5 - Give up

It was bad pretty bad. So far I have been accosted by Duke's girlfriend, sister and his nemesis. But it was nothing compared to what waited for me inside the school. Somehow it had gotten from bad to worse. The endless whispers and gossip following me were really getting on my nerves.

I backed off from a pair of giggling teenagers who didn't have the nerve to look embarrassed when finding the object of their gossip right beside them. In my hurry, I bumped into someone unexpected. Well, he was the last one left to attack me. He smiled when he realized who I was. I glared at him.

"Hello there", he said to me.

Initially, I thought of ignoring him. But then I thought what was the use of running away from him? We study in the same school. I better get this over with as well.

"What is it? Have you come here to attack me too?", I asked him.

"What happened? You looked stressed", he remarked.

"Well, I did meet his girlfriend who threw her mascara at me and also his sister threw me out of the class because I was late. She didn't ask me why! Again do you know why I was late because I wasn't allowed to eat in the cafeteria", I finished breathlessly.

"That was the longest I had heard you speak", he said with a laugh.

"OK. It was nice talking to you", I said walking away.

"Hey wait", he stopped me by hand. I gave him a sharp look.

"I should have known better", he said with a smirk.

"Why don't you just apologize? Everything will go back to normal. I will talk to him. I promise everything will end here and now", he said.

"I have only one answer. No", I said meeting his eyes.

He raised his eyebrows exasperated. He wasn't used to women defying him just like his friend.

"I would rather die than apologize to your stupid friend", I said and left him.

I turned away from him. But he didn't threaten me like I expected. He watched me pass by him silently. But somehow I felt he wasn't happy about my decision. He was Duke's best friend so I don't have to guess his loyalty. What I can do is defend myself against his evil plans. I know it won't be easy but I have to do it.

At the end of the day. I was tired and there was still time left but I wanted to leave. The fight was no more inside. I was tired enough. But embarrassingly I didn't know to drive. Even if I did I don't own a car. We are too broke. I have to catch a bus. But no the rain caught me. I was walking briskly towards the bus stop. When a sports car stopped beside me.

At first, I didn't spare the car or driver a look. But then I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. It was him. I could feel his presence. It was so weird.

"What do you want?", I shouted at him.

"I want you to get inside the car", he said lowering the side glass for me to hear. I was soaked completely. This would be a perfect revenge for me. His entire car seat will be ruined. But the problem is that he was the one who was inviting me in.

"Just go", I said to him.

"I'm not going anywhere", he said.

"Why are you offering me a ride?", I asked him.

"Because I don't want you to get sick and miss what I planned for you next", he said with a smirk.

"You are a jackass. Did you know that?", I asked him.

"And what that would make you?", he shot back.

"We are not the same", I said.

"We are more alike than you think. We still like to fight back even if we don't win", he said to me.

I didn't understand what he meant. I know asking about it won't give me any answers I desire. So I went to the passenger seat and climbed inside. I sneezed a couple of times. He watched me silently. He leaned back and grabbed a few tissues for me and gave them to me.

I quickly took it from him. He doesn't want me to spread germs over his precious car. But what about these leather seats? I'm sure they can't be fixed up again. Is he in the right mind to give me a ride while I'm dripping? "You know these leather seats are ruined forever", I mentioned.

"Don't worry about that. I have enough cars in my garage some of them I haven't even touched", he said.

"Good for you", I said turning away from him. I watched the night and trees passing by us.

I checked his speedometer and he was literally flying the car. I was tempted to ask him to slow down. But held my tongue he would only rejoice in my discomfort and may probably speed the car further.

"Are you ok?", he asked watching my face.

"I'm fine. If you could slow down", I said trying to keep my tone even.

"Sure", he said slowing down. I sighed deeply. I really thought that he wouldn't listen or do worse.

"How do you know my house?", I asked as he took the right turn. I watched him suspiciously.

"I was curious", he said laughing. He had a good laugh - that was the first thought that crossed my mind. I was forced to bury that thought into the deep pits of my mind without the possibility of rising up again.

"So you snooped and found my address. That is not remotely funny", I said to him.

"Come on It is not like I will climb your window and creep in your bed ", he said.

"Thanks for helping me today Duke", I said uncomfortably. This guy was my worst enemy minutes ago. But now I'm thanking him for helping me in getting home safe and sound. I feel like I got already dried from his car heater.

"I don't want your thank you", he said leaning back on his seat. He had green eyes. Why was I noticing it? It is not like he had suddenly become my knight in shining armor.

"Then what do you want?", " I asked suspiciously.

" Apology", he said eyes serious. I watched him eyes narrowed. Did he really think he could get away from what he did by offering me a lift?

"Not a chance", I told him.

"OK then good night Mia", he said smiling.

"Goodnight Duke", I said turning away and hiding my smile as well. I only heard his car whirring away after I crossed my threshold. I watched my dad watching my TV and he never did. He never had enough patience for TV. He watched YouTube or something.

"How is Lily?", he asked trying to look innocent. I felt like laughing at his efforts to sound like Mom. He never did these things before. He preferred to be fun. Dad and Mom took care of the hard parenting. Not that I ever gave them any trouble.

"Well I had to leave early today so a friend dropped me off", I said. I could never say that he was the guy who smacked my backside. He would go berserk.

"This friend rides a Ferrari? Must be rich", he said.

"Yes. He is very rich", I said combing my hair with my fingers.

"Oh shit! You are soaked", he said jumping from the sofa and running toward me.

"Where is the towel?", he asked looking around frantically.

I walked towards the cupboard and took it from there. He smiled at me as I started to rub my head with it. I didn't want to get sick tomorrow. I hated missing class and studies.

"I made the dinner and burnt it up accidentally but I ordered pizza", he said.

"Great", I said to him. I wasn't looking forward to Dad's cooking and he wouldn't quit no matter what I said. My cooking is equally pathetic just like him. Mom was the one who cooked for us. I hadn't sung in a long time and I felt like singing. I had dreamt of becoming a singer but mom dying had changed that. It opened up to many truths. One of them is that you can't survive on music if you aren't rich. It would be an easier career choice for someone like Duke but for me, it was very tough.

I had decided to pursue art and become a teacher keeping my dreams away. No one knows about this. I had kept it a secret even from Lily. I noticed my phone ping. I took it out thinking it was Mia. But to my surprise, it wasn't. A smile spread my face as soon as I saw it.

"It was really nice talking to you. I think we can even become friends if you just apologize."

Is he really a bad guy like I thought? He had acted immature and childish but he was never heartless. The way he gave me lift I would never have expected that from him in a hundred lifetimes. But for every good I saw in him. I still couldn't find myself to apologize for something that was so much wrong. It doesn't matter he thought I was someone else. All that we could do was put this past us and move forward.