The next day started out like any other day. I woke up early, got ready for school, made breakfast for my dad who didn't apologise for what happened yesternight (then again, no surprise there), I met up with Nellie and we walked to school together. Everything was going great but all that went awry once we got to school.
As I walked down the hallway with Nellie by my side, I could feel everyone's eyes on me. The reason behind that was quite obvious. It'd only been a day since the incident with Derris so as expected, everyone was pointing at me and murmuring.
Not used to that kind of attention, I drew closer to Nellie who, understanding my predicament, patted my hand reassuringly. I let out a sigh of relief as we went into the homeroom which was mostly empty, except for a few people reading.
We walked to our seats which happened to be beside each other and sat.
"So Allie, how are you doing?" Nellie asked while we waited.
"I don't know what to say, Nellie. I mean, I always imagined what it would feel like to be popular but I definitely didn't imagine this!" I shook my head as I spoke.
"I know. Sorry about this Allie. So, how did it go yesterday? Was your dad mad that you came late?"
"He was, just a bit," I answered, even as the memories rushed back.
"Oh Allie! Did he hit you?" she asked, lowering her voice.
"No Nellie. Of course not."
"Allison, are you sure? You know you can trust me with anything."
"I know that Nellie but…"
The sudden ringing of the bell cut me short and in a few moments, students were trooping into the homeroom. Murmuring and chattering filled the room and I found myself once again, the topic of discussion.
I sank deeper into my seat, willing it all to be over. All of a sudden, as if by a divine force, in came Derris Fox and flanking him on both sides were Caleb Stone and Jeremy Kyeong.
Besides being an actor, Derris also doubled as an musician and he was part of a band called Black Diamond with three other guys: Caleb Stone, Jeremy Kyeong and Maximilian Crest.
Apart from being one of the most biggest boy bands around, they were also known for their various escapades with anything in a skirt with Maximilian being the only exception. He was silent, reserved and was the only member of Black Diamond that could rarely ever be seen with a girl. The reason behind this was not known.
With the whole class’ attention on Derris, Caleb and Jeremy, I found myself finally able to breathe. This lull however didn't last long when Derris met my gaze. Almost immediately, he scowled. I gulped, my heart rate growing by the second as he made his way towards me.
Instead of stopping in front of me, he merely paused by my side before moving on. I released the breath I'd been holding, feeling as shocked as everyone else. I'd expected a lot of things but not that he would just move on without saying or doing anything to me.
Just then, the teacher for our homeroom walked in and started calling attendance. My eyes were on Derris for the rest of the period.
After homeroom, Nellie and I went to our lockers to grab our books for the next class. Just like when I came in, everyone's eyes were on me and I could hear them speculating as to why Derris didn't do anything to me.
"Maybe he likes you. You never know," Nellie suggested just as we arrived at our lockers.
"Yeah right. As if-" I trailed off, opening my locker to see it smeared in chocolate along with all my books and every other thing I had in the locker. "Who would do something like this? Why would someone-? Wait, you don't think-?" I turned to Nellie, her eyes already saying what I needed to know.
"Derris!" she spat out, her voice laced with venom. "That sneaky bastard!" she yelled but I was quick to cover her mouth with my hand before anyone heard her.
"Nellie! Keep it down!"
"But Derris- your locker-" she argued.
"Will be fine. We'll just call maintenance to clean it up."
"What about your books? Your notes?" she asked.
I looked at them and shrugged. "I can just rewrite them using your notes. It'll be fine."
"Allison, you can't just let this go. You made a mistake. You don't deserve all this."
"So what do you want me to do? Prank the school's golden boy and become hated on top of already being the talk of the school? Yeah right," I snorted with a good natured roll of my eyes on seeing the expression on Nellie's face. "It'll be fine, Nellie. I'll be fine. Let's just get to class, okay?"
Nellie looked like she had more to say but she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it before opening her eyes and flashing me a huge smile.
"Okay then. I guess if you don't have a problem with it, then I'm okay."
"Great. Let's get to class then."
I stole a glance at my chocolate covered locker and sighed sadly. Oh well... I closed the locker and left with Nellie.
We had Biology first so we headed to the Biology class. Nellie however had to pay a visit to the bathroom and I walked to class alone. On getting to Biology class, I could see Derris already seated with his friends but that wasn't the baffling thing.
What baffled me was how quiet the class was despite being almost full. I knew the teacher wasn't in yet so I had no idea why they were so quiet.
Deciding to just ignore it, I walked in and pulled on a rope with my foot mistakenly. Almost immediately, I heard something and just like that, I was soaked with something, something that smelt and felt like… chocolate.
Almost immediately, the whole class, Derris included, burst into laughter and that was when it dawned on me. The reason why they'd been so quiet was because they'd been waiting for me to come so they could prank me. How had I not realised that?
As I stood there, watching Derris laugh along with everyone else, I felt my heart begin to crack as I realised that this was probably his idea, his prank. Nothing could have hurt me more.
"Hey you! Say cheese!" he yelled, bringing out his phone. Before I could react, I was being soaked in cheese as well. The laughter doubled and I felt the tears I'd tried so hard to keep from falling begin to pool in my eyes.
Don't cry, Allison! Don't cry!
But it was too late. Tears were already streaming down my cheeks as I looked down, unable to bring myself to look up and see Derris laughing.
"Finally, to complete this little combo, here's some glitter!"
I looked up just in time to see Derris shower me with glitter from a bowl in his hand.
Unable to take it anymore, I turned and ran out of the classroom. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I ran but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from it all, get away from the mocking laughter and the heartache that came with it.
Eventually I found myself in the school garden. I'd always liked this place. It was silent and peaceful and always left me feeling like a new person. Today however, I wasn't here for that.
Making my way to the fountain, I fell to my knees beside it and managed a glance at myself in the clear waters. What stared back brought even more tears to my eyes.
My red hair was strewn across my face and was a mix of red, brown and yellow. I had glitter on my face as well chocolate and cheese spots.
My appearance paled in comparison to the shape my heart was in. Why did it have to be Derris of all people? I had been pranked a few times since enrolling in this school but never by Derris. In fact, I never thought him capable of that.
In my mind's eye, I still saw him as some kind of Prince who would come riding up to me one day on a white steed and rescue me from my horrible life. Unfortunately, that was starting to look more and more like a fantasy especially with today's events.
A sudden rustle in the bushes behind me jerked me back to reality. I fearfully turned around just as a tall guy with sandy blonde hair emerged from the bushes. He seemed surprised to see me but he was quick to mask his surprise with a straight face.
Why do I know that face?
"What are you doing here?" he asked curtly. "And why do you look like- that?" he added, giving me the once-over look.
That was when it hit me. Maximilian Crest! This was frigging Maximilian Crest! My jaw dropped and I struggled to find my voice. What? I'm a big fan. Of course I'm starstruck.
"Fine then. Be that way," he shrugged and made his way to a wooden bench in a corner. He sat on the bench and began strumming the guitar I hadn't noticed he was holding. My eyes were glued to him while he strummed some notes with the guitar.
"Okay. If you're just going to stare, you might as well leave!" he shot me a pointed look after a few minutes passed with me doing nothing but staring at him.
"I'm sorry!" I apologized quickly, looking down at my knees.
"What's your name?"
"Allison," I answered, still not meeting his gaze. He didn't say anything at first but before I knew what was happening, he was beside me, on his knees.
"What happened to you, Allison?" he asked, using a finger to lift my chin up so we were looking at each other.
"I'd rather not talk about it," my voice quivered as I spoke. Not only was superstar and celebrity, Maximilian Crest, talking to me and touching me, remembering that my longtime crush was the reason I looked like a train wreck didn't exactly help matters.
"That's fair," he mumbled, dipping the tip of his white handkerchief in the fountain. Then he was cleaning my face with it.
Whoa! Tell me I'm dreaming. I have to be! Because there's no way Maximilian Crest was using his hankie to clean my face... right?
But it was true. It was either that or I was hallucinating.
I blinked several times to see if that would change things but it didn't. I even discreetly pinched myself but nothing changed.
Oh my God! It's really happening!
"There. That's better," Max mused, moving back a bit. I glanced in the fountain and saw that my face was clean. I looked back at him gratefully and muttered, "Thank you."
"No need for that. Can you handle the rest?" he gestured to my hair and clothes. I nodded. "Good. Well, later then."
He stood from the floor and slung his guitar over his head, such that it hung behind him. He turned and headed in the direction of the garden, stopping once to say, "My name's Maximilian, by the way. But you can call me Max."
Before I could say anything else, he was gone. I stared at the direction he went, my jaw slack. Did that just happen or did I imagine it? I took a glance at the fountain and sure enough, my face looked clean.
Yup, it really happened. I let out a large squeal and began doing a little happy dance at the thought of what just happened. I just met Maximilian frigging Crest! Maybe today's not so bad afterall...
After getting over my excitement about meeting a celebrity who didn't hate my guts, I snuck into the girls locker room and after taking a super long shower and managing to get as much glitter, cheese and chocolate off me as possible, I changed into my gym clothes and met up with Nellie at her locker. "Oh my gosh, Allison, I was so worried about you. I heard what happened in class. I'm so sorry," she pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay, Nel. I'm fine," I shrugged when she pulled away. "No it's not. Derris is such a prick. Can you believe he uploaded the video online?" "Really? He did?" I pouted, feeling a part of my heart shatter into pieces. Nellie nodded and brought out her phone. She tapped a few things and soon I found myself looking at a video of chocolate, cheese and glitter being poured on me. Worse enough, the video was trending. Sighing sadly, I handed Nellie's phone back to her and whimpered. "Why is this happening, Nellie? I didn't mean t
The bell rang signalling the end of class. Everyone poured out of the classroom, murmuring to themselves. I however, sat still on my seat wondering what I'd done to deserve this. I looked up at Derris who was still seated with Caleb and Jeremy. Nellie was already making her way towards Caleb, obviously to talk about the project but I couldn't bring myself to do it, for fear of being embarrassed again. What if he hit me? No, he couldn't do that... right? He did seem pretty pissed that we were partners so who knows? What if I tripped again and...? "Hey," a deep voice resonated beside me. I was so startled that I jumped off my seat in fright. Looking up, I felt myself flush when I realized it'd just been Max. "Oh! It's just you," I mumbled, rising from the floor. "Yeah," he said, moving a nearby seat and placing it in front of my desk. "Sorry if I scared you." "Oh, don't apologise. I was kinda zoned out so it's not your fault." "Hmm
I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, my eyes widened in fear. It was quite obvious that I was cursed. Why else would so many bad things be happening to me in a day? And judging by the look on Derris' face, my fate was obviously sealed. I chanced a glance at him and immediately looked away for fear of what I saw. The seconds seemed to drag by as I awaited my fate in Derris' hands. And just like that, he was standing in front of me, an unreadable expression on his face. On impulse, I sank to my knees and clasped my hands in front of him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll pay for it, I swear," I begged, my voice quivering as I spoke. "And just how do you plan to do that? That's a frigging two thousand dollar vase and last I heard, you were attending Ridgeway on scholarship so how exactly do you plan to get two thousand dollars?" His words were curt and sharp. I bowed my head and admitted, "I don't know." I waited f
"Oh Allison!" came the all-too familiar call, a couple of metres away from me. Holding back a frustrated groan, I slid off the stool I was seated on and sluggishly walked over to the poolside where Derris and Elaine, the girl who'd sat with Derris in Chemistry were relaxing on lounge chairs. "You called, Miss?" I said through gritted teeth. "Yeah. I would like a refill of my drink," she held up an empty cup which I was sure I just filled a minute ago. "Why?" I asked in an overly sweet voice. This was getting ridiculous as were her requests. "What do you mean 'why'? I want a refill of my drink and last I checked, you were here to help, weren't you?" "Yes, to help him. Not you!" I retorted, losing the politeness. "Besides, I just filled that for you. Do you have a tank in your stomach or something?" She gasped and turned to Derris. "Derris! Your maid's being mean!" Derris who hadn't been paying attention t
I was not ready to see Derris again the next day after what transpired the day before but it wasn't really up to me. It was up to him which meant that I was already at his parking spot, thirty minutes before his arrival because that was what he wanted. A part of me desperately wanted to hate Derris for what he did, like really hate him but it was literally impossible for me. I'd been in love with him since I was a little girl and a part of me still hoped that things would change and he would love me for me. I know it sounded stupid but what could I do? By the time Derris arrived in his flashy Ferrari, I was downright exhausted but I tried not to let it show as I greeted Derris a good morning and took his backpack from him. "Why's your voice so hoar... Oh!" he nodded on remembering. A part of me hoped to get an apology or something but it was not to be. "Serves you right, anyway," he shrugged, shouldering past me and heading into the school
Was it possible to love a jerk? Someone who was so mean and inconsiderate you sometimes found it hard to believe you actually loved them? If you ask me, I'd say yes. I should know too. I'm in love with the biggest jerk I know. Worse still, he doesn't love me back. After my meeting with Aria and my conversation with Nellie afterwards, I had no idea what to do concerning Derris. A part of me wanted to agree with Nellie and get rid of my feelings for him but another much larger part of me could only think of Derris defending me against Aria Charles, his own ex and a celebrity like him. And when I thought of that single act, I felt it more than made up for his earlier treatment of me. Anyway, by the next day, I was excitedly waiting for Derris at his parking spot, eager to see him again. When he hadn't arrived by the time he usually did, I became worried and thought of calling him. There had been no reported accidents so where was he? I had just made
Derris turned out to be a lot more creative than I would have ever thought because five minutes later, I was on my knees, preparing to scrub the floor with...wait for it...a toothbrush! Derris had this authoritative air hanging over him as he stood over me, a smirk forming on his lips. I glanced at the toothbrush in my hand, then at the bucket of foamy water beside me and up at him. "What exactly am I doing?" I asked, still a bit unsure. "Isn't it clear? I want you to scrub this whole lobby clean using only the toothbrush," he grinned devilishly, a clear sign that he was going to enjoy making me suffer. Once again, I glanced at the pristine floor and looked back at him confused. "What exactly do you want me to clean here? The floors are as clean as physically possible." On hearing my words, Derris frowned and furrowed his brows in thought. He left soon after which I took to mean he'd given up on punishing me but I rec
Despite arriving home quite late, I was lucky enough to avoid being scolded by my dad since he came home later than I did. All because of Derris' sudden act of generosity. Thinking back, I realized that I would never truly understand him but it didn't stop me from wishing his attitude would carry on till the next day.Who knows? Maybe tonight was just a sign that things were finally about to go my way. Only time would tell.Morning came and I did what I always did: got up from bed, said a prayer, made breakfast for dad and tried not to get on his bad side, took a shower, got dressed, met up with Nellie and walked to school with her. Since Nellie had some stuff to do with her partner, Caleb Stone concerning the English project, she left me in the parking lot to meet up with him. As I watched her leave, I was suddenly reminded of the project which I'd all but forgotten. Sure, the deadline wasn't for weeks but that didn't mean we didn't have to work on it. I would hav