Chapter Twenty-Four

“Hi Drew,” I greeted, plastering a smile on my face as I plopped down on the chair next to him.

“Hey,” he gave me his usual short greeting before biting on his burrito.

After wasting first to third period fixing things up, we all managed to stop crying, get Blake sober and had a silent agreement to never speak of this situation ever again. Lillian and Jessica managed to forgive each other while Charlie decided that it was best for him and Lillian to cool off for a moment. Lucas, well, let’s just say he’s the one making sure his twin was sane.

We all drove back to school just in time for fourth period. People started to wonder why our group suddenly disappeared then reappeared at the middle of the day. We also managed to drag Blake to school even with his protests during the whole car trip back.

“Where did you guys go?” he asked and we all exchanged a look. Drew lifted his eyebrow, being suspicious already.

 “Nowhere,” Lucas replied calmly, sending me a warning look.

I bit my lip and casted my gaze down to my plate. Lucas didn’t take the fact that I kissed Drew well. He was about to march right down to school back then and if it wasn’t for Charlie who had a steel grip on him, Drew’s face might have been battered and bruised. I pleaded and begged him to stay away from Drew and even right now, I could still see Lucas fuming.

Drew eyed me carefully and I sent him a reassuring smile as I gave his hand a light squeeze. Just so you know, Drew and I are not dating, we’re just extremely comfortable with each other.

The glare Lucas sent our connected hands were murderous. I felt like somebody was drilling a hole at the back of my hand.

Lucas wasn’t the only one paying attention to us, the whole cafeteria is. Looking around, every single person was staring at us with their mouths wide open, inviting flies over.

The student body got used to the fact that somebody like Drew joined our table but looks like they have to get used to another thing.

“Uh oh,” Annabelle muttered. Uh oh indeed, my friend. Lucas gritted his teeth and clenched his fist before slamming it right down on the table, causing everything on it to slightly jump into the air.

“Lucas,” I scolded under my breath.

“You’re not dating him?” he retorted back dryly.

I let go of Drew’s hand and stood up from my seat, “Come with me.”

I walked out of the cafeteria, aware of every single pair of eyes on me. Lucas obediently trailed behind me and thankfully, the hallways were empty.

“God damn it, Cel!” he growled out, pacing back and forth, “You like him, he likes you and where am I in this picture?”

“Lucas,” I started out calmly. Honestly, I have no idea how to make him stop from rambling on.

“Am I the backup plan? If he backfires, maybe I could be here,” he said, “And you know what? I’m an idiot because I’m always ready to pick you up whenever he messes up.”

“Hey!” I yelled, grabbing the side of his face so he could focus his eyes on me, “You’re not a backup plan and you’re most definitely not an idiot.”

His lips pressed into a tight line and I finally let him go, “I gave you a chance to prove that you’re no longer a jerk and honestly, you’re not.”

“But you still don’t like me in that way, don’t you?” he muttered glumly.

“You’re a good friend, Lucas,” I told him sincerely, “You transformed yourself from being my arch enemy into one of my best friend and I’m extremely flattered that you like me but…”

“You like Everett,” he finished for me and I nodded.

“I like Drew a lot and I hope that we can remain our friendship.”

He stared at me, his eyes reflecting nothing but sadness. It broke my heart and I reached out to wrap my arms around his torso, “Please understand.”

He returned my hug and buried his face in my hair, “I like you Cel, always have and always will. When Everett messes up, I’ll be here waiting.”

“He won’t,” I reassured him, “He’s a good guy.”

“I’m the bad guy,” he snorted and I pulled away from him.

“No, you’re the sidekick,” I told him, “You’re always there to help the hero in saving the girl.”

“And Everett’s the hero,” he stated though I could see he’s starting get lighthearted, “While you’re the girl.”

“Right,” I giggled, “Now let’s go back to the cafeteria, I bet the whole school is buzzing right now.”

I was completely right because when we entered the room once again, people were whispering as they watched out every move. I returned to my seat next to Drew and let out a sigh.

“Drama?” he inquired.

“You have no idea,” I said, slumping lower down on my chair.

“It never left you alone,” he retorted, taking one of my fries from my plate.

“Just like it has never left you,” I countered and he smirked at me.

And just like that, we ignored the rest of the room. Never mind the curious looks mixed with horror that the student body was giving us. What’s important is that we were in our own little world. I may be student body president but for me, the only people occupying this school are my friends. Their words are only the important ones in my mind.

“You still have to tutor me in math,” Drew reminded as we stepped out of the school.

“If I remember correctly, that deal was only valid if you attended the winter formal.”

“I did,” he said but then added, “For five minutes.”

I smiled at this. Jessica told me that the second Drew knew that I wasn’t going to the dance, he quickly went over to my house. It was an extremely sweet gesture and that night marked the start of these feelings for him.

“Fine, let’s head over to your place,” I muttered, heading to my car as he went to where his bike was parked.

We drove with our separate vehicles until we reached the familiar medium-sized house with the white picket fence. I cut off the engine and got out, walking to Drew’s side who was just securing his bike.

“Hi Ariel,” I greeted the woman who was sitting on the couch with her daughter while SpongeBob was playing on the TV.

“Celeste!” Savannah jumped up from her seat and quickly hugged my legs since it the only thing she can reach. I laughed and picked her up off of the ground.

“Hello Celeste,” Ariel smiled, turning off the TV and standing up, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“We’re going to study,” Drew informed, taking Savannah from my arms and placing her back down on the floor, “We’ll be in my room if you need us.”

Ariel sent me a wink which quickly heated up my cheeks. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she’s an adult rather than a teasing teenager.

“Do you guys need anything?” she asked and Drew shook his head. He darted his way to the staircase and I followed behind him.

“Looks like you need to clean up,” I pointed out as I observe the clutter around his room. Dirty clothes were piled up at one corner, various books were sprayed across the floor near his bed, and his bed remained undone.

“What I need is to raise my grade to at least a B+ average to get the recommendation for the college I want to go to,” he said, kicking some clutter to make room for us on the floor. He took his blanket from his bed and laid it down on the hardwood floor.

“College…” I trailed off, getting my math book from my bag.

My parents are demanding that I go to a top ten school. They want me to major in business but I want to pursue medicine. Of course, I have no say in my life so I do whatever they want me to do.

“So where are you heading off to college?” he asked casually, flipping through the pages of his book.

“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully, “I’ve sent my college applications but nothing came back to me yet.”

“Knowing you, you’ll be accepted in a heartbeat,” he scoffed bitterly and I raised a brow.

“I thought you’re no longer bitter about this,” I said scooting closer to him.

“You have the world at your feet,” he sighed, “While I have to work hard for everything.”

Smiling softly at him, I handed him a pen and tapped on his math book, “Enough of this talk, let’s get studying.”

As much as I tried to ignore the fact that he was right, it was still there. Ever since I was young, people treated me like royalty. My parents were the king and queen of the business world, and as expected, I’ll be the one inheriting all their wealth.

My parents have been grooming me to become the perfect heiress since the day I started walking. Making sure my grades were superior with the highly-paid tutor they gave me.

“Wrong,” I deadpanned, pushing his notebook back to him.

“Come on!” he groaned in exasperation, picking up his pen once again.

Two hours later, we have made little to no progress. I gave Drew simple equations that he has to solve though he only got three correct out of the twenty-seven I gave him.

“Why don’t we take a break, your brain must be exhausted,” I suggested, stretching my feet in front of me.

He nodded in agreement as he lazily threw his notebook down to the floor and laid down on the blanket.

“You know, time came by so quickly,” he suddenly said, looking at his ceiling, “It seems like only yesterday I was a carefree boy.”

“At least you had those carefree days,” I spat out a little more bitterly than I intended to.

His gaze fell on me and after a few minutes of only staring at me, he spoke, “Tell me something about yourself.”

“What?”

“Tell me something about yourself,” he repeated slowly as if he was speaking to a child.

“I heard you the first time,” I told him, “Why?”

“Because you know a huge chunk of my life and I know so little about yours,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “Aside from the fact your rich, you have the highest GPA in the whole senior class and you’re the heiress to your family’s business.”

“Where do you want me to start?” I questioned, using his bed to help push myself up back to my feet.

“Anywhere, I guess.”

“Well, my middle name is Anne, I love the color blue, I have a soft spot for kittens and I’m allergic to sunflowers,” I informed him.

“Not exactly the information I had in mind,” he chuckled, “But I guess we have to make do with it.”

I knew exactly what he was fishing for. Only my best friends and the Smith Brothers knew, how I grew up. How was my upbringing and how I turned out to be like this. The perfect child or that’s what my parents wants to call me.

Drew seems to notice my mood change and tried to lighten me up, “Want to join us for dinner.”

I accepted his offer since my stomach made an embarrassing growl after he said those words. I knew he tried not to laugh but I’m sure his weird coughing was not the result of a sudden allergy attack.

After dinner, Drew and I came back to work. I carefully explained to him the formulas and he started to understand them better than before.

“Celeste, it’s getting late,” Ariel knocked on the door and gestured to the clock on Drew’s nightstand. It read the number that indicated that it was already half past ten, “Why don’t you stay over for the night?”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” I quickly turned down, closing my math book, “It’s a school night and Jazzy would be worried sick.”

“You’re not a bother at all,” she smiled sweetly, “You could call your house and tell Jazzy you’re staying over. I’m sure my old pajamas could fit you perfectly.”

I turned my attention to Drew who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to me, waiting for my answer.

Well, I could just wake up early in the morning and head home to freshen up before school.

“Sure, why not?”

 ---------------------------

This week has been tiring for me but of course, I would never let my readers down.  By the way, our old cover is back and let's just say that out of all the book covers I made for this story, this one's my fav. Why can I pour my heart out in making a cover for somebody else but when I do it for my own books, it looks like crap?

Question: Some people told me last chapter to change the title from Falling For The Opposite to Falling For The Unexpected. Which one do you like best, FFTO or FFTU?

Don't forget to comment, vote and go to my profile to click (or tap) on that follow button.