The Bad Boy and Me

Chapter 8: Who Would Ever?

[Next day after school]

I trod down the hallway of the school premises. The rumbling echoes of teenage chatter encumbered me as I passed through, but I paid no heed to it. My eyes were glued to the pages of the copy of 'Jane Eyre' I held, my fingers tracing each line with delicate interest. My second read of the novel this year.

I'm an avid reader, if that hasn't been implied yet.

Then, like a sharp gust of wind, the sound of shrieky hiccup-like laughter inflicted my ears from a distance behind me.

I pulled away from my fictional immersion. What was Simone Oakley laughing about this day?

I shut my book and swirled around. Sure enough, Simone, Reva and Coral were enjoying a hearty giggle, but I didn't expect them to be darting eyes at me.

"Look at you," Reva said. "You have a book!"

They broke into laughter again.

"Who even reads books?" said Coral. "Do you have to be such a nerd?"

The final boss was about to strike.

Simone crossed her arms.

"Who would ever date a loser like you?" she sneered.

They erupted into giggles.

All the students standing in the hallway joined in.

The taunts kept replaying in my head like a broken recorder.

I tried to swallow my tears. I felt the trembling of my bones, and all of a sudden I felt cold. Really, really cold.

Tell me this is a dream. Please.

"Come on, tell us," Spencer pushed for a reaction. "Who would ever date a loser like you?"

The laughter seemed to be much louder now, and it played in slow-motion. It seemed like it conjured an evil energy in the room, a trance-inducing hypnotic, that was slowly, slowly consuming me inside-out.

"I would."

A firm voice cut through the thunder, deep as a bass but sharp as a razor. I turned around to meet the face of it.

The laughter waned. The tension was so palpable, you could cut it with a knife.

There he stood. Chuck Carter.

The room was silent. People hung their heads down in embarrassment and slowly began dispersing out.

Chuck looked as godly as ever, his toned muscles glistening in the faint sunlight, and his piercing sea-green orbs looking right through my soul.

In a moment of unthinking, I ran up to hug him. He was a little taken aback at first.

A few seconds passed. Then he let out a gruntled sigh, and wrapped his big, chunky fingers around my waist.

"But..." Simone persisted. "But she reads books?"

"That's my girl," Chuck said, squeezing my body tighter. My heart-beat picked up. I sunk deeper into his arms.

The bell rang. We let go from the embrace.

Most students had left by now.

The only ones who hung back were Simone and her malicious 2-membered army. Her eyes, hooded from jealousy, were locked with mine in a contemptuous glare, and her tinted red lips were held open in an unbelieving grimace.

And right then I noticed, standing a few feet away from them, a stormy-eyed Elliot Ryder, holding a similar expression on his face.

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