Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER TEN

IT HAD BEEN three whole days after Winter Formal and yet I could still hear Jacob Green's voice echoing in my mind, saying the exact same sentence that had me staring at him blankly with a single eyebrow raised. "—go back to living your perfect little life," he had said, which made me scoff. With how agitated he was, I did not know whether he was being sarcastic or if he had been serious. That proved that one could never be too sure what another had been experiencing their entire life until they took the time to dig in deeper than what was on the surface.

I had something far from a perfect life. Granted, my life had not been filled with world-ending catastrophes but I did not have the smoothest lane on the highway. I made a reminder to myself to investigate further on what Jacob had meant.

"So," Apollo stood beside me, his back leaning casually against the row of lockers as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his light blue jeans. He was dressed in a simple white V-neck t-shirt and jeans, completed with a pair of black Chuck Taylors and yet he still had the attention of nearly every single female student that walked by—even some males. "How did you get back home after the Winter Formal last Friday?"

I, on the other hand, was in a tight off-shoulder top and a pair of skinny jeans as well, the necklace that Apollo had got me dangling from my neck. In fact, we had accidentally color-coded with each other without prior planning. After spending the weekend rummaging through the entire new wardrobe that Apollo had got for me, I had decided that maybe I did not exactly hate his choice in fashion pieces.

Not funnily enough, I had not seen Apollo at all today. He had arrived very late for the last class and the last class only, barging into the classroom with a cheeky apology before slamming into the seat beside mine. When I had leaned over to ask where he had been the entire morning, he only offered me an apologetic shrug before replying, "hungover as hell."

"Called a cab. It was a little too late to walk home by myself and I did not want to ruin the hems of the dress." Placing a few of my textbooks back into the lockers, I adjusted the straps of my bag over my shoulder before slamming the locker door shut. Turning around to face Apollo, the both of us started walking to the school's parking lots. "Please help me to thank your aunt again. She didn't have to help and yet she did and made the night so much more magical. I absolutely love the dress."

"Oh don't feel too bad about it." My companion waved the matter off, rolling his eyes playfully. "She did not mind it at all. In fact, I don't think I had ever seen someone so eager to help out. I think she secretly liked playing fairy godmother to someone since she only has two sons and no daughters."

"Well," I wiggled my eyebrows playfully, already eager to volunteer. "If she ever needs a goddaughter, tell her that she is free to hit me up anytime. I will not pass up a chance to be related to a princess."

Apollo said nothing, simply rolling his eyes in amusement as he stared down at me. In the silence, with the light-heartedness gone, I found my mind reeling back to the sight that had been replaying through my mind constantly.

"You know, I was wandering through the hallways during Winter Formal and I saw the most peculiar thing." I bit my bottom lip, waiting for Apollo to react.

He simply snorted ungracefully. "I see peculiar things every day." Tapping on my head a few times, I finally got the memo that his 'peculiar things' had been referring to me. I swatted his hand away in annoyance as he laughed, flashing his pearly white teeth. "Care to explain it further?"

"Well, after we said our goodbyes, I walked out of the gym to get some fresh air since the place was really starting to stink up. And then, I saw Jacob Green crying near the staircases. He seemed so heartbroken over something." My voice dropped to a whisper as I glanced around the hallways, afraid that Jacob would just spring out of nowhere and punch me in the eye for leaking his little dirty secret. He did make it very clear that what I saw was to be kept between us.