12

JEREMY

The days passed in a blur, and it was safe to say that my theory of trying to ignore Lucia to get her back was an epic fail. 

She didn’t even seem to care that I did not try to grab her attention anymore, and it truly hurt my heart. 

On the other hand, my friendship with Amber seemed to be blossoming, and by friendship, I meant her following me about like a lost puppy and trying to talk to me at every second.

It was definitely one-sided.

I don’t like Amber. Not even a little bit. She is an asshole and I’m not saying that to be an asshole, but I could tell from the little things she did.

The way she spoke to waiters, janitors, and everyone whom she thought was beneath her. She always made some backhanded comments, which were totally uncalled for, and just made me stop and pause.

I was also pretty sure she was a bully, and she was definitely a brat who threw a fit if things didn’t go her way.

So despite the fact that she was pretty, she was also very unlikable, and I thought it was not only me who thought so. 

I could see it in the way my other friends glared daggers at her whenever she tried to force her way into hangouts with us. 

I was currently heading to class with my friends when I suddenly heard her annoying high-pitched voice behind us.

“Hey guys!” 

I let out a loud sigh, cursing my bad luck just as the guys let out loud, annoyed groans. A scowl made its way onto my face as I slowly turned to look at her.

“Great. It’s you again. What do you want, Amber?” I asked, unable to hide the disdain in my voice. If Amber heard it, she didn’t act like she did.

“What do you mean? I’m part of the group now, aren’t I?” She pointed out, scrunching up her nose as she put her arms around my shoulders.

I heard Tyler scoff, and it nearly made me laugh as I shrugged off her arm from my shoulders. 

“You’re not a part of this group, Amber. Don’t be ridiculous.” I scoffed, watching the other guys try to hold back their laughter.

Amber’s green eyes shone with annoyance as her face morphed into an ugly scowl. “Ugh, jerk!” She sneered before stalking away, and my friends let out the laughs which they had been holding in all these time.

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Ryan hollered, placing his arms around my shoulders.

“Why does she keep hanging around us anyway?” Dean asked, an annoyed expression crossing his features.

“Isn’t it obvious? She is interested in Jeremy, that’s why!” Jack exclaimed, and the four of them let out loud laughs once again. 

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. “You four are so immature.” I said, and they snickered, making me roll my eyes once more. 

“If she is into you, why don’t you just date her?” Ryan said, and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets just as Tyler replied.

“And risk bringing that nightmare into the group?” 

“No, thanks.” I replied, waving my hands dismissively as the group fell silent. I heard loud footsteps behind me.

“Hello, Professor Darwin.” I heard Dean greet, and my heart did a flip in my chest as my head shot towards her.

“Hello.” She answered, flashing him a smile which instantly made me jealous.  She barely even gave me a glance before skulking away, her heels clicking loudly on the floors.

I wouldn’t lie to myself. At that moment, I was truly upset. Dean got a beautiful smile, but I barely even got a glance? In what world was that fair?

Lucia was truly cold, and it broke my heart. I quickly shook my head. The plan was to stay professional and not chase her, and I would try to stick to that for as long as I could.

“We’re so lucky we’ve got such a beautiful professor.” Ryan swooned with a dreamy look in his eyes.

“Snap out of it, man!” I yelled, whacking him on the head as I rolled my eyes.

“Ow!” He yelled, rubbing the back of his head as he shot me a death glare. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but Dean quickly got between us, aware that we would end up arguing mindlessly if no one interrupted.

“That’s alright, both of you,” He said sternly, pulling Ryan by the collar. “We gotta get to class, or we’ll be late.” 

Ryan’s glare remained on me as Dean pulled him towards the class and the corners of my lips lifted in a smirk as I trailed after them, my other friends by my side as we went to our different classes. 

Soon, we were done for the day, and the urge to speak to Lucia was still strong, but I managed to keep the feeling under control as well as I could.

Because we were starving, my friends and I decided to get some food at the restaurant and Amber, the sneaky human that she was managed to worm her way into going with us. 

That was how I found myself driving her to the restaurant with a huge scowl on my face. Once we arrived, I stormed out of the car before making my way towards the building.

“Jeremy!” I heard Amber yell, and I let out a loud groan, rolling my eyes as I felt extreme annoyance build in my insides.

“What is it this time?” I muttered, turning around to see her still sitting in the car, her face scrunched up in a scowl. 

“Aren’t you going to open the door for me?!” She demanded rudely, and I couldn’t help it as another exasperated groan shot out of my lips.

“Ugh. Fine.” I said, stomping back towards the car and opening the door. Only then did she smile as she slowly stepped out of the car.

From the corner of my eyes, I spotted my friend snickering and laughing, and I could only sigh loudly as I shut the door with a bang.

I turned to my friends, placing my hands on my hips as I shook my head, and it only seemed to make my friends laugh even louder.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.” She barked, and I couldn’t help but clench and unclench my hands. Who did she even think she was?

“I’m really glad you four find my misery entertaining.” I said to my laughing friends as I approached them with a scowl of my friends.

Some friends I had. Instead of coming to my aid. They preferred to make fun of me instead. 

“Come on. You know it’s hilarious, don’t you?” 

“Oh, fuck off.” I snapped, rolling my eyes, making my so-called friends laugh even harder as we made our way into the restaurant after Amber.

We found a table and wasted no time ordering our food before we began and chatting amongst ourselves with Amber trying and failing to join in. 

When she was unable to monopolize all the attention, she focused on eating her food instead. 

I was in the middle of discussing with Jack when I spotted her. Lucia. She was in the restaurant too.

My eyes went wide as a silent gasp escaped my lips.

“Are you okay?” I heard Jack ask and I blinked, slowly turning my attention to him.

“Huh?” I swallowed, blinking once again. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” 

I continued eating with my eyes drifting over to Lucia once in a while and just as I expected, she didn’t bother to look my way.

I let out a low dejected sigh, about to continue eating my meal when Amber suddenly stuck her fries in front of my face.

I raised a confused brow, glancing at her. “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked coldly.

“Eat, dumbass.” She said, sticking the fry close to my mouth and I could only glance at my friends in surprise. I was unsurprised to see them snickering under their breaths.

“Just eat the damn fry, man.” Ryan said, managing to conceal a laugh.

“Yeah. Just eat it.” Tyler chipped in and I rolled my eyes, left with no choice but to eat the damn fry. 

The boys whooped, letting out laughs and I found them nothing short of ridiculous. 

My eyes darted towards Lucia and I was surprised to see that this time, she was looking at me and her expression had slightly darkened.

At that moment, I suddenly had an idea.

“Hey, Amber. Give me another fry.” I said to her, not taking my eyes off Lucia. I ignored the laughs and whistles coming from my friends as Amber fed me another fry.

I caught the expression on Lucia’s face. Her face darkened even further as she looked away sharply and that was when it occurred to me.

Ignoring Lucia wouldn’t get a rise out of her, but making her jealous just might do the trick.