Chapter Six

"Clover," Andrew started softly. "Baby, if you wanted to play dirty, all you had to do was ask," Andrew said, trailing his hand up the side of my neck, making me stiffen. His hand went into my wig and before I could even react to what was happening, it was already too late. He pulled the back of my shirt and sprayed whip cream all down my back. I gasped, jumping away, not missing the huge whiff of cream that was suddenly sprayed all over my hair.

My jaw was stuck completely open. "Andrew Carter," I gasped.

"Oops," he said, smirking, before pretending to look at a nonexistent clock on his wrist.

"Look at the time," he said, shaking his head and tapping his wrist. "Guess we should change so you can get started on my homework and not get food all over my furniture." 

"You're just scared because you were losing," I retorted, crossing my arms over my sticky chest.

"No, no, no," he said, shaking his head and putting one arm over my shoulder. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying, stop while you're ahead?" he asked, doing a little wave with his other hand as if there was something in the air that said those words and his hand was underlining them.

"Hey, you haven't always had blond highlights, have you?" Andrew asked suddenly, picking up a piece of my real hair that must have fallen out of my braids.

"Yeah, I got them last year but they're starting to fade," I lied, thinking quickly on the spot.

"Really? I've never noticed," he said, dropping the piece.

I gave him a wry smile. "It's not like you've known me or even ever really noticed me before," I said, stepping away. "Not that that's exactly a bad thing," I mumbled under my breath.

"Well, I think the blond goes well with you," he said as our eyes made contact. "I'm gonna go take a shower cause I smell like ranch and cupcakes so I will be back. If you want, you can go wash up in that bathroom," Andrew said before disappearing for a minute. He reappeared with a pair of black, skinny collegiate pants and a black t-shirt.

"Cool, thanks," I said and he sent me a nod before heading back upstairs. The bathroom was easy to find, but I didn't feel comfortable showering in someone else's house so I wiped myself off with the small washrag as much as I could before changing. As I pulled up the pants, they fit surprisingly well, but the shirt wasn't exactly my favorite, as it was tight on my boobs. I sighed before removing my wig and rinsing it out. It didn't take long, since I decided to only get out what I could for the moment before going through the process of putting it back on.

"This outfit looks awful on me," I muttered to myself as I exited the bathroom. I wondered if he had a shirt I could borrow because it was clear his sister was a bit smaller than me.

"Hey, nerd, I just noticed something," Andrew said, glancing up at me while cleaning the kitchen.

"What? That you're a jerk?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ha, you're funny." He rolled his eyes as he reached into the fridge and poured a glass of orange juice. "Want some?" 

I shook my head.

After putting away the juice, he leaned against the cabinet and looked at me carefully. "I just noticed that you're pretty hot, you know?" 

"And you're still annoying," I retorted.

"You're not very creative, in case you were wondering," he muttered before taking a sip of his drink.

I ran my hands down my face in irritation before taking another deep breath. This guy was trying my patience. "Anyway, what time is it?" 

He looked down at his phone. "'Four-fifteen."

"Where's your homework? I have to get it done now," I said and he raised an eyebrow curiously. "I have to leave soon."

"In that case, you do the work, and I'll start cleaning up here," he said, gesturing around the messy kitchen.

"Sounds good then," I said, sitting at the table. His research paper was fairly easy to start on since he already had his topic. I went through and Googled a few sources before I actually started the writing process. If there was something I loved doing in school, it was research papers. Not your typical essays, actual research papers. There was so much thought that went into them and the actual researching part could be fun as well.

"You're fucking weird," Andrew said suddenly, making my eyes snap up to him as he held the broom and just stood there staring at me.

"How so?" I responded, wondering where that random comment came from.

"Because either you're looking up porn on my computer or you actually enjoy doing homework. Either way, they both scream that you're fucking weird," he replied.

"You caught me. It's definitely the porn," I said, nodding with a thoughtful expression. "I just couldn't help myself when one of your videos came up."

Andrew scowled. "You're just hilarious."

"And you, sir, are a big stick in the mud."

"You could, at the very least, try to act like you're not a complete nerd," Andrew responded.

"What's the fun in that?" I questioned before going back to his paper. I got about a paragraph and a half in before my phone started blaring.

"Wait a second? Clover actually has friends?" Andrew said sarcastically.

"At least I don't stick it in all of mine," I said, pointing with my eyes down to his crotch.

"At least I have somewhere to stick it," he responded and we both gave each other a look that said, “What the hell are we even talking about?” before bursting out laughing.

"Let's just leave it at that," I said, chuckling, before finally deciding to answer my phone.

"Clover?" Mary said.

"Hey, Mary," I said awkwardly, knowing that if she was calling then it was probably for nothing good.

"Can you please explain to me why you are not jogging at this very moment?" Her politeness turned into screaming into the line by the end, which caused me to cringe. "We are leaving for New York in two days. You need to be perfect. So, if you are not outside jogging in the next ten minutes, you won't be modeling for the next month!" Mary said sternly into the phone before hanging up.

I sat there frozen, phone in hand. The thought of not modeling made my mind wander to what it would be like to not be famous. I decided I should get going.

"You okay?" Andrew questioned, causing me to jump. I’d almost forgotten he was here.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine," I said, still feeling slightly dazed. "Just a little trouble at work.” I waved him off. "Listen, would you mind if I borrowed this outfit and brought it back to you tomorrow? I have to go and I don't really have time to change and all that." 

"Yeah, like I said it's my sister’s and she's away at school, so it's not like she'll be looking for them." He leaned the broom against the wall.

"Thanks," I said, sending him a small smile.

"I can give you a ride to wherever you need to go," he said.

"I don't live too far from here so I can walk. Thanks, though," I said, standing up and grabbing my stuff.

"You sure?" he asked.

"You know, I surprisingly didn't have an awful time with you today, Andrew Carter," I said and he smirked.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have an awful time with you either, Clover Thompson," he said before adding on, "You're a lot different outside of school, more relaxed, sexier even." His wink at the end caused me to shake my head.

I brought my hands together in front of me and sent him a very tight smile. "I wish I could say the same to you, Carter."

He walked me to his front door, even going as far as to open it for me. "See ya around?"

"See ya." I closed the door behind me before doing the little fast walk to my house the street behind his. When I arrived, there were a few lingering men and women with cameras so I decided it would be best to go around back. I quietly went through my neighbor's yard, thankful that they weren't home before I jumped over the fence. I used my key and went in the back door before rushing upstairs and changing into one of our new sports bras Victoria’s Secret was trying to promote and a pair of matching shorts. I slipped on my shoes and put in a pair of earbuds before heading back downstairs and straight outside.

A few photographers tried to stop me, but I only sent them a smile before starting my jog. I silently thought over my time at Andrew’s and it surprisingly wasn't that bad. At home, he wasn't that drunk guy everyone obsessed over. He was just your average teenage boy with a bit of a large ego. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe Andrew Carter would turn out to be someone different than people thought? Maybe even someone tolerable.