Bad Boys Fall For the Innocent

Chapter Nineteen ~ I'm Engaged

*walks onto stage with shaking hands and a nervous voice* Hi....how's it going? This is what I have for this chapter (as the problem unfolds) but read the next page for future updates. 

Chapter Nineteen ~ I'm Engaged 

Viola's house was loud and noisy. I couldn't figure out why people would enjoy this? You can literally do the same thing in your own house. Sort of. I took a look at my surroundings. Viola's house was pretty spacious, though I could see the empty wall art missing from the hooks. Which was definitely a smart move on her part. There was loud music pounding against the walls of the house and sweaty people not giving a crap about who they bump into when they dance. I glanced at the kitchen where there was a lot of beverages...I didn't want to find out the choices.

"You like this?" I asked my cousin who was standing next to me wanting to jump onto the dance floor.

"What?!" She yelled, not able to hear me.

I dragged her down by her shirt, "Let's go home."

"Ri, come on, you haven't even introduced me to your friends! I wanna meet them!"

"You can meet them tomorrow. LET'S GO! I don't wanna be here."

She dragged me into a nearby corner, "Okay fine, you sit and sulk in this corner and I will go dance. If you want to so badly, we can leave in an hour. Okay?"

I crossed my arms, "Fine."

Just as she took one step back, she bumped into—guess who? My heart was screaming for help at the coincidence that was my life.

"Oh hey, Shreya," said Ronnie while creasing his eyebrows. But I saw the look on his face, that was the look of, Oh, is Riya here?

Gosh darnnit.

I turned my head to the side so he wouldn't see me. Though a part of me wanted him to. But he couldn't. A few seconds later he came right up to me, meaning my disguise was a fail.

"I didn't think you would come."

"Neither did I." I was leaning against the corner with my face still hidden.

"Hey," Ronnie softly pushed my shoulder back so I would face him. "Are you okay?"

My mind was racing with answers to tell him. Then deciding on what to do, I grabbed his hand and led him back outside.

"Where are we going?" His amused voice asked from behind me.

I didn't answer because just two things were on my mind. What I was about to tell him, and the fact that I was holding his hand.

I stopped in front of a bench under an oak tree. "Sit down."

"Okay bossy pants." He sat down, a playful look appearing across his face. I ignored it and sat down next to him.

"Ronnie," I started with a serious expression on my face, staring straight into his eyes, silently making my insides flutter. "Do you like me?" My breath caught in my throat at my own boldness.

The question took him off guard, "Do I—what?" He scoffed, his face slowly turning pink. "No—I—no!"

"Fine then, do you have a crush on me?"

His pink face was being to feel flustered, "What? No...of—of course not!"

"Do you feel ANY kind of attraction towards me? I need you to be honest."

He denied it for a few more times but my raised eyebrow threw his claims in the river. Covering his face with the inside of his elbow, leaning into the bench, he muttered, "Maybe. Is it that obvious?" My heart was beating a million miles per hour. I didn't want to tell him, but I had to, or otherwise I would just be hurting him.

I touched his arms softly, "To me it is." Also leaning against the back of the bench with my chin resting on my arm, I watched his face silently, observing his movements. "Never in a million years did I ever imagine this." I smiled softly, kind of just enjoying being next to him.

He copied what I did and faced me too, a small smile appearing on his face, "Neither did I." And then just out of the blue he asked, "Will you—will you go out with me?"

I sat up in surprise, jumping out of the slight daze I was in. "No!" I shook my head, "No, look, I dragged you here to tell you that you CAN'T like me, at all."

He looked confused, "Why not?"

"I—," sighing I took a deep breath and said softly, looking down at my fingers, "I'm kind of already engaged."

He started laughing, "Wow, I didn't take you for a jokester." But noticing my about-to-cry face he stopped. "Shit...really?"

I nodded, "I don't want for you to expect more than friendship from me. That's why I told you."

"How is that possible though? You're still young!"

"Tradition. Stupid freaking tradition." Noticing that he went completely silent I used that to tell his goodbye. "Goodbye, Ronnie." And with that I walked away and didn't turn back until I was in the house.

My head felt like it was about to explode at the amount of nervousness that was inside me. I glanced down at my hands that were shaking. I needed to find Shreya and get out of here.

This was written terribly in a rush. I just wanted to get this out onto paper...Read the next page for something important. 

~Rainbow