Page 30 of Accidental Attraction

Chapter Ten

Lennon

Six Years Ago

The day started off just like any other, but thankfully it was Thursday. I had gotten up fifteen minutes late, which was making me rush to get ready for school. I didn’t have time to shower, so I quickly threw my brown hair into a messy ponytail before putting on a pair of black skinny jeans and a cute light pink top. With a little bit of makeup on, I slid my flats on and grabbed my bag and phone, booking it out the door. Yelling a quick goodbye to my parents, I jumped in my car and drove to school. I would have caught a ride with Liam and Blake, but they had to go to school early today for football practice.

Pulling into the school parking lot, I quickly made my way inside the building with a few others who were late. Thankfully I didn’t need any books for my first class, so I wouldn’t be late. I barely made it into my seat when the late bell rang. With an inaudible groan, I got my stuff out as my teacher started talking.

The only reason I could stand coming to school was because I had two great best friends who made it bearable. Thankfully they were in my all but two of my classes. Blake, Liam, and I had been friends since we were in first grade. Back then, I had just moved here with my parents and was being picked on by some of the kids because I was new. But Blake came to my rescue. He made the kids stop instantly. After making sure I was okay, he asked if I wanted to hang out with him and his friend from now on. Now we were juniors in high school together, and we were rarely seen apart.

Heading to my locker, I grinned when I saw someone familiar leaning against it. He was dressed in his usual low ride jeans and a t-shirt that hugged his frame. For only being seventeen, he was pretty muscular. He towered among the students. It was really because of football that he was in great shape. His blonde hair was wet from a shower he must have taken after practice this morning, and he had on a friendly smile.

“Art thou Blake William, waiting at my locker for me?” I asked, dramatically coming to a stop in front of him.

“Why, yes I am. You should feel very flattered,” he replied, smiling at me. I ignored the small flutter in my stomach. Going up to him, I shoved his huge body to the side so I could get to my locker.

“Move it, fatty,” I muttered, barely making him move.

“Hey, I am not fat! I am all muscle,” Blake said, flexing his arm. I rolled my eyes and squeezed past him to twist my locker combo. Pulling out my calculus and my history books, I slammed my locker shut. “What did that locker ever do to you, Lenn?”

“It’s fine. I think the hard metal will live to see another day. Come on, we are going to be late to class,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him after me. The whole way down the hall, Blake whined about going to class, even though we both knew math was his best subject.

“Blake, stop whining! You sound like a girl when you do that,” I said, taking my seat near the back of the class. The further away from my math teacher, the better. Ms. Patty—great name, right?—hated me for some reason. I didn’t know what I had ever done to her, but she tried to catch me doing something every chance she got. I swear she just watched me, and if I blinked I would get a detention. Of course Blake was her star student though, and she was never once rude to him. Stupid bitch. I saw Ms. Patty glaring at me. Almost as if she heard my thoughts, her eyes narrowed even more.

“So, game night tonight?” The sound of Blake’s voice made me jerk my head in his direction.

“Yeah of course.” Every Thursday night Blake, Liam, and I had a game night or movie night. We couldn’t do it on Fridays because they either had a game or late practice, or there were parties going on. Thursday nights had been our tradition since we started middle school.

After the devil Ms. Patty told us about our assignment and let us work, I stared down at my homework, more than a little confused. I glanced around the room and saw practically everyone scribbling the answers down while whispering with their friends.

“Blake?” I hissed, turning in my seat. “I need help.” Sighing dramatically, he turned to me but had a faint smile on his face.

“What do you need?”

“I don’t get how to do this,” I whined. I was terrible at math, and he knew it. It was definitely my most hated subject, along with Ms. Patty. But put me in a home ec class, history, or English, and I soared.

“Okay, here, let me explain it to you.” Blake scooted his desk right next to mine and grabbed my calculus book closer toward him. “You have to…” I tried really hard to pay attention to what he was saying, but with his body so close to mine and his cologne tickling my nose, my mind kept straying.

Yes, I had a crush on my best friend, but that was all that it was…a crush. I realized a year ago that I felt something different for Blake than I did Liam. The day I felt something more than friendship for Blake was when we were having a water fight. As usual, it was Liam and Blake against me, but I had the hose so I was technically winning. I had been so focused on Liam that I didn’t notice Blake coming behind me until his arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me in the air. My grip on the hose loosened and turned, spraying both of us. Blake lost his footing, and we both fell to the ground, Blake’s body taking the brunt of the fall.

I had turned my body so I was facing him, and that was when everything around me stopped. Liam faded into the background. Only Blake and I were in that moment. His blue eyes were shining bright with amusement and excitement. His wet clothes were cold against me, but the heat coming off of his body warmed me up. It wasn’t until this moment that I noticed how good-looking Blake was. Yes he was only seventeen, but he looked older. Staring down at him, I felt my heart start to flutter and my stomach clench.

“Get her!” Blake yelled suddenly, jerking me out of my thoughts. Before I could even do anything, I felt a splash of water hit my back, and then I was enveloped in the stuff. After that day my feelings toward Blake changed, and my crush began. Now, a year later, I still liked him, even though I kept telling myself something between us could never happen. As I sat there with him close enough that our arms brushed, my heart was racing a million miles an hour. Seeing as I hadn’t heard a single word he had said up until now, I forced myself to look away from him and focus on what he was saying.

By the end of class, I did half the assignment and understood more than I did at the beginning. Blake was good at teaching me in a way I could understand, unlike Ms. Patty.

Thankfully the rest of the morning went by pretty quickly. Lunch had just finished, and I only had one more class left, Home Ec, my favorite. It wasn’t your usual food prep class. We learned to sew, make outfits, and other things. I was walking down the hallway wondering where Blake was, since he hadn’t been at lunch with me and Liam. When I rounded the corner, I froze immediately, feeling my stomach drop. Leaning against the row of lockers was Blake, but he wasn’t alone. He was leaning down, kissing some girl.

My heart sunk, and my eyes started tearing up. I stood there staring as he made out with who I assumed was his girlfriend. From here I could tell she was pretty, probably a cheerleader too. Blake had never really mentioned anything about dating and up until now, and I hadn’t thought about him with anyone. It was at that moment that I realized I didn’t just like Blake; I loved him. Hanging out with him every day just made my feelings grow rather than letting them fade. Watching as he kissed someone that wasn’t me hurt a lot, more than I ever thought it would.

I made myself go to class after that, even though I didn’t want to. I didn’t pay attention at all, trying to stop my heart from hurting or my eyes from crying. When the bell rang I quickly left, not even bothering to go to my locker. I wanted out of this school as quick as possible. I was the first person out to the parking lot and in my car. I didn’t want to run into Blake because I knew he would see something was wrong.

I was surprised I made it home in one piece. The moment I left the school, tears came rolling down my cheeks. Thankfully, when I pulled up, my parents weren’t home so I quickly opened the door and ran up to my bedroom. I fell on my bed, letting out the tears I had been holding in. I was a goner! I was in love with my best friend. My best friend who probably never thought of me as anything other than that. Hell, he was dating some random person and hadn’t even told us!

Slowly I stopped crying and just sat there on my bed. I knew falling for Blake was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help it. I also knew I was going to be hurt at one point, but I hadn’t thought it would be so soon. Glancing at my clock, I noticed it had been an hour since school got out. I bet Liam and Blake were on their way here. My eyes felt swollen, and my nose was stuffy from having cried so hard.

Dragging myself to my bathroom, I splashed water on my face, hoping for the swelling in my eyes to go down before they arrived. I didn’t want to look like I had been crying. As I stared at myself in my mirror, I sighed. I should have known this was going to happen. It was impossible for Blake to like me. Lennon, you have to get over this stupid crush! Blake is dating someone, and you have to be happy for him. Even though it hurts, you have to push it aside and be happy for your best friend. The voice in my head was right, and I knew it. I had to push down my feelings for Blake, even if it was hard. He deserved to be happy, and if I couldn’t be that person to give him that, then I would just have to accept that. No one could know that I loved Blake, no one.

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