~Ophelia's POV~
I laid in my bed on Sunday night, trying to fall asleep already so I wouldn't accidentally sleep right through my alarm when it went off in the morning to wake me up for school, but I was too restless to sleep. After everything that happened between Luke and I this weekend, I was feeling embarrassed and overwhelmed. Mostly embarrassed, though.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was very clearly attracted to Luke, which was obvious enough by the way I'd reacted to his touch. Something about him was just so charismatic and he had such a way with the ladies, so he was really impossible. It was practically impossible for me to not be affected by someone like him, even if I did tell myself that everything that he was pulling with me was just for show. He wasn't interested in me; he merely found entertainment in fucking around with me, that's all. It really didn't go beyond that, I knew it. This was probably just one big game to him—a way to pass the time when he had nothing else to do.
Sighing in frustration at myself, I rolled over onto my side so that I was facing the wall, curling up into a ball as I snuggled into my blankets. I felt like an idiot when I thought about what had happened between Luke and I. Guilty, too, when I thought of Stella. It had been a mistake to have ever let anything happen between him and I, but I vowed to myself that I would not be making that same mistake again. I didn't have any interest in getting tangled up with a player like him; Simply all I knew was that I needed to make sure to be careful with that boy.
If I'd learned anything this weekend, it was that both me and my body found him absolutely enticing and it took next to nothing to get me going for him. That was definitely some trouble for me if I didn't just be more wary around him. It could get heavy between us quick and I wasn't sure if I was able to deal with that. Plus, this was Luke. I knew it wouldn't last long if anything happened between us; he'd just dump me when he got tired of me like all the other girls. Obviously, I didn't want that; I didn't want the drama and I didn't want...well, a player in all terms of speaking.
So, as I drifted off to sleep, I promised myself to never again have a moment like the one we'd had yesterday. He had enough girls to play with in school and I was not going to become one as well. All I had to do was keep myself out of that part of his life.
How hard could it really be?
**
My alarm clock blared noisily in the early hours of the morning, letting me know that it was time to get my butt up to get ready for school already. It felt like I had only been asleep five minutes. How had so much time passed?!
I forced myself to get up out of bed and head into the bathroom to take my morning shower, as I did every day. After I had finished taking a shower and everything, I sat down at my vanity table and began to do my makeup, thinking to myself about how I was not looking forward to going to school today. School had never really been something that I dreaded, I suppose, but I was dreading it this morning. I just wanted to crawl back into bed to sleep.
Once I had finished making my makeup, I cleaned up my vanity space and then got dressed in a pair of undergarments before heading into my closet to find something to get dressed in. I eventually got dressed in a short skirt that was white and had a plaid pattern that was dark and light green, pulling a white cropped tank top on over my head that had thin spaghetti straps. It wasn't really even cold out today, but I decided to pull on a soft green cropped cardigan that buttoned up, though I left it open. Lastly, I put on a simple pair of white sneakers.
After I swiped on some deodorant on my underarms and spritzed on a little bit of perfume, I grabbed my backpack and left my room, walking down the hall. Granny, who was usually in the living room with a cup of tea while she sat on the couch, was nowhere to be seen, so I knew she was likely still asleep.
Quiet as I could so as to not wake her up, I opened the front door and left, closing and locking the door behind me when I left. The bus ride to school was quiet and boring, as it usually was.
Unlike usual when I would get to school, I found Blade waiting by the door at school when I walked into the building, leaning against the wall while he seemed to be waiting for someone. I cocked my head to the side and stalked up to him as he pushed off of the wall, sending me a smile as he stood straight. "Hey." He greeted me smoothly, his hands deep in his pants pockets.
"Hi." I smiled, looking up at him. "What are you doing over here? You almost never wait here in the mornings." I mentioned, cocking up a curious brow. He shrugged and we both began to walk beside one another down the hall, his steps a little slow so that I could keep up with him. "Saniya was complaining that she was too hungry to wait up here for you, so I decided to do it instead." He explained, glancing down at me.
I smiled in amusement and shook my head, jogging down the steps with him just behind me as I walked over to my locker. "Oh. Well, how sweet of you." I teased him with a grin, glancing over at him as I began to unlock my locker.
Blade's cheeks turned a little pink and he looked away, shaking his head. "You guys always gotta tease me, huh?" He pouted, earning a snicker from me. I began to put a couple textbooks into my mostly empty backpack, making it heavier. "It's not my fault. You're just cute when you get embarrassed." I said playfully, shutting my locker as I turned to him. He blushed even harder. "Whatever." He grumbled, the tips of his ears a little pink.
Deciding not to torture him with continuous embarrassment, I smiled and nodded my head in the direction of the cafeteria. "Wanna go get breakfast?" I asked, changing the subject. He got teased enough by Judah as it was, so the least I could do was spare him.
Looking relieved for the change in subject, Blade nodded his head and grasped my wrist gently, tugging me with him up the steps and down the hall towards the cafeteria. It was pretty full, not to mention unnecessarily loud as well, when we arrived. We weaved through the people just standing around and into the lunch line, where I got myself some corn flakes and also a small bowl of cut up strawberries whilst Blade got pancakes.
When we both had our breakfast, we left the line and joined everyone else at our usual table, where they were all chatting together as they ate. Saniya grinned widely when I came walking up with Blade, perking up in her chair. "Ophelia!" She chirped as I sat down between her and Luke.
"Hello." I grinned at her, waving at everyone else as I scooted in underneath the table more. I could feel Luke taking glances at me and I hesitated for a moment before I looked over at him, peering up at him through my lashes. He didn't appear to be acting at all as if anything had happened between us on Saturday, not even in the slightest bit. In fact, he just gave me that usual mischievous smile that he almost always gave me when our eyes would meet, a playful look on his face.
There was no hint whatsoever that he had been as affected by our encounter as I had been. I almost wondered if it actually hadn't happened. Maybe I'd imagined it, I thought for a second.
However, I knew I definitely hadn't when I recalled that night in the kitchen, making my face burn red hot and forced me to look away quickly. There was absolutely no way that I had been making that up, that it was just a figment of my imagination. That had certainly happened. So why did he seem unaffected?
I ran a hand through my hair as I forced myself to stop being an idiot, knowing exactly why he seemed unaffected. It was because he was unaffected. After all, this was Luke, the playboy. He was known for getting around, for playing with girls, so that tiny moment between us in the kitchen was probably so insignificant to him that it couldn't affect him. I mean, it'd take more than that to bother him, I'm sure.
On the other hand, I wasn't used to anything sexual whatsoever. It was natural that I'd be feeling flustered and embarrassed when I even so much as glanced at him, making me remember it. I felt like an idiot.
As I began to eat my breakfast, I felt a slight nudge against my right knee, the slight scratch making it obvious to me it was the fabric of Luke's pants on my skin. Frowning, I glanced up at him and furrowed my brows, confused. He was being clung to by Stella, as per usual, but he seemed to be not paying her much of any mind. Then again, that was pretty normal as well.
Luke gave me a sly grin and his head lulled to the side, eyeing me closely. "You gonna tell me good morning, too?" He asked me, pouting as though I'd hurt his feelings by leaving him out of my greeting earlier.
Frowning slightly, embarrassed when I thought about how his lips had felt on my skin, his hands wandering my body. "Good morning." I said through clenched teeth, mortified that I was recalling that yet again. I was probably the only one of us who was obsessing on that night, which just embarrassed me even further. It felt pathetic.
He smirked slightly and I angrily chomped on one of the slices of strawberries I had, anxiously bouncing my knee as I felt his gaze on the size of my head. I tried my best to completely ignore him and instead just ate my breakfast, wondering why he was still so insistent on being so cheeky towards me. Did he just find it fun when I would get ticked off or embarrassed? That seemed like something he'd do for that reason.
I brushed it off as much as I could, tuning back into the conversation that Noah was having with Saniya and Zuri until it was time to go to first period.