Crossfire[Completed](Wattys2017)

Chapter20

A: -feeling down already. They'll call me down any minute.

Anna stared at the screen hoping he'll reply soon.

H: Aww babe. Want me to go down on you?

Anna stopped breathing as she reread the text. She was absolutely speechless and her heart was thumping wildly. Then, the next text came.

H: *with you. Damn autocorrect;)

"Oh." Anna whispered before she realised who she was talking to. She could not help but laugh out loud at that.

A: You dirty boy. You did that on purpose.

H: Hmm. TTYL?

A: Sure. I hear the doorbell.

Anna couldn't stop smiling as she read Hunter's texts. They texted from time to time. She missed school as it was an easy way to see him.

"Anna, the guests have arrived." Ella exclaimed from her doorway.

Mel had invited her friends over for New year's eve. She didn't even like them but they sure were 'profitable' for her.

As she entered the dining room, she saw the table filled, both with food and people. Blake was also here. It didn't surprise her. Weirdly, the excitement she felt whenever she saw Blake...was mild.

It was Hunter's fault. He had said weird things to her on Christmas eve.

But for some reason, her annoyance was accompanied by a smile.

"Look at you darling." Angela, one of her mom's friend, talked to her first as she sat, "Love the dress."

Dress only, huh.

"So how was your first semester?" Rosy asked, her daughter was smart so this was the way she normally start a conversation that will eventually end about her daughter.

"It was okay." she shrugged. No way she was going to tell braggy Rosy her actual score.

"Well my daughter made it to one of the top 3 in her grade!"

"That's cool" Anna said flatly.

"Well my Ella got all A." Mel interrupted, "She's a senior!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" the compliments passed around.

But Mel didn't stop there, "Blake, Ella told me you did pretty well too."

Blake chuckles before he winked at Ella "Not as much as this geek here."

Ella playfully elbowed him also adding her radiant smile.

"Our Ella is perfect, don't you think?" Mel continued. Ella didn't look comfortable then, "She's definitely a copy of young me. She's smart and pretty. No wonder people mistaken her as my real daughter! The similarity is just too much!"

Everybody faked a smile by then. Great! Now she liked Ella more than her own daughter because Ella is perfect. She should have gone somewhere else like Isa. But Isa was invited by her friends while she was not.

"How about Anna?" Angel, as she liked to be called, asked Mel. That made Anna stiffened. Angela didn't deserve her name , she loved to hear people getting criticized, "I have no idea what I did wrong. She's totally the opposite of me!" Mel laughed.

The table turned silent as Mel was the only one smiling. They all know what she meant. Mel was indirectly calling her imperfect. Anna hadn't even taken 5 bites of her food and this happened.

"Are you kidding me?" Anna asked, monotonously.

"What?" Mel asked.

" Don't f*ck with me! Stop talking like I'm not here and stop comparing me to Ella. I'm not her!" Anna snapped.