The three popular guys fall for the new girl. Good for them, but what do you have to do with this?
You're just a shadow at this school. No name. Less than a side character.
But when you push a cup of ice-cream into their new girlfriends face, you're...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I was just about to fake a shook face when a hard force hit my rips and I fell into the wall behind me. Dizzily, I blinked and tried to keep myself up with my palms against the wall, having a hard time not to slide into the shards of the champaign glass beneath me. The realization that I had been shoved, trickled slowly into my mind.
Hazily, I noticed a commotion behind me. A person darted past me, threw themselves at Archie Reom and took him to the ground.
I was scooped up by someone and carried to the exit of the room. People were scurrying around, obscuring my gaze on what was going on. Only before I was carried out of the room, I got a glimpse of Dante's enraged face hoovering over Archie Reoms blood-smeared one, before a tattooed fist got down on it.
My eyes widened.
"No," I breathed and tried to get out of the arms that held me.
"Are you hurt, angel?" Nate's voice vibrated through the chest I was held against.
"Dante, he-he's in a fight. We have to stop him." I winded against his arms and he cautiously put me down.
"He'll get in trouble," I blurt out and launched into sprinting back into the hall, but Nate's arms closed around my waist and held me back.
I struggled against them.
"He'll get in trouble with the law." I squeaked and clawed his arms. How could he be this calm while his best friend was beating up a man in front of a crowd of people – a crowd with an above average proportion of lawyers.
"It's okay. He won't get into trouble, y/n, please," Nate stated, still caging me in, withstanding my attempts to push myself free.
"He's beating up a man!" Hadn't he seen? "He'll get arrested." I ended on a high-pitched note while scenarios of Dante being taken away by the police flooded my head.
"His family is very well connected with the law enforcement. Nothing will happen to him," Nate assured me calmly.
I slowed down my attempt to break free.
"His uncle lives in New York! What does it matter to our police if he has connections there?"
"His family is big. And powerful. Believe me. Carrying the name Callum is a free ticket to get out of almost everything, everywhere."
My fight ebbed away and I took a deep breath. If this wasn't the truth, Nate wouldn't be this calm, for sure.
"Y/n!" I looked up to find Ben running over to us.
He stopped right in front of me.
"Did you hit your head?"
"Not hard," I waved it off.
A small frown appeared on his forehead and he took my face with both hands and scrutinized my eyes.
"Do you feel dizzy?"
"I-no."
"Do you feel pressure in your head?"
I shook my head.
Shaking my head, I noticed a small group of people standing with us in the corridor outside the lecture hall. My eyes caught Hebe's who stared at me with a gaping mouth.
My eyes widened as I noticed all the curious and shook faces of the fangirls next to her. And the multitude of phone cameras, catching Ben touching me while Nate's arms were still loosely but possessively slung around my waist.
I hurriedly tore myself away from them. Right at this moment, Dante stormed out of the hall with bloodstained knuckles, headed straight towards me and pulled me into a tight hug.
"You alright?" he whispered into my hair.
Slowly, he let go of my frozen figure. I stumbled a step backward as soon as his arms allowed it.
"Y/n?" I heard his concerned voice as if from afar.
A person, dressed in a beige dress came to a halt next to us. I swallowed and my eyes found Ellie's.
She didn't look surprised, but she didn't look pleased either.
"Are you guys finished, giving y/n all your attention?" She pouted.
Shame clawed at my insides and I had to tear my gaze away. Open relationship or not – no girl should see her boyfriends like this.
"They are," I stated since the boys kept silent and I took a step back. My heart was pumping heavy in my chest and my throat was dry.
Ellie huffed.
"At least you know your place-"
"Watch your mouth."
"Shut the fuck up."
Nate and Dante hissed simultaneously through clenched teeth.
I looked up tensely, gaze alternating between the three guys and Ellie.
"What?" Ellie shrugged.
Dante made a step towards her, his eyes flickered menacingly.
"Don't confuse what this between us is about-"
"Dante," Nate's voice cut through his with a warning undertone, "Not here."
His gaze flickered to the growing horde of classmates, watching the scene, creeping closer with pricked-up ears.
Sighing, Nate ran his hand through his blonde locks. He looked tired.
"Come on, let's leave."
I snapped out of my paralysed state and tore my gaze away from Dante and Ellie. Nodding my head eagerly, I signalled my massive approval of Nate's proposition. I needed to get out of there. Out of the sight and cameras of the fangirls, far from whatever that relationship conflict was between the three and Ellie, and away from the heavy bundle of hot shame and bitter hurt, forming in my chest.
On the way home, Nate tried to make conversation with me but I could only half-heartedly engage in it. My head was elsewhere, deeply hidden in heavy grey clouds. I knew I was a side girl. I knew they had a girlfriend. Why did it catch me off guard over and over again? Why did it hurt like a punch to the stomach? What have I gotten myself into?
We parked in front of the Reom mansion and shortly after, Ben's and Dante's cars arrived. We met them and Ellie at the fountain.
"I'm going home. Good night," I stated and quickly moved out of their reach before one of the guys could pull me into a hug.
"Good night, y/n," the guys called.
"Finally, some alone-time with my boyfriends!" I heard Ellie's bright stinging voice behind me.
I hurried to get away from them, deeper into the cool silent night. As soon as the rose bushes hid me from their sight, tears slipped out of my eyes. I hastily swiped them out of my face, noticing that my hands were shaking. I was ashamed of how much it hurt to leave them alone with their girlfriend. I had no right.
The reality of how much I had lost control over my feelings while lying in their arms, getting indulged and caressed, feeling right as rain in their company and under their touch, cleared like the sky after a heavy rain.
My heart contorted painfully as did my face and the tears flowed freely.
I carefully slipped into our house. Everything was dark except for the dim orange light of the lava-lamp that my mum always turned on before she went to bed. A small tear-heavy smile darted across my mouth at the warm welcoming light, before I scurried up the stairs on my tippy toes.
Since the darkness felt too suffocating, I turned on my fairy lights. I let myself fall on my bed and stared at the ceiling while little drops of saltwater steadily meandered down my cheeks.
