Four Years

Chapter 1

"This is absolute madness."

Savannah Fay had an innate talent of exaggeration and she often used it while delivering the latest gossip around the school to whoever would listen. Upon the very first glance, she appeared as a tiny doll blessed with a beautiful pair of bluish grey eyes and silken blonde tresses, and her personality was a perfect match with her appearance. Cheery, enthusiastic and full of exaggeration.

Capping my pen, I looked up from my assignment. "What is happening?"

"A better question would be: what isn't happening in the world right now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Has Courtney finally realized the world doesn't revolve around her?"

She paused, "What, no, don't be silly. It's Shelley. Apparently, she has a newfound crush on Jace."

Shelley Irons was a good friend of mine as well as a part of our unofficial trilogy. Fun fact: the three of us met because we randomly decided to sit together for lunch on the first day of freshman year, then proceeded to channel our collective clumsiness causing us to spill our orange juice packs on each other like a domino effect. Orange juice: an amazing bonding experience for friends.

"Wait, hold up," I gaped at her, "you mean the Jace Crewe?"

Shelley, being a member of the cheer team, was always going for athletic guys. The soccer team, the basketball team and the swim team — all the boyfriends she'd had were from either of these teams. Considering this, her crushing on the guy who might as well be the poster-child for sweetness, was a little bit of a deviation.

Jace, to put it poetically, was a gentle breeze in the summer of heartbreak boys. He was a strange composition of idealistic characteristics; tall and full of masculine grace like a model, polite and a caress of sweet candies like a real gentleman, and fine-fragranced like a garden of roses. I had a habit of associating scents to personalities and people, it felt like a therapeutic effect. Unlike the guys with the so-called bad-boy tendencies and fickle commitments, Jace was a complete personality change.

I was slowly realizing why Shelley would fall for him. He's different from the previous jerks who broke her heart.

"Yes, the very one. I wonder if he would like her back." Savannah mused.

"I don't know but I sure hope he does come around to her. Shelley's had enough of heartbreaks, hasn't she?"

"I hope so, too." She sighed. "Are you done with your work?"

I nodded at her, stuffing the assignment into my bag and slinging it over my shoulders. We walked out of the library just as the bell sounded overhead signaling for lunch. Savannah had to get her homemade turkey sandwiches from her locker that she herself made "painstakingly" so we made a detour to the cafeteria. I would never admit it, but she was a really, really great cook.

We found Shelley leaning on Savannah's locker seemingly jittery for some reason. She was biting her thumb nail (her nervous giveaway) and tapping her shoe impatiently. When she saw us, she straightened up with an anxious expression.

"What's up, Shels?" I said to her.

She grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. "So, I've invited Kevin Newman to have lunch with us today."

"Okay? What's wrong with that?" I stared at her uncertainly. Why was she so disturbed?

"No, you don't understand. I've invited Kevin. Remember who he's best friends with?"

Closing her locker abruptly, Savannah gasped, "You did not! Shels, Kevin is gonna bring Jace with him!"

"Oh!" My late realization kicked in. This was the perfect opportunity for her to ask Jace out!

Both of the girls laughed at me, Shelley seemed a little less anxious. After briefly assuring her that we had her back and would help her get closer to Jace, the three of us started towards the cafeteria. We made ourselves comfortable on our usual table as Savannah got busy in unpacking her sandwiches. Just as I was about to stuff a huge bite of food into my mouth, two silhouettes appeared on our sides.

"Hi," Kevin Newman grinned at us with his charming smile.

Shelley's face brightened. "Hey, I'm so glad you came!"

"Of course, how can I refuse a pretty girl. I hope you don't mind, though, I brought a friend with me."

It was then we glanced at the person next to him. Jace Crewe ran a hand through his hair, completely unaware of the effect he had on the girls around him, and nodded in my friend's direction with a half smile. Wow, he really is wildly gorgeous. And intimidating. A person with that much of charm and sunshine was bound to be intimidating. And he hadn't even started speaking yet.

"Hey, Jace," Shelley blushed slightly as she waved at him.

Suddenly, Shelley shoved me slightly. I looked at her questioningly before realizing she wanted me to make room for our guests.

"Here, have a seat." I smiled at Jace to which his eyes momentarily widened.

Kevin, even dumber than me in realizing social cues, came towards the seat. "Oh, thank you so much."

I stared at him with an open mouth and an expression of utter disbelief. Great, we have another me.

Savannah did some damage control. "Uh, Lyss and Jace, why don't you guys sit with me? I'm feeling quite lonely here."

Sighing internally, I laughed nervously. "Yeah, yeah. We can sit over there, Jace."

When I glanced back at this gorgeous guy in front of whom we're more or less embarrassing ourselves, I found an amused smile playing on his lips. So, he was aware of everything happening unlike his best friend. He trailed behind me to the other side of the table and sat down next to me. I had never in my life felt such a beauty complex as I did while sitting next to this guy with my ugly-ass face.

"Would you like a turkey sandwich?" Savannah offered everyone her special treats, greedy for praises.

The legendary, all consuming awkward silence surrounded the whole table as we struggled to think of a topic to talk on. Shelley kept on ogling Jace like a salivating kitten. For her sake, I hoped she wouldn't start drooling right then. Finally, I had enough of the silence and bravely decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, Kevin, have you had any history of mental illness related to the social behavior of an appropriate friend—"

Shelley coughed loudly, cutting me off. I pouted at her.

"Jace I think you're really cute, would you go out with me on a date?"

I made a face at Shelley, closed my eyes in second-hand embarrassment. Way to blurt out a love confession without thinking of an appropriate build up. Okay, so it wasn't a love love confession. But still, I thought we were going to be subtle and creative while doing this. To think she intercepted me because of the bluntness — sigh.

Jace and Kevin were gaping at her with different expressions. Kevin had an expression of complete astonishment while Jace' expression was more contained, stony... and a little disappointed. I couldn't understand the mix of these emotions splattered over his face. He, in that moment, became a mystery to be unraveled.

"Uh, I think you would make a cool couple?" I supplied unnecessarily.

Head craned, Jace stared at me with an undecipherable glint in his eyes before rising to his feet roughly. "Absolutely not."

And he walked away from our table.

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a|n: i will be uploading the chapters slowly, gotta edit them a little! hope you like this new version. :)