Army- Ellie Goulding
I'm dedicating this to JadiaPerkins for continuing to vote on the chapters. Everytime you vote, you make me smile. Thank you!
I'd also like to thank everybody who's voting on the chapters! You are literally the best! Please keep doing it, it makes me feel so happy :)
It was now lunch time, meaning it was time to officially put this plan into action. Xavier and Ren were both setting everything up.
My job was to deliver two envelops to Derek and Cora. In each letter, I wrote a love letter from the other person. I basically wrote how the other liked the person but didn't know how to say it aloud so they wrote it in note form. At the end of the letter, they are instructions for them to follow.
I'm very sneaky but this is the only way I know it will work. Plus, its romantic.
Firstly, I went to Derek's locker. After sneakily spying on him the past couple of days, I know what he does after each lesson. Straight after his lesson, he'll go to the bathroom and then he'll go to his locker. Whilst he's in the bathroom, I plant the letter in his locker and runoff.
So, I quickly slot the red envelope in his locker and scatter off. I told Xavier after he finished setting up to check up on Derek to make sure he got the letter and is following the instructions.
Next, I go to find Cora. She will be in the lunch room, eating. During a period between my lessons, I managed to convince one of Cora's athletic friends to deliver the letter to Cora so that she doesn't suspect I was the one who came up with the plan.
I find Jess casually sitting on a seat outside of the lunchroom, her pixie cut white hair hiding a bit of her face.
"Thanks for this Jess, it will really help Cora." She smiles at me, taking the envelope.
"Its no problem, Cora's always been nice to me." She replies, her blue eyes flickering to Cora. The doors have windows that enable you to see through it.
I know what Jess means by that, a few years ago Jess was bullied by a lot of the girls for being 'too athletic' and a 'freak'. Cora, being the brave and non--bullshit taker person that she is came to Jess's aid. I know they are good friends and I wished Jess would be less shy and would join our friendship group. She's afraid of rejection but Cora has constantly told her we wouldn't reject her. Hopefully, after this, Jess may start to open up to us.
I watch as Jess walks over to Cora, my nerves starting to increase. If Cora thinks it's a prank, she'll rip it to shreds.
I release a breath I didn't know I was holding when I see Cora take it hesitantly, a small smile forming on her face. Yes, we are go!
"Thank you, Jess." I softly say, giving her a hug. "And know that all of us would love it if you joined our group. It would make me so happy." I whisper into her ear.
Pulling away, Jess looks surprised but happy. She bites her lips nervously, her eyes not meeting mine.
"Thanks, Annabella. I should probably go now." She mutters and quickly walks off. I know she's a shy and reserved girl, so I'm not surprised by her behavior. With her, we would have to take it slowly.
My eyes glance over to Cora and I nearly curse myself that I let her get close to the doors when I should have already been hiding. Speedily, I hide behind a classroom door and peek my head out of the window.
Cora walks past, her eyes darting around the hallways for an arrow.
The instructions I put her is to follow arrows. After three arrows, a verse from a poem has been printed. It hangs just below the third arrow for Cora to read. Obviously, it's a romantic poem that took me ages to find.
Tiptoeing after Cora, leaving a good distance between us, I curiously watch her face as she reads the first verse.
I nearly cheer as I watch her gasp and her eyes look at the sheet in awe and happiness. Cora's not a sentimental person, she doesn't do romance but her thinking Derek wrote it for her must make her feel something.
Cora spends the next ten minutes following the arrows and reading the verses, whilst I follow behind her.
Cora's getting close to the final destination and I pray to god Xavier made sure Derek was also following the arrows. I pull my phone out to check everything – instantly, after turning my phone on I see a message for Ren.
New message from The Crazy One.
The room is finished. R, xx.
Quickly typing a reply to her, I bite my lip as I study Cora's confused expression. She's outside of the empty classroom that has been decorated for the with romantic stuff. Ren said she'd light candles, hang red ribbons from the walls and plant lover hearts around the room. Xavier was the one who managed to convince a teacher to let us hire the room for two hours. How he managed to do that is beyond me. If I asked him, I don't doubt he'll say it was his charisma and charm.
Egotistical bum.
Cora's head looks down at the letter and then back up to the classroom. I duck behind a row of lockers as she searches the hallways for any answers. She sighs, giving up and walking into the room.
After waiting for what feels like forever, I spot Derek come around the corridor and walk into the classroom. Xavier closely follows behind him, his face neutral.
I step out from the lockers and wait for him to get to me. Whilst he's walking, I take the chance to observe him. His dark hair was unruly, some strands falling covering his light grey eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt that showed his strong muscles. This meant his arms were bare so a few of his tattoos were on display, along with his tanned skin. He walked with an air of confidence, his eyes never leaving my form.
I hated – no, despised the fact he looked so good. He looked like a model.
"Baby, you might want to close your gob, otherwise you'll catch flies." Xavier jokes and I scowl at him. My mouth was not hanging open in astonishment.
"You cocky, obnoxious, ego—" I start, nearly growling everything out. Unfortunately, I can't continue my list of profanities because he cuts me off.
"Ah, ah." He tuts. "Such words shouldn't be coming from such a pretty mouth."
I blushed. Yeah, I freaking blushed at his words. I don't know if he actually meant it, but it made me want to hear him call me beautiful, pretty, gorgeous. My heart accelerated like it was going into overdrive.
My mind went ballistic, it tried to read into it. Did he think I was pretty, or my mouth or was he just doing it to make me over think this? Did he actually mean it?
Does he want to torment me with this thinking?
WHY DO I CARE?!
Can you see what I mean?
"Whatever." I roll my eyes, scoffing at it – scoffing like the idea was preposterous.
"Annabella, what I said I mea—" Xavier starts but is cut off by the door to the 'love' room opening.
Anxiously, I watch Cora and Derek come out. My eyes observe Cora; I make note of she looks flustered, yet content.
Did my plan work?
I raise an eyebrow in question, biting my lip. Cora's blue eyes meet my eyes and I see how joyful they are.
"Its official." Derek's deep voice resounds through the corridor. "We're together."
I can't contain the squeal that comes out. I'm so happy it worked! They are a thing! I'm so cheerful, I even end up bouncing up and down. Then I hug Xavier.
My arms wrap around his neck and he seems shocked by it. His form tenses, I'm guessing he has no clue what to do. Then, after realizing I'm hugging him, he relaxes and embraces my hug. I even think he sniffs my neck which is slightly strange, but I don't make a comment about it. I'm too happy to care.
To Xavier's disappointment – and maybe even mine – I pull away. I think I just made it slightly awkward since I've shown Xavier my displeasure for him multiple times. Now he might think I like him.
Xavier stares at me, his eyes showing longing and...awe? The look of astonishment on his handsome face will forever be embedded in my brain. Especially since its from Xavier King.
I clear my throat, hoping his intense stare will not continue. It makes me nervous and uncomfortable. But it also makes butterflies erupt in my stomach; it makes my heart rate increase along with making my mind going crazy. Its just not a good combination.
"Now, who came up with the grand plan to get us to open up about our feelings?" Cora asks, her voice accusing.
Somewhere, I manage to find some courage to tell her it was me. Her eyes slightly narrow at me. I restrain myself from gulping, that would only make things worse.
I knew she wouldn't be happy with me for doing this. Cora, like me, is an independent woman who likes to do things by herself. She would have wanted to do this on her own, she wouldn't have wanted anyone's help. So, for me to do this, wouldn't have made her thrilled. In her eyes, I was probably forcing her to admit them to Derek. I knew she'll be grateful that I pushed her to do but I also knew she'd be unhappy with my methods.
Oh well, I knew the consequences.
"Annie." She narrows her eyes at me. Her lips are curled slightly upwards and I bit my lip to help calm my nerves. And then she beams at me. "Thank you!"
Huh? Did she just thank me? Isn't she supposed to murder me?
"Uh..." I unsurely look up at Xavier whose eyes show amusement at my confusion. He shrugs and goes to talk to Derek.
"I know you're expecting me to be mad and trust me, a small part of me is. But I know why you did it. I'm so grateful you did otherwise I'd still be in an endless loop of 'what if he likes me'. And trust me, that's like hell." She explains, her eyes sparkling with gratitude. I soften my eyes at her and smile. "Now give me a hug."
Chuckling at her demand, I fall into her arms. I love my best friends.
"By the way, you can tell Ren that her music choice was bloody awful," Cora mumbles into my shoulder and I laugh.
Yeah, Ren's music choice is awful.
Word count: 1913
Aww, I really enjoyed writing that. You might be able to guess that drama's gonna come soon. If you are guessing that, then you're right.
So, the next chapter will be the start of the London trip and I have a few surprises that I can't wait to share.
Comment below on what you think they are!
Next update: 7th January
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