UNMASKED [The sequel to LOVELORN]

Unmasked- A Bed of Roses

Sorry for the delay, guys, I wasn't able to upload properly on wattpad due to technical reasons. Enjoy the chapter. ;-)

                             Chapter 7: A Bed of Roses

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          There are moments in life which always remain in a person’s memory, close to their heart. Moments that are priceless. Emily was having those moments- of affection, companionship and possibly…love…with her best friend, and the college stud no less.

           Devon Graybach- the guy who had introduced her to the whole concept of friendship. She had always been a loner, shunned even by her siblings. The girl who almost never spoke to boys (the other way round was commoner) now sat with the hottest guy in class, much to the envy of every girl.

            Emily was secretly pleased about the whole jealousy thing, as she thought it was about time all those snotty girls got showed up.

             Emily’s parents were pleasantly surprised to see the changes that had begun to manifest in the span of a few weeks in their daughter- somebody they had thought was a lost cause. Her mother cancelled the appointment to a psychiatrist, as she hoped the changes were there to stay, and her daughter would actually rise up in society and shed the tag of a social pariah. Her siblings weren’t that bothered by her behavioural modifications. They simply put it down to the fact that she had become less crazy than her earlier self owing to finally some screw getting tightened in her eccentric head.

              Devon took Emily on his Suzuki sportsbike on long rides down the highway, along the beach road and sometimes around the blocks at night. Emily was a dunce at swimming; so Devon gave her a lesson or two in the sea, though they ended up stealing kisses at the end of every session. He also taught her to shoot hoops. She was a fast learner, so it wasn’t long before she was a front runner in the tryouts for the girls’ basketball team.

               They went to the malls together, shopped for apparel and tried out various cuisines in the small restaurants and snack bars in the malls. Emily told him a lot of things about the unconventional stuff they ate, from sashimis to Tom Yum soup, from bouillabaisse to ravioli. She had always loved to read about different cultures, and her gourmet knowledge came in handy. Devon was not that interested in the different dishes that he ate, but made it a point to brag about them to his friends and girls, impressing the latter with what food facts he could recollect from the ‘lectures’ Emily had given him.

                Emily still completed most of Devon’s homework assignments; but she didn’t mind as she had begun to think it was her job to ensure Devon excelled in academics, just like he excelled in sports.

               Devon would dump his homework on her at times and take off with his friends, only to come back later to collect the finished work. He was always ready with a kiss or two for Emily, and the wretched girl was too blinded by her best friend’s affections to see that he was using her to get his work done. His grades had sky-rocketed, he was on the probables list for the county baseball team and the girls were throwing themselves at him, trying to prove they were better than plain-Jane Emily.

                Rachel McDonalds was furious. She had broken up with Devon a month back because of a misunderstanding. She had taken up with Jimmy Ellis, but had dumped him soon after as she thought he was dumb and lacked charisma- something chick-magnet Devon had in plenty. She wanted him back. Badly.