Switched [On Hold - Editing] (E)

Switched - 05

"My theory is that if you looked confident you can pull off anything -- even if you have no clue what you're doing.."

                                                                                                              -- Jessica Alba

Chapter V

The first days of Louis staying with us went fine. My avoid-Lou-as-much-as-possible plan worked and we only get to see each other during dinner. And somehow it lessened the tension I felt whenever he was around. Yes, tension starts to crawl up from my heels to my head. It may not have showed 'cause I could not let my guard down but deep inside, my internal organs were in havoc and in shambles. What the guy did to me I had no clue. I was never at ease whenever his presence was felt nearby.

 "Clo? Are you okay?" Van was endlessly waving her hand in front of my face. It was an inch or two away so I had to back off my head a bit.

"Can you please put that hand a bit away from me? I could almost kiss it." I exclaimed.

Van shot me a questioning eye, "Then I would be so delighted. My hand would be your first kiss. And I just thought maybe you wanted to talk to it." She shrugged.

I impatiently combed my hands through my hair, "As if that would answer any of my questions. And Van, that won't be considered as first kiss."

 "That's my point! It won't answer any. But you took notice of it rather than me." She paused for a few seconds, "and yeah, you've got a point, but still, it is a kiss." 

"Can you spare the sarcasm Van?" Those were the times when I hated Van for her sarcasm. Instead of comforting or saying something to make me feel light, she would make my head ache even more.

Her hands flew over her mouth. Feigning shock. "I am not being sarcastic here, Clo. Not even a bit. Why would I be?"

It was my turn. I mimicked her reaction from earlier—the gesture and even the tone. "But Van, it screams of sarcasm." I let my hand down and shook my head. "Please reserve them for somebody else."

She sat down on the chair next to me, muttered to herself and made faces.

One thing I said to myself when Van and I got closer was that, if I can't deal with her, I can't and will never be able to deal with anybody else.

She was and still is a challege to me, and she's not an easy one. Maybe she looked innocent and unknowing, but believe me, she is a bomb! When she starts to talk, a minute feels like an hour. If I can type a hundred words per minute then she can say a thousand of them. And let me correct myself, she's not a bomb, but a machine gun!

"Hey Clo!" A familiar voice called. It was Drake. He was leaning on the door frame, looking like a god who came down from Mt. Olympus to see me at my classroom. He slightly raised his hand to say hi. I stood up and jogged to him.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I just wanted to check on my girlfriend." He grinned boyishly.

I gawked at him. If things were any different, I would have regretted the day I rejected him. Why did I reject this awesome guy, again?

I felt a sudden rush of chills down my spine. Though I didn't see them, I knew they—the girls—were silently cursing me down to the very bone. The last thing I wanted was to stay behind so I dragged Drake out of the room and pushed him on the farthest side of the hallway out of everybody else's sight, "I'm still young, Drake. I don't want to die just yet."

I shook my head then sighed, "You know what? If looks could kill, I would've been dead by now."

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "Easy Clo. You suggested this, don't you? I thought you could handle this?"