a / n this chapter is dedicated to the my wifey xXfidvnXx for the bootyful cover. she's always spamming me with anime pics, but i still love her. her singing voice is the bomb, TBH.
please read: there are going to be three updates today, mainly because i didn't update last week and because i won't be updating anymore until June. I'll be going on a hiatus soon, so you're stuck with these updates until then. I'll try (key word: try) to squeeze in an update, but no promises. anyway, enjoy.
W H A T ' S T H E P O I N T I N S A Y I N G,
Y O U L O V E M E L I K E A F R I E N D?
W H A T ' S T H E P O I N T I N S A Y I N G,
I T ' S N E V E R G O I N G T O E N D?
LIES – MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS.
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DITCH ME?"
"Because," I responded, biting back a smile. "I need to speed matters up. The sooner Blaze and I become official, the sooner I can get rid of him."
Jade's thin eyebrows rose. "Why do you want to get rid of him so bad?"
So that I won't fall in love with him.
"Because?" I trailed off, sheepishly smiling. Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I cast her a wave. "Oh, and, Kaedon says he wants to talk to you."
"About what?" she muttered, cupping her chin with her hands.
I lifted my shoulders in the gesture of an innocent shrug. "Figure it out yourself?" Before she could reply back, I exited the room and slammed the door shut behind me, creeping past Nina's room. If I woke her up, I'd probably get grounded.
While in the process of absconding my way down the stairs, the auditory sensation of somebody clearing their throat from behind me rang through my eyes. Cringing, I spun around and felt my eyes enlarge at the sight of my mother, whose eyes were narrowed into slits. "Qué?"
"Para donde vas?"
"Uh..." I wrung my hands together. "To meet up with a friend."
"Boy or girl?" she interrogated.
I know that lying to her would only result in me getting into trouble, hence why I settled for ducking my head down and attempting to act angelic. "Boy..." I sighed, trailing off.
Her eyebrows rose up. "Boy?" she repeated, seemingly inquisitive.
I proffered her a brief nod. "Yes, his name is Blaze."
"And when can I meet this Blaze?" she inquired.
"Uh..." my eyes widened. "You want to meet him?"
My mother nodded her head. "Yo he conocido todos tus amigos," she reminded me, causing me to sigh in sheer frustration. Right.
"Mamá, he's busy with university," I lied, backing away slowly.
"He's in university?"
"Sí," I muttered, nodding.
"Nollegues tarde," she cautioned.
"Sure," I replied, before spinning on my heels and approaching the front door. I guided my footsteps in the direction of my car and once I was safely inside, I seized hold of my phone.
'hi,' I sent while in the operation of inserting my keys into the ignition.
Five minutes later, as I was in the process of driving, my phone pinged. With a sigh, I grabbed it and quickly allowed my eyes to skim the message.
'What do you want?'
'where r u right now?' I replied, before hurling my phone onto the passenger seat. Blaze could wait. As blunt as this may sound, I wasn't ready to risk my life for him.
Once I arrived at his apartment, I took hold of my phone and glanced over the message he sent me. 'In my apartment? Why???'
Instead of typing back a quick response, I dialled his phone number and brought my phone toward my ear, gazing out the front window. Moments passed by, and Blaze eventually picked up, allowing a triumphant grin to overcome my features.
I detected a few muffled sounds before Blaze's familiar voice sounded throughout the speaker. "Why are you calling me?" he demanded.
"Why not?" I bit back. "Do you want to go get some ice cream?"
"I hate ice cream," he responded.
A loud, startled gasp escaped my lips. "What? Are you even human?"
"I guess not."
"Well, I'm already in front of your apartment," I told him, craning my neck in an attempt to stare out the window.
"Creep," Blaze muttered under his breath, before raising his tone of voice. "So? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I already wasted gas on you, Blaze. You might as well come down and get in the car," I shot back.
"Ugh," he mumbled, before hanging up on me.
He better come.
In order to pass off time, I commenced taking a few selfies, only because I was exceedingly bored and had nothing to do.
As I was in the process of snapping a selfie, a loud rap on the window beside me caused me to jump in surprise and nearly drop the phone from my hands. Bending my head, I shook my head and scowled as my eyes trained on Blaze's familiar face.
He was sporting a barely there smirk on his face as he opened the door and rose into the car, wiping his palms against his grey jeans.
"No 'hi'?" I queried as I started the engine.
"Nope," Blaze murmured, propping his shoes against the dashboard.
"So what have you been up to?" I asked in a feeble attempt to spark up conversation.
"Nothing," Blaze answered, pressing his lips together.
"Haven't seen your beautiful face in a week," I jeered, holding a smile to my face.
Blaze uttered a quiet snort as he wove his fingers through his brown hair. "Best week of my life," he enunciated in an inaudible voice.
I experienced the sudden urge to jab him in the ribs, but since I was driving, I couldn't do so. Rather, I bit down on my tongue and forced a smile to overcome my features, even though all I desired to do was to throw Blaze out of this car.
"Uh...Blaze," I started, eyeing him sidewise and curling my fingers around the steering wheel. This skittish gesture caught Blaze's attention, and he wrenched his head to expectantly stare at me.
"What?" he voiced out.
"My mother wants to meet you," I said, attempting to hide my uneasiness by snorting aloud.
Blaze remained quiet for a transient moment, his eyes assessing my face. "Your mother?" he iterated, a little taken aback.
"Yeah," I answered, evading his gaze. But then, I glanced over at him and smiled, "I lied to her by saying that you were busy with uni."
He extended me a brief nod, allowing his eyes to drift back to the front window. "Well, you're not exactly lying..." he murmured, more to himself than me.
"So it's Halloween in a few weeks." And you and I are still not dating. From the look of things, my ingenious plan was beginning to become askew.
"I don't care."
"Guess whose birthday is on Halloween?" I grinned in the resemblance of a Cheshire Cat.
Blaze turned to look at me, squinting his eyes. "You?" As he spoke, an undercurrent of disbelief seeped into his voice, causing me to confirm his statement by nodding.
"Yup," I stated. "You better bring me a good present."
"What would you like the present to be if I, say, decide to get you one?" he wondered, eyeing me sidewise before allowing his eyes to flit back to the road.
Startled, I said, "You can get me anything you want; I mean, it's not like I want a mansion or anything."
Shaking his head at my antics, he asked, "Are you going to throw a party?"
I emitted a snort. "Obviously. You're invited, as well as your friends."
"I won't come," he assured.
Yeah, we'll have to see about that.
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂
"AND...HERE WE ARE."
"Oh, great," Blaze muttered in disdain, reaching toward his seatbelt. He performed a scene by aggressively ripping off his seatbelt and kicking the door open, causing me to tut under my breath.
Opening the door, I trailed behind him and glowered at his back as he slammed the door in my face. Two can play at that game, Blaze.
As my eyes strayed around the ice cream store, I managed to catch sight of a boorish Blaze, who was sitting in a booth at the very back of the store. His eyebrows were drawn together and his lips were pursed, allowing me to fare to the conclusion that he'd throw a fit at any moment now if I didn't get to him at once.
With a melodramatic sigh, I dropped myself down in front of him and proffered him a wide grin, crossing my arms below my chest. He scoffed at the sight of the goofy grin that lined my lips and leaned back in the ample chair, throwing his arm around it.
"So what do you want to order?" I asked him, folding my arms and laying them on the table.
"I already told you," he started, "I hate ice cream."
A frown marred my face. "I thought you were joking," I rationalized. "Who the hell hates ice cream?"
Blaze shrugged his shoulders. "Me."
"Right," I drawled. "I'll be back." Scooting out of the booth, I heaved myself up and approached the front counter, scanning the inordinate amounts of ice cream flavours. At long last, I resolved on two cones of bubblegum flavoured ice cream and then slapped a handful of money onto the counter.
The lady behind the counter rendered me a benign smile as she wrapped the cones with coloured tissues. Returning the smile, I took hold of the cones and inched toward our booth, thrusting the cone in Blaze's face.
He titled his head backward and squinted, examining the ice cream carefully. Once he captured view of the expectant look etched upon my features, he slowly wrapped his fingers around the cone and gazed down at it with a wrinkled nose.
"Try it," I urged, nodding toward the cone.
"This looks...unappetising," Blaze muttered as he titled the cone to the side and studied it.
"Eat. It." I refrained from forming another comment that consisted of 'that's what she said'. I'm fairly certain that he'd storm out of this store if I did.
"Here goes nothing..." Slowly, but surely, Blaze inched his mouth closer toward the ice cream, separating his lips and licking the top. As soon as he performed the very gesture, he coughed, a little, before hastily wiping his mouth with a tissue.
A revolted look contorted his features as he stared at me through narrowed eyes. "You and this ice cream both have something in common. You're both disgusting."
Ignoring his snide comment, I remained casually licking my ice cream as I eyed him in sheer amusement and hilarity. "What's wrong, babe?" I inquired, licking my upper lip.
He gazed at me in utter asperity, but then, he shook his head. "Whatever."
"Sorry," I apologised in a jocular voice, "Try another flavour." I strolled toward the front counter and forced a smile to appear on my face as I ordered a mango flavoured ice cream.
Then, I trudged back to our booth and thrust the cone in Blaze's face, watching as he snatched the cone from me and gazed at it in undiluted apathy.
"Go on." I nodded my head toward the ice cream. "Don't be shy."
With a peeved sigh, Blaze allowed his tongue to flick out in order to scoop off the top bit of the ice cream. As soon as it entered his mouth, his face scrunched up and he wrapped it in a napkin, placing it on the table. "That's not good either."
I uttered a weary sigh. "Let's try some other flavour."
"Noelle,–."
I brushed him off as I travelled back toward the counter, smiling once again at the same lady. Her eyebrows knitted together as she gazed at me, but she still maintained a cordial smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "What would you like?"
"Cookie dough ice cream please." You can't go wrong with that, can you?
Oh, apparently you can.
Because as soon as I shoved it in Blaze's face, he lurched back and shook his head. "I want to go home, Noelle."
I effervescently nodded my head toward it. "Just try," I cajoled.
In lieu of a response, he simply studied the ice cream cone, his nose scrunching up. "I don't want to."
"Last flavour, I swear," I lied. As soon as I noticed the indecisive facial expression taking over his countenance, I puckered out my bottom lip. "For me?"
Blaze snorted. "And who do you think you are?"
"As I said before, I'm the Noelle Rivera. Now eat up."
"Rivera, huh?" Blaze murmured to himself.
I leaned in a little closer, narrowing my eyes. "What's your surname?"
"Novak," he replied.
"Blaze Novak," I murmured, humming. "Sounds hot."
"Because names are so hot," he replied in a mirthless manner, rolling his eyes.
"Noelle Novak. It has a ring to it, don't you think?" I averred, in an attempt to creep him out.
"Sure," he concurred, nodding. "Now get that thing out of my face."
"Just one lick—."
"No, that's not what she said," Blaze quickly butted in with narrowed eyes. He snaffled the cone and sighed, taking a lick. Slowly, he shrugged and wiped his mouth. "Not bad. How do people enjoy ice cream, though?"
"Because we're humans. Unlike you."
"Right," he muttered. "Humans."
I furrowed my eyebrows at the contemptuous tone of voice he used. "You hate humans so much," I acknowledged.
"Yeah, I'd rather be an animal."
"You already do act like one," I pointed out with an eye roll. "And besides, you should be blessed. Humans can be intelligent."
"Whatever."
"And they can be hot, like you." Then, I added, "And me."
"You're not hot," Blaze reminded. "I am."
I cocked an eyebrow right back. "Really, bitch?"
Blaze shook his head, the nook of his lips turning up into a barely there smile.
I smiled, too, patting the table. "Let's go, mate."
We both walked outside in tow, a blast of wind slapping us in the face as we did so. Once we were inside my car, I buckled myself and started the engine, eyeing Blaze sidewise. "Did you have fun?"
"All I did was taste a bunch of tasteless ice creams, so no, I didn't have fun," he told me, propping his feet on the dashboard.
I glowered at his feet, before peeling my gaze back to the road. "You had fun solely because I was there," I answered in a cocksure manner.
"Alright," he shrugged. "If that's what you think."
"It's what I know, not think," I stated, as if it will make a difference.
"Just drive me home," he scolded.
And I did.
Quite a while later, I slowly idled up in front of Blaze's apartment, my eyes grazing over the tall building. Blaze, too busy unbuckling his seatbelt, glanced up from the belt and stared at me. Our gazes locked for a transient moment, and I found myself becoming mesmerised by the ethereal colour of his green eyes.
Blaze blinked undue amount of times, before fiddling with his seatbelt and ripping it off him. He bent toward the door and pushed it open, exiting my car without a single word.
He's so difficult.
As I was busy inserting my keys into the ignition, a loud knock on the window startled me. Turning, I rolled it down and grinned once I noticed Blaze.
He curved his fingers around the edge of the window and sighed quietly, allowing his eyes to flutter down to his hands. "Uh..." he began. "I was wondering if you'd like to..."
"To?"
"Um..." He bit the edge of his lower lip. "Stay over?"
I was invested with an overwhelming tactile sensation of shock. As soon as I obtained over the shock of his query, I blinked. "Sure," I uttered, using whatever morsels of confidence I had left in order to choke out the word.
Pushing himself off the door, he watched me with cautious eyes as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. "Just so you know, it's okay to admit you can't live without me," I said as I marched ahead of him and into the apartment.
"Shut up before I change my mind," Blaze warned as he pressed his finger down on the button that led to the third floor.
While he gazed down at the floor, I frowned, cupping my left elbow with my right hand and examining his face.
Is he gaining feelings for me?
Because I'm not quite certain if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Blowing out a breath from the corner of my mouth, I allowed Blaze to lead me toward his apartment, using his keys to open the apartment. I barged in like the rude person I was, yanking my shoes off and then working my footsteps in the direction of the couch.
"So what do you want to do?" I chirruped, looking over at him.
"I don't know," he mumbled.
Out of pure volition, I found myself smiling at his shyness. Aw. Smiling, I glanced around his clean apartment. It's apparent he's a rather meticulous person. "Do you have a laptop?"
Blaze passed me a flat look. "No, Noelle, I don't."
I knitted my eyebrows together. "Go get it."
Blowing out an incensed breath, he hoisted himself up and vanished into the halls, allowing me to be all by myself.
I found my head brewing with thoughts and ideas; ideas on how to drive Blaze away from me. Because it appears to me that he's starting to like my company, which, will, inevitably lead to him gaining feelings.
I couldn't afford that. I couldn't afford him liking me.
Frankly though, I don't know why. I was supposed to be prepared for this.
So what was happening to me?