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| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

"And you still remember this?" I question.

"I might've been completely wasted but my memory is stronger than that." Via nods. "I was with Castle the entire time and he was looking for you."

Huh.

"And did he find me?"

She nods. "Yup."

"Then?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I don't know. He turned around and left."

I don't let my eyebrows furrow in confusion in front of Via.

He turned around and left. Why?

"Thanks, V." I smile at her.

She winks at me. "Call me if you need me again."

With that, she leaves the school bathroom.

Riley who's re-doing her make-up in front of the mirror this whole time speaks up. "So British Boy came to get you when your ass was all drunk," she says, "only to turn around and leave at the sight of you?"

"He's not British," I say.

She brings her lipstick to her mouth. "Why did he leave?"

"That's my question."

"You got a thing for him or something?" She asks me, eyeing me from the mirror.

"Not really," I say. "He's fun to tease around. The guy acts like he gets electrocuted whenever I touch him."

"He must follow some religion or something." She shrugs, applying mascara to her eyelashes.

"Nah, that's not it." I lean against the sink. "He's really jumpy. He gets shy and flustered."

"Maybe he doesn't want you," Riley says, before blinking as if she said something in a different language. "Damn, I can't believe I said that."

"It's not that either. If he didn't want me to touch him or get close to him, I wouldn't. I respect boundaries and all." I say, "When I get close to him, I can see in his eyes that he likes it. His body reacts that way too."

"Like...he gets hard or something?" She looks at me in confusion.

I chuckle. "No."

Castle's eyes are like an open window. His eyes always light up after the initial shock of me touching him or even getting close to him. His jaw slackens and his mouth parts open but then he tries to cover it up with annoyance.

I catch his eyes sometimes, going up and down my body while I'm studying with him. He doesn't make it too obvious, but I still know it.

He is interested in me, and he might not know it yet. Until then, I'm just gonna help him realize.

"I think he's shy from physical touch is all," I say.

Riley looks over at me, giving me a knowing smirk. "And I'm guessing you're gonna give it all?"

A grin curls on my lips. "Physical touch is my language after all."

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

I should get an award for the way I'm currently holding in my snarks and anger. My hands work normally, arranging stuff in my locker and stuffing the things I need in my bag.

I listen to the two girls behind the wall who have no idea I'm eavesdropping on their conversation. It doesn't help them for the fact that they're talking so loud too.

"I heard she fucks the principal." One of them "whispers".

"Really?" The other one gasps. "I heard she does...it with her dad too."

My tongue touches the inside of my cheek. A look comes on my face that anyone would look at and scream 'Murder!'.

"She's a whore." The first girl says. "She literally sleeps with every guy she comes across."

"God knows why guys like her when they know she's only using them before moving on to the next."

"Maybe she promises them something or has dirt against them."

"Oh, right she's a blackmailer too, right?"

"Yup. I heard she blackmailed a student into leaving school because she didn't like her."

"Why does she even do this? She should be the one leaving school."

"Maybe we should try finding dirt against her too."

Honestly, the rumours they keep spreading about me have even me curious about what I've been up to.

Someone has to put them in their place.

Arms slide around my waist and a hard body lines with my back.

Without even having to turn around, I know who it is. I lean back against Sean as he hugs me.

"Sup'?" He asks.

"Apparently I'm a whore and a blackmailer."

"Oh that," He says.

"You heard the rumours?"

I feel him nod.

I turn around to face him. "Someone's gotta put those bitches to place. Rumours about me? Fine. But bringing my dad into this?" Anger flares through me.

Sean snorts. "They come up with anything they want." He observes the look on my face. "Guess I'm gonna get some updates on your evil schemes soon."

"You bet."

I look at his face. There's a new bruise on his jaw. My heart softens for a moment.

He gets bruises when he struggles.

My fingers reach up to touch his bruise.

Before my hand makes contact with his skin, he snatches my wrist in his hold.

"What are you doing?" He narrows his eyes at me.

I snap out of it.

"Nothing." I shake my head.

He gives me a stern look before leaving my hand.

Don't question it. Don't pay attention. And do not pity. Those were his rules.

"Wanna go out this weekend?" I ask. "Just us? Like how we used to when we were young?"

He cocks his head as he thinks before giving a nod.

"Great." I smile.

It had always been me and Sean on the weekends. Bicycling, getting ice cream, feeding pigeons. Being neighbours since birth forced us to get along with each other since there was no other child in our neighbourhood.

I'll admit I did have a crush on him when we were fifteen. He was my first kiss. We kissed just to see what it felt like. It was messy. We laughed after an awkward sloppy kiss.

But then we kissed again. Because after the third time, it felt amazing. We kissed so many times after that. We kissed every day.

Growing up, I realized I wanted more. More from him. So I finally confessed about having a crush.

He rejected me.

To say I was heartbroken that day was an understatement. I cried myself to sleep and didn't talk to Sean for a whole three days.

It wasn't until he climbed into my bedroom one night and forced me to talk to him.

It was that night when I found out everything.

About why he doesn't call me over to his house. About why he's scared to go home sometimes. About why he doesn't want a relationship. About why he wants to be in control all the time.

Relationships and love aren't what Sean is capable of right now. To be honest, I'm not capable of having a relationship or being in love too. I've seen many people out of their minds because they're in love. Love makes you lose control. Love makes you hurt. It makes you weak.

That's why Sean and I agreed to never love each other that way.

Sure we love each other as friends, and we'll always do. But anything more than that? Forget it.

I can't say I mind much.

I have his friendship and his dick. What more can I ask from him?

We both have the freedom to mess around with other people and hook up with anyone, but when he needs me, I promised to always be there for him.

Little did I know that the promise was gonna cost me.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

I wish I had the bomb I used on Dad in real life so I can light his ass on fire.

Currently, he's busy dancing around the living room like a flower girl, singing songs about his victory.

"You won just one game!" I throw my hands up. "I've been winning this entire time."

"But I won the hardest level." He points out.

"So what? I've won the other five rounds."

"Sorry, what?" He holds a hand to cup his ear. "I can't hear you over the sound of my victory."

I sigh. "Why did mom marry a child and not a proper grown man?"

"She has amazing taste," Dad grins.

I shake my head at him.

The doorbell rings.

"That might be Castle," Dad says looking at the time.

He goes to open the door while I slide back on the couch and take out my books from under the table.

The music from the video game is still playing when Castle enters, wearing a dark blue hoodie, jeans and his bag slung over one shoulder.

I raise my eyebrows at him in greeting.

He barely sits down beside me when dad shoves a glass of water in his hand.

"I was just beating Holly."

Castle almost spurs the water out his mouth. "W-what?"

Dad nods, busy picking up the pieces of popcorn we dropped. "I beat her in the hardest level."

A look of realization comes on Castle's face. "Oh." He takes another sip of his water. "Oh, like that."

I hide a laugh.

"Do you play too?" Dad asks him.

Castle shakes his head. "No, sir."

"You should. Maybe Holly and I can teach you one night when you're almost done tutoring her."

"Oh, I can teach him everything." I grin at Castle.

He shoots a frown in my direction.

"Also you don't have to worry about eating here anymore," Dad says. "Holly and I scoured the entire kitchen for ants. I guess they left or died because we found none. But yeah, you can relax and have dinner now."

Castle nods stiffly, trying to seem busy drinking his water. "Thank you."

"Well, I'll leave you both now," Dad says and leaves the living room.

"So...?" I turn towards Castle, raising my eyebrows.

"Page thirty-seven." He says, not even looking at me.

I take out my book and open page thirty-seven.

Two hours later when we're finally done studying. I'm closing my books and capping my pens. Castle's packing his bag.

"So how'd I do today, Tutor? Is that grade coming for me or not?" I ask, sitting beside him, keeping two inches of space between us.

"You're doing good." He mutters, stuffing his books in his bag. "Surprisingly."

"I'm a fast learner."

"I can tell."

"You're a good teacher." I lean towards him, looking up, trying to catch his blue eyes.

"Mhmm." He nods, distracted, trying to work the zipper of his bag that's not budging from its place.

"Castle?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"You have pretty eyes."

He stops and turns his head to look at me.

"Hrg!" His eyes go wide, realizing how close I'm sitting to him.

I smile up at him.

He turns away, a blush rising through his cheeks as he frowns. "Stop looking at me."

"Has anyone ever told you you look cute when you blush?"

His hands try hard, tugging at the zipper. "Uh..."

I lean in further, peering up at him while he tries to avoid my eyes.

"Why do you act so jumpy when I touch you?"

"I don't act jumpy." He says, looking at me with wary eyes.

"Why do you shy away from me?" Reaching out, I touch my fingertips to his hand. Not holding his hand, just touching it.

His eyes remain frozen on my face with his mouth parting open. "I-I'm not shy."

"Why is your face turning red then?" I skim my finger in a slow circular pattern on his smooth skin.

"It's not."

"Do you like me?" I lean in further until I can feel his rapid breaths on my neck.

"I don't."

"Then why are you not moving away?" I whisper, leaning in closer.

He remains stuck in his place, his eyes wide and darting from my eyes to around my face. "I..."

A slow grin curls my lips. "Mmm..."

I finally slide my hand on his, giving it a small squeeze.

"You know," I cock my head, "next time I get drunk and text you," I watch his tongue come out and lick his lower lip before my eyes dart back to his eyes, "I want you to come and get me."

A small gulp goes down his throat.

I finally pull back, leaning back against the couch.

I'm not sure but I think he takes in a deep gulp of air.

At that moment, Dad comes in. "Are you people done studying?"

Castle's face is still red as he nods, keeping his head down. "Y-yes."

"Great. Here I packed this for you." Dad hands him a box in a shopping bag that's no doubt the dinner he made.

Castle looks up at that, blinking. "F-for me?"

"I hope you're not allergic to nuts. I put in a few almonds in there." Dad says, handing him the bag.

Castle takes it reluctantly. "Um thank you."

"No problem. I figured it would be late till you get home to have dinner."

"Thank you," Castle says again, gazing at the small bag in his hands. I think his eyes turn glassy but before I can confirm it, he gets up and leaves.

★・・・・・・★

What's the nicest thing someone has ever done for you that made your heart all warm?

For me, it would probably be when someone just sat beside me to let me know that they were there for me while I cried because I was feeling stressed.

Words: 2,100

Date of publishing: 6th March 2023