Light at end of Tunnel (On Hold)

Chapter 2: This can't be happening!

The rest of the lecture passed uneventfully. I didn't raise my head from my book and kept my eyes firmly glued to the words and numbers. 

Then suddenly the bell rang startling me. The students filled out of the class and Prof Morris gave me a small smile and left. He must have got his hopes high regarding my competency in Maths. 

For once I wasn't thrilled about escaping an hour without any casualties. I always used war metaphors in my head to describe situations. Well what can I say; my dad worked for the Navy and often tried to train me in self defence. 

I got up slowly and looked at Sharon. She was still in dreamland.  

The girl really can fall asleep at will. Just anywhere anytime. It would take much more than a mild bell to wake her up. 

I reached for her desk and shook it slightly with the nudge from my shoe tip. She still didn't as much as stir a little. 

I realized we were getting late for the next lecture. So I got up and took hold of her arm that wasn't supporting her head and shook her with force. 

Finally she jerked awake and looked at me with a dazed expression with her mouth forming a round O. If I wasn't pre occupied I would have laughed at her comical expression. 

"Hey snorlax get your behind up from the desk right now and get moving. We are late for Bio", I said to her. 

She nodded and stretched her limbs; all the while mumbling something which sounded like "can't a girl dream peacefully". 

We ran all the way to the Bio lab in other wing. This was one lab that I enjoyed because it was very easy and fun. It was for two hours and included watching slides for a while followed by labelling the diagrams in our manuals based on the slides.  

The Bio teacher Prof Brian was new to our school and never gave us much homework. This made him quite likeable by our student body. 

I finished my experiment for the day and quickly got it graded by Prof Brian. 

I moved to see how Sharon was coping up. Since our seats in lab were assigned alphabetically she sat at the other end of the room. 

She particularly found this subject boring as her interest lied in coding and programming. Her dream was to do a major in Computer Science just like her dad. He worked in a big I.T. firm in Stanford.  

She was stuck in few questions and I helped her finish them. She also got her grade and we left the class early for the lunch break. 

While we made our way to the cafeteria Sharon was blabbering non-stop about the impending visit of her cousin sister. I was trying to appear listening to her while my mind was occupied with the earlier incident. 

We reached the lunch counter and there was no queue as we were early. I was looking at the food on table and trying to decide what to choose; when Sharon who was behind me, gasped. 

I turned around to look at her and saw what made her react so. 

There in front of us was Jace Carter. He was my neighbour and my play buddy when we were kids. But what was shocking was whom he was with! 

None other than Catherine Hayly! She was the 'It girl' of our school and her parents were rich lawyers who brought her up like a Disney princess. She always had the latest in vogue bags, dresses, shoes all from high street brands. She was spoiled beyond a limit and had developed an attitude to match her sky-high killer heels.  

Jace was not the typical jock. He didn't play any of the popular sports and has always been down to earth. Perhaps that's why he has been my crush since I was 10! 

He was not very famous and went through the awkward teenage phase like the rest of us. But he went to live with his uncle for about six months when he was 16 and alas he came back at least three feet taller and muscular!  

What summers spend away from here had done to the boy! 

Now in high school he was quite in favour with the girls. He had four girlfriends before and his last relationship ended before this school term. 

I knew it was going to be no time before some other girl would bag him but Catherine!  

Never in my wildest dream had I anticipated this match! 

I thought I would faint as I watched her laugh at whatever he was saying.  

She noticed me staring and gave me a smug look before pressing her lips to his. 

Sharon turned to me with a wild look. She was in as much shock as I was. 

I clenched my fists tightly to halt the tears which threatened to spill over. I had been through enough heartbreak for this boy. Whenever I had watched him with a new girl it was like a jolt to my heart. 

God I was so melodramatic. I knew he was out of my league. But still I hoped he would finally look at me this time and see me differently. Other than as an old acquaintance. 

As I tried to bring my emotions under control, I saw a tube light above the place where they sat flicker.  

It turned off for a few seconds and then as they looked up at it, it burst into pieces. 

I was frozen and horrified. They both ducked down to avoid getting hurt. 

Then I heard the horrible screechy scream of Catherine when she touched her forehead and saw blood. I quickly scanned Jace and noticed he was unscratched. Thank heavens! 

The lunch lady behind me rushed to help them. It was then that Jace turned to look at me. He nodded his head slightly and gave a sad smile before helping Catherine out with the lady on their heels.  

Sharon exhaled the breath she must have been holding and turned back to the counter. I was left staring ahead. 

What however chilled me to my bones was the message on the wall in the now familiar light, "Revenge is sweet".

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A/N : I finally got time to upload the second chapter after it got deleted by mistake. So HAPPY XD

Do vote/comment if you like. Its a really big motivation to keep going ^-^ have a great day xoxo