In Love With The Bully

Chapter-3

An unexpected picnic

Meredith's POV

I kept on struggling, pushing and kicking. Finally I stopped. "Are you ok now?"a familiar voice asked me. I realized that I hadn't seen the face of my kidnapper at all. I turned towards him and it was none other than Zander. "Niarchos! What the hell are you doing? Stop the car this instant!" I screamed. "Stop acting like a kid. I saw that you were lonely so I thought I could give you a lift" he said with a smile." A lift? You could've asked me! You literally grabbed me and threw me into your car"I said as my voice rose in an octave.He finally stopped the car. I started unlocking the door and was about to get off when he said " wait!". "What now??" I asked him frustratedly. "I'm really sorry about everything. The bullying in the first day, now this. I didn't mean to hurt you. If I did that then I'm really sorry " he said seriously. If someone is apologizing to us then it's our duty to accept it so I said "Hey! You look so creepy right now. It's ok. Apologies accepted ".

Then he himself opened the door with a real, non-flirtatious smile. I smiled back and said"Maybe you could give me a lift". He nodded and soon I was giving him the directions of my house. "You can drop me here. So bye" I said as I got off the car. "Yeah! Bye " he said as he waved at me.

"I saw you getting off a Mercedes. I'm so happy you already made so many friends " my mom said as soon as I reached home. "He's not actually a friend " I replied. "A boyfriend then?"she asked teasingly. "Stop it mom. He and I are like Draco and Harry Potter. But since he apologized, I can't actually call him Draco Malfoy" I said. She smiled. "You know there's a very thin line between love and hate. One day you'll hate  the person. The next day you'll start loving him" she said. "Mom!" I protested. But I remembered his apology. It was like he really meant it. I went to my room and started changing my uniform when Ellie called me. "Hey! Today's Friday. So let's hang out and enjoy the freedom of being a high schooler " she said. "No! My life's not so free. I have to study to keep up my scholarship. If I lose the scholarship, I'll have to change schools and this is the only place where I get a direct path to Harvard university " I explained. "Ohhh, don't be a party popper. An hour hangout isn't going to hamper your studies" she assured me. She was kinda right. "Fine. I'm coming. But where!?" I asked. "Joseph wants to take us somewhere. So let's meet in front of Joseph's mansion. I'll message you the address " she said.

An hour later, I was in front of Niarchos' mansion. I saw Ellie and Joseph in a red BMW. Ellie was sitting on the front passenger seat. So I sat back. "Where's Becca?" I asked. "She'll be joining us there" said Ellie. It was so much fun. We sang and laughed and ate like anything. Every now and then I saw Joseph taking a break from his driving to steal a glance at Ellie. Could it be that even Joseph liked Ellie? Oh-oh.

Finally after half an hour, we reached our destination. It looked like a hiking place. It was filled with greenary and was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. It was not fit for picnic and gatherings. It was a place where people would want to go alone or with a special one.

"Guys! What do you think?"asked Joseph. "It's beautiful!"said Ellie. I was speechless so I just nodded. "Hey" said Becca running towards us. Joseph, Ellie and I hugged her. Behind her came Zander. He waved at us. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Doing what you're doing " he answered. Ellie seemed more happy. We sat there gazing lazily at the sky. Since I was an explorer, I hiked and explored and went to the woods alone because no one would come with me. I never imagined they would bring me here. I sat down in the isolated woods near a waterfall. It looked very much like the enchanted woods in fairytale stories. "Alone again?"asked a voice. I swung back and saw the person that never leaves me alone. "Until you came" I answered. "Shall we not argue? This environment is too peaceful for arguing " he said. "Where's Ellie? I thought you were with her" I asked. "She's doing fine with her friends " he said.

We sat peacefully and admired the beauty. "Let's go back. Others will get worried" said Zander. "You go. I'm fine here" I replied. He nodded and went, leaving me alone. I looked at my wrist-watch. It was already 5:25. I sat there for few more minutes then headed back. I saw Ellie and Becca eating chips. I looked around but I couldn't see Zander and Joseph. "Meredith, join us" yelled Ellie. I nodded and ran towards them. "Where are the boys?" I asked. "They've gone hiking" said Becca. We sang, laughed, shared our happy memories, funny memories and I finally realized that my friends liked me for who I am. Not because they pitied me for not being as rich as them. I really hope we don't end up like my middle school friends.

Later on, the boys came with a tensed atmosphere between them. But I tried to cheer them up because even a tensed atmosphere couldn't ruin my happy mood at the moment.