It All Started As Revenge

Chapter 6: Putting on A Show

[Edited 28/9/2016]

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Only fools fall for you.

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The news of the food fight in Starlight spread like wildfire back at St. Vlad's, though many of the students were still disbelieving of the fact that Christian and I were dating now. So before we left for classes, we devised a plan.

And though Christian's Moroi classes always made me want to bash my head against a wall, I was excited for the lunch period. It was just announced to all graduating students that we had to go to the Gym before heading to lunch, so we were all eager to know why Alberta had summoned all of us.

As I walked through the silent hallways to get Christian's forgotten textbooks in the middle of class, I got ambushed by Mia.

"Rose Hathaway! How dare you," She yelled violently, poking my stomach to accent her words. "Not tell me you and Christian are dating?"

A while ago, Mia had apologied openly in front of the whole school about her hatred of Lissa and I, and had started dating Eddie. Which was good, because after the death of Mason, Eddie needed someone to pick him up, and with Mia now much less awful to tolerate, she was a nice choice.

Plus, she had stopped trying to dress like a barbie doll and started wearing normal clothes like us, so we had become friends, and official backup for each other.

"Ow, Mia, stop poking me!" I complained, shoving her hand away from my stomach. "We were going to tell you. You just found out before we could." I shrugged.

Eddie walked up to Mia just as I finished my sentence. "Hey, Rose. What's going on?" He asked, his expression neither disapproving or approving. "Are you and Christian dating?"

I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. "Yes," I answered, glancing away from them like I was shy. "But I really have to get these books to Christian now, or else his teacher might get mad," I explained in a rush, eager to get away from their questioning in case I let our revenge plan slip.

"Bye!" I yelled as I skidded away from them.

Behind me, Eddie and Mia exchanged a look. Hopefully, they wouldn't find out the truth too soon.

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Lunch period neared, and I was walking towards the gym with Christian in tow. "So what do you think Alberta called us for?" I asked causally.

"I don't know, Rose." He shrugged, then pointed at Mia and Eddie, who were walking over to us. "Ask Mia. She knows everything."

"Hey," Mia greeted, while Eddie just nodded at us. "So what's up with Alberta calling all of us to the gym?" I relayed to her.

"Oh, you mean the official announcing of the Guardian pairings?" I nodded. "Yeah. Alberta's made some final adjustments on the Guardian pairs and apparently-" She dragged the sound out, "She has some important news."

Before I could ask anything more or add a comment, we had arrived the gym where most of the Moroi and Dhampirs were already at. All eyes turned to us.

As I and Christian froze in the hundreds of stares, Mia and Eddie slipped away, leaving us to fend for ourselves. "That evil tampon-" I cursed under my breath, desperately scanning the crowds to see where they had slipped off to.

My eyes almost glided over where they were hiding- behind Aaron and his posse, but thankfully, Christian pointed them out before we could waste more time being stared at publicly. Quickly, we dashed over to their hiding spot out of the spotlight.

Alberta came out at the same time, tapping the microphone she was holding to capture our attention. "Alright, everyone gather around," she said.

We all shuffled to where she stood, and she started speaking. "So as most of you know, some Guardian pairings need finalising, and after speaking with the people at Court, we have two pairs to change."

I glanced at Christian worriedly, hoping desperately that we wouldn't be one of the pairs, or the plan would crumble. He stared back, biting his bottom lip anxiously.

Alberta took out a small piece of paper with words written in large handwriting. "Ian Glade and William Ivashkov- please come out," Her steely eyes located them quickly, the pair still glaring at each other venomously as they stepped out of the crowd.

"And the second pair would be..." She squinted at the paper. "Rose Hathaway and Christian Ozera?"

She looked at us with a confused expression. Exchanging a defeated look, I and Christian walked to where Ian and Will were standing.

But Alberta suddenly put down the microphone and spoke urgently to a Moroi official beside her, gesturing at us once in a while to prove her point. As we all stared at them, the official gave a small nod. Alberta nodded back, a stiff and respectful one, and walked back to where we were.

"Christian and Rose can go back. We have a change-" Alberta announced, dismissing us.

I blew out a breath of relief, thankful that we hadn't been switched up. Leaning over to speak into my ear, Christian whispered, "Kiss me,"

Barely moving my lips, I answered. "What do you mean, kiss me? Lissa doesn't care-" And was promptly shut up by his warm lips covering mine.

Immediately understanding what reaction he wanted, I melted into his kiss and tangled my fingers in his soft, black hair. And though I had closed my eyes by the start of the kiss, I was well aware of what was happening beside us.

Everyone had dropped their issues and turned to stare at us kissing, unsure of what was happening.

After what seemed like an eternity of kissing, I pulled away from Christian, both of our cheeks tinted red from the lack of oxygen. The whole crowd gaped, and Lissa and Dimitri were scowling at us.

I internally applauded myself for the performance. I shared a knowing smile with Christian, recalling the words he said to me back when we first got back- "If you weren't so psychotic, you'd be fun to hang around," Then I had replied, "Funny, I feel the same way about you too."

And look where we are now- wrapped in each other's embrace, pretending to be star-crossed lovers just to spite Lissa and Dimitri. I smirked at Lissa from my place, watching her spirit-enhanced temper strain against her hold.

Eddie came into my view and subtly pulled us back into the back of the crowd, out of most people's sight. We found Mia now standing behind her ex, Aaron, grinning from ear to ear.

"This. Is. Fabulous!" She squealed, clapping her hands together to show her excitement. "I knew you and Christian were made for each other-" She crowed, Eddie having to physically restrain her to stop her from literally jumping into the air.

Thankfully, Alberta had ignored our little display, and switched up a new Guardian for William Ivashkov- Charlene Hudson's ex-Guardian, Mitsha Adachi.

Alberta tapped her microphone again. "One last announcement. All Guardians are expected to join their charges in Spring Break- no excuses accepted." She said, her tone unyielding and hard.

Muttering amongst themselves, the Moroi slowly trickled out of the gym.

Now to the next big challenge for the day- Lunch Period- where everyone would stare and demand to know the truth, or the glorified lies of my and Christian's relationship.

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Songs on loop during writing:

Mercy - Shawn Mendes

In The Name of Love - Bebe Rhexa & Martin Garrix

This Is Gospel - Panic! At the Disco

LA Devotee - Panic! At the Disco

Emperor's New Clothes - Panic! At the Disco