{'People will stare. Make it worth their while.'}
"What?!" Bailey howled, looking at me like I'd gone crazy. "You can't allow those animated bimbos to get close to us."
I rolled my eyes. "We are just going to hang out. Nothing more, nothing less."
"And who thought of this idea?" Hilary asked.
"Quinn," I answered.
"Oh, I get it," Tiana said as she threw the dart at the clutched balloons, attached to the wall. A bunch of confetti was blown out from the popped balloon and a tiny bear key chain fell out from it.
Tiana's eyes widened as leaped in victory. "I won!!!"
I smiled at how easy it was for her to be happy. Seriously, she jumped that high just for a tiny bear keychain? What more if Bailey became her official girlfriend?
"Can you guys just cooperate with her?" I said, snatching the keychain from Tiana.
"I'll cooperate," Tiana responded sadly. "This is her last week here. I'm gonna miss my bunny so much."
"Don't call her your bunny," Bailey said.
"Why not?" Tiana countered.
"Because—,"
I groaned, cutting out Bailey. "She's not yours."
"Yeah, she's not yours," Bailey emphasized my line.
Tiana smirked playfully at her. "Then what's mine?" she asked as she stared at Bailey before her eyes fell down to her chest. "If only I can take what's mine, I'll probably come on her bed until I'm out of juices."
Bailey blushed, not realizing she was already biting her lips.
Hilary laughed. "C'mon, stop dirty talking while I'm here."
"Who's dirty?" Tiana raised her hands up before she zipped her mouth.
"I guess we have no choice," Hilary said, turning back the conversation again. "It's not that bad, right?"
Bailey nodded and grabbed the keychain from me. "I hope it's not going to be bad. Why would she want us to hang out anyway?"
"I don't know. I don't have the slightest idea. So... Atom Café after school?" I asked them for reassurance.
They all nodded in agreement before a loud band blasted nearby. We were in the school field and some students were lining up in each of the little rides and prize booths standing in every corner. The school carnival was open to everybody so some of the student's family was here. The place was chaos yet cheerfully bright and I wondered why my Quinn was missing again. I searched for her all over again by turning my head to random places until I looked up, sighing. "I want to ride with her in that little Ferris wheel."
Bailey shook her head at me before she pulled Hilary to the claw machine full of stuffed toys.
"A?" Tiana called out so I shot my head in her course. "Do you know who's Chase Fraser?"
"Chase Fraser?" I asked back, staring at her, confused. "Yes, what about him?"
Tiana's eyes bulged out. "You know about him? That means he's top enough."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, gazing at her weirdly. Why would she want to know about the ace player on the soccer team?
"It looks like you know him well. That means he's popular."
"Yeah... So?"
"I saw him lurking behind Bailey this morning. They looked cozy together and seems like a match made from heaven."
I sighed. "Tiana, Bailey loves you and it's clear as daylight."
Tiana shook her head. "You don't understand, A. There's something stopping her from completely coming into me."
I snorted. "And what would that be?"
She looked over to her girl who was seriously maneuvering the clutch of the claw machine. "I don't know."
"Oh, don't you worry, girl. We'll eventually find out," I said, patting her head.
She just shrugged and I was about to say something when someone pulled me by my arms.
Turned around forcefully, I was faced with Ella who was clearly making a weird expression. I opened my mouth to say what her problem is but she interrupted me by crashing her lips to mine.
My eyes widened in surprise and I immediately pushed her forsaken lips against me.
"What the hell?!" Tiana yelled frantically beside me.
"What the hell is your problem?!" I asked in anger, wiping my mouth because it felt like I cheated.
"Please, break up with her!" Ella cried out while she was desperately clinging to my arms. "Quinn is a freak. She doesn't deserve you. You're mine!"
I was stunned for a second before I shoved her again away from me. "You're the freak in here! Get lost!"
"Yeah, you scoundrel!" Tiana said. "How dare you breathe in from A's mouth? You're so disgusting."
"What's happening here?" I heard Hilary asked behind me.
"What's happening?" Ella repeated my best friend's question with a vile smile on her face. "Your girlfriend is a freak," she accused, pointing her finger at me. How disrespectful!
"Her cousin was here and she told me how freaky she is," she continued, and hearing her that saying to my girlfriend made me feel so mad I could scream. I was about to slap her down when Hilary made the first move to smack her in the face.
Ella pulled a horrifying face at us and tackled Hilary back quickly. I was just standing at my own place, not knowing what to do. I wasn't really a violent person because my parents taught me how to be classy. Yes, I was about to slap her but it was a fashionable thing to do if things were getting out of hands like my patience. But not like this. Four against one is unfair.
Bailey pulled Ella's hair to throw her away from Hilary but Ella turned around at her and slapped her in the face. In a second, I saw Tiana's bright face twisted into a dark one before she pulled Ella's arms forcefully and raised her fist for her. Freaking out, I immediately acted out and stopped Tiana before her fist collided with this bitch face.
My holiday girl looked at me, surprisingly confused but I ignored her and went between them. "Stop!!"
At that same time, someone called for a fight. Frowning, I looked over who yelled for it but I noticed that the people who were watching us fight, turned their various heads in another direction.
I was still restraining Ella from attacking us when Tiana shouted, "Oh come on bitches, this is not a fight! It's just her face looks like a slapping booth for carnival."
I shot my head at her but I couldn't help to notice that there was another commotion on the other side of the field. Ella tossed my arms away from her at the same moment when someone shouted, "Quinn Blackburn is being bitched slap by Olivia Pearce!"
We looked at each other, surprised before we made a run for it. A bunch of people was grappled together around the entrance of the school field. I made my way through the shouting students and then a scene in front of me crashed my whole being.
My girlfriend was shoved into the wall while Olivia was shouting at her face that didn't make sense inside my smart brain. Some girl I didn't recognize was confining Quinn by pushing her arm against my girlfriend's chest. Why isn't someone stopping this?
Snapping out of my thoughts, I forgot being classy and unfair fights. Shoving away the people who were disrupting my way, I marched quickly to them, pulled Olivia vehemently, and then pushed her down to the floor. Engaged by my own wrath, I wrenched the unknown girl by jerking her ear hard away from my poor girlfriend.
When I managed to move them away from my angel, I twisted around to get her but two arms wrapped around my waist and then tweaked me over. Olivia straddled me so I struggled inside her arms in fury.
As I tried to push this bitch, I watched as the unknown girl went over Quinn to tackle her again. As she grabbed my girlfriend's collar, Khloe suddenly whacked her face while my best friend lunged at Olivia to free me.
I quickly went over to Quinn when my friends cleared the way for me. Kneeling, I brought her inside my arms, cupping her face to check if she was okay. I frowned when I realized she had sore lips while she had this weird little smile on her face. Why is she smiling?
"Quinn, are you okay?" I asked, caressing her face gently. However, her eyes were occupied like she didn't realize I was here. Grabbing her arms, I asked again, "Quinn, are you okay?!"
Finally, she looked at me like she just had woken up from her daydreaming. It seemed like what happened just came into her mind as her eyes ran all-around before fixing it with mine.
"I'm okay," she managed to say, and then she stammered, "B-But it hurts!"
"Get away from her!" I heard Ella shouted as I was pushed again away from Quinn. Clenching my hand, I quickly got to my knees to stop all of this with her but before I could punch her in the face, Quinn already had done it for me. It was all unexpected that I didn't even realize that my girlfriend already coped from the pain she was referring to.
Ella collapsed on the ground while she was holding her bleeding nose. She shrieked at us and I looked around to see Alec was holding my best friend while Olivia was clearly going crazy on her own. Xander was controlling Khloe while the girl I didn't know was just looking at my angel in anger. Ella stood on her feet but my Dad arrived before she could even pay us for revenge.
Hugging my girlfriend, I hid behind her because I didn't want to see my Dad mad expression from all of this. It was probably the last thing I want to see. He may be so gentle but when he's mad, I'd rather fall in a deep endless hole than to hear what he has to say.
"Get in my office now!" I heard him shouted at us. And so, we ashamedly marched to his office in silence. Too many were involved but I noticed that the unknown girl was nowhere when we got there. Of course, Ella headed straight to the school clinic. I wished we had a school surgeon because she really needed to get her nose done. And I just couldn't believe that my sweet face angel did that to her.
I was nagging Quinn all the way, asking if she's fine and to my relief, she wasn't hurt seriously or anything. My head was down while my Dad was lecturing us, this time, calmly. Quinn was the victim but according to my Dad, it wasn't right for her to punch a simulated nose. What the hell! My girlfriend deserved an award. But of course, I wouldn't say that to my Dad.
I just kept silent even though it was weird for my Dad not to dwell on the issue. I was wondering why he just gave each one of us a punishment without asking what was the source of the fight. It also astounded me that the unknown girl was also nowhere to be found. But of course, I didn't ask. I was too ashamed to ask.
And I received detention.
.......
I was sipping my vanilla shake when Maggie made a weird expression while choking herself with her own hands. She wasn't satisfied with what happened to Ella because according to her, she deserved to bury alive under the soil of their garden. Creepy, I know but this was Quinn want. She wanted us to 'hang out' peacefully.
"I guess she needs a makeover now," Hilary said, laughing at her own joke.
"No!" Tiana disagreed. "She needs a run over."
Quinn beautifully laughed beside me. "You guys are funny."
"Seriously, I want to know what's the whole story behind this," Bailey chimed in.
James smirked at us, draping his arms over his girlfriend. "I'm guessing Olivia wants you back."
Khloe clicked her tongue and looked at me accusingly. "They both want her. Ella and Olivia."
"Wow, A!" Tiana exclaimed. "So they attacked your poor angel because of you."
At first, I was surprised at Khloe's declaration and then I frowned at her before turning my head to Quinn who just smiled at me. "Yes, I g-guess it's my fault."
All the people at the table gazed at me, disagreeing with my answer.
Quinn sighed. "No, it's not your fault. The truth is, it was mine."
"No, it's clearly my fau——"
"No!" Quinn disagreed firmly. "Can I tell my side of the story, please?"
And then we all nodded in silence.
My angel deeply sighed again before she showed something and put it at the center of the table.
"Flash drive?" Hilary asked in confusion, expressing all our thoughts.
"Yes," Quinn said, "I provoked her."
"What have you done, Quinn?" Khloe asked.
Quinn looked at me. Her eyes were sad and gloomy as she caressed my hand she was holding under the table. "She wants to use me for exposing your cheating. She wants to take advantage of my relationship with you believing I would feel hurt and takes revenge by playing all these images and videos on Friday in school. And I know, I agreed not to involve with it but I couldn't help it because I'm scared she might reveal it out to everybody. So I went to her house making her believe I wanted to be used. She gave me all these evidences from her computer. When I was there, I asked for a glass of water so she went downstairs. While she was gone, I sort of corrupted all her backup files and made my way out quickly. So that explained why she attacked me and tried to get the files in that flash drive."
I shut my eyes close. Everyone was silent while the people around us were oblivious to what I felt right then. Disappointment to myself. Regret for what I'd done. Guilt from my own dishonesty. Everything has its own consequences and karma was already taking something out of me.
Opening my eyes, I stared at Quinn remorsefully. "But it's still my fault. This wouldn't happen if I didn't play games with everybody's feelings."
"No, it's my fault that everyone got detention," Quinn countered.
"No!" Hilary interrupted our mutual contacts with each other. "We already have gone to a fight with Ella before we even got there and started a fight again. So it's clearly my fault for rushing things aggressively."
"No way," Khloe said, cutting between us. "It's my fault for playing games all the time that I didn't notice that Olivia is already in the worst level of insanity. I should have stopped her instead of letting Quinn do it."
"It's my fault," Maggie said the next. "I should have kick Ella's ass before she could even do these horrible things."
"You're not even involved in this, Thelma," Bailey responded to her. "But anyway, it's my fault for pretending everything was okay but the truth is, I knew that this Olivia would do anything to get A back. I just didn't know what she capable of. I should have warned you, A. Right, Tiana?"
All our heads turned to Tiana as she stared back at us, taken back and flabbergasted. "Umm...Yes. I-it's also my fault that I am too busy checking your ass instead of noticing Olivia's.... boobies?"
Bailey rolled her eyes and we all laughed in unison.
Someone cleared his throat and we realized James was watching us blaming ourselves. He smiled at us and then said, "It's nobody's fault. No one is at fault around this table. We should blame those girls because they were the ones who struck first. You all just defending each other."
"You're right, honey." Maggie giggled, kissing him on the cheek.
"But it's not going to change the fact that we all got detention," I stated, looking down in disappointment.
I heard everyone sighed and then Quinn took the flash drive before throwing it down into her coffee. We all stared at each other and sighed again. Now that all the evidence of my cheating was already gone, I could breathe normally in relief but it wouldn't change the fact that I cheated and played with those feelings. However, Quinn was willing to accept my entire mistake so I wouldn't disregard it. She was important to me so I would give my best to make it up to her forever.
"By the way, who was that girl helping Olivia?" Hilary asked suddenly and I thought I was the only one who noticed.
"She's my cousin," Quinn answered quickly and then stared at her sister. "S-she kind of mad at me because of family matters."
Maggie shook her head. "I didn't know being so beautiful has its own consequences. Everybody is jealous and envies you, guys."
Bailey snorted from what she said. "Of course. Did you think that we are just walking down the hallway, showing our sexy body and beautiful face to get everyone's attention? Actually, we are always having problems with that attention."
"She's right." Tiana nodded. "Actually, I'm having a problem getting her full attention."
Quinn chuckled at their randomness as Bailey stared at Tiana, with a smirk on her lips.
"I think being beautiful is all worth it because I got my girlfriend's attention easily." Quinn suddenly said, looking at me seriously.
I blushed in surprise and all of my friends whooped cheerfully.
"So much cheesiness in here. I envy all of you guys. I think I need Alec tonight," Hilary said as she took her phone and started texting.
"Yeah, I need Xander, too," Khloe agreed with my best friend and rummaged through her phone. The rest in our group laughed at them with delight.
Shaking my head, I felt Quinn squeezed my hand so I turned my head to her. She leaned closer to me and whispered to my ear, "What about our date this Friday night? Do you have any plans?"
I smiled. Thinking about this date relaxed me and made me feel excited. This was going to be our first date and I thought about it all night. Actually, I already have a plan. As I said, I'd make it up to her even just these little things.
Kissing her cheek before I pulled away slightly, I whispered back into her ear, "Yes and it's going to be a surprise."
She whined, frowning at me. "I don't like surprises."
I giggled and then said, "You're going to like it, my angel."
.....