Chapter 3-Revon

She laughed again.

And then again.

And again.

With each laugh, the hope in my chest dwindled, as if she had taken an axe and hacked at it. At first, I thought she was laughing from shock. But there was no mistaking the tone of the laugh that followed.

It was mocking.

My heart sank. Something unpleasant curled in my gut, drowning away the butterflies. As she kept laughing, I felt everyone’s attention on me, and I wanted to run.

“L-let me get this straight,” Annalise wheezed through her giggles. “Oh, Revon, you’re so adorable. But you think I will date you?”

My mouth was bitter. Finally, I found my voice.

“You can just say no, you know,” I wanted my tone to be careless and annoyed, but instead, I sounded like I was close to tears.

“Awww, don’t be like that,” Annalise cooed. “You’ve always been a friend to me, Revon, ever since we were children, and I never saw you like that. You and me together, that’s absurd!”

For a moment, my spirits lifted. Maybe she laughed because the idea was ridiculous to her. Maybe it was because she thought of me as a family friend, like family, so it felt too weird.

“Revon, I like you, and I won’t lie, you’re not that bad to look at,” she smiled, the kind of smile someone gave a child who insisted Santa was real. “But a girl like me would never settle for a guy like you.”

And that landed a blow right into my gut.

“Look, I do care for you, but let’s be realistic here. I’m the heir of the Westley fortune, Revon,” she went on. “One day, I will run the largest bank in this country. You’re just the adopted son of the Hawthorne family, and I’ve talked with Auntie Elizabeth enough to know that Victory is the apple in their eyes. They’ll make you an executive just cause of obligation, but nothing more. I’m your friend, but you have to admit that’s we’re running in vastly different circles.”

Around us, Annalise’s friends from the upper rung snickered, enjoying the show. Everyone else was also paying intense attention, some even recording the ordeal. They will never go online because of the strict campus policy, but they will remain on their phones to laugh privately.

To say I was mortified would be an understatement. But more than that, I was hurt. I’d played in mud with Annalise when our families went on a joint camping trip. We’d climbed trees together. We laughed together at boring family galas, running around causing mischief, and stuffing our faces with cakes. We’d gossiped about our respective middle schools over the phone.

 She’d been my first kiss.

It was innocent, just two kids trying to kiss to see what it felt like. She’d giggled afterward with rosy cheeks, and that’s when I’d fallen for her. I thought she was it for me. She never gave me a reason to believe otherwise.

Suddenly, I felt angry.

Before I could open my mouth to defend myself, Avery stomped towards us and grabbed my arm.

“Annalise, you’re a bitch,” she spat.

The entire hallway gasped.

My eyes widened.

Never in the history of Sawhill Prep had a scholarship student gone against an Upper-rung student like that. But Avery had never been the one to follow the rules.

“Excuse me?!” Annalise’s eyes flashed.

“You heard me. You’re his goddamn friend, and if you don’t want him, you could’ve just said no. You didn’t have to make a whole production about it!” Avery snapped.

“How dare you talk to me like that?” Annalise seethed, and for the first time, I saw a side to Annalise I didn’t think she had. “Who do you think you are? Avery, you're going too far.”

“So, are you, Annalise. You’re the heartless bitch that insulted him for no reason,” Avery replied, voice tight. “And you better apologize.”

“Apologize?”  Annalise sneered. “You want me to apologize to him?”

“Yes, because that’s the decent thing to do when you insult someone for no reason,” Avery was not backing down, and I could see the other Upper rung students getting annoyed about her behavior. This frightened me. I didn’t want Avery to be their target; they could be vicious. She and I had been coasting along for all these years without any issue, and I didn’t want that to change.

“Avery, let it go, okay?” I told her.

“What?!” Avery gave me an incredulous look. “She’s the one at fault here.”

“That’s alright. I asked her out, she said no. It happens. Class’s starting soon, we need to leave,” I said, and took her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, you think you’re such a bigshot that you can just walk away?” Annalise asked, and I gave her a look. I was mortified enough. Why did she want to carry this on?

“Annalise, come on, what are you doing? We’ve known each other since we were children. I’m sorry if me asking you out offended you in any way, I didn’t mean to do that.”

Annalise snorted. “Hell yeah, I’m offended. What on earth di I do to make you think that I had any sort of interest on you?”

I wanted to remind her of that winter night but held it back.

“I misunderstood,” I replied. “That’s it. I won’t bother you again.”

“Damn right you won’t,” her eyes flashed again. “I thought you were better than this Revon. A guy like you will never bag a girl like me.”

“Oh, yeah?” Avery chimed in.

“Avery, let’s go!” I muttered, wanting to leave as soon as I could. I started to pull at her hand. “Come on, don’t piss them off.”

“Stop it, Revon.” Avery wriggled out of my grip and turned back to Annalise. “So, tell us. Who is worthy of a girl like Your Highness, then? The prince of Wales?”

“If I’m going to date anyone in this school, it will be Adam and Adam only,” Annalise proclaimed.  

That made me pause.

“Adam Kennedy?”

“Mhm,” Annalise smirked, looking unbelievably smug. “Anyone else is dust on his heel.”

“Wait, isn’t Adam dating Cristie?” One of her friends asked another.

“They broke up yesterday,” her friend whispered. “Cristie’s an Alpha now.”

“Ohhhh, right, Adam only likes Omegas.”

“Has he ever really said?” Another girl asked.

“Adam does only like Omegas,” Annalise declared loudly. “And I’m the Omegas whose going to be his future wife.”

I felt so bitter that I couldn’t even look in her eyes. All this over the Golden Boy. Of course, I should’ve seen that coming. After all, nothing goes right in my life.

“Okay, fine,” I muttered, turning away. “Have Adam then. I won’t bother you again.”

“That’s right,” Annalise replied. “I will have him. In fact, there he is now!”

She pointed towards the other end of the hallway, where Adam was sorting through some documents. He had headphones on, which meant that he hadn’t been listening to a single word.

As soon as people noticed that, they began to snicker.

Annalise’s face turned red. Then, she shook herself, straightening her spine.

“I am going to go and ask him out,” she declared and started to march towards Adam.

“Hi, Adam,” she smiles at him, making Adam turn to her. “So, I was wondering, I’m free this Saturday. Would you like to grab a coffee with me at the new place they opened up?”

Adam blinked at her, confused.

“Um, this is a little sudden,” he said. “Annalise, you know I just broke up with Cristie, and I’m not really feeling too well…”

“Oh, come on, Adam, don’t be such a stick in the mud,” one of his football friends came over and slung an arm over his shoulders. “You got the prettiest girl in school asking you out, and you’re refusing her because you don’t feel better?”

“Yeah, don’t be a wuss, Adam,” another footballer scoffed. “Say yes, you goof!”

“Yeah, say yes, Adam!”

“Say yes!”

Of course, they started to change. I felt for Adam, I really did. The guy did not look happy about this.

But I watched as he admitted defeat. His shoulders dropped, and he pasted on a polite smile and turned to Annalise, who was looking at him expectantly.

“Yeah, sure, Annalise.”