Chapter Eighteen: Twenty Questions
Blake and his buddy leave the detention room, stomping their feet angrily.
"I hate that guy," Blake says acidly.
"Me too," his pal agrees.
The reason they both despise Christopher so much is because of the number of girls attracted to him. He attracts girls like two magnets of unlike poles. It is as if girls worship him. One look at him and they're whipped- or at least they think they are. Also, guys wish they are him, and that annoys them a lot. Though neither of them will ever admit it.
Silence takes over the room after their exit.
After a few minutes, Chris breaks the silence.
"Are you mad?" He asks, hoping she'd face him so he can see her facial expression.
"Why would I be mad?" Steph answers with a question of her own, not bothering to face him.
"I'm sorry," Chris sighs.
"It's not your fault," Steph lies.
Of course, she knows it's his fault. He's a man whore so any girl seen with him is automatically labelled a whore.
"Whether you believe it or not, it's my fault. I know that," Chris says and silence fills the room.
He knows she was referred to as a whore because of his reputation.
After five minutes of awkward silence, Chris exhales loudly and breaks it.
"Do you hate me or something?" He asks exactly what he is thinking.
Well, that question makes Stephanie shift on her seat to face him.
"What makes you think that?" She asks bemusedly.
Chris shrugs. "I don't know. You don't seem to like me and the other day, you left abruptly when I joined you guys."
"That was-"
"Don't lie to me. Even though Brooke said you were angry- I have my doubts," he interrupts her.
"And let's not forget the park incident," he adds.
Stephanie frowns. "I don't know you okay! And your....."
She trails off and looks away.
"My reputation?" He says what he thinks she stopped herself from saying.
"Well, can you blame me?" She retorts. "You're a player, a man whore."
There, she said it.
Chris scoffs. "I'm not a man whore."
Steph gives him the 'are-you-kidding-me' look.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night," she flips him a bird and turns around.
Chris inhales and exhales slowly, trying to keep his anger at bay.
"Do you want to know me?" He doesn't know what made him ask that.
Steph shrugs cause she really doesn't care.
"Forget about my so-called reputation and get to know me please," he begs her.
She doesn't shrug this time but neither does she reply.
"Let's play Twenty Questions." He suggests, waiting for her to face him.
After some seconds, she doesn't give him an answer.
"Please?"
She shifts on her seat to face him again.
"Sure," she gives in, rolling her eyes. A smile appears on Chris' gorgeous face, dimples showing.
"I'll start. I'll start with simple questions," he says and begins to think.
"Why did you walk away on Tuesday morning?" He questions.
"Seriously? What's your definition of a simple question?" She huffs.
He shrugs. "Just answer it."
"I didn't want to talk to you," she confesses with a shrug.
"I knew it!" He exclaims with a sad look on his face.
No one speaks for a few seconds.
"Okay. Your turn."
"Simple questions...." Stephanie taps her index finger against her cheek.
She stops tapping and looks Chris dead in the eye.
He feels as if she's boring right into his soul.
"When did you notice my existence? When did you know that Stephanie Valentine exists?"
Chris momentarily stills.
Fuck. Why that question? Of all questions? And her last name is Valentine?
"I'm waiting, Christopher." She grumbles.
Chris continues to stare at her. She just called him by his full name and even though he hates when people do that, he doesn't mind her calling him that. If anything, he actually likes it.
"Well..." She drags the word.
Chris' eyes go to her luscious lips that he kissed the other night. Right now, he wants to kiss her again.
Steph watches him as he keeps staring, waiting for his answer.
She knows what his answer will be, that's if he tells her the truth.
"Christopher," she calls in a chiding tone, getting frustrated with his silence.
He gets out of his trance when he hears his name again.
He sighs in defeat. "The truth is- it was eleven days ago."
"Exactly!" Steph exclaims but frowns after. "I didn't expect such an accurate answer."
He shrugs.
"So you just found out someone like me exists eleven days ago and you expect me to just suddenly become your friend or something?" She asks in confusion.
"I'm sorry?" He says with uncertainty, shrugging only his left shoulder slightly and tilting his head to the left.
"And No, I don't expect us to suddenly be friends," he adds.
She sighs. "Your turn."
"Okay." He pauses. "How is it that I never noticed you?"
Wait, isn't that obvious already?
"Firstly, we are not of the same social status and secondly, I'm what Brooke calls a Wallflower. I don't want drama in my life and what better way to achieve that than to avoid the popular crowd," she answers and points a finger at him.
"So how well is that working for you?" He asks.
"It's not your turn," she glares at him. "Honestly, it has been working up until this year. This year feels different. I mean look at me, I'm in detention, playing twenty questions with you, so...yeah."
That is exactly how she sees it. This year, things seem to have changed.
Here she is, playing twenty questions with Christopher Hayes- of all people. If she had been told this would happen, she'd have laughed in the person's face. Even if it's a fortune teller.
Also, she's kinda friends with Luke and Cole now and it seems Cole and Brooke's ship will soon sail.
Everything is changing so quickly. All these in the span of two weeks. It's kind of overwhelming if you ask her.
"Why aren't you dating Ivy?" She asks. Of course, she knows why but she wants to hear it coming from him.
Almost immediately, a frown appears on Chris' face.
Wait, does she even know what's happening around here? Does being a wallflower make you oblivious to what's happening around you? Chris asks himself within.
"I mean, it's only normal and cliché for the most popular guy to date the most popular girl," she adds.
She's probably testing the waters, pissing him off but she doesn't care. He should have anticipated something like this when he asked that they play this.
"Are you sure you've been in this school since 9th grade?" He prods, looking at her like she's really stupid.
She rolls her eyes. "You're supposed to answer my question, not ask me one."
"Don't blame me because if you've actually been going to this school as you claim, you'd know that I dated Ivy in 9th grade and it didn't work out. Have you been living in a fucking cave all this while?" He asks through gritted teeth, seething.
Stephanie mentally laughs at how he looks like.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I totally forgot such a big story," she says in mock apology then smirks.
Chris begins to wonder if she's the same girl that seemed uncomfortable with him and avoided having a conversation with him.
This is probably her evil twin or something. She asked that question to piss him off.
He sighs, after all he asked for it.
"Okay, enough crazy and infuriating questions. Let's go easy."
"What's your favorite color?"
She smiles, shaking her head slightly.
"Really?" She gives him an incredulous look.
"Uh-huh," he shrugs.
"Um...Green," she answers.
Chris smirks. "So you like my eyes, huh? I mean who wouldn't like it? Who wouldn't like all of this?" He gestures to himself.
"Cocky much?" She huffs.
He smirks.
"Same question goes to you," she says without interest.
"Pink," he deadpans.
Stephanie stares at him incredulously then she bursts into laughter. She just can't help it.
"Pink? You're kidding, right?"
He continues to give a blank stare and Steph begins to think he's being serious.
He's busy thinking about how beautiful her laugh is.
"I'm just kidding. I don't think I have one. I like Orange, Black, White, and Blue."
"I was beginning to imagine what people would think if they hear that pink is the great Christopher's favorite color. Girls would probably wear pink to school every day," Steph cringes.
"And Black and white aren't colors." She adds.
"Great? Wow, I'm flattered," he says dramatically.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," she scoffs and turns on her seat, facing away from him.
"Hey! Let's continue Hazel."
Steph hears the name again and this time, doesn't ignore it.
She turns to face him. "Hazel?"
"Uh-huh," he replies, quite forgetting it isn't her actual name.
She looks at him like he has grown another head.
"Who's Hazel?"
"You," he says with confusion written all over his face.
"But my name is Stephanie," she tells him.
"Oh...I forgot. Think of it as a nickname for you," he tells her.
"Since when do you have a nickname for me?" She inquires looking at him in slight amusement.
"Um...."
"Why Hazel?" She cuts him off which Chris is grateful for. He wouldn't wanna explain himself.
"Because of your eyes," he answers, staring at them.
"They're beautiful," he adds absentmindedly.
Did he just say that? Steph asks herself.
She probably heard wrong but his own eyes- are captivating.
They stare into each other's eyes while the silence prolongs. Steph clears her throat and breaks eye contact.
"Well, only friends can call me nicknames, and the last time I checked, you're not one." She snaps and goes back to her original position on her seat. Before Chris can reply, the detention monitor walks in.
"Where are those hooligans?" He asks when he notices the absence of two people. Steph and Chris shrug in reply and the monitor sighs, taking his seat.
Five minutes later, they're dismissed from detention. Steph is out of the room before Chris can even stand.
"She's really good at that," Chris mumbles and goes after her.
She ignores him.
"Need a ride?" He asks but she doesn't answer. She'd prefer to walk home than to get a ride from him.
She notices a familiar car just as she steps out of the school. A man steps out of it.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" She asks, walking to the car.
"What do you think?" He scoffs. "You have some explaining to do," her dad tells her and gets into the car. She also gets in and doesn't spare Chris a glance as her dad drives away.