Must Hate The PLAYBOY! (PUBLISHED)

Chapter 2 - You Found Me

Chapter 2 – You Found Me

** TORI's POV **

After my brief conversation with James, I immediately went out to meet up with Chloe. We're strolling down the shopping street of East Hampton, busy browsing for clothes and accessories to wear for the Masquerade Ball.

"So, how was brunch?" She finally asked.

"The usual. James was being sweet and was a gentleman. It's not hard to be attracted to someone like him." I blushed as I remembered the way James smiled at me.

"Attraction. That explains everything." She bit out not before she entered the Ralph Lauren boutique.

I followed her inside and asked, "What are you implying?"

"Excuse me, I'm Charlotte Loise and this is my friend, Victoria Peige. We're here to see our dresses."

"Right away, Ms. Loise, Ms. Peige." The attendant gave both of us a nod and ushered us to a nearby couch. She told us that she'd be back with the dresses. The moment she was out of sight, I turned to Chloe again.

"Clow, what do you mean by that?"

"Tori, it is natural to be attracted to James. He's good looking, alright, but attraction is different from affection. And you perfectly know what I meant by that." I snorted at her rationalization.

She couldn't possibly think that I was just after the looks. "It's not the looks that I'm after. He's sweet and so kind."

"Yeah. You have these little crushes for prince charming types but it never goes beyond that. It simply fades away whenever a dark knight appears. Just like what happened with Nathan." She pointed out.

This information turned me red. After I came back from Mexico, I decided to tell everything to Chloe. From the simple lie on how things started up to the very last detail. This also includes my feelings toward Nathan.

That part made her very hysterical. She would never let that one go so easily. She claimed that she was very persistent on telling me that I have feelings for Nathan but I just lied to her and denied it wholeheartedly. I told her that at that moment, the reason why I did that was because I thought it was her that Nathan liked. But little did I know, it was really me that he did like.

I kinda felt that the universe is really toying with me. Why am I this slow and naïve when it comes to other people's feelings toward me? Sure, I was smart, in books, but when it comes to life, I sucked.

At that moment, I wondered, if I learnt that it was me whom Nathan likes, will I have the chance to be in a relationship with him? Well, there's no point in dwelling in the past because no matter what I do, I couldn't change it. And my feelings for him, just like what Chloe said, already faded away.

By that confession, Chloe felt bad about it. She was so angry at herself for not seeing right through me. Even if sometimes my moves were kind of transparent, she remained ignorant about it because she trusted me and my words too much. She never expected me to lie to her in any possible way.

Great. Now, I could finally say that I wasn't just the great pretender. I was also the great deceiver. Way to go, Tori.

So much for being the innocent one.

But that act should stop there. I promised that I will never lie to her nor to myself. This time, I wanted to be real.

"It's different this time around. I'm not lying. And I want to give him a chance." I said truthfully.

"Why!" Chloe shrieked.

"What do you mean, why?" I asked.

"Don't be silly. Why would you do something big like that? It's only been months since your last relationship with Za---"