Chapter Thirty-Nine: She's Pretty "I'm sure you’re very pleased with yourself," Stephanie says in place of a greeting as she joins Brooke at their usual table in the cafeteria. She hasn't been able to see Brooke since she got to school in the morning since they don't share any classes today. "Is that how to greet your best friend that you're seeing for the first time today?" Brooke smirks, folding her arms across her chest. "It's just the new way I greet best friends that are trying to play cupid," Steph retorts with a pointed look. Brooke seems unfazed by the look Steph’s giving her. Instead, she grins and takes a bite out of her sandwich. "Why didn’t you pick me up today?" "I sent Chris to pick you up," Brooke says as if it’s only normal and happens every time—she says it like she’s casually telling somebody about today’s weather. "Why did you do that?" Steph asks in exasperation. Brooke’s attitude towards it isn’t helping matters right now. She’s acting like Steph and Chris
Chapter Forty: FeelingsIt's finally Halloween night and Stephanie is excited. Normally, she spends Halloween night at home, giving treats to little kids going trick or treating, but tonight, she's going to Jason's party. The last time she went there, she had kissed Christopher. You'd expect Stephanie to be into Halloween seeing as she loves watching scary movies but she isn't. To her, it's just like any other day. The only difference is the decorations and the annoyingly adorable kids asking for treats.She wasn't planning on going to the party this time around also but when Luke asked that they go together, she couldn't resist. She'll go and try to have a good time. She believes she wouldn't really have to try hard—as long as Luke's with her—she's sure to enjoy the night. She didn't even have the guts to ask him if they'll be going as dates. When she told Brooke about it, Brooke's first statement was;"As his date or friend?"She had no answer to that then and she still doesn't. She
Chapter Forty-One: Tell Her“You have some explaining to do, young lady,” Brooke says in a chiding tone the moment Steph opens the door.“Well, hello to you too, mum. Come on in,” Steph says with a simper.Brooke glares at her as she walks in because of the silly smile on her face. Steph rolls her eyes as she shuts the door and then proceeds to follow her to the living room.“Anybody home?” Brooke asks as settles on a couch.“Just my dad. He's busy in his study. Mum’s out,” Steph replies.Brooke narrows her eyes at her with a serious -- very serious look on her face.“Can you tell me where the hell you were last night?”“Straight to the point, huh?”“If you don’t start talking --”Steph cuts her off. “Chill, B. You’re such a drama queen sometimes. I saw all your voicemails and text messages.”“And you didn’t deem it fit to freaking call me back?” Brooke bellows.“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? We went to the movies and my phone was on silent. I only saw your messages when I got home and I
Chapter Forty-Two: I Like Her Two weeks later, Chris hasn't told Stephanie how he feels. Nope. He hasn't told her yet. Jason and Max have been hounding and hounding him, persuading him, coaxing him, and cajoling him to tell her. But he hasn't. Jason even threatened to tell her himself if he doesn't man up. "Man up, man up. Little boy won't you man up, " Jason sang to him in a mock tone. But he still hasn't told her. Every time he comes close to doing so, thinking it's the right moment, something happens and he'll change his mind. He'd chicken out like the chicken he is. The two weeks though have been lovely. He got to drive her to school once and drove her home all the time she came over to babysit Emily. Seeing as he enjoys spending time with her, it has been okay but at the same time dreadful. Sometimes, he'd feel so overwhelmed that he'd just want to grab her and kiss the life out of her or just hug her and inhale her lovely scent that is imbibed in his head. But no, he
Chapter Forty-Three: We're Dating The beginning of the ride home is silent. Steph busies herself by looking out the window, thinking about what transpired between her and Chris. How on Earth does Chris like her? She keeps asking herself. Brooke, the designated driver does her job but occasionally glances at Steph. She knows that Steph thinks she likes Luke and it must be a dream come true for him to ask her out on a date. But Brooke believes Steph likes Chris but hasn't realized it yet. She believes they're meant to be together. The car comes to a halt when they reach a stop light. Since Brooke can't stand the silence anymore so she decides to break it. "So....." She trails off, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Steph turns away from the window to look at her, waiting for her to complete her sentence. "So... What's going to happen now?" "Uhm... What do you mean?" Steph says. "What are you gonna do next? What's going to happen next? What will you say to Chris when y
Chapter Forty-Four: Out of Her HeadStephanie and Brooke are in Steph's room, getting her ready for her date with Luke. Steph had initially been super excited when Luke first asked her but now, she doesn't feel the same way. From Monday till now that it's Friday, she feels like all the excitement has been drained out of her. But yes, she's still happy she gets to go on a date with Luke. Sweet, nice, not a Playboy Luke.You're wondering about the Playboy?Well, Steph can't get her mind off what Chris told her five days ago. A part of her still believes it's some sort of prank. Things haven't been the same since then. Things between Steph and Chris have changed. To Stephanie, it seems like Chris is avoiding her at all costs. She thought that since he said they should forget that this whole thing happened, he'd pretend and act like it didn't happen.But is it even possible to pretend that something as huge as that never happened?No, she doesn't think so.The few times that Chris couldn't
Chapter Forty-Five: I Miss Him "Thanks for tonight. I had fun," Steph says softly to Luke, avoiding eye contact. After she told him -- more like lied to him, they left the restaurant and he drove her home. "I'm glad you did," Luke replies. "I had fun too. Hopefully, we can do this again some other time." I doubt that, Steph thinks but she doesn't voice the thought. "Yeah," she lies yet again. "Feel better, Steph." She finally faces him and makes eye contact, smiling a little. "Thanks." Luke returns the smile as he stares at her. She stares right back. He begins to lean closer to her and she begins to panic. He wants to kiss me! He wants to kiss me! Aaahhhhh! 'Isn't that what you've always wanted?' Her subconscious asks her. Her answer to that question is yes but right now that it's about to happen, she doesn't want it to. But before she can do anything to stop what she thinks is about to happen, Luke's lips meet her left cheek lightly before he leans back to his original
Chapter Forty-Six: Master of Kisses Chris jolts awake in a daze, wondering what the hell woke him up when he sees that he's alone in his room. Then he hears it. The doorbell rings and he winces. He came home before 1 am -- way earlier than he planned. He was drunk so Jason dropped him off. He was out like a light the moment his body met his bed. He checks the time and wonders who's ringing the doorbell at 7 am on a Saturday. He makes his way downstairs in his hungover and groggy state, hoping the doorbell hasn't woken his mum and sister up. But unlike him, they're heavy sleepers so he doubts that. He opens the door and the hand that was about to press the doorbell pauses mid-air. The person standing on his porch shocks all the grogginess out of him and makes him blink twice to be sure. "W-What are you doing here?" He stares at her in surprise. Steph brings her hand to her side and says. "Hi." He looks behind her and sees Brooke's car parked by the curb in front of his house.