"Don't change so that people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you."

♦ ♦ ♦

Chapter Twenty

I was flabbergasted, stunned and dumbfounded. No, scratch that. No words in the dictionary could describe what I was feeling at the moment. It was an ineffable feeling.

I opened my mouth for a few seconds, but I shut it almost immediately. I couldn't form another word as a sudden jolt of surprise struck through me.

"I... I..." I stumbled over my words, searching for the right thing to say.

Ian's face fell. "Is it a no?"

He took my silence as a no. The accusation cut like a knife.

Flustered, I blurted out, "Yes! Of course it's a yes!"

My face flushed in mortification as I realized that my reply sounded too enthusiastic.

"You really like me that much, baby?" he asked suggestively. With a slow and collected gait, he approached me. His face was merely a few inches from mine as he stood close to me. I had to look up to stare at him. I held my breath when he traced his finger along my collarbone. His action rendered me breathless. I suddenly realized of the close proximity between us. A smirk spread across his lips, proving that he was aware of his effects on me. I shivered. I could feel his hot breaths against me, which were tinted with a scent of mint. My heart was pounding rapidly against my rib cage. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered around, making me feel sick. I felt like hyperventilating.

I started to ramble, "No, I mean, sure I like you. B–But I don't like you that much, if you know what I mean, I–"

My eyes widened when he put a stop to my jabbering by crashing his soft lips against mine. I gasped. It took me a few seconds before I closed my eyes and returned his unexpected kiss. My arms found themselves around his neck as he took my cheeks in his soft hands to deepen the kiss. He kissed me again and again, each kiss felt more intense than the former. My heart knocked wildly against my chest as I felt him press against me. I was the first one to pull away from the passionate kiss. By the time, we were already panting and breathing hard to catch our breaths.

"You taste so good," he commented with a smirk.

My cheeks crimsoned, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. He traced his thumb along my lower lip, while his other hand cupped my cheek as his eyes burned into mine. "I could do this all day," he whispered alluringly.

"Me too," I responded weakly, feeling my feet wobbled like jelly again.

"But tomorrow's Monday and we have classes. It's getting late. We should go back."

"Okay," I muttered disappointedly.

"We'll continue this later. Soon." He winked at me. He then took my hand and interlaced our fingers as we walked in comfortable silence along the beach towards his car.

♦ ♦ ♦

"How was your date?"

Startled, I jumped a little upon hearing Helen's question as soon as I walked into my apartment. I bristled in annoyance.

"God, Helen. You scared me. Don't you know how to greet people properly? Is it too hard to wait for me to see you first and just say 'Hi'?" I asked sarcastically.

Helen frowned. "Why were you so surprised to see me?" As if something clicked in her mind, she gasped and put her hand on her mouth dramatically. "Unless... something happened."

I rolled my eyes as I made my way towards the couch and massaged my swollen feet. "Like what?"

"You slept with Ian!" she hollered. It wasn't a question.

"Will you please stop being ridiculous? I didn't sleep with him. We just," I paused, remembering the taste of his lips on mine, "kissed."

"Did you use tongue or was it just an innocent kiss-"

"Helen!" I exclaimed in mortification.

She threw back her head and laughed. "I'm sorry. It's so funny to see you blushing. You're just so easy to be teased."

"Fuck off," I spat before tossing a pillow in her direction.

"Okay, okay." She raised her hands in defense with a grin. "You know, now that you're Ian's official girlfriend, tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

"And why is that?" I inquired, puzzled.

"Now that he can claim you as his official girlfriend, he'll do whatever it takes to show the world that you're his. And his only."

"I'm sure he wouldn't do that," I responded, rolling my eyes.

Or would he?

♦ ♦ ♦

Before we were officially together, as soon as he dropped me off at the campus, we usually separated and headed towards our own direction. But this time, it was different.

"Bye Ian. I'll see you later," I said, waving at him before I turned on my heel to leave. But before I could walk any further, he caught my arm, causing me to involuntarily spin towards him.

"What are you–"

He wrapped his hand around mine, interlocking our fingers together. "I'll walk you to your class," he stated casually and began to walk.

My eyes were wide as saucers. I tried to wiggle my hand out of his grasp, but to no avail. I protested, "But–"

"No buts. You're my girlfriend now, remember? It's not unusual for a guy to walk his girlfriend to her class while holding hands," he reminded me.

Helen's voice rang in my ears. He'll do whatever it takes to show the world that you're his.

I shuffled uneasily. "Fine," I obliged and led him to my first class. I could see all eyes were on me but I shrugged it off. After all, I was already aware of Ian's popularity. When we stopped in front of the door, Ian suddenly stole a peck on my lips. My eyes bulged open in surprise. I wasn't expecting the short kiss.

"I'll miss you. God, I wish our classes would be over already. I can't wait to see you later, love," he stated, his eyes glinting with contentment as a charming smile graced his lips. He then walked away and left.

"I'll miss you too," I whispered to no one.

♦ ♦ ♦

When my classes ended, I ambled along the corridor that led to the cafeteria to wait for Ian there. But my foot suddenly caught something that was sticking out of the way, rendering me to stumble and lose my balance. Like a reflex action, my hands flied mid-air and found themselves grabbing the closest thing to keep me from falling. My fingers locked in the mass of someone's glossy, long hair and I pulled it harshly to steady myself.

"Aargh!" I heard a thunderous high-pitched scream echoed, piercing through the silent corridor.

After I managed to balance myself, I raised my head and looked up, meeting the eyes of a glamorous girl with strawberry blonde hair. I could see fire burned behind her icy blue eyes as her stare rested on me. I noticed she was the same girl who confronted me about my relationship with Ian before, who I then learned that her name was Britney. She had a reputation in our college for sleeping around, including with Ian in the past. A pained expression crossed her face as she cupped her head in her hands.

"You bitch! How dare you pulled my hair!" she yelled, a hurricane of rage bursting out of her.

"That's the karma for tripping me. You shouldn't have stuck your foot out where it didn't belong. Next time, your hair won't be the only thing that hurt," I lashed out.

"Try me, bitch," she sneered.

"You don't need to ask me. I will," I bristled through gritted teeth threateningly. I took a few steps forward, advancing towards her. Her face turned pale as she backed away slowly, obviously feeling intimidated by me.

"Where are your two sidekicks? Now that they're not here to protect their queen, what are you gonna do?" I derided her, a scornful smile ghosted over my face.

"You–You're threatening me?" she asked, her voice quivered a little but she hastily cleared her throat. "A boyfriend stealer like you is trying to threaten me? I didn't know that you could stoop to this level behind that innocent façade of yours," she spoke, her voice twirled with disgust.

"A boyfriend stealer?" I blurted out the question.

A smirk curved her lips upon hearing my puzzlement, like she was winning the game. "What? You don't consider yourself a boyfriend stealer? You stole Ian from me! He was supposed to be mine! You thought I didn't know that you and Ian are actually a couple now? The whole college knows! You stole Ian from me! I thought you were just a fling and he'd get rid of you eventually like he did to all the other girls, but he fucking didn't! You know what the worst thing is? Both of you are rubbing your happiness in my face. My fucking face! Do you know how much it hurts to realize that someone you've been chasing for a long time is currently with another girl! I tried so hard to make him like me, but why couldn't he?" she mumbled the last line quietly, her voice almost cracked as her mask slowly fell off.

My expression softened. "Britney, I'm sorry, I–"

But the volume of her voice then changed as she raised her voice to cut me off. Bitterness dripped from her every word. "What the fuck do you have that I don't? Why couldn't I be more than friends with benefit for him? He wouldn't even pick up my calls since he started seeing you let alone allow me to satisfy him. How do you keep him on a leash actually? Fucking him over and over like a real whore you are?"

Her last line caused my jaw to tighten until my teeth might shatter as anger flared within me. The sound of a hand against skin echoed, punching a hole through the thickening tension around us as I slapped her. She stared at me with her mouth wide open in disbelief.

"You bitch!" she yelled and raised her hand to return my slap, but I promptly reacted by catching her hand. She wiggled her hand out of my grasp. "Let me go!"

I released her hand harshly before I shot her a death glare. Her accusation about me being a whore felt like a slap across the face, so why should I let her slap me again?

I pointed my index finger at her. "Listen! I'm not a whore like you, so I don't need to sleep with Ian to make him like me. Do you think sleeping around will get you anywhere? Do you think one day Ian will fall in love with you just because you slept with him? Do you think anyone for that matter will fall in love with someone who sleeps with a lot of guys just to get their attention? Someone who is other people's leftover? Ian chooses me because he likes the real me. I don't need to change to make him like me. I don't need to be someone else to make him like me. I don't need to be a slut to make him like me." I was sure my last words were like a wasp sting to her because a hurt expression crossed her face.

I turned on my heel to leave, but I stopped and swiveled my head around towards her. "My advice for you is to move on from your unrequited love. It will get you nowhere. And don't sleep with a guy to get his attention. It will only show how low and easy you are. What's the point of making you his girlfriend if he can get you for free?" I said bitterly to cement my point.

And with that, I left.

♦ ♦ ♦

Hi guys! Sorry for the late update. I was busy with assignments and works. I couldn't believe that I had assignments in the first week I started my new semester. But what's done is done. I completed my assignments early this week so that I was able to update. Oh and my final exam results have come out. I still can't believe that I managed to pull it off with 4.0 GPA, along with 3A+. To be honest, to say that I'm grateful is an understatement. I'm extremely thankful to my parents, my friends and my lecturers for supporting me in my achievement.

How's this chapter? I'm sorry it's a bit short, but I'll make it up for the next chapter. Do you think Hailey was a bit harsh to Britney? Did Britney deserve the slap? And how about the kiss that Hailey and Ian shared?

And sorry for keep publishing and unpublishing this chapter. I unpublished at first because I forgot about to add the title. And I unpublished again because I forgot to add a quote like usual. Till we meet next time.

xx,

Tris.