Chapter 21: The Stark Difference Between Them
Alec hadn’t decided that he was done torturing me for today, because at my History class, he suddenly appeared.
He wasn’t supposed to have this class today, but nevertheless, the guys went into a mini riot while they welcomed him. Always happy to be in the limelight, he was.
Mr. Benedict hadn’t come to class, but one thing for sure, he wasn’t the kind of teacher students could trample on.
Authority was his middle name. Mr. Pain in the Ass was how students called him when they thought he couldn’t hear.
His absence was the sole reason why Alec was still standing in his class. The bastard made a point to pretend like he didn’t see me when he fist-bumped with nearly every guy in the class and sat between one of the football players and a pretty Asian girl.
“A-A-Alec!” it was an obviously tremendous effort that the Asian girl mustered to say his name.
“Hey Naomi.” When Alec replied with a smile, I was pretty sure she half-fainted.
“You’re out of your mind, Alec!” one of his friends shouted at him. Mr. Benedict was notorious to send kids off to detention without mercy.
“Yeah, I sold my brain to ebay. Wanna buy it?” he replied nonchalantly.
Laughter roared through the class, and I was the only one who didn’t even smile about it. Hannah and Tatiana weren’t in this class, but I got Sara, one of the cheerleaders, as a back up.
But Sara was in the verge of betrayal when she laughed her teeth off.
“Alec is always so cute!” she gushed. I remembered that they dated just seven months ago, and it only lasted three weeks. “Like, you never know what he’s up to.”
“I know what I’m up to. If he’s coming even one inch closer to me, I’ll skewer him with my pencil.”
“Gosh, you guys never get along,” Sara blinked her pretty doe-like eyes. “If you were someone else, I’d thought that you’re just a bitter ex-girlfriend. But you never actually dated him.”
It was agonizing to smile at her statement, because at how obliviously true it was. I never dated Alec, but we shared a kiss, and that kiss somehow made my hatred towards him blossom.
“See Naomi? I think she’s Alec’s next target,” Sara whispered to me in her gossip voice. “He’s been single for like, two, three weeks! It’s a feat for him.”
My eyes felt like shooting arrows as I darted my glare towards Alec. True enough, he was flirting with the poor girl. His eyes expertly showered her with attention as his mouth played a smile. Sometimes he’d touch her shoulder when he made a point, but not too long to leave the girl wanting. Damn, he’s way too good at this. She was giggling non-stop and tucked her straight black hair behind her ear a hundred times, even though he only said a few words.
And then, his green eyes turned towards me.
A quick smirk appeared on his lips. “Oh, so this is where all the murderous intents comes from.”
I bit my lips to stop myself from sprouting words that would make him think I’m jealous. Words like, ‘Stop flirting with her you licentious manwhore!’
Instead, I said, “And that’s where the pungent smell came from. The smell of a shameless sexual predator.”
He cocked his head, his expression showed nothing but innocence. “Wait, I wasn’t hearing you wrong, was I? Did you just say that I’m good in bed?”
“Hey, hey, Andrea, don’t lose it,” Sara was holding my hand, but she was also chuckling.
The other guys were laughing. Our fights had almost been like their daily fodder. They’d lap it up and then joke about it. But what they didn’t know that we no longer people who liked to tease each other. As of now, we were mortal enemies.
“You-you!” I was out of any insult to throw at him. “You Allie!”
That seemed to amuse him more than anything else, much to my indignation. He got up from his seat next to the Asian girl (and she responded by looking extremely disappointed) and walked towards me. “So back to our opposite-sex name basis again, hasn’t we, Andre?”
I was about to come out with a really good comeback; I really was, when the door to the class opened and Mr.
Benedict’s bushy curls appeared.
The whole class ran towards their respective seat. Everyone put on a serious, ready-to-study face that every teacher would like to see.
Only, I couldn’t do the same.
Why, you ask?
Because Alec freaking Blaze just decided to hide under my desk, alongside with my legs.
“Let’s begin the class,” Mr. Benedict’s cold voice announced, during this time, I could vehemently feel Alec’s fingers on my knee, dangerously close to my thigh.
If this didn’t count as being trapped between a rock and a hard place, then I didn’t know what is.
-Ten minutes after the class, and already I was evolving to be the world’s most ruthless mass murderer. Alec thankfully stayed quite silent under the desk, but I couldn’t help feeling his breath everywhere around my legs.
What made it worse; people actually think that it was funny.
“You’re seriously dead, Alec,” I whispered to him as I slid down my sharpest pen to under my desk.
“I think that this is the most alive I had ever been,” he replied.
“Then savor it, you animal, because after Mr. Benedict’s getting out of the class, you’re dead.”
“You! Girl with mean eyes and red hair!” Mr. Benedict suddenly shouted out loud. The whole class was holding their breath as his index finger pointed towards me. “Is there anything you’d like to contribute to our discussion?”
My mouth was clamped shut, because I didn’t even know what they were talking about. I nudged Sara for help, but Mr. Benedict’s eyes saw the gesture. “You! Friend of girl with mean eyes, if you help her than the next question is yours!”
And that was enough to make Sara shut her mouth like a deaf person.
I searched frantically inside my books, and the temperature seemed to increase as I flicked the papers, trying to get a clue what to say without making me look stupid.
“Ten seconds,” Mr. Benedict warned me. "Ten seconds before your detention.”
Shut the fuck up, you intrepid!
“It’d help if you’d enlighten me with the matter of our subject, Sir,” I said.
“Now,” he smiled, and if the amount of wrinkles that appeared around his cheeks were any indication at how much he wanted to stake me, then I’d be dead by now. “What’s your name again, mean eyes?”
“Andrea Robinson.”
“Boyish name. So very apt with your attitude.”
“I’m sure we’re here to discuss about history, Sir, not my demeanor.”
Mr. Benedict didn’t lose a beat as he lifted his hand to take a look at his watch. “Then you have five seconds to join the discussion with a decent point of view, which I’m sure your thick, opinioned head are able to construct.”
I felt a hand was tapping on my thigh, and I jerked my leg so that Alec was squished. But his hand was insistent, and that was when I realized that he was trying to communicate with me. I looked down impatiently, and there he was, his head resting against my knee, his eyes luminous even though he was in the dark. There was his phone at the edge of his hand while his other index finger was in front of his lips.
I received the phone, and at the screen, there was already a Wikipedia page for the Constatinopel war.
“Three seconds, Ms. Robinson,” Mr. Benedict was clearly enjoying this.
This is cheating. What I’m about to do is cheating, but what the hell. He’s a mean teacher, anyway. So I read the passage in the Wikipedia page, and of course I edited some words to make it more student-sounding.
After I was done, Mr. Benedict’s smile quivered. He was no doubt pissed that I was able to get through this, but there was nothing he could say because apparently I’d said the wrong kind of arguments. He went on with his teachings, but occasionally, he’d shot me a glance, to check if there was any opportunity to pick on me again.
“Take that, Mr. Pain in the Ass!” I hissed, and Alec laughed under me. It was such a commotion because his breath and the movement of his chest were against my calves and thighs and this was making me very uncomfortable.
I typed on his phone, because I couldn’t afford getting nicked once again.
-And when are you going to get the fuck away from me?
It didn’t take long before the reply came.
-I’m scared of you, but I’m even more scared of Mr. PiA
I looked down to him, confused with the abbreviated, and he mouthed, ‘Mr. Pain in the Ass’
That caused an involuntary snigger out of me. Alec watched from under, his pupils dilated considerably. And then, before I knew it, he had already written more messages for me.
-Why you never date?
The answer to this was so easy.
-In case you didn’t know. I’m secretly a guy in a girl’s body, Allie.
-Right. I forgot that you scare people who want to date you away.
-Like you, you mean?
I waited for his answer anxiously, biting my lips and not able to fully concentrate on the lecture again. Still, I didn’t dare to stray my eyes anywhere but Mr. Benedict. The least I wanted was getting caught again and then finding out that there’s a guy hiding under my desk.
-Yeah, like me. Everyone wants to date me, except probably you.
His level of cockiness is astounding, even though I thought that I’d acquainted myself with it.
-Poor Naomi. She’s been looking under my desk, waiting for you to flirt and try to get into her pants.
Alec’s reply was faster than before. In fact, he was typing so furiously I could feel his fingers on my calves. This was not going good for my nerves.
-Would you really like to see me try, then?
It was a challenge, loud and clear. I had to really think before I answered. What kind of reply that he was
expecting? A no? A yes? Saying no meant that I did want him for myself, but if I said yes, I wouldn’ t be so sure that either I or him could get away with it unscarred.
So, I typed another alternative.
-It's for you to decide, not me.
-You’re infuriating. I know you like me. You’re just afraid you can’t handle me.
-And you’re also infuriating. Give me one good reason why I could like the likes of you.
When I showed him the message, he chuckled. Luckily, it was inaudible. I winced at him, not sure what was so funny about it. My answer was diplomatic enough to not inflate his ego. As I waited for his phone for his answer, my back got automatically straightened as the sudden feel of his finger on my thighs.
No… he couldn’t be serious.
I wasn’t sure how he did it. The space under my desk was small, and the fact that a guy in Alec’s caliber could fit was still mindblowing to me. Now he somehow could move my thighs so that he was in between them.
“Fucking pervert!” I hissed at him, but he only looked up with an amused expression. Slowly, his lips pouted a bit as his index finger reached the center of his mouth.
‘Don’t make any sound,’ he whispered.
And then, he pressed his lips on my left inner thigh.
Why in the fuck the word ‘disgusting’ didn’t register inside my head, I didn’t have any idea. But for the next few minutes, all I could do was writhe and write and writhe and try my best not to make any sound or make me look suspicious. To say that Alec was an expert in mouth area was an understatement. He was a fucking god at sucking and nibbling
and-Fuck.
I tried to look around, to scan for any faces that would have looked suspicious for us, but none looked even remotely aware of me. They were all dutifully following each and every one of Mr. Benedict’s gestures.
“The war…. Body counts…. And then…”
Damn, everything was now a blur now that there was Alec’s mouth on my thigh. And it didn’t help that his other hand was caressing, too. I couldn’t even think, as my concentration was focused on that one space. It was exactly in the middle of my thigh, and I didn’t think that I’d have a sensitive spot there, but somehow he found it.
“Ms. Luo!” Mr. Benedict was already picking on another student. It’s Naomi this time. She stammered her answer, and as I tried to concentrate, Alec’s mouth slowly ventured deeper.
I kneed him on his chin. Hard.
The sound of his head hitting against the bottom of my desk was roaring through the class, and that startled everyone to see me. I wasn’t in the mood of smiling and playing stupid, so I just waved my hand lightly, and then said, in a very static tone. “Oops. I was careless to hit my hand on the table.”
I didn’t think anyone would have bought it, but they actually shrugged it off and Mr. Benedict carried on with his lecture. I withdrew my own cellphone and sent Alec a message; I wouldn’t care if this would cost my credit. I didn’t want to see his face. Or have him feel me up. Or both.
-One more touch, and I’ll knee you so hard your nose will be up inside your brain.
True enough, until the end of the class, he stayed still. Although he did reply to my message, and that nearly got him kneed again.
-I’m sorry I got carried away. Won’t happen again. But you got to admit it. My mouth work is fantastic. And that’s only one of the reasons why you’re obsessed with me, Andre.
-Right after class, the moment Mr. Benedict was out Alec showed up from under my desk. He was showered by praises from all the guys and got a lot of pats on the back. For a moment I nearly snapped, thinking that the guys were congratulating him for what he did to me. But then it seemed that they didn’t even notice his ‘mouth-work’
or whatever he called it, because they were all talking about Mr. Benedict.
“Oh, and the loud bang, was it you or was it Andrea?” one of the guys asked.
Alec was laughing when he answered a second later. He didn’t even look like he was lying. “Nah, that’s Andrea being clumsy herself. Nothing to do with me, man.”
I rolled my eyes. I had a free period next, and the thing that I wanted the most was to be left alone. I didn’t have a car, but Merryweather High’s parking lot was usually deserted, if only for a few stoners who smoked pot there.
Might as well take my chances.
Before I could get out, however, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Naomi.
“Hi!” she seemed surprised that I really did turn around. “So, um…”
I crossed my hands before my chest, waiting for her. “Yeah?”
“That was.. really… really hot,” she stammered as she turned ten shades of scarlet. “What Alec did.”
As she turned red, I was pretty damn sure I was turning green. “You saw it?!”
She nodded hesitantly. “Um, well. Do you think, like.. if Alec ever comes to the class again, will he be hiding under my desk? I’ll be wearing shorts. Or wait. Maybe skirts. Which do you think he likes more?”
It was so sad because she asked all of this with a serious face. I was at loss of words, so in the end I just stared at her, before deciding that I couldn’t possibly contribute to this kind of discussion.
“Goodbye Naomi.”
“Wait!”
I ignored her as I stalked away to the parking lot.
To my relief, there was no one on there. I’d already brought my copy of magazine and was just trying to cozy up on one of the cars when I noticed the familiar tuft of curly dark hair near a badass bike.
Gabriel also looked at me at the same time.
“You!” we said in unison, before breaking into laughter.
“What are you doing here?” I came up to him.
Wordlessly, Gabriel lifted up his cigarette. “You?”
I lifted my magazine in the same fashion of him. “Need to get away from the craziness that is school.”
“Oh, I know too much about it. Sit here,” he tapped the passenger seat of his bike, and I scooted up there.
“What’s that on your thigh?” Gabriel indicated to the huge hickey that was freshly given by Alec.
My face took a look of disgust. “It’s a bug bite.”
"There's a bug in this school?"
I shrugged.
“It looks like a hickey," he raised his eyebrows.
Why does everyone but me knew what a real hickey look like?!
“It’s a really big bug.” I even nodded to further convince him. “So who would be cooking for the Worthingtons at the morning?” my attempt at distracting him was bad, but not bad enough until he didn’t shrug it off.
“Honestly, it’s easy for them to find new cooks. I’m just there because.. well, I’m a familiar face.” He said with a rueful smile. “Mr. Blaze actually paid for my tuition.”
“Alec’s father?”
“The very one,” there was undoubtly admiration on his voice. “When I told him my interest into going back to school, he said to me to hold on for an hour, and when he called back, I’m already enrolled to Merryweather High.”
I had to blink a few times at the wonders of Blaze the senior. Acting so rashly and impulsively was something that ran in his son’s blood, too.
“But is Victoria Worthington going to be against it?” I hoped that it wouldn’t be too offending to ask.
“Not really. For all she knew, I am still one of Alec’s bestfriends. She can be quite clueless about the things she doesn’t want to see.”
I kicked around to the thin air. The condition of the house was bad, but I’d never thought that it would be that bad. No wonder Alec basked in every single attention that he could get at school.
“Anyway,” Gabriel blushed slightly as he scratched the back of his head. “I could barely survive the hordes of young girls trying to… I don’t even know what they’re trying to do. But a zombie apocalypse looked a lot less of a hassle.”
I laughed like an idiot hearing this.
“Were you also that scary when you’re younger?” Gabriel suddenly asked.
“Were you also that scary when you’re younger?” Gabriel suddenly asked.