Chasing Desire

Chapter Five

Anthony's Pov:

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Desire apologized.

"For what?" I asked her.

"For my dad's behavior."

I chuckled.

"He's cool. I'm going to be the same way when I have my own child."

"Oh my gosh. That poor child."

We both laughed. It didn't take long for me to get to my job. I parked the car and saw Darrell and Justin outside, talking to a couple of guys from the team; Raul and Jason. Desire and I got out of the car and headed over to the group.

"Yo, Ant!" Raul shouted.

" 'Sup, man." I smirked.

I gave Raul and Jason some dap, then put my hand on Desire's shoulder.

"This is Desire." I introduced.

"The new girl at our school, right?" Raul asked her.

"Right." Desire nodded.

"Dude, everybody was talking about you."

"Always starting, huh Jason?" Justin asked.

"Well, I mean, she had to know."

"Know what?" Desire asked. "It's not the first time."

"Hey, so is it true?" Jason asked me.

"What?" I asked.

Desire took a seat at the table with the guys while I stood up, facing Raul and Jason.

"Crystal said you broke up with Madilyn because of her not putting out." Jason told me.

"Of course she did." I rolled my eyes. "That's not the whole thing."

"So, wait.. You weren't getting any from Madilyn.. I mean like... At all?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"Six months of no s*x?" Raul asked. "Dude, how the f**k did you do it?"

"He probably jacked off." Justin laughed.

Everybody at the table laughed, except for Desire. She just glanced at me and gave me a smile. Whatever, though. They were always talking s**t.

"Anyways, I need to go clock in." I told them. "Come inside to order when you guys are ready."

"Alright." Desire told me.

I walked away and went to work.

***

Desire's Pov:

"So, how do you like Cedarwood High?" Raul asked me.

"I'm not really sure." I told him. "It was just my first day there."

"We know that." Justin joined the conversation. "What did you think about the premises?"

"Oh, I loved it. It's very clean and well-kept. I like that."

"That's good." Jason nodded. "Next year, you'll be experiencing many field trips. We go all over the place."

"Like where?"

"I heard he's getting the seniors to Hawaii next year."

"Hawaii, really?"

"Yeah for the seniors."

I smiled. Hawaii was one of the dream locations I wanted to visit. Raul and Jason got up.

"You guys hungry now?" Raul asked. "We're going in to order now."

"s**t, yeah." Justin clapped his hands before getting up from the table. "Let's go bother Ant right quick."

I chuckled and got up from the bench with the guys.

"What are you guys doing here?" I heard a female ask.

We all turned around and saw two girls walking towards us. One of them was Madilyn, Anthony's ex.

"Oh, hey baby." Darrell smiled as he walked over to her.

The other girl and Darrell kissed and I smiled at them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Hanging out with some friends."

"Mmm hmm... Is she your friend, too?"

Everybody glanced at me.

"Babe, calm down." Darrell told her. "She's cool."

"She's the new girl." Madilyn told her.

"Oh, this the one?" The girl asked, then she turned to me. "You seem to be the talk at Cedarwood. Not only are you pretty, but I see you hang with only men."

"Crystal, that's not necessary." Darrell told her.

"What?" Crystal asked him. "I'm just calling it like I see it."

"Hm."

It was clear she was mad about me hanging out with her boyfriend. If she understood the situation, she would've known what was going on.

"I'm not trying to get with your man, if that's what you're implying." I responded to her.

"Then, why are you hanging out with him?"

"She was invited out." Justin told her. "So, lighten up."

"By who? You?"

"No, Anthony. He's the one that brought her."

Madilyn looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait, my Ant?" Madilyn asked.

"Ex, actually." Raul chuckled.

Raul and Justin burst into a fit of laughter and I just shook my head at them. I could feel Crystal and Madilyn staring at me and at

that point, it was becoming a problem. I haven't lasted more than 24 hours and I already had girls hating me.

"Um, I'm going to go inside and order." I told the guys. "Is anybody coming with us?"

"I'll be in there in a minute." Darrell told me.

"No, you're not." Crystal told him. "You're going to eat with me. I don't want you with her."

"I'll come with you." Justin walked over to me.

I glanced back at Crystal and Madilyn, who were still staring at me. Shaking my head, I ended up walking into In N Out with Justin. We stood in line and Justin exhaled, deeply.

"Sorry about that back there." He apologized.

"What's their problem?" I asked him. "I didn't do s**t to them."

"I know. Darrell knows, too. Crystal is... She's complicated. She's very overprotective of Darrell. Their relationship is on and off and bro cheated on her before. So, excuse her attitude towards you. She just doesn't trust women around her dude."

"I can understand her anger towards me, then. However, I'm not trying to steal anybody from anyone. I'm just trying to make friends and you guys are the first set of friends."

Justin nodded at me.

"We know." Justin smiled at me.

We got to the front and Anthony was working the cash register. He sighed and pressed something on the cash register.

"What can I get you guys?" He asked us.

I glanced at the menu behind him.

"I'll have a double double with sauteed onions, animal fries and a large Sprite." I ordered.

"Damn, you're hungry." Anthony chuckled as he typed everything in.

"You have no idea."

"What about you, J?" Anthony asked.

"I'll take the same thing. Also, your wife is outside with her loud-mouth friend."

Anthony stopped typing and looked past us. When I glanced back, I saw Crystal and Darrell arguing. I felt really bad because it wasn't his fault. He wanted to hangout like the rest of us did.

"Fuck." Anthony whispered. "What happened?"

"Well, Crystal went in on the new girl for hanging out with Darrell."

"Who the f**k wants him?" Anthony asked.

"Well, apparently, I do. However, when they found out I came with you... Madilyn coped an attitude."

"Okay, I'll be out there in a hour. The total is... $12.45."

I was going to pull out my wallet, but Justin stopped me.

"I got it." He told me.

"No, I got it." Anthony told him. "You just pay for your order."

"Whoa, okay."

Justin paid for his food and Anthony paid for mine, which was sweet.

"I'll bring it out." Anthony told me.

"Okay."

Justin and I stepped out of line and walked back outside.

***

"So, what's your name, new girl?" Crystal asked me.

I looked up from my phone and smiled at her.

"Desire." I told her.

"Seriously, what's your name?" She asked me.

I pulled my wallet out and took my ID out. Then, I handed it to her. She grabbed it and looked at it.

"Whoa, really?" She asked me.

"Yes." I told her.

"That's crazy." She told me. "Well, welcome to Sanwood, California. It's a lot to do out here."

"I heard."

Crystal and Madilyn kept staring at me. I put my phone back in my pocket and sighed.

"Look, we started off wrong." I told them. "I didn't mean to upset you guys if that's what you felt."

"I just... Darrell knows how I am with females around him. I didn't mean to snap at you, though, because you didn't know about us until now."

"I wasn't trying to get at him. Like I told Justin, they were a cool group to hang around. Girls at the school already don't like me, so I was scared I wasn't going to be able to adjust until I met them. He hasn't shown interest in me or anything. So, you don't have to worry about him at all."

Crystal nodded.

"So, who do you like, then?" Crystal asked me.

"Um, nobody." I told her.

"You like girls or boys?"

"Boys, but do I like anybody now? No."

Madilyn rolled her eyes before she looked behind me.

"Sorry, I'm late." Anthony told me.

I turned around and grabbed the tray from him.

"I got an hour lunch break so I thought I'll eat with you guys."

"Thanks for the meal." I told him. "I'll pay you back."

"Don't."

Anthony sat next to me and stared at Madilyn and Crystal.

"Yes, you finally out to eat?" Raul asked as him, Jason, Darrell and Justin walked over to the table.

"Yeah, my bad." Anthony told them. "It's f*****g crowded."

Everybody sat down and we all began to eat. I could see Madilyn sneaking glances at Anthony. I thought it was cute, actually. I nudged him and he looked at me. When I motioned her way, he just sighed.

"What are guys doing here, anyways?" Anthony asked.

"We wanted some In N Out." Crystal rolled her eyes at him. "Is that a problem?"

"Whatever." Anthony told them.

Madilyn finally touched the food that she ordered.

"Dude, did you tell Desire about Friday nights here?" Jason asked Anthony.

"Oh s**t, no I didn't." Anthony chuckled.

"What happens Fridays?"

Crystal was the one to answer that.

"Every Friday, In N Out is a hangout spot for all the high schoolers." She explained. "There's dancing and partying."

"We have so much fun those days." Raul added. "You should come."

"Plus, Anthony ain't working those days." Darrell joined in.

I rolled my eyes and continued eating.

"So, you coming?" Anthony asked me.

I looked up at him and shrugged.

"I can come get you if you want." He added. "Now that your parents know me."

"Wait, have you been to her house already?" Crystal asked.

"My dad allowed him to as long as he came in and answered his questions."

"So, you brought her here?" Madilyn broke her silence.

"Why does it matter?"

Madilyn got up from the table and stormed off. Crystal got up and shouted after her friend.

"Madilyn!" She shouted her name.

I glanced at Anthony.

"You're a real asshole, Anthony." Crystal grabbed her and Madilyn's food from the tray.

"I didn't do anything." Anthony told her.

"You couldn't just make it right?"

"Babe, he doesn't want to." Darrell told her. "You can't force that."

"But, I bet you want to be with Desire, huh?"

Okay, she was starting again. I put my food down and got up from the table.

"Where you going?" Anthony asked me.

"I'm leaving." I told him as I reached for my phone. "I'm calling my dad to come get me."

Anthony got up and grabbed the phone.

"Don't do that." Anthony begged.

"f*****g ass." Crystal stormed off. "Darrell, let's go!"

"Girl, I'm not leaving." Darrell told her.

While Crystal and Darrell were going at it, I turned my attention back to Anthony. He released my phone and I put it in my pocket.

"Don't call him, please?" He begged me again.

"I think it was a mistake coming here." I told him. "I didn't want to be a problem to anyone."

"You're not a problem. It's just... They're mad because I'm not trying to get back with Madilyn. I don't want to be with her."

As he was talking to me, I listened to his heart. It was calm, so what he was saying was the truth.

"And I don't want to be forced to do something I don't want." He finished.

I nodded as I was probably causing him to feel like that.

"I just.. I hate seeing someone hurt, you know." I told him.

"Yeah, I do, but I couldn't just lie to her."

I nodded again. He stared at me for a little longer, making me blush a little.

"Ant!" Darrell shouted his name. "You guys okay?!"

We glanced at Darrell.

"Yeah, we're good." Anthony told him.

Anthony put his arm around me and we walked back to the table. Crystal and Madilyn had already left and I was not in the mood to think of school. I already knew those two were going to be a problem.