approach the girl with dark purple hair and a wicked grin. Riley joins us a second later, our shopping bags bumping clumsily.

"How was the hangover, Erika?" Violet teases, raising her eyebrow. "You were covered in blood the last time I saw you, so I'm guessing painful."

"Meh." I shrug. "Probably not as painful as Max's nose."

Before I can help it, my gaze flits over to Chase. He's talking to Alec, a few steps out of hearing-reach, running his hand through his messy hair.

"People haven't stopped talking about that kick. I wish I could have seen it."

"He's deserved a kick in the face for a while," Miko adds.

"I really love your earrings," Riley says randomly, leaning forward to admire the pink pom poms dangling from Miko's ear lobes. "Did you make them yourself?"

Miko smiles, tucking an inky braid behind her ear. "Yeah I dabble in jewellery in my free time. Erika has had to try on some questionable creations in the years she's known me."

"The spider ones you made me for Halloween were the worst. Far too realistic."

"No way, I love spiders," Violet says with wide eyes. "Can you make me some? I won't even save them for Halloween, I'll wear them every day."

Miko snickers. "I can but I warn you, they deter people."

I wince at the memory. "I was flirting with a guy, and I tucked my hair behind my ear. He screamed so loud that he scored us both detentions."

My story does not have the anticipated effect on Violet. Instead, she's looking at me with awe. "They'll look cute and keep people away from me? Where can I buy them?"

Just as Miko is about to reply, a voice interrupts from behind my shoulder.

"Erika doesn't need the help of earrings to deter guys."

I smirk and spin around on my heel, coming face to face with none other than the intensely irritating Chase Thatcher. He's remarkably close, my face inches from his toned chest, and he's staring down at me with those decadent brown eyes glinting with amusement.

"And yet," I say. "I need something even more potent than earrings to deter you."

One corner of his mouth tugs up into a half-smile, and his teeth slide out to catch it and hold it there. He doesn't give me any response as his eyes lazily scan over my face.

"You don't seem very deterred right now," I mutter.

"It's called fascination with the grotesque," he quips, wrinkling his nose. "People can't look away from gross things."

"Strange," Violet says, appearing beside me and bumping my shoulder. "Everyone else at school thinks she's gorgeous. Oh wait...so do you."

Before he can muster a response, Violet is sliding past me towards the pizzeria counter, followed quickly by Miko and Riley. Riley winks at me as she brushes by.

"Why don't you two go and grab some ketchup for the fries? Just be careful that things don't get too saucy, we are in a public place after all."

My mouth falls open. Those devious little-

"Machiavellians," Chase mutters.

"Bad mood?"

"A bit," he admits. He grabs me by the crook of the elbow and leads me towards a side counter, containing paper straws, sauces and salt. "What's your mood like today?"

I grab a handful of salt sachets, humming under my breath. "Today's forecast is bitchy with a ninety five percent chance of 'too tired to function.' Scattered sass and partial aggression should also be expected later in the afternoon."

Chase's shoulder brushes mine, his chuckle sending the hairs on the back of my neck into an electrifying sense of paralysis. He begins to select ketchup sachets agonisingly slowly. "You seemed like you were in a pretty good mood earlier, with Dylan."

I glance over at Dylan, who's standing at the pizzeria counter and laughing with Joe and Miko. "He knows how to cheer me up."

"He's well practiced in the art of making girls smile."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugs.

"Squidge," I say sharply, plucking a straw from the glass container and pressing it into his chest firmly. "If you're going to be rude, you should just take one of these straws and go and suck the fun out of somebody else's day."

I try to ignore the muscle under my fingertips, but I can't. I whisk my hand away like I've burned it, and in some ways I have. I hate to admit it, but Chase Thatcher is hot. Smoking hot. Surface of the sun hot. I hurriedly begin to gather ketchup sachets, avoiding his gaze. The sooner I get to the table, the better.

"Ouch," I hear him say. "I just didn't realise you two were close. He doesn't seem like the type of person you would hang out with."

"And why is that?"

"He's very...good. And I didn't think that was the image you wanted."

My mood has turned sour now. "Oh, just go and stick your dick in a Venus flytrap, would you?"

"A Venus flytrap?"

"They eat bugs, and you, Chase Thatcher, are bugging me."

Just as I'm turning away, his hand latches onto my arm and pulls me back. A couple of straws fall to the floor and I huff with irritation. Chase's warm hand releases my arm and we kneel simultaneously to collect the fallen items. He's about five inches away from me but I refuse to look up and create eye contact.

"I'm not trying to piss you off."

"Well then I guess you're just effortlessly good at it," I say, standing up.

"You want to change your reputation, don't you?" Chase has the audacity to block me from walking again. I peer in frustration over his shoulder, watching Dylan sit down with the others. If this lump would move, I could be sitting down too. "A bad girl wouldn't hang around with the perfect types like him."

"What would a bad girl do then, Chase?" I ask with a scoff, throwing my hands up. "Steal the straws? Graffiti with the ketchup?"

"That's not what this is all about. It's about not caring what people think."

"You're such a hypocrite," I hiss, shoving past him. "Why should I care about what people think about me hanging out with Dylan then?"

The group look up as I head over, and I drop the sachets onto the table. A lanky adolescent waiter is currently serving the pizzas. I long to join them but Chase grabs me again before I can. He really needs to stop doing that, before I kick that dough, passata and cheese as far up his ass as it can go. That'll give him a pizza my mind.

"Okay, you've got a point." Chase says simply. "I'm sorry."

I scowl. "It's not me you should apologise to."

Holding my arm loosely, he pulls me back towards the quieter area in front of the counter. "Can we talk about this, gorgeous?"

"There's nothing to talk about. I will hang out with who I want, when I want and however the hell I want. No discussion."

He raises his palms in surrender. "Okay, I'm sorry."

The tension in my chest fizzles away, and my glare softens. "Good."

His smile returns and he reaches out an arm to hook over my shoulders, squeezing affectionately as we walk back to the table. "I think we just had our first fight, Erika."

"Next time I'll use my fists," I threaten, slipping out from under his arm to sit at a seat at the end of the table, beside Violet. Chase ducks into the seat opposite me, and before even pausing to look at his own pizza, reaches across the table to grab my hand.

"These tiny things?" He makes a scoffing sound and releases it.

"Small hands make other things look bigger, Chase," Joe says.

"Like pizza," Violet finishes. "The ones in front of you."

For the first time, I notice the thin-crust pizza on my plate. Dylan knows how much I love ham and pineapple pizza, even though he thinks it's the worst thing in the world. We fight about it every time we get takeout. I smile at him, and he pulls a face.

"Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza," Alec informs me. "It belongs in hell."

"We have that in common." I say, lifting a slice to my mouth.

"Does anyone have a milkshake that I can dip my fries into?" Miko asks from the other end of the table, resting her elbow on the table. "I don't like ketchup."

"Milkshake?" Joe repeats incredulously. "For fries?"

"Yeah, can I borrow yours?"

Hesitantly, Joe reaches out and pushes his vanilla milkshake towards her. He watches with disgust as Miko dips two fries into his drink and then pops them into her mouth whole. She makes a sweet humming noise, then gives a thumbs up.

"You two have weird eating habits," Riley says simply.

I shake my head. "Riley, you're the one putting ketchup on your pizza."

"I don't see how that's weird in any way. It's literally extra tomato sauce."

"You're just wrong, Greene." Alec wrinkles his nose. "It's gross."

"You're gross," she fires back.

As the group launches into a discussion about eating habits, I find myself gazing out around the restaurant as I chew. The pizzeria is small, with only a few workers behind the cherry red counter. Ivy hangs from the wall lights and there's a sign above the counter which reads Tasty in sparking blue LEDs. I smile when I notice that all the workers have the phrase stitched into their baseball caps. What a company uniform.

"What are you smiling at?" Chase asks me, through a mouthful of pizza.

"Their caps." I point at our waiter, a boy of around fifteen years old with a spotty complexion and an adorable smile. "Look how tasty they are. I want one."

"Go and get one."

I turn back to Chase, frowning. "What?"

He's got that cheeky half-smile on his face. "Go and grab it."

I laugh scathingly. "I think I've had enough stealing for one week, thanks."

Chase bites his lip. Then, without warning, he twists in his seat and calls the boy over. The teenager looks up in surprise, his eyes widening and the spray-bottle he's using to clean the tables faltering in mid-air. He stumbles around the tables towards us.

"What can I help you with?" He asks when he reaches us, his gaze flitting nervously around our large table. He must feel intimidated.

"I'll give you twenty bucks if you give me your hat."

My mouth falls open. Conversation around the table has ceased now and we're all staring at Chase in surprise. The boy blinks a few times in quick succession.

"My hat?"

"Your tasty hat," Chase clarifies. "The one on your head."

"Twenty bucks?" The boy laughs in disbelief. "Deal!"

He can't get it off quickly enough. In a matter of seconds, the cherry red baseball cap with blue stitching is in Chase's hand and the boy is skipping off smugly with a twenty-dollar bill tucked into his back pocket. I can scarcely believe what's just happened. Nobody at the table is talking, they're all watching Chase with equal surprise.

He seems unphased by the attention. Casually, he leans over the table to hook the baseball cap over my head. The momentum of the action pulls me forwards a few inches towards him, and he utilises our proximity to straighten the cap over my hair.

"Consider it an apology gift."

For once in my life, I am utterly and completely speechless.

Then I hear the angry shriek of the woman behind the counter. "Remy, you better not be selling marijuana in my restaurant again!"

"It's okay, Mom! It was just my hat!"

"Your hat?" A large red-haired woman appears from the side-door beside the counter, her hands on her hips and a ferocious expression on her face. "Do you mean to tell me you just sold your company uniform, Remigius St. James?!"

Her gaze lands on me. Her thick eyebrows furrow.

"Ready to run?" Chase asks me.

I barely have time to laugh before we're out of our seats, sprinting away from the second restaurant this week with Remy at our heels.

*~*~*

"We have to go to build a bear."

"We are not going to build a bear."

"Come on," I whine, pointing towards the colourful fronting, where lines of nostalgic teddy bears are positioned in bright, funky outfits. I look at Chase pleadingly, but he's purposefully avoiding it. He groans and stares down at the floor in exasperation.

"I don't even want a bear," I promise. "I just want a photo of you holding one, so that I can humiliate you. Then we can leave."

"Choose somewhere else." Chase shakes his head and laughs slightly, meeting my eyes at last. "I have never entered that shop and I am not ever planning to."

"Chase Evan Thatcher," I threaten, grabbing his arm. I manage to pull him a good few steps towards the store before his arm escapes my grip.

"Erika whatever-your-middle-name-is Monroe," he mimics.

"I dare you." I tug at his sleeve again.

He blinks at my challenge, hesitates a few seconds and finally releases an exasperated sigh. Mumbling something under his breath, he allows me to pull him towards the store. I can't help but smile. The one thing an arrogant guy like him cannot shy away from is a challenge. The window is filled with gorgeous teddy bears and Chase shudders as we step into the bright interior. Everybody in this shop is either a child or parent, and the woman behind the check-out frowns at us.

"Right," I say, pulling my Polaroid camera from my bag and directing it at Chase, "Grab a bear of your choice and pose with it."

Chase stares at me for a second with a dubious expression. He doesn't think I'm serious. I'll show him serious.

"Go," I order, shooing him towards a rack of beautiful bears that I would have killed for as a child. I was one of those unfortunate children that never received a Build-a-Bear.

Chase stares at the rack in front of him, before turning back to me. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly."

He clicks his tongue on the back of his teeth, turning towards the rack. Glass eyes stare back at him as he browses, and I watch him reach for a small bear on a lower shelf. The bear is wearing a leather jacket and a white build-a-bear t shirt, with converse style shoes and a pair of dark ray bans on. The fur on the top of its head is styled into a quiff.

"Build a Badass." He says with a grin, showing it to me.

"Perfect. Strike a pose," I order, pulling the camera to my eye and watching him through the lens. He grits his teeth in a very sarcastic smile and holds the bear awkwardly stretched out in front of him.

"No, no, no. You need to show me the love, Chase."

"Erika," he growls warningly.

"Give me some passion! I want to see how much you love that bear."

Chase rolls his eyes at me. Then, for a split second, he pulls the bear into his neck and hugs it tightly with a dazed smile on his face. I snap the picture just before his silly joke ends, and he shoves the teddy back into its position on the shelf. I hiss in excitement as the gloss paper rolls from the bottom of the camera, grabbing the edge and flapping the picture through the air as the colours begin to show.

Wiping his hands on his shirt, he grabs me by the elbow and pulls me out of the shop, while I'm still flapping the Polaroid around for the picture to load.

"Erika! Chase!" Riley's voice sounds the moment we step out of the shop. She and the others are all making their way towards us. They all look incredibly confused.

"Dude, did you just come out of the 'Build-a-Bear' shop?" Alec asks Chase in an incredulous tone.

"No," Chase retorts defensively, but the smirk on Joe's face indicates that they can see through his lie as if it's glass.

"I have proof," I sing happily, shoving the Polaroid into Joe's hands. The three boys lean over to see the picture, snickering at their thoroughly embarrassed Chase-shaped friend.

Chase is glaring at the floor.

Violet grabs the photo from the boys and shows it to Miko and Riley. Soon, all of them are chuckling at Chase. Dylan hands me my shopping bags.

"Thanks for leaving these with me," he says, rolling his eyes. "Come on, we need to get going. My Dad needs me home."

"Okay." I can't help feeling slightly disappointed. I turn back to the others with a weak smile. "I guess I'll see you guys at school."

Miko and I share hugs with Riley and Violet, and awkwardly wave goodbye to the guys. Together, the three of us begin walking away from the group, towards the exit to the parking lot. I can't help but feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. I had a lot of fun.

"Wait, you forgot this!" Violet calls after us. A few seconds later, her hand wraps over my shoulder to pull me to a stop. She pushes the Polaroid into my bag. "Keep that, it's a piece of art. Never, ever lose it. Oh, and send me a picture of it on Snapchat."

"Deal," I laugh.

Violet's hand falls and she smiles breathlessly. "Oh, and also, Chase has a message for you."

"What?"

"He said, and I quote: 'Bye, gorgeous.'" Violet's eyes twinkle with amusement. "He's over there getting teased by the others right now. Anyway, I should go. Talk to you soon, okay?" She takes off running, leaving me standing there like an idiot.

I touch my baseball cap and fight to keep the smile from my lips.

Bye Squidge.

A/N: Big shoutout to the OG readers who have been waiting literally 5 years for me to continue this book. You are all angels, and I could never <3

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! It's a bit longer than usual, you scored yourselves 20% extra content ;)

DEDICATION TO A COMMENTER BC WHY NOT

See you later alligators, 
Cherry x