Apples Don't Just Mean School [in process of rewriting]

For The Kill

Listen to the video above :D 

Emily's POV

The next morning, I got up early, planning to take the train. I cleaned up, wore my clothes - calf-length white dress and a dark blue blazer, with my usual heeled pumps - and opened the door. Instead of an umbrella stand and a thread-bare, washed out mat, Jared was standing there, twirling his car keys idly. "Uhh... What are you doing here?" I stammered. "Driving my girlfriend to work?" he suggested. I clenched my bag's handles tighter in my hands, feeling my dratted cheeks work up.

"You didn't have to," I insisted. "Oh yes, I have to," he replied, before grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me downstairs. OH MY GOD! Calm down... His dark blue Mercedes Benz was standing proudly in the front, and he opened the shotgun seat for me, before hopping in himself. "Now off to the NY Times office we go!" he sang out. I chuckled softly, before leaning into the leather seat comfortably. I guess I'm sort of thankful for the ride. Jared's so sweet~ Ugh, lovestruck much?

We zipped through the bustling streets so unlike my hometown and I watched the pedestrians do what they did. "Jared..." "Mhmm?""Are we going over the speed limit?" He peered over at the speed-o-metre. "Nope, not yet," he answered, popping the 'p'. "I'm worried about the 'yet'." The office building loomed ahead of us, and I felt the car speed up. "Jared. Jared? JARED!" He ignored my screams and suddenly slammed the brakes, turning the wheel and parallel parking. "Jared..."

Matthew's POV

I flicked through Instagram peevishly. Seriously, isn't there anything remotely interesting? NO! Wait, STOP! I stopped scrolling down. A picture caught my eye: A picture posted by Emily. I read the caption. @emilysophiefox: <3 @jaredthejared who tricked me into eating this! I looked at the picture of Emily and this '@jaredthejared'. Holding hands. Shoulder to shoulder. And I promptly dropped my handphone. NO! EMILY'S DATING! You lost your chance, Harper. Now another guy's swooped in for the kill.

I felt numb. Who is this Jared? I mean, he's obviously called Jared, right? Ugh, stop. Why don't you pop over to New York during the holidays to say hi? Oh, hell yeah, I'm going to do that. I'm gonna see the guy that's stolen Emily's heart in a few weeks when I couldn't in two terms. I let my head fall into my hands. Why does this happen to me? It's like my life is a series of disasters and heartbreaks. What did I do to deserve this? How can I stop it? Why me? Why not some other person?

I clicked off my phone. I couldn't bear to see anymore heart wrenching pictures. Flipping open my laptop, I checked out airline tickets to New York. Why am I doing this anyway? Isn't it like self harm? Self torture? But maybe I can convince Em to come back... It's a horrible, impossible hope, and I'll fail, I guess. But I'm already dead inside; One more disappointment won't make a difference. Harper, please, stop trying to kill yourself emotionally and physically! I'm not killing myself. I can't kill what's already dead.

Emily's POV

I tumbled out of the car, gasping and shouting. Jared was laughing at me as he locked the car. "Don't you DARE parallel-park when I'm with you again!" I yelled, breathless. He gave me a heart-melting, sideways smile. "Of COURSE, dear," he replied in a voice that I knew he meant the exact opposite. I instantly regretted saying that. I brushed off my skirt with a flourish and took Jared's proffered arm. "Let us go, milady," he announced grandly. "Of course, milord," I said dramatically. 

Wait. Matthew said something like that, right? Two, three months ago? I remember. Well, focus on the NOW. It's not time to reminisce about yesterday. We practically glided into the room with an air of grandeur. "Good morning, everyone! Great weather today, huh?" Jared grinned at each of our colleagues while I slowly died of blushing as I half-ran to my eat. Gwendolyn winked knowingly at me again. "Are you done yet?" I mouthed. "NOPE!" She shook her head empathically and smirked once more, before turning away.

I sighed in resignation and ignored all the usual whispers and glances and gestures around me. I was assigned a rather dry and boring global warming article to write, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that teams of threes and fours were dashing out to get information for their write-ups. I'd like to be back at SCH when it's boring, but the running around is so exhilarating! Stick to journalism. You're already here anyway, just go with it.

Matthew's POV

I had not bothered to book the air ticket just yet and decided to go for a walk around. The drip had been removed ages ago, anyway, and no one could stop me. I felt perfectly fine as well, maybe a little achy. But I had no change of clothes, and was forced to wander around in the stupid hospital gown. As I paced the corridor, trying not to act like I had just snuck out of the A&E - which I technically DID - I noticed a variety of people staring at me. I waved. What? Never seen a man walk around in a hospital gown before? Sheesh.

I smiled at random doctors who looked either a) alarmed, b) weirded out, or c) all of the above. Little kids grinned up at me, while their parents were too busy on their phones to notice. I popped into the cramped gift shop and peered at the flowers, before sniffing them. To my utmost disgust, they all smelt of the same chemicals. "Why are they... Why do they all smell the same?" I demanded of the shop assistant - who looked extremely bored. "They're all sprayed with that." She pointed at a bottle. "Really?" "Yup."

I scowled inwardly and left. Ugh, they're all so fake-smelling now! What have humans done to Nature's wonderful, NATURAL creations? That's humans for you. Changing and ruining everything. I flexed my fingers suggestively as I walked towards the garden. The hospital garden consisted of a few neatly trimmed hedges, a winding, rock-embedded path, a few scruffy trees and a bunch of scattered benches, all baking under the sun. I examined a drooping flower critically, before dumping some water over it. Ugh, mankind is idiotic.

A/N: Well, Matthew's sad. :D