He grinned, and hopped off, causing all her papers to fly every which way. He covered his mouth like a child, and giggled. "Oopsies." Chloe shook her head, pushing him out, muttering. "I'll give you, oops, mister�"
"What do you mean, she's coming to eat with us? I don't want her to come. She'll only cause trouble." Lance looked at his older friend and sighed. "JC, cut it out. Chloe's really nice, I promise. You haven't even given her a chance. Can you at least for once be civilized and not run this girl out? She's working really hard, from what I understand, and we don't need you being an ass to her all the time." Justin nodded, in agreement. "He's right, JC. Get off your high horse and be nice."
JC opened his mouth to protest, when Chris skipped in, followed by a disheveled, worn-out Chloe. "I got her! I got her!" Chloe shook her head, and brushed away a strand of hair. "You gave me no choice." Chris shrugged. "Ah, well. Let's go! Chloe, you can ride with me." Chloe stepped back, a bit frightened. "Uh, no offense Chris, but.. you're a little too high-strung for me� if it's alright, I'd rather ride with someone less� animated."
"You can ride with me." 5 heads swiveled to JC, and gaped at him, as if he had lost his marbles. He crossed his arms to his chest and glared. "What? Don't look at me like that. Come on Chloe. We'll see you guys there."
As Chloe passed Justin, he took hold of her arm and whispered in her ear, "If you haven't made your peace with God� I suggest you do so, right now." She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, following JC out to his Jeep.
She got in wordlessly, and sat quietly as he started the car and headed for their destination. "Um. It was nice of you to drive me." JC rolled his eyes. "Whatever." She sighed, and looked down at her hands. "I really wish we could be nice to each other, JC. Maybe� maybe if you told me why you didn't like me so much, I could try and be different."
He sighed, as he made a sharp turn. Now he felt bad. She wasn't supposed to make him feel guilty about being mean. She bit her lip, in frustration. "Please� say something. Anything." He groaned. "Stop it." She looked up, confused. "Stop what?" He gripped the steering wheel, tightly. "Stop giving me a guilt trip. All you girls are the same. Pretty, rich, sweet. At least that's on the outside. Inside, however, you're all manipulative little wenches."
She glared at him from her seat. "Oh, really? And you can put me in that category, because you know me so darn well, right, Mr. Chasez?" He opened his mouth to remark, but she held up her hand. "DON'T talk. I'm not finished. I'm so glad you know me well enough to make these assumptions. Do you know what happens when you ASSUME? You make an ASS out of yourself. You don't know me. You don't know who I am, or what I'm about. So, stop making me feel like scum, when you know and I know, I haven't done anything wrong."
She crossed her arms and sighed, fighting tears. People always made her feel this way. They saw her as Tobey Maguire's little sister. Big brother, rich, big house� they all assumed she was a spoiled little rich brat. And she hated it. She hated being stereotyped.
JC didn't say anything, but pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car. He looked at her, and frowned. "I'm sorry. You're right. I promise to try and keep my feelings toward you at bay� You're right� I don't know you, and I shouldn't be making these accusations against you� It's just� I've been burned before by someone� and the worst part of it� and the part that hurts the most� You remind me exactly of her. And then she turned out the way she was�Chloe, you're her." Chloe shook her head. "No, JC, I'm not. I'm Chloe Maguire. Not some girl who's hurt you in the past. I'm a writer, my brother is Tobey Maguire and my best friend is Hayden Christensen. I am NOT that other girl. As long as you try and remember that, I think we'll get along just fine. In fact, maybe we could even be friends. But, you're drawing a line, a very thin one, that makes me want to just ignore you. I don't want that JC. You seem like a nice, decent person. I don't want to throw away what could have been a good friendship, simply because I remind you of someone I'm not."
She stopped and drew a deep breath. "Thanks for the ride. Don't worry about bringing me back. I'm sure I can find another way." She stepped out of the car, and walked over to where Justin and the others waited.
Feeling like crap, JC made his way over to where the others were, as well, feeling like the most hated person on the planet.
Five