Heartbreaker

Chapter 4

Anna always found it funny when TV shows made characters walk in slow-motion. 

'What was the point of it,' she thought. 'Was the slow-motion effect that great at highlighting the cool and suave ways of the handsome male protagonist? And in what universe do things like that even happen? Not realistic at all.' 

She brought the issue up to her father once while they were watching Baywatch. Not the classic one. The weird new one with frat boy Zac Efron. 

"Annie, darling," he chuckled in good nature. "Not everything has to be realistic to be real." Peering over his cup of Nescafe (hold the sugar!) he continued, "The most astounding discoveries are the ones with no logic at all!"

"That did not make any sense at all, dad."

"Not everything has to make sense to be real, love."

Anna decided not to press the issue any further.

But now, standing in the chilly air-conditioned lounge of the administrative building, Anna took back all her doubts on all things unrealistic. Thank God her dad wasn't there. 

Beyond the glass doors of the administrative building was the most gorgeous person Anna had ever seen.  Lean and muscular, built like a Roman warrior, he towered over the sea of students in the hallway, as they bizarrely parted all Moses- style for him. His dark hair looked effortlessly styled, as they flopped carelessly over his ocean eyes. Each stride he took oozed confidence and suave, rife with purpose and power. And Anna swore on her life, he was walking in slow-motion. 

"Good God," whimpered Carmel, who had all but melted into a puddle at her feet. "He even walks hot."

As the adonis strode into the lounge, his eyes flickered to meet Anna's curious ones. The blue-green orbs looked even better in person, sparkling with tiny hints of mischief as they drew naive souls in like fish to the bait. But there was something dangerous about those eyes, a glint of malevolence that lurked beneath the surface- like a riptide, ready to snatch up any unsuspecting victims and drag them into the deepest trenches. Anna decided that she did not trust him. 

Crossing her arms protectively over her chest (she admits it, the boy made her feel slightly self-conscious), Anna watched the boy trudge closer and stop right in front of them. Giving the duo a dazzling half-smile, he ran his fingers through his hair nervously and shifted his gaze to the now half-liquidised Carmel. 

"Caramel, right?" he asked. 

Anna had never seen Carmel smile that wide before. 

"It's Carmel, silly," she giggled way too loudly, batting her curled lashes at him. "Car. Mel. No A in between." 

"Sorry about that, Carmel with no A. It's great to see you again, " he grinned sheepishly and lowered his voice. "Though I still think 'Caramel' suits you way better," he winked.

Eyes wide with delight, Carmel cast an ecstatic look at Anna her ears turning a deep shade of red. 

Turning to face Anna, the boy looked her up and down before casting a confident smirk her way. "And who would you be, friend of Carmel with no A?"

Anna's eyebrows shot right up to her overgrown bangs as she looked over the boy incredulously. 'Who on earth does he think he is?' she thought, outraged. 

"OH!" squeaked Carmel, "I should introduce you guys to each other!" Latching onto the boy's toned arm, Carmel patted his shoulder. "This is Davy, he's the guy I met down at the soup kitchen the other day-"

"Davy Matthews," he interjected, extending a hand to Anna for a handshake. Anna peered curiously at Davy, her head tilting slightly in questioning. "Nice to meet you."

"Davy, this is An-"

The bell reverberated through the hallways, cutting off Carmel's admirable attempt at establishing camaraderie between her best friend and her new.... whatever that was. 

"Crap," cursed Anna, "I forgot, I had to go meet with Professor Chang before class about my extra credit." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she cast Davy an apologetic look and grabbed Carmel's arm, " Sorry, Davy, we've got to go. It was nice meeting you, have fun settling in!" And with that, she dragged a spluttering Carmel out of the lounge and into the hallway. 

"Wait," hollered Davy, "I didn't get your name!"

"We'll have plenty of time for names next time, Davy Jones!" called Anna, as she marched down the hallway, leaving a very confused, slightly miffed teen in the dust. 

******************

"Oi!" Carmel huffed, ripping her arm out of Anna's vice-like grip. "What the hell was that for!" she cried.

They were already halfway down the hall to first period, hustling through the crowded hallways. Anna hissed as a small mousy haired boy stepped on one of her toes, shooting him an accusatory glance as he mumbled a hurried apology and scurried off. Anna rolled her eyes and hitched her bag higher up her shoulder.

" Freaking savages," she mumbled.

"Excuse me," Carmel cried, "who are you calling a savage? You totally just shut out my new boyfriend!"

"Hey, I would've talked to him if I had the chance, you know," Anna said pointedly as they reached the classroom door. "But well, the bell rang," she finished lamely and ducked into the room.

"The bell rang?" Carmel echoed incredulously.

Anna surveyed her new classroom carefully. Fortunately, the classroom was still quite empty so they had the novelty of picking a good seat for the rest of the semester. Plopping down in a worn-out desk with the least amount of sharpie graffiti and liquid paper drawings two rows down from the front of the classroom, Anna glanced over at a pissed Carmel, who had taken the seat in front of her.

Stifling a chuckle at her best friend's antics, Anna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Look, I promise I'll be nice to him the next time I see him."

Carmel squinted her eyes at Anna. "Really?" she said, dubious. "'Cause that's what you said about Tommy-,"

"Tommy was a TOOL, Mel! And he kept wearing that ugly jean jacket with the weird cheese stains."

"-and Daniel-,"

"Gross, Daniel smelt like weed and bad decisions," cringed Anna, "you should be thanking me for getting you out of that mess."

"AND EMIR!" Carmel finished pointedly.

"Mel, Emir had frosted tips," Anna deadpanned. "in 2017. What kind of person does that?"

Despite herself, Carmel chuckled at Anna. "Okay, I admit, Emir was pretty bad."

"Pretty bad?" Anna cocked an eyebrow at her.

Carmel hushed Anna and carried on. "The point is, that you never trust the boys I like-"

"'Cause your taste in men is extremely questionable," Anna mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" snapped Carmel.

"Nothing," Anna replied in a sing-song, feigning innocence.

Huffing in mock annoyance, Carmel pressed on. "The fact is, that you don't even give them a shot! You didn't even give Davy your name!"

Sighing in defeat, Anna ran a hand through her over-grown bangs. She had to admit that Carmel had a point. "Fineeeee," she drawled turning to face the whiteboard just as the teacher waltzed in. "I'll give this Davy guy a shot. For you."

Carmel squeaked in excitement and clapped her hands together in mirth. "Thank you, thank you thank you! You won't regret it!"

As she watched the teacher power up the projector, Anna had a grave feeling she already has.