Sponges, Majors, and The Fictional Gang

She is not even hot to tempt me.

She is not even hot to tempt me.

She is not even hot to tempt me.

The words seem to be tattooed at the core of my brain, right where my self-esteem must be convulsing to death.

I read to forget but today it's just not working. My mum's copy of Pride and Prejudice lays open on my chest. I fell asleep by the time I got to Mr. Collins' proposal.

She isn't hot enough to tempt me? Did he say "enough"? Am I adding words?

Whatever. The point is he doesn't like me.

I know my blonde hair is this knotty mess, but I rather call it carefree, which matches my whole lifestyle. I wear black Converses or combat boots—they're all worn out right at the same spot because I keep grinding my feet together when I get nervous. I also dress to cover myself because I don't think I need to show my body to impress anyone. Sheila, my shrink, says that the only person I should work hard to impress is myself. And her words mean a lot to me.

After the accident, my values changed so much and she helped me a lot. Like—who cares about clothes? Sorry, Lukah. If you like girls who try to bribe guys into liking them just for their lack of clothing, that's not gonna be me.

Am I doing something wrong?

Should I dress like the red hair girl?

God. I'm a mess. Why do I even worry? I can't date the guy because he's my brother's friend.

I grumble loudly, throwing my pillow on my face to stifle the noise of my frustration. In the process, a wave of Lukah's scent crawls up my nostrils.

Tossing the pillow away, I pull myself up on my elbows and glare at his sweater on my bed. Why does this stupid clothing insist on sleeping next to me?

My shoulders slouch in defeat.

I hate him. I should have burnt his sweater already. I just haven't convinced myself yet. I want to confront him first.

Maybe I can do a live on Instagram? You know, savor my vengeance. He deserves that.

Someone knocks on the door, interrupting my evil plans.

"Good morning, sunshine," my dad greets me. "I heard you didn't want to have dinner last night. You okay?" He takes a seat on my bed, his hand landing on my ankle.

I don't reply because I'm on the brink of crying and I don't want him to be worried about me. Besides, if I start crying I don't think I'll ever stop.

He throws me a lop-sided smile as he examines my features. "You know you can talk to me, right? I'm here for you."

Taking a deep breath, I reply, "I don't like Raiden's friends."

"Oh, well, maybe tomorrow you can invite your friends over?" he suggests.

Yeah, the invisible ones.

"Dad, thank you, I am fine. I just- I-." I struggle to form ideas. "There're so many changes going on. I just want to sleep until I forget life if you don't mind."

He leans in and kisses my forehead. I close my eyes as I feel the urge to hug him but I remain still.

"I guess you can miss university for one day. That's okay, baby," he encourages me but I hide my hands under my blanket so that he doesn't see how badly they're trembling.

I feel so bad that I am making him pay for university and I am not even going.

"You need me to tuck you in?" he asks and I laugh in response.

"Dad, don't be weird. Just...vanish!" I poke his shoulder. "It's like eight in the morning. I might read for a while and then I'll go to work."

"Okay, okay." He puts his hands up in the air. Then, he strides away to the door. Before leaving, he turns to me once more. His golden eyes set on me. "Remember you're amazing. Don't let anyone convince you of the opposite-not even yourself."

I absorb his words as if I were a sponge that needs water to fulfill its purpose in life.

"Have a good day, dad." I smile gratefully, watching how he leaves my room.

🔹🔹🔹

"Hi, Joe!" I greet the Stardust Café owner as I pass by the queue.

He waves his hand at me as he keeps taking orders from different people. His charming smile, and being single at forty years old might be one of the reasons this place is packed.

Half an hour later, I'm sitting on a stack of books, reading a Wattpad book.

I should be cleaning but Peeta is helping me move the furniture around while the rest are trying to find a way to organize the books.

I'm engulfed in reading this beautiful story on Wattpad. Reading keeps me away from reality, and that's what I need today.

It's pretty much like doing drugs, but with words.

I sigh loudly as the bad boy and the virgin girl overcome all the problems they had, get married, and live happily ever after—again.

Another happy ending. I'm not complaining. I wish they were real in life too.

"What's wrong?" Katniss asks as she puts some books on one of the bookcases we set up today.

"It's just this story." I gesture at my phone. "Everyone seems to overcome their problems and I can't even go through the doors of university."

Elizabeth walks to me, joining the conversation. "I would pay anything to go to university."

"I feel like I can't think or even study. I feel so overwhelmed to be in a relationship with one career for four years. What if I want something different when I'm in the middle of it?" I rant on as they all gather around me.

"Lady Sunset, the sooner you start, the faster you will discover what your heart desires to do," Mr. Darcy comments and they all nod their heads at me in agreement.

"What is your major?" Elizabeth quizzes.

"Bromatology and minor in Food Industrialization."

"No wonder you don't want to go," Katniss blurts out and Peeta elbows her.

Katniss arches her eyebrows. "What? That sounds super boring. You know what? We could go with you. It'd be nice to have a break from this place. Maybe if you have friends, it could be easier to face the situation."

I sigh, feeling anxious about breaking the rules of the library. "Look, I appreciate your offer, but I only need to meet my brother there and I really don't want to face Lukah. Although, I should return him his sweater..." I trail off, glancing at my backpack where his sweater is.

"What's the big deal about that?" Katniss crosses her arms, puzzled.

"I kind of like him." I cringe my nose. "And it's crystal clear that he does not."

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Peeta queries, towering over me.

"He is my brother's friend. They study together and he and I-. Ugh. It's just complicated." I grumble, grabbing my backpack.

"Has this acquaintance of yours hurt you in any way?" Mr. Darcy asks, concerned.

I laugh at his formality and the walking contradiction that Mr. Darcy is to me.

"You once said that Elizabeth was not beautiful enough to dance with. Well, Lukah sort of said the same thing about me." I lean my back against the desk behind me.

"No matter the genre, men will always be men," Katniss points out.

"Hey," Peeta complains.

"What?" She shrugs her shoulders. "We know that's the truth."

Elizabeth walks toward me. "Look, Darcy said that about me and we ended up married. So, don't judge the story for the first chapter. I think going to university with you could be a really good idea. It would be a small outing just for the sake of morally supporting you. We go, we return his sweater, we'll get back before you know it."

"Exactly." Katniss nods her head. "This is what you need."

"Ok. This sounds good. What do you think, Sunset?" Peeta asks, the corner of his lips shrugging downwards.

"Isn't it against the rules to let you guys out?" I voice my fears. There was a rule about that. I should've taken pictures of them because I don't really remember.

"I didn't take you for the kind of girl who cares so much about rules." Peeta wiggles his blonde eyebrows at me.

Darcy clears his throat. "As much as I'm always on the side of the Law, in this case, I don't think anyone is getting hurt for a small outing."

I straighten up, feeling enthused with the idea of hanging out with them and facing Lukah next to Peeta. I really want to see his reaction.

Throwing my stuff in my backpack, I get ready to leave. "Classes are over by now. Let's just go." My smile hurts my cheeks, I swear. "How should we do it? Can you just go out through that door?" I glance upstairs.

"Yes, we can!" Katniss claps her hands together.

Peeta hands me an open copy of The Hunger Games."You just have to take the books where we appear with you. When you're there and you need us, just open the books on a page where our names are."

Elizabeth adds, "be certain to open the books on a page where we're alone, so that not so many characters come out at once."

I start grabbing several books and I stuff them in my backpack when Mr. Darcy grasps my hand, stopping my actions.

"This might be a very dangerous situation, Lady Sunset." He lets go of my hand and piles the other books neatly on the desk. "I would advise you to only take one or two books with you. It would not be wise to open several fictional worlds in the real world at once. The Guild of Authors may notice and we do not want to anger them."

I blink, processing the information. "So, how many fictional worlds am I allowed to take out?"

"Two wouldn't hurt, I think." Elizabeth's eyes flicker among the four of us. "Please, be careful and bring us back. Alright?"

I beam at them, excited to have such great friends in this mission.

"Okay. Darcies, Mellarks, let's meet Lukah!"