Snow White and Seven Devils (rewrite) ✅

(7) Running in circles and walking on winding roads

7.

It was the strangest year of my life, the time everything changed drastically. Perhaps, the one who transformed the most was myself. It was like I had been driving along a straight line for so long, the road was smooth, boring and without any bumps.

But as soon as I changed the course, the way filled with rocks that never let me go straight anymore. There were a lot of people and a series of stupid incidents that made the mess of things and changed me.

At that time I didn't know that the person who would change me the most was going to be him.

Derrick Carson.

Derrick Carson was not anything extraordinary, he was just over exaggerated by the people around him. He was easy to understand and difficult to get along with - an unlikely and complicated combination, but at that time he was known as the guy who hated everything. The list included me as well.

It was our second encounter and this time I knew who this guy was. And it was that knowledge that intimidated me the most.  It was funny that I was scared of a stranger, and it was that fear which led me to explore the residental enigma called Derrick Carson.

It happened as soon as I got away from Dale.

It wasn't until I was walking feverishly towards the other side of the block that I scolded myself for crying. Why was I crying? Because Dale laughed at me again? For a moment I let myself be angry at myself; if I didn't like what he did, I should had said it. No...if I had said something, I would've looked ever weirder than I already was? Last time I did something out of spite and ego, things changed so much that I had to move all the way here.

The next moment I calmed myself down. What was I expecting? Dale had always been like this, I repeated again and again. This was the reason we were always fighting as kids. He didn't take everything seriously and thought that ninety nine percent of things that went around him were funny. Of course he would laugh! In fact, Daniel and Carmen would have laughed as well.

But I wouldn't have minded that, a small voice in my head insisted.

It was my entire fault. Why was I giving so much importance to Dale? I did have a crush on him when we were kids, but that was a long, long time ago, I was stupid, childish and filled with many fantasies. Why was it hard to admit that things had changed? Every time I talked to him, my chest started fluttering and my palms started getting sweaty. Every time I felt like my impression on him was changing, my mind started counting backwards. I had only met Lillian Fisher twice and I was already jealous of her.

Dale shouldn't have mattered.

But he did matter. He and his stupid blue eyes, and his stupid blonde hair that fell on his forehead so carelessly, and his stupid smile that made me think about him more than I wanted to.

I was always like this, getting affected by people, letting them control my feelings and influence me. And when it came to Dale, he wasn't just anyone. He was the guy whose dreams had kept me awake for many nights, who made me happy and sad at the same time and somehow, I could never let him get out of my mind.

And it got worse after coming here. Was it because he was always around me? Acting nonchalantly and being his usual careless self that managed to steal my breath away.

The thought left me feeling hollow.People passed around me giving me strange looks, like I was some sort of museum display. Great, this was the last thing I needed. More then anything, I hated being stared at by random strangers so I immediately rubbed my eyes, sniffed and started walking a little faster.

Once I was back to normal, I took a good look around myself. The tea shop that Carmen loved was closed, not that I planned to spend the next hour sipping tea. For once, I was grateful that Carmen didn't accompany me. Though I did begin to wonder how everyone was doing. Daniel was even worse than me at sports, why did he agree in the first place? He was letting Carmen influence him and it was not okay. What will I do with those two?