Chapter Three

After paying for my lunch, I looked around the cafeteria for the familiar mop of brown hair. It’s as if I needed to look, I walked over to the table near the dumpster. I dropped my tray on the table where Drew was sitting at and his head shot up, giving me a weird look.

I plopped down on the seat opposite from and started picking on my fries, “Hey,” I greeted him with a nonchalant smile.

He kept looking at me weirdly before he opened his mouth, “Did I do something yesterday to make this seem okay?”

I only shrugged in response and he gave me a dry look before another tray was set down on the table, followed by two more.

“Hey Celeste,” Jessica greeted, taking the seat next to me while Lillian and Annabelle sandwiched poor Drew in between them.

He looked extremely uncomfortable and I fought the urge to giggle which would make him more embarrassed. He seems uncomfortable enough between my two friends, showing him my amusement would just be plain mean.

So is leaving abruptly like he did yesterday.

“You’re Drew Everett?” Lillian asked, turning to her right so she could get the full view of him. She looked at him up and down as if she was assessing him, “You’re not ugly so I approve of you dating our dear Celeste,” she said with a nod.

Cue blush.

I didn’t miss the tinge of pink currently decorating Drew’s cheeks.

“Stop embarrassing the boy, Lillian,” Jessica scolded as she popped one of my fries into her mouth and I shot her a glare; nobody takes my fries without my permission.

Lillian laughed and went back to feasting on the tater tots. I shook my head and laughed as the rest of my friends chatted among themselves. I gave Drew a comforting smile but he only returned it with a frown before standing up, grabbing his tray and bag then left.

I groaned and placed my head in my hands, “Tough blow, Cel,” Annabelle whistled lowly while shaking her head.

“Whatever,” I sighed, pushing my tray away from me now that I had lost my appetite. I’m sorry my dear fries.

I took my bottled water and started drinking it when Jessica opened her mouth, “I heard the Smith brothers are coming back,” she informed and I spat out the water while coughing loudly. Jessica made the move to pat my back.

If you’re wondering who the Smith brothers were, they’re my worst nightmare. They are fraternal twins who were set to make sure my life was a living hell.

Blake Smith, your ordinary fun loving football player who had the whole cheerleading squad eating at the palm of his hand. He’s your all American boy who had blonde hair and blue eyes. Did I mention he was my ex? But it’s not the way you think it is.

He dated me because of a bet. He was dared to date me for a month and he will be given a hundred dollars from his friends. He was my first boyfriend and how harsh was it to hear that you’re supposed ‘first love’ was all because of a bet.

I cried for weeks while Jessica and Lillian became my support team. My grades went downhill and I cared less about my appearance more than usual. I was a total mess all because of a stupid one hundred dollar bet.

Lucas Smith was this town’s notorious bad boy. He even sported a leather jacket on one of the hottest day of the year. Just looking at him made me sweat buckets full.

Dude, I get it if you’re wearing sunglasses but take off your jacket, it makes you look like a mad man.

On the day before his family moved away, he dyed his hair black to fit his style more, but I saw him more of a devil than ever.

Aside from being a bad boy, he was also a huge prankster and I was his number one victim. He played prank after prank on me which most of them made me land a spot in the emergency room.

Their family moved to Canada during the summer before freshman year and you could say my high school was pretty peaceful.

'Was' as in past tense. Looks like I’m going back to the emergency room soon.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Annabelle stated and I stared at her. Annabelle only became part of our group during freshman year when she moved from South Carolina so she had no idea how my life is endangered right now.

“You see, Anna, Celeste isn’t really fond of the Smith brothers,” Lillian said, starting to explain the whole ordeal to Annabelle. As the story progressed, I slammed my head on the table, remembering the pain I’ve endured since meeting those two.

“So you’re telling me that Celeste’s going to die?” Annabelle asked dumbly, though the possibility isn’t non-existent.

“That’s the worst case scenario,” Jessica pointed out before placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

The day passed on with less excitement than the experience in lunch, except for being hit by a dodge ball straight on the face during gym period.

Just for your information, I don’t share a single class with Drew so that’s a slight bummer.

As mentioned, I’m appointed the task of supervising the decorating of the gym for winter formal. I don’t want to do anything with this so I’m just going to sit at the corner and read a book or something.

Imagine my shock to see our anti-social character currently pumping air into balloons when I entered the gym. I grinned and skipped happily to where he was seated at an isolated part of the room.

“Hey,” I chirped.

He looked up and smirked at me. At least it was a more positive reaction than the weird look I got earlier. I sat on the bleacher next to him and took an inflated balloon and hugged it to my chest.

“Why in the world are you here?” I asked.

He laughed bitterly before inflating another balloon, tying it so the air won’t escape and threw it at a random direction where it fell on the ground, “I’m stuck helping out with committee if I want some extra credit for math.”

Math? What does helping decorate a gym have to do with math?

As if hearing my unspoken question, “My teacher, Mr. Robert has a daughter and she happens to be the president of the dance committee,” he explained as he pumped air into another balloon. I nodded in understanding before standing up.

“I’ll just go get something to drink from the vending machine, want anything?” I asked and he shook his head.

I got out of the gym and strode to the vending machine. As I was deciding what drink I wanted to buy, my phone beeped and I looked at it to see somebody has sent me a text, but it was from an unknown number.

I opened it and I almost dropped my precious iPhone. It was like a start of a horrible nightmare that came in a form of two malicious devils.

We’re back our dear Celeste –B&L

It looks like one of those murder messages.

The dollar that I was about to use to get a drink slipped out of my hand and it fluttered until it got stepped on a stiletto clad foot. The owner of the said shoe bent down and picked up my money before striding to me like she was a model or something.

Girl, this is a corridor, not a catwalk. We have dirty trash cans, not amazing lights to illuminate the runway.

“I presume this is yours,” she said, handing me the green paper. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; of course it was mine, we’re the only two people in the entire hallway.

I’m not usually this cranky. It’s either my period’s coming up or I’m just annoyed about the news of the Smith brothers. Or both.

“Thank you,” I forced a grateful smile while plucking the money from her fingers. She nodded before turning to the vending machine and taking out her own money.

"Seems like you're starting to get cozy with Drew Everett," she bought a bottle of energy drink and turned to me, "Stay away from him," she snarled before turning on her heel and sashaying back to the gym.

My brain is working slow today because I barely had time to register her words when she disappeared from sight.

Who was that and why did she told me to stay away from Drew? Is she his girlfriend? He doesn’t look like the one to have a girlfriend. Heck, he barely talks to people.

My mother did say to never judge a book by its cover. Maybe she is his girlfriend. I don’t know why but the idea makes me angry.

Pressing any random button on the machine after slotting in my money, a bottle of water fell from the inside. I took it and marched back into the gym with growing frustration.

Instead of going back to my seat next to Drew, I instead went to the opposite direction from him and sat down on the floor before taking out a book and doing what I originally planned.

My biggest regret was when I looked up from the page I was reading and stole a glance of Drew. He was looking at me with his eyebrows scrunched up and a frown gracing his handsome face.

Handsome face? Really Celeste, you just called him handsome?

No, don’t think about that, he has a girlfriend. I casted my eyes back down to my book but I can still feel Drew’s burning gaze on me.

So the rest of the time the gym was being decorated, I kept my eyes trained on my book with Drew’s eyes on me. It was the most uncomfortable hour and a half of my life.

When they started packing up, I just finished the last line in the book. I shut it closed and placed it safely back into my bag. I stood up and brushed off the dust from my pants then looked around; people said their goodbyes as they made their way out.

Drew was nowhere to be found and so was Miss Runway. Maybe they decided to make out at the back of the school or something like that. I strode out of the gym, counting my steps as I walked so that I could calm myself down. Somebody blocked my path and I crashed into a sturdy chest.

“Watch it,” I growled and when I looked up, I was met a pair of familiar mesmerizing green eyes. Drew was looking down at me, and if you haven’t noticed, I was a about a size of a dwarf compared to him.

“Hey,” I greeted awkwardly but he didn’t say anything. He only grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the hallway. I struggled to set my poor wrist free but he had an iron steel grip on it so I’m pretty sure I’m not breaking free any time soon.

He pulled me into the same classroom where we met and blocked the door so I couldn’t escape. I glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Tell me why you aren’t talking to me if I should be the one doing that to you.”

This guy really needs a therapist. He basically admitted that he ignores me yet he’s complaining when I don’t pay attention to him.

“One, you make no sense,” I pointed out, placing a hand on my hip, “And two, you shouldn’t be concerned about me if you have a girlfriend like Miss Runway,” I snarled bitterly.

Why am I even mad? It’s not like I’m his girlfriend or anything.

“Miss Runway? Girlfriend?” he questioned stupidly and I had the urge to slap him across the face. Watch your temper Celeste.

Before I could say a witty remark – which by the way is still being processed in my brain – all the lights turned off and I groaned.

I walked around Drew's body and I stepped out of the classroom. I looked left and right before I started to stroll through the hallways until I reached the front doors of the school. I gripped the handle and when I tried to pull it open, it barely budged.

Oh goody, I’m locked inside with jerkass again. Note the sarcasm.

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I'll promise you guys one thing, those Smith brothers will stir up this story at long last.

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