Another update? HELL YASS!
BUT- before you guys read the chapter, I have a little surprise for you all! So don't miss out the authors note towards the end of the chapter!

Happy Reading!

Chapter IX

There are times in life when you experience such a wide range of emotions that you get confused as to what you're feeling.

I was experiencing that right now. Confusion, shock, uncertainty, irritation, incredulity and a mixture of ten other emotions swirled inside me as I watched people look at one another, either trying to find who the girl was or trying to find me, if they knew who I was.

My jaw was practically grazing the floor. However, the first question that popped into my mind was- how did he know my last name?

As confused as I was, I couldn't ignore the tiny feeling of giddiness that was wriggling through as I looked at Lindsay. Her plan had backfired and I couldn't be happier.

But keeping that aside, I really didn't want a kiss from Adrian. I was happy enough seeing Lindsay's enraged face. I didn't want her plotting my murder with her groupies next.

I looked over at Adrian, who stood there looking pleased with himself. If he thought that I was going to simply comply with this plan of his, he was so wrong.

I rolled my eyes and simply stepped back and sat down on the chair nearby, crossing my arms. No one from the audience could see me and those who could, I doubted more than a few knew that it was my name. And I was more than sure than Lindsay would never do anything that would make me do remotely anything within five feet from Adrian.

I hoped that my lack of presence on stage would prompt everyone to make him draw another slip. As much as I was against Lindsay succeeding with her plan, I realised that it didn't matter as much as it did a couple of minutes before. She knew I had the upper hand now and if I chose to not go on stage, it would mean that I was letting her succeed in doing whatever she had planned.

Not the other way around.

And this thought sent a wave of satisfaction, easing my mind. I particularly didn't care if Adrian kissed her or anyone for that matter. I didn't really feel anything for the guy aside from admiration towards his work.

He should've known better than to announce my name. If he thought I would comply this easily, he was in for a surprise.

I snorted at the thought and relaxed into my chair watching as his smirk slowly started fading. He looked confused and turned towards where I was sitting. Surprise crossed his features as he saw me sitting on the chair with crossed arms.

I raised an eyebrow in return, clearly indicating that I did hear him but I wasn't going to fall into his trap. He narrowed his eyes in return, his expressions told me that he was thinking hard.

He couldn't really drag me out to the stage and there wasn't anyone who was going to do that either. I watched as minutes flew by before Keith awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Since no one is coming up, let's draw out another name. Adrian, please do the honours," he spoke into the mic, making me grin with satisfaction. Adrian turned to look at Keith in surprise. He looked at the audience and the media people, probably realising that his late reaction might stir questions.

He seemed to have left with no choice as he grumbled something under his breath before hesitantly putting his hand back in the bowl and shuffling the slips inside as if doing that would change the one name that was in all of them.

He took out the slip, trying to delay as much as possible before the inevitable happened. He cleared his throat and reluctantly grabbed the mic Keith offered him. You could practically see that he didn't want to do this.

I turned to see a very excited Lindsay eager to run up the stage. Though I could still make out the irritation with her tense jaw and a little rigid posture, her anticipation was taking over.

"Lindsay Carlton," Adrian announced, not sounding the least bit happy about the outcome.

He warily eyed Lindsay who let out a very high pitched shriek, letting the whole auditorium know that it was her name. She quickly climbed the stage, not wasting even a single second. She paused for a bit, letting her eyes roam all across the room, basking the envied glares and jealous looks being shot at her.

I rolled my eyes.

She was still in her dance outfit but somehow the same outfit now was looking a bit shorter. What did she think? Making her outfit shorter wasn't going to make him fall right into her arms. Plus, I bet he'd seen much more beautiful celebrities up close and exposing another inch of skin wasn't going to faze him.

Or maybe it could. Who knew? He was a guy with hormones, after all.

Once she was done enjoying the attention, her gaze landed on Adrian. Her eyes reflected a predatory look and her slow, seductive steps towards him a little creepy. Or maybe I was being a little to biased because she was my arch nemesis, however Adrian didn't look too comfortable under her scrutiny either.

I swear I almost saw him take a small step back.

She was about five feet away when I saw someone rushing onto the stage from behind her. It was Josh. He headed straight towards where Keith was and before Lindsay could pounce on Adrian, he spoke-

"I'm sorry guys but its time for a short break. We'll be continuing this after half an hour. So stay tuned, people!" He announced, his eyes looking frantic while his composure stayed calm.

It was kind of evident that Josh had done this to buy time for us to figure out things.

If there was one person who looked absolutely relieved by the announcement, it was Adrian. He looked so happy that if he wasn't on the stage and in front of so many people, I could practically imagine him tackling Josh into a hug.

Lindsay, on the other hand, looked ready to kill. She was close to resembling a tomato and I had a feeling that that wasn't because of embarrassment. I almost wanted to let out a big whoop because I was absolutely loving Lindsay's livid expression, which she was trying very hard to disguise.

Though, I still didn't know if this break was a good thing or not, for me.

I guess I got my answer when I saw Adrian back away slowly. The problem wasn't him backing away (to be honest, anyone would- given Lindsay's expression) but he was heading towards where I was sitting. And he was supposed to exit from the other side.

The worst part, there wasn't anyone here to save me from the oncoming disaster.

This part of the backstage was nearly deserted. The moment I realised that, I shot up from the chair I was sitting in, scanning the closest route of escape. I needed to get out of here before Adrian got a hold of me because I had a feeling that he wasn't interested in exchanging pleasantries.

I eyed the door on my left. I think it was the door connected to the ground outside. I jumped at the thought of escaping for the whole break. I could always come back after the break was over. I grinned at that thought.

With that in mind, I quickly made a run for the door. It was a couple of feet away, hidden in the shadows of the huge wall that marked the end of the stage. I briefly turned back to see that Adrian was near the chair where  was previously sitting. He looked around a little before catching my eye.

Uh-oh

I quickly grabbed the door handle, trying to pull it with all my strength. It took a couple of hard tugs but I finally managed to pull it open. A fresh breeze hit me in the face, the feeling of freedom making me happy. But that happiness was short lived since the moment I tried to step out, the door was pushed shut because of sudden force.

A hand on the door was preventing me from pulling the door back open.

"I don't think so."

The familiar voice made me groan as I realised that I was doomed. I gave up tugging at the door and slowly turned to face the cause of obstruction who stood there smirking.

His eyes glimmered in the light while a few strands of his hair fell on his forehead. He was good looking, there wasn't a doubt about it. But this good looking fellow was about to be the reason behind my doom.

Why did I think I could escape?

"What do you want?" I asked, slumping in defeat.

"What do I want? Well, how about starting off with clearing the mess you made?"

"I didn't create the mess," I lamely countered back.

"Well, you sure are a part of the reason why all this is happening," he replied, raising an eyebrow.

As much as he was right about this, I was going to stand my ground. Even though I knew I wasn't going to win this argument but oh well, it was still worth a try to save my dignity.

"Technically, it's not reall-" I started but Adrian cut me off.

"You're supposed to be in-charge of me during my stay in your school. And you let something like this happen on your watch. Do you have any idea what would happen if my management gets to know that all this isn't scripted?" Adrian asked, making my cheeks go red with embarrassment.

He was right. And boy did I hate the fact.

"So what do you want me to do?" I blurted, which, after a split second, I realised wasn't an intelligent thing to say.

He smirked and I groaned. I knew the expression on his face all to well to know that it was the wrong thing to say.

"Please don't ask me to go on the stage!" I almost begged.

Almost.

He shrugged. "Then figure out a way for me to avoid having to kiss that girl- Lindsay," he answered.

"You know you can kiss her hand. There wasn't anything that said that you need to make out with her," I offered, hoping he took the bait.

"Nope. I don't know if her hands have touched anything that they shouldn't have. So I'm not taking the risk," he simply replied.

"What about her cheek?"

"Do you really think that she'll simply let me kiss her cheek?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"You never know," I replied, knowing fully how weak my answer was.

"The look on her face said otherwise," he said, his expression knowing.

I pressed my lips in a thin line, wracking my brain for another solution.

"How about drawing another name? I can lock Lindsay away for the time being and you can fish out another name? I can even give you a nice person's name to call out!" I offered the idea, hopefully.

His deadpan look crushed that hope in a millisecond.

"And what reason would you give for her absence?" He asked.

"That she had an emergency and had to go home?" I answered even though I could practically hear the lameness in my own voice.

"How would you get her off the stage without anyone noticing?" He asked pointing towards the stage where her posse sat surrounding her. Knowing her, she wasn't going to get off that stage until she accomplished what she came to do, which in this case was, getting a kiss from the lovely Adrian Carter.

This time, I didn't bother to hide my groan of annoyance.

"Why don't you use your spectacular brain instead of grilling me?" I retorted, scowling.

"Sure but let's go somewhere else. Otherwise people are going to assume things on their own," he said and that when I realised how our position looked.

His hand was on the door and my back pressed against its frame with Adrian towering a little over me. To someone looking from the other side it may look like a compromising position.

My eyes widened and I quickly scurried away as Adrian watched me with amusement glinting in his eyes. I gritted my teeth in annoyance while my cheeks burned hot.

***

I was very, very close to clawing my brain out.

We were seated in the drama storeroom, where all the costumes and props of the Drama club were stored. The reason why we were sitting here in between a load of costumes and creepy looking props was because of Adrian.

Okay, I may or may not be blaming him because I was immensely agitated.

Apparently some of the girls managed to find out the green room where Adrian was supposed to be and sneaked in, despite the security guards so we had to escape from there without getting ambushed. The only place I could think of as a safe place was this room.

This room was generally kept locked and I was the only one (besides Principal Hamstring and our drama teacher) who had the keys to this room.

The other reason I was irked was because I wasn't able to think of any alternative without being shut down by Adrian one way or another.  And now there were only five minutes left for the break to end and if by that time I didn't come up with something, I was going to be in some really deep shit.

Either it was because my brain refused to function or because our superstar here wasn't being of any help but I was unable to think of any good alternative for Adrian's situation right now.

And the little guilt eating me up front he inside wasn't helping either.

"Was the second name really of Cassie?" I abruptly asked, diverting the topic in order to calm myself down a little.

"Nope," he simply answered while browsing his phone.

"Then how did you call her name out?" I asked, curious.

"I saw the girl who was already gearing up to get on the stage when I realised that the whole thing was completely rigged. Which is why I called out the name of the girl closest to the stage. Lucky for me, she had a name badge big enough for me to read," he explained, not even bothering to look up.

I wanted to smack his head so bad and I was almost going to do it but his head suddenly shot up, almost scaring me in the process.

He looked amused at my reaction.

"So I guess you're out of ideas, then," he commented, making me want to punch the smirk off his face.

"Well, you could certainly help," I gave him a flat look.

He shrugged. "My idea is simple. You come on stage and I'll pretend to pick a paper slip out of both your names for a fair chance and I'll simply say your name, no matter what the slip says."

"Why are you so hell bent on giving a kiss to me?" I asked, throwing my hands up in frustration, not understanding why I had to be the one on the receiving end here.

"With your reactions so far, you're the only one I know here whose not going to take advantage of it," he said nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

"There are so many other girls who won't do that! Why don't you pick any one else?!" I asked, exasperation oozing out of every word I spoke.

"Can you guarantee that the one who gets picked won't?" He asked, his tone challenging.

I hesitated.

Even though I could think of a few girls who would want this opportunity and weren't as crazy as Lindsay but how could I guarantee that they weren't going to take advantage of him?

Damn. He had an answer to everything and it was irking me to no end.

I was stuck. And Adrian knew that.

"But I still won't come on stage," I said, stubbornly crossing my arms.

Adrian sighed, rubbing his face in annoyance. "You know what, I really didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice," he said looking down.

I eyed him quizzically, confused as to where he was going with the conversation.

He looked up and straightened. Leaning back a little, he spoke,"Remember I've been trying to tell you something since I came?"

I looked at him puzzled. I wracked my brain and vaguely remembered him telling me that he had something to tell me before he forgot. He said it in the green room, I think.

I simply nodded, but not speaking a single word.

"Well, I have a message from William for you," he said, looking at me expectantly.

"Who?" I asked, even more confused.

Was it his friend or something? Did I know the person?

He closed his eyes for a moment, clenching his jaw a little. "Mr. Gilbert."

It took a moment for me to process but when I did, my eyes widened significantly. I slowly repeated his words in my head, trying to make sense. He had a message for me. From Mr. Gilbert. The world famous producer. One of the people I get my major inspiration from.

I couldn't believe my ears.

Immediately it was as if all the frustration inside me just oozed out. Excitement replacing it all as I waited for him to continue.

A ghost of a smile graced his lips as he looked at my eager expression.

"So what is the message?" I asked eagerly, unable to contain my abrupt excitement.

I could practically hear my heartbeat increase at the thought of Mr. Gilbert remembering me. I was flying on cloud 9 at the thought. Anticipation washed over me as I tried to think of what he could've wanted to tell me.

Did he like my acting?

Did he just want to give his good wishes?

Could I meet him at least once more?

All the possibilities clouded my mind, fogging any other rational thoughts from forming. I waited for Adrian to answer me. He paused, taking in my expectant expression before opening his mouth to speak.

"I won't tell you," he said, flatly.

And just like that, all my thoughts came crashing down. Way to ruin a good mood.

"But why?" I pouted, trying to make my best puppy dog face.

He snorted at that. "Not gonna work."

"Please?"

"There's just one condition. Come on stage and sort this out. I'll tell you, then," he said, leaning back comfortably.

My expression fell. I really, really didn't want to go up the stage because it would be creating more problems for me. Especially since I'd probably go up the numbers in the 'to kill' list in Lindsay's hands. And I really didn't want to spend my senior year watching my back and being cautious of her.

Not that I would just sit and take her blows.

But, if I didn't go, I would never know what Mr. Gilbert wanted me to know. And if it was something big, I know I'd be regretting it more than the alternative.

"Decide fast. We have to be back in two minutes," he said, checking his watch for the time.

I groaned, rubbing my face in frustration.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go on stage but then you will have to peck my hand. I'll even wash my hands before going," I said, hoping that he would agree to my offer.

"We'll see. Now let's go before they start looking for us," he said, getting up from where was sitting.

I followed suit. We made our way to the stage. I made a small stop to the washroom to wash my hands to satisfy him. I was almost tempted to rub my hands on the dust covered window panes in the washroom to spite him but I refrained. It took a lot of will power to stop myself.

Once we reached the stage, Josh came and asked us to stand on the side. He was going to announce the end of the break and then he was going to call Adrian out back on the stage.

Courtney had to go back because of something urgent so it was all on Adrian to handle the show now. Judging by Adrian's expressions he wasn't too happy with it but seemed okay so far. At least he wasn't complaining.

I guess he was used to it.

Keith was taken care of. Apparently Josh and his team had ambushed him the moment he got off the stage and locked him up in the gym storeroom. I kept in my laughter as I watched Josh shake with exasperation as he recalled the events.

Apparently he started to create a scene so much so that they literally had to drag him by his feet because he refused to get up from the floor. Poor Josh. I actually felt bad for him.

"So what are you going to do about Lindsay? Do you need me to do anything?" he asked, genuinely. I knew that he was as aware as I was about Lindsay's tendencies especially when it came to something she wanted.

"About that," Adrain started and explained the whole thing to Josh. Seeing how clearly Adrian explained it to Josh, it seemed as if he already knew that I was going to end up going on the stage with him. I scowled at the thought.

I should've wiped my hands on dust.

Speaking of the devil, he turned to me with a slight smirk which grew as he took in my displeased expression. "Ready to go Ms. Woods?"

I scoffed at him and marched right ahead, not bothering to see if he was following.

***

I watched as the crowd came back to life the moment Adrian stepped back on stage. It was as if they had been revived from the dead. If only they reacted like this during the Showcase.

Josh was still speaking and getting the crowd to settle down.

He was supposed to re-introduce Adrian and get the crowd pumped up and he was evidently doing a great job at that.

"Now, continuing with where we left things off, we might have a problem," Josh teased the crowd that was getting curious by the second. "We have two name drawn out and both the girls standing here, out of which only one girl will win the ultimate prize."

The crowd cheered.

"Let's ask both the lucky girls to come on stage. Can we have Addison Woods and Lindsay Carlton on stage, please?"

The crowd cheered but I could hear some 'boo's' here and there. Real mature.

I reluctantly went on stage, dragging my feet as slowly as I could. While Lindsay was already there, scowling and glaring at Josh, I took my sweet time to go and stand next to Josh.

"Why is she here?" Lindsay seethed, not raising her voice enough for the mic to catch.

"Are you really going to create a scene here, Lindsay?" I shot her a deadpanned look.

"Shut up, you bitch. Adrian is mine," she whisper-yelled at me, not wanting to embarrass herself by being loud.

"Stop being jealous, Lindsay. You can't help it if it was my name that was called," I teased, fully enjoying her pissed off face.

"You must have done something because he should've called out my name and not yours!"

"Are you admitting that you rigged this entire thing?" I smirked at her, making her falter a bit.

"Y-You little b-" she started, taking a dangerous step towards me. I was positive that she was going to pounce on me had it not been Adrian who interrupted us.

"Is there a problem, ladies?" he asked and thats when I noticed that Josh had already asked him to come forward and was now starting the second part of the plan.

I watched in amusement as her expression took a 180 degree turn. Her scowl dropped and was immediately replaced by a very sweet smile. Too sweet, actually. Her entire stance became more seductive, with one of her hands resting upon her tiny waist and the other one twirling a couple of strands of hair.

I held in the urge to snort.

Instead of focussing on her, I turned my attention to Josh.

The plan was very simple. It involved a little crowd manipulating. Once we were all on the stage, Josh was going to ask the crowd to choose who they wanted to see Adrian bestow a kiss upon. If in case the situation looked to be in favour of Lindsay, he was going to change the tactic, which might end up being the case, seeing that she was more popular than I was.

"Okay so now since we have a dilemma, we have two girls here. One is Addison, whose name was actually called out but since she was unaware of it, she missed the opportunity to claim her prize," he started and I wanted to snort so bad at the lie spilling out of his mouth.

It should've been something like '...Addison, who was unwillingly pushed and blackmailed into doing this,' I thought, rolling my eyes.

"And on the other hand we have Lindsay, who was the second one to be called," Josh paused for the dramatic effect and murmurs arose from the audience.

"The deciding factor stands with the audience now. We would like you all to decide who you want to choose as the winner," he paused again, letting his words sink in.

After a moment, he spoke," Now, its time. All those who want Lindsay, shout Lindsay in three, two and-" I didn't even get to hear the 'one' when a huge roar erupted through the audience.

I tried to keep my spirits high, trying my best not to get disheartened with the amount of people who shouted her name. I was almost ready to hear my heart shatter into pieces as Josh continued. It wasn't because I wanted to win this but I really didn't want my dignity to be shredded when barely anyone shouted my name. I was trying to imagine the humiliation I was about to suffer through.

Oh God! This was such a bad idea.

Lindsay seemed to be really satisfied with the response. She was practically beaming.

"Woah! Looks like Lindsay here has a lot of supporters. Now, its time for Addison! Is everyone ready?" he asked and only a part of the crowd cheered.

I could almost feel my cheeks start to burn. This was going to be an annihilation of my pride. No doubt. I slowly hid my face behind my fingers. I could not bear to see this.

"Three." What did I do to deserve this?

"Two." Bye dignity, it was nice knowing you.

"And-"

Then it came.

Another roar of cheer caught me off guard. I looked up from behind my fingers, really taken aback by how loud the crowd was. Something on my left caught my eye and I saw Sydney flailing her arms wildly while screaming my name. To her right was the Music club and beside them was the entire drama club shouting my name.

Even though the cheer wasn't more than Lindsay's, it wasn't much less either. And it touched my heart to see that there were people who supported me.

There were others in the crowd cheering for my name as well. Though their reason to cheer for me could be either that they hated Lindsay or liked me. Or it could be people just randomly shouting any name they wanted.

"Wow! Looks like this is going to be tough one," Josh commented. "Since it is hard to decide this this way, lets hear some suggestions from you all. How should we decide who should win?"

Random shouts were heard from the crowd, suggesting different methods.

"How about you forget her and just choose me?" Lindsay spoke, her tone low. She advanced towards Adrian who subtly stepped aside, not wanting to be within her reach. I tried my best not to laugh out loud and turned my attention back on Josh.

He was standing there encouraging the audience to shout answers. He let the audience shout out suggestions for a while before speaking. "Wow. There are some really good suggestions coming from all you guys. Now let's see what our guest of honour has to say," he said, offering the mic to Adrian.

Another round of shrieks filled the room.

These girls had some really strong vocal cords on them.

"I didn't know people here would be so welcoming. Thank you so much for your love, guys," Adrian spoke into the mic.

If I thought the crowd was loud a minute back, then this was deafening.

"Speaking about the suggestions, Josh, I heard some really good ones but I guess the best one I heard was about testing the luck of these two beautiful girls standing here with us on stage," he smiled and I could practically see girls melting.

"What do you guys say about picking out slips and settling this how it originally was?"

I mentally rolled my eyes. As if anyone would refuse him.

As if on cue, one of the co anchors from earlier got two slips of paper and made a show of writing our names on it before folding it into smaller bits and handing them to Josh who in turn shuffled them and turned to Adrian with his hands out, urging him to pick one.

Adrian did his part of the drama as he slowly picked up a slip and read the name. The smirk on his face was really unsettling.

"Do you guys want to know the name?"

Hoots and shrieks of positive answers resonated in the auditorium. Lindsay stood there confidently smirking but I could sense her nervousness from her constant tapping of her foot. Meanwhile I stood there dreading what was going to happen in the next few moments.

You're doing this for yourself. Maybe Mr. Gilbert has a something good to say.

I gave myself a mini prep talk to prepare myself.

The reason why I was being dramatic about the kiss wasn't because I hated Adrian or I was repulsed by the fact that he was going to kiss me. It honestly wasn't that big of a deal since it wasn't as if he was going to forcefully make out with me or something. And it was merely a kiss on the cheek or hand.

It was just that this event was going to bring a whole lot of attention to me and for all the wrong reasons. I knew that in school, for quite a lot of time I'd be recognised as the girl who got kissed by the Adrian Carter, the beloved heartthrob of Hollywood. I was going to be that girl and not Addison Woods, a girl grabbing attention for her good drama performances or any other positive attribute that made a difference.

And for a person who wanted a career in the industry, it mattered a lot to me if I got to be known for my abilities and not just because of something like this.

But maybe I was overthinking. Maybe all of this wouldn't even matter in a year but it still bothered me to some extent.

I sighed, pushing all these negative thoughts aside. I tried to take this in a positive way. At least it would earn me more power over Lindsay if I used it right. And in a way, I was also helping Adrian from getting violated. Even if he was a guy, I'm sure that he wouldn't like getting touched in any inappropriate way, especially by a stranger.

Plus I was going to get a kiss from a celebrity. It wasn't everyday just anyone got this opportunity.

"The name written here is of Addison Woods!" Adrian exclaimed into the mic.

I tried my best to put on an excited expression, letting my hands cover my mouth conveying my shock. I widened my eyes and frantically looked at the audience and then at Adrian. Might as well put my acting skills to use.

Taking this as a challenge to convince everyone around me that I was genuinely elated with this, I put in effort.

Adrian seemed a little surprised but my focus was snatched away by the absolutely furious looking Lindsay. She looked so angry that I could see imaginary smoke coming out from her nostrils and ears.

My eyes widened just a tiny bit more in alarm but I kept an excited smile on my face, nonetheless. If I was going down, might as well go down smiling.

I discreetly motioned for Adrian to come forward before Lindsay raised hell. And by going by her expressions, it was going to be pretty soon.

To hurry up, I offered my hand to Adrian, who grabbed it without questions, his warm one clasping mine. I watched him examine it as if expecting a layer of poison on it. I rolled my eyes.

I wasn't going to commit a murder on live telecasts.

I tried to ask him to hurry up because Lindsay seemed ready to pounce but all my warnings seemed to go down the drain. And then it happened.

"I deserve the kiss!" Lindsay shrieked and moved towards the both of us.

Adrain looked back in confusion, before his eyes widened slightly. I guess his common sense told him that Lindsay was out to get us. I could see slight panic slipping out of his calm expression.

I guess thats why before Lindsay could reach us, Adrian quickly jerked me by my hand. My balance went off with the sudden movement so before I could make sense of what was happening, I felt soft, cool lips collide with my cheek.

Before I could even process it, he had already stepped back, leaving my skin tingle with warmth.

I blinked a couple of times as the events of the last fifteen seconds dawned upon me. I looked to my side where Josh had Lindsay stay in place with one of his arms tightly around her waist, keeping her in place.

Adrian looked a little uneasy as he watched Lindsay shoot daggers at me. I saw him secretly shoot me an apologetic look.

I looked at her, then at Adrian and finally at the audience who didn't seemed to have realised what happened and then sighed. I guess Lindsay's voice hadn't been caught by the mic- which was good for her but just one look at her and a single thought crossed my mind - Tomorrow was going to be hell.

But despite my worries of tomorrow and despite whatever stress I went through today, the one thing that was poking through was the feeling of soft lips against my cheek undeniably stirred a little warmth in me.

And I'm not sure if I was fine with it.

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

So? How was it?

I hope you guys enjoyed it! It is a little unedited so please ignore any mistakes you might've found.

Till now what is your favourite part of the book/chapter?

Please do vote and comment <3 (I did really work hard on this one)

OKAY! Before you go away, I have a little something for all you lovely people! All you comments on the previous chapter made my heart melt. I didn't expect anyone to be reading this book since I updated after a little too long but all your words just made me realise how lucky I am to have you all with me!

SO here is the SURPRISE for you all.

Any ONE of you will get the opportunity to design a character in my book. (A significant one) By design, I mean deciding the name, hair, eyes etc. (physical appearances) along with any one personality trait AND will get a dedication in the next chapter!

This is a small thank you gift from me, for staying!

To participate, you just need to answer the following questions. (Please answer all of them in a single in-line comment)

1. If there was any one superpower you could have, which one would it be and why?

2. If there is anything you had the power to change in your life, what would it be and why?

3. If you could live any one of the Disney fairytales, which one would it be and why?

4. What is your ideal boy/girl like?

5. Is there anything you want to ask/suggest/say to me? (optional)- it won't affect your chances to win the competition!

Thats about it :)

You don't need to go too personal if you feel uncomfortable! I hope you all have fun answering these questions! And for the fifth question, its just an extra one.

I hope you have a great day! Love you guys!

Keep smiling :)