Emotional Butterfly

s e v e n t e e n

Partners

As I walked through the corridor of my school after back-to-back AP classes, my mind buzzed with a whirlwind of knowledge and a list of tasks I had to complete. Today, I had promised Jade to accompany her to her Geography Club quiz after school.

Jade, my elder sister, is the president of the Geography Club, and she's also a member of both the Chemistry and History clubs. She's a wizard full of knowledge, and even 20% of her brilliance has rubbed off on me. I'm the vice president of the Chemistry Club, though my role has been pretty passive lately since there haven't been any new competitions to participate in.

Anyway, now I had chemistry class, the one I share with Kevin. Ugh, my life. I had mentally prepared myself for this since morning. Whatever happened last week still breaks my heart. Vinny, we are over him, remember!

As I walked into the lab, I scanned the room and felt relieved not to see the person I was dreading. Letting out a relaxing breath, I settled into my seat and busied myself with taking out my book and notebook.

"Hey Vinny, can you help me with this equation? I'm stuck," Marisa asked.

"Sure, which equation?" I spent the next five minutes walking her through the proper method to balance the equation.

"Here you go," I said, handing her notebook back. She thanked me, and I gave her a small smile

In the midst of helping Marisa, I didn't notice when the chair next to me got occupied. The handsome devil had seated himself beside me. Oh god, no! I tried my best to ignore him, but suddenly, he took my pen from my desk.

"Hey!" I said. "Give it back!"

"Hi, butterfly. Finally, you're not ignoring me," he smirked. I freaking hate that smirk on his face.

"Give me my pen back," I demanded, ignoring his comment.

"No, no. First, tell me why you're ignoring me. Whenever you see me, you run in the opposite direction. Hell, I'm back after all these years, but you didn't even welcome me properly. We used to be friends. Why are you so hell-bent on ignoring my existence?" he ended his rant.

"Dude. You and I used to be friends. Keywords: used to be, as in the past. I'm not your friend anymore. It's my life, and I'll decide who's worth my time. You don't even exist on my list," I said, looking him dead in the eyes. I saw a glimpse of hurt flash in his eyes, but I didn't care. I didn't want a repeat of the past. He had humiliated me. Unlike the female leads in their stories, I hold grudges. I can be the main character of my life, and I don't want him in it.

"Come on, butterfly. Don't be like that," he pouted. God, we're all grown up; he should stop acting like a baby. It's so annoying.

"Look—" I began, but he interrupted me.

"Where?"

"I am perfect—"

"Oh, I know."

"—ly doing fine without—"

He gasped. "You eat pizza with ketchup?"

"You—" I cut myself off. "What's wrong with eating pizza with ketchup?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"What psycho eats pizza with ketchup?" he said.

"Normal people tend to like their pizza with ketchup, thank you very much," I said with finality in my tone.

"Hell no!" he paused. "You know what?" He got quiet. That drama queen.

"What?" I asked, getting irritated.