When it was finally lunch, I decided to freshen up and wash the sleep out of my eyes. Turned out, the icy cold water could chase away the drowsiness only for a few hours.

I was washing my face when a beautiful, tall, dark blonde dressed in a cheerleader uniform walked in with her entourage and stopped beside me. Her lackeys surrounded me and one of them even went as far as to shut the door. Her skirt stopped just a few centimeters below her butt and her long tan legs were on full display. 

Weren't such short dresses violating the dress code?

Thoroughly entertained, I wiped my face with a face towel and pocketed it back. I turned around smiling and leaned against the counter. I noticed the blonde bimbo glaring at me. I smiled back.

"Hello, ladies," I greeted, grinning.

"What the hell was that?" The bimbo snapped.

"Tsk tsk," I reproached, my mood lifting at the crazy banter again. "That's no way to greet-"

"Look at you and look at me," she snapped, cutting me off. "People like you don't deserve niceties from people like me."

My gaze hardened and my smile got a renewed edge. If only she knew.

"Watch your mouth, slut," I snapped back. The girls around us - five, I counted, apart from the bimbo- let out a collective gasp.

"What did you just call me?!" She demanded in a high-pitched voice.

"Get an appointment with an ENT specialist first, then we'll talk."

"What the hell?!" She cried frustrated. I rolled my eyes. "Apologize!"

"Hon, obviously you don't know how it works," I started. "You insulted me, I insulted you, the score is even. We don't need apologies, not unless it's an olive branch which I doubt this is."

"Bitch!" She cursed. "You humiliated me in front of Lucian!"

"What?" I asked, genuinely puzzled. I racked my brains. I didn't humilia- ohhhh. That tush push. The blonde Adonis. The screech. The whelp. The grunt.

I cracked up.

"That was you?" I asked in between laughs.

"You'll pay for that," she threatened.

I laughed harder.

It was so cliché, it was hilarious.

"Yup, sure I will," I mocked. "Now, can I leave?"

"This isn't a joke, mark my words," she tried again.

I curbed my laughter.

"Hon, next time you go fawning over guys, keep your butt to yourself or else it's gonna happen again," I smiled.

She glared.

"So, I don't owe you shit," I continued, "Also, your welcome. At least you got to sit in his lap! Ain't that what you wanted all along?" I smiled a sickly sweet smile, batting my eyelashes.

"I'd say you owe me," I went on, highly motivated by her red face, "But it's fine. Just this one time, I say it's on the house."

I winked and pushed my way through to the door, flinging it open.

"It was a pleasure," I called back into the silent washroom triumphantly and slammed the door shut, smiling maniacally.

I found Freya while I was in the same state a while later near my locker. She had hers across from mine.

"What's with the smile?" She asked me, greeting me with her own when I went over to say hi.

"Oh, that?" I asked, chuckling. "A stupid cheerleader just tried to intimidate me in the washrooms during lunch and well she failed spectacularly."

Freya smiled back, evidently amused.

"Seems so," she commented. "What did you do to provoke her?"

"Haha, that's even funnier," I laughed.

"Do tell," she played along.

"I pushed her by the butt into some Laurent's lap," I told her. Her eyes widened.

"You pushed Taylor into Lucian's lap?" She asked, her eyes wide and alight with laughter.

"Yeah, I don't know, it was a blonde cheerleader girl and this blonde boy so maybe yes," I babbled. "Why?"

"Oh, this is gold. She's had a crush on him for ages. She has been dropping hints that even a blind man can spot and yet he's never even asked her to a date," she wheezed. "Not to mention, she attacks any girl within a five-foot radius of him like a freaking shark."

"That'll explain why she atta- I mean cornered me. He sat beside me in AP Lit. second period, " I mused.

"He what?" She laughed harder.

"Yeah, I was sleeping through the class so I don't even know the half of it myself."

"You're something else," she offered me a friendly grin.

"I know," I flipped my hair back dramatically. We laughed.

"Who do you have for that period?"

"Mr. McQueen."

"I'm in that class too . . . I didn't notice you."

"I was sleeping," I reminded her with a shrug.

"Oh yeah." She shook her head.

We exchanged numbers quickly. Upon comparing our schedules, we decided to meet in PE.

Taking a deep breath and feeling much more like myself, I walked myself to my next class.

********************

I walked to gym happily. It was the one class I actually enjoyed. Though the day had worn me out and the sun was shining so it was hot, I didn't mind. I changed into my gym clothes in the locker room- A back spandex with teal wines and a teal tank top.

I was standing with Freya who was dressed similarly. Most of the other girls took this time to wear short shorts. It would've been alright had they not been trying to gain male attention via silly tactics like giggling and batting their eyelashes.

Freya and I sighed in disgust almost simultaneously, making us smile.

"Nice to see a girl who has her head on her shoulders," she complimented.

"Likewise."

"You look like you work out a lot," she remarked. I shook my head.

"I am sort of a freak when it comes to maintaining my body," I admitted bashfully. "It's a rather good time pass too."

Her lips twitched up.

"You don't have to explain," she teased. I shrugged my shoulders and let it drop.

We fell into another silence. It was comfortable. I noticed she didn't like speaking much.

I couldn't help but see that despite me being tall enough, she towered over me easily by around 2-3 inches. I sighed inwardly. Five-seven wasn't that tall enough, after all.

Mr. Lockhart, our gym teacher, finally announced that we would be playing badminton doubles - boys vs girls. That's when I noticed that the huge gymnasium was marked temporarily into courts and nets were set up with help of various supports.

"Team up, get yourselves rackets, shuttlecocks, and get going!" He commanded, dispersing us. Without a second thought, Freya and I teamed together.

"How good are you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Not too good," she admitted. I sighed.

"We can change teams if you want," she offered halfheartedly.

"Nah, it's fine I'm good," I smiled at her. She gave me a relieved smile back.

We occupied one side of the court once we managed to get the equipment, waiting for our opponents. A few groups of girls were waiting on the sidelines since the class had more girls than boys for once. We were one of the only three groups waiting for opponents on the court.

When they did come, it was a pair of brunette-haired boys. Both of them were over six feet and almost the same height. Whereas one looked sweet, the other looked mischievous.

"I'm Alexander," the mischievous-looking one introduced.

"Isabelle," I nodded.

"Freya." She introduced herself cautiously.

"Nicholas," the other one introduced.

With that out of the way, we settled for a game of 10 points. Actually, the coach told us, but eh, who cared?

One tiny problem, though. Our dear Alexander had the nerve to scoff when he accessed us before the game. When we wished them luck he scoffed yet again, saying, quote, 'we don't need luck to win against barbies'. Nicholas just stood there, sometimes smiling sometimes looking embarrassed.

Being the competitive bitch I was, I smirked and decided to accept the challenge.

"Let's make things interesting," he proposed with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I'm listening," I urged him.

"The losing team has to do one thing the winner team asks them to," he said.

"Don't do it," Freya whispered. I ignored her.

"Deal," I extended my hand.

"Deal," he grinned impishly, shaking my hand.

"Play fair." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't cry when you lose." He retorted.

Well, this should be fun.

***********

Fun? How did I ever even think of associating that word to my never-ending stupidity?! 

Lord.

 I was positive my food was spiked! What was I thinking, challenging and going as far as betting against two evidently bulky and athletic-looking boys?! 

"The losing team has to do one thing the winner team asks them to," Alexander had said. I hadn't even considered it well. Freya had even tried to warn me. 

But nooooo. I had to go ahead and fucking jump off of a cliff.

A cliff of my impending doom.

And somehow I had managed to pull Freya into it as well.

"I'm honestly sorry, Frey," I apologized for the millionth time. 

The match was a close one, I admit. But in the end, it just wasn't close enough. We lost after several deuces, by a score of 17-15. Nicholas was well built but not a very good player. Alexander on the other hand . . . I hate to say, he almost crushed me. And while Nicholas wasn't as good as me, he was much better than Freya. 

I guessed when she said she wasn't a good player, she wasn't being modest, she was telling the truth. I would never make such guesses about people ever again.

And Alexander? Don't even get me started on that nincompoop. That smug smile on his fucking face when they had won . . . I'd kill to erase that memory from my mind forever. 

Brainless git.

'And who are we talking about here . . . him or yo-'

'I see you're ever-loyal!' I snapped at my conscience.

I swear if it wasn't a part of me, it would be so dead by now. Dead like . . . a hundred feet below the ground type of dead. And for the sin of it, I'd keep that soul to myself instead of letting Hades get to it. Just as a reminder of an evil I weeded out of my life.

"It's Freya," she told me sharply. "And please, don't talk to me. Do me a favor and stay away."

Her words cut like a knife. I wasn't looking for a friend particularly but I'd sort of begun thinking that she might make a great one. I just thought we clicked.

"But-" I began protesting weakly.

She held her hand up, silencing me.

"I don't want to do anything rash like you did not an hour ago," she sighed and I winced, opening my mouth. "Let me speak." She interrupted. I nodded. "I was always a loner for a reason, I like staying out of trouble. Especially hormonal and impulsive and egoistical trouble. And then you came by, I thought maybe for once someone was normal but you just had to go ahead and cover your true self and surprise the heck out of me. I'm not ready for this. You may be a great person, but I am not ready for this."

I hung my head in shame.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"I . . . I don't know what to say," she spoke.

"Maybe try 'I forgive you, let's start over'?" I suggested hopefully. She gave me a flat look.

"It was worth a try," I muttered under my breath.

"How about this . . . I'll try to talk these boys out of it and see how it goes? Will you forgive me then?"

She sighed.

"You don't get it, it's not about you getting rid of the trouble, it's not even you getting me in it in the first place. Okay, maybe a little. But try to understand. They are boys, Isabelle. Teenage, hormonal boys. They can be very manipulative and insensitive. We played right into their hands. I'm worried for not just me but for the both of us." She explained.

"Oh," I said stupidly. To me, it was all just that- a bet. I'd had multiple of them while playing with other friends. It just made things interesting. In fact, I don't remember a single person I'd played with but not bet on the outcome.

But then, not even half of them were teenage boys . . . and if they were, they were so intimidated by Jake, they had never dared to try anything funny.

But now there was no Jake to scare the boys off anything drastic.

A shiver ran down my spine. 

"Exactly," Freya commented, noticing it.

"I'm-"

"-Sorry, I know. Never mind. It's no use crying over spilled milk. We need a solution."

"Let's see what they say first," I argued. "Then we'll see. Maybe it's not too bad?"

"Maybe," she hedged the possibility. "Don't get your hopes up though. Anyways, I have to go. Bye."

"See you tomorrow?" I asked.

She merely nodded and drove off.

The fact that I was standing in the almost empty parking lot bought me to my senses and I climbed into my own car and drove off rather ruefully.

************

Half an hour later I pulled up in my garage beside Jacob's white Porsche SUV, fighting the urge to slam the door to my Maserati really hard. But I held back. Couldn't have another disaster.

Not that thinking like that has been helping so far.

I stormed into the backyard, kicking stray pebbles along the way. I was an inch away from blowing up.

Being woken up with a bucket of ice-cold water, feeling hot - the warm hot - all day because of stupid clothing choice, being threatened by a bimbo, laughed at by an Adonis, or being talked into a bet by the devil spawns.

In their defense, not much talking into had to be done. I'd practically walked into a trap that didn't even exist until I had managed to walk into it.

Urgh.

I needed a distraction.

I stomped into the house, quickly hanging my keys up and getting rid of the excess dirt outside on my shoes outside on the porch.

"Jacob!" I hollered.

"In the living room," he called, much quieter than me.

"Whoa, what pissed in your coffee this morning?" He asked when he caught my sight.

I sent him a flat look. He held his hands up defensively, putting his phone away.

"How can I help you?" He asked courteously. I rolled my eyes.

"Have you managed to go down to that club and get me a membership?" I asked, getting straight to the point. My leg jumped up and down restlessly.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did," he told me smiling.

"Great, I'll get going then," I turned around.

"Shower and eat something first," he told me.

"I'm fine, I'll shower after the club. As for eating, I've got no appetite," I shouted over my shoulder as I skipped up the stairs.

"That's a lie and you know it," he shouted back.

I scowled. I didn't answer that. It was true though, I was hungry. With just an apple for breakfast and a pathetic excuse of a pizza in the cafeteria for lunch, I was positively famished. I made a mental note to get something light to eat on my way to the club.

The club. That was my release. Why?

Because, what better way is there to distract yourself from a mess you made than by channeling your frustrations into hitting tennis balls across the court?

___________________________________________________________

{30th March 2021}

___________________________________________________________

A/N

Well, well will you look at that? A double update! Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves so far! If you are, don't forget to add this book to your library for regular updates.

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