Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill, #1)

by S. J. Sylvis

  My heart dropped and I hurriedly ran back over to the lunchroom, bypassing the puzzled looks on the office staff’s face.

  “Dawson!” I yelled.

  I panicked, quickly running over to him, foot getting caught on one of the stupid chairs. Dawson was standing over a wailing Tyler. His cries were so loud that I almost laughed. Dawson pulled his arm back one more time and slammed it onto Tyler’s already bloody nose, I cringed at the sound of the thump.

  Breanna was shrieking, as were all her stuck-up friends, and the guys in the lunchroom were becoming even rowdier as they egged Dawson on.

  I yelled once more before he could do anymore damage. “Stop it, Dawson!”

  Finally, hearing my voice, he heaved back and swiveled his head over to me. He shook his shaggy hair out of his beet-red face and pushed himself off the floor.

  I glanced down at Tyler’s face and my stomach lurched. His nose was gushing bright, red blood and one eye looked as if it would be bruising in a matter of seconds.

  Before I could say anything, he looked from me to Dawson and then back at me.

  “Contain your freaking boyfriend, Ivy,” his voice was muffled as he wiped his hand under his bloody nose. “You were the one that broke up with me.”

  His words stung. Not only did they sting because, uh, hello, he was making it seem like I wanted to break up and that I wasn’t at all hurt by his choices. But it also stung because Dawson wasn’t my boyfriend. He had made that very clear over the last few years of our blossoming friendship. He had had so many “flings” with girls that I’d lost count, and yet, he never, ever, tried to pull a move on me.

  I was friend-zoned to the max, and I went along with it. Putting him in that dreadful zone, too. Tyler always argued with me over it. He thought there was something going on between Dawson and I, but there wasn’t—well, not in the open at least. I kept my true feelings hidden deep down below the surface, barely recognizing them myself.

  Dawson’s eyes scanned my face and I knew he could tell I was hurt by what Tyler had just said. Dawson knew me too well. We had our own way of speaking. I knew what he was feeling before he’d even tell me and the same went for him. He just knew.

  Dawson turned his attention back to my pitiful ex-boyfriend, who was still lying on the dirty cafeteria floor, and seethed, “If you ever, and I mean ever, fucking look in her direction again…I will put you in the hospital.”

  Tyler stared up at Dawson and then slowly slid his body away from him. Dawson didn’t get into fights often. He was the guy who was always happy and joking with people. He didn’t have any enemies, unless of course, you count the girls that he used for “fun” and then so casually ignored afterward (yet they still fell for it every time—stupid, stupid girls). But honestly, he didn’t have beef with anyone.

  Unless they messed with me.

  It made half the guys afraid to even look in my direction, which was just grand. That was probably another reason why the break-up with Tyler hurt me a little more than I’d like to admit. He was my first real boyfriend.

  Sigh.

  “Let’s go, Mr. Lanning.”

  I didn’t even realize that Mr. Williams, the P.E. teacher, was standing only a few feet away from us with his arms crossed over his stark white t-shirt, his whistle resting over his pot-belly. Dawson let out a loud breath and swiftly walked away from a bleeding Tyler and the rest of the gawking stares of our classmates.

  Right when he was about to stride past me, he stopped. Mr. Williams let out a frustrated sigh but didn’t say anything.

  Dawson’s crystal-blue eyes softened. “You okay?”

  My eyes almost fell out of my head. Am I okay? That would be a big, fat no.

  “Why did you do that, Dawson?” I whispered, still aware that everyone’s eyes were still on us.

  He smiled widely as he tucked a loose hair behind my ear. “Because no one messes with you. Not on my watch.”

  My eyes instantly welled up and I realized that even though we were only friends, best friends at that, it didn’t mean I couldn’t love him. Because I did and I probably always would.

  I smiled up at him, trying to keep my emotions under control. He smiled back and then sauntered off, walking lazily behind Mr. Williams.

  I felt Becca slide up beside me as I watched everyone turn their attention back to the strange-smelling cafeteria food.

  “That damn Dawson. He’s got you all tied up, doesn’t he?” Her hazel eyes twinkled as I slid my gaze over to them.

  I shook my head no, but we both knew I was lying.

  Chapter Two

  Dawson

  “You’re not grounded for getting in-school suspension for the last two days?” Max asked, following me out to my baby.

  My baby = my cherry-red Camaro.

  “Nah,” I answered, pulling out my keys and searching the parking lot for Ivy. Where is she?

  Max whistled. “You are one lucky dude. My dad would probably beat my ass for fighting in school.”

  I shrugged. Max’s parents were the type that cared about stuff like that. My parents were too wrapped up in keeping my brother out of trouble and burying themselves in endless amounts of work. They probably weren’t even aware that I’d gotten into a fight. Which, it wasn’t even a fight. In order for it to be considered a fight, Tyler would have had to fight back and he didn’t. Pussy.

  “Hey, you goin’ to Shane’s tonight?”

  I pulled my door open and rested my arms on top of my Camaro. He did the same on the other side.

  “Yeah, I’m taking Jessica.” I grinned.

  He laughed. “Dude, you are so fucking lucky.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows. I was lucky. Jessica was smokin’ hot and I knew when I’d ask her to go to the party with me earlier in the week (before I got in-school suspension and had to stay inside one stupid room, all day long) that she’d be more than willing.

  Jessica was more than willing to do anything with me.

  “I know, she’s pretty hot.”

  He laughed, shrugging off his letterman jacket. It was nearing spring in Ohio, which meant that it wasn’t quite warm enough to go without a jacket in the morning, but now that it was three o’clock in the afternoon, with the sun directly over our heads, it was becoming stifling.

  “Yeah, she is, but I was saying you were lucky for an entirely different reason.”

  I wrinkled my forehead, scanning the parking lot, once again, for the sight of a chestnut-haired girl.

  “Why?” I asked, still searching. I saw Becca and Casey standing by their cars. They were talking closely to one another, but their gazes were also skimming the parking lot every few seconds. Probably looking for Ivy, too.

  “Dude, because you have all these girls basically jumping your bones every chance they get and you also have, like, one of the hottest girls at this school right at your beck and call.”

  I inclined my head towards him, still leaning forward with his arms over my Camaro.

  “What do you mean?”

  He rolled his eyes dramatically. “Dude… you’re fucking blind.”

  I still wasn’t catching his drift so I only lifted my eyebrows.

  His eyes widened. “Ivy, bro. I’m talking about Ivy.”

  Just the sound of her name on someone else’s lips made my blood boil. I was extremely protective of her. Almost borderline psycho. I’d always been that way with her. Ivy was just… different. The first time I saw her, during the first day of the school that I’d started attending in eighth grade, I knew she was the type of girl that you treated with respect. Her smile lit up the entire gymnasium. It did it then and it does it now.

  I still remember the first time I’d ever stuck up for her, too. It was only a few weeks into my eighth grade year. The seventh and eighth graders shared a hallway, which was unlike my last school but I thought it was kind of cool, nonetheless.

  Anyway, I had walked over to the lockers with a few of my “new” friends and two eighth grade girls were bullying my Ivy.
Well, she wasn’t really “mine,” per se, but the moment I told those eighth grade chicks to take the tissues out of their training bras and to fucking stop bothering the prettiest girl in school, I’d claimed her.

  That was the start of my feelings for Ivy and they’d only intensified over the years.

  Intensified into what? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I cared about her more than I’d cared about anyone or anything in my entire life. She was just… Ivy.

  “Bro, don’t get pissed.” Max’s voice brought me out of the memory, quickly dissolving the image of the sweet, little, seventh grade Ivy with wide, doe-like, green eyes from my brain.

  “I’m not pissed,” I huffed, still slightly annoyed that he even brought her up. “Ivy isn’t like that. We aren’t like that.”

  He gave me a knowing look, and I responded by narrowing my eyes at him.

  “So you’re saying that if I wanted to ask her out on a date, you’d be cool with that?”

  I growled and slammed my hands down on the top of my Camaro.

  “Fuck no. She deserves better than you.”

  He fucking fell over from laughter which only pissed me off more. Once he straightened up and got his shit together, he plastered a shit-eating grin onto his olive-skinned face.

  “You are full of it, Lanning.”

  “Full of what?” I prodded. The sound of car doors being slammed and people whipping out of the school parking lot momentarily ceased the pounding of my heart in my eardrums.

  “You are so into her and she’s so into you but for some reason, you both deny it.”

  I scoffed. “What the fuck ever, dude. She’s just my best friend, so leave it at that.”

  He snickered, pulling open the passenger door a little further. “So why do you become livid whenever a guy takes an interest in her? I mean, you pummeled Tyler pretty fucking hard a couple days ago…”

  My chest tightened. “Because she’s my best friend and those guys aren’t good enough for her and Tyler deserved to get his ass beat for fucking around on her.”

  Max’s face twitched and then he chuckled, sliding his body into the passenger seat and out of my sight.

  I leaned my head down into the car. “And don’t even fucking think about asking her out.”

  Max pulled his hands up like a surrender but not before he grinned.

  Once I stood up again, still looking around the parking lot for Ivy, I replayed the mantra over and over again in my head: “She’s just my best friend, so leave it at that.”

  Yeah, fucking right.

  Chapter Three

  Ivy

  Holy moly, holy moly, holy moly!

  My breathing had never been so crazy from a single conversation until now. But after all, what did I expect after hearing Andy call my name? My heart halted in my chest when I turned around and realized that he was, in fact, talking to me.

  Little ol’ me.

  Andy was probably the hottest guy at our school, besides Dawson, of course. But Andy…he was a senior and he was the star baseball player for our school; the mighty Wildcats baseball team was led solely by him hitting multiple homeruns every game. And to top it off, he had already signed with one of the D1 colleges next year to play for their team. Andy was the epitome of cool.

  He was dreamy and totally swoon-worthy and I knew for a fact that every single girl would unashamedly agree. I took in the shine of his kelly-green eyes as he sauntered up to me (standing awkwardly, no doubt) adjusting the straps on his backpack. He had on a sly grin, one that made butterflies awaken in my lower belly.

  “Hey,” he intoned and I swear I almost fainted right then.

  “Uh, hi,” I replied. My voice came out shaky and insecure but I gave myself a three second mental pep-talk and was able to calm down (a little).

  “So I saw what happened a few days ago…during lunch.”

  My face instantly felt hot. Of course he did. The entire school was talking about Tyler being an asshole and then Dawson losing his shit. Still, even three days later and after Mrs. Smith had fallen off the stage during an assembly and flashed everyone her hot pink, unicorn underwear. No one cared about that…

  “Yeah,” I said, not really sure what to say. I was embarrassed. I knew that much.

  “I just wanted to let you know,” Andy said as he leaned against the wall closest to the exit. He crossed his tanned forearms over his tightly-fitting t-shirt and smiled genuinely at me.

  “Yeah?” I asked, because he didn’t finish his sentence.

  He took a deep breath. I watched his strong chest rise and then fall deeply. “I just wanted to let you know that I think Tyler is an idiot for letting you get away.”

  Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa…

  Just whoa.

  Those butterflies that were awakened earlier? Yeah, they’d completely filled my stomach to the point that I was forced to swallow back puke.

  “And,” he started again, his eyes took in every bit of my face and I couldn’t help but feel like he’d just captured me up in a single whoosh. “I think that Dawson is absolutely nuts for not making you his.” My face flamed, again, as I sucked in a shallow breath.

  I whispered, “Dawson and I are… just friends.”

  I’d said the same sentence for the last few years, over and over again, and finally... it actually sounded believable.

  “Good,” he smirked. “Then he won’t mind if I take you to Shane’s tonight.”

  I felt my jaw fall and then he chuckled, looking down at the floor. A timid smile broke out on my face when he looked back up at me.

  “Why would you want to take me?”

  His eyebrows folded. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  I just stared at him, which made him smile, causing the one dimple on his cheek to grow deeper.

  “I’ll pick you up at 8. Okay?”

  He didn’t wait for me to confirm. Instead, he reached for the door and opened it, throwing back a wink and walked out, leaving me standing there like a mystified idiot.

  In haste, I called out after him, running through the threshold of the doors. “I’ll be at Becca’s.”

  He turned around and gave me a nod. “See you then, beautiful.”

  Warmth slowly replaced the jittering feeling in my body. I almost squealed right then and there outside the doors to the school. I was cheesing. My smile stretching from ear to ear.

  When I started to make my way over to Becca and Casey, they were both eyeing me suspiciously. I basically flew over to them, wings coming out of nowhere, and filled them in. We all three jumped up and down in the middle of the parking lot, with cars whipping by.

  “This is insane!!” Casey piped. I locked on to her face and then she squealed so loud that a few other students looked over at us.

  “I know, I almost can’t believe it!” I felt exhilarated. Then the confusion started to set in.

  Really, though. Why me? Why would he ask me to go to the party with him? I was a sophomore, and definitely not like the other girls in my grade. I think I was one of the last virgins there was. Even Casey and Becca had had sex.

  Not me.

  Which was a major disappointment to Tyler. Just ask him; that’s why he basically forced me to break up with him.

  “Hey, Ivy. Come here.” My head snapped up to Dawson and Max in Dawson’s bright red Camaro, idling a few yards away.

  “Hold on,” I said to Becca and Casey. They nodded and hopped inside Becca’s Honda, still yammering on about what I should wear tonight.

  I skipped over to the rumbling of the Camaro’s engine and bent my head down to Dawson. I rested my arms on the black paneling inside the door.

  “What was that?” Dawson asked, his jaw clenching every few seconds.

  “What?” I played stupid, trying to force the grin off my face.

  I peeked around his body and looked at Max. He was sitting mindlessly in the passenger seat, looking down at his phone, not making any eye contact, whatsoever.

  “Why was Andy talking to you?”


  “So what if he was?” I snapped.

  Dawson’s head twitched a little and then his face scrunched.

  “Whoa, killer. I was just asking.”

  I let out an even breath.

  “Sorry, I’m just as confused as you are. He wants to take me to the party tonight.”

  Max coughed uncomfortably in his seat and I looked over at him once again, but he still wouldn’t meet my eye.

  “Oh…” I brought my attention back to Dawson. “So what did you tell him?”

  “I told him yes. Duh.”

  He nodded his head up and down harshly and I could have sworn I saw a reddish tint on his cheeks. But all he said was, “Great.”

  Now I was even more confused but before I could say anything he asked, “Do you want to go to Ronnie’s?”

  I licked my lips. Mmm. Chili fries sounded damn good right about now and chances were, I wouldn’t be able to eat much before the party due to the already-there nerves that would surely amplify in a few hours.

  “Sure, right now?”

  “Yeah, get in.”

  “K,” I answered. “Let me go tell Becca. You’ll drop me off at her house after, right?”

  “Yep,” he said, looking straight ahead.

  Dawson was being totally weird but there was no way that his weirdness was going to ruin my high right now. One of the hottest boys in school just asked me out (insert high-pitched girly squeal here), and I totally agreed! I was going to a party with a senior. A really, really cool senior.

  ✽✽✽

  “Here ya, go.” Dawson said, handing me the steaming, cheesy chili fries through the passenger window.

  After we’d dropped off Max at his house, I jumped up front and Dawson sped to Ronnie’s—the best eating establishment in all of Ohio. Mr. Ronnie made the most INCREDIBLE chili fries, and they went perfectly with his famous shakes.

  I slurped on my chocolatey drink before devouring the chili fries sitting on my lap. I turned down Dawson’s blaring radio, which was playing “Ohio is For Lovers” (our favorite song) and looked over at him.

  “What’s wrong, Dawson? You’ve been acting weird since after school.”