chapter 10

Empire State Of Mind- Jay-Z and Alicia Keys

This is dedicated to Dramatic_Daydreamer for all of the votes! Thanks!! It means a lot.

Annabella's POV

I spent three days in the hospital, being 'checked' on by the doctors and nurses even though I felt fine. It was bloody irritating. Every time I nicely asked my parents if I could be discharged, they threw a fit saying I wasn't ready to go home and that my injuries were too serious.

The thing is though, I had a slight head injury and a fractured rib. The only worrying thing was me being asleep for two days. I tell you, my parents are the most protective people I have ever met. But, I love them to bits.

Ren and Cora visited me every day; informed me what had been happening. They also told me that when I was asleep, Xavier didn't go to school once. According to them, he spent a lot of his time here, at the hospital.

When they told me that, my heart rate increased, and I got this weird, butterfly feeling in my stomach. I brushed it off like it was nothing because I didn't want to admit to myself that maybe, just maybe, I don't hate Xavier.

Xavier also visited every day, whilst I was awake. Annoyingly, he would talk a load of nonsense every day about god knows what. It was thoughtful that he came and all, but I still don't really have a clue. I know he 'cares' for me but he didn't need to come and see me every day for two hours.

All of this is so out of character for Xavier. Rumours from around the school say he's cold-hearted, evil and narcissistic. I mean, I know he's egotistical and a play boy but I have yet to meet the evil Xavier that everyone is afraid of.

Maybe Xavier has been abducted by aliens? Or maybe he's undercover for some secret mission?

It could happen. I'm just stating ideas.

"Do you want some more soup Annie?" Dad asks me as he pokes his head into my room. I shake my head and continue to do some of the school work I missed.

"Okay honey." Dad sighs and shuts the door only to open it again a second later. I give him a confused look as he comes and sits on my bed. "Annie, you know that boy that came and saw you at the hospital?" He asks making me frown in confusion. Why is he asking me about Xavier?

I nod my head hesitantly.

"You-you aren't dating him are you?" Now, if I was drinking a soda right now, I would have spitted it in his face. That's the most absurd thing anyone has ever said. Never in a million years would I, Annabella, date a play boy who is too absorbed in himself to even acknowledge the existence of another person.

It's like asking will Trump ever do something that doesn't make majority of the world hate him.

Me and Xavier dating will never, ever happen. I mean, I would never date him and he would never go for a girl like me. I can't believe I'm saying this but he's a god who will end up marrying a beautiful woman who's probably a model.

Anyways, I just wouldn't date him. We wouldn't work. We don't have any chemistry anyways. All we do is argue; plus, he just aggravates me. We just wouldn't work, end of story.

"No dad. And I never will." I answer him, giving him a straight face. "Happy now?"

"Yes, I'm very satisfied. Night honey." He kisses me on the cheek whilst I mumble a goodbye. Yeah...me and Xavier together would not go well.

~~~~

Next day

So, after missing a few days of school, I had to come back. And guess what, I'm dreading it. I was not looking forward to seeing Stacy again, after what happened, I did was now on her number one hit list.

So far, I haven't seen her or her goonies. Perhaps if I keep avoiding her and Xavier for the day, everything will be alright. Who am I kidding? Nothing is going to be alright, not now.

"Anna!" A voice shouts down the corridor causing some of the students to stare at her. Cora rushes over to me, her face slightly flushed but a smile on her face nonetheless. "Hey, how are you?" She asks, breathing a bit heavily.

"Fine, you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her appearance. She was wearing a dress, yes, a dress. Like, that's the biggest thing ever for Cora because she never wears dresses. It's just not in her nature.

When she sees me staring at the dress, her cheeks turn a slight pink color. Yes, her cheeks turn pink. Ladies and gentlemen, Cora blushed. She freaking blushed. That never happens. What happened whilst I was gone?

"You and I have a lot of catching up to do." I tell her, connecting her arm with mine. We stroll down the hallways, moving out the way for people who barge through, some of the passers-by staring and whispering about me. I mentally roll my eyes – don't they have something better to talk about?

"Well, I-I" Cora stutters, bowing her head in embarrassment. Right now, I am so shocked. Never have I ever seen Cora so... nervous. She has never blushed or been embarrassed about anything. All of this is so new to me.

I am beyond curious to find out what has her so different. I hope it's something good.

I patiently wait for Cora to form a coherent sentence, which actually takes her longer than I expected. Just as she's about to give me some insight, the bell goes off.

I mentally curse the bell for its awful timing. I was just about to find out something big. I sigh is frustration and hug Cora. "You are not getting out of this, you are going to tell me at lunch. You hear me?"

Cora simply nods her head and turns around to go to her lesson. As I watch her walk away, I notice that she's curled her red hair which makes it look even prettier.

Is Cora trying to impress someone?

No way, she always said she wouldn't try and grab a guy's attention. She said she wanted to focus on her education and that she'd date when she was out of college.

I shook my head and continued to my lesson. I had a feeling Stacy and Xavier were both in my chemistry class, which was not going to be good.

And I was right. How I hated to be right about a lot of things.

Stacy was sat at the front with her two clones. When she noticed me, she gave me a sick smile, like a sinister smile that had my nerves increasing and goosebumps forming on my arms. I was doomed.

She was going to kill me, and I would not be able to do anything about it. Great. It was nice knowing you Earth, we sure had a crazy time here. You sure tested me.

I quickly sat in my seat at the corner; kept my head down. Xavier was due any minute and I had to make sure he didn't see me.

Fortunately for me, it appeared Xavier didn't. I sighed in relief and got me things out, trying my best not to make big moves. The teacher then walked in and dumped her stuff on the desk. She looked quite tired but don't all teachers?

Lunch time

I practically ran into the lunch hall, my eyes searching for Cora. She owes me an explanation and I'm not leaving until I get one.

As soon as I spotted them, I speed walked over to them. And once I got there, Cora and Ren were arguing. No surprises there.

"Puh-lease, you just don't understand my ethics." Ren rolled her eyes, sipping her drink.

"Keep rolling your eyes Ren. You might find a brain back there." Cora snapped back, narrowing her eyes at Ren's gasp.

It looked like they were having a heated argument but really, this was them communicating. It was funny to watch, I always loved the new insults they came up with.

Ren leaned closer so that her face was inches from Cora's. "I'd slap you but that would-be animal abuse." How original.

"Wow Ren, you could have come up with something better." I said, sitting down and taking my lunch out. I glanced at Cora and gave her a 'you owe me an explanation' look to which she slowly nodded and looked away. Ren didn't seem to notice any of it.

"It appears you have taken me as someone who gives a damn." Ren replies, starting a stare off with Cora.

I watched them for a couple of minutes but when I realized they weren't going to stop, I intervened. "Guys, please can we do something more productive?"

"I am, I'm giving her a nasty look even though she already has one." Cora countered.

"Ugh, I give up." I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. This was going to go one forever. I don't know why they started fighting but I can guarantee it was over something stupid.

I drowned out of everything until somebody plonked down in the seat next to me. From the very nice smelling after shave, I could tell it was Xavier but if I turned and looked, it would be confirming it so instead I tuned back into the argument.

"Shock me – say something intelligent." Cora retorted.

"You're a bag of douche!" Ren shouted and then stood up. "And this is where I take my leave."

Ren gives Cora an angry look and then storms off dramatically. Trust her to make a scene.

I glance at Xavier to see him giving me a confused look. Clearly, he is just as confused as me, maybe even more. He's not used to my insane friends.

Giving Xavier a small smile, I mouthed 'crazy' to him which he nodded at, smiling. He seemed surprised that I gave him my attention and that I smiled at him, but I didn't take any more notice of it. I had more pressing matters to attend.

"Now you have to tell me what's going on." I turned and said to Cora.

Cora opened her mouth to reply when somebody else sat at our table. Derek Campbell.

He was the one who hosted the party that happened last weekend, the one I had luckily missed.

Derek was tall, with light blonde hair and light brown eyes. He was muscular, from all of the football he plays. He also looked...cute? There was this boyish aura around him that reminded me of a prankster.

I gave Cora a confused look, but I saw she was looking at Derek. Her eyes were on him, looking at him with admiration. She stared at him with heart eyes – no way, she had a crush on him. That's why she was dressed up and embarrassed, it was because she had a crush on Derek.

Wow, I did not see that coming.

Word count: 1856

So...did you like it? I tried to add some humour, I don't know if you liked it though. Please tell me if you did.

I love the arguments Cora and Ren have, they're fun to write!

Next update: 26th December

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