No Regrets (No Regrets #1)

by Aimee Noalane

  “Well, look who finally decided to step out fully dressed.”

  I groaned.

  God this is going to be a long ass day…

  Love Tantrum

  Oliver

  “What’s with you?” I asked, annoyed.

  We were walking up the street side by side in silence. She seemed angry. I was used to Abby’s temper, but not so early in the morning, and normally it was a response to something I had done to piss her off.

  And hadn’t done anything. Well, sort of.

  “Nothing.”

  I grunted. “Sometimes I think you forget how much I know you. Here, give me your stuff, you’ll be able to eat your breakfast.”

  “I don’t need your help, Oliver,” she snapped.

  I pulled on her backpack making her take a step back.

  “What the hell?” she complained. “We’re going to miss the bus.”

  “Then we’ll walk. Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

  “You walked in on me half naked.”

  “So?”

  She glared at me as if I was supposed to understand what her problem was, but the whole thing ended up infuriating me even more.

  “How is today any different from any other day, Abby? I’ve seen you in your underwear all summer. I really don’t see what the issue is. Plus, you were late, so if anything, it’s your fault.”

  “You’re kidding me, right? You climb up my bedroom window, yet this is my fault? Stop being so cocky, Oliver. Your reasoning doesn’t even make any sense. You should have used the front door, and then none of this would be happening.”

  “Are you shitting me? Are we really going to fight about my seeing you in your underwear right now?”

  “Yes, Oliver, we are. And by the way, if you feel like I take too long to get ready in the morning don’t come over to pick me up. I’ll remind you that I know where the bus stop is, and I don’t need you to get there.”

  I let go of her bag and walked off. “Whatever, Abbygail.”

  I am so done with this conversation.

  “And you know what?” I say spinning on my heels. “Next time you think about working on your beauty sleep, think about sparing some time for your fucking bad temper.”

  She chucked her muffin at me, and I caught it in mid-air. I heard her low growl and chuckled.

  “I play football, beautiful. Remember?”

  I extended her breakfast with an open hand. She scowled and knocked my shoulder while she passed by me, not forgetting her muffin, which was a good thing. Otherwise I would have eaten it just to piss her off more. Her silence told me that I may have overstepped my boundaries, but I wasn’t going to back out on my comments. She had no reason to be this upset.

  Smooth, Monkey Butt, real smooth.

  I’ll take that thousand bucks now, Dad.

  Abbygail

  We reached the bus just as it pulled onto the corner. Oliver let me climb in before him as he usually did, but instead of taking the next available empty seat, I sat with Kylie.

  My best friend stood two seats behind and raised his brow. “Are we really doing this?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and matched his annoyed stare. “We are.”

  He passed by me without giving me a side glance. “Suit yourself, Abbygail.”

  Oliver knew he could have taken the empty bench beside ours, but instead he walked all the way to the back and sat with Zach. As soon as the bus took off I regretted my decision of sitting with Kylie, and looked back. For a fraction of a second his eyes met mine, and he creased his forehead angrily at me. I knew he had every right to be upset with me, but it didn’t stop me from being angry with him... or myself. I wasn't even sure who I was really mad at anymore.

  The conflict I was having with myself didn’t even make sense. I wished I could have told him that he was confusing the hell out of me with his teasing, and that his kissing me had only made matters worse. Everything would have been so much better if I could have told him everything I was feeling.

  I turned my head back to the front of the bus.

  I wish I could just tell you that I’m in love with you...

  “Trouble in Love Paradise?” Kylie asked as soon as my head went back to the front of the bus.

  “Stop calling my relationship with Oliver, Love Paradise.”

  “Just calling it like it is, babe.”

  Kylie was my closest friend. I bumped into her one morning when she was crying in the gym’s bathroom. She had moved to Carrington in the middle of ninth grade and had a hard time getting used to our school, which totally made sense since everyone knew everyone here, and outsiders were excluded more often than not. However Kylie and I clicked instantly. I introduced her to Ava and Zoey, my childhood friends, and we quickly became the fantastic four.

  What I appreciated the most about her was that she knew Oliver was my best friend. She understood that his presence in my life was a necessity, and she never showed any jealousy towards our relationship, unlike someone else in my circle of friends.

  “So tell me. Why aren’t you sitting with your dreamy best friend?”

  “Because he’s an ass.”

  “Oh sure, that clears it up. What did he do this time?”

  I looked over to the seat beside ours.

  “Oh, come on.” she scorned. “You can’t blame this on him, Abbygail. You chose not to take the seat, not him.”

  “Ky, you don’t even know what happened. And if you’re going to take his side, then I don’t want to talk about it.” I picked at my banana muffin.

  “How can you expect me to take sides if you don’t tell me what the problem is?”

  “Because I just told you. He’s an ass.”

  Realizing I had completely lost my appetite I chucked my food out of the window. Kylie raised her eyebrow. Her hazel eyes were drilling holes through my skull, and as usual, her annoying gaze got me talking.

  “Oliver kissed me last night.”

  “And you’re pissed off at him because he kissed you?”

  “No, Ky. I’m pissed off because of why he kissed me.”

  She didn’t reply. She just looked at me as if I was the stupidest person on the earth.

  I sighed. “He kissed me because he overheard our conversation about him yesterday after his football practice. Except he didn’t know we were talking about him.”

  Thank God.

  “He grilled me about what he heard all evening, and when he finally realized I wouldn’t give in, he–”

  “You should have just told him.”

  “Are you crazy? That’s never going to happen. I already told you, Oliver and I are friends. That’s it. And even if I do love him, I can’t date him. If we screw up and I lose him, then I’ve got nothing left.”

  “Thank you,” she answered sarcastically.

  I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “Abby, seriously, you’re not making sense. It’s what you’ve been dreaming about for the past six months. And FYI, Oliver didn’t kiss you to provoke you. He did it because he feels for you what you do for him.”

  “I know my best friend, Kylie. Trust me, you’ve got it wrong. Now can we please stop talking about this?”

  “But you’re wrong–”

  “I said drop it, Ky.”

  “Fine.” She opened her romance novel and left me to my thoughts.

  I hated fighting with Oliver. A real argument between us rarely happened, but when it did, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was always afraid he’d get fed up with me or decide that our friendship wasn’t worth his time anymore.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Kylie said, lowering her book. “Stop worrying about it. You mean too much to him, Abs. You two will be back to your annoying selves before lunchtime.”

  Our town wasn’t that big, but even then, the ten-minute drive to school felt as though it had lasted at least an hour. I tried to listen to the conversations in the back of the bus, but it was pointless. Once I real
ized that Oliver was as mute as I was, I stopped paying attention.

  After dropping off the younger kids that went to the elementary school two blocks down from our school, the bus entered our student drop off. There were at least ten other buses leaving when we arrived. Many of the students that attended our school came from the surrounding townships, which explained why both schools and their grounds were as big as they were.

  I grabbed my backpack and stepped out. Kylie and I joined Ava and Zoey by the bike racks. I assumed Oliver would be following close behind, since it was our usual meeting place.

  “Good morning.” Zoey cheered as she saw us approaching. She frowned when she saw my demeanor, but didn’t say a word.

  Zoey was always bubbly about everything, the complete opposite of me. Her carefree spirit would always draw people in, and more often than not I found it annoying. She craved any attention or compliment she could get by implicating herself in anything and everything that was school-related. Her flaw, though, was like my own: we both had a very bad temper, and I couldn’t count the number of arguments she and I had gotten into. The main problem between us was that she had serious issues with my relationship with Oliver. I couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t ‘get’ how close we were or if it was out jealousy. I always suspected she liked him more than a friend, but I wouldn’t be saying anything. Besides, if there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that Oliver didn’t like Zoey in that way, at all. Picking a fight with her about it would have been plain stupid.

  “Where are the guys?” Kylie asked.

  “Tyler and Stephan are already inside,” Ava answered. “They said they’d keep us seats in the auditorium. Hey, Oliver.”

  “’Morning, Ava.”

  Ava was the complete opposite of Zoey. Her kindness was effortless. Everyone loved her, and it wasn’t because she tried. It was because that’s who she was. Her open-mindedness had everyone constantly drawn to her. Her parents were rarely home because of their work, so it was her grandmother that took care of her. During the summer, she’d travel the world with them, which explained her free spirit.

  She eyed me suspiciously. “Are you okay?”

  I gave her a tight smile. “I’m fine. Can we go in now?”

  ***

  The auditorium was packed. Our bus must have been the last one to arrive because there were barely any available spots left. If the guys hadn’t come in when they did, we would never have been able to sit together.

  Oliver grabbed my hand and pulled me aside. “Abby, can we talk?”

  “Yo, guys. We’re up here.” Stephan called

  “We’ll talk later, okay?” I answered Oliver.

  He held my hand, and I lifted my eyes to our friends sitting in the back row. It was typical for them to sit there. The farther away from the teachers they were, the happier they felt. We waved to let them know we’d seen them, but I also saw the huddle of cheerleaders sitting right beneath them. Adalynn was the first one I spotted, it was hard not to, she was already glaring at me and at my hand.

  Swell, another year with Miss Bitchy Face.

  I pulled back, and Oliver frowned. “I’m not going up.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want to sit there. She’s already shooting daggers at me.”

  He looked up and saw the cheerleading squad. “You’re exaggerating. She’s not that bad you know.”

  “She’s infatuated with you, Oliver. She hates me because we’re always together. And honestly I don’t care what you think. Go sit with the guys, and if you still want to talk, we’ll talk later.”

  “Oliver.” Tyler yelled.

  He wanted to go. The whole football team was up there, and I could clearly see the debate he was having.

  I sighed and let go of his hand. “Just go.”

  Oliver

  For a brief moment, I hesitated, but I changed my mind suddenly. Abby was right: whatever I had to say and what we needed to talk about wouldn’t be resolved during a school meeting. Whatever was going on between us could wait a couple of periods.

  At least now she’s talking to me…

  “Where are the girls?” Stephan asked as he bumped my fist.

  “They sat somewhere else.”

  “Why?”

  I shrugged. Neither of them needed to know what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and I was still trying to figure out if kissing Abby was a stupid idea or not.

  Stephan and I were good friends way before elementary school. Our friendship started during the summer we were four years old when our parents made us play soccer. It was one season, and we never played again after that. Our bond, on the other hand, remained strong. We did pretty much everything together. He was the running back for the school football team and our group clown. He always got a kick out of playing pranks, especially on the four girls that hung out with us.

  Tyler, he moved to Carrington at the end of fourth grade. He had a pierced lip, and eyebrow, and most of the time, he kept to himself. Sometimes, I wondered if life at home was a bit difficult, but he wasn’t much of a talker so we never really found out. We were good friends, but I always suspected he had a thing for Abby, and I didn’t trust him.

  “You look out of it this morning, dude,” Tyler remarked.

  “Yeah, Abby and I got into it this morning.”

  “Again?” Stephan exclaimed. “What’s up with you two? It’s like all you’ve been doing is arguing.”

  “Trust me. I know. And I’m going to get to the bottom of it today–”

  “Hey, Oliver.”

  “Hi, Adalynn. How was your summer?” Not that I cared. I was just making polite conversation as I usually did when it came to her or her friends. I didn’t get what issues Abby had with her. Adalynn was always sweet.

  “It was okay. How was yours?”

  “Fun. I played football and skateboarded a lot, went swimming, hung out with Abby… you know the usual.”

  Speaking of Abby…

  My eyes wandered from the blonde girl in front of me to the piercing blue eyes observing me. She was sitting two rows down at the far right of the room, and once I saw her, I got completely absorbed in her beautiful face. I smiled thinking about her perfect freckles, but she didn’t return my smile.

  “Oliver,” Tyler was looking at me expectantly. “Adalynn just asked you something.”

  She did?

  “Um, sorry. I didn’t catch that.”

  Adalynn looked over to where I was looking and clicked her tongue. As soon as Abby saw us both looking at her, she shook her head and turned her attention back to the front.

  “I was just saying how much I’ve missed you, and how I would really like it if you’d take me out sometime. I’ll give you my number if you want.”

  Yeah… I don’t think so. And why is she petting my leg like I’m a freaking cat?

  “Ladies and gentlemen.”

  Thank God. Saved by the school principal.

  “I’m so happy to see you back and hope you’ve had a wonderful summer. As usual, we are committed to making this year better than the last. Of course, there will be a couple of changes, particularly in our teaching personnel and–”

  I tuned out. There were many more interesting things to think about other than listen to Mr. Wilder talk.

  ***

  “Oliver. Let go. Let go.” Abby smiled as I grabbed her just after she hosed me down with icy cold water. I carried her over my shoulder all the way to the pool with every intention of throwing her in.

  “Please don’t. I’m sorry.” she laughed, barely able to catch her breath. “I promise I won’t do it again.”

  “First of all, I don’t believe you. Second of all, you should have thought about whatever is happening now before you decided to spray me with freezing water.”

  She hoisted herself and begged me with her ocean blue eyes. Her beautiful long, brown hair fanned over her shoulders, while her warm body crushed against mine.

  “Please?”
>
  “Forget about it, Freckle Face. You’re doomed.”

  I grinned when she wrapped her legs around me, gripping on my body as if she was holding on for dear life. I could feel her hot skin against mine, and the black bikini she was wearing was, to my delight, not leaving very much to the imagination. My initial plan was to throw her in, but sensing my physical response to the closeness of our bodies, I held onto her and jumped into the pool.

  We went under-water together. Her legs were still wrapped around me when resurfaced from the bottom of the pool, and for a brief moment her eyes met mine. It was like there were no other people in the world but us. She pulled a strand of hair out of my face and smiled as she bit her bottom lip. For a fraction of a second, I saw something in her eyes that I had never noticed, but before I could question anything she weaseled herself out of my grip and stepped out of the pool. Mid-way through the steps she turned around and gave me the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen.

  “I’m going to get you back, you know.”

  “I know…”

  And I’m looking forward to it, too.

  ***

  Stephan called my name and pulled me out of my daydreaming.

  “What?” I asked annoyed.

  “You’re staring at her again.”

  “Who?”

  “Seriously?” he chuckled. “Abbygail, dumbass.”

  “No I wasn’t.”

  Was I? Yeah, I probably was…

  “Did she notice?”

  “Nah man. You’re cool. She was completely engrossed in our new gym teacher, Mr. Camdon. Where were you anyway?”

  “First of July, Abbygail, small black bikini, brisk water–”

  “Ah. Say no more. I remember that day very well.”

  I punched him in the shoulder. “Dude, do not think of Abby like that.”

  “You’re the one that brought it up,” he joked.

  “Maybe, but I wasn’t having dirty–” He raised his brow calling me out on my lie before it even came out. “You know what? Never mind. Is this thing over yet?”

  He nodded.

  Thank god.

  ***

  “So, where to now?” I asked Stephan walking down the steps of the lecture hall. He, Tyler, and I made our way through the crowd and stopped at the first table.