Chapter Eighteen: Twenty Questions Blake and his buddy leave the detention room, stomping their feet angrily. "I hate that guy," Blake says acidly. "Me too," his pal agrees. The reason they both despise Christopher so much is because of the number of girls attracted to him. He attracts girls like two magnets of unlike poles. It is as if girls worship him. One look at him and they're whipped- or at least they think they are. Also, guys wish they are him, and that annoys them a lot. Though neither of them will ever admit it. Silence takes over the room after their exit. After a few minutes, Chris breaks the silence. "Are you mad?" He asks, hoping she'd face him so he can see her facial expression. "Why would I be mad?" Steph answers with a question of her own, not bothering to face him. "I'm sorry," Chris sighs. "It's not your fault," Steph lies. Of course, she knows it's his fault. He's a man whore so any girl seen with him is automatically labelled a whore. "Whether you bel
Chapter Nineteen: Frozen Christopher walks into the house and shuts the door. "I'm home," he announces. He sights Emily on a couch watching TV after turning around. "Hey Em." He drops his backpack and sits beside her. She being engrossed on the TV, finally notices him. "Chris!" She exclaims and hugs him lightly. "What are you watching?" He smiles before turning to the TV. "Frozen," Emily replies with a grin. "Seriously? Haven't you watched it like a hundred times?" He groans. "No. I haven't. You're exa......" She trails off, forgetting the word. "Exaggerating," Chris chuckles. "Yeah, that." "Say it Em," Chris urges her. A frown appears on Emily's face as she tries to pronounce it. "Exa....." Chris begins to laugh. "Mum! Chris is being mean," Emily shouts. "You're lucky I love this movie," Chris huffs and crosses his arms childishly. "Chris?" He turns in the direction of the voice. "Hey Mum," he smiles and goes to hug her with a peck on the cheek. His Mum doesn't
Chapter Twenty: Babysitting "Hazel," Chris whispers from his seat behind her. She doesn't answer. "Psst," he pokes her with his pencil. Still no answer. He's been doing this for a while now, trying to get her attention. Stephanie isn't answering because she doesn't want another detention. Even though it would be nice to spite her mum, she still doesn't want it. She's sure Mr Sato, the Maths teacher wouldn't hesitate to give out detention. And there's the fact that he's still calling her Hazel which she has told him not to. So ignoring him it is. Mr. Sato ends the class as the bell rings and students begin to leave. Stephanie leaves too but not without Christopher on her trail. "Hazel," he calls as he follows her. She still doesn't answer or even spare him a glance. Why's she being so damn difficult? He wonders. He has never had this much trouble with a girl and it's frustrating. Stephanie who is still ignoring Chris begins to notice girls looking her way with confused expre
Chapter Twenty-One: I Like Her An hour later, Chris is done with basketball practice. He heads home and arrives some minutes later. Oh yeah, the new babysitter. The first thing he notices is that she doesn't have a car, or didn't come with one. He begins to hope she isn't yet another psycho. He prays she's different, if not, he'd make her quit one way or the other. He steps into the house and shuts the door. Immediately he steps into the house, he hears the sound of the TV. Frozen. She's watching Frozen with the babysitter. At least that's a good sign. He turns around. The first thing he notices is a mop of jet-black hair on the couch that has its back to the door. Why does that look so familiar? He asks himself. "Emily," he calls, walking further into the living room. Emily turns around on the couch on hearing her name and jolts out of the couch. "Chris," she hugs him. He hugs her back, smiling. He looks up at the new babysitter who has also turned around on the couch and he
Chapter Twenty-Two: Shrek "You won't believe this," Stephanie says to Brooke as they're standing in front of her locker. "What?" Brooke replies, shutting her locker to face her. "I'm babysitting Christopher's sister," Steph says. "Quit joking around Steph," Brooke scolds. "I'm serious, B. I went to babysit yesterday and found out it was Chris' little sister, Emily." Steph explains in a casual tone. "Oh my Gosh!" Brooke squeals. "This is a sign Steph. A fucking Sign," she grins. "Ah, geez!" Steph exclaims with a facepalm. "What sign?" "This is a sign that the universe wants you and Chris to be together," Brooke babbles. Steph groans unattractively and glares at Brooke. "Don't you see it? You're babysitting his sister. That means seeing each other more often and talking. Then boom - the feelings step in and then you're a couple. Holy Molly! This is great news," Brooke gushes to Steph's irritation. "You're insane," Steph tells her dryly. "You are too if you aren't seeing what
Chapter Twenty-Three: Debbie Downers It's Saturday morning and Stephanie is getting ready for her outing with the guys after having breakfast with her parents. Just as she's looking through her closet for what to wear, her phone rings. It's a video call from Brody. She picks up her phone from the bed and sees the caller ID. To say she's surprised would be an understatement. This is the first time that Brody is calling her in a while. He texts once in a while but barely calls. When she calls, he's usually too busy to answer or something. The last time they spoke on the phone was on Monday, six days ago and she was lucky that he answered. Now he's calling her and it's barely been a week. She swipes across the screen to answer with a grin on her face. His face appears on the screen. "Hello Stephanie," he greets with a grin of his own. "And to what do I owe this August call?" She asks suspiciously. "And not just any call - a video call." "Just decided to see my little sister's
Chapter Twenty-Four: Threat It's Monday and Stephanie Valentine isn't in a good mood because it's that time of the month. Yeah, mother nature has visited her. And her parents are back to work, they left this morning. Their break is over. She doesn't even bother to make herself breakfast. When Brooke arrives, she leaves the house with her backpack and enters her car - her movements are almost robotic. "Hey," Brooke greets once Steph enters. "Good morning," Steph grumbles, buckling her seatbelt, then placing her backpack on her lap. Brooke notices her countenance and knows almost immediately that something is wrong. "What's wrong? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Brooke says the last part jokingly in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. It does not work. "Mother nature visited and I just have this feeling in my gut that today is gonna be a bad day." "Don't be pessimistic and you're always cranky when aunt flow visits," Brooke points out. "Whatever. Just drive us to that hel
Chapter Twenty-Five: Dump Her Ass Brooke pulls into Stephanie's driveway. She's in the driver's seat watching Stephanie who is in the passenger's seat carefully. After Steph dropped the most shocking news of the year, she walked ahead and got to Brooke's car. It took a few seconds for Brooke to get herself and her stuff together before following her. She met Steph leaning on the passenger's side with a distant look on her face. She had unlocked her car and they both got in. There was this awkward kind of silence and Brooke watched Steph who was looking out the window. Brooke took a deep breath and started the car. Throughout the ride, Brooke kept giving Steph glances waiting patiently for Steph to speak, but she didn't say even a word. Now, she's parked in Steph's driveway, watching her carefully. After a few agonizing seconds, Steph steps out with her backpack, heading into the house- her movements almost robotic. Brooke watches her in confusion, her eyes following her movements
Chapter Fifty-Two: Promise. As each minute passes by, it seems as if one more person is joining the party. It is easy for Stephanie to find Chris. She finds him in the living room, surrounded by his teammates and friends. She giggles to herself, "That's my boyfriend." As she watches proudly, three girls join the group and Steph's smile turns into a frown. She watches the scene for about a minute and all she could see was the girls flirting with the guys - Chris especially. Steph grits her teeth and begins to stomp her way over to them. She imagines herself as a giant with steam coming out of her ears on the way to crush those girls. Once there, she clears her throat loudly from behind the girls. They all divert their attention to her. "Hazel." Chris wiggles his eyebrows at her. That seems to annoy her even more. She pushes the girls aside with her hips, surprising Chris. She moves closer to him and touches his cheek. "Are you okay, babe?" "Of course I am. I should be asking you
Chapter Fifty-One: Barbie Girl Chris drives home with a smile on his face. He can't seem to wipe the smile off his face. He pulls into their driveway, parks, and exits the car. As soon as he steps into the house, Emily welcomes him. Their mum appears from the kitchen. "You are just in time for dinner." 'What are we having?" "Your favorite," their mum grins. "Yay!" Emily cheers and Chris grins at her. "I can already tell that your day was splendid with that grin on your face," their mum, Kate beams. Chris tries to stop himself from smiling but he can barely keep his lips straight for ten seconds before it curves back up. "It was. It really was." "It's because of Stephanie," Emily comments. Chris walks over to her and ruffles her hair. "Smart pants." Emily frowns and as usual, swats his hand away. "Come help me set the table for dinner." "Yes, Mum." They both help their mum and some minutes later, they're settled down at the table, ready to eat. "So, tell us about your day
Chapter Fifty: Yes "Oh my God! Are you okay?" Steph asks and Chris answers by groaning, which makes her burst into laughter. "I... I can't believe you fell," Steph begins in between laughter. "A professional like you landed on his butt. Isn't that just great?" Chris sighs. "The tables have turned and you're to be blamed for this." "How am I to be blamed? It's not like I pushed you," Steph retorts. "You shocked me with your question. Or did I hear wrong?" Chris asks as he stands up. "What did you hear?" "It sounds crazy but I think you asked me to be your Boyfriend," Chris says skeptically. The look she gives him makes him begin to believe he was hallucinating; he had somehow conjured up the image of her saying those words to him. Damn, I've just made things awkward, he thinks. So he forces himself to laugh dryly. "That was obviously not what you said." "It's exactly what I said," Steph deadpans. Honestly, how Chris is reacting to her question is more surprising to her than h
Chapter Forty-Nine: Boyfriend? "Where are we going?" Chris asks for the umpteenth time from the passenger's seat; it hasn't even been five minutes since they left. "I told you. You'll find out when we get there. Stop asking already." "Ugh... This is annoying," Chris grumbles. "You acting like a child is annoying," Steph retorts. They've only been driving for a few minutes and Chris seems to be running out of patience. Though Chris is acting like he doesn't like the situation one bit, he's very happy. Getting to see Hazel alone has made his day but getting to spend time with her on his birthday is on a whole new level. He doesn't think he has ever been this happy on his birthday. Albeit she doesn't seem to know it's his birthday, he doesn't mind. He can't expect her to remember it since it's been a while he told her. She probably even forgot it right after they spoke about it. So it's all good. "Can you give me a hint?" "No!" Chris sighs. " Can I at least turn on the radio?" "I
Chapter Forty-Eight: Happy Birthday Chris awakes to the sound of his phone ringing. He stirs on his bed and hopes the annoying sound stops. He sighs in relief when it does only for him to groan when it starts again. "Oh, God!" He mutters as he reaches over to get his phone from the nightstand. He stares at the screen and rolls his eyes when he sees that it's a FaceTime call from none other than Jason. He considers declining it but knowing Jason he would just keep calling. Jason's face appears after he answers it. He has always been the first one to wish him on his birthday among his friends. "Happy happy happy happy birthday. Happy happy happy birthday. Happy happy happy birthday. Chris, I wish you a happy--" "Do you have to sing?" Chris interrupts his singing. "Do you have to torture me with your awful singing voice this lovely morning?" Jason glares at him through the screen. "You're an asshole. You think everyone can sing like you, huh? You're a jackass, dude. I can't believe w
Chapter Forty-Seven: Anxious A MONTH LATER... Things have happened and things have changed in the last month. Steph can vividly remember how two weeks into senior year, Brooke had said it was boring and she had agreed. Well, these past two or three months have been anything but boring. And Senior year isn't even over. They're on winter break now and Steph can only imagine how crazy things would be when school's back on in the new year. They had winter formal after their finals and it was quite something. The thing is that both Luke and Chris asked her to go with them as 'friends.' Chris had asked first and she agreed. Then about two days later, Luke did. He kept emphasizing that they'll be going as friends and the look on his face was so pleading that she found herself saying yes, against her reasoning. It was only when Luke exhaled in relief that she realized she had already said yes to Chris; hence, finding herself in a sticky situation. She wished she could have gone with bot
Chapter Forty-Six: Master of Kisses Chris jolts awake in a daze, wondering what the hell woke him up when he sees that he's alone in his room. Then he hears it. The doorbell rings and he winces. He came home before 1 am -- way earlier than he planned. He was drunk so Jason dropped him off. He was out like a light the moment his body met his bed. He checks the time and wonders who's ringing the doorbell at 7 am on a Saturday. He makes his way downstairs in his hungover and groggy state, hoping the doorbell hasn't woken his mum and sister up. But unlike him, they're heavy sleepers so he doubts that. He opens the door and the hand that was about to press the doorbell pauses mid-air. The person standing on his porch shocks all the grogginess out of him and makes him blink twice to be sure. "W-What are you doing here?" He stares at her in surprise. Steph brings her hand to her side and says. "Hi." He looks behind her and sees Brooke's car parked by the curb in front of his house.
Chapter Forty-Five: I Miss Him "Thanks for tonight. I had fun," Steph says softly to Luke, avoiding eye contact. After she told him -- more like lied to him, they left the restaurant and he drove her home. "I'm glad you did," Luke replies. "I had fun too. Hopefully, we can do this again some other time." I doubt that, Steph thinks but she doesn't voice the thought. "Yeah," she lies yet again. "Feel better, Steph." She finally faces him and makes eye contact, smiling a little. "Thanks." Luke returns the smile as he stares at her. She stares right back. He begins to lean closer to her and she begins to panic. He wants to kiss me! He wants to kiss me! Aaahhhhh! 'Isn't that what you've always wanted?' Her subconscious asks her. Her answer to that question is yes but right now that it's about to happen, she doesn't want it to. But before she can do anything to stop what she thinks is about to happen, Luke's lips meet her left cheek lightly before he leans back to his original
Chapter Forty-Four: Out of Her HeadStephanie and Brooke are in Steph's room, getting her ready for her date with Luke. Steph had initially been super excited when Luke first asked her but now, she doesn't feel the same way. From Monday till now that it's Friday, she feels like all the excitement has been drained out of her. But yes, she's still happy she gets to go on a date with Luke. Sweet, nice, not a Playboy Luke.You're wondering about the Playboy?Well, Steph can't get her mind off what Chris told her five days ago. A part of her still believes it's some sort of prank. Things haven't been the same since then. Things between Steph and Chris have changed. To Stephanie, it seems like Chris is avoiding her at all costs. She thought that since he said they should forget that this whole thing happened, he'd pretend and act like it didn't happen.But is it even possible to pretend that something as huge as that never happened?No, she doesn't think so.The few times that Chris couldn't