Two weeks doesn't sound like a lot, does it? It's only fourteen days. Not that much.
Chaos had erupted in Cross Academy. Logan Cross was being nice. People were being nice. After six years of wishing that the bullying would cease just a bit, I now found the lack of name-calling, book throwing, tripping, and food throwing rather sad. I couldn't decide whether I was crazy or just plain weird for wanting yolk dripping from my school uniform.
All in two weeks.
By the way, I've avoided Logan Cross for two weeks. I don't know whether to be called an idiot, or rewarded with a big fat medal. It was hard avoiding him though. Incredibly hard. Yep. I want the medal.
He knew where I worked. He knew my locker location. My classes. It must be the perks of being a bodyguard. So whenever I tried to run, I had to do so quickly and steathily, like a cat. A black, ninja cat. Or a witch's cat. Those were freaking scary in the movies. They show up out of nowhere and watch you with their eyes.
Maybe Logan was a cat instead of me.
It was way harder on my way to and from school. I started this new thing that really freaked my old man where I would wake up two hours before my normal wake up time and arrive on the grounds of the large academy thirty minutes before anyone.
Literally; anyone.
My family aren't morning people. Actually, that's not true. My mother is, and unfortunately for my old man, he was the one who was forced to wake up at 5 a.m every morning.
My brothers and me? Don't even try to get a "Good morning" out of us--it ain't happening.
After school hours ended, I hid in the bathroom for forty minutes before I walked home.
The lunchbell rang. Everyone around me scrambled to the door, chatting and laughing as they made their way towards the dining hall. Me? I booked it all the way to the roof. It was the one place Logan didn't try searching. I even asked his mom. She had replied that he had acrophobia, which was fear of heights.
Cross Academy was a seven floor building, eight if you count the roof. Ive always never counted the roof.
As I silently tiptoed up the stairs, paranoid that someone could hear me, even though the seventh floor was normally empty except for the other social outcasts.
I pushed the metal door open. The medium, mediocre, dull, typical city located in the very north corner of Montana State was laid before me as I leaned over the edge. It was surprising to think that an international school was located in such an unknown place.
I breathed in the fresh air. My conscience reprimanded me for doing this the poor ruler of this academy. So what if he made you popular? So what if he destroyed your peace and quiet? He's only trying to protect you, Park, it whispered in my head.
"Shut up," I snapped out loud, the serenity of the roof shattered by my voice. Splendid. I've developed possible signs that I was going to go crazy.
I tried to defend myself from...myself? He had bullied me for six years, causing a lot of anger and resentment. If I had still liked him like I did when I first saw him, maybe I wouldn't be such a prick about the situation. But my Taylor Swift-like crush had evaporated. Kind of. Little things here and there did make my heart skip a beat. But that was just a princess being stupid.
At that moment, my boredom increased. So I did an incredibly risky thing and hopped onto the ledge and sat down, dangling my legs off the eighth floor of a very high academy.
Today had been the one exception to my crazy schedule. I lost track of time curling my wig so the only thing I brought was vitamin water. Two of it actually. Oops. I sighed at my choices before opening a bottle and pouring half the contents down my throat.
Summer finals, and then a plane flight to Cimeria. All with Logan Cross. What a horrible future. The gods must hate me this year.
I hummed a melody to myself, unsure of where I had heard it before. How long could I keep this up? I didn't want to be known as Logan's girlfriend, or his love interest. Ew. Who even uses that set of words anymore? Especially with the amount of people growing interested with me, it was not just weird, it was dangerous.
My safety was in danger. But not that I cared about that. I cared about the press invading my home here, publishing my false relationship. If that magazine ever managed to get published, the Prime Minister and his wife of Britain would see it. And my life would gone. Like I'd be dead, in a coffin with people crying over me. There would be a tragic obituary and my gravestone would read, "Here lies Park Sparrow, killed by tea and crumpets."
No. If there was any way for me to go down, I had already promised myself that it would be something along the lines, "Here lies Park Sparrow, who died the most ridiculous yet coolest death to ever have been imagined."
I shivered at the thought of the vulture that was to be my mother-in-law. Reason number two to why I didn't want to be betrothed to the son of the Prime Minister of England. He had a demon for a mother, and Satan was his father.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts and sad feelings about returning to Cimeria this summer that I didn't hear a certain someone creep up behind me.
"Boo!" he shouted. I turned around.
"Damn, you found me," I cursed, making a face at the sight of Cross' ruffled hair and golden eyes.
"Having fun avoiding me, Sparrow?" Cross asked. I notice that he didn't get too close to the edge. So what his mother said was true. I grinned ruefully, surprising the boy before me.
"Come here Logan," I called out, holding my hand out, extending my arm, a sly smile plastered on my lips. His gorgeous eyes narrowed in suspicion. Cross backed up a few steps, glaring at my hand like I spread wet mud all over it.
"No."
"Logan."
"Why?"
He didn't get an answer, just a bigger grin. To my joy, his undying curiosity, which I learned gradually as I watched him over the fourteen days that I spent sulking in shadowy corners, was totally insatiable, and he edged forward.
In a split second, I was behind him, pushing him towards the ledge. Logan screamed. Screamed. The malicious joy of being evil caused wicked vibes of pleasure through my bones. I was such a horrible person.
"Sparrow! Sparrow, stop it!" he yelled at me. "I'm--"
"Afraid of heights, yeah, I know. I have my resources. Well, I'm anti-social, but you didn't seem to care about that," I reasoned. Cross stopped struggling. I made the worst decision by relaxing my grip on his hands and pressure on his back. Our roles were reversed as he pressed me against the ledge with his hands placed on either side of me, his face just mere inches away.
"Not. Cool," he hissed angrily.
"So is not being able to walk home without being stalked by Logan Cross or the students of Cross Academy," I snapped. "Go away."
He scowled at me. That's when we both realized that we were sort of in a very awkward position to be caught in. We scuttled off of each other and yet continued glaring cold, steel daggers that could destroy monsters at each other.
"You know what I've been through for the past two weeks? Searching up and down to find you during school and after school. How is it that just one person can piss me off so much?" he growled. "I'm failing at my job of protecting an immature little girl who can't handle change."
"Cool story, bro," I answered honestly, shrugging indefinitely. "Consider this as my revenge for six years of torture, and the two weeks of popularity you gave me."
"Why are you so touchy about being social? It doesn't do any harm if you make at least a few friends."
"Oh yes it does!" I snapped. "In my second year here, someone found out after I befriended her and almost alerted the media. If the media finds out, my life is over. Done. I'm dead."
Logan seemed surprised by this piece of information. "Oh," was all he could muster from his lips.
"Well, now that you know, will you please go? I enjoy sitting up here alone."
"How have your studies been going?" he pressed, completely ignoring my request. I rolled my eyes and threw my half empty bottle at him.
"You enjoy chucking objects at me, don't you?" he remarked, catching the plastic bottle easily before taking a swig. "Summer finals are coming up. Do you think you can beat me this year?"
"No." Actually, I could. But then what? Ruin another one of my dear secrets? That I was smart? That would cause another wave of of people chasing after me.
"But what happened to what you said in our first year together?" he pointed out. "I'll beat you, Logan Cross, if it's the last thing I do. I'll prove to you that I'm not stupid."
A smirk crossed my features as I realized how headstrong I had been. And still was. If I was the flexible, adapting person my parents wanted me to be, I would've admitted myself to Logan's arms and protection and services. I would've flourished my intelligence and proudly held myself like the princess I had been raised to be.
Unfortunately for my majestic grandmother, my royal migraine of a mother, and my loopy father, I spent most of my childhood with Archer, a very bad teacher on being willing. He and I were about the most stubborn, prideful, and headstrong people to have ever existed.
"I don't care what I said five years ago," I announced haughtily,
"I'll help you study," he offered. I choked back hysterical fits of laughter. Him? Teach me? Oh yeah, he was supposedly smarter than me. I turned my head away, praying that it looked like I was blushing instead of grinning like a fool.
"Who said I wanted your help?" I shot, proud that my voice didn't betray the laughter inside me. This was just priceless!
"You need my help."
No, I certainly don't, I thought privately. "Fine."
"So do I come over to your house and help you?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess," I replied, a naive grin on my face. If only I had shoved the hilarious irony of the situation out of my head and realized what he had been aiming for, I might've stopped it. But I had been blind and stupid. Darn you, my brain, for ignoring this!
"Great. You just officially granted me permission to your household. There's no escaping me now, then, huh, Sparrow?" he grinned a pernicious smirk. A hot red blush rose to my cheeks as I realized what he had done. To make matters worse, Logan held up his phone showing me the screen. He had been recording it!
"I hate you," I snarled.
"I know, princess."
* * *
"You're not...serious about tutoring me, are you?" I pressed. He stood outside the room while I stood in it, both of us leaning against the frame, ignoring the gasps, the pictures being taken, the rumors being spread, the videos being recorded.
Logan smirked, a crooked grin slanting upside his face, a spiteful mischief twinkling in his golden eyes. The fact that my red hair was being flashed around the school on shiny screens because of the golden eyed angel infuriated me to the point where I wanted to poke his eyeballs until they bled.
"Anything to spend time with you," he answered loudly, resulting in the swooning of ridiculously jealous girls.
I think he meant, "Anything in order to ruin your life."
"Fine," I lied, sighing in false defeat. "Will you let me go to my locker first? Alone?" I hastily added when Cross opened his mouth to claim that he would accompany me.
"Why alone, princess?" he hissed, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Man, could this guy sniff out a lie quick.
"Please?" I begged, throwing in a pair of wide eyes and pouty lips. As much as I knew I would regret it, I moved closer to him and put my hand on the middle of his tie, pressing his chest with my cold hand. I tried what my friend Minnie called "seductive eyes" or "bedroom eyes" in which I batted my eyelashes and smiled coyly.
I felt really stupid, but it worked. Under my fingers, his heartbeat increased and his breathing became ragged and uneven. He lost his Oscar-award worthy smile and gaze. Golden orbs widened and became electrified with surprise and shock.
"S-sure?" he stuttered.
I grinned widely. To make it even worse for him, my feet curled onto the tips of my toes as I pressed my lips to his cheek before I ran away. No one saw the malicious sneer that crept up onto my lips. They all swarmed around Logan, congratulating him, pouring their adoration and love all over him.
I had to hurry. It would take, what, five minutes before he reached the Locker Ghost's hallway? I had to be far far away by then, so I broke into a sprint that would make the most athletic Olympic racer envious. I reached my locker and entered my combination in, adrenaline in my veins. Logan was going to kill me later!
Three minutes had passed and my ankle boots crossed the threshold of the gate of Cross Academy. I had sensitive hearing. Very acute ears. So when I heard the crunch of metal coming from the way back of the school, I understood what had happeneed: Logan had discovered my deed.
I did what any brave person who had the strongest of hearts would do: I booked it.
Logan Cross was a monster. He was the king of demons. A wretched soul that had no mercy. I had triggered his evil side and if I wanted to survive and see The Amazing Spiderman, I needed to run.
There was a park in our city, and it was always filled with people. Only at midnight did the park empty completely. So my best chance of disappearing was there.
I never really liked public places. In Cimeria, I couldn't even be in a public place without people screaming out for me. Here, I couldn't be in a public place without having someone making fun of me or trying to trip me.
I reached the park in no time at all, but I had used up all my stamina and energy. Collapsing on a bench, I heaved in breaths to calm my speeding heart, and my fingers fumbled with the zipper on my backpack to retrieve my water bottle.
Ten minutes passed, and I began to relax. Logan probably headed for my house first, and then Paradise Coffee. He didn't know me enough to take an educated guess as to where I would go then.
As I thought about it, I realized Paradise Coffee was just across the street from the park. Would he see me? No, this park was too big and too filled with people. It would be like playing hide-and-go-seek in the mall.
My iPhone rang. Holding it up to my ear, I said, "Eli?"
Elijah's incredibly irritated voice snapped over the background of the noisy coffee shop. I didn't think it was him for a moment because he lost his gay tone. Elijah didn't always act gay. He showed his more feminine side to me, and I had grown so used to it, his normal, straight-boy voice surprised me.
"Logan Cross was practically tearing up my coffee shop looking for you!" he informed me. "He charged in here, asked everyone around if they saw a girl with red hair. And then he interrogated me!"
"Did he say where he was going next?" I asked, alarm in my tone. Crap! What if he decided to search the entire city! The park was right here; I was sitting at his next destination probably!
"The town park."
I almost started crying. Kill me now! Strike me with thunder! Send me into the depths of Tartarus or let me serve Hades! Throw me over a ship in the middle of the ocean! If Logan Cross found me, none of those events would even compare to what he would do!
"Eli! Save me!" I wailed, burying my head into my palms and then lifting it immediately. Because there he was, standing in front of me. Not really. Kind of. Well, he standing at the edge of the park, his golden eyes frantically darting around the lamp posts and people to spot my red hair.
I ducked behind the park bench, making sure that my red wig wasn't showing. I needed a sweater. Yes, a sweater! I dug one out of my backpack (I know, I'm really prepared for these situations) and pulled it over my head. I pulled the hood up and tucked my hair in carefully. There was a bathroom near by. I could exchange wigs, change clothes and run away to Brazil.
Upholding my pride as Archer Sparrow's little sister, I was as invisible as Casper the Friendly Ghost as I weaved between couples, trees, and trashcans. There were no lines in front of the Porta-Potty bathrooms, and I quickly found the cleanest one.
In there, I clawed the red wig off and pulled on a black one. This one had full bangs and smooth layers. Due to my monolid almond eyes, it gave me a very Asian look. Good. Park Sparrow wasn't Asian. Cross was searching for a Cimerian princess, ,not an Asian girl.
I swapped my school uniform for a pair of dark shorts, a white camisole and a dark gray shirt with sleeves that reached up to my elbow only. There weren't any extra pairs of shoes in my backpack. I couldn't fit that much. So I begged that Logan never paid attention to my ankle boots and I dashed out of the tiny, portable stall that I had sprayed with perfume before entering.
Except Logan struck me as a guy with OCD, noticing every freaking little thing that was out of place. My shoes were definitely out of place at school. I groaned inwardly.
I frowned in a rather grim way, focusing my eyes on the words Paradise Coffee. If I could get there, Elijah could, or actually, I'd just force him to, let me cower in his supply closet, surrounded by coffee beans and plastic cups. Yes. That was base. All I needed to do was cross No-Man's-Land.
I told myself that no one would recognize me. Logan was probably asking people for a red-headed girl. Hah! He wouldn't realize it was me even if I walked past him!
At least that's what I thought.
I wasn't the one to see him. I carelessly threw his body in with all the other people I had passed on the way to the cross walk. If I had known, I would've gone the other direction. Instead, I walked right into him as he took a step back.
And bam! We both fell back, our tense energy exploding against each other.
"Sorry," he answered. That's when his golden eyes looked at mine, and my heart froze. My blood ran cold, and all life drained from my skin. I didn't respond. Not to his words, or the hand he offered to me, nor the troubled and impatient glare in his pupils.
Suddenly, that annoyed look vanished. A suspicious, dark shine entered the golden pool in his eyes, and a bloodcurdling frown glared down at me. I gulped, standing up slowly, my legs shaking uncontrollably as I did so.
"Do I know you?"