Belated Valentine's Gift- Christian's POV

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I make quick work of washing the floor and clearing the bins, chuckling in between at the hot mess she's created. For someone who knows an awful lot about infections and all kinds of unpronounceable microscopic organisms, Tasia isn't very particular about neatness, especially when cupcakes are involved. Though she did try to keep it clean to the best of her abilities, to be fair. I grin bemusedly at the silly smiley face she's made on a paper plate with ketchup before discarding it in the bin, albeit with reluctance. If I had the sources, I'd have kept the silly thing with me to look at in the after hours, but the smiley face is too heavily laden with tomato sauce to make that possible. After counting and tallying the sales figures, I hand over the money to Jack who's serving as the middle school prefect, before eagerly making my way towards her table. It doesn't take me long to spot her amidst a sea of faces, her musical carefree laugh giver her away and a larger than life grin etches its way on my lips, my spirit soaring high at the thought of her laughing.

It doesn't last though, and my upturned lips pull into a frown at the sight before me. Jose, the snake is the reason she's laughing, and even though the loon is a bundle of humorless jokes and snarky comments, the fact that he could make her laugh when I cannot sits like a bad case of flu in the pits of my stomach. It's about to change though, even if it's the last thing I do today. With this newfound determination to make her smile again, even if it's at my expense, I reach her in quick easy strides before seating my ass down beside her. The snake quickly withdraws his hand which was slowly and steadily slithering towards hers, instantly making me happy. Jose was always looking for excuses to touch her, always trying to invade her personal space even though Tasia was pleasantly oblivious to his obvious affections, much to my eternal delight. In all honestly, his nickname was much more well deserved than ours ever could be. In any case, his frequent antics are enough to bring my blood to a hot boiling mess, it's like he's wanting to be punk kinked, the rathole.

Kate mumbles something inconspicuous while Tasia releases a quick sigh and my breath hitches in my throat at the sight of her clenched hands underneath the table. A quick zap of electric wave passes between us and I gather my wits about me to control this very physical hunger I feel at the proximity.

"Took you long enough", she mutters incoherently and I stifle the urge to grin, lest I sabotage this unexpected truce. It's nice to be sitting this close to her without her lunging for my throat and I don't wish to change that any time soon. Still, I cannot help leaning towards her with a soft smile and whisper,

"Waiting for me, were you? It took a little longer to clean the grease off the counter, and then I had to clear the bin. Nice smilie by the way, very artistic", I tease and watch a little colour bloom on her cheeks. Awesome. I brace myself for a witty comeback but the buttsore at our table beats her to it,
"Wow, how the mighty have fallen, mucking the stalls, and mopping the floors. Next, you'll be cleaning the toilets, I hope you've at least washed your hands buddy."

The barb is so unexpected and unwarranted, I find myself reeling at the idea of Tasia being friends with such a loser given her penchant to avoid vulgar personalities that show up on her 'obnoxious radar'. I'd be the first to admit I didn't like the guy, may go as far as to say I actively disliked him, but this was a new low, even for me. Even worse is Tasia's silence, even though the matter is trivial when compared to all the bad blood between us in the past, but the idea of her being okay with this hurts my very core. Had she really changed this much? I hate this, this doubt, this negative introspection. My feelings for this girl aren't going anywhere any time soon, but her indifference hurts in a way none of her insults could.

I take quick mouthfuls of air, preparing to release my inner dragon when Tasia speaks,

"If he has, I've fallen right along with him. I should've, or rather would have cleaned the floors with him had you not behaved like a hungry grizzly bear. If you have to trade insults, don't do it at my expense, Jose. And maybe you should leave the sarcasm to me while you're at it, since you obviously don't have the knack for it."

Silence descends on the table once again, even the habitually loquacious Kate remains quiet as Jose is put in his place. I don't even try to contain my inner glee at the sight of poor Jose, who has the grace to look contrite, though I have no clue whether its guilt at his tasteless or plain old embarrassment on being called out for his lack of a civil intellect. Not that it matters to me, If its embarrassment he's feeling, I hope he gets to experience it in bundles and heaps.

No one speaks much after that as we focus our attention towards hot dogs and cheese fries. I chew my cheeseburger slowly, taking my own sweet time to prolong this moment with her as she takes hold of a bottle of mustard and squeezes it on the sausage resembling some sort of pattern. I find this confusing, the girl doesn't even like mustard. Now give her tomato ketchup and she'll eat just about anything as long as its buried beneath layers and layers of the stuff. She finishes decorating the hot dog and pushes it towards me.


I look at it, and keep looking

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I look at it, and keep looking. Nothing, not even the thought of being called a sentimental sap for the rest of my life, can compete with this. The elation is akin to breathing, to the utter relief of being handed a lifeline to a man drowning. I know I should laugh at it, I could really use a good joke right about now, but words refuse to come. It's like I'm fourteen and sitting next to my only crush, all over again.

"Thank you", I whisper huskily, probably sounding like a crow. Or a bulimic frog. I just don't care.She shrugs her shoulder nonchalantly but not before I catch that ghost of a smile on her sweet lips. I like that smile. No, scratch that. I love that smile. This smile is my life line.

"Come to the prom with me". 

Yeah, call me a fool but persistence usually pays in the end. That, or my sheer bullheadedness. She does not say yes, and she does not say no. What she does is roll her eyes and smile down at her half eaten food.

One down, two thousand forty eight to go.


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I had initially planned to post this on Valentine's day but the multimedia hot dog fucked me over, and the whole chapter got deleted somehow.

Then I had to start from square one but I got a notification in the middle of it alerting me about 'The Golden Couple's" last chapter update and I got mind fucked all over again. You cannot believe the lengths I had to go to, to avoid detection as I was busy howling like a she-wolf on crack.

Anyways, I apologize for the late update and sincerely hope you'd like the chapter, typos and all, since I didn't really edit this one.

Don't forget to vote, comment and/or share. Your appreciation is my only motivation.

Cheers :)


ps- happy valentine's day :))

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