Chapter 17
A Pair Of Egotistical Jerks Do Not Own Me, Get It?
"Would you guys stop it?" I finally shouted, not being able to take it anymore. I was sitting at our lunch table which I so sadly shared with the guys. Everything had been fine till the time Katheryn decided to enter the lunchroom. The guys ogled at her without any shame. Of course, she was enjoying all the attention she was getting, after all, the whole lunchroom (with the exception of girls) was staring at her.
Sophie snorted loudly. "They're looking at her as if there's no tomorrow."
"Would you look at her legs?" Tyler said, sighing with admiration, making me want to puke right then and there. "What's there to look at?" I asked, rolling my eyes with irritation. "Peaches, you really are getting jealous now," Virat replied with an arrogant smirk. I wanted to wipe it off his face with a punch.
I scoffed, "Puh-lease! Look at her. She's just showing off her skin... body parts... ugh whatever." I looked at Katheryn who was too busy chatting with someone with her hands on her hips. I covered my eyes which earned me an amused grin form everyone around the table. "Yuck! I'm mentally scarred," I almost screamed, making the others laugh.
"You're overreacting, Em," Neil stated, his eyes still on Katheryn. "I'm overreacting? Really? Look at you... I thought my brother was smarter than this. Apparently, I was mistaken," I replied, narrowing my eyes at him with my arms folded. In response, he just rolled his eyes.
"Mark! You're the smartest of all... I never expected this from you. Where's Cassandra, anyway? You wouldn't want me to tell her, would you?" Sophie asked, smirking evilly. His eyes widened instantly and he seemed too interested in his food now. Mark was probably one of the maturest in the group. He wasn't childish like any of us and always tried to correct us whenever we were wrong. He also happened to be a bit shy. Suffice to say, Cassandra was a really lucky girl. They had been dating for over a year now and looked very much in love.
"Soph, I hope you want the ice-cream treat you wanted?" Mark shot back. I remembered Sophie had asked Mark for an ice-cream treat but he refused at that time and Soph had been troubling him ever since. I don't know why though, because she almost always had ice-cream. According to her, getting an ice-cream treat from Mark would be considered a miracle.
She shut her mouth, glaring daggers at him. For a moment, everyone was silent. The boys were too preoccupied with Katheryn so they almost jumped out of their seats when she walked towards our table with a grin on her face. "Hey guys! I missed you so much," she said, acting too cheerful. Instantly, our table was full of greetings for her. I couldn't ignore the way her hands touched Virat, though. She seemed too interested in him. Of course, he wasn't doing anything to remove her hand from his body. He seemed to be enjoying himself. When Katheryn turned, I glared at Virat. "I thought you hated Jake, then why flirt with his sister?"
"I don't have anything against Katheryn," he said, shrugging. "So, I can flirt with her as much as I like." With a meaningful wink, he turned towards Jason who seemed to be talking about a girl he kissed in the bar. Ew!
"Ah Em! I didn't see you here," Katheryn said all of a sudden. Everyone seemed to quiet down with their eyes on us. Our hatred towards each other was not a secret to anyone. I could even hear Travis mutter 'this is even better than watching a movie" which was followed by a few chuckles.
"Aw, really now?" I asked, pretending to be sweet to her. "But I've been here from the moment you started saying your 'hellos' to everyone. Everyone doesn't include me though."
"I'm so sorry. I thought you were some nerd. No offense, though. I like your... sweatshirt and your hairstyle," she replied with distaste. I clenched my jaw, curling my fingers into a fist. "Well it's not like I can't afford clothes which cover my body. How much did your outfit cost you? It must be cheap considering the amount of cloth used. No offense, though. I like your... crop top and um what's that you're wearing? Ah right.. skirt," I retorted, mimicking her tone. The look on her face was priceless.
"I see you're still sticking to boys like leeches, huh? My brother wasn't enough for you that you go kissing every guy you meet?" She said, giving me an evil smirk.
"Well wasn't it your brother who cheated on me? And wasn't it you who could be seen with a different guy every other day? Aren't you the boy-crazy one here?" I replied rudely.
She was about to say something when Sophie interrupted with a fake chuckle. "Haha. Em, I think we should go. I need to work on the project for English Literature and I need your help." Without another word said, she dragged me pulling on my arm while I did my best to throw the most disgusted look to Katheryn. She was just the same with her snobbish attitude. I wish I could punch her right then.
I muttered profanities under my breath as we escaped the lunchroom where everybody started their own chatter again. Katheryn's words didn't hurt me. I knew what she said was true. I didn't even bother to look presentable with my oversized sweatshirt and jeans with my hair tied into a messy bun. What hurt me was that all my friends just sat there watching all the 'fun' when they could've defended me. Heck, my own brother didn't... and it hurt. That's why I hated Katheryn. She always snatched away everyone I loved. Today, I didn't see Josh defending me either. After his 'I'll protect you' dialogue, I didn't expect it from him. Neither did Virat stand up for me. I trusted him with my past but he was just sitting there.
As Sophie dragged me inside the bathroom, a tear escaped my eyes. Soph embraced me, trying her best to comfort me. "Aw, Em. You know what she said isn't true. I was thinking of slapping her myself but I didn't. I'm so sorry," she said, as if reading my mind. That's why I loved Sophie so much. She didn't just stand there, she took me out to comfort me, as if knowing everything going on inside my head.
"They just sat there, Soph. They didn't do anything and I thought they were my friends. Am I so hated that people don't look at me twice after Katheryn enters? Am I so bad that nobody wanted to stand up for me?"
"Shh, I know Maanvi. They are all jerks. We'll manage on our own, okay? We don't need a bunch of egotistical monkeys, do we?" At her words, I cracked a smile and wiped away my tears, hugging Sophie tightly.
"Thanks Sophie," I muttered. She soothed me down, rubbing circles on my back.
* * * *
Mum hugged me as soon as I told her what had happened. When I entered the house, Mum immediately asked me why I was frowning and without hesitation I felt myself telling her exactly what happened. Imagine was cuddled up beside me, as if knowing that I was hurt.
Neil rushed to his room, throwing me a guilty, yet, worried glance. He felt guilty after everything happened, did he? You know what? They didn't deserve my forgiveness. I know I'm probably making a big deal out of it but this wasn't the first time it happened. Every single time Katheryn said anything to me, nobody stood up for me. Not even when she had started hitting me during our junior year. Well, not everybody knew, I guess. But did I not mean anything to them? Did Katheryn mean more to them? I've known them since kindergarten and this is what I deserve? All those times Katheryn picked on me, I let the matter go. This time? No way.
"Em honey, get some rest. You really need it." Mum smiled at me and ruffled me hair. That little gesture made me return her smile and I ran up to my room.
I picked up my guitar which was placed on its stand with a cover on it. Strumming a few chords, I hummed the tune of a song, smiling a bit at my awful voice.
"You're good at it."
I looked up to see Virat leaning out of his window with a smile on his face. The smile made my heart beat faster and I had to resist the urge to smile myself.
"Thanks," I replied coldly, only to see him flinch at my rudeness.
"I'm sorry," he said, looking ashamed of himself. I wasn't as angry at him as I was with others because he wasn't my friend last year when Katheryn used to hit me. But, after I told him the truth, he still didn't think it important to be on my side. I was overreacting, probably. I had every right to do so when my childhood friends just left me to be humiliated all those times.
"After I told you the truth, you still didn't see it important to at least ... ugh just leave it," I said, irritated with myself for not ignoring him.
"Look, I didn't mean to.. um.. I'm sorry," he said, sheepishly. The sincerity in his voice made me want to forgive him so I nodded my head a little. He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't be to happy, though," I said, making his smile vanish. I wanted it to remain on his face. The beautiful smile which displayed his dimples.
He was about to say something when the doorbell rang and Mum shouted for me to go downstairs. "I'll be back," I said.
I walked down to see mum standing in front of the door with a sharp look on her face. "If you're here to hurt her again son, then let me tell you, you're not welcome." The anger in her voice was clearly evident. The person who was standing came into my view. He smiled sheepishly at me. "Hey, Em," he said, ruffling his dirty blonde hair.
"What is it, Jake?" I asked, sighing.
"I.. uh.. wanted to apologize for what my sister said. She shouldn't have said it and I also apologize for everything I've ever done. I know you'll not forgive me but I guess it's worth a try," he replied. "Oh and we need to work on that chemistry project, remember?" A smirk took place on his face and every thought of forgiving him vanished from my mind. I rolled my eyes. Jerk.
"Come in." I made way for him to come inside and sent a reassuring smile to Mum.
A few minutes later, I was sitting on a chair with Virat on my left and Jake on my right side, who were busy glaring daggers at each other. "I didn't know he was your neighbour, Em," Jake said, eyeing Virat suspiciously.
"Well you obviously know nothing about her so shut the hell up," Virat replied, not letting me speak. For the 100th time in those few minutes, I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"You know what guys? Let's start the project, yeah?" I tried to lighten the mood by chuckling but clearly failed when both of them gave me a weird look.
"Okaaay, this should be fun," I mumbled to myself.
"You can work with me, Peaches," Virat said. "Jake can work on the other stuff."
Jake scoffed. "Yeah right! Em you work with me, he'll do the rest."
"With me, Peaches."
"Not happening. Em, you're doing it with me."
I let them decide who I was supposed to work with because you know what? there's nothing wrong with that. Ha. Ha. Sense the sarcasm. I felt my boil at their immature behavior and clenched my fist.
"Peaches, here. You can take a pen and start writing," Virat said, rather smugly.
"Oh no no, you take this paper Em. Ignore him." Came Jake's reply.
Not being able to take it anymore, I shouted, "SHUT UP!!" They instantly stopped, surprised at my sudden outburst. "Who the hell do you think you guys are to decide whom I get to work with?"
I then looked at Jake and with all the anger I could muster, I snapped,"What do you think, Jake? That you can cheat on me and then come back sauntering into my life like nothing happened? Well guess what? You can't. I'm so ashamed that a few minutes ago, when you appeared on my doorstep, I even considered to forgive you. You looked sincere enough. But no! I'm always wrong. I've always been wrong about you."
Virat was sporting a smug look but that immediately vanished when I glared at him. "And you Jock? I forgave you just minutes ago thinking that you honestly meant it. Oh but you proved me wrong like everyone else does. I was beginning to think that you aren't really a jerk. The truth, however, is that you ARE a JERK!"
Both of them were looking at me with wide eyes now. Even I couldn't believe how I could shout so much. Looking at the both of them I said my last words to them. "A pair of egotistical jerks do not own me, get it? I'm not a 'thing' you can fight to get. So just GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!"
Without further ado, both of them walked out of the room but stopped when I opened my mouth again. "I'll do my part for the chemistry project and you both will do yours. If I don't get a perfect A, I'll make sure you'll never be able to have kids in the future."
They gulped loudly before leaving. It was quiet and for the first time, I actually liked to be alone. Closing the windows and the door, I slumped down on my bed, rubbing my temples. There was definitely a headache coming up.
But I couldn't help the smirk which appeared on my face when I remembered the looks on their faces. Looks like the good girl Maanvi, can actually scare away two bad boys with six-packs.
* * * *
Author's Note
Thanks for reading and commenting :D I'm truly sorry for the late update. I may not be able to update at all this week because it's quite a hectic one. Not the 'may' because if I do get some free time, I will definitely update. And does anyone of you remember the schedule I talked about? Well, the next time I update, I'll let you know when are the days I will update. I'll try my best to follow it although sometimes you'll just have to forgive me :P
Take care all of you!
Love,
Stella
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