Chapter 14- No pranks
The next morning Ally was walking down the school hallway to her locker but something unusual stopped her. Haley, Becky, Ryan, Luke and Cameron were standing at Haley’s locker. Normally she would go and talk to all of them but today was different than those days. She knew it would just be really awkward for her. It was good that everyone was busy talking to each other. She decided not to pry among them sneak off to her locker which was down the hall.
She ducked her head and marched towards her locker. She knew she had moved passed them and she breathed out a sigh of relief and her walk automatically lost its pace. But she wasn’t that lucky. Awkwardness and Ally just have to be in the same room always.
“Hey Ally!” She heard Ryan’s voice calling out. Damn it. She slowly lifted her head and looked behind her with a look of fake surprise.
“Oh hey guys! I didn’t see you there.” Everyone smiled at her but Cameron’s smile faded instantly. She pretended she didn’t see it but her body reacted otherwise. Her smile faltered and her whole body went tense.
“I have to go. I’ve got some work to do. I’ll see you guys later.” He said as he looked at the little group acting as if she wasn’t there. He went away hastily and she was left away feeling ignored. She felt like she didn’t even exist for him anymore and it was the worst feeling in the world.
Although she was able to pull a fake smile through the day without anyone noticing, it all came down to lunch. She wasn’t willing to face Cameron again after what happened in the morning. She was sitting comfortably with her friends until he stalked up to their table with his nose flaring.
He was shooting daggers with his eyes at Ryan but she knew she was the actual target of his rage. “Why are you guys sitting here? We sit over there…” He said as he pointed his finger to their old table.
“You would remember it if you weren’t so whipped by her.” Cameron continued as his glare shifted to Ally from Ryan. She was about to say something but Ryan interrupted her.
“Hey man. Calm down we can say the same thing about you and the cheerleader. Plus we don’t sit there anymore because you’re always stuck with those hoes.” Ryan said calmly but Cameron’s stance didn’t once flinch.
“Yeah, it’s better if we sit here with people who actually talk and not just sit there and suck each other’s mouth.” Luke added and Cameron knew his friends were right but he just wasn’t willing to sit with a person who had hurt him so badly. It was written all over his face, she could easily read it.
He was still standing with a blank expression. “And what’s your problem with Ally?” Luke asked and he started glaring angrily at her again.
“Umm… You know guys its okay if he doesn’t want me here. I’ll just leave.” Ally said standing up; she didn’t want to be the reason for anybody’s discomfort.
“What? That’s bullshit. Both of you are sitting here. And that’s final.” Ryan said with authority and both of them recoiled back to their seats hearing the tone of his voice. He sounded like a military commander. It was quite comical how a guy so soft spoken like him could possess such a hard tone.
“Okay. Okay just don’t kill me please.” Cameron said and everyone including Ally started laughing.
“But I’m only sitting here because I could take it for a week. You know, I have my limits.” Cameron said referring to his previous fling and everyone started laughing at him again because they all knew the real reason why he was here. Eventually, he had to settle with them because he had no choice since his friends were here with no intention of moving.
Despite the tension in the air the lunch was quite peaceful. Occasionally her eyes would glance at Cameron sitting opposite to her but she would instantly look away hoping he wouldn’t catch her staring. He didn’t make move to talk to her neither did she. Everyone kept joking around but she was quiet the whole time except the mandatory ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
The day ended and she had enough of Cameron’s ignorance.
He even avoided her in class. She thought about it the whole day and she just couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to confront him and reduce the tension between them. She liked it when they were joking around unlike today that felt uncomfortable and strange. She wanted to be forgiven so that he would behave normally with her just like he did before the prank.
When she was home she knew exactly what she had to do. She decided to call Ryan and tell him about how her revenge backfired on her. She realized it would be easier on the phone and hoped he would not be too angry about it.
She called him and told the whole thing and was shocked when he started laughing.
“What? Why are you laughing?”
“Cause I guessed it would be you. And I won. While Luke here thought you would never do such a thing.” He said and she could hear some more muffled voices.
“Is Luke there too? Where are you guys? Oh shit is Cameron with you too?” she said hurriedly as her mind filled with questions.
“Yes I’m here. I’m so upset. I just lost 10 bucks because of you. And we just finished practice. Don’t worry he’s not here.” she heard Luke’s voice filled with amusement.
“Thank god. But wait, how did Ryan guess?”
“It was pretty obvious. He didn’t tell us straight up but I’m not blind. Never miss the person who is at the sight of the crime.” Ryan said with a hint of confidence in his voice. “You my friend need to stop watching Law & Order so much.” Luke added mocking him.
“But why aren’t you mad at me?” she said interrupting their fight about ‘Law & Order’.
“Why should we? It’s fun to see him get his ass smacked by a girl. And it’s not really your fault. I mean you didn’t know he had allergy.” Luke said and she was relieved. At least somebody was on her side.
“I told him that but he didn’t say anything. And I feel really bad.” She sighed at that thought.
“What should I do now?” She asked genuinely concerned about her situation with him.
“Well, try apologizing again. He would have to forgive you eventually.” Ryan said and she knew she had to do it again.
“I guess you’re right. I should probably go to his house again.”
“No, he’s not there right now. He told us he was going to pick up his sister from pre-school and then go to the river court. So I guess he’s probably at the court now, it’s been a while since he left.” He added and for a moment she was surprised learning about the size of his family. But that was irrelevant at the moment. She thanked them and hung up to get ready to meet him.
She decided to wear nicer clothes and put her hair down. She remembered he had once said that he liked her hair down. She quickly locked her door as her parents were still at work and decided to walk to the river court. It was fairly close to her house.
River court was actually situated beside a lake but she had no idea why people called it ‘The River Court’. It was off road surrounded by trees, shrubs and grasses and settlement was nowhere to be seen. Most people didn’t like to come here since indoor courts came up. It was usually an isolated place with an exception of outdoor lovers who came during weekends and holidays.
Her pace slowed as she came closer to the only car parked beside the court. It was his. She calmed herself and went closer to the court. She could see him in blue vest and black shorts dribbling the ball. She watched as he missed a basket and watched the ball fall with a thud to the hard ground; he watched it with his hands on his hips and his brisk breath. He was working hard the amount of sweat on his body displayed it clearly.
She chose this moment to speak when she was facing his back maintaining quite a distance from him. “Hey.” she said nervously and he immediately turned around to face her.
The sun was setting down but there was enough light to see the surprise on his face. He didn’t say anything instead he turned around and went to grab the ball again. “What are you doing here?” he said with that harsh tone she hated.
“To apologize again.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” He said as he jumped to score a basket. It went right through the hoop this time.
“I know. You’ve every right to be angry but stop avoiding me. Yell at me I can take it. But I can’t take you not talking to me for something I did not do on purpose.” Her voice rose unknowingly.
He spun around hearing the loudness of her voice; she could see his temper blazing. “You did it on purpose. It could’ve been worse if my friends weren’t there. You know it could’ve cost us a game.” His voice rose too and he was taking threatening steps towards her.
“But you didn’t care. You and your stupid revenge thing almost killed me.” She could see his eyes flickering with anger and frustration he was pointing towards her.
“This would’ve not happened if you didn’t do that prank on me. And I said I’m sorry. What else do you want me to do?” She said as anger boiled her nerves and her hands flew above her head. She knew it wasn’t only her fault.
“I want you to leave.” He said it with a blank stare. The words pricked in her chest and she was taken aback for a moment. But because he was so close to her she could easily see he was trying to maintain his stony poise.
“I won’t unless everything’s normal again.” She was getting uncomfortable under his furious gaze and the next words escaped involuntarily out of her mouth.
“I’m sorry.” She said it with sincerity she never thought she had. She was almost teary something very unusual for her. It all flashed back in her head; every incident after they had met. She gazed back into his eyes with the guilt she had felt in the past few days.
His gaze softened and he looked searchingly into her eyes. Then he spun around and let out an audible sigh. He went to sit at the edge of the court with his hands stretched on his knees. She couldn’t understand him. “What?” It came out as a whisper as she looked at him utterly confused.
A hope within her ignited and she walked speedily towards him. “What?” she asked more loudly as she sat beside him with her legs crossed.
“Why did you have to make the puppy face?” He said with a smile playing on his lips as he shrugged his shoulders. A small laugh came as a response from her.
“I don’t know it seems to work every time.” She couldn’t believe she was smiling too after the argument that they had. “What? Does this mean we’re good now?” She asked confused. Their argument had gone from heated words to smiles in a matter of minutes.
“If you didn’t make that puppy face I was so going to make you beg.” His stance was much more relaxed and a constant smile graced his face.
“Oh I so wouldn’t have done that.” She said smacking a hand on his shoulder. He chuckled slightly but went silent after that. It was a peaceful silence. They were both staring into the trees with no intention of speaking. Her mind was thinking about the things that had happened in such a short time between them. Every incident left a memory in her mind.
He was probably thinking too because he looked at her and said “From now on no pranks. Please.”
She looked back at him shaking her head with a big smile on her face. “No pranks.”
**
A/N: Hello people! So what do you think about this chapter? Tell me in the comments below what you liked and what you didn’t like. What about the apology huh? Let me tell you that we teenagers are a bunch of really impulsive and confused people. We get angry, hurt very soon but it all goes away quickly too. I’m like that I know many of you are also too. We fight and we make up over petty issues.
So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did you know the drill – Vote, Comment and tell others too. Also I would like to dedicate this to @Bamagranna who posted the best comment on the previous chapter. She’s an awesome woman and I can’t thank her enough for reading my story. Thank you readers too who make me want to write more. I love you guys!