Chapter 27
Natalie's POV
“Well, guess what? I don't know what to do.” I said to Ariana. I had called her up immediately after I finished dressing up for school, hoping she'll have a bit of advice for me.
“Come on, Natalie. I know it's quite tricky... But you have to figure it out. Remember, you are in the middle of all of it.”
“And that's exactly the problem. From what I've heard, I can't pin the blame on Xavier. He might be, innocent but I also can't accuse him. Xander, for goodness sake it's his girlfriend we are talking about!'
“That's why I'm saying you should stick around them for a while. Get to know the two better... Long enough to know if they can do this stuff against each other.”
“What if I mess up?”
There was silence on the other line, but Ariana eventually spoke up.
“If there's one person I know discerns people more than anyone else, it's you, Natalie. A few days wouldn't hurt to know which brother is which.
“I don't know Ari...”
“You can do this Natalie. I know you can. Go, Natalie! Be aggressive! She cheered me.” I chuckled softly.
“Oh I hear you, trying to cheer me up, aren't you?'
“Of course I am.”
“I'll see what I can do then added. I wish you were here with me. It'll be so much easier.
“I wish I was there too. Together we are super crazy detectives!” She yelled and I laughed.
“Whatever... Maybe I can bring you up later.”
“Seriously! You'll do that?”
“I'm not making any promises. It's just a suggestion. Stay in Middesville.”
“Whatever... Argh! you got my hopes up on that one.”
“I have to go now. Talk to you later.”
“You too. Bye.”
And with that, I hung up. Staring at my reflection in the mirror one last time, I heaved a sigh before going out of my room. Time to do this.
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I arrived at school and headed straight to my locker, where I met Mira. I greeted her, but when she replied, she didn't have that cheer in her voice. She seemed to be brooding on something. I glanced at her and folded my hands.
“And what's wrong?” I asked, peering at her.
“Nothing.” She muttered, still playing with her books.
“Oh... Okay.” I answered and brought out my books. Locking up my locker, I glanced at Mira, who was still standing there in a foul mood.
“You still don't want to talk about it?” I asked again. She glanced at me, pursing her lips. I raised my brows.
“It's Celine.” She voiced out.
“And what about her?”
“So Darren and I hanged out yesterday... and for some reason, she found a way to butt in. “She said calmly, but there was a layer of anger underneath those words.
“So that's why you are in a bad mood today,” I confirmed.
“Isn't it enough reason? Every time Darren and I are together, she always finds a way to ruin it.” She gritted.
“Look, I may not know how to help you on this one because I'm a little of fix myself... But,” Mira looked at me. “You have to promise me one thing,” I said.
“And what's that?”
“Don't let Celine go without a fight. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes... I promise.” She said and smiled a bit.
“Good... Now clean up all of that. You don't look too good when you frown.” I said and chuckled.
"Ah ah.. very funny.”
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Later on that day, I walked over to meet Xander. he was at the basketball court, and he seemed lost in thought. I stayed awhile watching him before finally speaking up.
“Hey....” I said. He looked up at m and nodded.
“Hi.” He answered lowly. I shrugged and went to sit beside him. We were quiet for a while till I spoke up.
“So... Did you get to talk to him?” I asked. He glanced at me and looked away.
“No... I couldn't.” He muttered.
“Why?”
“I don't know... I guess it just dawned on me that we've become two different people in the same house.”
I stared at him. “We argue, not talk. Talking seems like an alien concept now.”
“Now you get my point,” I whispered.
“I can't believe I let this happen..... This drifting apart. Maybe if I had talked to him earlier this wouldn't have happened.”
“But it did, and now we have to fix that,” I said.
“Yeah... We have to fix that.” He said and glanced at me. “You're going to help, right?”
“Hmm... I'm going to try.”
“I like the sound of that...” He muttered, and I laughed. Then I glanced at him, but he was already staring at me.
"What?”
“Thank you, Natalie.”
“For what?”
“For helping me see what I've been blind to see all this while.”
“Have you been blind to see, or you just didn't want to talk to see it? Anyway, you're welcome. Any compliment is handy now.” I muttered and folded my hands.
Until I felt a hand tickle my sides, I laughed while running away. “Stop! That ain't funny!”
“It's called payback time.” He muttered, picking a basketball.
“For what?”
“For cheating in that last game. Remember?”
Oops... I already forgot. But I smirked devilishly at him.
“You think you're going to beat me this time?” I asked, raising my brows.
“Why don't we wait and see?” He said, throwing the ball at me. I caught it and began bouncing it.
“You first.” He said, I smirked.
“it's game on,” I muttered before playing.
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Xavier's POV
Suddenly, there seemed to be an uproar in the quiet school. Something was causing excitement down below. I glanced at Darren, but he just shrugged, he stood up to check where it was coming from.
“It seems to be coming from the basketball court. Why don't we go and take a look?”
“What game would be causing such excitement?”
“It's why I said we should go and take a look,” Darren stressed.
“Oh... Okay.”
We stood and walked to the basketball court, where the excitement seemed to be coming from. And that's where I... Not me, we saw Natalie and Xander in a match. She seemed good, and it looked like a lot of fun for the people watching... Well, except for me.
I couldn't deny the gnawing feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. Seeing them play and laugh at each other caused a lot of wrong things to go on in me. I should be happy for them, but why am I feeling this way??
“Xavier... Xavier?” Darren called, his eyes questioning me.
“Yeah...” I answered.
“I've been calling you for a while now, weren't you listening?”
As he? Dammit!
“Oh, I must've drifted off. Anyway, I have to go now. See you later.” And left before he could object. It's just nerves. There's no way I'm jealous of that scene.
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Closing time.
Mira's POV
It was closing, but I still wasn't in the mood to go home, not without seeing Darren. I hadn't seen him all day except for the time Xander and Natalie were involved in a friendly match. Something tells me he had been avoiding me all day.
Walking along the already deserted pathway in school, I looked ahead and saw Darren standing in a place. He seemed lost in thought. I took a deep breath and walked towards him, standing by his side.
“Hey,” I called out. He glanced at me and seemed surprised to see me here.
“H...hi. What are you doing here?”
“Why? Shouldn't I be here?” I asked, glancing at him.
“Of course not... I didn't mean it that way. You can be anywhere you want.” He said and looked away. I nodded and tucked my stray hair behind my ear.
“Darren... We have to talk.” I said after a few minutes of silence between us. He looked at me, puzzled.
“Talk about what?” I heaved a sigh.
“See, I have to admit, I like you... Like a lot, but it just seems like right now....” He cut me off.
“What are you trying to say?” He said, staring at me with this weird look on his face.
“You didn't let me finish my statement,” I said.
"Sorry... Go on.”
“It just seems like right now, doing anything might cause more harm than good for the both of us.” I completed.
“And what's that supposed to mean?”
I heaved a sigh. It was getting a lot harder to continue, with the look on his face.
“Maybe we should just....” I trailed off, then my voice came back stronger. “Maybe we should just stop seeing each other, for now.”
“What!?” He muttered, his voice weak. “We should just give up when we've barely started?”
“I know, I know... It sounds stupid. But I think of any other alternative, at least not now. This would have to do.”
“I can't believe this...” He muttered disbelief I'm his eyes.
“You have to,” I said, hating the way I sounded at the moment. It was totally unlike me. Not able to bear how I felt, I moved a step back. “I guess it's goodbye now.” I shudder, and without thinking, hurried out of the place, wanting to prevent the tears that were threatening to fall.
I can't believe I just did this...