The Players' Game

Part 4 || Outside the Gates of Valentine ||

She jumped, hands wrapped around my waist in a hug before she pulled away, her eyes shining with a new kind of excitement and curiosity. "I heard a hot senior guy transferred to Valentine, is it true?!"

I put my hands up in front of me, lightly pushing her away as I nodded.

"No way! How the heck did he manage to transfer in as a senior?! Ah, I wanna see him myself! Do you have a picture? His number?"

"Gods, Nic," I huffed, dragging her into a café. "I don't understand why it's such a big deal for the news to have reached your school. Also, you have a boyfriend don't you. How did you even hear of him?"

She took a sip of her drink and waved the other hand in a nonchalant way. "The boys brought the news back,"

I bit my bottom lip, remembering the incident a couple of years back when Roche's boys division and the guys of Valentine broke out into a massive brawl, shivering. "I thought you guys hated us."

Nicole frowned, giving me a pout. "Stop putting up that wall, April. And stop using your head for god's sake. The incident was years ago, and keep in mind it wasn't your fault."

I released my lip, my body slightly flinching at the sincerity in her voice. "I'm sorry." I whispered slightly and she smiled.

"That's better. Apparently, new guy has a lightning bolt on his face? Now I know I'm no bookworm but this reminds me of that one guy, Harry Potter? FYI, Richard was the one who told me about him. Said this guy was famous at his last school."

"Famous how?" I asked, genuinely curious. The scar he had looked fresh, the wounds on his entire body managing to pique an interest in me I thought I had lost.

I thought back to Joshua's claim, the day before senior year started. "The hunt soon begins, April. Let's see if someone manages to thaw your heart this year."

Thaw my heart? Maybe not thaw, but the sudden interest in the opposite sex is quite alarming to say the least.

Nicole looked at me in shock. I guess I couldn't blame her. She knew what happened to me before, she knew the core of my hatred towards guys and heck, she even supported it.

Do I sound like someone interesting yet? Personally, I don't think so. I was just a naïve and weak little girl who couldn't do anything for herself way back when.

"Hey, April right?"

Damn his voice, I can still hear the voice of them laughing at me even though I've tried so hard to forget it. Stupid men and their stupid lies. Ever since that day I've sworn to myself; never let someone capture my heart ever again.

"—April? Are you listening to me?"

I shook the memory away, pulling the coat I had closer around me. Merely thinking about it gave me chills. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Nicole pursed her lips at me, her eyes narrowed, a habit she often did whenever she was annoyed. "As I was saying," she said with an exasperated sigh, exaggerating the tone of her voice. "This Phoenix guy got into a huge accident a month after newly enrolling in his previous school."

"Newly enrolled?"

She nodded vigorously, "This guy moved around a lot. Not really sure why yet. Anyways, the accident was no joke, even killed the foster family that he was living with. He was the only survivor."

Nicole sat back with a sigh, somewhat happy that she got to tell such a depressing story. Her eyes sparkled with new excitement. I laughed at her expression, "Only you have the right mind to be excited over cases like these Nicole."

"I don't see anything wrong with being excited. I live for the thrills in life. You should try it sometime, April. Stop being shut inside that musty old council room and come out every once in a while, do something daring."

"I do come out to meet you at least once a week, don't I?"

She rolled her eyes. "If I didn't call you and pester you to come to town, you'd be locked in that suite dorm of yours wasting your life away on books and—Holy shit, isn't that Joshua?"

I didn't need to turn my head to confirm whether or not the guy Nicole saw was Joshua. The way all the girls in the café stopped what they were doing and turning their eyes towards the entrance was proof enough.

So maybe I failed to mention that Joshua wasn't bad looking. Not that I'd ever admit that out loud of course. That would just fuel his stupid ego.

"Ice queen!" I heard his voice exclaim and I sigh, flipping my hair to one side trying to shield my face away from the glares of all the other girls. "April, don't ignore me come on,"

"I thought I made it clear never to speak to me in public did I not?" I said between gritted teeth.

He pouted, sitting on the same bench I was on, pushing me against the wall. "Brunette ditched me because of you. Take responsibility."

"I bet your random one night stand swooped in and they started destroying each other, am I right?"

He gave me a blank look, proving my statement to be right.

"You two should just get together and fuck already, gods."

I gave Nicole a long, hard stare while Joshua chuckled in his seat. "Me? With this Casanova scum? He doesn't actually like me, Nic. I'm just another girl he can put on his conquered list. Maybe when hell freezes over then I'll think about it."

I looked at him, almost missing the flash of hurt on his face. Before he could say anything though, the door of the café was pushed open with such force that made the walls vibrate.

"Joshua Peters!"

We turned our gazes to the madwoman standing at the entrance. Her hair was a brown frenzy on her head and her lipstick and mascara smudged everywhere.

"Shit." Was the only word I heard from him before he turned his body in my direction and pulled me into a hug, his nose resting on the crook of my neck. The coldness of his hand on my skin made my body shiver.

The woman made a confused expression as she looked around frantically. "He's not here?" she exclaimed, her tone exactly like a lost child's.

I could feel his muscles tense up as he snuggled closer, his arms wrapping around me so tightly I could barely breathe. As hard as I tried to push him off, he continued to hug me tighter. "Please, April." He whispered.

"Coward," I replied.

After the woman left, Joshua let out a long sigh, slumping into me and making me feel strangely hot.

"You smell nice," he said with a smirk against my skin.

"Joshua," I said, trying to contain the disgust boiling inside of me.

"Mhmm?" he mumbled, snuggling closer.

I took my already cold coffee and held it above his head, hovering before pouring the remains on his hair. I watched it trickle down his neck, staining his dark shirt.

"Never touch me again."

S/N : Let me know how this chapter felt :) Thanks for still sticking to my sorry ass writing skills hahaha [ 1857 words guys OMO ]

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