Barb stared intently at me, not saying anything. We were seated in the school library, studying together. But, obviously, how would I study with a person like her? She was a great distraction to me.
"What?" I waggled an eyebrow at her, pressed my lips against each other.
She batted her eyelashes, a weird smile on her lips. "Behind you," she whispered.
I rolled my eyes. The drama Queen was back.
"You've got a test. You know that, right?" I said.
She dropped her elbow on the table, cupped her jaw in her palm. "Yeah. I know. Don't tell me what I hate."
"Okay." I returned to studying.
"Hey, Renee?" That voice startled me. Oh, no, no! Not again!
I shut my eyes, ready to see the dude who had been stalking me.
"Hey," I returned his greeting as soon as he sat on the chair beside me.
"Okay, guys." Bella sprung from her seat, packing her textbooks into her backpack. She grinned, giving me that teasing look. "I'll leave you both here. I wanna—"
"No, no." I chuckled nervously. "It's fine to stay here. Besides, we've—"
"Bye." She wore her backpack, turned around to take her leave.
I bit my lip. I guessed I'd just have to be alone with him. Again.
"You need something?" I wore a fake smile when I turned to him.
He shook his head. "Um, will you be working at the club tonight?"
"My biz," I answered.
"You don't always have to be harsh, huh?" He smiled. Why was he never angry? Irrespective of how I tried to get on his nerves, he'd just smile like a… cow.
I scoffed. "You wanna ask for a hookup, right? Wait, are you not gonna give up on that?"
"Do you like pizza?" He diverted from our discussion. Jeez.
"Um, yeah?" I replied in more like a question.
"When I was younger, I hated it." He leaned his back against his chair, crossed his leg over the other. "And then, my mom would ask me what type of child I was."
I felt the need to shut him up, but that'd seem rude. I had a test in two weeks, so I had to study. But, here he was, telling me a boring story.
He moved his eyes to me, tucked his tongue in his cheek. "Do you mind getting pizza with me? Pizza reminds me of my mom. I haven't seen her in two years."
"Oh."
Woah, he hadn't seen her in two years? That was a long time. I knew how that felt, because I also hadn't ever seen my dad.
"Is she… dead?" I debated with myself before asking that.
The corner of his lips formed a small smile, then he shook his head. The cheerfulness in his eyes reduced, and I couldn't tell why.
"Nope. She just has to be away. It's good for her," he said.
Sensing the way he was talking calmly, I began to consider being friends with him. He had been begging for it for some weeks now, so should I give him a chance?
"Let's get pizza," I prompted.
Again, that cheerfulness beamed on his face. Woah, for a pizza?
"Good." He stood up first.
After putting my books into my backpack, we made our way out of the library. Since it was evening already, there weren't so many students around. Of course, the place was crowded, but not as usual.
Walking gently in the corridor, I felt uncomfortable with the silence between us, so I decided to cut it first.
"So… you're like, you know, so famous here, so why do you wanna be friends with me?" I requested.
He glimpsed at me, sighed. "I want something new."
"Really?" I furrowed my eyebrows, pretty perplexed. "That's crazy. It sounds quite… weird?"
"Yeah." He sighed for a second time. "Sometimes, you've just gotta distance yourself from some people, if you wanna be happy."
"Are you saying you're not happy with the friends you have?"
He pressed his lips against each other, walked into the elevator after me. "Maybe. Not really though. But, in a way."
Oh. He was confused.
"Don't get you," I indicated.
"Being from a rich family, I grew up with people in the same status as me. My dad never allowed me to be around, you know, normal people like you," he explained.
I chuckled at that. "So, you're not normal people?"
"Maybe." He shrugged.
Walking out of the elevator, we headed to the school's cafeteria. Since a couple of students had night classes, there was a probability the cafeteria would still be open by this time of the evening.
"So, that means you don't really like the way you live?" I queried.
His smile turned faint, and there was an unexplainable expression on his face. He looked quite disturbed. "Yeah. But many people don't understand that."
"Hm." I nodded. I nodded because I was one of the “many people”. "I guess we've all got a personal problem. You're right, no one should be quick to judge."
"Huh."
"Hey, Roy," two ladies greeted him, as they passed us, giggling like blushing cats. So awkward. He just waved at them, and smiled.
In a short while, we reached the cafe. About walking in, I stopped. I had completely forgotten I had little money with me.
"I don't wanna eat pizza anymore," I announced without being hesitant.
He wrinkled his face, giving me a what-the-heck-are-you-saying look. What? I couldn't tell him I didn't have money, huh?
"You don't?" His left eyebrow rose.
I nodded quickly. Not knowing what to do, I pressed my palm against my stomach, squeezing my face.
"I-I've got… constipation." Oops, that came out so fast. If he was smart enough, he'd know I had just lied.
In order to cover up my craziness, I chuckled like an idiot. And to worsen my anxiety, he kept staring, blue eyes being blank. What was he thinking? Why did I even say that? I ought to be cool with him. He was a famous person.
"Hehe." The moment I tried to do something, that spilled from my mouth. Again, to cover up my mistake, I squeezed my face further, faked a “ish” sound to denote I was in pain.
He bit his lip, obviously not wanting to smile. "Okay. Maybe you should…" he pointed a finger at the cafeteria door. "Use the toilet in there. That should be of help, right?"
"No," I retorted. "I'll go home. I'll go home immediately. My dorm isn't far from here."
"Should I drop you with my car?" He offered.
"No, no, no." I shook my head.
"Hey, Renee?" Oh goodness, Barb hard to appear. She was definitely gonna ruin my lie.
I swallowed, chuckled anxiously. "Oh, Barb. You're here?"
"You're done with your date?" She stood beside me, stared at me, grinning.
Oh, gosh, what date?
"No date," I said that amidst gritted teeth. Staring back at Roy, I pinched the fake pain on my stomach. "My friend's a joker. Don't mind her. Um, I guess I'll leave now."
"But why?" She pursed her lips, knitted her brows like a confused child. Oh, gosh. "I mean, it's only a few minutes since I left you guys, right?"
"She's got constipation," Roy told her. Uh-oh. Why did he tell her that?
She gasped, put her hand over her widened mouth, opened her eyes widely. "Oh my goodness! What did you eat?"
"You know what? I think we should just go home." I gripped her arm, looked at Roy. "Bye, Roy. I'll see you tomorrow."
"But we're not—"
"Barbara," I called in a low voice, glaring at her already. With clasped teeth, I bit out, "Let's. Go."
She just blinked as if a hammer hit her head, and turned around with me. I sighed in relief. This was the first time she wouldn't have to argue too much.
***
Walking in the silent street, I sighed. It was about eleven already, and I was on my way back to my place.
After Barb and I had left school, I came to work straight, and asked her to go home. Now that I was done with work, I was heading back home.
Just about to walk into the next street, my phone rang from the pocket of my jacket. And about to pick it up, I halted on hearing a footstepnbehind me.
Gradually, slightly dreaded, I twirled my neck to check who it was. To my surprise, no one was there. Was someone following me? Oh, no. This was one of the reasons I didn't appreciate working at night.
Trying to ignore that, I turned to my phone. Seeing it was mom who was calling, I smiled.
"Hi, mom?" I greeted first.
"Renee." She hyperventilated, her voice cracky, holding some fear. "Dear, are you home? Are you alone? Are you fine?"
I creased my face, so confused. Why was she fretting?
Wanting to say something to her, I heard the footsteps again. I turned around quickly, but I saw nothing. This time around, I was scared. Not knowing what to do, I started to walk fast.
"Honey? Are you there?" Mom sounded more worried, panting harder. "Please, go home now. Hurry up. I need you to leave where you are."
"What's going on?" I walked faster, and faster, and faster. As well, the footstep sounded sharper, and sharper. Also, the fear in mom's voice worsened.
"Renee! Leave there please! Go home!" She cried. I could sense she was crying. What was happening?
"Mom?" The fear I felt made my eyes water, my heart racing fast.
"Hurry now, dear! Go home!"
"What's happening?!"
"Just run! Run home! Please!"
"What's— Ah!"
My phone fell from my hand, when a hand grasped my arm. I gasped, closed my eyes due to my uneasiness, my heart pounding against my chest. What was happening?
Slowly, I opened my eyes, breathing really hard. And seeing this tall figure, I swallowed, trembling so much.
Who was this? What did he want from me?
I continued to gasp for air, but the middle aged man only stared blankly at me. I couldn't even tell what he would do next.Slowly, the corner of his lips formed a small smile. A smile that was almost like a smirk. And then, he released his grip against my arm."Hi, Miss?" He stepped backwards, putting his hands into the pocket of his trousers.My eyes were still widened, fear swaying through me. I was particularly dreaded because of the way mom had cried over the phone. What made her do that?"Who're you? What do you want?" I demanded.He chuckled, and muttered something I wasn't sure I had heard. Something like “mother-daughter”."You haven't answered me yet." I managed to remain dauntless, trying as hard as possible to catch my breath.He smiled. But, although his smile loo
Renee______I stared at Bella as she laid on her bed, weeping. To be honest, I hated to see her this way. If I had known she would see Jason today, I wouldn't have gone to the library with her. Since we had returned from school, she wasn't talking to anyone, doing anything."Gosh, this makes me sick," Barb murmured. Turning to her, I just sighed."Me too," I affirmed. "I'm so surprised to see her this way. I thought she had completely forgotten about him."She nodded, pulling a sad look. "I know, right? But what can we do? Don't you think we should talk to her now?""It's not like she'll listen," I said.Virginia scooted closer to Barb, smiled at me. Since I was sitting on Virg's bed, opposite to them, I could see them clearly."You know what? I think Renee's more experienced in things like this." She poked
A week had passed since I had seen Sean kiss that lady. Yep, I'd admit, I still wasn't fully able to get it off my mind. But seriously, was it my fault? Sean was the first guy I'd ever fall in love with, and the one I still kind of liked. Getting him off my mind was an absolutely huge task.Well, Roy on the other hand, had been coming to me frequently. After he had told me he felt something for me, I really wasn't getting myself. Even though he was being as calm and nice as possible, I had a strong feeling he was fake. That was how famous guys behaved. They just liked to use a lady, and dump her."Will you be attending the dance?" Bella stood up from her bed, walked to the wardrobe."You know I don't like parties. That's definitely not my thing," I told her the truth. Tugging a pillow to my chest, I sighed hard. To be honest, I would have considered going to that dance if Sean had to come with me.
I lowered my head, bit my lip, feeling so embarrassed. Fine, Roy and I had grown close in the last few weeks, he came here often, we chatted a lot more. But did that mean he should come here without telling me?This was so embarrassing.Rolling my fingers into a fist, I raised my neck to look at them. Barb had a crazy smile on her lips, and she winked at me. The moment I looked away, my eyes caught Virg standing by the threshold of the door which led to the corridor."Oh. I forgot to tell you that I poked you because I saw Roy coming," she uttered. Saying that, she walked back in.What was wrong with my friends?"You know what?" Barb smirked. She leaned forward, pinched my cheek. "Maybe we should leave you both. Bella and I need to catch up with something.""True," Bella affirmed, and winked too.I shoo
Okay, this was getting too annoying for me. I wasn't the type of lady who appreciated guys so much, so why the heck would they both be angry just because they wanted to go on a date with me? Was I Amy Walter, or Kathleen Carl? What was going on?"Yeah." Roy stepped closer to Sean, and that made me step backwards. Now, they were both gazing at each other. And since they were about the same height, they seemed like some wrestlers who were in the ring.Sean sighed. I could tell he was getting flustered. One thing I knew about him was, he never liked anyone to get on his nerves. When we had been dating, I had never dared to go to him when his mood was unstable. I would say he was short tempered.So, what if Roy was short tempered as well? That meant this was a war between two Goliaths. Absolutely. Crazy."Hey, guys." I gauged an anxious laughter, stood in between them. First, I tu
"Just ask Bella to do it!" I whined at Barb over the phone. I had only left my dorm about an hour and thirty minutes ago, but she had called about five hundred times already. She was complaining about Virginia not wanting to cook breakfast. How was that even my problem?!"Oh, so you're supporting Virg? Seriously?!" She cried.I slapped my palm against my forehead, sighed hard. "Jeez, girl, you could be annoying sometimes. I'm only giving my opinion. You can't keep calling me for little things like this. It's quite annoying.""Oh, so now, I'm the annoying one?" She sounded angry."Why can't—""Fine! Just get out. I'll sort it out myself. And till you return, I won't call you," she uttered."Barb, you've got to—""Bye!" And then, she hung up.I rolled my eyes, and stepped into the por
I had never, ever been to a dance party before. Going to the school dance was a big deal to me. I worked at a club, but who would ever know I never paid attention to anything that went on in there? All I did was to serve drinks, think about the next step I'd take in my life, worry about one thing or the other. But this time around, I was gonna be a guest at the dance. I wasn't gonna work there!"What am I gonna wear?" I threw my back into the bed, covered my face with a pillow. "This is awkward. Renee at a party?"I heard Virginia chuckle, and that made me sit up. "It's not funny!" I cried at her, frowning gently. "I mean, what if I end up being embarrassed? And to worsen it all, I'm going on a date with that dude. I'm literally gonna be the talk of the school. A date with Roy? Ah, creepy!""Is it?" Bella scoffed. Turning to her, I noticed how indifferent she looked. "Have you forgotten I once dated Jason? The famous mor
"See you later," I added, and hung up my phone call.Walking to the library, I took in a deep breath, feeling weird. For some reason, these last few days, I was wanting to dress enticing enough for Roy. To be honest, after he had deeply expressed his feelings that night, I wasn't feeling too comfortable around him. When he stared at me, it made me feel like an infatuated teenager. So weird.I took a last glance at my cinched waist top, denim pencil jean trouser, and canvas shoe. Of course, I was pretty.Stepping in, I scanned my eyes through the place in search of Roy. He had told me he would stand close to the door, so where the heck was he now?"Pretty." He startled me when he hit his arm against mine."Naughty boy." I slapped his back, glared up at him.He only chuckled, and took my hand, pulling me somewhere.&nb