War of Hearts

Chapter 10: Annalise's Revenge

The next morning Ingrid, feeling better, joined Annalise and Isaac in the library, lounging around as not much was to be done. She picked up a book and tried to read, but kept getting interrupted by Annalise's giggles. She looked up to see Annalise hovering around Isaac, standing behind him and reading over his shoulder as he was writing in a notebook. She noted Annalise rubbing his shoulder gently, and felt strangely annoyed by it. When Annalise wouldn't stop giggling and whispering , she slammed her book loud, causing both of them to look up.

"Excuse me, this is a library, where we should be quiet?" Ingrid asked, glaring daggers at Annalise.

"Shall we move to different library, Isaac? I'm so sorry Ingrid that I'm distracting you," Annalise replied back sweetly, smiling at Ingrid when her eyes screamed the exact opposite. 

Ingrid looked at her as if she said something dumb. "Oh, why is it my fault suddenly ? I'm not the one acting like a leech," she shot back. Annalise gasped, and Ingrid rolled her eyes; how could she be any more fake? She turned to Isaac, who now glanced at her, annoyed. "You can't be okay with this, can't you? " Ingrid asked him.

Isaac glanced at Annalise, and she batted her eyelashes at him, putting two hands on his shoulders and massaging it gently. Watching it, Ingrid felt her hands turn into fists. "Aww, you can't be mad at me, right Isaac?" Annalise said, sounding more fake than anyone Ingrid has ever met.

"Well," Isaac began. Ingrid shot daggers at him with her eyes. How in the world is he not pushing her hands away? "I'm normally annoyed by it, but Annalise apologized already, so you should probably just relax, Ingrid. Can't we all just be good?" he finished, looking at the two girls. 

"I'm happy with that," Annalise replied, smiling from ear to ear. She leaned her head on Isaac's, practically cuddling him. Ingrid got up and walked towards a nearby bookshelf, trying not to vomit. Who does this girl think she is? She watched them bitterly, Annalise making sure to really lean on Isaac, even at one point playing with his hair. "You two are truly very close, aren't you? I never thought you'd be the type to be ... So open to affection," she asked them, particularly Isaac, her eyelid twitching in annoyance.

For the first time she felt like an outsider , like no one even saw or heard her. Just seeing Annalise drape herself all over Isaac felt like a punch in the gut, and it confused her even more.

Isaac glanced towards Ingrid, and immediately felt sorry. He didn't give himself another moment to wonder why. He looked up at Annalise, saying, "Hey, maybe we can be nicer to Ingrid. She isn't from around here, and you forget that she's my betrothed. Even if we don't love each other, we still need to respect each other." Annalise blinked in surprise. Isaac then got up from his chair and walked towards Ingrid, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Hey, what are you just standing around for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "There's a lot of chairs to sit on here. Come join us," he finished, giving her a small smile and putting his hands in his pockets.

Ingrid felt her heart race and her cheeks grow warm, but she tried to look annoyed and rolled her eyes. She looked at Annalise glaring at her and felt like she won a battle. She stuck her tongue out at her, not caring anymore if it seemed juvenile.

"He's right, you know. Don't need any more drama. You'd understand that as his friend won't you?" Ingrid smirked at Annalise.

The sweet, doll-like look on Annalise's face quickly melted away, and with her hands turned to fists, she grit her teeth and cried, "Ugh, you're infuriating!" Her voice echoed bounced off the walls. Without waiting for a response, she stormed out of the room, banging the door behind her.