Contagious Chemistry by Sian Webster (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📕

is the only think that keeps him going. He revels in it. He doesn’t deserve to be happy or have everything he wants. Right now, what he wants is to maintain his popularity but have you at the same time. If I can strip that away from him, even if it means losing my position as Queen Bee, I will stop at nothing until I do it. I want to make his life a living hell, once and for all.”
I closed my eyes. “Then we aren’t too different.” I told her.
“I know,” She said.
We were silent for a while. My eyes travelled around the quad. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I spotted Jeremy again, and this time, he spotted me. In the corner of my eye I saw Alex walk out of the detention room.
I looked down at Breanna. “Ready to start World War III?” I asked.
“You bet I am.”
11. Storeroom Shenanigans

I waited until Alex had seen me sitting with the girls, standing in the middle of the quad with a perplexed look on his face, before I skipped over to Jeremy. I rested my arms on his shoulder and leant my chin on my arms.
“Hey there,” I smiled.
“Why are you sitting with them?” He whispered.
“A little something called ‘Making Alex Parker’s Life a Living Hell’,” I smirked.
“I’m guessing by the tone of voice you’re using that you want me to go and sit over there with you to piss him off even more.” He mused.
“Yep,”
“And why would I do that, Abby?” He asked, touching my nose.
“Because you’re lovely.”
“Destroying someone’s life is lovely? You’re gonna have to try harder than that,” He teased.
“Because I’m there?”
“Tempting… But no.” He smirked.
I pretended to look offended. “Because…” I stopped. I looked around and saw Alex death staring Jeremy. An idea popped into my head.
I kissed him. I heard squeals and clapping from where Emily, Stacy, Breanna and the other girls were sitting, and wolf-whistles from Jeremy’s friends, but I ignored them. Without realising it, I had my arms wrapped around Jeremy’s neck and he was kissing me back. I smiled against his lips and pulled away.
“How about now?” I smirked.
“Do you even have to ask?”
I smiled again and took his hand, lacing his fingers through mine before dragging him away from his seat. We were halfway to my new seat when he stopped me.
“Did you kiss me purely because Alex was death staring me?” He asked seriously.
I turned and looked him in the eye. “I kissed you because I like you a little more than I should.”
His eyes widened. “Seriously?”
I kissed him lightly on the lips. “Seriously.”
Then I continued dragging him to the popular kids’ seat.
Breanna ran up to me, clapping and jumping up and down. “Did you see Alex’s face when you kissed Jeremy?!”
“Uh, no, I was too busy kissing Jeremy to look at Alex,” I pointed out.
“Good point,” She laughed. “But he looked so pissed off, it was hilarious!”
“Did someone take a photo?” I laughed.
“Damn,” She cursed jokingly.
“Remember that for next time,” I joked.
“There’s gonna be a next time, huh?” Jeremy asked, smiling.
“What kind of couple doesn’t kiss?” Breanna asked.
Jeremy thought about this for a minute. “None that I know of,”
“Exactly,” She laughed. “Anyway, I’m Breanna, and I’m guessing you’re Jeremy.” She held out her hand and he shook it.
“That’s me,” He smiled.
“I’m guessing he’s on board?” Breanna asked me.
“Yep,” I smiled. “Though he did take a bit of convincing,”
Jeremy blushed slightly. “But now I’m thoroughly convinced.”

***

I was walking to geography alone after lunch break – surprisingly, none of the other girls were in the class – when someone grabbed my arm and dragged me into a store room just off the hallway and shut the door behind me.
“Why are you hanging out with them?” Alex asked exasperatedly as the door closed. The only light coming into the room came from the tiny crack beneath the door and we were squashed so close together by the shelves on every side of us that I could feel his breath on my face.
“You made me jump you asshole!” I gasped, catching my breath. “I thought I was getting raped or something! Not that I’d put it past you but it’d be pretty hard in this tiny store room.”
“Are you avoiding my question?”
“Well you’re clearly avoiding me.” I pointed out.
“If I were avoiding you would I be locked in a store room with you right now?” He asked.
He had a point. I just hoped he was kidding about the locked part, because this store room was the type that you could only lock and unlock from the outside. So if it was locked, we would have been screwed.
“Fine, but why do you care who I hang out with?” I snapped.
“I care about you getting involved with my crazy ex-girlfriend!”
I sighed. “Just because you have some schoolboy crush on me does not give you permission to control who I do or don’t hang out with.”
“Really?” He asked, “Even if I’m saving you from getting left drunk in some side street somewhere because you actually thought you could trust Breanna?”
I slapped him. Across the face this time, like Jeremy had told me to the day before. “You honestly think I’d let myself get into a situation like that?!”
“Well, obviously; you’re already in a situation like that! Do you honestly think Breanna wants to be your best friend just so she can knock me off the social ladder?”
“Hey, whoever said that I trust Breanna?” I pressed.
He looked at the ground in the darkness.
“Exactly,” I snapped. “You need to stop assuming things about me.”
In the small space I somehow turned around and grabbed the door handle.
“Maybe next time you talk to me you would’ve gotten over yourself.” I tried turning the handle, but it was stuck. I tried again and it still wouldn’t budge. I cursed.
“What now?” Alex asked sarcastically. “Changed your mind? Are you suddenly in love with me again or are you still caught up with emo boy?”
“Stop being a dick head, Alex.” I snapped. “Being the smart person you are, you locked us in here.”
Alex’s eyes widened in the dim light. “Maybe the handle’s just stuck…”
“Maybe we’re just stuck.” I mimicked his tone of voice.
He ignored my comment and reached behind me to try the door handle himself, his hand slightly touching the small of my back as he did so. I felt my breath catch in the back of my throat. Alex gasped too and snatched his hand back.
“Sorry,” He muttered.
“So we’re stuck?” I asked grudgingly.
Alex nodded grimly, though we both knew he didn’t end up trying the door handle.
I sat down on the floor and leant against the shelves opposite the door and Alex sat down next to me.
“I thought you said you weren’t interested in emo boy,” He said quietly.
“So did I,” I murmured.
“Are you?”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Alex.”
“Oh,” He laughed humourlessly. “Because that explains why you kissed him four times in the past two days.”
I elbowed him in the ribs. “I kissed him a lunch break because Breanna told me to get your attention.”
“Does he know that?”
I stared down at my hands in my lap.
“I’m guessing that’s a no.”
“Shut up, Alex.”
We were silent for a while after that.
“Absidy?”
I sighed and leant my head back against the shelf. “Yes, Alex.”
“Can I try something?”
“That depends what it is you want to try,” I muttered.
“You won’t approve,” He said quietly. “But you should at least let me try.”
“What do I get in return?” I challenged.
“I’ll leave you alone.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
He nodded stiffly. It was obvious from his face that it was hard for him to agree to that.
“Ok,” I said quietly.
Slowly, he reached out his hand and caressed my cheek. My heart leapt out of my chest and I chastised it in my head, hoping he couldn’t feel my heart beating. When he slowly took his hand away, it left warm tingles on my cheek in its place. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear so he could see me properly in the dim light. Then slowly, ever so slowly, he leant his face towards mine, pausing slightly when our lips were barely a millimetre away, and I realised he was giving me a chance to tell him to stop. When I didn’t do anything to stop him, he closed the small space between us.
First it was just a light peck that shot electricity through my body. He must have felt it too because he decided against leaving it at that. He brought his lips back to mine and I swear I felt my heart stop. Slowly and carefully, my lips moved in sync with his. Just as slowly as he had caressed my cheek, I wrapped my arms around his neck. At the same time his hands held onto my waist, making me gasp where his fingertips touched the bare skin of my back where my shirt and jumper had ridden up from me wrapping my arms around his neck. He held me as if I were a century-old china doll that could break at any second, or as if he were dreaming and if he held me too tightly he’d wake up and I’d be gone. After what seemed like hours, I pulled back.
“Absidy…” Alex whispered.
Just the sound of his voice would have made me want to kiss him again, but the fact that he said my name made my mind go haywire. I found my lips pressed against his as quick as a magnet would jump to metal. Since I was the one who kissed him that time and he knew he had permission, the kiss was faster this time; more desperate… more passionate. I pushed myself closer to him and the hand he was using to steady himself slipped on the carpeted floor. He gasped as his back hit the shelf behind him and on the shelf above that something fell over and we found ourselves being covered in glitter.
He gripped my waist tighter that time, and as our lips moved, I felt him playing with the hem of my school jumper. Even though I had kissed him, he