Chapter 36 - The Game within the Game

"Slipping down a slide

I did enjoy the ride

Don't know what to decide

You lied to me

You looked me in the eye

It took me by surprise  

(...)

When I was feeling down

You'd start to hang around

And then I found your hands all over me"

James' POV

4 months before (November)

"We should go somewhere else." I whispered against Andrea's lips as I caressed her waist and pushed her against the janitor's closet wall.

"Yeah." She agreed, grabbing my hair and pulling me closer to her. The stunning strawberry blonde-haired girl was sitting on my lap, one hand in my hair and another on my chest. My heart was racing fast as my lips met hers furiously. 

"Where do you wanna go?" She asked me, placing her lips on my neck and murmuring to my ears, her hands now all over me.

"Let's go to the beach." I smirked and so did she in agreement.

"Your car or mine?" She questioned in a seductive voice that made all boys from our school go crazy. Fortunately, she was mine and mine alone.

"My car." I said. She got up from my lap and grabbed her red blouse from the ground, putting it over her head. I sighed as her red lace bra was no longer in sight and dressed my shirt.

"You know what I like best about you?" She asked me, composing her hair and shirt.

"What?" I asked as I finished buttoning my shirt.

"Your muscles." She smirked and I laughed. Then I quietly opened the janitor's closet door and as there was no one on the hallway, we got out of the small room and walked towards the parking lot.

We climbed into my car and put the seatbelts and I drove off to the beach. Once in a while, Andrea would lean towards me and cuddle my arm. We finally got to the beach and I parked, watching the waves roll in the sand. Such a beautiful landscape.

"Fuck." Andrea said.

"What?" I asked as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"That Kiara from rowing is here."

I looked to where Andrea was staring but all I saw was a girl with brown-almost-black hair sitting in the dunes.

"How can you tell it's her?"

Andrea eyed me with disdain.

"James, I'm a girl. We can tell who a girl is by her back."

I shrugged.

"So what? The beach is big, we don't need to sit next to her."

Andrea pouted her lips.

"I don't like her."

"Well, neither do I, but who cares?" I was starting to grow impatient. Kiara was an obstacle in rowing, was she going to be an obstacle here too?

"I think we should have fun." Andrea continued. "After all, she's always so sure of herself and so above everyone else, right? Like no one can affect her. I wanna change that."

"How?" I wasn't liking where this conversation was going. All I wanted was to make out with Andrea. Was that really that hard?

"Let's make her fall in love with someone. After all, we all know what love can do to people. It's the best weapon to destroy them, so why not use it against her?"

"But why would you want to do that?" I inquired, completely confused. I didn't like Kiara but that didn't mean I was going to create a plan just to mess with her. I wouldn't bother to do that.

"I told you." Andrea puckered her lips again. "I don't like her and that's enough of a good excuse."

"I don't see the point." I insisted. I had a feeling we would no longer make out.

"Well, no one asked for your opinion, James." She scowled and I rolled my eyes. This was the part of Andrea I hated.

"So, going back to my plan. We're gonna make her fall for someone. Someone unexpected, so she will feel so in love that she won't even realize she's being fooled. And so that she feels crushed when that someone breaks her precious little heart. Someone like... you."

I widened my eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. You're the perfect person. After all, you hate each other and everyone knows there's a fine line between love and hate, and love/hate relationships are always the best. Besides, you're a good liar, good looking and a good charmer. Everything is in your favor. In our favor." Andrea was speaking with such passion, it was almost like she was hypnotizing me.

"I don't know... I mean, why can't we just leave her alone?"

Andrea rolled her eyes.

"For God's sake, James, don't you enjoy a little game? And also, if she's as strong as she likes to show, then it won't hurt her. All we have to do is try. If it doesn't work, I'll take full responsibility."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I wasn't so sure she was telling the truth.

"But we're dating." I tried to reason with her. "She won't believe I like her when I'm dating someone else."

"That's easy. We break up in front of her, pretending not to see her."

"What?" I was completely shocked about this plan and how Andrea managed to come up with it. It made me suspect that she had been planning this for some time now. "Is this all an excuse for you to break up with me?"

"Don't be silly." Andrea responded but something in her voice made her seem uneasy. "But to make things more credible, I think it's better for us to stop seeing each other for a while. You know, until things settle down. Then we can go back to this." She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pressed her lips against mine, but the kiss didn't feel as good as in the janitor's closet. "So, what do you say?"

I stood in silence, observing Kiara at the beach.

"Oh come on, babe. It's not much of a big deal. Besides, she may not even fall for you, who knows? I just want you to try. That's all."

I bit my lip.

"Fine. I'll do it. But if this thing gets out of control, I'm gonna blame you, Andrea, and you can be sure that I'm gonna make you pay for it."

Andrea smirked, not scared at all.

"I know you will." She gave me a peck on the lips once again and then got out of the car.

I sighed and followed her, not really sure why I was doing such thing. Maybe deep down I was curious as to whether I'd be able to make Kiara, the strong quiet girl, fall for me. Maybe I wanted to know if another person could love me, someone other than Andrea.

I followed Andrea as we climbed down the wooden stairs to the beach. We were far from Kiara but as we walked closer I knew she would be able to hear us.

"I'm gonna start shouting at you now." Andrea told me as we got closer and closer to where Kiara was. "Don't take it personally, babe." She paused for a bit and took her hands to her head. "Gosh, James! Don't you get it? I... I can't, ok? Not anymore! I'm sick and I'm done!"

I was suddenly startled by her high pitched voice, it was almost like what she was saying was true, like she had been holding it within her for so long.

"What?" Was all I could say, and at that point I didn't know if I was acting or voicing out the truth.

"We're done! I hope you understand but... I'm just not that into you." Andrea looked at me and I couldn't understand what her expression revealed. Was she lying or saying the truth? Before I could react, however, she started walking away and I honestly didn't know what to do. I was still going through with the plan, but I never expected Andrea to leave like that, so soon and so violently.

Without thinking about what I was doing, my legs moved forward and I saw Kiara there, trying to hide herself in the dunes. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What are you doing here?" I asked and mentally insulted myself. What kind of question was that? She was at the beach, what did I have to do with that?

Before I could continue tormenting myself, she spoke up.

"Not eavesdropping, I swear. Though I did hear you...".

I threw my hands in the air. At least that worked.

"Oh, great! Just what I needed! My biggest competition in rowing knowing about Andrea breaking up with me!"

I was acting, I knew that. But a part of me felt like what I was saying was true, like Andrea had indeed broken up with me and was only using Kiara as a way to break up with me. But Andrea wouldn't do that, would she? She wouldn't step so low, right? I mean, we liked each other... didn't we?

"Well, if you wanted to make your argument private you should have scanned the beach or gone to a more private place, you know. This is a public space after all, and I have all the right to be here." There she was, the Kiara Ravens I knew. Sharp-tongued and that could stand up for herself. I sighed.

"I'm not going to argue with you. Not after being dumped."

"Do you still like her?" She suddenly asked and I was taken aback by that. I sighed and sat next to her.

Her words got me thinking. Did I like Andrea? Even after she almost obliged me to do this? Even after she broke up with me, and I was pretty sure she indeed felt what she was saying?

"Honestly, I can't tell. I don't know." I told Kiara. "Our relationship lately had been shaky and rough and it was clear for both of us that we were not going through the best of times. But we believed, well, at least I did, that we could go through this and that everything would be alright. And I don't know what it is supposed to feel after a break up, so I don't know if I still like her or not."

This second part wasn't entirely true nor was it a complete lie. Ever since she flirted with that Matthew guy, friend of Kiara, in rowing, we hadn't really been on good terms, but after making out with her today I didn't think we were that bad. 

"Well, I guess you're supposed to feel empty or lost or something. Like you've lost your purpose on this world." I noticed her voice had an amusing tone to it and against my will my lips curved into a small smile.

"Not very fond of love, are you?"

"Well, do you feel empty or lost?" She asked, ignoring my question.

I meditated on her words.

"Actually... I don't. I feel more like... mad. Like afraid of what people might say when they find out Andrea broke up with me and not the other way around. But maybe it was better this way, then they'll know I wasn't the one to finish the wonder couple. But, no, I don't feel lost. I'm angry right now but I know I'll get through this. It's not like I'm hopeless or broken or something."

Once I said it, I knew it was true. If Andrea hadn't really broken up with me, then I'd gladly go back to her but if she had, then it was okay. I wasn't going to cry about it.  And I guess now we were really done - and that was just another thing I had to get over.

"Was your relationship serious? Or was it just for fun?"

Well, this was a tricky question. Andrea and I were mostly physical. Neither of us liked having emotions involved but I think I was past that state where I was just with her because I thought her attractive. I think I liked her a bit, at least.

"Andrea's a reckless person. And I guess I liked that about her. The fun I could have with her, the challenge. But, yeah, it was nothing too serious. We didn't talk much, we just enjoyed. Making out and-"

"Too much information." She interrupted me and I frowned.

"You're probably thinking I'm just an immature guy who was with Andrea for the... physical part. And you're absolutely right, because it's true. She was, let's say, a temptation hard to resist. But you can't blame it all on me, she was in it just for it too. And once she got tired, she dumped me." Now I sounded even dumber. This was so not how I was going to win her heart. Kiara was a clever girl, she didn't like childish and shallow guys.

"You admitting that makes you a little bit more mature. Now you have the maturity of a five year old child." Her comment surprised me, I thought she was going to say it in a rude tone but instead she was joking, a joke free of sarcasm. I'd never heard her joke like that before.

"Very funny. But you're a good listener. So, now, what about you?" I decided to change the subject because if she saw I was taking an interest in something other than myself, she would see I could be profound as well. That way it would be easier for her to fall in love with me.

"I can't believe you are asking about myself, James. I thought we did nothing but compete in the river." Kiara had a smile on her face and for moments I thought she had figured it all out, but then I understood what she meant. After all, we were rivals. We weren't actually friends who would hang out in the beach and tell each other about our problems.

"I'm taking a chance. So, why did you decided to come here in a cold November day?" I asked, trying not to sound too insisting.

"Two guys got in a fight because of me."

I fought the urge to widen my eyes as she said that. I didn't exactly see Kiara as the type of girl guys would fight for. Not because she wasn't hot, because yeah, as much as I hated to admit it, she was, only because I'd never seen her around guys much, except for that friend of hers that always watched our practices, Dylan, and Matthew, the guy who flirted with Andrea. Not that she didn't drag guys' attentions, she certainly did, especially during rowing competitions, when she stood out the most.

"I thought that was every girl's fantasy." I ended up saying. I knew it was one of Andrea's fantasies, me fighting with another guy for her. I did that quite a lot because she always liked to flirt back with others, something that tremendously annoyed me.

"I'm not every girl." That sentence, right there, could define Kiara. She was different, that was for sure.

"I've noticed that. And I'm going to take a chance and say that one of the guys was that dude that in one of the rowing practices was flirting with my girl... ex-girlfriend?"

Referring to Andrea as my "ex" was strange, especially because I didn't know if she was really my ex or not. How did I get myself into this situation?

"Yes, he was one of them. How did you know?" Her brown eyes were filled with curiosity and I could see right there how pure she was. It almost made me feel bad about what I was doing. No. It truly made me feel bad about Andrea's plan, but I couldn't back down now.

"I'm a guy." I shrugged. "I can tell when other guys are interested in girls. He seemed very interested in you."

I was telling the truth, he did seem interested in her. Maybe Kiara was already in love with someone else. Maybe all I was trying to do wouldn't work because she had someone else in her heart already. At least that's what I was telling myself to try to convince myself and to stop the guilt from consuming me.

She stood quietly which only reinforced my theory.

"What about the other guy? Was it Dylan?" I questioned, referring to the guy that always watched our practices.

"No!" Kiara seemed almost outraged. "But you know what, it doesn't matter."

"Well, do you like one of the guys? Or is it a love triangle?" I tried to understand what she felt because otherwise all I was doing could ending up being worthless.

"I don't like neither of them. And I came here to stop thinking about that." Her voice was strong and confident and I knew she was telling the truth. Maybe it was because I was such a good liar - I could see when people were telling the truth or not.

"Fine. But I need to tell you this. Even if you're not interested in them, you're not indifferent to them, because if you were you wouldn't have come to a beach in a November day to try to take them out of your mind."

"Whatever." She murmured. "But hey, do you want to stay here and grumble over your life with me?"

I smiled. It was working.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Don't turn around

I'm sick and I'm tired of your face

Don't make this worse

You've already gone and got me mad

It's too bad I'm not sad

It's casting over

It's just one of those things

You'll have to get over it."

If you want to read this chapter in Kiara's POV, it's Chapter 20.

Music is "Get Over It" by the fantastic Avril Lavigne!