( chapter eight )

" Love does not appear with any warning signs. You fall into it as if pushed from a high diving board. No time to think about what's happening. It's inevitable. An event you can't control. A crazy, heart-stopping, roller-coaster ride that just has to take its course. "

- Jackie Collins, Lucky

❁

december 15, 2015

IT WAS TEN DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY and Y/N were already getting ready for the school's ski trip which was already tomorrow.

She convinced Erika to finally go on the ski trip with her because apparently, many of the 'cool' students are there.

"Come on, Erika! You have to go with me!" Y/N said through her phone as she was choosing the clothes to bring for the trip.

"I ain't going, sister. Only cool kids go to that such trip and I'm not one of them." Erika answered that made Y/N groan before talking.

"Won't Harrison be there too?" Y/N asked.

"Of course he will! He's one of them and I can't just go with him just because I'm his girlfriend—" Erika suddenly stopped talking that made Y/N confused.

"His friend," Erika said and Y/N was already suspicious but she shrugged it off and will deal with it later.

"But seriously! Come on, please. I'm sure he will be fine with it. Tom is going to be there too and please?"

It took how many seconds for Erika to answer her best friend.

"Alright fine! Just bring me to that restaurant that you love after." Erika said.

"Thank you so much, babe! You're the best." Y/N exclaimed with happiness.

And that was how she convinced her best friend to go with her. Simple right?

It has also how many days since the argument between her and Tom. They did not have any conversation after that because Y/N did not respond to his messages and calls. Y/N felt she was overreacting but she felt hurt until now.

After Y/N packed all her things for the trip, she wore a hoodie on before she went down. She looked at her messy room once more and went downstairs where she met her dad by the door.

"You ready, sweetheart?" He asked. Y/N plastered a small smile on her lips.

"Yeah." She answered and walked out of the house ahead before her dad. She opened the front seat and placed her bag on her lap as she closed the door. She sighed and heard her dad came in the car and started the engine.

"I haven't heard and seen Holland for a week. How is he?" Her dad asked out of curiosity and that made her heart skip.

"W-we had things to do for school so we didn't really get to meet these days." She lied and looked down, not looking at anything.

Her dad didn't say anything but he could sense something was off. He just drove off from the house to avoid making his daughter sadder.

After a few minutes of silent driving, her father parked in front of the campus building and Y/N prepared her things to go out. She was ready to get out of the car until her father stopped her.

"Before you go. Have fun there, sweetheart." He said.

Y/N smiled at her dad. "I'll try, dad. Thank you for driving me here."

"Of course." He replied. "Oh! And don't forget these too!" He said and took out packs of rubbers that made Y/N's eyes open wide in shock.

"What the hell— Dad?! Why?!"

"What? In case your friends need it. You know, kids these days are very not careful with—"

"I am not bringing those," Y/N said and got out of the car with her bag. "Bye, dad. Love you!" She exclaimed and went towards the bus.

Her dad could just chuckle at his own daughter. "Love you too!" He exclaimed back.

Y/N walked towards the bus that was going to take them to the place that they'll have their ski trip. She walked inside the bus which was almost full of students from her batch. She looked around until she met a pair of brown eyes sitting across her. She felt her chest hurt a bit when they locked each other's eyes. Beside him was a vacant chair.

Was he reserving it for me? She asked herself.

No. He's probably reserving it for Camille. Another voice said to Y/N which made her feel down.

A few seats behind Tom, Y/N saw her best friend who was sleeping with her mouth slightly open. She chuckled and didn't think twice about sitting beside her best friend. Of course, she didn't want to talk with Tom for a while after what happened.

As Y/N passed by him, Tom felt his heart sink and felt regret for what happened. He tried to keep this so that Y/N won't see his real feelings.

Y/N settled down and placed her bags down when she saw Camille went beside Tom on the vacant seat. Y/N felt her heart drop by what she saw.

Maybe it was for her then. Y/N said to herself.

❁

Y/N didn't know how many hours passed by. She was just sitting on her bed in the room where she and Erika shared for the two nights.

Erika was out skiing together with Harrison and his friends. Erika tried to persuade her best friend to join them but Y/N knew that if Harrison was there, Tom would also be there. Which also means Camille would also be there with Tom.

Just thinking about it made her chest hurt.

How could you fall for him, Y/N? She asked herself.

The door suddenly opened which made Y/N jump and dropped the book she was reading. She looked at who it was a gave a heavy sigh.

"Jeez, Erika. You scared the hell out of me." Y/N said and fixed how she sat down.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to get away from them." Erika said and collapsed herself to the bed beside Y/N's. "Skiing was tiring as hell, Y/N."

Y/N chuckled. "Glad I didn't go," Y/N said and went back to her reading.

"You know, Camille was all over Tom today. Man, I wanted to slap the hell out of my cousin." Erika said and Y/N tried to ignore it.

She was so glad she didn't join them. She wouldn't stand it.

Your feelings are really strong. Y/N said to herself and sighed. She closed her book and placed it down. She needed someone to talk to about this. She couldn't keep it longer, anymore.

"Erika." She called and her best friend looked at her with a questioning look on her face.

❁

"So." Erika started. "You guys were faking it the whole time?"

Y/N nodded in response.

"And you made a damn contract?"

"Mhm. Why are you asking these? I've mentioned them already." Y/N said.

"Just clarifying," Erika answered and just thought of something. "Still can't believe you never told me and made me actually believe that you aren't a real couple."

"Look, I'm sorry. It was part of the contract. And I didn't know how to explain it to you. You might think it was stupid of me." Y/N explained.

"With all of what you just told me, I came to the conclusion that Tom Holland actually has real feelings for you," Erika said and finally looked at Y/N.

"H-how can you say that?" Y/N asked in confusion.

"First of all, he came up with this idea. The whole thing and you just wanted to help him and yourself." Erika started. "Second of all, he introduced you to his family during your date. I mean, those couples who are fake dating don't have the guts to do that, honestly."

"Can't that be in a friendly way, though?" Y/N asked.

"Honestly, that would be weird. And it was only you whom he introduced and no other people." Erika said.

"Lastly, how he reacted when you and Aiden talked almost a week ago. He was obviously jealous." Erika said.

Y/N didn't know what to say. Could all of this be true? Or are these just theories alone?

"And you. You totally have feelings for him, Y/N. And it's not a bad thing." Erika added.

Y/N just sighed. "I can't believe I fell for someone who tons of girls in our school are chasing and that person is the ex-boyfriend of my enemy. I mean among girls, why me?"

"Probably because you made him open up to you with his break up with Camille," Erika said.

"Look." Erika faced Y/N and held her hand. "Every person can become obsessed with their first love especially those who recently broke up. But eventually, there will be a person who can heal them and be there for them."

Y/N was stunned by Erika's words.  She smiled at her best friend and gave her a hug. "Thank you, Erika."

"Just helping my best friend," Erika said. "Now get out of this damn room and look for Tom! He looked really down while skiing with us. He's probably bothered by what happened."

"Do you think he's waiting for me somewhere?" Y/N asked.

"Maybe. Just go! Don't mind me." Erika said. Y/N giggled and got out of her bed and got a big hoodie. She wore it over her nightgown.

"Don't lock the door, Erika!" Y/N said and opened the door to go out of the room.

❁

Y/N didn't expect it to be so cold once she stepped out of the room. Luckily, the big hoodie helped keep her warm.

She looked everywhere for Tom but there was no trace of him.

Maybe he got tired of waiting so he went to sleep. She thought.

She sighed heavily and decided to go back to her room. What was the point anyway?

As soon as she turned back to go upstairs to the room, she stopped her tracks when she saw who was in front of her. Those same pair of brown eyes she saw on the bus.

She gave out a small smile to him.

"Tom."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A/N: i honestly did not realize that it has been three months since i last updated this book. huhu i'm sorry but i hope you guys liked this chapter! make sure to vote and let me know what you think of this chapter from the comments. love ya'll!

WORD COUNT 1,718 words
PUBLISHED march 27, 2020