#Chapter27The three of us climbed into Nat's car to get to school early in the morning. None of us really wanted to go to school because we had spent the night talking till the early hours of the morning, joking and having fun. But I had promised my Dad that I would go to school and I meant to keep my promise to him, much to the dismay of my friends.I had borrowed a full sleeved silk blouse from Nat so that I could hide the ugly purple bruise. Seriously, how strong was Harper that he managed to leave such a bruise on me. Damn him to hell!We hopped in Nat's car with Nat on the wheel, Sam in the passenger seat and me in the back. 'Closer' by The Chainsmokers was blasting on the radio. We still listened to the song, we loved it that much. We often put it on repeat on our sleepovers together and we had it on repeat for the fifteen minutes drive to school.We reached school in precisely fifteen minutes. Nat parked the car in the school parking lot and we got out of the car.
#Chapter28'Meet me on the benches during the third period?'******Aiden was there, in my classroom, standing with a big box of chocolates and a bigger bouquet of red roses in his hands, right beside my designated seat. He was smiling and looked at me with so much admiration in his eyes, that my knees nearly buckled.I could practically hear the lyrics of Wildest Dreams in my head!That's right. These scenes only happened in movies and cliché teen novels. In real life, a girl like me only gets a cheap box of dark chocolates, a single red rose and a letter on my desk.I walked ever so slowly to my seat, careful to avoid eye contact with everyone's inquisitive eyes.I put my bag down and grabbed the box of chocolates. You can't blame me, people. Turns out that they are not cheap. At all.I stuffed the single rose and the chocolate box in my bag. Without sniffing it, may I add.I opened the letter, which was clearly torn out of a notebook. It was nothing extravag
#Chapter29I had to give him credit though. He had balls coming here, stirring up things and rumours like nobody's business when he wanted to do nothing with me. What is this guy's problem, anyway? Was this all a sick game to him?"You promised me you would stay away from me, Harper. Last night." I folded my arms under my chest, ready to shoot him down once and for all. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I was going to need a lot of deep breaths if I was going to talk to him now!He shrugged and tucked his hands into his blue jeans. "I couldn't stay away." I can smell bullshit from a mile away, boy!How could he just shrug, as if what I asked him was of absolutely no consequence?And what does he mean by "he couldn't"?!"Well, too bad." I scoffed and rolled my eyes, already getting annoyed at his presence. "I don't want anything to do with you."He sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, messing it up even more and giving that smouldering I-don't-car
#Chapter30'Would someone help me plot his murder?'******"You're never going to believe what just happened." I said, putting down my tray and sitting down at our "reserved" table in the cafeteria.After the "meet and greet" with Harper, I walked straight into the girl's washroom to clear my thoughts, and to convince myself that I did the right thing by refusing to give Harper a chance. Every cell in my body wanted to go back and remove that despondent look on Harper's face, that I put there in the first place, but I had to hold my ground. My faculties were in total debate with each other. The sane part of me stressed upon the fact that I did the right thing by refusing him. He didn't deserve any more chances. He hadn't actually done anything which showed me that he was serious about me and after the things he said yesterday, it was going to take a lot more than painting my locker, balloons, chocolates, a rose and a heart warming love note!I waited for the lunch bell
#Chapter31I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. I watched Harper have his lunch in peace while I kept glaring daggers at him.I could get up from the table and walk out of the cafeteria, but I was hungry and I didn't want to leave the battleground. Not when he was challenging me at my home ground.I gingerly picked up my fork and got back to eating my lunch, quite aware of the sneaking glances Harper constantly threw at me.***The week that followed was one of the most frustrating and exasperating one of my life. In the days that followed, Harper didn't just make a statement, he had gone all out and made a declaration to the world, which landed me in the centre of all the attention and the public's scrutiny.Every damn day, my day started with finding Harper in front of my locker, waiting for me, before the first class started. He had the gall to just turn up even after I told him off.I knew it was absolutely useless to ask him to stop bothering me. So I d
#Chapter32'"I think we should go, because your friends are standing at the bottom of the staircase, listening in on us."'******Nat and Sam were on my case. Like literally. They had been privy to everything going on with Harper and wanted to know about every decision I made regarding him.But I was reluctant to tell them that he had asked me out on a date. But then again, I didn't want to hide anything from them.It was a futile battle, really. After I reached home, it took me a few minutes' worth of debate with myself, and before I knew it, I had already called them on a conference call."What did you say when he asked you out?" Nat asked."Yeah, what did you say?" Sam asked."I said yes." There was a moment of silence. Silence of consideration and musing and after that came the debate. The debate whether saying yes to Harper was a good idea. A debate I had been having with myself and a debate in which I needed more clarity. A clarity only my best friends c
#Chapter33Sam scrambled off the bed when the door bell rang and ran downstairs to open the door to let Harper in.Nat put both of her hand on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "You look beautiful. Just don't do what I wouldn't do." I smiled and hugged her. She patted me on the back. "I love you, okay. Go now. He's waiting for you.""Aren't you coming downstairs?" "I have to gather all my makeup supplies before Samantha sees this mess and never lets me in her house again." Nat giggled. I looked around and sure enough, the room was a mess. Clothes and makeup were strewn everywhere.I giggled. "I wonder how Samantha controlled herself all this time." She laughed. "I know, right. Have a good time."I looked at her and with as much sincerity as I could manage, thanked her."Hey, you don't thank me, now get your ass downstairs and have a good time."I hugged her again and walked out the room and towards the stairs, which would lead me towards my dat
#Chapter34'Guess there is more to Harper than I initially thought!'******"You know, I actually thought you were going to cancel till the last minute." Harper glanced at me while driving to the destination he had planned and refused to tell me."I almost did." That was the honest answer. I kept having second thoughts about the whole matter. Even now, I wondered if there was any way to ask Harper politely, to turn his car around and go back to Sam's house.He sighed. "Well, I guess I deserve that.""Yes, you do." My reply was prompt and I glanced at Harper from the corner of my eye who was gripping the steering wheel with greater force than necessary, his knuckles turning white."Have you, um, ever been on a date before?" Harper chuckled nervously.Where is he going with this?"Yeah. Haven't you?" I turned to look at him, giving him my full attention."I don't exactly date girls." He smirked at me."Yeah, I know. All you do is sleep with girls and then b