VIOLET'S POV

The week started like any other, but final exams around the corner made things tough. Lucky enough to work less hours at the restaurant ,both Nick and I studied very hard for the upcoming exams.

It was past four in the afternoon, I got home from work before Nick and stretched on the couch as usual, my shoes tucked in my feet, as they dangled at the other end of the couch. I yawned and exhaled after a doze of sleep, too short for a nap.

"hey, you coming back anytime soon?... " i text Nick. 35 seconds later ,the reply came in.

"at the subway….be there in 20"

The coffee maker started brewing while checked the empty fridge for some miracle which didnt happen.

‘’hey whats up?" i tucked my phone between my shoulder and left ear.

She huffed to my ears "am just tired of studying gurl its feels like garbage and thrash" Jade cursed.

I chortled and repeated ‘garbage and thrash’. Jade says that like a million times everyday to anybody's face and gets away with it, followed by eyes roll and a quick scowl like you just did the most disgusting stuff of  all time and the universe cant stand you no more even if you didnt. I smiled at the visual of her doing that now.

"You gotta study girl... How is Carla? " i said.

"Oh She is fine...i just feel like stuck in a cave, like everybody is fucking busy" she fussed and i knew she was asking for a hang out.

"Aww baby am soo sorry i wish we could hang out tonight but im kinda buried in books you know"

"Oh come on Vi u need to get some air dont you? " She urged and i could picture her sweet puppy face but i wasnt falling for it.

I exhaled into the phone, pouring coffee into a mug. "Okay, im not promising anything" i whined

"Fuck you"

"Fuck you too" i hung up,slouching back to the couch to watch tv.

Nick came in minutes later. "Hi! " he greeted as he dropped his keys. "rocking my new sweat shirt already? " he whined, sitting beside me.

a sip from my mug like that isnt worse than wearing his not-yet-worn-sweatshirt.

“had a long day? “ i asked,our attention both drifting to the million dollar heads or tails show.

“hectic” He said without looking at me,almost dismissively, and added like he suddenly remembers “met a blonde at the subway...we going out tonight” he smirked,now staring for response.

“Okay? “ i nodded, knowing he wants to hear more but what am i supposed to say?

“She is amazing Hazel" he adored, probably picturing her in his mind.

“Yes she is blue you met a buxom at the subway and she fell for your looks and you re probably taking her out because you think she is an easy lay right? “ i lectured, feeling sorry for miss buxom because she wont be kept beyond this night stand.

“Ohhh Geez Hazel you think thats all that goes on in my head?”

“yeah, give praise to ur looks and charm slut" i chuckled, kicking him with my feet.

“Okay... You can say all u want big head, i gotta go" he sneered, upset by my accusations for the umpteenth time.

“and thanks for finishing my cup of coffee gentle man" I sneered back but he couldn't hear me over the sound of the shower.

****************
Hours passed on as the night became illuminated with darkness and silence. I knew better than waiting up for Nick, he must be out there all over miss buxom.

I curled in my blanket shutting my eyes to sleep then the dreaded moment haunted again..
****************
That ugly darkness was still the same as I found myself Alost in the loathed woods. The whispers quickly began piercing my ears again, shooting through my heart series of endless quiz of the horrofic mystery.

My legs were too weak to carry my burden, and the helpless cries that pronounced my misery came back to my voice as its echoes engulfed the woods for a moment.

The dreadful cackling growl of the monster tortured my ears in response. I helplessly surged forward, maneauvering between rows of strange sycamore trees, the voice of the monster following my trail, as the wind ferociously swept the earth, and the dried leaves pricked out my blood.
I ran faster, deeper into the woods, the path was darker than ever, and I stumbled, yet meandered my way to the arms of irresistible freedom that was never within my reach.

Why do I keep running like this? Am I going to run forever?, the breathless sob that flowed freely from my heart depicted the horrible tortures that haunted my world.

I halted to a stop, gasping at the sight a man hung on the very tree that once held my swing as a kid. There was the urge to close my eyes and savour a moment to visualize the little sweet memories back then, but I didn’t, the visions of horror concealed that urge.
I walked carefully, crushing dead leaves as i circled the tree, memories flashing in blurs inside my head, I sensed something familiar about this man.

As I inched closer, the fear left my eyes, my heart melting as my eyes bore more painful tears that added to the torture. I held the dangling feet from the tree and pressed it soothingly next to my heart, savouring a brief moment of relief.
A sudden wave of fear struck me hard as the dreadful cackles of that monster tracked me down. I ran faster than my legs could carry and arrived at a carved opening, a mighty hill standing across, covered in oaks and elms.

The cackles zig zagged nearer to me, as I tried desperately to surge forward but failed. I realized that was the peak, so I submitted to what’ll make me stronger, if at all I escape its merciless claws that offered nothing but inevitable death. Embracing defeat, I turned around and faced my powerful enemy, the monster.
                
                   ***       ***       ***

‘’Hazel?’’

He seemed to be at the verge of tears, or maybe they were just sore and red from drinking, yet they held undeniable strength. His lips kept trembling, his voice cracking, followed by the rhythm of his heart beat. There were too many things he wanted to do, just to make me feel alright again.

I squeezed his shoulder as he held me closer to him. He leaned back and wiped the hair off my face, cupping my cheeks in his palms, he asked if I was alright for the 13th time. I let the tears flow once again, soaking his t-shirt as he gently rubbed my back to subdue the tears.

‘’I’m soo sorry Hazel, I really am, you re gonna be okay, I promise’’ his voice meant, he was worried sick but he wasn’t going to cry. He leaned back again, showing his blue eyes that affirmed his promise. The rays of the bright moon that lined across his face gave glitters to his eyes.

‘’why do I keep suffering through this blue? When is it gonna be over?’’ I sobbed tearfully,  fear clear in my voice.

‘’its going to be alright honey, blue is here for you’’ he whispered, breathing into my hair, as I kept sobbing.

‘’Ssshhhhhhh…….its gonna be fine’’ another whisper.

I stretched on my bed as he tucked me under the quilt and laid beside me, resting my head on his chest as his arms protected me. I quickly fell sound asleep listening to his heart beat and he ruffledd my hair longer than I can remember.

                      ***      ***    ***

‘’oh my God, blue can you just shut up and leave? I get it okay?, but I’m fine’’ I fussed between clenched teeth and rolled my eyes. It was too early to go through the ‘am gonna be fine’ routine with Nick after a rough night, but I can’t help it when he behaves like he is dealing with a five year old.

The last thing I want this morning is Nick Darell sitting next to me in class. The usual stuff I dread you know, the deadly glares from most of the bitches that could literally eat you up.

The hallway was busy with students doing the normal morning routine. I leaned against my locker as he stood inches away facing me, all concerned about me not having a bad day, emotionally.

‘’pleeease? Let me go, I’m in control and I can take care of myself” I whined, stamping my legs with the usual puppy face.

“Uh, uh, lets see how you can handle this morning, c’mon, you gonna be late for class, lets go” he decided, taking me by the arm.

‘’what am I, five?.....geez!” I punched his right arm as I shook free.

‘’awww…heyy…you gave me a sore arm last night and you re not even helping” he nursed his arm, scowling at me.

“I’m sorry blue, just stop worrying about me okay?, I’ll be fine’’ I rubbed his arms and pouted another puppy face. He hesitated for a while and then fell for the face.

“Truce?”

“Truce!”

We fist pumped and he deliberately rufffled my hair as I swatted his hands off while whining about how bad he had spoilt my hair do. He laughed as he jogged away, promising to check on me later.

I had two classes before noon, and another was scheduled for later. Walking down to the cafetria side by side with jade, I couldn’t help noticing this was the first time she had let the topic of a guy reign for more than five minutes.

“So what happenned next?” I asked, eager to hear the end story of Lincoln asking Jade out, doesn’t seem like he is getting ass-whooped.

“Nothing ‘amazing’ Vi”, she quoted the middle word in the air with a scowl, as if ‘amazing’ was just a fake word.

“So when I openned the door, he was standing with a handful of bouquet, visualize it, prince charming, 1857” she shrugged with her palms held up, rolling her eyes.

I chuckled at this statement and asked again “There you go again...so did he ask you out?”

“Ofcourse he did”

“And?”…

“And I turned him down”

Oh, oh…another guy just got ass whooped by jade again.

“c’mon jade, that guy is hot”…I almost hummed….”a ten” I mouthed,nodding towards her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes again.

“such an idiot” she said dismissively.

Typical of Jade.I chuckled over her denial. I knew she had a kinda thing for Lincoln from the way she talks about him with me, but she doesn’t want to admit, she paints a bad picture of him and asks you to imagine, and when you totally got it, she goes like…”aww…mehn, he is not as bad as you think’, coming to his defense.

It might be the first or second time she has feelings for a guy but she doesn’t want to admit she does and then she’ll let it go and be fine. No pretense. She is just scared of commitment.

‘’I just can’t picture being in a ‘relationship’….crap’’ she quoted in the air again, scoffed hard and chuckled with irritation.

We walked into the cafeteria and ordered burger with fries and soda.

‘’there you re….how is your day going?” I caught Nick’s voice, walking towards me.

“Never been better” I winked

“How better?, bluish or Hazelish?”

“uh, uh, its big time bruh” I winked

“That’s my girl” he teased my cheeks as I grinned goofily.

He glanced at Jade, who was standing beside me with her tray and just smiled and rolled her eyes at us.

“Oh hey Jade, whats up?”

“Am cool Nick, how re you?” she answered with a casual smile.

“Am good, you girls should come join our table over there” he gestured with his hands, collecting my tray.

Sitting at the Alpha’s table was every girl’s dream, not even the proudest girl in college or Jade, could say no, though I try avoiding it sometimes, Nick’s noisy friends and their clumsy chicks are not just my kind of people. There were just three of them today, his friends, plus Nick.  

“Guys, make space for Hazel and Jade, they re joining us” his friends cleared a space for two and we settled, after hellos and hi.

“Hey whats up Violet?” Edward greeted as he settled opposite me.

“Hi Eddie, long time no see” I smiled.

“Yeah…he keeps you away from us, you know” he shrugged, gesturing at Nick.

Mark and Clay nodded in agreement, throwing stares at him.

I chuckled at him sitting beside me, nudging at his ribs. He lets me hang out with his friends only when he is there but he is always looking ready to sprawl on them at any attempt to flirt.

“So we re arranging a trip to Vegas next weekend, you wanna come with us?” Eddie asked, throwing a skeptic glance at Nick, he knew it wasn’t going to work if Nick is not part of the trip.

“Jade, you wanna come with us?” Clay asked her, a flirtish look on his face.

“No” she pronounced without looking up from her cell. She would love to, if she wasn’t Jade.

‘’great….that’d be my…. I started.

“Back off Edward” the alpha’s growl warned, cutting me short

‘’whoah, whoah, see what I’m talking about” Eddie held up his hands, raising his brows at Clay while Mark was busy texting.

“C’mon Nick, its just…

“You re not going to Vegas Hazel” he interrupted me again, finalty in his tone as my face grew upset. His friends were no saints, but I doubt they ll mess with me with Alpha breathing down their necks all the time. I felt over protected.

‘’I mean not with these guys okay?” he softened a bit, reading the expression on my face.

“Okay” I sighed and wiped my mouth with a napkin.

“And guys, we gotta go” I stood up with jade following my lead.

“I’ll see you later, take care of yourself” Nick stood up, brushing the strand of hair from my face. I smiled and nodded at him, said goodbye to the guys and left with Jade. She was done with her classes for the day, so she left the school while I headed for the restroom.

I was done and about leaving the restroom when I heard three girls roughly bumped in with voices that were familiar to my ears, I figured it was Kylie’s clique.

“Oh my God has anyone talked to Kylie today, she missed seeing Alpha in those sexy joggers” the too-squeaky-to-be-girly-voiced Megan started the talk, pulling off her tank top.

“She damn loves to, that would ve made her feel better, called her earlier, she is having a bad hangover” Alexis replied trying to shade her lips, her voice was deeper, compared to Meg’s.

I quitely folded my legs on the toilet seat and silenced my phone. Come on people, you werent expecting me to leave and miss any of this scoop about my silly bestfriend and maybe me, along the story.

“Maybe she wouldn’t love to, with his bestfriend whining and clinging next to him all through the burgers and fries, I hate that girl, they cling to each other all day long and claim to be bestfriends” Tori chirped in, hers a normal pitch voice.

I stiffled a giggle and covered my mouth with my palm, muse in my eyes. I’m gonna love this conversation.

“I wonder what kind of best friendship they do, too committed and lovely to be ‘just friends’, but trust me they re, and I gotta confess, I envy them, that guy is every girl’s dream bestfriend and you cant deny it’’ Alexis confessed, and the two others fell silent.

They were breathing with envy and hatred for their lady boss, Kylie, and the smug smile crept onto my lips. She was the less loyal among them who attimes doesn’t tag along at Kylie’s tail but she gets bossed to some extent. Rumours have it that Alexis cant do away with Kylie even if she wants to because her Dad works under Kylie’s and owes him a chunk of money.
“Kylie just wants a relationship with Vivian out of the picture and I can’t imagine that possible….it’s a pity she can’t just get over him” Tori added.
“Come on he is too hot to just wake up one day and decide you re done with him” Meg argued, she has always been Nick’s biggest fan.

“But come on, she has dated other hot guys if not hotter, it’s just this stupid thing she has for him; love” Tori rolled her eyes.

‘’she seriously does I tell you, but she cant win him like this, hating the person he thinks as the most important in his life and showing it, and himself doesn’t escape her traps attimes” Alexis stated.

“Probably true, but that bitch needs to grow up and find some one for herself too, maybe they ll get less committed and focus on their relationships” Tori said.

“Need I remind you of how much he is being protective of her?, he doesn’t allow any guy flirt with her and no guy dares to, and you cant just get his mind off her” Alexis replied.

“Well, that’s stupid!” Tori muttered, busy with lipstick.

“Oh well, that wouldn’t have been stupid if you had a friend like that that could keep you away from your series of night stands and cheating with other people’s boyfriends, slut!” Alexis suddenly stirred with anger.

“Like its better than your claiming to be the ‘good girl’ and making the guys see us as hookers” Tori retorted, screaming into her face.

Alexis laughed with steaming anger and blasted before storming out “well, maybe its high time Kylie hears something”

Tori stood speechlessly and defeated as Meg stared at her puzzled. She grabbed her bag and also left, leaving Tori trying to catch her breath by the wash hand basin. She stood for a minute trying to text some one before she stormed out.

My shoulders remained sagged as I rested my chin on my hugged knees. I ended up feeling sad as their conversation wore off. I felt sorry and guilty about Kylie’s feelings for Nick. Maybe it’s high time we define our boundaries as friends and create time and space for other people into our lives. I knew how difficult it can be, but I decided am going to confront Nick with this. It just seems the only way out to move on.

A little tear dropped on my jeans as I imagined the boundary we would have to build, it was like concealing me from my own world and erasing the life my bestfriend has created for us. I wiped my face and read the message that silently beeped into my cell:

Nick:
Cant find you around, you good?, its chocolate cake this evening remember?, *excited…see you later,love you, muah!.

A chuckle and another tear stole an appearance at the same time; my bestfriend has it all, to the world he is just a person, but he’ll always be my world.
                   *** *** ***
I developed wet palms and curly toes as I grew nervous, trying to cope with Jade’s insisting idea of taking seats where I can be seen wearing Darell 10 jersey by those girls that think nobody deserves wearing it other than them according to her judgment.

“But I need to stay in the first row so I can give Nick some water during the half time” I had protested earlier that day.

“It musnt be you doing that job, bitches are dying to impress” she replied, pushing down the jersey on my shirt like I can’t escape wearing it right now.

“Come on Jade, but that’s the ritual” I argued.

“Fuck your rituals, let’s go” she dragged me by the arm and I exhaled in defeat.

The stadium was stirring with roaring crowd and the match was almost ending. If I knew a damn thing about football, I would have been equally worried by now that there were few minutes left and our college will be either losing or coming to a draw with the opponents if they don’t make it to two goals. I was getting bored already, and hoping we don’t lose when Nick made a shot into the goal and we all burst out shouting, standing on our heels. I squealed and jumped and high fived Jade next to me.

The stadium was lively again but nervous after thrown into moment of boredom earlier. There were hums of anthems to cheer the players and the cheer leaders assembled with drums, ready to sprawl when victory calls.
I can’t tell how long it took to earn another goal, but it seemed like forever as we counted down the minutes nervously. Nick Darell was lifted by the team as they ran round the field, celebrating their victory.

The stadium roared with unbelievable noise, waving flags and singing songs of victory. We high fived and fist pumped and we werent even sure if we were excited over winning or relieved at not losing. But it didn’t matter anyway, as I ran across the field into Nick’s arms. He spunned us around in a small circle, creating the wind that vigourously swept our faces.

I waited behind for him as the field grew almost empty. I sat admist the empty seats at the far end, tucking my ear piece to my ears and I almost wish I didn’t but I didn’t see that coming.
I suddenly felt a shadow around me and someone towering above me. I looked up to meet that same gaze of Kylie as I muffled a gasp and fidgeted in my seat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s note
Hmmmmmm….oh my God Kylie?....well, let’s just hope Hazel is safe….oh! Poor Hazel, I can see the look on her face….sniff….we ll get to find out in the next chapter coming soon.
I owe a token of gratitude to all my readers who have inspired me through writing these recent chapters. I mean with the reads and votes and wonderful comments growing everyday, I can’t help keeping my pen away from me…..*hands covered in ink…who wants a handshake? Lols!
Dedicated to everyone! , thank you soo much guys, I love you to the moon and freaking way back!....lets make this happen, cant wait to see your inspiring comments and your votes will stretch a smile on my face. Happy reading!.
Love,
Lil harphs.