One Touch

12: Kingdom of Devilry

The whole school was bursting with colour and excitement today, to meet the one and only Eddie Emilio. Haiti and Luna had made it very clear they were reserving time just to take his autograph. A nineteen-year-old Prince Charming who happened to be talented in dance and music couldn’t be worthy of an actual autograph. Yes he can, Eve. Of course.

The bell hadn’t even rung yet to signal the first period and a the announcement board was crowded with students. I waited at the very back while Haiti and Luna paraded their way through the crowd to check which class they were in for dance. They were squealing when they came back, and told me we were in the same class. It was last period, so I considered myself lucky. I couldn’t dance if my life depended on it, and it was one reason I despised Eddie Emilio. This would be so much torture.

My day didn’t get any better when the first thing we were hit with was a seating plan in Physics. A seating plan wasn’t my daily groan-inducing activity, but the new people I sat with made me wonder what I’d done to get this fate. I was to the far left with Zavian beside me, and right in front of me was Caspian with the snappy-mouthed Amber.

Throughout the whole lesson, the golden waves of Caspian’s hair were all I paid attention to. I often found myself looking at it, but focused on my notebook to avoid temptation. Zavian seemed to be going through the same troubles as I was. Upon closer examination, a streak of sadness lined his face but maybe he always looked like that.

We were giving a package to work on together as partners, and I prepared for the crap that would come out of Zavian’s mouth once we were given free time. Both of us opened our mouths at the same time, but he beat me to it. “Hey. I’m Zavian.” Whoa, I did not have that in mind. He wasn’t smiling, but his coal eyes paced with anticipation.

“I’m Eve,” I introduced myself. “Are you okay?” He gave me a confused look, and I shrugged one shoulder. “You seem to hate this seating plan.”

“Oh,” he mumbled. “It’s not the worst.” The more I thought about it, Zavian had never spoken to me before. He was that one character from the kingdom that wasn’t as self-centred as the rest. I blindly assumed he’d be the same.

“I’m not, you know, supposed to allow myself to talk like this,” he said, his voice lowered. “To you, especially. And it’s tough with those two in front of us.” He nodded to Caspian and Amber.

“Who cares?” I nearly spat. “Be however you want. You shouldn’t let others show you how to behave.” My brows were furrowed and Zavian stared at me for five whole, silent seconds.

Then he broke into a smile. “You’re nice, Eve.” Oh. The compliment was a bit overwhelming coming from his mouth. “But you wouldn’t understand our struggles.” There it was. It was the whole you-don’t-understand speech that evoked many unanswered questions and annoyed me to the edge of my sanity. Caspian wouldn’t explain or give me a solid reason to that so-called speech, and he expected me to understand.

Laughter caught everyone’s attention, and it came from the couple sitting in front of us. I wouldn’t say the 'couple' as a whole, but only the girl—it had to be the girl in this case. Amber was leaning on Caspian’s shoulder and her giggles burst from all angles. Caspian had a dark expression on his face as he looked elsewhere, and Amber had on a large grin.

I was eager to know what was so funny, as the rest of the class murmured to each other on the couple’s romantic interaction. From up close, it wasn’t all that romantic with Caspian’s hands balled into fists on his paper.

“You never came to my house,” Amber cooed to him. “I’m available today after school. We’ll crash at my place. How’s that sound?”

Zavian coughed, and she turned to him. He didn’t do it on purpose, but the fear showed in his eyes when they shared a look. Man, this situation held too much cringe. All of the school knew Zavian and Amber had a thing going on, and if not, Zavian had always wanted to be with Amber.

“Uh, I think we should work on this package,” I caught his attention.

Zavian broke their gaze as he took the package in his hands. “You’re right. We’ll share the work,” he said, and I tried to give him a comforting smile.

Amber’s frown was so deep when she looked at me, I could’ve drowned in it if it were a sea. Caspian glanced behind him and our eyes met in record time. It was as if they were magnets, magnets that allured each other at any distance and time. They peeled away from mine and moved to Zavian who was reading the package. It was strange, this whole scenario. It was a kingdom of mischief, or utter devilry.

“After school,” Caspian said, not removing his eyes from Zavian. Zavian lifted his head in slight surprise. “Amber, your place after school.” Amber was delighted and Zavian’s face fell.

That day, I swore to myself I’d never see anyone a bigger jerk than Caspian. My respect for him dropped once more, and I was sure it’d be hard to bring the bar back up. I hated having these mixed feelings for him—if I even had any to begin with.

Atlanta dropped by at our table during lunch, and my friends welcomed her in their usual star-struck way. But, I had to admit, her individual popularity declined to some degree since that day she rejected Ronald. It was an indirect rejection, but I’d seen those shocked looks. It seemed like everyone kept their distance from her because they were afraid to be shut out.

She seemed happy about it, since that meant she was no longer the center of attention. Haiti and Luna chattered about Eddie Emilio the entire time. She could live with that.

“It sounds like a lot of fun,” Atlanta said with wide eyes. “I want to learn how to dance. I wonder who my partner will be.”

“They usually match partners according to height,” Haiti told her, taking a bite into her sandwich. Something in me deflated a little, but it disappeared before I could find out what it was.

“Oh, that…that means I can…” Atlanta murmured. She glanced at me and I knew what ran through her mind. There was a good chance she could end up with Ronald. That is, if he was in the same class as us. I prayed for her. Atlanta’s gaze slid off and her lips turned down. “I have to go,” she said, standing up. I followed her gaze and saw Caspian and the rest of the kingdom staring at us.

Nothing had changed, had it?

* * *

I never paid proper attention to Eddie Emilio, and it would be the first time I acknowledged him in the school. All I knew was that he studied at Julliard, the most well-known school for performance arts and dance—possibly the best. Eddie was a former student of our high school, so he wanted us to win the annual dance-festival contest. Schools from all over the country participated, and we were given six months to prepare.

I’d never seen our dance rooms before, but I was pretty impressed when I did. Atlanta found me first and she scurried up to me before I could take another step forward.

"I'm so excited!" she squealed, and lowered her voice. "Ronald's here, too." She nodded to the football player standing near the door. “I need to go back,” Atlanta mumbled after a second. I watched her cross the floor and join her kingdom on the other side.

I thought Atlanta was the only one to be in my dance class, but so were Zavian, Amber, and Caspian. I rubbed my forehead. Please let this day not get any worse.

The door opened and a boy with trousers and a tight black t-shirt entered the room with a large leather bag. Gasps echoed all around the room and in seconds, the room burst with shouts and squeals. Ah, he must be Eddie Emilio. He shot us a smile and walked to the front of class. All the students clumped together in front of him like a boulder of rocks. I was sandwiched between Haiti and a random girl. Atlanta and Caspian were right behind me and another tall guy was in front of me.

I peeked through the opening holes to see Eddie put his bag down on the table. He had dark, metallic auburn hair and his eyes darted from student to student. He was tall and shaped with perfect masculinity. I understood the hype about him. His stride, structure, the way he grinned with charming radiance, the shine of his olive skin and the sparkle in his cerulean eyes—all of it could mesmerize and had the power to manipulate.

“Wow, he’s gorgeous…” I murmured under my breath. I wasn’t sure if anyone heard me, but I surprised myself. I wasn’t one to comment on a person’s appearance, but this guy was stunning, crazy stunning.

Eddie adjusted his Mac on the table and connected it to the Smartboard. He gave us a small introduction about himself, and I watched his plump, full lips move and his voice bounce off the walls. I heard Haiti and a dozen other girls sigh around the room.

“We need better dancing outfits,” Eddie said, going to another slide on the screen. A picture of a leotard popped up on the screen. “This is the preferred dress for girls to wear in dance practice. Light leggings over this could work.”

My jaw hit the floor when I saw the outfit. All my fascination of this guy washed out and I raised my hand. Before he kept going, he saw my hand and called on me. Students cleared from my way. “Is there any other option for girls? I don’t want to dance around wearing a bathing suit,” I said. It was so straightforward, it left the room speechless.

Well , this was awkward.

Eddie broke into a laugh, and I was expressionless. “I’m getting there,” he told me. On the next slide, I saw regular sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Casual clothing you would wear for gym works as well.” I blushed when snickers and giggles filled the room. I avoided looking at Eddie, but when I did, he was still smiling.

Goodness, why did it have to be this way?

“We’re going to start the actual dancing tomorrow,” he said, towards the end of class. “You will be practicing with a dance partner. When I call out the names, please stand by your partner so I can confirm you’re the right match.”

Atlanta and Ronald were one of the first to be called, and their faces lit up at the mention of their names together. My heart smiled when I saw them stand with each other to the side. They were nervous. Aw, adorable.

“Amber White and Caspian Cage,” Eddie called. Caspian pushed through Haiti and me, and it felt more like a shove on my side. “Eve Evans and Zavian Deangelo.” Again?

Eddie watched me exit the crowd and join Zavian beside Caspian and Amber. Today got worse, didn’t it? When the bell rang, I couldn’t wait to leave school. In the midst of finding my backpack in the mounds of other bags, someone approached me. He greeted me and I turned. When I saw Eddie, I jumped a little in surprise.

“Oh, um, hi,” I said, unsuccessfully greeting him back.

“Sorry for the trouble I gave you today,” he apologized. “I’m a jerk when it comes to picking on people.” Oh, I could think of bigger jerks. “You’re ‘Eve’, right?” I nodded, picking up my backpack. “Ah, so you are.” He stretched out a hand and I took it. “Nice to meet you.”

My stomach twisted when he gave me one of those melting smiles. “Thanks. I mean, nice to meet you, too,” I said. “Um, why…why’d you come here again?” Did I ask the Eddie Emilio why he was here, talking to me? I didn’t want to make it seem like I didn’t want him there.

He let out a chuckle and I slipped my hand in my pocket once he let go of it. “Usted es comica. I’ll see you tomorrow, Eve. Have a good day.” Huh?

Half the class had already left—Atlanta, Caspian, Ronald, and a couple others remaining. Atlanta raised her eyebrows when I caught looks with her and I began to leave. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Was this where a totally unpopular girl got conveniently noticed by some Godlike guy and everything went downhill from there?

My footsteps felt light, as if they were floating on air as I walked. Halfway towards the exit door, Atlanta ran up to me and I smiled when she began to walk with me.

“What was that?” she asked, her voice dripping with curiosity. I shrugged, not knowing myself. A call made us turn and we saw Caspian motion Atlanta towards him. “I’m going home with Eve today!” she called back.

Caspian’s forehead creased, and his face contorted into a glare. He marched towards us and took Atlanta’s wrist. “We are going home,” he pronounced.

“Hey, can you stop arguing?” Atlanta said, tugging against his hold. “All you’ve been doing today is complaining nonstop. What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m not waiting any longer,” he said. “We’re going now.”

“I was talking to Eve about Eddie Emilio. This is girl-talk,” Atlanta refused. “I want to know what he said to her. You’re not in this conversation. Go away.”

“Usted es comica." Wait, he knew Spanish? “He said she was funny, because she’s obviously a laughing stock.” I widened my eyes in realization. That’s what he said? Caspian shot me a look. “Don’t start daydreaming. If you think he’ll ever be interested in a clown of what you’re made of, you’re a sore loser. Don’t drag Atlanta into your bullshit.”

I felt my stomach churn at his words as all that I had imagined turned to slop, and any hope I had flushed down the toilet. This time, Caspian was more furious than he ever was. He was filled with hatred. He spewed his true emotions through his cruel words.

Tears swarmed their way up my throat, pooling in my eyes. Atlanta put a hand on my shoulder but I stepped back. I kept thinking to myself, what I’d ever done to receive this much hatred. I didn’t know why Caspian hated me, and why he treated me with confusing behaviours. He was driving me insane with this hating game, with every word. It was too much for me. He was too much for me.

“I have to go,” I said, yet I couldn’t move. My cheeks reddened as tears spilled onto them and ran down my jaw. I struggled to wipe them. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this sensitive and wound up over something so stupid.

“Eve, I’m sorry,” Atlanta said, her voice softer than ever before. “Please, don’t cry. Eve, please.” I couldn’t control it. It was so sudden. “

“Atlanta, go sit in the car,” Caspian said to her. I managed to open my eyes, but their faces were blurred.

“You’re such a—” Atlanta began, but Caspian repeated his command. I heard stomps when Atlanta left.

It seemed like everything came crashing to me, yet in reality, there was nothing at all. It was the confusion ripping me apart and I didn’t know what to do. I let my hair fall below my head, covering my face.

I brushed my hair out of my face. “Please leave,” I said to Caspian. I used my sleeve to wipe my tears. “Do me a favour, and just…kill me now.”

There was a flash in slow motion, but in a split second, warmth engulfed me. I was moved into the warmth, my feet lifting an inch and my stability demolished. A cushion, the softness, the comfort of a body was against mine. Arms were wrapped around me like a blanket and my eyes saw darkness. They saw the folded creases of a t-shirt, and the scent of tangerine lingered under my nose.

“Sorry, but I can’t do that,” Caspian whispered in my ear, his voice gentle. A single tear crawled from my eye. I was shock stricken, my emotions taking an abrupt turn. “I’m sorry.”

Soon, we had to separate. But my stubborn self didn’t want to. Ever.