8. Rule 2: Buy him a gift
1933 Words
Possession, sometimes, spoils Love...
Chapter 8. Rule 2: Buy him a gift
(Liana)
After I showered, and spent half the shower crying until I didn't feel like crying, I got dressed for school.
I looked at the dark thing in my plate that looked like it had jumped out of some distant planet.
I was very hungry, but all I had managed to do was make toast that looked more charred than used firewood. And my stomach kept rumbling.
I shoved my plate and looked up when I heard Asher walking in. His black t-shirt clung to him like a second skin and water droplets hung from his hair, that was still half wet.
He looked so handsome. So sexy and hot. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked down at the plate.
Who turned on the heat all of a sudden?
He should’ve just walked away while I was distracted by his hotness. Instead, he stopped and looked at my plate and decided to open his mouth.
See, the lips were cute, but the words that came out of them... Never anything close to the lips.
“What’s that, i***t?” He asked. I was already angry and his question made me mad.
I threw the toast, aiming it at his stomach. The aim was slightly wrong and it hit his toes. He jumped up and down and glared at me.
“What was that for?” He said.
“For talking to me when I’m angry.”
“You’re always angry.” He replied and added, “Is there a time when you’re not angry?”
“Yes. When you’re not around.” I gave him a nasty look.
He glared at me before storming away. I laughed.
I won this round. Yeah! Victory.
Liana 1: Asher 0. Again.
***
I speed walked to the bus stop. My bus was already there.
"Hey, Liza, how are you?" I asked I sat next to her in the bus. I usually slept in the bus, but today I wasn't feeling it.
Crying too much can do that to you.
I sat next to her every day and it was like an unwritten rule. She told me a story about her cute cat and I was laughing by the time I reached the school.
"You look creepy smiling alone." Asher said as he saw me standing at the locker.
"The other Mrs. Hickman's cat, Snowball, tried to sneak in to her neighbor's apartment to try and seduce his cat. And then..." I stopped when I saw him looking bewildered.
Oh s**t. I totally forgot he is the enemy!
"And?" I didn't know why he was trying.
"Never mind." I said as I pulled out books from my locker before walking towards the first class.
Chemistry went in a blur and then it was already time for the most dreaded class of this year. Psychology.
Gah!!!
That was when I heard two people shouting. Asher. I knew his voice and the other voice, the squeaky one. Yes. Emilia.
"How dare you?" She was screeching.
"Don't make a scene, Em. Let us be friends."
"Hah! Priceless. Friends, my ass." She said before she stomped away, wiping at her eyes.
News flash: I hate Emilia. But even I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Every girl here knew that Asher wasn't the settling type or the high-school sweetheart type. Every girl here knew he'd break their heart, one day. But still... What was that about him that made all these girls go super stupid?
His green eyes, which would promise you that you were special? His face that looked like it was always ready for a photoshoot? His smile that could lit you up from the inside out when he was smiling for real?
I glared at Asher when he shrugged at me, as if I would understand.
But could I?
He walked with me to the class, and we were silent the whole way.
When I sat in my seat, Harry turned to look at me with a smile.
“So I saw you eavesdropping on Asher and Emilia?”
“Yeah,. You know, Asher was breaking up with her. The pig!” I said feeling exasperated.
“Uh-Oh!” Harry had a thoughtful look, like he was trying to find a solution for a very difficult Algebra problem.
Psychology went in a blur. Thankfully Mrs. Gibson didn’t pester us about starting the project right away.
I was walking towards my next class, trigonometry, thinking about Asher, of course. He was all I had been recently thinking about.
When I reached the class I was surprised to see a young man in his twenties. He was cute. No, it was an understatement. He was more than just cute. I wondered where Mr. Kerr, my old trigonometry teacher, with owl like eyes was, as I stepped in.
“Come in, miss?” He looked at me.
“Miss. Stan.” I finished for him and he waved me to move inside. Why was he looking at me as if he would like to punch me in the face or something?
And who the hell was he?
“So now that everyone is here,” He looked at me pointedly, shaking his head as he did so.
So, I was a little late. But he didn’t have to be a jerk about that!
“I'd like to introduce myself. I’m Stefan Brown, you can call me Mr. Brown and I’m your substitute teacher until Mr. Kerr will be back from his short vacation.” He finished with a flirty smile.
“He is worse than Asher.” I muttered under my breath.
“Excuse me Miss. Stan?” His voice was sarcastic. Just because he was my sub didn’t mean I’d to respect him. He had to respect me to get it back from me.
“Yes, you are excused.” With that I pulled out my notebook and ignored him.
I tuned his extremely melodious voice and started dreaming about tacos, French fries and chocolates. God. I was waiting for my lunch break and my stomach was complaining.
So I pulled out a twix and he kept staring at it.
At one point, I asked him whether he needed it when I saw him staring.
He flushed before turning away. He never looked at me after that.
Good riddance!
***
I loved art. I loved to create worlds with my brush. Colors are the essence of life and I have always felt bad for the people who can’t see them.
Sometimes we took things for granted, like having eyes.
I pulled the canvas out and stared at it. The intense feeling of loss didn’t go away even after I had started painting. I was miserable. I knew I shouldn’t miss Asher, but I did and that was what made me hate him so much more.
My friends saw my miserable face and started questioning me. Trent said that he would kill Asher for me, as he wrapped his arms around me. When I said it wasn’t Asher, they gave me a curious look.
I told them about the new teacher and Riya was excited to go to trigonometry this afternoon. Trent gave her a very strong disapproving glare and Riya had to kiss him sloppily on the lips – PDA alert. Beep. Stop guys.– to bring him back to his original smiling self. It was fascinating to watch. It was always fascinating to see them together
I was in a trance when I reached Spanish. I sat next to Anta and we talked, but I didn’t even realize what I was talking about. When Mrs. Hander started teaching, I stared off into space.
“Miss. Stan, Está usted en está clase o está soñando?” Her voice penetrated through my brain and I was suddenly wide awake. I didn't even know how I walked here.
“Sorry ma’am.” I muttered under my breath. She stared at me before waving me away. She started to teach again and this time I concentrated on the lessons.
Why did I need a guy, when I knew they were all heartless and arrogant?
They would use me and throw me away, like two guys had already done.
I smiled wryly.
Guys were a waste of my time and I decided I should stop straying far from reality.
I didn't need Asher. I didn't need anyone.
Maybe I should just make him fall in love with me, without falling for him.
It had to be easy, had to be, because I knew I hated him.
After that, I completely ignored Asher the rest of the day and ate my lunch in the backyard.
But avoiding him was no possible when we were living together.
I noticed he was giving me a major side glance when we sat together and watched reruns of Criminal Files, but I never turned to look back at him.
“Do you want to eat?” He asked after another hour of silence. I nodded and stood up and followed him. The silence enveloped us – like a vacuum bubble. When I finished eating, I turned away from him.
Halfway to my room, I stopped and looked at him, “Thanks for the Pizza,” and marched past a confused looking Asher.
“What happened?” I ignored his loud, agitated voice and pulled on my blanket.
"This is what was supposed to happen. Goodbye, Asher. Finally."
***
It was Saturday and obviously I was sleeping in when my phone rang. None of my friends dare to disturb me this early in the morning. It was only seven.
"Hey."
"Sorry. You still sleeping?"
"Anta?"
"Hey, you wanna hang out?"
"Sure. Just give me an hour."
I quickly took a shower and dressed. I stopped on the cafe where I promised I would meet her.
“Hi Liana.” Anta greeted me as soon as I entered the warm and cozy cafe. I waved at her and sat next to her.
“You look tired.” She noticed.
I grumbled, “I’m. I’ve had a dreadful week and I couldn’t stop thinking about the deal and how I was going to fail. He’d throw a party after my humiliation.” I closed my face and sighed. She pried it away from my face and placed a comforting arm on my shoulder.
“Don’t doubt yourself, Liana. You can do that and if you need a hand, call me. I’m not flattering myself, but I can work magic on beauties like you. You’re stunning.” I snorted at that. Yes. I did.
“And stop this self-depreciation. You’re not this girl. You’ve to believe in yourself to win.” Anta patted my back. Not a friendly pat, I tell you.
“I believe I can win, I’m optimistic. But when you talk about beauty, I can’t help but laugh. I know I’m not beautiful.” I said with a frown.
"And that is so not true. Only you could not see how beautiful you are."
After that we talked about everything and then I said bye to her and went to Harry's home.
"Shopping. Now." I said as soon as he opened the door.
What did I buy?
A Surprise gift for Asher.
“Do you really think Asher will like this?” I gave Harry a shut-up look and he did instantly.
“Bye Harry, see you tomorrow.”
"I am still not sure he will like that."
"He has to. Bye bye."
___
- Writer
