Dedicated to the fan of the upload! And an amazing friend.
Picture of new character (you'll see who it is when you read ;D) on the side. And, yes, that is who you think it is. HAWT. -->
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE. THIS IS IN THE WATTY'S! -->
A familiar ringtone blasts through the air, causing me to shoot upright in bed. I blink at the morning light seeping between the gap in the curtain, and reach out for the noisy phone on my bedside table. Pressing the answer button, I mutter sleepily into the device, “Hello?”
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Aaron’s voice causes a small smile to creep onto my lips. He chuckles lowly, in a suspiciously mischievous manner. I open my mouth to reply, but find the line dead. Frowning, I look at the screen to find that he has ended the call.
Staring at the blank screen, I slowly place it back on the bedside table, before slipping a hand underneath my mattress. My fingers search for a second before gripping onto a crisp piece of paper. I pull it out from its allocated lair, smoothing out the creases across the page like ripples in water. I search the page, my eyes landing on the fifth point on the list.
Let’s tell each other good morning and good night every day. Smiling, I use a pencil to strike out the point, satisfied as I notice that there are now eight out of the thirteen points of The Player Game completed. One week has passed since I snuck out of Aaron’s bedroom, meaning that we are already one month into game.
I spent the last weekend with Micky, Verity and Harry, on a sleepover. Aaron, unfortunately, has been grounded for the whole week for disobeying his mom's order to stay inside the house because of the gang violence. With him stuck inside and I only being allowed to go out accompanied by Micky or my dad, the only time I have been able to see him is in school. I have allowed myself in the past few days to cross out the 'let's go out on walks together,' point due to his insistence in escorting me to every class. Additionally, I've decided that the French kiss point was ready to be ditched after he kindly smooched both of my cheeks during lunch, leaving a smear of strawberry jam in place.
Grimacing at the thought, I push myself out of bed to get ready for another Monday morning. Funnily enough, I don’t feel as scornful as usual about the early rising. In fact, when I whip open the curtains with a smile on my face, the sun drifting in the sky greets me blissfully.
I dress quickly, skipping into the warm air. The heat softly caresses my skin as I walk silently with Micky, all the way through the school gates, until the air conditioning of the school grabs me in an undesired cool embrace.
A shiver travelling up my arms, I force myself to sit through the four lessons before lunch. Outside the window, the dazzling sunshine beams down on the school and the lime green grass waves gently, almost mockingly. Inside, however, no one apart from me seems to be too bothered about the weather. Instead, whispers ripple throughout the pools of people, picking up speed as lunch draws nearer.
“Have you heard?” a short brunette whispers excitedly as the English class squeezes out of the door. My eyes pricking up, I stick close behind the couple of girls gossiping, following the river of people to the cafeteria. “There’s a new kid. Sasha told me that she sat next to him in Chemistry, and he is hot! Like, smoking hot,” she empathises, her eyes bugging out of the sockets. The girl beside her opens her mouth to reply, a vulture-like look on her face, but I quickly edge around them, not bothering to hear the end of the story. It’s the same every time. New kid is hot. Girls stalk the new kid. Next week, new kid isforgotten.
“Emily!” a high-pitched shriek meets my ears the second I enter the canteen. My eyes travel to my usual spot to see Verity waving her hands in the air, beckoning me over. I send a smile her way, picking my way through the clusters of people. As soon as I reach the table, she starts blabbering excitedly, causing Harry and Micky, already eating at the table, to roll their eyes. “Oh my God! Have you heard yet? There’s this-”
“Hot kid,” I interject, causing Verity to stop speaking with a surprised expression. “I know.” I swerve around her still form, plonking myself onto the empty seat next to Micky. Harry smirks, reaching out to grasp Verity’s wrist. She allows him to pull her down onto the seat next to her, opposite mine.
I pull out my sandwiches nonchalantly, unwrapping the first, and taking a large bite from the end. Ignoring the perturbed look that Verity is giving me, I chew on the chicken and lettuce, swallowing the lump of grub noisily.
“How can you not be excited about a hot new guy?” she asks, wrinkling her nose at my table manners as I lick the creamy sauce from my fingers. I shrug my shoulders, allowing myself to take another massive bite of my sandwich.
“She never cares about hot guys,” Micky answers for me, munching on his own food. “Especially new ones, who she has never even met and probably never will,” he adds, summing my thoughts up simply. I turn my head to look at him, surprised by his intuition on the subject. Noticing my expression, he lets his shoulders rise and fall. “It’s obvious,” he remarks.
I purse my lips together as he continues eating before turning back to my sandwich. I’m just about to sink my teeth into the delicacy when Aaron’s sounds from close in front of the table. “Hey guys!” I raise my head, lowering the sandwich from my mouth, as I take in his wide grin and shining eyes. I open my mouth to reply, an automatic smile stretching across my face, but find the words dying in my throat as another person appears behind him.
In my peripheral vision, I see Micky’s jaw drop suddenly, a piece of ham hanging from his tongue, yet I don’t spare a second to take a second glance. Instead, I find myself frozen in place as my eyes lock onto a pair of grey eyes. As icy as the glaciers in Antarctica, yet as full of life as a raging storm in the night sky, they stare right back at me. A dry lump forms in the back of my throat as a tsunami of memories wash over me.
Bleach blonde hair ruffles like feathers in the wind as I grip onto his big hand tightly. Countless nights are spent at the beach, our secrets only shared with each other and the cool sea spray around us. The first kiss, sweet and delicate, as I melt into his arms like chocolate, and the tenderness in his eyes as we first appear around town as a couple. A year of blissful teenage romance ends in the declaration of love. The rush we both have as we break into the fairground, and then the hand-in-hand escape back into an empty house. Love is alight in both of our hearts as we share our first time together, the heat from the fire tickling our naked bodies.
Then comes the drunken heap on the floor… harsh words hitting me like a slap in the face. The fear of seeing him the next day haunts me and the evident worry in my best friend’s face as he realizes I’m hiding something. Everything builds up to one thing, and in our case, two years build up to a hard slap on the cheek - then, the tears cascading down my cheeks as I am forced to break up with the ghost of a boy I used to know.
I suck in a large breath, snapping my eyes away from his. My heartbeat hammers in my chest as I feel his stare burning holes in my face. “This is Adriano Blanc,” Aaron’s voice cuts through the tension in the air like a knife. The jolly tone in his voice goes unmissed, showing how unaware he is of the atmosphere between Adriano, Micky and I.
Verity, ever-so-happy, jumps out of her seat in an instant to greet the newcomer. To my relief, Aaron takes the seat beside me, leaving no space for Adriano, who lowers himself into the seat opposite us. “And this is Emily,” Verity finishes introducing everyone, gesturing to me with a broad smile.
I feel a tight knot squirm in my stomach as his cold eyes return to mine again, but force myself not to break eye contact. My pride won’t let me show the fear that is gnawing on my insides. After everything that has happened between us, I can’t let him have that satisfaction.
“Hello, Emily.” His voice, so familiar, is thick with an underlying meaning that only I can decipher. It’s a challenge to see how I will respond to the situation.
I swallow hard, afraid that if I don’t, my voice will fail me. Fortunately, when I speak, I am strong and unwavering. “Hello, Adriano,” I reply, my lips pursed in a straight line.
“Do you guys know each other?” Aaron asks in an upbeat tone, ill-fitting in the tense surroundings. I resist the urge to grimace, forcing myself to keep a calm expression as I try to think of a suitable answer to that question.
Unfortunately, Adriano gets there first. “Oh, yes. We know each other very well,” he replies, the words dripping with a clear innuendo.
I narrow my eyes, my fist clenching and unclenching underneath the table. If only I could smack that perfectly straight nose of his into his skull. Why is he here anyway? What gives him the right to barge into my life without warning? Most importantly, why I am sitting here and letting him? Biting the inside of my cheek, my eyes narrow in on Aaron’s arm, resting carelessly on the lunch table.
I subtly place my hand over his, pressing our palms tightly together. Fortunately, he holds mine back, but not without shooting me a curious look. Ignoring him, I smile sweetly at Adriano, satisfied as his gaze flickers towards our entangled fingers. The faint smirk on his face is quickly wiped away as the corner of his jaw ticks lightly.
“Hi people!” The arrival of Jerry is timed perfectly as Adriano’s focus turns to him. The two’s introduction loosens the tightness of the previous conversation, of which I am thankful. As the boys’ subject turns to football, I find myself engaged in conversation with Verity about how Jerry’s birthday is in the next few weeks. She blabbers on for the remainder of the lunch hour about shopping and dresses, easily satisfied as I nod along, adding a small comment here and there.
Yet, the whole time I can feel three gazes switching back and forth from my face. Micky constantly sends worried looks in my direction, obviously having not missed out on my uneasy emotions. Aaron, however, isn’t worried. In fact, his glances my way range from curiosity to smugness as our hands remain entwined on the table. The other stare, of course, is directed by Adriano. His eyes are not worried, curious, nor smug. Instead, they seem to burn right through my skull, rifling through the thoughts in my mind. They are cunning.
*Grins*
I have nothing to say. *Grins*
MWUAHUAHUAH. Okay, evil laugh over. Now, I'll say something. THAT WAS SO EFFING FUN TO WRITE. I do hope it was fun to read? You'll tell me in the comments, right... right? ;)
Anyhow, I'd better go! Maybe if you make my notifications explode tonight, I'll consider uploading again TOMORROW!
Later dudes and dudettes. Snoggers and Snoggees. Munchers and crunchers. Okay, that was awkward. BYE!