Hate Me Love Me

19| The Mess You Made 🤕

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here." --- William Shakespeare.

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

Julian's in high spirits these days. He got a letter inviting him to the annual gamer awards (AGA), held at a huge conference centre, and his entire family's invited. The event's funded by Dean Aldrois, who's even going to do a speech and give out the awards.

Madison 'Maddy' Spiel stands in her group of friends, frowning at me. Everyone loves her, and she deserves it. I've seen her cheery smiles and happy-to-help attitude. Madison says no to nobody. She has wavy blonde hair and the same pale blue eyes as Clementine and Quentin. I slam my locker shut and spot Alaric coming down the hall in my direction, so I walk into the bathroom.

I seem to catch him staring at me a lot more than usual. During class. In presentations or lab sessions. At the cafeteria and in library period. He looks at me with the same sad expression every time, like he knows something I don't - which he does - and he hates it. Like he wishes he didn't know it.

I shake my head and clear my thoughts. I need to gain the confidence to call my father. Talking to, thinking about, and staying around Alaric, won't help with anything.

I stare at myself in the mirror, at my braided, dark red hair and glasses on pale skin. The door swings open and Madison walks in, hand-in-hand with her girlfriend, Lola. I ignore them, like I do everyone else.

But then she surprises me by saying 'Valerie,' loud and clear, head held high and defiant expression stamped on her face.

I blink at her in confusion for a moment, then laugh awkwardly.

'In the flesh,' I mutter, then press my lips together.

She sighs and says 'This is ridiculous. We're not all bad people, Valerie. The people in this school are not all villains and nobody hates you.'

Her girlfriend nods in agreement, serious expression on her face.

'Nobody knows why Alaric Aldrois is doing what he's doing. Nobody knows anything. He's a mystery. Even when we went to his mansion for the library, we all used a separate entrance and didn't get to see anything. He's a hard one to figure out.'

I look down at my shoes, registering what she's saying.

'I feel so bad. I didn't talk to you at all. It's been more than a month,' she says. 'I know you must be feeling so alone. But I want you to know that we don't all hate you. Loads of girls want to be your friend. We hear your answers in class and admire your poetry and speeches and presentations, but we can't talk to you in public.

'Because, I know it's really sad, but I'm sure you know that Alaric's made it known that anyone being nice to you will get their parent's fired. But I want you know that we like you, and the reason some people are still mean to you is probably to get on Alaric's good side. To get a chance to be his friend.'

And I get it. I totally get it. Sometimes people try to impress a person that's intimidating, because to impress him would be like living in the only house with electricity in a country with a blackout.

'I even know guys that want to ask you to the Halloween dance,' Lola adds with a wink. But we all know they won't actually ask me.

I smile at them both. Their small act of kindness means so much more than they think.

They turn to leave, but I call out their names, turning them around.

And I fling myself into their arms.