William sighed, having to explain.
He had always hated explaining, and this happened to be something he practically covered for Supriya for over a decade on account of their mothers being friends.
But it was time to let the cat out of the bag.
Moreover, he was reluctant to hide things from the petite girl and let her misunderstand him, a thought which terrified him just as much as it surprised him.
“Do you remember when we were kids, she used to chase me around and pretend that we were childhood sweethearts who would get married when we grew up?” William asked Pete.
Pete rolled his eyes, “Don’t we all know that?”.
William sent him a glare which made Pete stammer. He smiled hesitatingly and asked him to continue.
William shook his head helplessly, which made Rosaline squint her eyes at him.
“Well, she wrote me a love letter which read like she was begrudgingly replying because I stalked her. And she made sure to get caught. That got me in trouble.”
“She testified to the teachers that we were dating. She even went as far as vaguely hinting that we were intimate to an extent.”
“I was disciplined because of that. And was told to reflect on my behavior.”
“10 laps every morning and evening daily for 30 days.”
“Only one half of dinner or lunch for 60 days.”
William calmly finished as if he was talking about someone else rather than himself.
Pete was confused.
He murmured, “Are you serious? It would get recorded in your profile. And being a military school, you might even have gotten expelled.”
William’s knitted brows relaxed a little. Pete was more concerned about his reputation than Supriya.
‘Perhaps he is not hopeless, after all,’ William mused before continuing.
Rosaline noticed this slight change in his expression and hid her smile.
‘Turns out, they are good friends.’
“Well, apparently, she had overheard me telling Ria, my sister,” William added as he glanced at Rosaline which made all his friends gawk at her, “that if I saw her again after five lifetimes, that would still be too early. She told me to beg her to clarify that mess for me and start dating.”
“It was her revenge for my lack of interest.”
“For a 10-year-old to be devious enough to frame someone simply because she did not get what she wanted - let’s just say that I did not think she was simply mischievous.”
Pete stared at William with wide eyes.
“Well, long story short, our parents came, and her parents clarified the matter. It’s not in my record.”
“Since our mothers are friends, the whole thing was hushed up. So, she is in the clear too.”
Rosaline was dumbfounded.
‘How can people be so evil while so young? Isn't this supposed to only happen in movies?’
“Is that why you never liked her?” Pete asked.“Why did you not tell us this before?” Pete’s eyes were full of grievances. “When we grew up, she flirted with all of you, although subtly, to avoid confrontations.”“She was always clever to avoid suspicion and looked pitiful whenever someone tried to oust her.”“I never thought she liked you or anyone for that matter. That’s why I told you to be careful.” William explained. Pete was flabbergasted. “Why did you not tell me all this in detail? I thought you just did not like her on account of the trouble she caused in school”. William shrugged, “Her mother’s good friends with my mom, so when confronted, she begged to keep it under wraps and that she would ensure she never bothers me.” Pete looked like he was constipated. “What about the other things?”Before William could reply, Evelyn piped in.“He did. So did I, but all of you were blind as a bat.”“And she cried so pitifully whenever confronted that you guys always let it slide.”“
Rosaline was shocked by her outburst.‘What’s wrong with me? I don’t know them. I should be calling the cops for all that guy did to me earlier.’ She smiled awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment but frowned upon seeing the smile in William’s eyes. That made her roll her eyes.‘Screw it! I’ve already said it out loud. Let’s just go with it.’ “Well, you can also get back together with her. Get screwed again.”“Spend your entire life trying to figure out when NO means NO and when NO means YES. And every time you break up and get frustrated, you can ruin some other innocent girl’s evening.” William curled his lips at the word innocent, which made Rosaline want to kick him. But she ignored him and continued.“Or since she already told you that you broke up. Just accept it and detoxify yourself.”Evelyn hooted at that and gave Rosaline a high-five, “well said, bro!”.‘I have a feeling we’ll get along well.’ Rosaline smiled at that but was shocked by her thoughts.‘Shit! I’ve to le
Rosaline saw William as soon as she exited the bathroom.He squinted at her as she made her way back. She only glanced at him, furrowed her beautiful brows, and ignored him. Somehow, this made William smile. He walked up to her and tried to start a conversation.“Hey, got a minute?”“And may I ask why you would need it?”Her voice was cold and held clear distance and indifference.William felt awkward. He tried hard to understand why he was so bothered about the probability of her being underage. But he masked his emotions well.“Well, I just want to say sorry and thank you.” He replied confidently without any awkwardness.“It does not matter,” Rosaline said with a sigh.“Can I ask you something rather inappropriate?” William decided to bite the bullet.“Why would you ask if you already know it’s inappropriate?” Rosaline retorted with raised eyebrows. “Maybe I’m just selfish.”“...” Rosaline was speechless, and that made William smile. “How old are you?” Rosaline could see the nerv
Rosaline got up quite late, having partied till late last night.Looking at her sleepy appearance in the mirror, she thought of William. She shook her head, flattened her messy hair, and went on with her morning routine. There was a commotion at the breakfast table with her parents waiting for her. She had an uneasy feeling about it. “Good morning, people!” Rosaline said with a smile.“You guys did not wait for me for breakfast, did you?” She had hardly finished what she was saying when her father, George Dayne, slammed the local newspaper on the table. She picked it up with curiosity and saw two pictures of herself which were rather vague.One was her leaning toward Pete, and Pete’s face was unmistakable.The other picture showed her leaning toward William; even William’s back view was vague. The headline was rather glaring.“Shameless groupie steals another woman’s boyfriend!”Rosaline instantly knew that it was Supriya’s doing.As the photographs were from inside the bar that
On the other side of the city, Tom and Rita Brown also saw the news.Tom Brown and George Dayne were professors at Apex University and had been friends for over 20 years. Their families were close as well. George’s nephew, Maddox Dayne, got acquainted with the Browns while visiting his uncle and got to know Tom and Rita’s daughter Ellaria.They became childhood sweethearts and were about to get married in 5 weeks. They had known Rosaline since she was a little kid. They had thought William and Rosaline would be a good match.Both families had agreed to set them up during Max and Ria’s wedding. But seeing the news report, both Tom and Rita hesitated.‘Although we have known her since she was a child, Lina studied abroad for the last five years, and five years before that, Lina was in a hostel. God knows what she has become these years.’ ‘Maybe we should wait and see for the next few days before settling things.’“Tom, what do you think about the news?” Rita asked, obviously worried
William also chanced upon the pictures while his father was reading the newspaper. Even though it was not clear, he recognized them right away. He went to the bar, but it was closed and only had some people cleaning and preparing for the evening. He asked the available staff if they knew the girl or anyone in her group but got nothing. Getting no leads the usual way, he was tempted to investigate it himself but resisted the urge thinking she might not like her privacy to be intruded on by a stranger. In no mood to work, he went to the all-familiar Apex park by the lake.Despite its small size, Apex Park held immense charm in the city center.It had a small rock mountain with a rugged path to the top and a natural lake and stream. All of which were surrounded by dense forest. The entire area was preserved in its natural beauty, making the climb rather adventurous with fresh air, the calming sound coming from the stream, and a great view if you managed to climb on top.As luck woul
“What do you have in mind?”William was pleasantly surprised.At best, he had hoped she would be in touch to stay updated on the issue.He had not dared to wish for anything more. “Let her run amok. Make her desperate. Collect evidence. Make her believe she has won. And, then, show our hand.” ‘I just want to vent. Since that woman dared to cross me, too bad for her.I am not someone that she can use in her mind games. Since she is a bitch, I don’t even have to feel bad about venting my frustrations over my parents on her. Besides, she started it.’‘She doesn't care. It’s something else that this scandal indirectly caused that bothers her. She is just looking for an outlet. But why do I think she is hot? I should be alarmed.’ “How old are you?” William asked.“Are you kidding me?” Rosaline was caught off guard by this sudden change in topic. “C’mon. You said you were going to tell me if we meet again.”“Why are you so fixated on it?” Rosaline was curious why he would ask about her
Rosaline and William stayed quiet while watching the bustling city below the mountain.Lost in their thoughts, they did not realize how long they had been sitting there until it got too hot.“Let’s go down. I’ll take you to a nice place.” William proposed, having noticed the sadness in her eyes. “Alright!” Rosaline agreed without too much thought.They climbed down the hill, but halfway through, William stopped and started off to a path that was not quite visible, most likely a track left by some animal. Rosaline was intrigued. She had never ventured beyond the few direct trails that led to the top. The narrow path was even more rugged and harder to traverse.William had to, multiple times, support Rosaline as they moved away from the main trail. The winding path went up for a while before taking a sharp turn downhill. After a short stretch of flatland, the duo climbed uphill again.Even when focused on the path, Rosaline did not miss the lush green trees with wildflowers of mult