The Popular Jerk and I

CHAPTER 2: You're Just His Slave

Lily's POV:

This is a joke, isn't it? He called my name because he saw me leaving, right?

Do you really think that he knows your name? He doesn't even know you existed, says the voice in my head.

Exactly. He doesn't even know me. Well, maybe he called me because he caught me glaring at him.

I don't think so.

Maybe he called me because...

Because your name is written on the piece of paper he's holding!

No way. Oh please help me, dear God. Please... just no. There are other Lily Christova in this school right? I have a twin, don't I? No? No? Well, I should have a twin!

I turned around and everyone's eyes were on me. Girls were giving me death stares and others were glaring at me like they're going to eat me alive any second from now. I saw my best friend, Jenny, totally in her shock mode with her eyes wide open and her mouth hanging from her face.

 This is not good. Totally, not good. Why can't I move my body?! Move, Lily!

 I looked at Matt Austin and our eyes met. He's smirking at me! That shallow head!

"Lily Christova," he smirked as he waved the paper in mid air with his hand. "Congratulations, Lily Christova! You're now my lucky girlfriend."

 Did he just say, I'm his lucky girlfriend?

 Yes, he did.

 Oh my b****y goat!

You sound like Jenny.

This can't be happening! No, no, no, no, no! I'm so doomed. Anyone but me!

Then Brad and Jay appeared from behind the crowd walking towards me with their wide naughty-like grins. Ugh, not his disciples!

Suddenly, they grabbed and dragged me to Matt Austin. Everyone cheered. I looked like someone who didn't know what was happening because when they dragged me, I didn't even move a finger. I just let them drag me. I don't have any strength at all. What is happening to me!?

Then here I was, standing on the table with Matt freaking Austin. I looked at him in the eyes, still feeling paralyzed from shock. My heart was beating so fast that I couldn't stop it. This was the first time I've been so nervous in my life.

"You look pale, babe," said Matt Austin who was standing right in front of me. I've never seen him this up close before. His eyes were so blue and beautiful. I've never seen eyes like his before. How could they look so beautiful? Is he some son of a Greek god or something? Maybe, Zeus's long lost son?

Then a camera flashed at me, releasing my thoughts. Matt Austin placed his arm around my shoulders saying, "Smile", as he looked at the camera.

"Say cheese!" said Brad who was taking another picture. "You look stoned, Lily. C'mon, give us a sweet smile!" Then the camera flashed again.

I still didn't move an inch nor smiled. Brad's right. I look stoned, because... do they even realize how crazy and awkward this situation is!? Especially the fact that Matt Austin's arm is around my shoulder! Matt Austin leaned towards me and whispered on my ear saying, "Why don't you smile and act like you're so happy to be in this position with me, baby?"

Are you freaking serious? You think I will be happy to be in this position with you? Hell, naw!

"Jerk!" I exclaimed and pushed him away from me with force.  He stepped backwards trying to maintain his balance. Luckily, he didn't fall off. I ran as quickly as I can, leaving this hell of a cafeteria. I heard Jenny call my name and heard her footsteps catching up with me.

I found myself in the ladies' restroom, panting.

"Lily!" Jenny called who was also panting. "How could you run so fast like that? You run like a cheetah!"

I managed to give out a little chuckle under my breath. "I didn't even know that I could run that fast."

"I think I burned some calories from that," she chortled as she tried catching her breath.

"You know, you're the only girl who ran leaving Matt Austin behind after being called as his 'girlfriend'," says Jenny quoting the word 'girlfriend' with her fingers.

"You know how much I hate him, right?"

"I know. So what are you gonna do now?"

"Lock myself in my room and never go back to school ever again."

"You know, you can't do that. Your mom's going to kill you."

"Oh, right." I muttered and rolled my eyes. "So, what am I supposed to do? I don't want to be his girlfriend!"

"Everyone wants to be his girlfriend. You're the only one who doesn't." She stated as she puts her hands on her waist.

"Does that mean you want to be his girlfriend?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well... If my name was on that paper, why not? He's... hot." She giggled.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, Jenny. You're kidding, right?"

Jenny chuckled. "Duh. Of course, I am kidding!" She continued, "You know, you can't say no to him, right? You're gonna be his girlfriend whether you like it or not. That's just how this goes."

I sighed, "So, you're saying that I need to accept that I'm gonna be his slave?"

She nodded with arms crossed over her chest.

"For the whole year?" I raised my eyebrow again.

She nodded again in reply.

"Nu-uh! How much does my life suck?" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Lily," she said as she puts both hands on my arms. "Just think of all the moments you'll have with Mr. Popular Jerk." She flashed me a wink, and I know exactly what that meant!

"Ew, no! That's disgusting!" I exclaimed, shoving her hands off me.

"Think of all the possibilities, Lily," she added then flashed her smug smile while wiggling her eyebrows.

"Stop smiling like this is a good thing. It's not," I retorted. "This is the worst year ever."

"We'll never know. Maybe it is," she said and flashed me another wink. "Oh, by the way, we didn't have our lunch yet, and I am so hungry and very thirsty."

"I will not go back to that cafeteria anymore," I stated with arms crossed over my chest.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Well, not anymore."

"Okay, then. I will go ahead to the cafeteria and grab some lunch."

"Sure."

"So, you're just gonna stay here and wait until the bell rings?"

"I could just do that."

"Are you serious?"

I chuckled. "No, I'm not serious. Just go. I'll be at the library."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot that now you're a book geek."

I chuckled again. Jenny did the same.

"See you later," she waved then walked her way out the restroom.

I went to the sink and opened the tap, then started washing my hands.

"Well, aren't you lucky," said a girl who's voice I don't recognize. I looked at the mirror to see the girl's reflection and there she was, standing at the door frame. A girl with a gorgeous curled blonde hair, 5'7" ft tall because of her 5 inches high heel stilettos, and her hands were on her waist. She looked like she was going to a fashion show not to school.

"Stacey Jones," I said, acknowledging her presence, then closed the tap of water.

"I'm glad you know my name," she grinned fraudulently.

"Everyone knows your name," I replied then turned to face her.

"But no one," she trailed off provokingly as she walked slowly towards me, "knows your name." Then she halted.

"What are you doing here?" I asked bluntly.

"Let's just say, this is the ladies' restroom and I am allowed to come here anytime I want," she replied bluffly while staring at me intently.

Silence.

She started eyeing me slowly from head to toe.

Talk about awkward.

"O-kay, then. I should keep going," I said then started walking away.

"Stop," she demanded.

I halted then faced her again. She walked towards me with her high heel stilettos clicking on the floor as she took every step.

"You may be the new lucky girlfriend of Matt," she warned. "But that doesn't mean you're his official girlfriend. I am! You're just his slave. Remember that."

I chuckled, flabbergasted. "So, do you always tell this to all his lucky girlfriends a.k.a lucky slaves in the past too?"

She raised her eyebrow then scoffed. "You're a smart girl. Why, are you scared? 'Cause you know, if you flirt with my man and seduce him in anyway, I will rip your ugly head off and break it into pieces! He's my man, and you're just his slave!"

"He's my man," she repeated again then poked me with force on my chest with her index finger. "You're his slave."

Will you punch that girl on the face?, said the voice in my head.

"Don't worry. I will never forget that. But if you think that I'm scared of you, well you're wrong. I am not scared of you. I don't care who you are, what you do, or whether you're the queen bee. I don't care about you, your man, nor his disciples. I don't like any of you," I retorted. I pointed at her saying, "You're the girlfriend," then I pointed at myself saying, "I'm the slave. Got it."

"Huh," she snorted. Then I walked away towards the door leaving her behind.

As I walked down the hallway, everyone was looking at me gossiping about the news. I hated it, so I just walked with my head down heading to the library. I checked at my wrist watch. I still have 20 minutes more before the bell rings for the next period.

You should've just punched that Stacey Jones in the face, Lily. How could you just let her poke you like that?

Shush! I don't want your words right now, voice.

***

I sat on one of the empty table in the library. I started reading the preface page of the book that I just got. Good thing, there were only a few students in the library. Well, it's because everyone's at the cafeteria taking their lunch.

"That book is boring trust me," said the guy whose voice seemed kind of familiar.

I still continued on reading the last sentence on the book's preface page. I didn't bother glancing at the guy behind me 'cause I was not in the mood to talk to anyone right now. So I just turned to the next page to start reading the first chapter. Then the guy with the familiar voice sat down beside me.

"Trust me, you don't wanna continue reading that," the guy again spoke.

"What's your problem?" I asked, irritated, then whipped my head to the guy sitting beside me.

I blinked twice just to be sure.

Shoot!

It's the smirking Matt freaking Austin.

Matt's POV:

I was walking in the hallway heading to the male's restroom. No, actually, that was my excuse to my two best friends – Brad and Jay. I was actually looking for Lily Christova.

How could she push me like that? I didn't say anything mean to her. I just told her to smile and act happy in front of everyone. She even called me a jerk.  It's not my fault that her name was written on the paper that I picked inside the box.

As I was walking down the hallway, secretly looking for Lily, I saw her walk out from the female's restroom. Then I kind of followed her. Okay, I was actually following her secretly, trying not to be noticed by the nosy people around.

I followed her to the library.

What is she going to do here? She should be eating her lunch by now, I thought.

She doesn't like to eat at the cafeteria, genius, says the voice in my head.

But why?

It's because she felt embarrassed after the incident between the two of you.

Well, she should be proud of that, right? Being the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school and this town is a jackpot. She should feel like she just won the lottery!

Lily was now looking for a book on the shelves. Then she found a book that got her interest and took it. She was now looking for an empty table and spotted one. She sat down and started reading—

Would you quit it? You're not a spy!

Right. But—

Since you're following her and you're here, why don't you go and talk to her.

Will she get mad at me?

Man up, Matt! You've been secretly liking her for years. Now's your chance! 

But I'm scared. I think she doesn't like me.

One word for you, Matt: p***y.

Okay, okay! I will talk to her. And I'm not a p***y!

What the hell am I thinking talking to my subconscious? I must be crazy.

Okay, here we go, Matt. Just act cool like you always do. Act cool, got it?

I walked towards her and now I'm standing behind her. I read the title of the book. It made me smile. I remember reading that book before and it just wasted my time. The story sucks and it's so boring. The ending doesn't even make sense. The only thing that caught people's attention to read it was because of its cover.

"That book is boring, trust me," I stated, trying to act cool. She didn't even look at me or glance to the human being talking behind her, but instead she kept on reading and ignoring me.

Is she pissed off or something? Maybe she's not in a good mood after what just happened in the cafeteria. It's obvious that she didn't like what just happened. But I really hope she doesn't hate me for that.

Just sit down beside her and try to talk to her.

Okay, I might do that.

Might? Just do it!

Okay, I will!

I pulled a chair right next to her and took a seat. "Trust me, you don't wanna continue reading that." I reiterated.

"What's your problem?" she replied angrily, finally turning her head to face me.

I tried smirking my best just to keep my cool. Then, she blinked twice. Now she's staring at me with those beautiful dark brown eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in an irritated tone while closing the book that she was just reading.

I still kept my cool by smirking, then replied, "I was just roaming around the library looking for a book to read then I found you sitting here, so I went towards you and sat down. How peculiar, isn't it?"

Wow. What a stupid lie, Matt.

She raised an eyebrow. "Were you following me?"

"Heck, no!" I immediately said in defense. "I would never follow you!"

She raised an eyebrow again.

"Ever," I firmly added.

Liar.

Could you please just shut up, voice? Instead, help me out here!

Lily stood up. What am I going to say now?

Tell her she needs to come over to your place tonight!

Before she could start walking away, I stood up from where I sat and grabbed her arm.

"What?" she exclaimed in annoyance.

"Since you're now my girlfriend--"

"Yeah, I'm your new slave now, right? I was actually trying to forget that but here you are trying to remind me. Thank you very much." She retorted sarcastically, trying to shove off my hand but failed 'cause my grip was too firm.

Gosh, she's so cocky.

"Listen close, babe. You will be coming to my house tonight," I demanded as I pulled her closer.

"Huh," she snorted, "Over my dead body."

"I'm sorry, baby. But you're my girlfriend now, right? Just like you said, you're my new slave. So whether you like it or not, you'll be coming to my house tonight at 7," I continued, "If you will not show up, don't go to school tomorrow. Or don't think about coming to school ever again. Got it?"

I let go of her arm and started to walk away, smirking.

"Jerk!" she exclaimed in frustration as she stomped her feet on the tiled floor.

Then the librarian warned her to keep quiet.

I smiled in satisfaction.

Finally, I got her attention.