Living With The Player

30

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A month rolled by pretty quickly. All the papers were fine except for French. Mr James, our french teacher, always had a tendency to set easier papers for tests and mid year exams but he is absolutely ruthless when it came to finals. Year after year, i watch my seniors and classmates cry after the paper. It was almost as if the paper ripped them a new arsehole, traumatizing them.

To prep for this finals, i begged my seniors to lend me their papers so i could practise and maybe even find a pattern or a trend. Even the strictest teacher usually have a examination formatting style they like. After much analysis, i realise that Mr James enjoy setting French poetry as his final question, especially those old ones. I ran to the library almost everyday to mug and read up on French poetry. One of the poetry i read up on came out.

Lucky me.

Mathematics and sciences were never really a problem for me. As long as I make time to practice and left some brain storage for formulae, everything would be alright.

In a nutshell, i worked my ass off to maintain my grades and I'm so glad they paid off. I got mostly 'A's and i was able to keep my family's name for another year.

Just kidding, my parents would never disown me over grades... i think.

I sat down at the living room, staring at the clock. Randall had mentioned on his instagram story that his results were coming out at 3pm. It was already 5pm and no updates whatsoever.

What if he didn't hit my mark? That means we'll never talk again and it would be all my fault... great.

Just then, the door clicked open, preventing me from plunging myself into a deeper guilt hole. The sound of shoes being thrown against the shoe racks echoed throughout the house before the door got slammed shut. Randall walked into the living room and our eyes met. He quickly look away. My eyes soon got fixated on the piece of paper that he was in his hand. He shove it into his pocket and hurried out of the living room.

Fuck. We will never talk again and this is all my fault. Why did i initiate such a stupid thing anyway? What exactly was the purpose of it?

I pulled my hood over my head and hugged my knees. Waves after waves of guilt washed over me as i continued to blame myself.

I was the ultimate cause of the end of our relationship. If only i hadn't said such stupid things and talked things out, everything would have been alright.

"Yo, you okay?" I felt a gentle pat on my head. I looked up and saw Randall through the blurry vision of mine. I quickly wiped my tears and snot away  before nodding. He sat down next to me and pulled the result slip out of his pocket.

"Here," he handed me the slip and turned away. I stared at the crumpled slip nervously. I bit my lower lip and slowly unravel the piece of paper.

Art - 82%
Mathematics - 85%
English - 90%
Physics - 90%
French - 90%

My god. He scored all 80% and above.

I looked at him in surprise and he smiled, "Impressive right? Bet you didn't know i had brains too. I just don't study but if i do, i can do really well."

I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. Randall actually hit my mark and this means we could talk again.

Actually, we could be talking but my ego... I'M SORRY.

"Now, the promise..." Randall leaned in and trapped me between his arms. "You won't escape right? You promised,"

I wanted to speak but his actions took my breath away. I shook my head in response instead. My mind brought me back to that note i found and my heart began to hurt again.

As much as i want to continue ti be in denial, it was finally time to hear what he had to say.

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× Randall's ×

I held her hands and squeezed them. After a month of relying on red bulls and late night cramming, i was finally able to touch her thanks to my hard work. That one month was tortuous. Sleepless nights combined with a constant missing from my life was utter hell. I would see her in school but i couldn't greet her with a hug or kiss. She wouldn't flash me her beautiful smile when she saw me across the hall like she usually would. Instead, she would run or turn away every single time.

Her best friend approached me one day and slapped me for breaking Connie's heart. She also yelled at me, saying how much i deserved to be hit. I deserved it indeed. It certainly did hurt but the internal wounds i inflicted on Connie must have been so much worse.

After the news went around, groups of girls approached me daily to 'comfort' me especially the twins who were over the moon that Connie and I broke up. They would tell me that Connie wasn't worth it and that she was plain, unattractive etc but she was my everything.

Even though, it would be hard for me to catch up with my studies since i was never serious about school, i still wanted to meet her goal so i could have a chance to explain myself. I wanted us again no matter what. No one could replace Connie. No one.

"Connie, thank you for giving me this chance."

"You sort of earned it... I guess," she mumbled.

"Just let me speak." She nodded, "Look, the note you found was real. I did make a bet with one of my buddies to make a random girl fall in love and you happen to be that girl. At first, it was really just a game to make you fall for me but after seeing how weird, clumsy, caring, thoughtful you can be, i fell for you too. I really did. I know it may be hard to accept especially after that incident. If only i can rip out my heart and show you how it only beats for you."

I put her hand right at my heart and pretended to use her hand to rip my heart out. She hit my chest and laughed. She shook her head a couple of times as she continued to laugh.

"Don't be such an idiot,"

I put her hand on my chest once again and cupped her cheek, making her look at me.

"I'm your idiot."

"Idiot." Her face turned into that beautiful shade of pink that i adored and i leaned in. We kissed. I hugged her tightly and sighed happily. "Stupid, don't make such bets again. If you ever want to again, at least make sure you destroy the evidence."

"No more, i promise. It's good to have you back in my arms, baby." I squeezed her a little tighter as my heart filled with joy and relief.

"It's good to be back."

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