T W E N T Y
"Well, well, what have we got here?"
Mrs Pebble's voice was emphatically intimidating alone, and the words that came out of her mouth didn't make it any better. In fact, now it meant I had to make up a convincing lie and if she didn't buy it, then I was screwed. No, we were screwed.
Momentarily, I stared at her out of shock. Oh crap, is this was really happening right now?
When, however, an idea crept into my mind, my mortified face morphed into an incredibly worn out expression, huffing and puffing painstakingly as if I was about to collapse. "Help me... P-please..." I coughed loudly, making it sound authentically convincing. "So... Heavy."
To be honest, that wasn't really me lying. Chance's body was moments away from shattering my spine into pieces after all. Yes, it was me who landed a jaw-breakable punch right into Skylar's perfect cheeks, but I'm really not any stronger than that. Well, not strong enough to carry a two-hundred pound Chance.
Mrs Pebbles narrowed eyes turned sympathetic. "Oh you poor dear!" She scurried to my side, taking Chance off my back and putting his arm over her head. "It must've been so hard for you. You are quite the twig after all!"
I sighed. "Yeah. I am-" Then my eyes widened at her - what I found to be - criticism. "Wait what?!"
"What happened to him?"
"Oh him?" I laughed nervously, pointing at the drunk dude whose arm is swung over my neck for support. "He, uh... Fell asleep on the toilet."
Wow, can somebody please applaud me?
No seriously, no sarcasm intended. That was probably the best excuse I had ever made, and although it was quite perky, it made sense right? I mean, I even came through the door was lead to the toilets! Oh god, I am so smart.
"Oh dear, he has the same habits as my husband," She laughed before leaning in and whispering, "I even have to clean his business for him."
My eyes widened in horror at the mere thought of it. My mouth urged for words, but nothing could possibly come out. Oh my god, I didn't need to know that.
It's settled, I won't be falling asleep tonight.
Thankfully, we reached our room before I even had to utter a word out of lethal awkwardness. Releasing Chance from our grips, he slumped onto the bed as Mrs Pebbles threw the bed sheets over his body. "There you go!"
I smiled. "Thank you for the help."
She patted my back a little too hard. "Oh, it's the least I can do as a teacher. Now, you must be feeling very lethargic, so go to sleep!"
"Uh, yes Ma'am."
Now to think about it, Mrs Pebbles was being abnormally kind and understanding that night. She was usually the seriously strict type, but somehow she turned into a cheery person and it was quite suspicious. Hmm, I wonder what happened with her.
She smiled brightly before turning around to leave the room. "Oh, that's right," she turned around to face me again. "The chef was asking to see you a few hours ago. You should go see him tomorrow."
"Why does the chef-"
"Night!"
Before I could finish my sentence, Mrs Pebbles was out of the room. That's weird though, why would the chef want to see me?
I was going to slid into my bed when Chance suddenly grabbed my wrist. "I beg of you..." He barely whispered, just audible enough to had reached my ears. "Don't hurt her." He furrowed his brow in determination. "I won't forgive you if you do."
Aww, why do I feel so touched?
Although I had no idea who he was referring to, the words sent feels through my body. I could feel my cheeks burning up at how sweet and devoted he sounded. Funny how these fervent words that were uttered in his dreams warmed my heart incredulously.
Gulping, I slid his hand off mine and silently slipped into my bed. Even with my heart beating ever so rapidly, I guess falling asleep wasn't so hard after all.
✦✧✦✧
All of a sudden, my eyes fluttered open. The red numbers of the digital clock illuminated through the dark room and once they actually sunk into my brain, I yelped out of bed.
Oh shoot, 8:00 AM?!
Breakfast was thirty-minutes ago!
I scurried into the bathroom with a change of clothes for the day, brushing my teeth doing whatever business before getting out of the bathroom. I was just about to leave the room when a thought hit me. Oh yeah, Chance.
Looking back at the definition of mess laying on the ground, I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Constantly falling off the bed was one thing, but this time he had me convinced that the hard wooden floor was more comfortable than the bed.
And his innocent-looking sleeping face didn't help but emphasise it either.
Should I wake him up? I mentally debated. If I woke him up, I knew he wouldn't be able to let the fact that he missed breakfast go. If I didn't, he'd probably miss lunch too.
I groaned. Geesh, why couldn't he be more organised? Well, I shouldn't be talking. I was the one who got unintentionally lead him into something he probably dread to have ever done.
"Cha-a-nce?" I sang, attempting to wake him up with my melodic voice. "Wake u... A-a-a-ah!"
My foot tripped over his leg, causing me to fall on top of him. My, doesn't this feel like deja-vu?
And then the worst of the worst happened; he just had to open his eyes at in this moment, didn't he?
His eyes glared blankly through mine, as if he hadn't fathomed what had happened just yet. "Rise and shine..." I laughed nervously, praying he wouldn't think of this situation of me being a pervert.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in realisation and he threw me off his body with extensive force. I winced as I rolled over and hit my head on the side of the bed, grunting with pain.
Oww, who has that much energy in the morning?
He pressed his hand onto his forehead, cringing at -- what seemed like -- pain. "Why is my head pounding so badly?"
Should I answer that? "Well, uh, that's because..." I trailed off stupidly, playing with my hands that rested on my lap.
"Hang on," He pushed himself up to a sitting position. His eyes finally meeting mine, but they were clouded with mere confusion. "What happened last night? The last thing I can remember is drinking a glass of wa-"
I laughed nervously. "About that..."
His eyes widened. "That wasn't water, was it?"
I shot him a sympathetic look. "I'd be lying if I said no."
"Shit." He cursed. "I shouldn't have-"
Suddenly his stomach gurgled in a concerning manner, which then lead him to cover his mouth with his hands and rush into the bathroom urgently.
I could literally hear him vomiting the contents of his stomach. "Are you okay?"
Yes Riley, he's okay. Because people who are okay, vomit.
Never, have I ever, felt so sorry for him until now. And what was even worse was the fact that I was secretly laughing about it. Quit laughing Riley, unless you're asking for a death wish!
He groaned. "If you tell anyone about this, you're dead."
✦✧✦✧
"Hey Skylar, wanna be partners?" Orio asked Skylar with a saccharine smile, desperation glinting in his eyes. He looked at Jackson who was approaching him and pressed his hands together to a begging gesture. "Pretty, pretty please?"
After Chance's incident, we caught up with the other students just in time for rock-climbing. Luckily, the coach hadn't noticed anything since he was too busy explaining the rules and conditions anyway. After that was done, we then had to choose a buddy.
"I'm good man..." Skylar replied, weirded out by Orio's extreme behaviour. "You're not hitting on me, are you?"
Before Orio could reply, Jackson had already reached the scene which made my eyes roll sarcastically. After all that happened last night, he still had the guts to approach my Bestie? Hah, looks like I didn't jab his back hard enough. "Hey Orio, wanna be partners?"
"Are you stupid? He's already my partner." Skylar interjected and slung his arms over Orio's neck, walking away from the taken-aback jerk. He sent me an apologetic glare for we were already a team, but I gladly waved it off. Truthfully, that was the most applaud-worthy action that i've ever seen Skylar do, and for that I was truly proud of him.
Besides, I had a plan on my plan. Putting my invisible dope-shades on and with my hands in my jean pockets, I walked towards Jackson with a smirk. "Hey Jackson," I asked with the most manliest voice I could pull. "Wanna be my partner?"
"Uh," He looked around to probably check if there was a second option, but much to his dismay there wasn't. His eyes could barely look at mine as his hands trembled wildly. "O-okay."
It took the all in me to avoid erupting into fits of laughter. He probably thought I was going to murder him, or something like that. I didn't blame him though, my eyes must've gave it away; the fact that I utterly loathed him right now.
I would be extra careful if I was him though - this was rock-climbing after all. The sport where you trust your pair for your life since they would be harness. Although I would never actually try to harm someone like that - in all seriousness - he, however, might have other thoughts.
As I was trancing all that in my mind, we had already grabbed our equipment and decided that he would be going first. Reluctantly, he clipped the harness onto his safety gear and took his first step towards the large, rocky man-made wall.
"You ready?" I asked him, shooting him a sarcastic smile.
"No." He hastily denied. "Riley, I think we should talk."
"Okay, but let's talk after this."
"Riley." His eyes were now filled with determination. "I think right now would be better."
After taking off his gear, he began walking towards somewhere quiet as I followed slowly behind. I gulped at the sheer thought of it. What was he planning? That, I had no idea of. But I had a really bad feeling that whatever he was going to say, I wouldn't like it.
Once he was satisfied with his surroundings, he spun around to make eye contact. But boy, did he change his emotions. Back there he looked scared, but now he just looked arrogantly intimidating. With his eyes narrowed and a smirk playing on his lips, the next few words had me surprised.
"I know your secret."
Er, what?!
No, it couldn't be. Hah! He couldn't have possibly found out, could he?
"What secret?" I decided to feign obliviousness about the subject.
"Your cousin, Bethany told me all about it."
Oh crap, he knows.
I mentally face-palmed myself. Damn, I should've known anyway! Bethany was bound to tell at least someone, but did it have to be Jackson of all people?! Especially since we're not on very good terms.
I laughed hard. Very hard, and I was hoping it was convincing too. "You obviously don't even know her well enough, do you? Either than making out all day, I thought you guys would at least sit down and get to know each other. I mean come on, do I look like a girl to you? She's obviously joking!"
"Uh, a girl?" he scratched his back. "I never said anything like that. I'm talking about how you're not actually a qualified boxer for the company."
If I had to face-palm myself for every stupid thing i've done, I would have an accurately flat face.
"Yeah, I know." I scoffed, laughing once again and praying that it sounded authentic. "I'm saying, do I look like I have a weak body or something? Because last time I checked, I look like a boxer, I act like a boxer and I fight even like a boxer." I waved him off. "Dude, she pranked you so bad."
His mouth opened to say something, but then he closed it. Wow, he was speechless. Did that mean I had him convinced? Wow, can someone please applaud me for the second time? I'm really kicking it lately!
"Even if he wasn't a real boxer, what were you going to do? Threaten him?" All of a sudden, Orio stepped into the scene, Skylar following behind. He swung his arm around my neck, shooting me a wink before whispering, "I got your back, Bestie."
"Threaten him?" Jackson scoffed. "There's nothing for me to threaten him about, man. I was just simply warning him not to mess with me."
Skylar made a sharp blow through his teeth, dramatically placing his hand on his heart. "Wow, you got me right here with that one. But I think you forgot something..."
Orio and Skylar exchanged mischievous grins before Orio pulled out his phone, playing the video of Jackson kissing a red-haired girl affectionately on the table. "This was all over Facebook by the way, just simply 'warning you.' I don't think the principal will be happy with her daughter kissing the football Team Captain, would she now?"
Walking off like bosses, we left Jackson in mortification. His mouth presumed to hang low as he was taken aback from the entire situation. I mean, how could he have not anyway? He was entirely doomed.
"I wonder who uploaded that anyway..." I voiced my thoughts.
"Well whoever did it is a legend," Skylar laughed. "They should be praised."
"Jackson did it himself." Orio revealed, grinning at us. "He's just surprised because he doesn't remember it."
"What?" Skylar and I shouted simultaneously.
"He's stupider than I thought." Skylar snickered. Oh, I must agree with that one.
"Why don't you like Jackson?" I asked Skylar, as I really was confused with his actions. I mean, they both loved to attract girls and to think about it, they would have so much in common with their egoistic attitudes. But why exactly would he dislike the scum?
He seemed to be surprised by my sudden question, and he looked the other way. "Because. I-I just ... you know ... have my reasons."
"He's just jealous that Jackson got Bethany and he didn't," Orio rolled his eyes. "It hurts his humungous ego."
"Orlando!" Skylar nudged him. "You promised not to tell anyone!"
I chuckled, placing a hand on my heart ever so dramatically. "Am I just anyone?"
"Yes," he answered deliberately, shooting me a sarcastic smile. "You are."
Before I could reply with an icy comeback, Orio butted in. "Oh, look! It's break time."
And he was right. All students were placing their equipment back into the large chest and making their way back to the cabins. I felt pretty bummed about that, since I actually wanted to try rock-climbing because I enjoy the sport. Oh well, there was always next time-
Wait hold up -- there isn't. Because sadly, we were leaving tomorrow morning.
✦✧✦✧
Cautiously, I knocked on my room's door just incase Chance was changing in there or anything. He was a dude and I was a girl after all. We should respect each other's privacy, don't you agree?
"Come in, quickly!" His urgent shout muffled through the door.
I swiftly opened the door, walking towards his body sitting on his bed, his hands pressed on his forehead. "Riley, help me. My head is going to be the death of me!"
He removed his hands and I gently pressed mine on his forehead, but to had gasped when I felt the burning heat. It was so hot that it even seemed like I could roast a chicken on his head!
"Chance, you need pain relievers." I informed him. Don't get me wrong -- I'm no doctor (nor am I very smart in the medical field), I was just sharing my method of curing headaches. I mean, doesn't everybody use pain relievers for headaches?
"Do you have any?"
"Uh, no. Sorry."
"Then where am I going to get pain relievers from?"
"Maybe the sickbay?" I suggested.
His eyes lit up. "Yes, of course the sickbay! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because I'm smarter." I joked, pretending flicking my boy hair back in pride.
"Pssh." He laughed. "No. It's because I have a really bad headache thanks to someone."
He jumped out of bed, but regretting it after how dizzy he felt. Rushing his way towards the door, he suddenly halted and twisted his body to face me. "Well? Aren't you coming with me?"
My eyes grew wide. Did he actually want me to come along with him? "But I thought that we can't be seen together-"
"Forget that," he waved it off. "Besides, who dragged me all the way into that hell party yesterday?"
And who dragged you all the way back to the cabins yesterday?
"You did that?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
My eyes widened in surprise. Crap! Did I say that out loud?
I cleared my throat. "N-Nothing, let's go!"
I pushed him out of the doorway and into the large cabin corridors, hoping that he would just let - what I had said - go. It would be embarrassing if he knew I actually carried him from the party to all the way back to the cabins by myself. I'd rather have him believe that he drunkenly walked himself back anyway!
Making our way into the administration block where the nursing room would be, we peeked into the main reception area to see that our target room was right in front of our eyes, yet on the other side. Crap, how are we supposed to get there without being noticed?
"I have an idea," Chance whispered beside me, as we were hiding behind the wall. "The quickest way to sneak into sickbay is to pretend we were meant to go there."
"Good idea," I praised him as he shot me a heart-warming smirk that sent a fuzzy feeling to my heart. "But what if we get caught?"
"I guarantee we won't." He assured. "Look at all those people in line for the office staff, they won't have time to suspect us."
My eyes scanned the area and I had to admit that Chance was right. There was a high percentage that the busy office staff wouldn't question us, nor even notice us. I nodded to approve his idea as he bit his lip, before signalling to take action.
And there we went, walking across the room and silently praying that we wouldn't be noticed. Thank the heavens that luck was on our side, as we had made it in. I sighed a relief and placed my hand on my chest in attempt to calm that exploding heart of mine. Chance scurried through the drawers, searching for some pain relievers. Whilst he was at that, I grabbed a spare glass and poured water from the drinking filter. He placed the tablet into his mouth and I passed him the glass of water, in which he gulped down.
Then, a thought hit me like I've never been hit in my entire life. Why were we sneakingly doing this? I mean, a hangover isn't the only reason why someone would get a headache!
I literally face-palmed myself. "Chance, why did we have to sneak in here? Having a headache isn't even a crime."
How did we not think of this in the first place?
He stared at me in what seemed like realisation. Just as he was about to open his mouth, clattering sounds of heels on tiles neared closer and closer. "Don't worry, we have some in the nursing room." The muffled voice of a lady was just barely comprehendible, and it was like a nightmare to our ears.
Oh shootballs.
Having a headache may not be a crime, but taking medications without permission is!
"Quick, the store room!" Chance shout-whispered, as we both immediately took action and rushed into the tiny, un-spacious store room. He closed the door just in time for the lady to come in and once again, my heart raced in comparison to Usain Bolt on tracks.
Here I was again, feeling such deja-vu.
But this time it was not only out of panic, but also because of the fact that Chance's face was no more than five centimetres away. Our eyes were locked; his glittering chocolate brown eyes were boring into my own like he had no where else to look. His quick, warm breaths were fanning my forehead and I had to weirdly admit that I liked it. The room was cramped and we could get caught in any second, but that was the least of my concerns. The biggest concern - or rather a pleasing thought - was that if I inched just a spec closer, I could be kissing Chance Montes.
Hold up - did I say pleasing?
I could faintly hear that the lady had left the room and I felt a little disappointed that we had to part so soon. Just as I was about to say something, I stopped. My heart stopped. My body stopped. My mind stopped.
Because the next thing I knew, Chance's soft, plump and heavenly pink lips met mine.
Oh who am I kidding, maybe I was falling for Chance after all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOOOODDDDD!
I AM OH-MY-GOD-ING FOR THREE THINGS:
1. WOOOOHOOOO IT'S THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER! This is a first for me actually and I never thought this would ever happen. Who knew I would accomplish finishing 20 chapters? And who knew it would disappointingly take me a year? Haha!
2. OH MY GOD THEY KISSED! This chapter took me AGES to make because of this. This is probably the first chapter that I literally sat for so long thinking about what am I going to do more than writing. I knew they were doing to kiss at the end, but it took me FOREVER to decide how i'm going to get there!
3. OH MY GEEEEE I UPDATED LATE AGAIN! WHYYYYY DO I KEEP DOING THIS? Even after being scold by my readers, I still update late. -.- I apologise for the late chapter once again. I guess i'm never going to update quick, am I?
Thank you all so, so much for the undying support! I am truly, deeply, truly grateful and thankful for having such supportive readers like you guys.
As to repay you, who here would like a chapter in Chance's point of view? ;)
Much love,
- NC