Colliding Rulers

Clashing Heads

Gevia's P.O.V

I had to cover up the hickey, otherwise I would be dead. Daddy, for sure, wouldn't like it. We never really did talk about it, but I doubt a parent would want to know if their child is engaging in s****l activities this young. While I was covering up my hickey, I was cussing Alex out.

I hope that dumb f**k will trip and fall and break her nose in the process.That would be nice. Gosh. I really want to strangle her for leaving a mark that's so visible.

"Honey, breakfast is ready." Daddy called me from outside of my room. I flinched from his gruff voice, obvious that he had just woken up.

I looked at myself in the mirror one last time, to check if it was still visible. I sighed in relief and gave myself a pat on the back for being able to cover it up. I grinned and opened the door. I gave Daddy my usual good morning hug, like I always do if he was at home in the morning to eat breakfast with me.

"Good morning, sunshine." he greeted me warmly. His hair is still a mess, but it was adorable. A bit of strands astray.

"Good morning, Daddy. Your hair is still a mess." he yawned.

"Yeah, I came home rather late."

We walked to the dining area and saw the table full of food that me and Daddy wouldn't be able to finish. We know that but we're not doing anything about it. Our maids are going to eat our leftovers. That's a daily routine.

"You should've slept in, Daddy. You need to take care of your health." he smiled at me and shook his head rather calmly.

"I know I'm not always here for you, darling, that's why I try whenever I'm home. Your mother isn't here anymore. It's just us." I rolled my eyes, but it wasn't out of irritation.

Daddy was going out of his way to be with me. He was willing to sacrifice sleep just to eat breakfast with me. He knows that his absences might affect me, which it doesn't, and that's why he's making up for it.

"Alright, alright. Let's eat breakfast."

I thought our breakfast was going to be as silent as it usually was, but it was different.

"How's school, honey?" he asked, munching on his toasted bread. Tiny amounts of crumbs fell onto his plate. He carefully readjusted his plate so all of the crumbs would fall there.

My heart started racing. Did he notice the hickey? Did I not hide it well? Does he know? Wait, I'm getting nervous.

"School's okay, Daddy." I answered with a hint of fallacy.

"Hmm, and how's Alex doing?"

I don't know why but he's always asking stuff about Alex. He could ask Alex that himself when we had that monthly dinner. There's nothing wrong with him striking up a conversation when they're eating together in the first place.

"Alex is doing fine, I guess. Still getting on my nerves."

"Hmm,"

There was something in his hum that made me wonder. Was there something deeper than my understanding of Alex? Was there something else? Something that I should know of? If there was, Daddy wasn't telling me anything. Maybe it wasn't his place to tell me. Eh, why would I care? That b***h gave me a f*****g hickey and I'm not even gay.

"You can ask her that yourself?" he grinned, but he didn't say anything else until I was done with my breakfast.

I went to school, thinking about Daddy's answer. The tone of his hum, there was definitely a meaning to it. After I parked my car, I remembered that I still hadn't talked to Joshua about what happened yesterday after I had stormed off. Was he okay? Ugh, I should worry about Joshua more than that stupid Alex.

I went to my classroom where I found Joshua sulking. I sighed and gave him a nudge on the head and sat down. He looked at me with sorry eyes.

"Gevia! I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday!" he was almost shouting. His eyes were unfocused. His hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. Poor thing was so guilty about what happened yesterday while I slept soundly.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. You obviously knew what you were doing and you obviously knew those guys. I shouldn't have crossed the boundary."

He looked so apologetic that I couldn't help but shrug it all off. It was obviously my fault for jumping in too early when we barely knew each other. I don't even know what his favorite color was. Which salon did he go to? Who was his celebrity crush? So it was my fault from the start. I should be the guilty one.

"I'm really sorry."

"Please, that's okay. No worries about it."

Suddenly, my stomach tingled uncontrollably. I looked around and saw Alex. She was also looking at me when she went through the door. Neither of us severed the stare until she was out of my sight.

"Alright, let's start today's lesson." the teacher cheerfully started the day.

"So for today, in connection with that project I want you to do, I want to ask you guys. Why would teenagers have s*x so early?"

The teacher roamed around the room, going from one student to another.

For pleasure. It was the answer that flashed inside my head. Did I feel pleasure from Alex touching me? Teasing me and kissing my neck? Were her kisses ethereal? Pleasureable? God. I can't believe I can answer that question without answering 'love' as my primary guess.

"Love!"

"Pleasure!"

"Gratification!"

"Enjoyment!"

"Tasting!"

They were all making me cringe. The boys were the only ones answering with such disgusting smiles on their faces. I wanted to wipe their smirks away. I wanted to break their p***s, cut them off. The smug expression on their faces made me want to burn them all to hell. As if their p*****s were all that.

"Ugh, boys." Joshua sighs, rolling his eyes like a sassy little girl.

"I'm on your side on this one."

"Dickheads," he added.

The teacher's expression was cycling from disgusted to amused. I could understand. One did answer that it was all about tasting girls, their p*****s. Somehow, my eyes averted towards Alex and she was pissed. Her eyebrows were meeting each other and she was gritting her teeth. Her jaw looked tense and her pupils darkened. It was a new expression that I hadn't seen her wearing.

"What are you looking at?" Joshua asked. But before I could look away, he had already traced my vision.

But instead of him teasing me like he usually does, he hummed. What is it with people humming today?

"Oh? Is something wrong?" he looked at me with a horrified expression.

"Eh?" I mumbled.

"You don't know?" he was stripping me of all the ignorance that I was currently harboring.

What was I supposed to know? Was it something grave? It's been happening a lot lately; me being in the dark while everyone else knows.

"Know what?"

"Alex doesn't like people."

"Eh? I don't understand?" he sighs.

"Don't you notice that whenever Alex is surrounded by people, she's awfully quiet?"

My memory suddenly has these flashbacks where I see Alex being surrounded by people. She was smiling but wasn't really talking. Her eyes were always distant. She was mentally away. Wherever she went, she was surrounded. I don't think I've seen her open her mouth when she isn't arguing with me.

"There was this one time that she was touched and she immediately went to the comfort room to wash the part of her body that got touched."

Touch? Wash it immediately? Treating it like it was some kind of virus. Then why the f**k was she touching me so casually? Wait, that's her doing, not mine. I want to try something the next time she drags me into another dark room.

"She dislikes physical touch so much that even those around her established a safe space for Alex."

"Wait, she doesn't like it-"

"Alright, I want to group the class into two groups. One leader would be Gevia and the other would be Alex. Sitting arrangement grouping."

My ears rang when I heard that I was the leader and Alex at the other end. I caught her taking a peek before smirking and paying no heed to our classmates' squealing.

"You can do this!" Joshua gave me a shoulder massage, bringing out his competitive side.

"Alright, so Gevia's side is Love while Alex's side is all about Lust. The first question is why people have s*x in the first place. Neither of you can cross the line between love and lust. Please go in front."

I stood up and so did Alex. We were both looking at each other. She had a smirk on while I was really glaring at her. It was a good thing that mine was love. I could never defend s*x using lust only.

"Alex will go first."

"Well, s*x, s*x is too broad for just love alone. How can you have s*x if you don't feel lust towards someone?"

"For starters, why would you touch someone that you don't even love?" I couldn't help but answer. She leaned a bit towards me and winked.

"Well, Gevia, we're greedy. We're humans. We, of course, would get hungry and we'd quench that thirst."

"So you're fine lusting after just anyone? Isn't that kind of dirty? Yuck. Lust is unsanitary and goes against human morals, if ever you have one."

"Ooohh," our classmates cooed.

"Who said that you can't lust after one person only?"

I couldn't open my mouth. I knew she was saying that she wasn't touching anyone else but me. She was indirectly confessing to me that I was the only one that she was going to touch. She doesn't want anyone else but me. My face feels like it was heating up. What was happening to me? I felt... happy.

Why the f**k was I happy?

"Gevia? Where's your retort?" the teacher asked for my answer.

"How can that be just lust if it's only one person?"

"Of course there's such a thing as standards. It can still be called lust if you touch that person without any romantic feelings attached."

A sudden slap of truth came to me. I might be the only one that she touched, but that doesn't mean that I will be the only one in the future. There could be someone out there that she'd like and she'd toss me aside. If she was easily attracted to me without any feelings, it's as easy to find a replacement, a better one at that.

"How can you touch someone so freely without love? Is marriage not part of the plan if you're advancing on making love with the person you want to have s*x with?"

"We're already in the modern age. s*x is everywhere. Aside from s*x being pleasurable, it's already considered an exercise. The only drive you need is lust." I rolled my eyes.

Isn't she just the same with the boys?

"Well, having s*x with someone that you don't love is especially dirty. Personal space and bubble, trust and consent. All those are absent when it comes to lust. The intimate feeling of being with the person you love as you lay under the covers and waking up the next morning with them by your side. Isn't that the kind of exclusivity that one is after? Don't tell me that even you don't crave that heartfelt moment?"

Alex stopped. She only looked at me with those emerald eyes. Her orbs were always shining. A sea that looked so deep, even more beautiful if the sun was at its peak, making the sea glimmer.

"I give up, Miss." Alex said.

Her smirk turned into a smile before taking a seat.

"Well done, Miss Gevia. You may now take your seat."