On Hiatus
There's always something unusual about first love - as if tequila has burned our rational thoughts and possessed our brains.
For seventeen-year-old Florence "Flora" Summer, her childhood friend, Tristan Asher, is the cheap wine she couldn...
This time, we will also have Josie's POV to read! (Warning: Her POV may contain slang/ informal words. Sorry if you're not comfortable with that) Enjoy! :)
The songs of this chapter are:
Between a Laugh and a Tear- John Mellencamp
All Too Well- Taylor Swift
Flora's POV
A loud gasp—enough to ruin everything.
How on the earth did the craziest and dumbest idea come to my mind at school? God! I felt so mad at myself that I gulped down in fear as I felt my throat drying. It was so unnatural; I haven't felt such before— a fear, a cold fear of getting caught. Wait, was I wrong? Was I committing any crime? Of course, not. Mr. Stewart would have said, "You should still be aware of where you're."
The silence was loud, and the air was thick. Adrenaline seeped through my veins; my breathing was faster than before. A mixed feeling of fear and disgust swept over me. Shit! Damn it.
"Josie..." I said quietly when she interrupted.
"Ms. Lakes has fetched you. I mean, both of you." Her voice seemed broken. She glanced at me; her eyes were darker, and her jaws clenched. I couldn't match this Josie with the Josie I talked with a while ago. She was about to leave when I stepped forward, "Josie, wait." She furrowed her eyebrows at me, "What's it?" She was seemingly irritated.
"Look," I inhaled, "I-I can explain."
"You don't have to," her voice sounded like that of an AI robot speaking.
"Look," I knew I was on the verge of a breakdown, just as she was.
"You should better get going; Elle's waiting for you." She hurriedly went away.
I looked at Tris, terrified. His blue eyes were cold. Not because Josie mentioned Elle but because she sounded weird today.
"You said she wasn't that type of girl," I looked away at the oak tree, "Who would think cliché." I sighed.
"She won't," he pressed. "She will never."
I smiled feebly, "Let's go."
~*~
"I was thinking of dividing your class into several groups. Like, two to three persons in each team—not based on your sections." Ms. Lakes, our English teacher, informed us. She gave us a sharp look as if she had known the whole thing that had happened a while ago. Elle was standing a foot away from us while Tris and I stood right in front of her desk.
"So," she glanced at me briefly, "I was thinking if Elle, Flora, and you would work together. Are you okay with that? All of you?"
Silence filled the room as I gulped in fear. I sensed Tris gazing at me briefly before he spoke up, "Sure, but I want Flora to be our leader." I widened my eyes in surprise. Leader? Has he gone mad?
"That's not a problem. You can choose anyone among yourselves as your leader." She arranged her files in her green folder. "Elle, you have any say in this?" She was deliberately ignoring me. Elle nodded.
"Ms. Lakes," I started, "Is it compulsory to write this story? I mean, does this have marks?" I looked down at my shoes. I polished them this morning.
"Of course," She stood up, placing her spectacles back in their place, "So pupils, sketch the story within the next three to four days and show it to me. In case you face any difficulty, contact me right after. Your next class will start soon." She went away.
"We have a class together, don't we?" Tris asked me, glancing at Elle.
"See you, Elle, in the library," I said as I went out.
~*~
Josie's POV
I hadn't expected Flora like this. True, Lucy called her the "arrogant bitch" but... No, I still couldn't believe it was all a lie. Tris did tell me he felt something different for Flora, but that used to be years back when they were younger. I walked faster; the air was cold. I wished this wasn't true; I wished I was the princess Flora spoke about. But it was a lie—a white lie ringing out loud in the white walls of my heart.
I wrapped my arms around myself and went into the classroom. I need a serious talk with Elle. I thought Tristan was playing with us three, but Flora was the one playing—with me, Tristan, and Elle. We were head over heels under a spell. I closed my eyes and tilted my head backward as I sat on the bench. The air was cold and hit my stomach hard. I couldn't digest any of this anymore. They warned me a hundred times. But I was not wrong—no way was I.
"Hey," someone tapped my shoulder. Lee.
"What's wrong? You seem a bit," He sat beside me; his hair messed as usual.
"A bit what? Nothing's wrong with me," I looked away and touched my cheeks to ensure that I was crying or not.
"Tristan, is it? Or Flora?" I looked at him.
"Shut up, jerk!" I huffed.
"Well, don't get head over heels in love with Tristan-" he started.
"Lee!" I pinched his arm.
"Ouch!" He faked a whine, "Tris isn't much into you. And about Flora, I have known her for a long time. She's... awesome!" He blew flying kisses as I forced him to get up. "Mind me," he smirked before moving away.
Tris isn't much into you. His words rang loudly, louder than the silence I was suffocating in. I wanted to run inside the bathroom and cry and cry. Yet the tears didn't come. I couldn't cry, yet I felt my heart getting wet in those invisible tears. My bones felt harder than those words; my brain couldn't process anything. All I knew was, this has to end.
I knew Flora— though a witch or an arrogant bitch, she was more into studies than Tristan. Her smile was fake; her tears were crocodile tears; her wish was unreal—all that was hers were fake, except Tristan. He wasn't any toy she would own or call her own. And she was jealous. I was sure she talked with me just because she wanted to bewitch me. But there was one more thing I knew she said was right—absolutely right.
You influenced that blue-eyed boy heavily.
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A/N: Hey! So sorry for updating late. Life's been hard, and pressures were building on my table (I'm not kidding!) Apologies in that case. Besides, updates will be slow now. How about the new Author's Note banner? Tell me whether you liked Josie or not. More importantly...
HOW DID YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER?
This has been I guess one of the longest chapters written till-date. 1000+ words! OMG! And also a really tough one to write since I had to rewrite many things, and deal with Josie's psyche, so a crazy thing for sure.
How was your weekend? Do tell me in the comments, and I would definitely try answering all of them!
