"I'm sorry." I begged with my knees on the floor, looking down at the floor while fiddling with the cloth of my dress. I was wearing a dress with polka dot patterns on it underneath a denim jacket.
"Get up, I just need you to tell me the reason you yelled." The teacher told me as I obeyed him quietly. I freaking hated Asher, urgh.
I dusted my dress and said, "Asher Drakewood asked me what page were we reading and I told him. But, he wasn't listening, so I got angry."
The teacher looked at me in disbelief, shaking her head in disappointment. She had a dark, creamy complexion and her black hair tied up in a bun. She wore a pair of spectacles which looked somehow fake. She was wearing a woman's suit, looking strict. She said, "Make sure that it won't happen again, I'm letting you off this time."
As she massaged her temple, I said, "Thank you."
She nodded her head and waved her hand towards the door, signaling me to leave the classroom. I obeyed her command and left the room. As I closed the door behind me, I squealed, "Eek! What are you doing here?"
Asher was leaning on the wall next to the door with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. He grunted, "What took you so long?"
"Because of you, I needed to apologize." I hissed, crossing my arms as well and glaring at him.
He chuckled and said, "C'mon, I have something to show you."
He tried to take my hand, but I yanked my hand off of his grip. His eyes widened at my response and his lips remained sealed. I scoffed, "I don't want to, leave me alone."
I tried to walk away, but he slammed his palm on the wall right next to head. He blocked my way, so I went the opposite direction. But, he slammed his left palm on the wall, blocking both of my paths. I scoffed, "Let me go."
I sank to the bottom, hoping to catch a chance to escape under his strong arms. He followed me down, our faces just inches apart. His hands still stuck on the walls, not letting me go. I could hear our breaths and heartbeats syncing with each other's. He smirked at my priceless rosy cheeks and said, "Shy, princess?"
I gulped my throat, as if there's a big object stuck in my throat. I couldn't breathe properly now, instead I held my breath. Then, I smirked, making him lift one of his eyebrows. I pushed him in the chest, making him tumble. But, I wasn't thinking right. I laughed as he fell, but he held onto my shoulders and brought me down with him.
I screamed, "Ahh!"
He collapsed onto the floor on his back, groaning in pain. I fell on top of him, my ear right on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat very clearly and it's beating fast. Thump, thump. But, I realized what position I was in. I lifted myself up slightly, ending up facing him right in front of my face, an inch apart. His jade orbs bored into mine and mine bored into his. It was a mixture of ocean blue and green with a tint of tosca. It was incredibly deep and illuminating, making me stare at them for a while. I was frozen in place, feeling embarrassed and shocked. I attempted to get up, but fell on him again. He groaned in pain and said, "Ow!"
Again, I lifted myself up from him and collapsed onto the floor next to him, breathing rapidly. My eyes were widened, I felt it. I felt suffocated and so was he. He had the same face expression as me, just staring at the ceiling above us.
I got up from the floor and ran away, disappearing from his sight. I wouldn't go back.
***
"Goal!" Damien yelled after shooting the basketball into the hoop successfully. He jumped into the air, pumping his fists. But, I wasn't in the mood.
He stared at me and whined, "What? You aren't cheering for me?"
"Shut up," I scoffed. "I'm not in the mood."
He took the basketball and held the ball as if the ball was a baby. He sat next to me in the bleachers and asked, "What's wrong?"
Without any hesitation, I told him, "I've just had an embarrassing moment and I want to forget about it."
A wide grin was plastered on his face and he cooed, "Ooooh! What happened?"
"You know the new guy, Asher Drakewood?" I said, his head nodding afterwards. "I fell on top of him."
He dropped the basketball, mouth widely opened and eyes widened. The basketball bounced to the floor and rolled to the middle of the basketball court. He shrieked, "What?! That's so cliche."
"Why do I have a friend like you?" I groaned lazily. "Whatever."
"Because I'm the most perfect friend that you will ever have!" He cheerfully said, grinning foolishly.
I sighed deeply, tired of his cheesiness and girl-like personality, despite of the fact that he was a jock. I said, "Whatever, I'm going to my dorm. Goodbye!"
I got up from the bleachers and went out of the room, stretching my arms out and massaging my forehead. All of a sudden, someone grabbed my right wrist and ran towards the hallway — pulling me like a doll. I couldn't stop running because that someone was too strong. Brunette hair, black leather jacket, and well-built figure only meant one thing, one person.
"What the hell, Asher?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, still running like crazy. We ran through the hallways, my hair flying and jumping over obstacles. He didn't answer, just running with me in his hand.
Where the hell was he talking me?
***
"Finally!" I yelled out, exasperated and relieved. I was panting like a dog and my hair was drenched in sweat. My throat felt dry and my legs were giving up on me. They were wobbling with the least amount of energy.
I looked up to see Asher who didn't seem to look tired at all. His brunette hair wasn't drenched in sweat, his breathes weren't heavy and rapid, and his body posture was upright. The total opposite of my current state. I groggily said, "Where are we?"
He tilted his head to the left, signaling me to look towards the direction. I reluctantly turned my head and sighed at the exquisite view. It was a colossal circus tent with red-white striped fabric flowing down. Circus music was blaring and light was shining from the inside, making it look like a big lantern in the middle of the city.
"Where are we?" I asked him again, being an idiot. He looked at me in utter disbelief and said, "You can't tell?! Do you have a mental illness or something?"
I abruptly stood up, exposing my claws and my signature cold glare. I angrily told him, "I know it's a circus, idiot! I just want to know where the circus is!"
If it were an animation, fire would be blaring behind me and my nails would grow longer and sharper. He took a step backwards, speechless. I continued, "Why the heck did you drag me out here?!"
"I told you I want to show you something, but that incident happened-" He nervously said it, making me stiffen at his words. "-and you ran away."
He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat, diminishing the awkward atmosphere. He said, "By the way, you look awful."
I lifted my hand, ready to scar that pretty face of his. I hissed, "It's all because of you, dumbass!"
He wasn't shaken up by my terror, unlike Damien. Damien would hide in a small rabbit hole and pray to the gods for help. But, he was different. His eyes didn't flicker, his fingers didn't twitch, and his lips didn't tremble. I hated that. He pushed my hand away calmly and coolly said, "Let's go in, shall we?"
"Whatever." I muttered.
***
Laughter filled up the tent and lights as well. A little kid who was sitting beside me spilt his paper bag of peanuts and cried loudly — piercing my ears with a deafening cry. On the other side, Asher was eating his peanuts peacefully like an obedient kid. His large eyes were anticipating the show, his mouth was chewing the peanut loudly, and he was sitting abruptly straight. He actually looked innocent.
"Ooh, it's starting!" He squealed like a little child. I giggled slightly at him, it's so funny to see him act like a child — instead of the flirty and annoying side.
The light dimmed down, leaving only the stage. The music was tuned louder and two elephants marched onto the stage. They were embellished with colourful clothes, paint, and twinkling jewellery. The elephants lifted up a big, bouncy ball with a clown on the top juggling. The clown stopped juggling and jumped up into the air. The crowd gasped and a woman swinging catches the clown. A female acrobat, swinging from a hoop hanging from the top, jumped onto a tight rope, balancing on it. The clown fell onto a cushion on the ground, looking up at the woman. The woman did a 360 degree cartwheel on the rope.
Asher clapped his hands, applauding for the woman's perfect effort, along with the audience. The woman grabbed a pole and balanced the pole with her hands. After an amazing show on the rope, she jumped and the elephants captured her. The audience applauded again, whistling and cheering. Then, the lights went out and shined the stage again. But, it was empty.
All of a sudden, a lion appeared and roared — making the audience gasp in terror. A minuscule man appeared. He had a green, pointy hat with a bell at the end, a green suit, and a humongous toothbrush that had yellow stains on the brushes. He approached the lion warily, keeping a distance. The lion growled and sat on the ground with its jaw widely opened. The minuscule man approached it and started to put his head inside the lion's mouth. The audience gasped in fear, a little kid yelling, "It's going to eat you alive!"
The man took out his head and smiled at the audience. The audience cheered for his survival. Then, the man pinched his nose with his left hand and waved his other hand to get rid of an imaginary smell — well, I couldn't smell the stench from up here. He began to brush the lion's canines, detailedly and cleanly. Beside me, the little kid had already stopped crying, instead he was watching the show with swollen eyes and a runny nose. On the other side, Asher was watching the show intently with half-chewed peanut in his mouth.
"Well, this is interesting," I sarcastically said. "Watching an hour long a small man brushing the teeth of a lion."
Asher chewed the peanut and looked at me. He said, "Just watch the show, Peaksons."
Did he want me to punch him or something worse? I had seriously kept with his petty attitude all this time and I hadn't given him a slap or a punch. Why did I even hold back? Feeling annoyed, I rolled my eyes and placed my chin on both of my hands with my elbows on my laps.
***
"Was it fun?" He asked me, popping a peanut into his mouth while walking along with me.
I kept an emotionless face and muttered under my breath, "Whatever."
He stopped his footsteps and stared at me with a cold glint in his eyes. He said, "I shouldn't have brought you here, you didn't even enjoy it."
"I did, forcefully." I hissed, emphasising the word forcefully.
After a minute of silence, I had realised an odd fact. It was so crazy that I couldn't even believe it myself. I asked him, "Why did you even bring me here?"
He stiffened at my question, as if I had just told him that he had an incurable disease. He shrugged his shoulders and recklessly said, "I don't know."
"This is a date, isn't it?" I said, making his cheeks redden and his pupils dilate. He stuttered, "N-No, it i-isn't!"
"Then, what is this?" I questioned him, attempting to make him fluster. He looked away, feeling embarrassed. He said, "A friend hangout."
"So, I'm a friend? I don't recall ever declaring that we're friends." I told him, making him cuss under his breath. He stuttered, "Y-Yeah! We're f-friends."
The word friends must'd tasted bitter for him because he sputtered out the word bitterly, which made me laugh at him more. I teased, "Wow! The great Asher Drakewood admitted that we're friends!"
He rolled his eyes and pouted his lips. He scoffed, "Shut up."
"Why?"
"Just shut up."
"No."
"Shut up."
"No-" I said before he covered my mouth with his hand while his other arm wrapped around my shoulders. I tried to yank his arm away and plead him to let go, but I only created muffled sounds and his grip only tightened. I could smell his cologne, a sickening but addictive scent.
"Just shut up." He repeated, not letting me say no. All these for this?
I pushed away his arm and yanked his hand away from my lips, hitting the side of his head. I angrily said, "Why did you have to do that?! Jerk!"
He was dumbfounded, speechless. He stood there with large eyes blinking and not twitching fingers. Without a doubt, I stomped my way out of there leaving him behind.
***
"Hell yeah! Halloween party just three days away! I'm going to rock the Shrek look! Damien exclaimed, a hint of exhilaration exposed on his face. Wait, did he just say Shrek?
"You're going to be Shrek, the ogre?" I said as he nodded. I immediately bursted into laughter, laughing maniacally. He scrunched his nose, pouted his lips, and folded his arms. He said, "He's my childhood hero! Is your costume any better, huh?"
"Definitely, you'll see!" I boasted, still laughing. He rolled his eyes, sighing.
We were talking in the hallways, leaning our backs against the walls. It was pretty quiet there, only a few people stuck around. Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I stopped talking to Damien and whirled back. Asher stood there with tired eyes and disheveled hair. He said, "I want to talk to you."
"Well, I don't want to talk to you." I scoffed back.
"I have to talk to you about what happened last night." He repeated himself again.
Damien eyed me and said, "What happened last night?"
"Oh, this lunatic dragged me to a circus forcefully and I teased him. Then, he silenced me by grabbing me around the shoulders and covering my mouth from spouting any word. So, I hit him and escaped." I summarized the incident, making Damien stand next to me instead of behind me.
"Well, the lunatic was hit because he admitted that the lunatic and the princess were friends-" Asher scoffed, folding his arms. "-and the princess wanted it to be a date instead of a friend hangout. The princess also turned out to be an offender of violence who has a mental problem."
"What?!" I shrieked. I clenched my right fist and punched him in the face. Kaboom! I broke his nose and blood splattered.
"Owwww!" He groaned in pain. "Psychotic lady!"
"Whoa!" Damien exclaimed, shocked by my punch. "Now, I'm more afraid of you."
Asher had collapsed onto the ground with a broken nose and blood spitting. He was groaning in pain, blocking his nostrils to prevent blood from flowing continuously. I squatted next to him and said, "It's going to hurt, pretty boy."
"What?" He muttered.
I reached my hands out and fixed back his nose. It made a bone cracking sound, but I knew that it was now fine. He screamed in pain. My hands were smeared with his blood, but I didn't care. He spat out, "Crazy princess!"
"I just fixed your nose and do the rest to fix your pretty face." I told him, getting up.
Sweet revenge, sweet victory.
Dang, girl. She just punched him and broke his nose. He just got a pay back. I'd love it if I could actually do that. I was planning for Damien to punch him instead for the sake of Taylor, but I decided to let Taylor have the fun.
These story updates maybe have some delays because of my cruel school days — I also have a speaking assessment which is a sports commentary (so freaking hard). School, please don't be so cruel.
LOL, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.