idiots to lovers | ONC 2021 | completed

18. muse

Chapter 18

I did it.

My finger clicks the mouse, watching the page load—Assignment sent.

A grin breaks onto my face as I stretch my arms upward. A weight lifts off my shoulders when my phone vibrates from my desk.

I pick up the device seeing a new message from Kevin.

Kev: Submitted my script. Are you done?

I smile.

Me: Yep! I think it's time to come clean.

Kev: Yeah, we can't avoid it forever. Want to celebrate before going to her? I'm craving Korean.

Me: Oh, deffo. Give me thirty minutes to get ready.

Kev: Alright, I'll be there in an hour.

I walk around my room, getting ready for my date. After a warm relaxing shower, I slide over my body a checkered brown and white high-waisted skirt, a black high neck shirt, and my leather platform boots giving me five inches of height.

My make-up matches my style with dark-brown eyeshadow, glittering bronzer, and a light pink glossy lipstick. Kevin arrives on time, ringing the flat's obnoxious bell. We take our time to go to the Korean restaurant by going there on foot. The sun is high, warming our skin and overall increasing our mood.

My heart flutters when he intertwines our fingers. I still find it hard to believe that I'm here with him like this. An innocent joke made us become a couple, although he doesn't want to label us yet. I only hope doctor Santiago won't get mad at us when she finds out the truth.

The restaurant isn't packed, and the waiter is fast to serve us. An electric grill merged with the square wooden table gets turned on by the waiter as we wait for our meat to arrive. We talk about everything and nothing as if we've been friends for ages when only a month went by.

He surprises me by taking out from the pocket of his leather jacket a folded paper. "What's that?" I ask.

He smiles, handing it over. "My script. You told me you wanted to read it. Now it's your chance."

I grin, opening the piece of paper and finding one page of his artwork.

FADE IN:

INT. ICE-SKATING RINK — Night

Noemi and Kaden successfully sneak inside the ice-skating rink. The couple is putting on their feet the skaters.

NOEMI

Don't think this is over. I will find out how you got the keys.

Kaden glances at her with a smirk.

KADEN

You should be thanking me, you know? I'm risking my ass by letting you practice at my rink.

Noemi sighs, standing up from the bench and walking inside the rink with Kaden right behind her.

NOEMI

I'm sorry, I've just been stressing out about the competition. If I lose this, I won't be qualified for the nationals.

They start skating side by side in circles. Kaden looks at her with a small smile.

KADEN

I'm the one who can't afford to lose this. The winning price will help me cover my mom's hospital bills—

My mouth is set in a small 'o' shape when I look back at Kevin. "You didn't do it about the therapy," I quietly say

Kevin smiles, nodding. "You were my muse all along. An ice-skating love story is a cliche, but with rivals secretly seeing each other, it makes everything better, don't you think?"

"It could be a retelling of Romeo and Juliet."

"It could, but without anyone dying, just them crumbling at the competition by screwing up on purpose to make the other win."

"It's beautiful, Kevin, truly," I say as I keep reading the page, "Kaden's confession reminds me of a braver version of you."

Kevin's green eyes dart away from my face. "I know."

With a knowing chuckle, I slip out of my purse a piece of paper as well. Mine is neatly inside a sheet protector, and I hand it over to Kevin with a wink. "I hope you like it."

The page I chose describes the main character confessing her feelings to her crush but getting rejected by him. Even though I was optimistic with Kevin, there was always a negative thought at the back of my mind telling me that I didn't have a chance, so I wrote it down.

The professor doesn't need to know the finale is fiction. I made Kevin reject me, putting a stop to the therapist plan we had. I end up going behind his back and visit the doc, telling the truth in tears. Seeing me heartbroken, the therapist comforts me for the rest of the session. I finish the assignment by making the therapist say an inspirational quote related to unrequited love and moving forward.

Kevin's frown turns into a deeper scowl, and when he finishes the page, his eyes snap to me. "You made me reject you?"

I nod. "Yes, you were my muse as well, but so were my negative thoughts. I mixed both, and that came out. The finale is fiction, but I don't think the professor will notice it."

"If you had the finale all along, why didn't you say anything? We could have avoided weeks of therapy."

"I didn't want to stop seeing you. In case you haven't noticed, I really like you, Kev."

"I like you too, but this." He raises the paper. "I feel sad you didn't think you had a chance since the beginning without even trying."

"Yeah, I know. . ."

He doesn't comment further on it, and we resume our lunch. Halfway through it, Kevin asks me if I want to be the one to come clean. I frown. "Why should I be the one doing it? You're the one who sent the tweet."

"And you're the one who agreed with me. I think it's only fair for you to explain it all to Mrs. Santiago, plus you're a writer! You can make it seem as if it's not that big of a deal."

"I could say the same to you. You're a screenwriter, even more appropriate than me since you have top-notch knowledge when dialogues are involved."

He rolls his eyes while cutting the meat on the grill. I take each piece with the chopsticks, ignoring the way he's glaring at me. "Nöelle, you're doing it."

"Of course. Let me go up to the doc and tell her how we spent hundreds of pounds just to complete a uni assignment. Surely, she'll understand," I say. My voice is dripping with sarcasm.

"So this is what you guys have been doing all along," a new voice says.

Kevin and I freeze on the spot. Our eyes are wide at the known voice. Please, tell me it's not who I think it is.

Kevin is the first one to turn his head to the side, and his face turns whiter. "Doctor, what a surprise," he says, wide-eyed.

I swallow a lump before following his gaze, meeting emerald ones a couple of empty tables away from ours. Her husband and daughter are there as well, their eyes jumping between the doctor and us.

Shit.

to be continued...

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