Chapter Thirty-Six: Truth Honestly, Chris has been thinking about what Jason said to him at the parking lot. "I think you like her," Jason had said. Does he? No. He doesn't. Just as he said, Hazel isn't his type. Or is she? No. He's pretty sure she isn't. He doesn't like her. Or does he? No, he doesn't. He stops his contemplation as he hears his mum's car pull into the driveway. She's home and that means it's time to face the music. All he knows is that she won't be happy. Which mother would be happy her kid got suspended? She'll be mad at him. He walks to the door and opens it for them to enter. He grins on sighting Emily and she does too. She hugs him. "Chris." "How was school, Em?" He asks, ruffling her hair even though he knows she doesn't like when he does it. She swats his hands away. "It was fun." Chris then shifts his gaze to his mum who has a blank look on her face. She shuts the door. "Emily baby, go drop your backpack in your room and wait for me," his mum
Chapter Thirty-Seven: I Love You "What's the first thing you like about me?" Chris moves even closer to her. "You really wanna know?" He smirks. "Yes." He smiles as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. His hand lingers there as he stares intensely at her. Steph feels weird with the way he's staring at her but she doesn't look away. Instead, she swallows the lump in her throat. His eyes darken as they move to her lips and he remembers how it felt like kissing her. He wants to feel like that again so he finds himself leaning in. ... ... Stephanie stands there -- frozen. The air around seems to have shifted and she finds herself recalling the one and only time she has kissed him. When he begins to lean in, she mentally panics. Her head yells at her to do something to stop what she thinks is about to happen. Do something Steph! Pull away, say something, slap him, look away, run away. Just do something -- anything -- to stop what's about to happen. You shouldn't let him kiss y
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Apologies "Hey, Ivy wake up," Aspen says as she tries to wake the sleeping beauty. "Uh... Is it morning yet?" Ivy asks with her eyes closed, stretching her arms. "Yeah. We need to get ready. School starts in an hour." Aspen responds. Ivy lets out a loud groan before sitting up and opening her eyes slowly. She covers her mouth as she yawns. "I had the weirdest dream," she informs Aspen groggily. "What about?" "I dreamt that Luke broke up with me." Aspen doesn't say anything to that which makes Ivy study her face. The look on Aspen's face tells her it wasn't a dream. "It's real? It's real..... It's all real," Ivy whispers in disbelief and covers her face with her palms. Aspen sighs. Ivy has been like this since yesterday. The moment Luke broke up with her, it felt like things fell apart. Aspen would never have thought a day like this would come -- the day Ivy cries over a guy. "But I love him," Ivy mumbles with her face still in her palms. "I know, Ivy
Chapter Thirty-Nine: She's Pretty "I'm sure you’re very pleased with yourself," Stephanie says in place of a greeting as she joins Brooke at their usual table in the cafeteria. She hasn't been able to see Brooke since she got to school in the morning since they don't share any classes today. "Is that how to greet your best friend that you're seeing for the first time today?" Brooke smirks, folding her arms across her chest. "It's just the new way I greet best friends that are trying to play cupid," Steph retorts with a pointed look. Brooke seems unfazed by the look Steph’s giving her. Instead, she grins and takes a bite out of her sandwich. "Why didn’t you pick me up today?" "I sent Chris to pick you up," Brooke says as if it’s only normal and happens every time—she says it like she’s casually telling somebody about today’s weather. "Why did you do that?" Steph asks in exasperation. Brooke’s attitude towards it isn’t helping matters right now. She’s acting like Steph and Chris
Chapter Forty: FeelingsIt's finally Halloween night and Stephanie is excited. Normally, she spends Halloween night at home, giving treats to little kids going trick or treating, but tonight, she's going to Jason's party. The last time she went there, she had kissed Christopher. You'd expect Stephanie to be into Halloween seeing as she loves watching scary movies but she isn't. To her, it's just like any other day. The only difference is the decorations and the annoyingly adorable kids asking for treats.She wasn't planning on going to the party this time around also but when Luke asked that they go together, she couldn't resist. She'll go and try to have a good time. She believes she wouldn't really have to try hard—as long as Luke's with her—she's sure to enjoy the night. She didn't even have the guts to ask him if they'll be going as dates. When she told Brooke about it, Brooke's first statement was;"As his date or friend?"She had no answer to that then and she still doesn't. She
Chapter Forty-One: Tell Her“You have some explaining to do, young lady,” Brooke says in a chiding tone the moment Steph opens the door.“Well, hello to you too, mum. Come on in,” Steph says with a simper.Brooke glares at her as she walks in because of the silly smile on her face. Steph rolls her eyes as she shuts the door and then proceeds to follow her to the living room.“Anybody home?” Brooke asks as settles on a couch.“Just my dad. He's busy in his study. Mum’s out,” Steph replies.Brooke narrows her eyes at her with a serious -- very serious look on her face.“Can you tell me where the hell you were last night?”“Straight to the point, huh?”“If you don’t start talking --”Steph cuts her off. “Chill, B. You’re such a drama queen sometimes. I saw all your voicemails and text messages.”“And you didn’t deem it fit to freaking call me back?” Brooke bellows.“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? We went to the movies and my phone was on silent. I only saw your messages when I got home and I
Chapter Forty-Two: I Like Her Two weeks later, Chris hasn't told Stephanie how he feels. Nope. He hasn't told her yet. Jason and Max have been hounding and hounding him, persuading him, coaxing him, and cajoling him to tell her. But he hasn't. Jason even threatened to tell her himself if he doesn't man up. "Man up, man up. Little boy won't you man up, " Jason sang to him in a mock tone. But he still hasn't told her. Every time he comes close to doing so, thinking it's the right moment, something happens and he'll change his mind. He'd chicken out like the chicken he is. The two weeks though have been lovely. He got to drive her to school once and drove her home all the time she came over to babysit Emily. Seeing as he enjoys spending time with her, it has been okay but at the same time dreadful. Sometimes, he'd feel so overwhelmed that he'd just want to grab her and kiss the life out of her or just hug her and inhale her lovely scent that is imbibed in his head. But no, he
Chapter Forty-Three: We're Dating The beginning of the ride home is silent. Steph busies herself by looking out the window, thinking about what transpired between her and Chris. How on Earth does Chris like her? She keeps asking herself. Brooke, the designated driver does her job but occasionally glances at Steph. She knows that Steph thinks she likes Luke and it must be a dream come true for him to ask her out on a date. But Brooke believes Steph likes Chris but hasn't realized it yet. She believes they're meant to be together. The car comes to a halt when they reach a stop light. Since Brooke can't stand the silence anymore so she decides to break it. "So....." She trails off, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Steph turns away from the window to look at her, waiting for her to complete her sentence. "So... What's going to happen now?" "Uhm... What do you mean?" Steph says. "What are you gonna do next? What's going to happen next? What will you say to Chris when y
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