Chapter 10

Liliana's POV

    I pressed my eyes shut, but only momentarily, reason being, if I were to stumble and fall, I would be left completely alone to deal with the pain and embarrassment that came with it. I wasn't alone, but I was sure before she would realize that I had fallen, Ciara would have had to finish talking about the man she just wouldn't stop talking about.

“Isn't he dreamy?” Ciara's voice pulled me back to the present, forcing me to tune back into our conversation. “ You can't even deny that he isn't. He's just so hot it literally hurts.”

I wanted to barf. Like literally throw up all over the walkway. If everything Ciara was saying happened to be how she truly felt about him,then she was in danger, serious danger, and needed help as soon as possible.

“Are you even listening to me?” Ciara shot me a side glare and I nodded furiously. “Are you lying to me?”

“No.” Yes. I wanted to yell out the words that she had no idea what she was saying and was totally romanticizing a total villain, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. At least not now. “No, I'm not.”

“I can read you like an open book, Liliana.” She frowned, but only slightly. I doubted she was a bit mad because I didn't agree with her, she was only getting livid because I was trying to lie to her and cover it. “When will you learn to stop lying? To stop lying to me?”

“”Fine.” I sighed. “I don't know what you see in him, but I'll never accept how great you think Mike is. Never.”

Mike, and the word great weren't words I thought would be used to describe his personality.

It just didn't make sense. No matter how much I thought about it , or how hard she tried to convince me, there was no way I could believe any of her opinions on Mike. Ciara genuinely thought he was a good person and even had a crush on him. At this point, I was beginning to worry that it was exceeding what she painted it as.

Angry, evil, cruel, heartless, and other words in that category were the only things that fit his personality. Not less and nothing more, but for some strange reason, my best friend Ciara could never see it.

Obsession maybe? Or perhaps it was a form of infatuation. Whatever it was, I didn't like it one bit.

“Liliana.” Ciara groaned. “Why don't you see it? I can say you're the only one in the entire school who doesn't believe it.”

“Because I know the truth.” I shot back. “I know the truth. I know the real him, the real him that he hides from everybody.”

“He's not hiding.” Ciara's tone came down a notch. I snuck a glance at her just in time to catch her cheeks turning red. Both of them. “All I know he's hiding, are the most perfect abs and a heart of gold. Literally.”

A heart of stone if you asked me.

“Ciara, stop.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “ Just stop. I don't know how much of that I can listen to any longer. I love you, but please stop.”

“Now, you're just exaggerating.” I watched my best friend pout, before crossing her hands across her chest. “You do know that right?”

No, I wasn't, but I didn't tell her that. Every single day, and on our way to school, Ciara never failed to highlight all of the things that made him so great. The previous week, I had to listen to how great his hair texture was, how dreamy his eyes were, how thick his voice was and how they were doing things to her, and that wasn't all. Call me crazy, but I could swear on the goddess that if I started counting them off my fingers, I would need a million people to highlight all the things that made Mike special, in her perspective of course.

“I listen to you talk about him everyday.” I replied. “We're literally on our way to school and he's the only thing you can think about.”

“You honestly can't blame me.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “I've tried but…”

“You're not trying harder then.” I shook my head at her response. “If you are, you'd have known the truth by now. You would have seen Mike for what he truly is.”

“And that is?” Ciara raised an eyebrow. Whenever she did that, it was a tell tale sign that she was about to get defensive, and I definitely didn't like that. Not one bit. “Just because you don't have a reason to like him, doesn't mean you have to make me dislike him too.”

“I'm not trying to make you dislike him.” Frustration nipped at my skin. Why couldn't she just see it?. “I'm only trying to let you know and open your eyes to his antics…”

The rest of my words hung in my throat as the unimaginable happened. Maybe I should have just let it go or probably agreed to Ciara's view, like she wanted. But I just had to be stubborn and insist that Mike wasn't all that.

One minute I was still trying to point out Mike's fault, and the next, I watched a ball flying right towards me.

I had no idea we had even gotten to the school. If I had known, I would have definitely been more careful and asked Ciara to put a hold on our conversation till we got inside.

You usually had to pass the sports courts to get to classes, and everyone knew this. In my attempt to discredit Mike, I'd totally forgotten about that, and now I was about to pay for it.

I pressed my eyes shut as I caught a glimpse of the ball racing towards me. The world around me slowed down, and fear raced down my spine. With each second that passed, I watched the flying object inch closer, but I just couldn't bring myself to step out of the way.

As I stood rooted to my spot, I waited for the impact. It was definitely going to hurt, and for the next couple of weeks, I would be nursing the worst injury and a lot of jeers from the rest of the school.

I waited and waited for the ball’s impact, but it never came. Instead, strong hands wrapped around my waist. A small gasp bubbled at the base of my throat, but before I could let it out, someone pulled me out of my spot and into their arms immediately.

A loud bang on the concrete walkway had me opening my eyes immediately. Relief washed through me as I watched the ball bounce away, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I had barely recovered from what had just happened when a thought made its way to my mind.

Someone had saved me.

My breath hitched in my throat when I turned to see who had rescued me. The cologne that wafted into my nostrils was familiar, but I couldn't just jump into conclusions yet.

My eyes bulged when they locked eyes with none other than Jason. A mix of emotions bubbled underneath my skin, but nothing prepared me for the switch up I was about to face.

One minute, Jason's eyes were gleaming with pride at having just saved me, and the next, disgust crept up his blue irises. Before I could figure out anything else, his strong hands left my body, before pushing me aside.

“Ewww.” Jason spat, as I fell to the ground. A jolt of pain shot up my knees as they came in contact with the ground. My vision blurred, but it didn't stop me from being aware of my surroundings.

I raised my head slowly, just in time to see Jason pull out a tissue from his pocket. My heart broke into a million pieces as he cleaned his hands with the piece of tissue. With disdain still in his eyes, he spat at me, before tossing the tissue right next to me.

“I shouldn't have helped you.” His words pierced deep into my soul. I tried to blink back the tears, but no matter how hard I tried, it didn't look like I was going to be winning this battle. “Helping a wolfless being like you actually makes me sick.”

And without so much as a glance in my direction, I watched him walk away, trampling on the remains of my heart with each and every step he took.