R E J E C T S

CH.46: DON'T

*WEDNESDAY*

"I'm sorry, okay?" Louis apologized.

"For what?" I asked.

"For getting you sick..." He looked down.

"Don't feel bad for me. I hate being pitied."

"Does that mean you're not mad at me?" He clarified.

"Please, don't flatter yourself." I don't really have the time to blame him for everything because I'm currently fixated on dealing with my complicated feelings for Robbie... and then there's Luke.

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" Louis asked during homeroom period.

"Avoiding you? I was just absent a lot last week... it has nothing to do with you." I said.

"I wanted to visit but I don't know where you live." Niall sulked.

"It's alright. I'm all better now." I flashed him a smile.

I decided to let it go, the one about Louis letting me win on purpose for it's too tiring to confront him and I don't think I want to know the reason behind it.

"See what I mean? You don't even smile at me like that!" Louis complained about how I treat Niall differently compared to how I treat him.

"Since when have I EVER smiled at you anyway?" I rolled my eyes.

"Good point. On second thought, I take my apology back. Niall was just forcing me to do it." He scoffs before walking away.

"No, I didn't." Niall said.

"Anyway, can you save me a dance for the winter ball?" He changed the subject.

"Sure." I don't see why not.

"Great! Looking forward to this weekend then." Niall smiled before he went after Louis.

"Save me a dance too?" I heard Zayn's husky voice from behind me.

"No." I immediately replied as I turned to face him.

"Hey, that's not fair!" He protested.

"I already saved Rob, Niall, and Luke a dance so dancing with another person would be too exhausting for me." I sighed.

"Well, what if I told you that you might not see me again right after the winter ball dance is over?" He said.

"You're going away?"

"It's probably for the best. I mean, at first I came to find you here in order to try to win you back but then I saw how happy you are with your new boyfriend and I can't just take that away from you, you know?" He explained.

"So you're backing down..."

"Hey, if you truly love someone, all you can do is be happy for her." He smirked.

I had nothing to say to such a touching message like that so I just flashed him a sincere smile instead which says, 'Thanks.'

"Fine, I'll save the last dance for you." I gave in.

"That's my girl!" He pinched my cheek.

"By the way, have you been lurking around my street some night last week?" I recalled him standing by the lamp post and lighting up a cigarette right across my window.

"Uh, I don't think so." He shook his head.

"You sure about that?" I pressed.

"You were probably just hallucinating from missing me too much." He smiled.

"Really? Because I swear that I saw you through the window while I was brushing my teeth at 2 AM."

"No, you weren't. You were drinking water---"

"Aha! So you WERE lurking around the neighborhood." I busted him.

"Or maybe I was sleepwalking? Anyway, gotta go. See you later!" He chuckled nervously then dashes off in a second.

Yep, he's still a bad liar...

*LUNCH*

"What's up with you two?" Rob decided to sit on my table as he eyed me and Luke back and forth.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can feel the tension building up in the air even at a distance, you know? Why are you guys not talking? And where are your other buddies? Your table's usually one of the loudest in the cafeteria but today it seems rather... empty." He stated his observations.

"Everyone has their own business to attend to." I simply stated.

"And it's not like I gave them permission to sit here in the first place, they just forced themselves into my table." I added.

"Or maybe they just can't stand you being all grouchy on them... it's a good thing I can." Rob grinned.

"And what an understanding boyfriend you are." Luke says sarcastically.

"Hey, how about you answer my question, Hemmings? How come you two seem awkward with each other today? Did you guys fight or something?" Rob stared at Luke in a daunting way.

"Fight? We don't do that, right, Cher?" Luke placed an arm around my shoulders just to prove to Robbie that we're good.

"Yeah, we're friends." I smiled awkwardly.

"Just friends..." Luke said in a lingering way.

This made me look at him in the eye to communicate a look which says, 'I thought we talked about this already?'.

"Okay... once again, awkward." Rob shook his head.

"What did I miss?" Zayn finally appeared with his tray.

"Nothing much. Just these two acting all weird with each other." Rob told him.

"What? I'd be uncomfortable too if my boyfriend was gawking at me and my friend who is apparently a boy... like in Cher's case." Zayn defended me.

"Right. You're saying that I'm making these two uncomfortable because I'm jealous that my girlfriend is hanging out way too often with this guy right here..." Rob says.

"Uh-huh." Zayn nodded.

"But I'm not jealous. I mean, it's not like Cher's cheating on me with him. I trust her." Rob smiles at my direction.

I don't know if he's trying to make me feel guilty but if he is then I have no idea as to why because he's the one who said that we're in an open relationship meaning we could date other people...

"Yeah, there's nothing going on between us. I moved out her apartment last week so yeah." Luke said.

"Oh." Rob and Zayn said in unison.

What's with this kind of atmosphere?! Must lighten up the mood!

"Why so serious, Lukey?" I pinched his cheek which made him blush right away.

"Please don't... you're making me feel... anyway, just don't." Luke backed away a bit.

"But you're so freaking adorable right now." I tried to contain myself from teasing him any further but failed so I pinched both of his cheeks this time.

"Okay, now I'm jealous." I heard Robbie say.