~ But nothing makes a room feel emptier than wanting someone in it. ~

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Important Note:
1. The chapter which was previously marked as Chapter 12 is a part of CHAPTER 7 now. The CURRENT CHAPTER 12 was previously marked as Chapter 19 (part I)). If there is still any confusion while reading, feel free to PM and ask away:)

2. A few changes have been made. Ricky has liked June for many years and it has been mentioned here. In the previous chapter (Ricky's POV), you read he had started seeing June differently only since a year back when he was dating Beatrice, a girl from the popular squad. I have edited that part already. Please do not get confused anymore.😊

                    
                          ***

I woke up today with a smile on my face. I sighed thinking about the interesting turn of events from last night. I cannot believe Ricky kissed me! A blush gnawed my face as I brushed my lower lip with my fingertip. I get off the bed, stretching out my limbs and letting out a yawn.

Truly, right now my head is hurting so bad that it feels like someone is whacking my head with a hammer. Despite struggling after every party through horrific hangovers, some might suggest that I have still not learned my lesson. But do we actually ever learn?

I hear groaning from across the room. Who is it? I step to the other side to see half-naked Naomi sprawled across the floor with her mouth hanging open. I giggle as I grab my camera and take a picture later to taunt her. The camera icon's clicking sound jolts her from her sleep awake and she sits up taking her surroundings in too quickly. When she realises the room in which she is, she gets up from the floor and tackles me making us both collapsed on the bed.

Widening my eyes in fake surprise, I say, "Please spare me. I am not Nick."

She smirks at me as her eyes gleam with mischief, ''Well, do you wish I was Ricky?" I open my mouth ready to defend myself against my best friend at 10:00 on a Saturday morning but I can't seem to find any words.

I won't mind waking up next to a sexy looking Ricky though.

"Cat got your tongue?" She asks raising her eyebrows at me. The ringing sound from my phone interrupts our conversation and I am so happy to escape the awkwardness and Naomi's morning interrogation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Naomi to death but I was still unwilling to share with her what happened last night between Ricky and me. I believe I should first be sorting things out with Ricky and making sure where we both stand. I mean I hope it doesn't affect his academics or other career decisions if he chooses to be with me.

Naomi almost hands me over the phone, but when she looks at the caller ID, she snatches it out of my hand and responds to the call.

"Hello, handsome." Attempting to sound as sexy as possible, she responds huskily.

I snicker at her attempt to make her sound seductive and her choice of victim. I'm not aware of the other side's answer but she is handing me back the phone back while incoherently muttering under her breath and slamming the door of the bathroom shut behind her.

''What did you say to upset her this bad early in the morning?"

"I just said how I feel sorry for her since last night Nick left the party without her," Ricky chuckles.

"No, you did not do that," I reply back surprised.

"You drank a lot towards the end of the party, J. Both Naomi and you were pretty wasted and I couldn't find Nick. Later, some guy informed me that he left for home early," he explains.

I pour myself a glass of water and down the entire contents in one go. I guess I was too thirsty. I was kinda hungry but just the thought of food made me feel bloated and want to throw up. Beginning to feel somewhat nauseous, I lean against the headboard on a pillow on my back.

"I am starting to feel a little sick. How about I call you back later?" I ask.

"Yes, of course. Give me a call if you need anything," he says and hangs up.

Naomi emerges from the bathroom after a while with a towel wrapped around her head and another around her body. "Before you start with your lectures, I am very much wide awake and pissed at Nick," she explains. "I am going to find him, then kill him," she deadpanned.

I snort at her idea to try to murder her boyfriend but I let her rant anyway. She leaves the house in a rush and waves me goodbye.

I doze off shortly after and I'm startled by the doorbell ringing. I rub my eyes slowly trying to get the sleep off as I stifle a yawn and check the time on my phone. It's already one in the afternoon and my stomach growls loudly demanding food.

The doorbell goes off again and I wonder who on a Saturday afternoon could that be. I take my time to go down the stairs and head to the front entrance, not before I take a quick detour to the kitchen, grabbing a snicker along the way and munching on it rather unattractively. Next, I glance through the peephole and see Ricky standing outside.

Why didn't he just take the spare key from under the flower pot and enter the house?

With an exasperated sigh, I open the door and eye Ricky. "Why didn't you just use the spare key?" I asked. "You made me climb down two flights of stairs just to unlock the front door for you," I grumpily added.

He ruffles the top of my hair treating me like a kid and walks into the kitchen inside the house. I follow closely behind him and find that he places a lunch box on the kitchen counter as he takes a bowl and a spoon out from one of the cabinets. He instructs me to sit on one of the stools and he serves some soup in the bowl from the lunch box.

"My mother made some chicken noodle soup for you since she heard you weren't well. Although it is a popular remedy for the flu, it is still helpful for hangovers. It helps you to rehydrate mostly due to its high sodium content," he explains. Mrs Collins is always so caring and thoughtful.

Only if my mother was this thoughtful.

"Thank her from my side and give her my regards," I replied gratefully.

He takes a spoonful of soup and blows some air to cool it down a little bit before bringing the spoon up to my mouth. I finish the soup in no time and start feeling a little energised instantly. I hear a beep from my cell, and unlocking it I scroll down the notification panel to check. It was a message from the language Professor Mr Daigo.

From: Prof. Daigo

Good afternoon June. Hope you're good. This is to inform you that for the assignment you turned in last week you will not be awarded any points, as you have failed to tutor Mr Alexander Heart. Helping your peers also helps you gain bonus points, so if you fail to perform a job that you are directly assigned to, then the school is very strict and takes some drastic measures. If there are any queries, please meet me at school on Monday or you can always talk it out with Alexander. The latter would be a wiser choice.

I am fuming after reading the last line of the message. The nerve of this old guy. Ricky peers at my screen to have a closer look at the message and furrows his brows his confusion.

"Why didn't you tutor him in June? You cannot afford to lose marks this way."

I groan in annoyance and place my head on the kitchen counter feeling the cold granite pressed against my left cheek. "He tricked me into tutoring him, Ricky!" I exclaim.

"He was the one disturbing me during class and then when professor Daigo wanted to know the reason behind our lack of concentration, Alex claimed he was having trouble following with the rest of the class. Long story short, professor Daigo mistook me as his good friend and voila I am to tutor him until midterm."

Ricky laughs after I am done with my rant. "Why didn't you tutor him then? You can do it twice or thrice in a week. Simple." I look at my best friend like he has grown three heads.

"Are you hearing yourself?" I ask in disbelief. "I am not comfortable being near him. He just gives off the wrong vibe, ya know."

"Is it because of the way he behaved with you on the first day of school?" he asks softly.

I nod and try to find the right choice of words to explain him. "I feel like he is hiding something really big. I don't know what but he screams trouble, at least to me. Moreover, I have forgotten the countless times he approached me over the past two months only to get ignored."

At that, Ricky smiles at me shaking his head. "You are overthinking babe. I am sure there is no harm in being his friend."

My heart skips a beat at his endearment. I wasn't absolutely sure about being Alexander's friend, I will at least try to be civil with him for Ricky's sake. Even though both Ricky and I have successfully skipped talking about what happened last night for now but I did know it'll be brought up sooner or later.

I will deal with it at the right time.

                          ***

The next day I was surprised when I saw Alexander's empty seat next to mine. He never misses his language class. Shrugging it off I take my seat and try to focus on Professor Daigo's lecture. Once in a while, he glances at me giving me a knowing look like if I have received his intimidating text message which almost sounded like a threat two days back. I mentally snort at his attitude.

When only the last ten minutes of the class was left, the door suddenly swung open and there stood a very messy looking Alexander at the door. Professor Daigo eyes him probably displeased with his attitude but nonetheless allows him to enter the classroom. He plops down on his seat next to me and stares straight ahead.

"Hey, where were you?'' I ask him. "You are never late for class."

"Why do you care?" he snaps. I observe the side of his jaw ticking and his hand was balled into a tight fist, his knuckles almost turning white from the immense pressure. I was confused by his sudden change in attitude but shrugged it off thinking he might be just having a bad morning.

"I just thought I should ask,'' I reply nonchalantly and turn my focus back to Professor Daigo.

From my peripheral vision, I see Alexander turn slightly towards me like he wants to say something but before I know it, the sound of a chair scraping against the tiled floor makes me whip my head towards my right and I frown as I see the retreating back of Alexander leave the classroom hurriedly.

Professor Daigo calls after him but apparently, he did not pay any heed to the teacher's calling and doesn't head back to class again. Professor Daigo asks me to stay back after class so that he can have a talk with me.

"June I really expect a lot from you, especially in this subject. I do not care regarding your interests in other subjects but you are not allowed to slack behind in this class," he says while taking his spectacles off and rubbing the glasses with a handkerchief.

I smile sheepishly at him and nod my head in understanding. He observes me for a few seconds before he puts the spectacles back on and clears his throat.

"Why didn't you tutor Alexander for the last two months? I hope you have a good reason to justify your actions, Miss Morrison."

Fuck! What do I tell him? That I got creepy being around Alexander so decided to ditch the tutoring sessions but then again, he didn't have to be a snob about it and complain to the professor.

"My reason is kind of personal and I am not comfortable telling it out loud," I reply back.

"I sincerely apologize for disobeying your instructions but I promise there won't be a second time.'' He seems satisfied with my response as he scratches his beard and contemplates if I was really telling the truth and not bluffing. After much procrastination, he sends me off asking to start tutoring Alexander immediately.

I spot Alexander near the lockers standing next to his friend I met in the car one time but still didn't get his name. Standing next to both of them was none other than Amber. Just the sight of that little vixen makes me want to strangle the life out of her! Determined not to let her words get to me like last time, I marched towards the three of them. His friend is the first one to notice me and waves at me like a long lost friend.

"Hi, June. How are you doing today?" He asks.

I give out an awkward smile cause it feels weird not knowing some one's name when they already seem to know yours. ''Hey! I am- "

"What does she want now?'' Amber's high pitched voice interrupts me as she eyes me scornfully.

I snap back at her almost instantly. ''Last time I checked your father does not own this school so why don't you shut your trap and fuck off!"

"Girls stop trying to start a catfight here," Alexander's friend tries to simmer down the suddenly heated argument between Amber and I. I ignored Amber's presence and spoke to Alexander instead.

"When are you free for tutoring lessons? Let's exchange our numbers and then you can let me know by tonight. Sounds good?'' I question him.

"Since when did you start to tutor other students?" Amber asks in disbelief.

"I mean if I were you -" she looks at Alexander and then stares at me with total contempt. "I'd rather fail than subject then go to Miss Pathetic Morrison for tutoring me."

Ouch! Okay, she just hit a nerve right there. I am pretty much aware of my place amongst my classmates when it comes to academics but she didn't have to portray it in a way as if I am some sort of lost cause. Besides, I have always managed to ace my language subject thanks to binge-watching too much anime and picking up bits of the language eventually.

"Weren't the boys of this school not up to your standard?'' I ask her meekly.

"Two new guys are here and you have already disposed your morals out of the window and cannot wait to showcase that disgusting cunt of yours to them, eh?" I spat gesturing quotation marks with my fingers in the air.

"That's enough already, " Alexander's snappy voice breaks us apart. Turning towards me he grabs the phone from my hand and puts his number. After giving himself a call from mine, he goes about to save my number before handing me back my phone.

"I will let you know about the timings soon," he informs me. 

"Also, you should not act like the entire world revolves around you and you can say people whatever you feel like." I glare back at him angrily.

Is this guy for real?

Two days back he defended me against Amber and now when I fought back instead of expecting him to intervene and send her way, he shifts the blame on me.

Motherfucking hypocrite!

If it wasn't for Ricky talking me into this, I would have never given this idiot the time of the day. Moreover, I do not want to associate much with bipolar people. Someone definitely shoved something up his arse, no wonder he seems to be in a mood.

"You know what? Forget it." I snap at him and storm off towards my next class.

                            ***

It's been a few weeks and Alexander has hardly spoken to me yet except for asking help for clarifying his doubts which he did since he did not have any other option. The one-hour tutoring sessions thrice a week after school was exhausting to say the least, particularly when you are tutoring someone who seems hell-bent on keeping the interaction between you two to a minimum.

After the first two sessions, I lost it and thought about ditching this entire tutoring task but then again, I am in my last year and couldn't manage to lose my grades or at least, the ones I manage to bring. I am still in the dark because I haven't understood yet the sudden change in Alexander.

From an annoying cocky guy, he has turned to this person who gives me the cold shoulder almost all the time. It doesn't help much that Amber is always attached to his hip like his conjoined twin. So, not only do I have to tolerate Alexander's attitude but also turn a deaf ear to Amber's cruel remarks which she deliberately does to further add fuel to the fire.

As I was scrolling through my twitter account, I receive a text from Ricky.

From: Ricky

Hey J! I am almost done with my basketball practice for today cause Coach needs to leave due to an emergency. Are you done with your tutoring? Let me know.

I let out a groan as I eye the time wearily on the clock hung on the wall. It's already been half an hour and Alexander is still not here.

Is he even going to come?

As much as the idea of leaving school with Ricky was a hundred times more appealing than tutoring Mr Grumpy Ass, I decided otherwise and sent a quick text back to Ricky asking him to leave without me.

The door swung open and Alexander walks in like he owns the place.

"Where the hell were you?" I inquired with a not-so-polite tone. ''I have been waiting here for more than half an hour."

He does not respond but stares back at me with a blank expression. My patience was wearing thin already and because of imploding my emotions all these days, I was pretty sure if I don't leave the classroom this instant, I will explode soon. I gathered my books and other belongings, packed them and slid off from the seat to leave.

Just as I placed my hand on the doorknob, all of a sudden he grabs my wrist and pulls me back with such force that if I didn't grip the collar of his shirt tightly, I was pretty sure my body would have flown across to the other side of the classroom.

He grips my wrist and tilts my chin upwards, forcing me to look at his face. I avert my eyes in disgust and try to push him off with all my strength but he doesn't even budge. Not even a bit.

Is he made of rock?

"Stop holding back," he says gritting his teeth.

''Let me go you psycho! What is it that you want from me?" I spit venomously. He lets out an evil laugh and tsk'd at me.

"Go ahead, give it your best but you are not leaving this classroom unless I allow you to," The look in his eyes was insane.

He looked nothing like the annoying guy I have become used to in the last three months. This person in front of me was a stranger who is freaking me out with his menacing look and his pursed lips.

"Am I interrupting something?''

I felt my breath caught in my throat as I heard that familiar voice. I did not have the heart to turn around and face him when Alexander gripped my waist tighter than before. I knew how wrong this must look to other people on so many levels. It's almost like I have been caught in a compromising position cheating on the guy I claimed to have loved.

I shove Alexander away forcefully with my new found strength and he takes a few steps back raising his hands in surrender.

"Why don't you ask June yourself if you actually interrupted something important?'' He smirks at Ricky.

Oh no. Alexander is going to freaking ruin everything.

I whip my head towards Ricky and my heart clenches at the defeated look on his face. "Ricky I swear nothing happened here. I mean it. You have to- "

"Save it June. I just thought the girl I have been in love with since eighth grade is going to be different. Thank you for proving today how delusional I was about everything. About us. "

Shaking his head in disappointment, he leaves immediately without another word.

My world comes to a standstill as I process everything that has happened in the last two minutes. This wasn't fair. I finally let Ricky learn about my true feelings after procrastinating for years. And Alexander ruined all of it. I wanted to cry so bad but I wasn't able to swallow the big lump in my throat. My eyes welled up with tears and I knew soon I will be bawling my eyes out.

"How does it feel getting a taste of your own medicine?'' Alexander questions with a sinister smile on his face.

I have no idea what he was on about but he did not have to take avenge this way. I just wanted to stay away from him.

Was it that big of a crime?

I despise myself for trying to help you out, Alexander. I hope someday you are hurt the same way you have hurt me today.

[At that moment, little did June know that Alexander has been hurting for over a century and the cause of his broken heart was no one but her.]

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~XOXO

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