𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓¹ || 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒

4

"Those kids are trouble," Chad pointed to the VKs as we exited the school building out into the courtyard where our lockers were.

"No they're not, you're just a dick," i rolled my eyes at him and his pomposity.

Chad had been spitting bull shit out of his mouth anytime he even heard VK. It was aggravating seeing as none of them actually harmed him.

"Come on Chad, give them a chance." Ben added.

"No offense, Benny bear," I rolled my eyes at Audrey and her nicknames for Ben. "you're just too trusting. Look I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince. But with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy. That girls mom," she told him.

"And with mine, the supposed loving mother was actually an evil, old hag. Every story is different. Audrey, you just can't accept that everyone is different and come from different backgrounds. Maybe if her mom was invited to your mom's stupid party she wouldn't be locked on an Isle." I said feigning a caring tone.

"I think you're wrong about them," Ben told Chad and Audrey. "See you guys later,"

As Ben walked off I went to find my locker and put my chemistry text book away. I watched from afar as Ben, unknowingly, flirted with Mal. I don't think she really knew it either.

This didn't hurt. It was different, weird different. With Audrey and Ben it hurt. I was jealous every time i saw Ben and Audrey together. This didn't. I watched as he smiled at her in a way he never smiled at anyone else. It was cute, truly. And there was no jealousy from me, only happiness for my friend. Maybe that was reason behind my upset. I wasn't jealous, i was angry at Audrey for being a selfish, manipulative bitch.

Once Mal left Ben, I joined him again with a giddy smile on my face.

"You like her," i lightly smacked Ben's shoulder over and over again.

"Do not, I'm with Audrey." He rolled his eyes at my antics.

Even though it was obvious Ben had began to stare off into space, daydreaming, i continued speaking. "Well, you and Audrey were never really not a couple. Do you even like her?"

"What? No i don't like, Mal," he said coming out of his day dream.

"I was asking about Audrey. You were totally just thinking about her." I teased.

"No i was not." His consistency was uncanny

"Yeah you were," I consisted

"whatever, Ryder," Ben gave up and started walking away.

"You totally like her!" i screamed after him.

"Do not!" He yelled, which made me laugh.

"You never answered my question!" I started jogging after him.

"Bye, Ryder," He shouted one last thing to me before making a turn into his class.

——

Later that day, i went into my art class. A basic class just so i could get the arts credit that were required to graduate with a fancy cord around your neck. I saw Mattheo and Tina sitting next to each other, and decided to join them.

"I see you've introduced yourselves," i said.

"You never told me Gothel was so cute," Tina accused me.

"Didn't think it mattered." i replied, confusion and suspicion hidden in my voice.

"And, Princess, why didn't you tell me this fairy was so beautiful?" He wrapped a strand of her blonde hair around one of his fingers.

"You didn't ask me about my friends," i sounded slightly annoyed. I was annoyed, but a lot more than slightly. The pair annoyed me.

"You wanted me to ask?" He smirked, seemingly searching for a double meaning.

"Depends, are we friends or not?" I smiled back. I glanced at Tina who was following the conversation thoroughly, her eyes bouncing from Me to Mattheo and back again.

"I guess so." he said.

"Well then, getting to know me would be included in the friend title. And my bestfriend would be included in getting to know me." I answered his question.

"I guess we need to have a get-to-know-you chat then," he teased.

"Not what I meant and you know it." i accused.

"My bad, Princess."

"It is your bad." i said, a slight bit of upset settling into the back of my chest.

The teacher came into the class room, and told us all to take our seats. I sat right in between Tina and Mattheo. I don't know why the sight of them made me so angry but it did. I guess I've got a little more resentment towards Mattheo and his mother than I thought.

As the class started Tina whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "You like him, don't you?" she had her blonde brows furrowed together.

"No, and if you want him, have him." i said, knowing exactly where her mind was.

"No. Whether you realize it or not, you like him. A lot." She accused me and sat up, no longer leaning towards me. The sense of deja vu was strong. How ironic, i was just saying the same thing to Ben about Mal. Except in Ben's case I was right.

We continued to listen and take notes on the lecture our teacher gave us. That is until we were sent off to our respective canvases and instructed to paint a picture of something we dreamt about.

As I began to paint, I saw the light purple and yellow flecks work with the deep red and black. I didn't know what i made. It was a very abstract painting, just like the dreams i'd had. I never saw what the colors meant, just that they were there, dancing together.

As I finished my painting, I realized it was a big mess of paint. I hoped my teacher would understand that this is truly something I'd dreamed. It was definitely not a conscious decision to have this on my mind 24/7.

My teacher came up to me and looked at my painting. At first he gave it a very confused look. But as he stared at the painting it was almost like he could tell there was feeling and effort behind it–he was a seer after all. "Very well, Ms. Fitzherbert, you've done an excellent job with your abstract piece," He told me.

"Thank you Mr. Madrigal" I replied, shyly. As i spoke i could feel eyes on me, i looked over to see Mattheo staring at me and my painting. His brows were furrowed and i didn't know why. I wanted to know but i didn't want to ask.

Ignoring it, i turned to see what Tina had painted, and sure enough it was Palmer, Peter Pans son, the guy she's had a crush on since the first grade. She's had other crushes and boyfriend, but no one matched Palmer. He was it for her. However, he never saw her as that. He thought of her as a younger sister.

The next day Eugene caught me up on Carlos's first practice. He'd never seen someone run that fast, even beat my running from a mother spider who was stepped on and her babies came scurrying out. I don't think i've ever ran like i did that day. He also told me about how Carlos overcame his fear of dogs and really enjoys being around Dude, the campus mutt. I didn't understand why Carlos disliked dogs so much, in the first place. To each their own, i guess.

"And, i swear, I could swear up and down that this kid was a tree-scaler. Because once Dude started chasing him, he was out and up a tree in like three seconds," Eugene laughed.

"No way it was that fast," i shook my head as he told his story.