Chapter Twenty-One

Amaryllis Lexington

****

After what felt like ten hours of travelling, just kidding we just hit the two hour mark, the teacher declared a short break. The tour bus parked in front of a nice huge mall and I could feel my food hormones raging.

"Ah, finally. I can feed the raging monster in my belly." I said to myself, but unfortunately it was a little too loud and it was heard by an unwanted seat partner.

"Shouldn't you cut down on the food? You look like you have a second chin coming up." Ignoring him is literally the best way to avoid jumping him again, so that's exactly what I did. I walked past him without even looking backwards.

When I was finally out of the bus, I raised my hands to inhale the sweet smell of fresh air. A lot of people were out taking pictures of the scenery and snapping with their friends. As though the universe wanted to shove my lack of company in my face, I caught the sight of Maya and her friends laughing about something and taking pictures.

Kayla's eyes caught mine and she gave me a sad smile. I almost felt bad for her because I knew she had nothing against me but was being forced to not talk to me, but I couldn't. I doubt I would ever do that to a person. Rather, I'll talk some sense into my friend and have her realize that you can't suddenly become enemies with your sister because she hugged someone who's not your boyfriend.

I decided to ignore them and get myself some food. I walked into the store and was momentarily confused on where to head to, then I saw some people coming from a direction carrying take-out bags, so I went in that direction, and voila, a very nice restaurant!

I walked in and saw the boys seated round a table, not too far from the entrance. How did they get here so fast? I was tempted to walk towards them but I decided to sit alone. They didn't invite me anyways, and Carlson might tease me to death about not being able to stay away from him.

I looked away from them and walked towards an empty seat at the far end of the restaurant. I was just about to take my seat and have a nice chat with my imaginary friends when someone tapped me from behind. I turned to find David smiling like a good person. Imagine!

"Hey, why don't you sit with us? I'm sure you will be bored out of your mind if you sit alone." David invited and I all but jumped at the offer. You saved meeeeeeeee, sweet Daveyyy!

"That doesn't mean we are friends. I still don't like you." He rewarded my snarky comment with a wink. It's like everything sounds like a perverted statement to this young man and I just couldn't understand what went wrong during the time of his birth, that caused him to turn out like this.

"So, have you any friends who are as cute as you? I would have gone for you but I have a reason to believe you already have eyes for someone." I halted in my tracks. Not because I was alarmed that he just tried to make a pass at me, although I was, but because he just implied that I liked someone.

"Pray tell who that non existent someone would be." He shrugged. Unfortunately, we had gotten to the table and he quickly jumped into a conversation with his friends.

I wasn't a fool. I knew who exactly he meant by that someone and the fact that I had done some things or acted some way around Hawthorne that could be translated into having eyes for him made me want to jump off a cliff and end my life.

I had eyes for him alright, but they weren't good ones. They were evil eyes. Eyes that wanted to strip him bare of his soul and watch him burn in the deepest pit of hell.

"So I see you couldn't stay away for long, eh?" I CALLED IT! Wonder why he could whisper into my ears? Because we're sitting side by side. Wonder why we're sitting side by side? Because that's the only free space. But then, if we're in the mood of honesty, I would have taken the seat beside him even if there was another empty space.

Does that mean I like like him? No. It just means I find him to be an interesting company. That's all. Rather than respond to him yet again, I raised my hand to beckon to the waitress.

"Ignoring me? Come on, Cielita, you know I didn't mean what I said about the second chin thing. I was just pulling your legs." He whispered again, his breath fanning my face in a way I found extremely uncomfortable and exciting. What? I'm a normal teenager with the right amount of hormones. Doesn't mean I like him.

"I'm not mad about that."

"Then what are you mad about? Tell me and I'll fix it." I was quite surprised to find that there was no playful or mocking undertone in his voice. He sounded as honest as he looked, and it made my brain go all 'awww.' Don't be swayed, Amari. You have to stand strong so you don't fall into the cliché category of girls who fall for their enemies.

"Your existence. So, how will you fix it? Are you going to jump off a cliff or slice your throat? Whichever route you decide to take, I'll help you with it." The playful glint that appeared in his eyes made me feel as though I had just dug a hole for myself.

"I have a less painful way, Amaryllis." His gaze darkened and he moved closer to me, our faces barely an inch apart. I wanted to check if the others had noticed this extremely weird sight, but moving was almost impossible at this point.

"W..What do you mean?" The great Amaryllis Lexington just stuttered! Way to go, girl. Amaryllis Burton would be so embarrassed to be affiliated with you. Stuttering isn't for alpha females! We stand in the way of our raging hormones and uncontrollable heartbeat, and we take charge of the situation. We don't stutter

But this is Carlson Hawthorne. Girl, I would gladly become a stammerer for him. I didn't want to believe my subconscious uttered those words.

"I've heard there's something called the kiss of death. When a soulless witch kisses a man, she sucks in his soul and feeds on it till he dies. You should be able to help with that." The normal humane reaction would be to get mad that he referred to me as a witch, instead, I felt my face growing hot and I could feel my heart in my throat. God, please help me. Do something before he somehow manages to hear how fast my heart is beating and decides to use it against me forever.

"Get a room, guys!" We heard and luckily, Carlson pulled away. I knew it wasn't God who said that, but he must have nudged Lee Han to speak up. Thank you, Jesus. I promise to save up my lunch money to pay a huge offering on Sunday. You've been very kind!

Fortunately, before anyone could question us on what happened and why we assumed that weird position, the waitress came over. Guess she took her time to save me from looking at these familiar strangers and explaining something I had no explanation for.

"Hi. I'm Ginger and I'll be taking your orders." Ginger? Her parents be doing the most, really. I guess she was named that because of her hair colour. It was a beautiful ginger shade.

"Hey, Ginger. My name's Ale and I believe we make a perfect combo." David said and everyone erupted into laughter. It took me a minute to get it, but when it finally sunk in, I couldn't stop laughing. What a smart manwhore. The lady looked flustered and her face was almost as red as her hair. What if she gets destabilized mentally and mixes up out orders? I'm far too hungry to go through the rigorous process of fixing mistakes caused by David's lack of self control and restraint.

"Please, pay him no attention. We would like to order now, thank you." I said, breaking the awkward eye contact between them. Actually, it was awkward on her end but David was pulling it off like am expert. I couldn't help but wonder how many girls had fallen prey. For a minute, my mind thought of the possibility of Carlson being like that and I had to admit, I would love to witness the butthead trying to woo a lady.

Then, you would go home to pick the pieces of your broken heart. Yeah, I'm just gonna ignore the fact that I have a subconscious and continue like nothing is wrong with me.

We ordered and in less than ten minutes, I was face to face with a monstrous burger. It had everything you could ever want in it. It had about a million layers of goodness and I smiled, inhaling the sweet smell with my eyes closed.

"Are you seeing my face in that burger?" One would have thought it was Carlson who said it, but fortunately/unfortunately, it was David. Fortunately because my face could have flamed up, and unfortunately because yuck!

"If I was seeing your face, I would have cut into it with a knife already." I said and everyone laughed.

"That's my girl." Carlson said and I was grateful I hadn't started eating yet or I would have choked, hundred percent. I knew he didn't mean it in same context which my brain was interpreting it, but it didn't stop me from feeling way too good. I had to admit I loved the sound of that. I would have thought his friends would react and tease him about it, instead they just acted like he mentioned the weather. I guess he says it to a lot of girls and it really doesn't hold any sort of meaning.

Here's a dustpan, Riley. Pick up the pieces of your broken heart. It's official. I hate my subconscious.

Twenty minutes later, we all left the restaurant and headed for the tour bus. We were halfway there when someone interrupted our chatter. I turned to find a blonde beauty staring at me, a lazy smile on his face. He looked like someone that would chatter your heart and you would come back for more.

"mamamia" I muttered under breath and I heard Carlson clear his throat. I guess I was a little too loud.

"Sorry to hold you guys up. I would love to have a minute with you." Oh. My. God. He was staring at me! He wants a minute with me! Mama, I made it!

I was about to shoo the guys off so I could have a minute (and definitely more) with this candy of a boy but Carlson, being the killjoy that he is, held me back with his hand. Come on, now!

"That won't be possible. She's with us and we don't have the time to stay back for chit-chats." Ouuuuu. Never in my wildest dreams would I think someone would use a British accent to fight for me. I've really lived a full life!

"What are you, man? Her dad? Her boyfriend?"

"Exactly. I am her boyfriend and I would love if you could stay away from my girlfriend." I felt like I had died, gone to heaven, and transformed into a fairy because I could feel myself floating, with little specks of stars dancing around me. Little wonder everyone wants to get into a relationship these days. This is what I've been missing? Come on, Amari!

"I don't think so, man. She looks surprised." My eyes widened at Candy's observation and I quickly masked my expression. How do people act with their boyfriends? What am I supposed to do now?

"We've been dating for a long time. We practically started from the womb. Soulmate-ish" I grinned, clinging to his arm in a way that was not awkard at all. Candy didn't seem to buy my lie because what he said next literally turned my world upside down.

"Let's do this the old fashioned way then. Kiss your girlfriend then."

Carlson stared at him for a second and his face magically morphed into the prettiest grin I had ever seen. This guy was like candy to my eyes, alright, but Carlson? He looks like a freaking candy store!

"Come on, man. Are we in the stone ages? If you need physical action and sucking of faces before you can believe that this gorgeous lady right here is mine, then maybe you aren't cut out for love. Maybe you are just driven by your southern region." The guy looked totally stunned and I gave a low whistle. No one told my sweet little candy before he walked away from us. He would need some time to heal.

"Thanks a lot for chasing a potential husband." I teased him and he gave me a dirty look.

"I'm your standard for husband material, babe. Never forget that. Every other guy automatically falls short." as if calling me babe wasn't enough to wreck havoc in brain, he took a step closer to me till we were face to face, just like we were earlier.

"All you need is me. But sadly, you're not my type."

"You guys really need to stop and get a room. I don't want to see this anymore." Lee Han cried out and I practically jumped away from him, missing my steps and falling to the floor gracefully.

"Falling so soon, Cielita?"

---------------

I know I promised us two updates a week, but this week has been a busy one. I'll upload another chapter by tomorrow or next tomorrow. I cross my heart.

Love you guys!!!