The Cinderella | Wattys 2016

Chapter Twenty-Two.

                  

Chapter Twenty-Two.

"Are you sure he can do it?" Emily asked with uncertainty, as we stood in the ladies washroom, debating over my plan. "It's hard to believe that he knows something other than being a cute dork." She blurted. I looked at her with an amused look as her eyes widened in realization, seeing a small smirk grow on my face. This surely wasn't one-sided. "I mean, all he ever does is irritate the life out of me. He even had the nerve to endear me. What was the name..ah, munchkin! Seriously, munchkin? Who the hell calls some random girl one just met 'munchkin'? I swear he needs some kind of therapy sessions. Maybe I should recommend him Dr Frank for.."

"Em." I interjected, putting my hands on her shoulder and shaking her a bit, in order to make her stop her monologue about how stupid Damon is. "Breathe." I said. She nodded her head repeatedly and took a deep breath in, moving her hands up and down like Sharpay Evans. I looked at her gratifyingly, as she narrowed her eyes and looked at me with bewilderment.

"What?" She asked. I nodded my head in negation but yet continued observing her with the same curious smile. "Is there something on my face?" She asked, as she pointed at her face.

"You like him." I stated. The bright red color that slowly crept up her pale cheeks just proved my intuition right.

"No, I don't!" She flustered, turning her gaze away from me. The thing about best friends is that you can never fool them, maybe on some occasions but not all. They know all the little things about you, like, how do you like your coffee, or what your favorite movie is, who do you ship on Pretty Little Liars, or our habitual actions when we tend to lie, they just know it all. It maybe because they are well versed with our body language during different situations that make them an expert in busting us. That's the same with the three of us. We've know each other since so long that it's hard to keep things from each other. I sometimes wonder how I managed to keep the night of the party under covers from Maya and Emily for so long. But in the end, I just had to tell them. That's the thing about best friends. Even if you want to keep things from each other, eventually you can't. I continued gaping at Emily who was avoiding my gaze but finally gave out a sigh, "Maybe a bit." She muttered.

"Maybe?" I teased further as I enjoyed seeing Emily get embarrassed over the fact of liking Damon. If you were to ask me, I felt Emily was better off with Damon, than the cheating dick she was dating. Even a blind could sense her mirth whenever Damon was around, although he tries to get under her skin, but then it seems like he does it only to get her attention. You never know what is going on in the head of a guy like Damon.

"You know, I just hate him! He gives me those weird emotions whenever he's around!" Emily exclaimed, as she shook her head and let out a frustrating groan.

"There's a thin line between hate and love, Em." I said. She looked at me, an unknown emotion swimming in her blue eyes. "Take all the time you want, clear your thoughts about how you feel for him. This is important not only for you, but for him too." I said. She nodded her head in understanding. "Come on, let's get going." I said, pulling her by her wrist out of the washroom. We trotted towards the lunch room where we usually meet the boys for lunch.

"Remember Em, you are yet dating Xavier. Act normal, like everything's fine. All right?" I asked her. She nodded her head as we entered the room. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Xavier looking at us from his table. His eyes were narrowed at the two of us, discreetly observing my every movement. I took a sharp breath in as he got up from his seat and moved towards us. His face was devoid of any emotions until Em's eyes landed on him. I felt Em stiffen beside me but I gave her hand a light press. She composed herself as she shot Xavier a small smile. Xavier pulled her into his arms and gave her a small peck. From the looks of it, Xavier couldn't sense anything fishy.