CHAPTER 19: CONFESSIONS OF A BOYFRIEND THIEF
If looks could kill, I would be dead.
The piercing stare of my sister, the conspicuous glare of Dylan, and the curious gaze of the people surrounding us were enough reasons to know that I just got myself in a situation I couldn't get out of. This was a suicide mission and I knew there were consequences but if I really wanted to win and free myself from all the lies, I had to do this.
I wanted to piss Dylan to throw him off his game.
After we beat him and his team, I would finally confess everything to Serene.
Maybe this was just my pathetic excuse to find courage and let Serene know that something was clearly going on between us. If I didn't hold Chase's hand now I wouldn't be brave enough to continue my confession later. I knew if I did this now, there's no turning back.
Hitting two birds with one stone.
Chase's questioning eyes were focused on me, asking why we're holding hands in public. The scene was cut by the sound of the whistle indicating the continuance of the game. I released Chase's hand and turn my attention to the opposite team only to see a furious and pissed off Dylan. Good. The boys ran back and forth while I chose to remain standing in the middle of the court, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
No one guarded me. They were obviously not threatened by my presence. Well, that's what I hoped for. The person that was supposed to run after me and block my every move was guarding Chase. So basically, two people were after him. Unfair but what could I say? I wasn't a threat.
Yet.
People were shouting at me, telling me to help my losing team or at least move. I was working on it people! Calm down!
Caleb was in possession of the ball now. Perfect. I took one step and the people roared in excitement. "She's gonna play!" someone yelled. They all seemed so shock that I actually moved. Seriously? Just because I stayed there at the center for a few minutes doing absolutely nothing didn't mean I was planning on staying there until the game ended. Come on people.
Caleb made a quick turn, running past me and completely ignoring me until I called his name. He swiveled his head to my direction which was a huge mistake on his part. I smiled sweetly at him before winking and blowing a kiss from afar. Those gestures made him stop dead in his tracks. Chase took advantage of his lack of focus and snatched the ball from his hand.
Caleb got pulled out of his trance and was surprised by Chase's fast movement. He tried to correct his mistakes by running after him but it's too late. The ball already left his hands and made its way to the basket. Two more points for us.
A small victory for me.
Caleb looked back at me, slightly shaking his head. Annoyed as ever. Chase's eyes locked with mine. "Bad girl," he mouthed before mocking a salute at me. Okay, he figured out my plan.
Dylan was dribbling, moving really quick, making sure the ball stayed in his team. Chase was trying to steal it from him. I ran to the opposite team's side and stood under their ring even though the guys weren't there yet. It looked funny from afar because I was actually moving at my own pace, not even bothering to check where the other players were.
Dylan made it to their side, crushing my team's effort with his quick moves. He was raising his hands to shoot when I called his name. He glanced at me as I pretended to stumbled down, tripping on my own feet. He got momentarily distracted by my clumsiness. He was about to run to my rescue so Chase took that chance to grab the ball from him. Dylan was caught off guard, he tried to steal the ball back but Chase was already running away. His eyes went back to me only to found out I was on my feet, smiling at him like nothing happened. He narrowed his eyes at me, finally realizing what I just did. He turned around after he glared at me, getting back to the game he was surely going to lose.
My strategy was working after all.
The scores were now on tie. Few more minutes left to go and the match would be finished. We needed to step up our game to beat them. The funny thing was, someone guarded me now. Seriously? Was I a threat now? After all this time? Perhaps they figured out what I was up to. This guy was obviously preventing me from going near Dylan or Caleb since they got distracted by me easily. I had to come up with another plan.
Dylan and Caleb were surrounding Chase, aggressively trying to snatch the ball from his hands. Based on my observations, he couldn't pass the ball to our teammates because our opponents were making it impossible for him to make a move. What kind of basketball game was this? This was getting a little bit personal.
Chase found an opening and went for it. He took a step and Caleb shifted his legs, causing Chase to trip on it. It was too fast but my eyes caught what happened next. Dylan ran past him and gave Chase a discreet punch in the gut. Because Chase was running to the opposite direction, the impact of the punch must've been great. Caleb did the same and Chase dropped the ball and fell down on the floor, clutching his stomach. The acting referee blew a whistle and the game was paused.
My other teammates crowded around him. James held out his hand to him and asked if he was alright. What a stupid question, of course he wasn't. He was unmistakably assaulted. He was practically squirming on the ground. I marched to his side but my sister beat me to it. She crouched beside him. I stayed where I stood.
"Babe, are you alright?" Serene asked worriedly. Chase was still squeezing his eyes shut. "Chase, babe, we have to bring you to the clinic. You can't continue the game like this."
"No," he stubbornly said. "I have to win this game."
"No, you aren't! Look at you! You can't even stand up! Besides, it's just a friendly match." Serene reasoned.
Who was she kidding? Nothing about this match was friendly.
"I'm still playing and no one can stop me," he declared as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.
"She's right. You can't continue like this. You should see the nurse and have yourself checked out Chase," I said, interfering their conversation. They both looked at me. Before I could reach his spot, Serene blocked my path. She had a furious expression on her face, telling me she must've known the truth. Or maybe not, but the thing was, I didn't have the time to deal with our problem yet. Chase was my top priority right now and standing in my way wasn't helping any of us. There's a right time for explanations and now obviously wasn't it.
"What's going on Sacred? What happened earlier? Why did you lace you fingers with my boyfriend?" she asked, emphasizing the word boyfriend.
"Can we talk about this later? Chase needs to be brought to the infirmary first," I said, dismissing her attempt to grill me with her questions.
"No, you are going to tell me now or I won't let you near him!" she insisted, her voice rising. Her angry voice attracted everyone's attention and I was suddenly put in the hot seat.
"You can't be serious," I uttered, unsure of what to say.
"Tell me Sac," she started. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. This sounds absurd but I just have to know. I need to know if you're stabbing my back."
"We can talk about this later Serene. Please not now," I said in a steady voice. There's a possibility that she'd freak out if this continued and I had so much on my plate now. The last thing I wanted was an audience to my sister's inevitable outburst. I tried to walk past her but she held my arm in place, resulting into a glaring competition between the two of us.
"I said not now! Move!" I yelled.
"I'm not moving until you tell me the truth!" she shouted.
"Okay, fine! You want to do this here? Well, it's your choice. What do you really want to know?" I asked in exasperation.
She clenched her fist.
"Do you have an affair with my boyfriend?" she asked and something inside of me twisted. There's like an enormous knot inside my body that was eating every part of me. That knot kept telling me I should be punished because I did a mistake and it's irreparable. There's nothing I could do to fix it and people should hate me because what I did was totally unacceptable.
That knot was guilt.
I was surprised I was able to keep myself steady when I should be on the road to a sloppy emotional breakdown. This was the part where I should confess to her that somehow, though it wasn't planned, I stole her boyfriend. I could sugarcoat what happened and tell myself that I didn't mean for all of this to occur and that it wasn't my fault that Chase loved me. I could give a lot of excuses and pretend to be the girl who dealt with a very difficult decision. I could tell my sister what I did was a huge mistake and it wasn't entirely my fault.
But I wasn't that kind of person.
I needed to embrace the fact that I was indeed the villain. That's the least I could do. Because I did took away from her something that she owned. I had to admit that though I didn't want to hurt her, I couldn't find it in myself to regret what I did. Because I wanted to fight for Chase. He's worth it.
"Yes, Serene. I'm in love with Chase and we're in a relationship," I declared as I closed my eyes.
When those words left my mouth, a big burden was lifted from my shoulders.
The moment I opened my eyes I was greeted by a hard slap. The sound of her palm hitting my cheek echoed throughout the area and people froze. I didn't say a single word because I deserved this. I deserved to be humiliated like this. Now everyone knew I was a boyfriend-grabbing, sister-betraying slut.
"Hey! Serene, stop! She's your sister!" Dylan shouted in my defense. He lifted my head up and checked my cheek. He pushed my hair behind and looked directly in my eyes. "Are you alright Sacred?"
Tears were threatening to flow down. I didn't answer him. Why was he defending me? I hurt him and I didn't treat him right. If anything, he should be on my sister's side.
"Dylan this is ridiculous! She is in a relationship with Chase! With my boyfriend! She's a boyfriend thief! It may have even started before you break up! She might have cheated on you!" Serene uttered and she hit the nail on the head. Our relationship might not have started before the break up with Dylan but my feelings for Chase were already there when we're still together.
Yup, I felt like a cheater. A cold-hearted cheater and I didn't deserve his protection. Dylan should be mad at me.
"I don't care," Dylan said and I turned to him in shock. My sister was even more surprised.
"Don't let her fool you Dylan," she advised.
"I'm sorry," I said to her. "I'm so sorry."
"Your apology wouldn't change a thing!" she replied, mad.
"All of you, enough," Chase said in a low voice, almost a whisper. Clearly he was still in pain. I forgot he needed to be treated. I tore my gaze away from Dylan and went straight to Chase. Serene didn't stop me this time. She just glared at me, throwing imaginary stones at my head.
"I can't believe this!" she yelled before walking out, a very dramatic exit.
"Chase let's go," I said softly to him, ignoring all the judging eyes of the people who heard our whole conversation.
"No, we have to continue this game. This is important to you right? You made a deal with Dylan, I know. I don't want you anywhere near him," he explained and I just smiled at him. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I should've told her myself so she wouldn't do this to you."
"No it's okay. I betrayed her."
"This is all my fault," he repeated.
"Stop blaming yourself Chase. It takes two to tango. I'm at fault too. Let's get you outside," I said.
"No you don't understand. All of these, the fight between you and your twin and what the people might think of you now, are all on me. I put you in this situation and I can't even protect you," he reasoned.
"Shh, stop. We'll talk about this later," I said and helped him on his feet. I put his arm over my shoulder and we started walking. I didn't dare land my eyes on Dylan. Then I turned to the acting referee. "We forfeit this match."
People moved away from our path like we're some kind of disease. They gave us mean stares and I didn't care. It was expected for them to choose my sister's side. Serene was the victim here and being the victim in this kind of situation would definitely gain a lot of support from others. But being the victim when you were the most popular girl in campus would launch a support group for her and those people would undoubtedly plan a revenge against me on her behalf. I must sleep with one eye open at night.
We reached the double doors leading outside. I lifted my hand to grab the handle but someone already opened it for me. I looked up and saw Brenton grinning like a five year old. He went to Chase's other side and together we helped him walk past the threshold. Rielle was on our heels, carrying our bags.
I guessed Chase and I weren't alone in this battle. I had loyal friends who would stick with me through thick and thin. That was enough for me.
I needed all the help I could get to survive the rest of my high school days that would surely be more interesting in the next days to come.
Hey loves! Here's Chapter 19!
NP: Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
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Chapter 17 has been edited. Check out TWO IS WORSE THAN ONE
What's your favorite Taylor Swift song in her new album 1989?
My top 5 favs: Blank Space, Clean, How you get the girl, I know places, Style