Chapter Thirty-Five: Lie Instead of Brooke heading in the direction her boyfriend did, she doesn't. She heads in the opposite direction, exiting the cafeteria. She goes in search of Jason with the intent of asking him what all that was all about. She finds him close to the principal's office with Max, probably waiting for someone. She approaches them. "Hey. Where's Chris?" She asks when she's close enough. "He's still with the principal," Max answers. "What was that all about?" Brooke inquires. "You didn't hear?" "Not really. I couldn't make out what was being said. I stay away from Ivy as much as I can even in the cafeteria." "I guess they weren't as loud as I thought. Well --" He stops talking when the door of the principal's office opens. They all stare as Chris comes out. Jason speaks first. "What did he say?" Chris shrugs, as if not affected by the situation at hand. "I've been suspended." Jason looks up and lets out a sigh as though he was expecting this. "Isn't th
Chapter Thirty-Six: Truth Honestly, Chris has been thinking about what Jason said to him at the parking lot. "I think you like her," Jason had said. Does he? No. He doesn't. Just as he said, Hazel isn't his type. Or is she? No. He's pretty sure she isn't. He doesn't like her. Or does he? No, he doesn't. He stops his contemplation as he hears his mum's car pull into the driveway. She's home and that means it's time to face the music. All he knows is that she won't be happy. Which mother would be happy her kid got suspended? She'll be mad at him. He walks to the door and opens it for them to enter. He grins on sighting Emily and she does too. She hugs him. "Chris." "How was school, Em?" He asks, ruffling her hair even though he knows she doesn't like when he does it. She swats his hands away. "It was fun." Chris then shifts his gaze to his mum who has a blank look on her face. She shuts the door. "Emily baby, go drop your backpack in your room and wait for me," his mum
Chapter Thirty-Seven: I Love You "What's the first thing you like about me?" Chris moves even closer to her. "You really wanna know?" He smirks. "Yes." He smiles as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. His hand lingers there as he stares intensely at her. Steph feels weird with the way he's staring at her but she doesn't look away. Instead, she swallows the lump in her throat. His eyes darken as they move to her lips and he remembers how it felt like kissing her. He wants to feel like that again so he finds himself leaning in. ... ... Stephanie stands there -- frozen. The air around seems to have shifted and she finds herself recalling the one and only time she has kissed him. When he begins to lean in, she mentally panics. Her head yells at her to do something to stop what she thinks is about to happen. Do something Steph! Pull away, say something, slap him, look away, run away. Just do something -- anything -- to stop what's about to happen. You shouldn't let him kiss y
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Apologies "Hey, Ivy wake up," Aspen says as she tries to wake the sleeping beauty. "Uh... Is it morning yet?" Ivy asks with her eyes closed, stretching her arms. "Yeah. We need to get ready. School starts in an hour." Aspen responds. Ivy lets out a loud groan before sitting up and opening her eyes slowly. She covers her mouth as she yawns. "I had the weirdest dream," she informs Aspen groggily. "What about?" "I dreamt that Luke broke up with me." Aspen doesn't say anything to that which makes Ivy study her face. The look on Aspen's face tells her it wasn't a dream. "It's real? It's real..... It's all real," Ivy whispers in disbelief and covers her face with her palms. Aspen sighs. Ivy has been like this since yesterday. The moment Luke broke up with her, it felt like things fell apart. Aspen would never have thought a day like this would come -- the day Ivy cries over a guy. "But I love him," Ivy mumbles with her face still in her palms. "I know, Ivy
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