My Words Are Law

The Saint

"Cheersss!!!"

"Hey, we should do this again next semester!"

"Totally! Let's choose similar schedules, so it'll be easier to meet up."

Enthusiastic chatters and laughter filled the table as she sat there quietly. She felt out of place. Alone and feeling a little awkward. Worse... alcohol was everywhere. She edged further away from the table as she looked at the bottles anxiously, feeling a familiar itch on her exposed skin. The person beside her is spilling it everywhere, surrounding her with the liquid's unbearable smell.

She really shouldn't have attended, but she didn't have much choice when everyone was focusing their castrating stares on her as soon as Samantha demanded her presence.

"That, but-! Let's not forget about the star of the night! I mean- Chryses really is too generous! Getting us free dinner in a first-class resto-bar-eyy!" Jax guffawed, his cheeks flushed. A sign that he was nearly drunk and should probably stop chugging the liquid down before he could make an even bigger fool of himself.

"Let's make this party rowdier!" He stood up and removed his jacket, hurling it around until his fingers lost strength, causing it to fly towards Amaryllis.

The pungent smell of alcohol in the fabric pierced her nose as it fell over her head, making her freeze in panic.

Loud, excited cheers filled the table, unaware of her predicament.

"What a loser."

"Why is she even still here?"

"Enough of that... Just enjoy the party..."

Giggles and cruel remarks floated around Amaryllis, making her feel small. Maybe it's better to humor them and leave.

Then again, she doesn't really have a choice when her allergy symptoms are flaring rapidly. She soon grabbed the jacket and threw it off her head as she stood up.

As soon as the veil was taken off her eyes, she noticed everyone was looking at her in shock. Her eyes darted around the table, feeling an overwhelming pressure. What did she do?

Wasn't it reasonable to take the jacket off her head?

"Couldn't you just take it as a joke and laugh it off? Why did you have to do that?" Kayce, a classmate, reproached her out of nowhere.

"I.. I-" didn't mean to. She wasn't able to continue as she felt her eyes tear up. Oh god. She should probably start rummaging through her bag for her EpiPen.

"Are you seriously going to cry right now?" Samantha huffed in disbelief, scowling at her.

She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but after realizing it would take too long, she pursed her lips in frustration. Clearly, they already labeled her a villain, and no amount of explaining will help. It would be better to leave rather than take the long shot and destroy the mood further.

She turned to the organizer to bid goodbye but stopped short, surprised to see Chryses taking the jacket off his head. He was looking at her with a serene face, neither reacting positively nor negatively.

Crap.

Had she thrown it in his direction a while back? Once again, she opened her mouth to say something, but tears started spilling from her eyes, making her sniff instead. Her chest tightened, and her breaths became even more labored as the seconds passed.

She couldn't even speak now.

I really didn't mean it.

She hung her head low and ran away, grabbing her bag.

"I can't believe her! Aren't you going to say sorry?" Someone called out as she rushed out of the room.

However, before she closed the door behind her, she heard kind and saint-like Chryses telling them it was fine.

She snorted.

Of course, she didn't believe him one bit because not a single action of Chryses Taylor is even remotely close to being either one of the adjectives attached to his name.

He's not at all kind. Or an even more revolting title for someone like him, saint-like. Mother Theresa would be offended.

It might be because Amaryllis had gone through some hardships, making her quite confident in her ability to observe and similarly, read people's intentions that she eventually uncovered his real face.

Nevertheless, she will admit she might still be in the gray area had she not witnessed the most compellinge evidence.

It was no secret that Samantha adored Chryses. And one fateful night, she carried out one of her schemes on him. There were five of them walking by the sidewalk, and she had boldly squeezed into the narrow space between Chryses and another student to walk beside him. Kind Chryses didn't mind, and even when she was being touchy, he acted graciously.

That was when things got interesting.

Samantha became even bolder. Faking a misstep along the way, she successfully caught his hands like it was a real accident. Being a gentleman, the other person helped her up while flashing a concerned look.

The peaceful walk resumed, until Chryses finally made them go first as he took out his phone. Maybe someone was calling him, or perhaps it was the other way around. She thought it was polite of him not to hold up the group and was about to avert her eyes away, thinking she was acting like a creep by watching them for far too long, but that's when she saw it.

He doused his hand with alcohol, wiped it with a handkerchief, and threw the piece of cloth away in a trash can. By this time, his kind and gentle face was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his face had a chilling expression.

She was so appalled and shocked by what she saw that her mind became mush. Usually, people would discreetly walk away after witnessing something like that, but her instincts were much too dampened by the unexpected scene.

Biggest mistake of her life. He must have felt her looking at him because when he raised his eyes from the trash can, they immediately locked gazes.

Shit.

She did her best to look away casually as if she didn't just witness him being a misogynist. No matter how awkward she is, her neck never froze the way it did that day. As soon as she saw the red light turn on, she quickly crossed the street and dared not stop to see if he was still looking.

She thought that was the last time she'd encounter him. Heck, she even convinced herself that she might've just dreamed what happened that night. But after the weird incident, she couldn't help but notice that almost all the actions he was exhibiting, though seemingly harmless on the surface, were not so.

Exactly like what happened at the drinking party... If he really wanted to help, he would've spoken out for her. But he didn't. He stood watch while everyone harassed her before making a calculating speech about how he was alright and that everyone should calm down, implicating Amaryllis. He didn't even defend her when he was aware of her allergy.

She knows that he knows because he was there when she once had an allergic reaction and was sent to the school clinic. She was being scolded because the nurse thought she purposely drank alcohol to skip classes. She had later on explained painstakingly that she didn't. Her friend, Mia, had given her a cake she ate, not knowing it had alcohol. Mia later apologized.

Recalling the incident, she could only continue to be wary of Chryses Taylor.

She thought that would be the end of it, but it was terrifying how fate wanted them to meet over and over again despite her efforts to avoid him.

"Good morning..." he had smiled at her kindly, but that only sent shivers down her spine.

***

Edited