Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ALL DAY THROUGH class, the events from the ice skating rink was the only thing that preoccupied my mind. They blazed in bright colors, tainting my mind with flashbacks of scenes in which struck me the hardest, dancing around me as if I were surrounded by fire. From Jacob's friendly-to-cold reaction, the dinner in which I ran out on, and finally, my mother finding Apollo stumbling out in my bedroom.

I clenched my jaw, eyes pressed tightly shut as my heart clenched painfully at the gut-wrenching feeling that was coiling around in my stomach. It felt as though my whole life had just been turned upside down ever since Apollo had entered it. I finally broke the routine, surfacing to a new upbeat tempo that I could never seem to predict beforehand and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

For the first time, I wanted to be where I originally was. I wanted to remain hidden in the shadows, unbothered and undisturbed by the rest of the world as time sped on and others lived their own interesting lives.

The last bell of the school had just rung when I dashed out of the classroom. Apollo must have noticed my rather off-put expression because he had not bothered me the entire day, only speaking to ask what I wanted for lunch. I barely even offered him a reply then, murmuring the name of a sandwich I could not bother myself to remember before turning to our usual spot. When others flocked around us like moths to a flame, springing multiple questions on me, I could not even be bothered to listen, simply ignoring them as if they were no more than a small ant beneath my boot.

"Okay, what is wrong with you? You've been so quiet the whole day and it's not like yourself to remain like such. You're usually so talkative." Apollo's voice slowly filtered in, causing me to curse once under my breath. I had not been fast enough to avoid him from keeping up with me so I plastered on a false smile, stretching my lips so wide they started to hurt.

"Nothing!" I falsely beamed with a shrug. "I am just really tired. As usual."

"Come on, Dess, I know you enough to know that you're hiding something." He frowned.

"It's been a really long day."

"You barely even listened in class today. When the teacher asked you questions, you barely even flinched away from your daydream," Apollo deadpanned.

"I was out until very late last night after I left the dinner. Didn't get much rest."

In an instant, Apollo's face darkened. "If you dared to tell me that while looking at me dead in the eye, I might have even passed you off for a wonderful liar," he snarled.

"Now who stepped on your tail feather?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, suddenly curious as to why Apollo's voice turned venomous. I spun around to stare at him, lips parted.

"I sent your parents home yesterday, Iridessa. You were asleep in your room when we came back and it wasn't even past 10 p.m." Apollo shook his head, his hair falling slightly over his eyes as he hastily combed them back in place. "Now I see where caring would take me. Nowhere further than a cold shoulder and a vague lie."

I was caught off guard when Apollo suddenly took a wider step, his shoulder bumping painfully against mine as I swiveled around due to the momentum. I barely even had the time to scramble to catch my books before Apollo marched on and away. He was quickly walking out of my sight before I could even collect myself, steadying the books in my hand before picking up my speed to chase after him.

"Apollo, wait!" Yelling as loud as I can, I ignored the curious stares thrown at me as I rushed to him.

Even with me attempting to run, he was still very much ahead. With every step that he took, I had to run three steps to catch up. Needless to say, for someone as unfit as I was, as I turned the corner in which I had seen him last, he was gone just like that.