The Royal Scandal (editing)

Chapter 18 [Happy 100th]

And aside from being an indifferent ass, he was not someone I could easily hate either. Trust me if I could hate him by now I had, and I should but the failure was not for lack of trying. Because God, I had seriously tried. But he had made it impossible. I wanted a reason to hate him for doing all these kind of stuff to me, forcing me and making me fell for him and just to be ignored again.

But how can I possibly hate his guts when he showed up on my doorstep one night with a pie in one hand and takeouts in another on the one night that my mom had came down with a cold. I tried not to talk to him for a whole month of November, skipping lunches and avoiding him at school but he found ways to corner me every time asking if I had eaten because to him I was looking pale lately. I tried to ignore him but it seemed to rain a lot now, and he kept insisting that I should rode to school with him. He was afraid I should get a cold or tumbled down again.

Aiden was a master of manipulation, a diabolical and indifferent ass.  I should know after all, I had been dating him more than three month now. I took a quick look at the small calendar that stood on the table I studied. I slowly calculated the days that had passed us by.

Ninety nine day.

It had been ninety nice days of lies. We both had been ‘fake dating’ for ninety nice days to today, 14 December. Come Christmas Eve, it will be a perfect 100. A hundred day anniversary.

As I was absorbed in my own mind, my phone chirped. I glanced at the clock and it was sometime past ten o clock. It was almost like clockwork; Aiden had been calling on every Saturday night sometime past ten for a month now, once a week. You would think that after three month the conversation flows freely but sadly it hadn’t. The awkwardness lingered still, now more pronounced than ever since Halloween night.

I was really cold to him all month long, last month. A small punishment for his indifference for failing, even up till now, to admit that we had actually shared a dance during Halloween and that we kissed. But I was forced to let it go eventually after all I had done to dodge, ignore and evade him failed. And also for the fact he said that for that one night, we were not who we were. So after midnight, the magic broke and my carriage became a pumpkin once again. There were no princes or glass slipper to come and find me after. It made sense, I was no Cinderella.

I watched as the song died away and fell into silence. A few seconds passed by and my phone was chirping again, calling me to pick it up. Aiden was becoming less rigid and less solemn but it didn’t mean that his temper had improved too. I ultimately picked up the phone, knowing that should I fail to provide him with a solid excuse for not picking up earlier, I was in for an earful.

“Hello.”

“Are you busy or something?” his voice was cold and calm. Reserved, just like the chilly winter night. My heart skipped a beat, nevertheless.

“Nope.”

On the other line I heard him sigh. I bit my lips, expecting what was coming. “Fay…” he called my name, dragging the ends of it to a soft caress. I said nothing to his calling clamping my mouth and chewed on my lips.

“We’re not doing this again are we? I’m seriously tired of it.” he said quietly. My mind and ear must be playing tricks on me because for a split second I could have sworn I heard a tinge of wariness in his voice.

“I’m not doing anything.” I went on to say, piling as much innocence as I can in every syllable. Time had taught me to become an excellent liar.

“Why didn’t you picked up when I called earlier?” he shot, his tone wasn’t sharp or demanding but again, there was wariness there and guilt was creeping up on me but I quickly shook them away.