Bad For Me

I got home to find Tay waiting for me in the living room. She was still dressed in her uniform, chatting with Valentina as they sipped on tea.

"Hey," I greeted, thrown off by her presence. She stood with a sympathetic smile.

"Hey. Valentina said you weren't feeling too good which is why you couldn't come to school. I thought I'd catch you up on what you missed?"

"Sure." I nodded, removing my trainers. "Let's head to my room."

Once there she settled comfortably on my light pink bean bag and I sat on my bed. Tay regarded me with a serious expression, making me feel a bit nervous.

"So. Did something happen with you and Luca?"

Uh oh. "What makes you ask that?"

"You didn't come to school today and he walked around like he was one bad word away from punching someone. You should have seen the look he gave me when I asked him about you." Tay chuckled slightly but I couldn't find humour in the situation.

I let out a deep sigh. "He's just stressed about football, I'm sure. Anyway, what did I miss?"

Tay clasped her hands. "There's no easy way to tell you this, Fallon. I think Perdita will be running for Student Body President."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Sorry?"

"She's already started drafting the flyers she'll stick around school and her campaigning. It's all she could talk about at lunch today."

Letting out a heavy sigh, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "No wonder she's been so quiet these last few days. I guess I'll have to-"

"Oh wait!" Tay cut me off, clapping her hands in excitement. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you what happened with Lincoln today."

I tiredly waved a hand for her to continue.

"So once he mentioned that he likes how high ponytails look on me because it brings out my face more. I remembered that this morning so I style my hair like that," She flicked the ponytail in question. "And guess what happened when I saw him?"

"What?" The word came out more monotone than I planned but Tay was too happy to notice.

"He told me I looked nice. Nice, Fallon! He never gives out compliments!"

Nice?

It took me a good ten seconds before I remembered I had to act excited. Despite the news about Perdita rattling me, I could tell that wasn't where Tay's head was. And what kind of friend would I look like if I let that distract me from celebrating with her?

Please and appease Fallon.

"No way!" I exclaimed, laying it on thick and slapping her hand gently. "He's going to be confessing his love for you next, just watch."

Tay let out a giggle that was completely unlike her. "Stop, because I literally couldn't believe it. I said thanks but..."

Her voice was tuned out when I noticed a silent notification appear on my phone next to me.

Dad: Yene fikir, how are you? What are you up to?

Tay soon noticed my attention wasn't on her. "Who's that? Luca? Oh, ask if Lincoln is with him-"

"It's my dad." I quickly interrupted, and she nodded.

"I guess that's my cue." Leaning over, she hugged me quickly, (weird) before grabbing her bag. "You have to come to school tomorrow. While Lincoln has his attention on me, we need to utilise it."

"No truer words have been spoken."

I saw Tay out and returned back to my room, reading over the text my Dad sent. Whilst I hadn't forgotten the dinner debacle and our argument, the anger from it had mostly disappeared. I was never one to hold grudges.

With my mind made up, I picked up my phone.

Me: Hi Dad. Was just about to start studying.

Dad: My hard-working daughter, eh? Don't overwork yourself, sweetheart.

Me: I won't. How are you?

Dad: Missing you and your mum 🙂.

I couldn't help but smile at that. How was I supposed to stay mad at him?

Me: I miss you too. When are you coming home?

Dad: Not until the weekend, dear. But when I came we could go out for breakfast/lunch?

Me: Brunch?

Dad: What is that?

I laughed.

Me: Don't worry. I'll call you later and explain it.

I could have just texted the explanation, but I wanted an excuse to hear his voice. My phone pinged again but it was from someone I had no intentions of speaking to.

Luca: Hey

His message remained unanswered till the next morning. I was sitting at my dresser, getting ready for school and ready to face him. I went a bit dramatic with the make up, bringing out my cheekbones and eyes. And I made sure to not wear his necklace.

I wasn't sure what my plan was with Luca. Since I had a few minutes to kill before Hugo dropped me off, I brought out my journal.

JOURNAL ENTRY #439

What to do with Luca?

Break up with him - Unlikely.

Ignore him - will only work for a certain amount of time, likely two hours before he gets fed up. Then what?

Tell him how I truly feel - what will that accomplish? It's clear he doesn't care.

Avoid him until he confronts me? Ding, ding, ding!

Although a temporary and not very good solution, it still gave me slight peace of mind. Everything was going well until lunch time. I entered the cafeteria with a false sense of security, as I hadn't seen him throughout the day.

Imagine my shock when he stood right at the doors I pulled open to enter with Lincoln and a few others. Our eyes connected for a second and I registered the surprise on his face before high-tailing it out of there.

It wasn't the smartest idea to run from a football player, though.

Within seconds he was on my trail, and I sprinted down the emptying hallway with him chasing me. I thanked God when he was intercepted by someone. Who? I had no idea, but I planned to find out and send them a thank you basket of some sorts.

I practically tore down the door of the first empty classroom I saw, locking it behind me and crouching on the ground. There was little light in the room but I still hid in case he somehow sensed where I was and found me.

For the second time today I received the shock of my life when a voice spoke, alarmingly close to me. "Who are you hiding from?"

The scream that tore from my throat was downright embarrassing as I whipped around.

"Why am I not surprised it's you?" I told Kairos through a shaky voice. Even with the little light in the room, I could still make out his features. Especially when he was crouched so close to me.

He raised an eyebrow in that perfect yet infuriating way, standing. "Well-"

"No!" I quickly pulled on his arm to make him crouch down. "He might see you!"

"He? You're hiding from a guy?" Kairo's eyebrows furrowed and the amused look was quickly gone. "Who? What happened?"

"Slow down, Officer. It's nothing, I just need a few minutes then I'll be out of here." I knew I should have stopped talking then, but our last encounter flashed through my mind. "After all, I wouldn't want my obnoxiousness to lash out and attack you."

"Your- oh." He let out a breathy chuckle. I didn't see what was humorous. "You're still hung up about that?"

"You wish." I scoffed, desicing it was safe to take a seat near the back of the room. "I don't care what you think about me."

"Is that so?" Kairos sat opposite me with the most smart-ass expression I'd seen. "You? The golden girl of the school, doesn't care about what others think of you?"

I shifted uncomfortably, his focused gaze unnerving me. "I didn't say others. I said you."

"And why is my opinion less valid than others?"

"Because you have nothing to base it upon," I held up a finger when he was about to interrupt. "People watching for a few hours on your first day of school hardly gives enough evidence. You probably didn't even have a conversation with anyone. How can you judge so quickly?"

"I had a conversation with you." Kairos responded, crossing his arms and stretching out his legs in front of him. His eyes didn't leave my face. "Which I thoroughly enjoyed."

Now I was confused. "But... you called me obnoxious?"

Kairos leaned forward. "If you think back to our conversation, Fally, I said the school was filled with those sorts of kids. I said you can't be different, but I never directly called you anything."

I felt like an idiot. A flustered one at that, because of the way he was looking at me. Like I was the source of all his amusement.

Suddenly the classroom felt too small for the both of us. We were close enough that if I reached out I'd be able to touch his knee without difficulty. Was he moving closer or was I imagining it?

"Make sense?" He asked lowly. I licked my lips, snapping myself out of my trance.

"Yes and no. Because you still turned very... standoffish when you figured out who I was. Why?" I hated to admit it had bothered me.

Kairos looked away then, running a hand through his dark curls. "Long 온라인카지노게임 short, I realised it was my Uncle's meddling that got you to pair up with me."

"Who's your Uncle?"

"My current guardian. And one of the school board directors."

"So why is it an issue that you were paired with me?" I persisted. He gave me a flat look.

"Cos, you're you, Fally. And I'm me."

I was back on defensive mode. "And who am I?"

Kairos gave me a 'really?' look. "Smart, driven, beautiful, popular. But also a major people pleaser and someone who can't confront her problems, or stand up for herself, no matter how much power she holds in the school."

I stood from my seat, shocked and offended. "People pleaser? Can't confront her problems?"

He blinked slowly at me. "I also called you beautiful."

Yeah, and I'd ignored that because it made my heart beat unnaturally fast. "I know I'm beautiful, thanks. And I confront my problems!"

"Which is why you ran into this classroom like a bear was chasing you?" He offered a sardonic smile. "Right."

My arms crossed. "You are awfully judgmental, do you know what?"

Kairos stood as well, not at all riled up. "Maybe I'm just truthful."

"Truth without compassion is cruelty. You say things no-one wants to hear because they didn't ask for it."

"Why would they ask to hear about truths they don't want to face?"

That hit a bit too close to home. My eyes averted to my black school shoes. "But how do you face the truth? How do you... confront your problems?"

"First, by not hiding in an empty classroom." His voice turned hard. "Second, by realising whoever you're running from only has as much power over you as you give him."

I shook my head. "I wish that was true."

Kairos came closer to me, grabbing my hand lightly. For whatever reason, his forwardness didn't bother me. "It is true, if you want it to be. It's your life, MG."

I looked up at him, brown eyes clashing with his green. His expression wasn't earnest or inviting like I expected it to be. It was borderline furious, with his jaw clenched, lips pressed together and thick eyebrows furrowed. Like he was frustrated we were even having this conversation. But his eyes held the comfort I needed.

"It's my life." I repeated softly and his expression eased. As did his warm hold on my arm.

"Do you still think I'm judgmental?" Kairos asked.

"Yes." I nodded. "Do you still think I'm a people pleaser?"

"Course. But it's something we can work on."

"We, can work on?"

He smiled then, heading back to his chair and picking up his backpack. "That's what I just said, MG. Meet me at our park at seven tonight."

Kairos was at the door before I could protest. He pinned me down with a look, so intense that I couldn't decipher what it meant. "And stop being a pussy. Go confront your boyfriend, or you can call me to do it for you."

With a wink, he was gone.

"If you speak to me, or treat me the way you did that night again, we're over Lucas."

My boyfriend's head whipped up almost as fast as mine did in the classroom. He stood from where he was leaning against his car and pocketed his phone. "What?"

After Kairo's inspiring advice, I'd left the classroom with newfound courage. If a complete stranger, who I'd spoken to less than five times, could see I was a people pleaser and couldn't confront my problems, then something had to give.

After school I'd marched right up to where Luca was and with no greeting, said what was on my mind. That brought us to me watching his shocked face.

"Did you hear what I said?" I asked patiently, keeping my face blank.

He blinked. "Uh- yeah, but-"

"And do you understand what I said?"

Luca frowned, but nodded, looking at me warily. As if he was really seeing me for the first time.

"Good." I nodded, stepping back. "You can pick me up for school tomorrow. And don't try coming round or calling me today, I have plans."

Without waiting for a response, I walked to where I spotted the car with Hugo waiting. Each step I took felt lighter and lighter, when I reached the car I was practically floating.

"Good day, Miss Ibrahim?" Hugo asked as he reversed out of the parking lot. We passed Luca who was still standing where I left him, and a smile spread across my face.

"Very." I thought about meeting Kairos at the park tonight. The thought of it sent a thrill down my body. "And I haven't even got to the best part yet."

*