CH 6 |
My boiling rage has reached 100 degrees Celsius and my sweat is now evaporating. Worst bit is, I'm not even exaggerating.
I try to wriggle out of Vincent's iron grip, but to no avail. The jackass is going to make my hands turn purple!
My eyes narrow venomously at the back of his effortlessly perfect, ruffled blonde hair, wishing that my eyes could shoot real daggers instead of figurative ones. He marches ahead of me, every step laced with confidence and dominance.
My eyebrows furrow. Why does that look so familia─Oh yeah, I used to walk like that once... but in a feminine version of course.
And now look at me. Shy, insecure, outcast and once wasted three years of my life drowning in sorrow for rejecting his lying ass.
It's like we've switched popularities or something. How strange.
Still marching down the corridor with me dragging along, he finally rounds a corner and barges me onto the wall, slamming his hands next to my shoulders on each side. I wince in pain. One can take so many bone crushes in one day!
His god-like body towers over mine and he lowers his face until they're only inches apart. His eyes are like ice-teeth, piercingly cold and staring darkly into my soul. Then he snarls dangerously, "You selfish, heartless prick!"
I nearly gasp, but quickly replace it with a glower and retort back. "You unloyal, sneaky cow!"
For a millisecond he seems to be taken back at my levelled lividity. However, he immediately retrieves back to his coldness, clenches his teeth and leans closer. Our faces now several centimetres apart, which unwillingly sends shivers down my spine.
"You made a fool out of me in front of the entire school, then watched me get beaten up!"
Does he seriously think he's the victim here? I roll my eyes before spitting back, "And you tricked me in front of the entire school in order to impress your friends and you read my diary!"
His throat vibrates from a low grunt and his eyes grow darker. "I tricked you? You tricked me. You said you were in love with me!"
I groan exasperatedly, "Says the one who tricked the whole school by saying he's apparently in love with me!"
I don't know why, but I lean closer in which causes our lips to almost touch. My heartbeat speeds up at the result of it and I suddenly have the urge to just close the teasing gap─oh hell no, don't even think about it Summer. Now's not the time for your stupidity!
Fighting back the urge, my eyes stare right back into his soul with as much fierceness I can muster. I whisper, "Admit it, you're just as bad as I am."
For a few minutes we stare at each other with nothing but hatred and stubbornness. Eventually, he takes a step back and it's only then do I realise how close his body was to mine, the warmth that was radiating off him now leaving me cold and empty, and yearning for it to come back─wait what? Snap out of it, Summer!
He's now standing a few feet away from me, his intense electric eyes not once leaving mine. Then he eyes me down, making me turn into a beetroot and fidget under his gaze. Dammit, why does he have this effect on me?
And then I realise. Now that I'm not trapped by his body, I can escape now! Feeling relieved, I attempt to bolt off, only to be halted by him leaping forward and trapping me by his hands again. I murmur a few profanities under my breath. Urgh.
He inhales a sharp breath which he somehow makes it sound so attractive. "Not so fast." My heart races once again when he leans towards my ears, his breath tickling my ear. "One last thing─you messed with the wrong person..." Inconveniently, he whispers the next few words in a lower, huskier voice. "And you're going to be very sorry, princess."
Princess.
He just called me princess.
Suddenly, all my anger is replaced with fear and regret. I think I'm going to pee my pants.
Hey, hey, hey! I told you to snap out of it, Summer! Remember, he tried to use you!
Shaking away my unnecessary fear, I scoff, attempting to shove his hard chest away. However, he doesn't budge a single micrometre and instead it causes him to snicker and smirk amusedly. Way to go, Summer.
Once again, we're engrossed in each other's eyes, searching and reading each other's loathing emotions. His gorgeous, hypnotising eyes communicate revenge, hurt, hatred.... and something else that I can't seem to comprehend.
"Uh, guys..." A little boy's voice startles us both and we immediately wrench our eyes away and onto his. It's Bruno, and he seems to have been standing there for a while judging by his awkward standing position, not to mention the impatience in his voice. "Mom's calling you's for dinner."
Taking this as my opportunity to save my life, I cast a grin. "Great! My stomach is growling," I rub my tummy to emphasise my hunger, which earns a giggle from Bruno and a 'weirdo' look from Vincent. Well, I'm not lying─my stomach is practically empty from vomiting a few hours ago.
"Then come on!" Bruno exclaims cheerfully, beaming at me. He grabs my hand and starts pulling me down the breath-taking emormous hallway. "You're going to love Flora's food, she makes the best beef lasagnas!"
At that, I lick my lips whilst my stomach literally growls in response. Mmm, lasagna!
No matter how much I try to resist glancing back at Vincent, I pathetically give in. Sneaking a glance behind me, my heart nearly leaps out of my mouth at the sight of him staring right back at me. He's still standing where we left him with his hands in his pockets, like a boss.
Immediately I twist my head back, earning a beautiful whiplash. I wince in the pain, but my mind is still on the repulsive, arrogant yet annoyingly good-looking troublemaker, Vincent Taylor and how much my heart hurts because of him, because of the fact his confession wasn't even real; it was all just a play of words for popularity.
Just like me, so who am I to talk again?
And why does my heart ache so much if I also did the exact same thing back to him, but in reverse?
Well, probably because regardless of his now arrogant, cruel, cold-hearted self, regardless of his appearance in which is so hot that it can rival with the sun─I still have the most biggest yet hopeless crush on him. And it's unrequited too.
Damn, Summer. You're a lost cause.
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"We use the method filtration to separate sand from the salt-water solution. Can anyone tell me what comes next?" The teacher, whose name is Mrs Cheri, I think, queries in her Indian accent. She look around the class with hopeful eyes.
Silence.
I mean who can blame us? It's way too early in the morning to engage in classroom discussions.
"Really, nobody? Come on guys, this is from the junior syllabus!"
Again, silence.
I sigh quietly, staring at the stool by the bench in front of mine. My thoughts are occupied with the events of yesterday's dinner. It was chill and genuine, and man that lasagna was scrumptious! Vincent and I sat well away from each other on opposite sides and opposite ends. At time I would sneak at quick glance at him and he would be just staring at his food and fiddling with the meat with his fork. Not once did I see him eat.
That rendered me flabbergasted. Vincent not eating? I thought I'd never hear those words in the same sentence!
I mean, I'm not trying to be mean I swear! last time I remember, Vincent was literally in love with food! He would carry snacks wherever he went and nibble on them every minute or so and seeing that, I would always have to suppress my laughter ─ what? It was just so cute!
I smile stupidly into space at the thought. However, when I twist my head to look at Aaliyah and Phoebe who are sitting beside me, I nearly jump off my seat because of the fact that they're staring right back at me with curious, thirsty eyes and I know exactly why.
The events that occurred yesterday might've shocked them to the point that they couldn't even speak earlier this morning when they saw me; all they could do was just watch me with awestruck eyes and gawk at me. Apparently the fact that the school's biggest heartthrob knew me is gobsmacking to them.
"Well, I certainly don't wish to be standing here all day waiting for an answer, so I guess everybody has to find out for themselves. Grab a lab-coat and get to work!" Mrs Cheri claps a few times to usher us out of our seats.
Gradually, chatter begins to fill the room as everyone and their groups are planning their experiments. As for me and my group? Still silence. I stare at them uncertainly as they gaze at me back like I'm some sort of alien.
Aaliyah's mouth opens and closes like a goldfish, when finally one simple word manages to escape her mouth. "Spill."
And so I do. I tell them everything there is to mine and Vincent's history─from the day we met to the day he left... and everything after that. And let me tell you, it felt so great! They listen to me intently and silently, their faces showing emotions whenever a part stimulates it. It honestly felt so relieving to let it all out, especially after all these years when I had to conceal it within myself.
After I conclude, they stare at me for a few moments as I eye them back nervously, anticipating their responses.
Aaliyah slumps back down onto her stool, overwhelmed by my story. "Woah."
Phoebe, still standing, furrows her eyebrows. "Shit."
We all engulf into silence for a couple of moments, before what Phoebe has just said finally registers through our minds.
Aaliyah and I snap our heads towards Phoebe, not even minding the whiplash. What just happened is way more interesting! My eyes widen, "Phoebe, you just swore!"
As if realisation has just sunken into her, her mouth parts in surprise and she blinks a couple of times. "Holy shit, I did!"
Aaliyah gasps and laughs, pulling out her phone. "Can you say that one more time?"
Phoebe snorts, slapping away her hand. "Heck no, I have a student-council-representative reputation to keep." She then twists towards me and grabs my hand. "Besides, we have our girl here to save!"
"Of course!" Aaliyah bolts our of her comfortable sitting position and grabs my other hand. "The guy is a nightmare to people who even just breath near him without his permission, so I can hardly imagine what he's going to do to you!"
"So true." Phoebe affirms, crossing her arms in deep thought.
I raise my eyebrows. "Wow, what on Earth happened to him..." I mutter that more to myself than them, but they still heard it.
Aaliyah nods in agreement. "Sometimes, I wonder that too. Must've been pretty horrible to have such an effect on him, judging by your description."
All this time, I thought that my vain rejection has lead him to become who he is right now; cold and rebellious. But now that I think about it, there has to be more...
Suddenly, Phoebe gasps, a light-bulb expression on her face. "Chickas, I got it!"
Aaliyah squeals, clapping her hands spastically. "OMG hit it!"
"Okay so like you know how he said he'll make you feel sorry for messing with him and blah blah?"
"Yeah?" I inquire.
"Well... What if you do the opposite of that? What if you become confident, happy and... and... popular!"
"Holy, yes!" Aaliyah nods her head supportingly, a grin plastered on her face. "Phoebe you genius!"
Phoebe giggles, a blush making her way onto her face. She looks at me with mischievous eyes. "I mean, if he takes out the revenge card, then you should too."
"So, you're saying that I should become queen of popularity?" I raise a brow, a smirk unconditionally displayed on my face.
"Yes! It will be the ultimate revenge. Besides, there's no way he'll touch you if you're powerful and super infamous! I think..." She furrows her eyebrows in concern, but then shakes it off. "So what do you think?"
Taking revenge by owning the school again? Once again, my blood boils reminiscing about how he tricked me into admitting that I liked him, just for his friends who didn't even know him like I did. So how can I say no?
"I'll do it, but only in one condition: we won't bully any innocent people. I've learnt my lesson on that." A harsh one, even if it turned out to be a mutual betrayal.
Phoebe smiles. "Oh don't worry, we're definitely going to steer away from pedestrians and keep our eyes on the road." Aaliyah and I stare at her with questioning brows. She laughs sheepishly, "Sorry. It's a nerd thing!"
I chuckle, crossing my arms whilst still smirking. "Good. Then I'm in!"
Aaliyah squeals once again. "This is so amazing! From new girl who hardly anyone knows to Queen Bee of the school, Vincent has no idea what's coming for him. Oh my gosh, why does this remind of 'mean girls'?"
Phoebe giggles. "Oooh! Let's give it a name! How about 'Operation: Popularity Switch'?"
"Yes!" Aaliyah exclaims. "That's the one!"
I laugh quietly, taken away by their enthusiasms.
"Perfect. And now, for the first move..." Phoebe skims her eyes back back and forth between us and we lean in with desperate eyes. She turns to me, still smirking. "Girl, this is going to make you the instant talk of the scho─"
"Girls! Stop chatting and start chemistry-ing! Is that a word? Well it is now. Get on with it!" Mrs Cheri appears out of nowhere, her deadly tone causing me jump into work immediately.
For the rest of the lesson, Mrs Cheri kindly lingered around our bench, checking on us from time to time. Unfortunately, we couldn't discuss our scandalous plan any further because Mrs Cheri was also conveniently around hearing-range, keeping a special watch on us in case we do decide to chat away again.
Nevertheless, I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my body and the excitement radiating off all three of us. Once thing Mrs Cheri couldn't do is keep the silly grins off our faces, but she did send us weirded-out looks though.
Phoebe truly is a genius! If I become popular again, not only will this make it harder for Vincent to "make me sorry", but it's also the perfect ticket to finding out what happened to my ex-best friend. I mean, call me an idiot, but no matter how furious and annoyed I am at the jerk, I can't help but feel kind of concerned for him and care about what happened to him. Clearly it wasn't me, or something like another bash up. It must've been sometime more darker, traumatising, scarring, to have made his fluffy, harmless heart turn into icy stone.
And for some stupid reason, that hurts me. It hurts to know that the Vincent I once knew and loved so much is now gone. Vanished into thin air.
And no matter what it takes, I'm going to find out why.
▽▽▽▽▽
A/N: ANNDDDD THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS.
WASSUP GUYS!! Did ya enjoy the chapter? I wrote this in 43 degrees heat! Half of the time I felt so dizzy and it took all the willpower in me to continue writing, so thumbs up for my sacrifice? ;) hehe!
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'Til next time!
Love,
- YUMNA xx