2

Cressida

Three Years Later

Jack answered the phone with a chuckle. “Miss me already?” Hearing his chuckle was more than enough to make my day.

“Bitching already?” I faked a gasp as I stopped at the traffic light and adjusted the Bluetooth ear piece. 

“Stop being a little shit. Why are you calling?” 

“I missed you. I know you left London a week ago, but I would miss you even if you left two seconds ago.” He paused, and I knew there was more, so I clutched the steering wheel tightly so I could hide my sadness and frustration about not being beside him when he needed me the most.

“If it wasn’t for Aunt Valerie here, I wouldn’t have survived my seizures without having you beside me. But it’s fine… one year to go.” 

One more year in that hell I’d been living in for the past three years. The same hell Talia endured with me. And thank God she was with me, because I doubt I would’ve survived without her. Who would survive what we had to go through on their own? No one.

“One year to go.” My voice sounded haunted even to me, but I could only hope that Jack didn’t notice. I was on the verge of crying when I heard Talia playfully fighting with her mother… again. 

“Is that Talia?” Jack asked on the other line. I could practically hear the goofy smile in his voice as I smiled to myself. Even from far away, Talia knew how to make us smile.

“Who else would it be?” I giggled as I saw Talia trying to pull her hand from her mother’s grasp as she tried to give her some sort of smoothie. With all due respect to her mother, the smoothie was… not that tasty. 

“Fine! I’ll drink it, but let me go. Ida is waiting for me!” Talia screamed, clearly frustrated with her mother. Only then did her mother notice me waiting in the car. She let go of Talia, who almost fell on the ground.

Aunt Rose waved at me with a smile–she had the same smile as Talia’s–as they both came towards the car.

“Jack, I’ll call you back. They’re coming my way, and I swear I’m saving you a headache over here.” I chuckled softly, and Jack had a full laugh.

“Okay, but call me back ASAP. Now bye!” he said through small laughs. 

The bastard didn’t even wait before ending the call. We’ll have a talk about this later. I mean, I’m still ten minutes older, so I deserve some respect… or maybe I shouldn’t care because it’s Jack. My Jack.

“Cressida!” Talia yelled as soon as she entered the car. She attacked me with a bear hug while kissing my cheek. “Missed you so much!” 

I hugged her back, but then declared. “Okay, I missed you too, but stop yelling in my ear!” She only laughed, backing away from me as she straightened in her seat, while I took off to that hellish school.

Moonflow.

“I don’t want to go to school anymore,” Talia whined playfully. But I knew better, because over the years we’d spent together, I came to understand that Talia doesn’t only hate school because she doesn’t like waking up early, she also hates it because of Oliver.

Even though I knew what kind of vendetta they have I still had a hard time understanding it but I knew it was bad enough for him to keep on being a bastard and a bully just like… him.

“If you wanna chase fashion designing, then I don’t think you have that much of a choice.” I was annoying her, and she knew it, but she still groaned with a smile on her face. I allowed myself to have a little fun before going back to my… hell.

Talia and I arrived at the gate for the senior year, and we both shared a look. One year to go. 

For her to be free of Oliver and whatever chaos he brought with him, and for me to reunite with my twin.

“Well, would you look at that?” I knew that something was off when I didn’t hear the sirens go off. I swear her voice is as irritating as a siren. 

We simply kept on walking until we reached the class, because we needed to pass this year, one way or another… even if it meant not teaching Queen B, AKA Queen Bitch for me, her place.

“Little witch, I’m talking to you!” 

Blake Gerard.

That’s her name. That’s the bitch’s name, and I’d had just about enough of her bullshit. I tolerated it way too much.

“You should really start becoming more creative, Blake.” I went to sit on my chair, but not before I said one more thing that I could only hope would at least embarrass her. 

“Plus, I’ve been called worse by better, so you either become more creative or become better. But I doubt better is even a word your mother told you, given who she is.” That was the final straw for Blake as she raised her hand and was ready to slap the hell out of me–not that I would’ve let her–but a deep voice stopped her. 

A voice that was familiar.

“Don’t you dare raise that hand another centimetre, Gerard.” The voice was deep and scary. It was meant to send chills down your spine and cause goosebumps to cover your body. It was a voice you should stay away from, because if you didn’t, then kiss any respect you had in your entire life goodbye.

“Since when do you care about the Little Witch, Savaş?” Blake turned around and crossed her arms in front of her chest as we all watched. 'The Hurricane', that’s what everyone called him. Why? Who the fuck knows.

Savaş was standing right in front of Blake and I could bet my life that everyone in the room was holding their breaths as they waited for his next move or word.

“Since it’s none of your fucking business, Blake. Now walk away before I get angry.” The first sentence was said while he was looking at Queen Bitch, but he said the last one with his green eyes fixed on me. Me? 

Why would the guy who was my tormentor–my nemesis for all these years–stop that bitch from hurting me? Why, after years of bullying and declaring me an enemy for the entire school, did he decide to stop her from doing what everyone had done for three years? 

Savaş Ewald had turned my life into a custom-made hell for three years. Now he was trying to play the role of the hero? He was, and always would be, the villain in my story. 

What kind of sick, twisted game was this? 

“This is not over!” Blake threatened before leaving the class with her best friend hanging on her side. Savaş moved my way and only now did I notice that it wasn’t just his voice that had changed, but his looks as well.

His dirty blonde hair was now longer, and he had it tied at the back of his head in a low bun. It made him even more… attractive, I guess.

I was so distracted by him that I didn’t even notice him standing right beside me until his hot breath hit my ear and he whispered, only for me to hear. 

“You're welcome, Güzel.” The heck does that word mean? As if my confusion wasn't enough, he had the audacity to lean down and place a kiss below my ear before he went to sit down in one of the desk chairs. The other three horsemen followed him silently, but surprise was on their faces, just like it was on mine and that of the entire class.

I sat down on my chair quickly when Mr Harding entered the room and leaned back, because I knew Talia was going to ask the question I was asking myself.

“What the hell just happened?” she whispered-yelled at me. I honestly didn’t know what to tell her, because I didn’t know what the hell that was either.

But I could still feel his lips on my skin, and my hand automatically went to the spot he kissed. Then I felt it. He was watching me.

For a second, I dared to turn and have a glance, just to see if my sixth sense was right. But it still surprised me when I met his scary, but still attractive, eyes. I looked away from him quickly. If he thought one good act would wipe all the other years away, then he was wrong.

I’m not a person of forgiveness–not that he deserves it. No one like him deserves forgiveness, because people like him only love to mess around with other people. The moment they actually have to be responsible for something–anything–they run away like cowards. It’s in their nature, but it was never in mine.

I was never a coward, and I wouldn’t be one now. That was my thought as I redirected my gaze to him and looked him dead in the eye. 

You wanna play, Savaş? Let’s play. But you better be ready for losing, dickhead!