PEPSI'S POV
Seeing the look of defeat on Jake's face is so fucking ecstatic, like high on drugs kind of ecstatic.
I felt like I'm some kind of a Hollywood female action star as I walk out the door amidst those eyes that are all over me with their mouths that are so big a whole dinosaur can fit inside them. I can even hear all their comments, and they make me want to crush their brainless skulls into pieces.
"Damn! What a total bitch!"
"I can't believe she did that to my future husband!"
"She could be Satan's relative. I've heard that her parents are members of a demonic cult."
My hands lock into fists. How dare them to say those blasphemous things about my parents? They can say anything and gossip about anything they want about me, but they should keep my parents away from this.
Don't I have any rights to teach spoiled fuckers like Jake a lesson like that? It was probably his first time encountering such an incident with a girl.
Well, he asked for it. I have already warned him several times but he's really keen on his goal which is obviously a stunt to feed his bloated ego. If killing is not a crime and a sin, I have probably killed all guys who think they're God's gift to women.
He's also a certified try-hard in flirting and it comes off as irritating rather than sweet because of the screaming fakeness.
Try harder, Jake Snyder!
Ohh, it's rhymes, Girl!
For sure, if I have shown any signs of romantic excitement from that supposedly sweet action earlier, his ears would have probably danced and his unbelievably huge ego would have already exploded just like a stupid supernova by now. Then he will have these stupid high-fives with his equally jerk of friends and they will throw a party out of my naivety.
It's just like those shitty Wattpad stories where a guy makes a demonic, ugly, emotionless, antisocial, witchy— insert all of the other shitty, negative, and dark adjectives here— fall in love with him.
Why can't he just be contended with his looks and fame? Is toying with women's feelings necessary? The fact that I'm his current target is infuriating me and I can't believe that he even considered it.
Well, good luck to him then.
I saw Zeus and Sierra rushing towards our classroom's direction and my eyes met the latter's glare. Jake most probably told them already.
"Aside from being fugly, she's also cruel. I mean, who does that?" From the looks of it, Sierra acted like she just whispered that to Zeus but her eyes were on mine and her voice was so loud people from the South Pole could have heard it.
She should not dare mess with me if she doesn't want to be turned into a slutty frog...
I breathe in, then breathe out. Calm, down, self. Calm down...
I chose to ignore the bitch and head straight to the library to read anything that can be helpful to my life and studies while waiting for my next class.
*****
I'm having a hard time absorbing our teacher's explanation right now. I try to concentrate and follow through with his PowerPoint presentation, but I can't seem to get a particular incident out of my mind and of course, I'm talking about what happened this morning.
I admit, a little part of me is bothered about it. It was really mean of me, but he deserves it, right? He deserves to be taught a lesson sometimes, as he has already been spoiled with all these women's attention.
I check my phone, silently anticipating his text or a chat from IG or Facebook. He's probably really mad at me right now. Will he still annoy me? Not anymore, I bet and hope.
Lunchtime came and I decided to eat at my favorite spot outside as I don't want to see Jake and his friends in the cafeteria. Their presence, especially Jake's, might trigger my mean nerves again and this time, I might use all the soda from the vending machine, make a little pool out of them in the cafeteria, and drown him in it.
On my way outside, I kind of stopped in my tracks when I saw him walking down the hallway. He's wearing a red, V-neck shirt this time and his hair is obviously wet.
Did he go home to freshen up? He looks so fresh and I bet he smells so good right now.
Uhm, excuse me? Why are you thinking about his smell?
I mean, he looks really clean and fresh.
He slides his shades down his nose bridge and all I heard from my surroundings were:
"Oh my God, he's so handsome I want to die!"
"I think my ovaries exploded!"
"Spank me, Daddy!"
"I'm begging him to ruin me!"
I fought the urge to get a knife and cut all their throats off like poor chickens ready to be grilled. Girls like them are the reason why a lot of guys feel like they're gods.
I'm actually not a man-hater. I believe that there are good men out there, maybe about twenty out of a hundred, then out of those twenty, nineteen are not straight.
Life is really interesting, isn't it?
He even winked at his admirers and the way the bitches reacted is similar to those fortunate people in the poor sector of the country winning the lottery.
I am taken aback when he catches me staring at him from this little corner I am standing at. I suddenly want to hide inside a locker.
To my surprise, he acted like I had a power of invisibility.
His face is expressionless and emotionless. I mean, he always looked like that when he's not flirting with women, but it rubs me differently this time.
Daddy's mad. Should I be scared?
Of course not. I should be happy because I think he won't bother me again.
I averted my gaze away and continued walking out of the building like everything around me doesn't exist.
The Little Park is deserted, as usual. The weather is nice today, one of those lovely days of spring. Sometimes, I think students prefer to relax in the field at the back or in the bleachers because there's like a silent understanding or rule that this spot is mine.
Deciding to have my own little picnic today, I sit on the grass in front of my favorite bench and laid out the food items from the brown paper bag.
I really love this spot. It's like my little bubble that separates me from those people with polluted brains. The shade of the huge tree behind the bench always gives me this nice, comforting feeling. Good thing I'm wearing my leggings under my long black skirt because if not, the grass would irritate my skin.
I look up at the sky and breathe in. Appreciating nature is one of my habits. I don't simply like it— I love it. There's like a blended bond between us and the universe. Every sense of it runs through my veins in a manner that I cannot totally explain how but it surely feels really, really surreal.
My eyes fly open when my stomach audibly growls again, reminding me that I have to eat now. I take out the box of chicken nuggets from the brown paper bag and immediately stuff it inside my mouth. God, it smells and tastes so good. There are like twenty pieces of them and they are surrounded by curly fries.
I started eating like I was starving for a hundred years and almost choked on my fries after a few moments. Realizing that I actually don't have any soda, I regret pouring myself on Jake.
You mean, the soda version of yourself, right?
Of course, the Pepsi bottle. I should have wasted only half of it.
In the middle of eating, I suddenly felt the presence of someone, specifically a pair of eyes staring at me.
I turn my head in our building's direction and saw Jake. He's leaning his arms on the railings while intently looking at me. His lips are pressed into a hard line and the creases on his forehead are visible from here.
What is his problem?
I roll my eyes and continue to eat my nugg—
FUCK.
My fingers with a nugget in between freeze halfway to my mouth when I realized that he's the one who bought this—he fucking owns this!
I felt myself blushing at the realization. Good thing my make-up was able to conceal the blush of shame that suddenly bloomed because if not, I would definitely look like a rotten apple. I chose to look away and act like I'm totally unbothered.
His hands are now wrapped around the waist of his girlfriend when I glance at him again. They really look good together.
I suddenly lost my mood to eat.
Wait...Am I jealous?
Definitely not. Maybe feeling a bit weird but I'm not jealous. It's normal to feel this way to someone you found attractive who admired you or who had shown some interest in you.
Why?
Because it's girls' nature to love the attention, and I'm speaking in general.
But it doesn't mean that I like Jake. It's the complete opposite. I just had that jealousy for a microsecond and all I'm feeling right now is a relief.
I really hope that my peaceful life would be back again...
After eating all the nuggets and fries, I notice a small, post-it paper at the bottom of the box. I slowly and curiously unfolded it and saw a little heart sketched in the center using a red ballpen and instead of an arrow struck through it was a broomstick.
I roll my eyes and throw a glare in his direction. Seeing that he's full attention is on his girlfriend, I immediately crumple the small paper and threw it somewhere.
****
It's almost nine in the evening when I got home because I stopped by the mall to buy a new cane for Grams.
Lucy—Lucipurr's nickname— was chewing it last night like it was the tastiest bone in history before it went missing. He probably brought it to the neighborhood where that beautiful Beagle lives.
Upon reaching the front porch, I start hearing cheerful voices from the inside. It's either we have visitors or Grams is weirdly talking to that wall on the left side of the kitchen again.
When I open the door, I saw my cousin Sparkles and her ten-year-old son Zero, short for Coke Zero.
Sparkles is my only cousin. She's the daughter of my mom's older sister Pepper Jean, her only sibling. She's a single mom at twenty-six because her high school sweetheart impregnated her and left her for another girl. I mean, what's new?
"Oh! My pumpkin is home! Just look at her now, Sparky! Lovely, right?" Grams greets me with a wide, toothy grin. Good thing she's wearing her dentures this time.
"Hey, Girl! I miss you!" Sparkles rushes towards me and gives me a tight hug.
"Sparkles... it has been a long time." I smile while hugging her back.
"Sorry for disturbing you guys. I just need your help. Our company is sending me to Florida and no one's going to take care of Zero. He's up for adoption for like a week, so..." she is giving me her "I need you" look so she's basically asking me to babysit her son. I can't help but wince when I saw the young boy's face.
I lean closer to him to confirm my thoughts.
"Is he having chickenpox?" I asked.
Zero is staring at me like I'm a giant, rainbow-colored iguana or something. He has rashes and red blisters all over his face and neck. Good thing I already had it when I was like six, making me immune to it.
I'm kind of hesitant to accept Sparkles' request because I don't want to stress Grams out since most of my time will be in school. She's too old to be a babysitter but I can't also reject Sparkles' request. She is the only relative that we have now and she has served as my big sister during my childhood.
"It's okay, Sparkles. We'll take care of him." I assure her with a sweet smile.
"Lovely and kind—what an outstanding combination. I'm glad you haven't changed." she grabs both of my hands and looks straight into my eyes.
"We know the drill, Spark." I playfully roll my eyes at her as I sensed that she is just complimenting me because I agreed to help her.
"Yes. We know the real deal." she meaningfully winks at me, and I just laugh it off. "I'll give you a good make-over when I come back, mmkay? I think you badly need one."
Grams becomes alive again. She usually becomes even more hyper when the topic is about my face powder. She has been practicing the new cane that I bought her the whole time Sparkles and I were catching up.
"Sparkles, darling. Don't ever comment on anything about her face powder if you don't want to become a malnourished bat."
Ugh. Grams and her corny jokes.
Sparkles and I continue to catch up over dinner, recollecting our memories together. She actually stayed with us for like a year when I was around grade five. We were really close back then until they moved to Florida because her mom married someone from that state.
I shared my room with Sparkles and Zero later that night.
Insomnia is attacking me again. I'm not sure if it's Zero's faint snoring or Sparkles' huge breasts pressed against my face.
I give in to my compulsion and carefully reach for my phone under my pillow. My eyes lit up upon seeing that there's actually a notification, a text message from someone. My heartbeat races and I mentally count twenty-three seconds before opening it.
My shoulders drop when I saw that it was just a promo text from Uber. Great.
Girl, why are you disappointed?
Can you please shut the hell up even just for once?
When drowsiness finally visits me, my phone chirps once again. I lifelessly open it, expecting that it's from Uber again or something. I become wide awake again in an instant upon seeing Jake's name on the screen.
"Go to sleep, sexy doll. You're forgiven."
He ends the message with the emoji sticking its tongue out, and I suppressed the urge to yell and tear my pillows apart in an unexplained emotion.
*****To be continued*****
A/N:
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