Hiding behind a facade

Chapter 31 My former best friend

Felix POV

Praxton

My former best friend

Praxton was once the person I trusted the most, but he ultimately betrayed me and stabbed me in the back. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he shifted the blame onto me, making it seem as if everything was my fault for choosing...

However, my train of thought was interrupted by another voice. It belonged to none other than Marinette.

"Huh... What is she doing here?" I wondered.

But the real shock came when she approached Praxton and kissed him on the lips. He reciprocated, but then pulled away and asked, "What was that for?"

"Sorry," she replied.

"Sorry?" Praxton questioned, looking at her with confusion.

"I won't be able to spend much time with you. I'll be joining the girls for the games tonight. I haven't spent much time with them this month," she explained while pouting.

It was strange to see Marinette behaving like that since she rarely showed any expression aside from annoyance, amusement, and anger.

Allegra coughed to get their attention, then looked at both of them with a suggestive raised eyebrow. While Praxton's face remained blank, Marinette appeared shocked. It seemed she hadn't expected any of us to be there.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked. "You guys aren't stalking me or something, right?"

That's something only she would say or assume.

"Awwwwww... I'm hurt, Marinette. Do you think so little of us that we would stalk you?" Allegra said, glancing at me. What did she expect me to feel if Praxton is dating someone now? He had already ruined my love life anyway.

Praxton jumped into the conversation and asked Marinette, "Do you know them, Mari?"

"Ummm... yeah, they are my classmates," she replied.

"And to answer your question about what we're doing here, this is my cousin's birthday party!" Claude chimed in.

"Really? Summer is your cousin? I didn't know. I've known her since I was a little kid. As long as I remember, she has only one cousin named Clay. I never heard about you," Marinette retorted.

Claude's face turned red with embarrassment. After all, Clay was his nickname given by his dear cousin Summer, and he really despised it.

"Wait... Your nickname is Clay, isn't it?" Marinette asked, trying to hide her laughter.

"It's not that bad, you know," Claude replied with a pout.

"You're right, it's not bad. It's hilarious!" she exclaimed, bursting into laughter.

And Claude glared at her.

"So, are you dating Marinette, Praxton?" Allegra asked, giving me a glance. Why was she looking at me like that? Did she really think I would care if Praxton is dating someone now? He had already ruined my love life.

Praxton simply nodded.

"How do you guys know each other?" Marinette asked, looking between Praxton and the four of us.

"They're actually my friends whom I wanted to introduce to you," Praxton explained.

"Well, let me officially introduce them to you. This is Allegra, Claude, and Marin," he said.

Then Marinette turned to me, silently questioning why Praxton hadn't introduced me. I replied, "No, we're not friends. Don't even try," in a cold tone before walking away.

Drama is something that never ceases to exist in my life.

Hmmm... The washroom seems like a good place to go. At least I'll be able to clean my clothes.

"Thanks for apologizing,

Praxton," I said sarcastically in my mind.

But before I left, I overheard Marinette say, "How long has it been since he got laid? He was on another level of crankiness today!" She complained, and Claude was the only one who laughed.

Typical Claude, finding amusement in everything.

*********

It's been half an hour since we arrived at the party, and I haven't seen any of my friends since then. All I know is that Claude and Allegra are dancing together, and Marin is talking to some girl. Here I am, alone on the rooftop, taking in the air while everyone else enjoys the party.

Well, I've never been fond of parties anyway.

Finally, I find some peace. But it seems that my life doesn't want me to have it. Suddenly, I hear the creak of the rooftop door opening, and there they are- the people I least want to see right now. Praxton and Marinette, the sole enemies of my peaceful life.

Funny, isn't it? The two people I can't stand are now dating each other, as if life is playing a joke on me. I don't have much of a problem with Marinette, as she's just a complicated acquaintance. But Praxton, he's a real issue for me. He's bound to hurt Marinette, just like he...

I don't even want to think about it.

Right now, I don't want to see them. It will only worsen my already spoiled mood. So, I hide in a corner, hoping they won't notice me.

"Why did you bring me here right now, Nette?" Praxton asks her, annoyance evident in his tone. His way of speaking has clearly changed from how he was downstairs.

Yeah, I also want to know why. It would have been nice to have some peace of mind without being disturbed.

"I want to talk to you, Prax!" she exclaims.

"Couldn't you have told me that downstairs?" he questions.

"No! What I want to talk about is not something for the crowd to hear," she explains.

Not for the crowd to hear! Don't tell me they're going to talk about...

"About what exactly?"

Their nonexistent sex life.

Funny, isn't it?

Nope, I can't crack funny jokes even if my life depended on it.

"Felix!"

Me! Why does she want to talk about me?

"Why do you want to talk to me about him of all people?" Praxton asks.

Well, that kind of hurts. The person I once called my best friend is talking about me like that.

"Don't beat around the bush. I know something is going on between you and Felix," she says.

"I know something is wrong. You're never this cold to anyone, Prax. Since we started dating eight months ago, you've always been sweet to everyone. This is the first time I've seen you being so cold to someone," she adds.

I would have appreciated it if she didn't pry into my business. But I'm glad she did because I really want to hear what he has to say or what actually happened that day.

"Marinette, just leave it," he sighs.

"Prax, please! This is the first time I've seen you look at someone like you..."

And then she trails off. I'm really curious to know what she was thinking.

"Like what?" Praxton prompts.

"Like you want to hug him and kill him at the same time," she reveals.

Was he really looking at me like that? I don't know.

"He's my former best friend," I hear myself say.

Hearing this still hurts me a lot.

"What?"

she looks shocked. Does she know something? Her tone suddenly changes. "Then why don't you tell him the truth?" She stares directly into Praxton's eyes, but he remains silent.

The truth! What truth is she talking about?

But what she says next sends a chill down my spine and makes me question my life choices.