Staying at the Top | Rising to the Top Sequel

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The more I thought about it, the more I realized Preston was right. I was honestly a very clueless person at times and had no idea when someone was flirting me but now that Preston pointed it out, I really think Milo was. I thought he was just being nice when he said my name was beautiful, but saying two times?

Unfortunately, Preston was now really mad at me, and I was getting really worried about it. He didn't talk to me at all for the rest of the showcase, and even got his mom to pick him up early. Afterwards when I tried calling him to apologize, he wouldn't answer at all. When I texted him, he read the texts but never replied.

I know I had two choices with him. Either give him his space and wait for him to cool down, or keep apologizing until he forgave me.

Because I already spent a lot of time away from him when he shut down, I was going with the latter choice. I just hoped he wouldn't keep ignoring me. On the bright side, it wasn't like he could leave school just so he couldn't talk to me.

Actually, he might really do that. He skipped school all the time when he didn't want to be there.

No, he wouldn't actually skip school just so he didn't have to talk to me. Be realistic.

I was hoping he would be at his locker when I got to the school so I wouldn't have to go looking for him before first period started, but he wasn't there. I sighed and headed to my locker. If he really didn't come to school today, I didn't know what I would do. I really didn't want Preston to stay mad at me.

After getting my notebook for first period, I walked around the school hoping I would find Preston anyway. I wasn't able to find him before the bell rang, so I had to head to my English class. By the time I was sitting in my regular seat, Preston walked into the classroom.

But he decided to sit in a seat all the way across the classroom from where I was sitting.

Maybe it was really best to give him his space for now until he cooled off. He looked really mad, and I didn't think I had ever seen him this mad before. I didn't think I had even seen him mad at all. Maybe annoyed, but never mad.

I ended up trying to talk to him after class ended anyway. I quickly followed him down the hallway and grabbed his arm. "Preston, are you going to keep ignoring me?"

"I would say yes, but then I wouldn't be ignoring you by answering your question," Preston said.

"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday," I said.

"Okay," was all he said before he continued walking down the hallway.

I still followed him. I really didn't want him to stay mad at me, especially when he was right about the whole thing. "I'm trying to apologize, Preston," I said.

"I know," Preston said.

"Then why are you acting like this?" I asked.

"The same reason why you were acting so oblivious yesterday," Preston said.

"I wasn't acting oblivious," I said. "I am oblivious. Of course I'm not going to notice if someone flirts with me when I have a boyfriend that I love a lot. You're the only one I pay attention to."

"Look, I've got to get to class before I get late," Preston said.

"So, you're going to keep ignoring me?" I asked.

"One word, three letters," Preston said. "Yes."

Unbelievable. He wasn't even going to listen to what I had to say.

I was honestly really hoping this was just a symptom of his disorder. I could also look up the symptoms, but I'd rather talk to someone who actually knew about it, so at lunch I asked Kathy about it as soon as I got to the table.

"Can borderline personality disorder cause someone to stay mad for a long time, even after someone is trying to apologize to them?" I asked.

"Well, this is obviously about you and Preston, so I need background information," Kathy said.

"Preston and I got into a small argument at the showcase," I said. "Afterwards, I realized he was right but now, he's really mad at me and when I asked if he's going to keep ignoring me, he said he will."

"Oh, yeah, that's completely normal for him," Kathy said. "Change of mood swings, getting mad when he really shouldn't. All normal. It can take a few days before he calms down, though, but he won't stay mad at you forever."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks. I'm fine if he stays mad at me for a bit longer, but not forever."

"What was the argument about anyway?" Kathy asked.

"Nothing important," I said. I really didn't want to get into it again.

I guessed I was going to have to give Preston his space now instead of trying to get him to forgive me. This was going to be hard.

After school while I was at my locker, someone walked up to me and I really hoping it was Preston, but it wasn't.

It was Milo.

If he tried flirting with me again, I was going to get really mad. Well, not really mad since I wasn't the type of person to get mad, but I was going to tell him to stop.

"Hey," he said. "You okay? You look a bit upset."

"Yeah," I said. "It's just my boyfriend and I got into a fight." I emphasized boyfriend in hopes of Milo getting the message.

He didn't.

"Oh, that Preston guy, right?" Milo asked. "Wouldn't you rather be with someone a little bit less... conceited?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Conceited?" I asked. "We are thinking of the same Preston, right? Because my Preston isn't conceited at all."

"Really?" Milo asked. "Come on, he always strives to be centre of attention, and he's a bit full of himself."

"Okay, it may seem that way to you, but I actually know him on a personal level, and he is no way close to being conceited," I said. "So don't talk about him that way."

"I'm just saying..." he began, but I wouldn't let him finish.

"Saying what?" I asked. "You know nothing about him, and you don't even know anything about me. You can't tell me who I should date when we literally met a few days ago. Even then, the only thing you know about me is my name. So please, just stay away from me." I closed my locker before walking out of the school with one thing on my mind.

Why was Milo hitting on me when hehad a girlfriend?