The Ice Princess and The Bad Boy

Chapter Eight - From A Smile To Non-Stop Tears

{Chapter Eight - From A Smile To Non-Stop Tears}

•Eli Desmond•

She did it! That girl actually sang in front of everyone.

Once Preston finished singing, the café erupted in applause and I walked her off the stage to an open table.

"I did it, didn't I?" Preston asked in disbelief. "It feels like a dream."

"You sure did and it wasn't a dream," I told her proudly.

"I- I did it!" She said as she suddenly smiled.

"You're smiling," I pointed out, "I actually made you smile!"

"Hey! That isn't fair!" Preston exclaimed, trying her best to frown, but she couldn't stop smiling.

"No, I won fair and square. This was the shortest bet I have ever had. I had no idea it would be so easy to make the ice princess smile," I smirked at her.

"But- I-," she started.

"Let's face it, I made you smile in less than a day," I gloated and the smile was now fully wiped off her face and she was full on glaring at me.

"Whatever," she huffed. "You always have to kill the mood, don't you?"

"Hey, it's what I do best," I winked at her.

"What do you want me to do?" She glared at me.

"What?" I was confused.

"Don't I have to do anything you ask me to?"

"Right!" I remembered. I didn't know what to ask her since I wasn't expecting to win so soon. "Don't worry sweet pea, I won't be asking you to do anything for me anytime soon. I'm saving it for later," I told her as I ruffled her dark brown hair.

•Violet Preston•

I slapped Eli's hand away from my head and gave a little glare.

Great, just great. Sometime in the future I have to do whatever he asks and I will definitely not be looking forward to it.

"You can only ask me to do one thing, got it?" I looked at him expectantly and he nodded.

"Yes ma'am." He did a salute.

Suddenly, Isabelle appeared in front of us along with Vanessa and her group. "Violet, you were really good out there." Isabelle smiled at me.

"Yeah, I never knew you could sing like that," Vanessa commented, giving me a fake smile.

"I didn't know either." Eli joined in, oblivious to the rising tension between Vanessa and me.

"Eli, you were great out there too," Isabelle started and he raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean staying up there and helping her sing. It was a great thing you did for Violet," she said, throwing me another smile.  I really couldn't tell if she was genuine or not.

"Thanks..." Eli replied. "But, it was really just Preston."

"It's a shame we couldn't be partners," Isabelle said sadly. It was like the two of them were having their own conversation and the rest of us weren't even here.

"Mason is an extremely talented pianist, you'll do fine."

"You shouldn't be all over Isabelle's guy. Isabelle may be forgiving, but I'm not," Vanessa suddenly whispered in my ear so that I could only hear her while the other two talked.

I stared at her and she just gave me an evil grin. I looked at Isabelle who was grinning like crazy at Eli.

Eli was Isabelle's "guy"? To be honest, I'm not really surprised. I've noticed earlier today when they were together that there was something going on between them.

"Yeah, but I really wanted us to perform like the good old times," she stated. "Anyways, I'm having a birthday party at my house this Saturday and I was wondering if you and Violet could come?" she asked, looking at Eli and me.

"I don't know..." I started. Saturday was my birthday as well and I wasn't sure if I wanted to do anything that day.

"We'll see," Eli replied and Isabelle nodded before leaving with her groupie.

"I have to go to the washroom." I got up and quickly headed for the back door next to the washrooms. I needed some fresh air.

Unfortunately, the moment I stepped outside, someone had covered my mouth with their hand and I felt something cold right against my head. I began to feel all twitchy once I realized it was a gun. Seeing or feeling a gun always brought back bad memories. Memories that I desperately wanted to just forget.

"Give me your wallet," he demanded.

I shook my head and he loosened his grip on my mouth so I could speak.

"I don't have my wallet with me," I spoke shaking.

"What?"

"I left it at school."

"Don't lie."

"I really don't have it. I can go back to school and get it for you," I said on the verge of tears.

"So you can warn the police? No way!"

"No really! I won't!"

"STOP LYING!" The man yelled before loosening his grip on me and firing a bullet up in the air.

It was the bang sound that made me lose it.

Gun.

Shooting.

Hospital.

Ski masked man.

Dad.

Blood.

Dead.

I fell to the ground, my head hurting like crazy as flashbacks all came back, and before I knew it I couldn't stop crying. I haven't had a break down in years.

•Eli Desmond•

What was taking her so long? I waited at the table for Preston, but she didn't seem to be returning anytime soon so I decided to look for her.

I knocked on the girl's restroom and called out for Preston, but there was no response. I went into the restroom, not caring if anybody saw me. I noticed that the washroom was completely deserted. She was nowhere to be found.

I looked around some more, wondering what could have happened to that girl. I was about to return back to school when I heard crying from outside. I rushed outside to the source of the noise through the back door to find Preston on the ground crying and a man holding a gun with a dumbfounded looked on his face.

"Hey you! What did you do to her?" I yelled, anger building up inside of me. The guy tried to make a run for it, but I easily caught up to him and punched him square in the face. He fell to the ground unconscious and I phoned the police.

Afterwards, I ran over to Preston who still was crying like crazy.

"What did he do to you?" I asked her, itching to punch that guy in the face again. "Did he hurt you?" I asked, inspecting her for any wounds.

She just shook her head vigorously. "He-he-had a g-gun," she stuttered in between sobs. "Then I remembered my dad and I-," Preston let out more sobs.

"Shh, it's okay," I whispered, pulling her into my arms. "It's going to be okay," I said, stroking her hair as she continued to cry into my chest.

I've never seen Preston like this before, but one thing is for sure-I never wanted to see her cry again.