Tainted Souls

Chapter Thirteen

After watching the second season of Bridgerton, I had so much empathy for Penelope Bridgerton. We were both destined to be spinsters, despite being in our twenties. The term to be used for that was being forever alone, invisible, and undesired.

That thought made me miserable. I hadn't even held hands with a guy before or even had a mutual crush. Meanwhile, there was Keisha, who was a wildcard and a femme fatale with boys. She had several boyfriends before and a few hookups here and there since her freshman year of high school.

It made me feel like a loser. A part of me wondered if I should go to a bar to expand my horizons after I graduated college since there would be even less opportunities to find my perfect match. But I feared that there would be creeps and manipulative liars with false promises at bars. Still, I had some slight hope.

I felt even worse now because my unwanted yet growing attraction each day to Maverick Medici was getting difficult to ignore. I kept trying to ignore the attraction that I felt deep down and deny it. There was literally no chance with someone that made it clear that they disliked you to the point where even fake rumors about the two of you possibly hooking up disgusted you.

It was similar to the Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington situation. I felt this angst and wave of melancholy within me at that thought. The ending for the second season made me feel so upset because of poor Penelope and what Colin said about her.

But this was different. Colin was a family friend to Penelope, and their relationship had gradually developed into love. Maverick actually hated me to the point where he wanted to destroy and ruin my life. Plus, there was the possibility that he murdered his own father.

I had to squash any ounce of attraction that I had towards him. Or else, my well-being would be ruined. Not that I didn't already feel lonely, anxious, and miserable all the time. Even Keisha seemed occupied lately. It was why I started writing a novel, which was sort of a modern day version of Penelope and Colin's book involving Maverick and I.

At least there would be a happy ending in the book, unlike real life. My hopeless romantic self could only continue to dream about this.

I could imagine what the typical person at SFCU would say. They would tell me to grow up, saying that I was acting like a stupid elementary school girl with her first crush. I would probably be made fun of for being so socially awkward and shy, especially around boys.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a screech from across the halls. It was none other than Sasha. It had been about a week since the proof of Hunter and his fraternity's hazing was exposed to everyone. I wondered why she was choosing to screech now of all times. Then again, the witch had been gone from school for a week out of humiliation. The break without Sasha and Hunter had been heavenly. Sasha had voluntarily decided not to show up to school due to her obsessing over her image, while Hunter had gotten suspended.

I covered my ears with a horrific look on my face as Sasha stomped towards me with one of her pink Prada bags. She was ready to lunge at me, I could tell. However, someone easily knocked the bag away before it hit my face. My darn reflexes had been slow at that moment because I had been completely freaked out by this capricious behavior.

"Too slow, Sasha. Next time that you insist that you have a chance at beating your "silly" cousin at martial arts, think again," Maverick rolled his eyes.

"Are you actually defending that bitch that you call Maid Girl? Are you that desperate to keep screwing that trashy bitch to the point where you'd go against family?! Where is that same attitude I saw from the cousin that brought his dog over to the Mendoza gathering?" Sasha asked him.

Only if Sasha knew that I still had that piece of information about her and Professor Hill. She was the real bitch for going against school rules and actually sleeping with a professor. Then, she made up fake rumors about me being Maverick's whore. I had to use that against Sasha someday and get past the whole dilemma about her having more connections and power than me.