The Popularity Switch | ✔️

3

C H 3 |

I could've sworn that it's another Vincent Taylor, but when our eyes met, it seems as if it couldn't be anyone else... Especially when a combination of recognition, then shock, and then─what hits me the most─hatred swarms in his eyes.

Man has he changed big time.

Puberty hit him like a lottery truck. Hot damn, he got lucky.

I sit there, locked in place as Vincent and I just stare at each other. The gazes of everyone around us is too intense to go unnoticed, flitting their eyeballs between me and him. But that fact has been pushed to the back of my mind, because all my attention is on Vincent and our intense stare-off.

It's only when he takes a step forward that I wrench my eyes from his and pace out of there without a second thought, leaving my bag behind. Whoopsie, I make a mental note to retrieve it later.

Tears swarm in my eyes as I run into the school and through the locker hallways. I don't know where I'm heading but I don't really care─my mind is only occupied with him, our past memories flooding through my mind.

I can't believe after all these years, I see Vincent again. I thought he would be a part of my past─never did I expect that we'd ever cross paths in the future. In fact, I've come to accept that so much that our friendship and our memories almost feels like a figment of my imagination; a relationship that was just one, extravagant dream that ended like a dreadful nightmare. All because of me and what I foolishly and thoughtlessly did to him.

However, not only did I not expect to encounter him again, but I never thought of encountering him having transformed into whole different person. He's not the geeky, food-loving guy whose heart is sweeter than his favourite pack of Turkish delights that he carried everywhere he goes that I am so overly-familiar with; he is now the six-foot-two-tall, insanely hot rebel who got kicked out of a freaking military school─the strictest type of schools there is─and nearly lit the Principal on fire!

And now my mind is running wild with imaginations of other things he's probably done.

And by the look of his livid eyes, I'm someone that will be added to the list─because he's going to kill me!

For the second time today, I run into someone. However, before I can hit the floor the person quickly grabs hold of my shoulders, steadying me back in balance. "Woah, easy there! Are you alright?"

I look up to meet a pair of gorgeous, hazel-brown eyes belonging to an equally gorgeous guy. Sheesh, why is everyone so pretty here? "U-um yeah, thanks for the save."

"Anytime." He chuckles, but his face soon alters into a concerned look once he observes my face. "Oh, you are definitely not okay. What's wrong?" He wipes away a rolling tear from my face, which sends funny tingles down my spine.

I lower my face, trying to hide my burning cheeks. "It's nothing."

It's everything.

"Come on, you can tell me." He smiles assuringly, tilting his head sideways to meet my eyes. "Trust me, you'll feel a lot better if you let it all out."

Well, once upon a time I was a conceited little shit who thought it was cool to vilify my best friend in front of the entire school just so then I could be prom queen. But that guy grew up to be some sort of illegal-business-involved gangster and guess what? He knows that I'm alive, and now he's going to eat me alive. I clear my throat. "I feel really sick."