Tasting 172
Tasting
172âTook My Place
Nora:
Watching April again after she changed sides was hard. Made two friends and none of them turned
out to be honest or loyal to me.
âHello Nora, where have you been?â Her taunting tone made her position clear. She was against
me too.
âI expected that from Natalya, but I should have been more certain about you. Since your track
record has been so messy from the start,â I hissed, acknowledging my fault in befriending those
who had shown they could get messy if they didnât get what they wanted. Not to
mention, these girls have shown interest in my brothers so many times. I just turned a blind eye to
it.
âReally, what did I do? Did I ask your crush not to speak to you? Did I forbid him from ever falling for
you? No! I didnât. But you know who did?â she hissed back, her eyes showing the anger she had
been holding for me. âYou did. You knew I liked Ryker, but you decided to ruin it for me. I donât
understand why. I was starting to like you. Boy, I was wrong about you. You are the real snake here,
Nora,â she added, folding her arms across her chest. Natalya walked up to her and stood
beside her.
âBut itâs all over now. I bet everyone knows your true colors. They might not say it out loud, but they
see the real you,â April made me aware of the secretly passing glances my way.
âThey are just afraid of your stepbrothers and stepfather. The day you lose that title, you are done,â
her threats were scary. The idea of losing my stepfatherâs support was indeed threatening.
172 Took My Place
âAs for Natalya, Iâve decided to have her move in with me. Weâll be roomies from now on,â April
cheered, clapping her hands as she delivered the news.
âThank you so much,â Natalya replied, holding Aprilâs hand and
giggling. They seemed insincere, but just imagine them living together. They would surely conspire
to disrupt my peace. All they would do is gossip about me and scheme against me.
âMaybe we could double date too,â April suggested, furrowing my brow. I didnât exactly know who
April was referring to, nor did I want to ask. But I knew whatever they were saying in front of me was
well rehearsed to provoke a reaction from me or deliver some news.
However, I kept my calm and decided to walk away from them. But April wasnât finished yet.
âAnd by the way, if you think Iâll let you date my cousin, youâre wrong. You tried to ruin my
happiness, so Iâll make sure I ruin yours in the worst way possible that youâll think twice about ever
dating anyone again,â she said, her tone serious now, with Natalya no longer smiling.
Their threats were serious, and I was certain they meant harm to me. I turned around again and
hurried away. Everything they said put me on high alert. I couldnât stay silent about these threats.
Somebody needed to know what these two were up to. Of course, Cain wouldnât care or believe
me. He wanted revenge and he took it.
âNash!â I exclaimed aloud. I donât know why, but his name popped into my mind. He was always
keen on justice, always on the side of what was right.
âMaybe he will believe me. I was determined to talk to him about April. As for Natalya, Cain would
defend her, so there was no way I could say anything about her right now without any proof.
Otherwise, I
172âTook My Place
would end up looking like the jealous stepsister who doesnât want her stepbrother to date her exâ
friend.
Throughout class, I couldnât help but notice April and Natalya sitting together, whispering and
occasionally turning their heads to laugh at me. It was hard to concentrate with so much pressure
on my heart and mind, but somehow I made it through the day.
Once the bell rang, I didnât even go back to my locker; instead, I hurried towards the exit. I wanted
to get away from these toxic people. I could still avoid Natalya when she comes home; Iâll just
confine myself to my bedroom then.
Then there was Nash, Ryker, and Silas, who wouldnât allow her to annoy me at my own home.
As I stood outside, I wondered who would come to give me a ride. I hadnât spoken to Ryker since
that day, so I didnât even know where he stood. In fact, it was odd that for the first time, he didnât try
to climb up my balcony to talk or pursue me, showing he wasnât on Cainâs side.
The fact that my mate didnât come to comfort me when my other mate betrayed me should have
been a big warning.
While I was thinking about all that, I saw Ryker pull up on his bike. Even though I was angry with
him, seeing him come to pick me up gave me a little hope in my heart. But I had to keep up the
facade of being upset with him.
âRyker!â I attempted to sound grumpy when deep down, I was relieved. to see my mate. Now that
Cain had betrayed me, I wished I had rejected him and accepted Ryker like he had always asked
from me.
âHey, why are you here? Why didnât Dad send a driver to pick me up?â I pouted, folding my arms
over my chest. I was so used to him always.
172âTook My Place
trying to chase after me that I didnât realize there was a change in his body language.
He took off his helmet and rested his arm on it in his lap. After taking a deep breath, he spoke, âIâm
not here for you. Dad did send a driver to pick you up.â
My frown deepened. âThen who are you here for?â It was starting to weigh heavily on my heart
because deep down, I could sense what was happening.
He glanced steadily behind me and then smiled. Thatâs when April rushed over to grab a helmet
from his hands.
173âBang My Ex Friend