❝I think I'm falling in love with you,❞
❝Damnit Lilly, stop staring at that bloody book,❞
•••
Hillary Raymond and Stella Banks may not have been the best of friends, but they had an irrevocable bond created by their mutual love for books. The only...
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***
I waited in the library for Stella. Half of the day had gone by and I still hadn't got my book back. I was getting impatient and stressed out. And stressed is something that doesn't look good on me.
So I sat at my usual seat at the back of the library, munching on my croissant, tapping my foot, impatiently waiting for Stella to make her appearance.
I went outside and walked towards the cafeteria. Towards the cornucopia itself. Food maybe abundant, but so were the society dominant careers who guarded it. I stopped in my tracks. What was I doing? I haven't been in that hell for years! I was too afraid to handle bullying.
Once was enough to warn me. All I did was stay in silence after that. If I had reported it, I would not only have been in even more trouble but I would have to deal with those big headed freaks for the rest of high school.
So I had laid low. And thankfully I wasn't proactively bullied anymore. Only rarely. They concentrate on the newer kids now. The transfers, or the freshmen. They wanted to feed on fresh blood.
I was safe. For a while.
And that was all I needed.
I took a peek into the hell hole that was stocked with food. My eyes widened as hey registered the fact that Stella wasn't there. I felt a little sick in my stomach and it was not because of the loss of my book. My heart started beating faster as I grabbed my weather beaten phone from my backpack to call her. When I switched it on, I realised I had a text from her.
My heart beat sped up as I read it.
Overslept 2day. Dnt worry, Max and America are safe. B there by lunch <3
~S
That girl! She would be the death of me one day. Suddenly I heard someone calling my name.
"Hillary!" Stella's voice rang out, echoing through the corridors as she came jogging up towards me.
"You!" I cried, narrowing my brown beady eyes at her. She stopped in her tracks. The hallway was empty, so it was okay for me to raise my voice. Almost everyone was in the cafeteria watching the cheerleading squad practice and the rest were with the careers.
I could remove my stoic mask and show my true emotions.
And right now that emotion was annoyance.
I stalked towards her. She stalked backwards. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry?" she whispered, looking into my fiery eyes.
"Do you know how many hours I slept yesterday?" I asked evenly.
"Uh-"
"None." I said, in monotone. I was actually enjoying this. The great Stella Banks was grovelling at my feet. Not yet. But she will be.
"I-"
"And do you know how worried I was when you didn't come to the library today?"
"Bu-" she started, still retreating.
"I was just about to go into the cafeteria."
Her eyes widened, realizing the severity of her blunder.
"I'm sososososososorry!! I was up late last night reading all the books from The Selection Series, so I over slept. I wanted to know about the book that bagged second place in your 'MLB' List (Most Loved Books)!" she said in a sugary sweet voice.
I rolled my eyes.
"That's a feisty friend you have there ella." came a deep, husky voice from behind us. I cringed.
I thought the hall was empty! I quickly turned around to see the great and mighty Ryan Banks standing in front of me, an amused smirk that could make any girl but me melt, stitched across his face. His hair was more darker and more brown than Stella's. His eyes were a stormy grey, unlike hers, which was more lighter. More free.
He looked mysterious and strangely attractive. No wonder all the girls in our school were all over him. It was disgusting.
"I know right!" I felt Stella sneak her arm over me, giving me a side hug. "She loves me so much! She can't be away from me even for a second!" she exaggerated.
"Please. I was only concerned about the book." I said in a fake voice. Stella saw right through me. She grinned. Apparently Ryan didn't see through me, since I had been looking directly at Stella when I said this.
"Maybe that's why you don't have any friends. You're too stuck up and annoyingly irritating." he said in monotone. The smirk on my face dropped when I heard this. An angry snarl graced my face.
I turned my fiery gaze towards him. A tiny voice in my brain screamed for me to get the hell out of there, but my body had already set my angry plan in motion. He stood there his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall, giving me a smirk that would melt a heart with the strength of a mountain. But mine was stronger than a mountain.
"Don't you dare judge me. You don't know me. You don't even know anything about me. Maybe I don't want to have friends because they all might be as disgustingly rude and horrid as you. So don't you dare judge me."
My anger spent, I began to realize what I had just done. My eyes widen as I see his face morph from one of surprise to shocked, and then to downright insulted. I felt my cheeks heat up and my anger simmer down. Stella's eyes widen as she places her hand on my shoulder.
I've always had anger issues. It just seemed that he brought that side out if me more viciously. Breathing hard I retreat.
"S-sorry.. I-" I start, but see more people flushing into the corridors, unaware of the scene unfolding before us. Suddenly Brittany looked towards us.
Brittany was a real life Clove. And I didn't have anything to do about it.
So I did what I knew best.
I ran.
***
You should know that there are references to The Hunger Games all over the book.
Clove and Cato are part of the Careers who try to kill Katniss.
Thankfully Thresh saves Katniss (since she helped Rue) from Clove.
