HIGH SCHOOL - SENIOR YEAR
"Stalking Lucas Greyson again?" Angelique's familiar high voice taunted me from behind.
I closed my locker quickly and tried my best to look like I wasn't just staring at Lucas Greyson and Charlotte Ericsson yet again. I'd give anything to be best friends with Lucas. Charlotte gets hugs, gets to hold hands with him ... he even kissed her on the forehead one time. I saw it with my own two eyes.
Lucas Greyson is a very generous ... friend.
I turned around to face the girl with light brown skin and soft brown curls. She looks a lot like Charlotte from behind. They're both quite tall standing at a height of like 5ft7 and they both have legs for days.
However, Angelique's grey plated school skirt is much shorter than Charlotte's. She also favours long white socks over the short white socks that Charlotte always wears. And Angelique doesn't wear the school's navy blue blazer as much as Charlotte does.
Other than those few differences, my friend resembles Charlotte Ericsson quite a lot and from behind, they look exactly alike.
"I'm not stalking him!" I whispered screamed and shoved her into a corner. "Him and his ... friend ... we're literally in my line of vision. What was I supposed to do?"
Her head peeked out of the corner we were hiding in. She looked at the two best friends who were probably still standing behind me, looked back at me and then raised a brow as if to judge me.
"Those two are not friends. " She scoffed. "Me and you, we're friends. Me and Kyle, we're friends. However, Lucas Greyson and Charlotte Ericsson are NOT friends. They may tell everyone they're friends, but they don't act like friends."
She put two hands on my shoulders, turned me around and made me look at the two best friends.
Charlotte was now leaning against a wall. Lucas' forearm was resting against that same wall while he whispered into her ear and she had a hand placed on his chest. If he moved just a few inches closer to her, their bodies will be pressed against one another.
They're both so tall, a random thought suddenly popped in my head.
Lucas is like 6ft4 and Charlotte is most certainly at least 5ft6.
Aren't tall guys supposed to like short girls?
I'm 5ft1. I'd fit in Lucas' arms like a little doll or squishy toy. He'd probably want to lift me everytime we kissed just so he wouldn't strain his neck. I'd try my best to stand on my toes so I can reach his lips, but he would just lift me up because he wouldn't want me to struggle kissing him.
"Earth to Lauren!" She and Kyle suddenly waved their hands in my face.
When did Kyke get here?
"Please tell her guy best friends and girl best friends don't act the way those two act." Angelique pointed at Lucas and Charlotte with her eyes. "Lucas Greyson shuts down any girl who tries to flirt with him and rumour has it he pummels any guy who even looks in Charlotte's direction. That's not how best friends act."
Kyle rubbed my shoulders while looking at me with sympathetic eyes.
Kyle Henderson is shy and barely speaks infront of others, but he's a really nice guy. He's only ever been with one girl his entire life - a very extroverted girl named Amber, who lives in New York. They're complete opposites, but it seems to work for them.
Lucas is quite extroverted and I'm introverted. That kind of dynamic would work for us as well. He can be the popular jock that everyone wants to be friends with and I will be the shy and awkward girl that most people don't notice ... until he notices me.
He'll put one of his strong arms around my shoulders, brush my hair out of my face and smile at me the way he smiles at Charlotte and then kiss me infront of everyone.
That's how it always goes in the books I read.
The handsome guy that all the girls are fawning over dates the tall popular girl. Then he notices the short and awkward girl and realises what a bitch his girlfriend has been. After that, he dumps the popular girl and ends up with the girl that used to be invisible.
So why is Lucas Greyson with the tall and popular girl that everyone flocks to all the fucking time?
Why hasn't he noticed me yet?
"She's right." Kyle pinched my arm to get my attention. "You and Angelique are my best friends, but I would NEVER treat either of you like that." He was pointing at the tall girl and guy who are the most popular students in school.
Charlotte's hand moved to Lucas' hip, forcing his lower body to gently collide with hers. He was still whispering something in her ear and I swear at moments his lips were just caressing her earlobes.
Surely this is too much PDA for a private school such as ours? Where the hell are the hall monitors or the teachers? We might as well be watching a porno with how those two are going at it.
And why the hell has the bell not rung yet?
"I was making out with Donald under the bleachers." Angelique spoke while we watched what was seconds away from turning into a make out session. "Then suddenly, Lucas Greyson came charging at the guy like an angry bull. He threw a punch at him before my scream stopped him. When he looked up and noticed that it was me, the rage in his eyes vanished instantly. He thought I was Charlotte so he was going to rip Donald a new one for making out with his so-called friend."
"There's actually an unspoken rule amongst all the guys at school." James added. "No one can look at Charlotte. No one can touch her. No one can want her. She belongs to Lucas Greyson. He's punched enough guys to make it clear that she's WAY more than a friend to him."
I tightened my grip around my books until my knuckles turned white, all the while still staring at Charlotte who was now opening Lucas' locker.
Why is she opening his locker? How does she know the locker combination? Did he giver her his locker combination?
I guess friends do that. That's possible. Angelique once gave me her locker combination.
Lucas had dipped into a classroom and the soon to be prom Queen was now standing by herself while going through Lucas' locker.
"Well", I kept staring at the caramel-skinned girl, "even if they're more than friends, there's no rule saying I can't like Lucas Greyson or try to get with him. We're young. Relationships at our age don't last. Once we go to university, we'll meet new people and realise that the people we liked in Highschool aren't the people we want to spend the rest of our lives with."
"Really?" Kyle looked annoyed. "Are you saying Amber and I-"
"No." I rolled my eyes. "Don't make this about you, Kyle. I'm obviously talking about Lucas and Charlotte. They're not going to the same university. The distance will make Lucas ... explore his friendship with other people ... maybe even me." I smirked and their eyes went wide.
"No way!" Angelique almost slapped my books out of my hands. "You got in? How? It's freaking MIT and you HATE numbers and science and chemistry and -"
"My dad made some calls." I stopped her rant. "Lucas Greyson and Lauren Mitchell will be going to the same college and Charlotte Ericsson will be hundreds of miles away."
They were badgering me with questions and talking about how insane I am, but I was no longer listening to them.
They hadn't noticed, but Charlotte Ericsson was making her way to our little corner.
Her hair was tied in a high ponytail and it bounced ever so slightly with every step she took. Her uniform was crisp and clean like it always is. She was smiling ... a radiant smile that made every girl near her look at her in awe or envy ... and she was holding a piece of paper in her hand - A very familiar pink piece of paper that I know belongs to me.
"Hey guys!" She smiled confidently. "How's it going?"
"Uhm", Kyle coughed, "It's going great, Char. How about you?"
"I'm good." She still smiled. "Just trying to find the perfect dress for prom like I'm sure everyone is doing."
"Can you afford to buy a prom dress?" Angelique snickered behind me.
When Charlotte remained quiet and looked at Angelique as if she was waiting for her to say more, Angelique quickly filled the rest of the awkward silence between the four of us.
"I just mean that you're a scholarship student." Angelique added without the previous snarkiness. "And we all know of your home situation, so-"
"What home situation are you talking about, Angelique?" Charlotte asked as if she was genuinely confused.
The fact that you're a fostercare kid going to school with the richest kids in this country. You shouldn't even be able to afford to have a clean uniform, let alone have enough money to buy a prom dress.
We all thought it, but no one would actually say it out loud, so Angelique cleared her throat and chose to stare at her feet.
"Anyway", her smile returned, "Lauren, I was wondering if I could speak to you privately?"
"Anything you have to say infront of her, you can say infront of us, Char." Kyle took a step closer to me. He and Angelique were standing behind me and just knowing that I wasn't standing alone right now, gave me strength to not yank Charlotte's hair out of her scalp.
I honestly don't care that she's the smartest, the prettiest, the kindest, the most hard-working or whatever else people claim she is. She can have all the fame and money in the world. I just want her to give my best friend back to me.
I want Lucas to look at me the way he looks at her. I want him to put a hand on my hip the way he does with her. I want him to punch guys who try to ask me out. I want him to give me his locker combination. I want him to pin my body against a wall while whispering things in my ear.
I just want him. She can have everything else. I just want her to give him back to me.
She looked at me and her eyes asked me whether I truly did not want to speak to her in private.
I glared at her and stood my ground.
I'm not going anywhere with her.
"Okay then." She pursed her lips awkwardly. "Lauren, I came to return this letter to you. You asked Lucas to be your date to prom, but he won't even know about it if you do it in a letter. He had more than fifty letters in his locker. He threw all those letters away without reading a single one, but I saved this one so I could come talk to you."
She read my letter. She read my fucking letter.
This can't be happening.
She knows I like him. I poured my heart out in that letter. I told him about how he and I met and how he cast me aside when Charlotte entered the picture. I told him how much it hurt me when I became invisible to him and how I hope that prom can be a fresh start for us.
We'd be in the same university soon ... without Charlotte. I told him this would be a way for us to start our friendship anew and let it blossom as we became adults together.
That letter wasn't just me asking him to be my prom date. It was a letter confessing every feeling I've hidden from him since I was seven years old. It was a letter asking him to give us a chance.
And she read it.
"I only read the first paragraph!" Her eyes suddenly filled with pity. "After that, I put it down because I could tell that it's a very personal letter."
I swallowed the heavy tears in my throat. I just want this moment to end.
"Forest and I already decided we're going to prom together." She smiled sadly. "But I think you should ask him ... for old time's sake. I think you two would really enjoy going together. That's why I came here. He was going to throw this letter away, but I stopped him. Ask him in person, Lauren. Tell him everything in person. He'll say yes.You'll see."
Please, earth, open up now and let a bolder fall on me because this is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me. I want to die.
She did this on purpose.
She read that letter and figured she'd throw it away before Lucas could see it. Then she decided to come and embarass me by using euphemisms to ensure I know she read that whole damn letter. And now she's making up lies about Lucas. She knows how I feel and yet ... she still just can't let him fucking go.
I looked at Kyle and Angelique's faces.
They were dying of second hand embarrassment.
How will I ever face them again after this?
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" More and more tears started forming in my eyes. "You read something that was put in someone else's locker and then you decided to use that letter against me instead of giving it to the person it was intended for!"
People were staring at me as I screamed at her, but fuck it. I don't care. If she's going to humiliate me, then I'll do the same thing to her.
"Lauren, it's not like that." She said with a graceful calmness that I'm sure made me look like a psycho.
"I already explained why I came to talk to you." She said calmly. "I did not come here to embarass you or hurt you and I'm sorry if that's what I did. I really am. I just don't want your words to go unspoken because I promise you, Forest doesn't read letters slipped into his locker ... unless those letters come from me. And he knows what letters that come from me look like."
Every ounce of blood I had in my body rushed to my face. Everyone was looking at us. They were even gathering around us.
They heard her.
Why is she doing this to me? What the hell did I ever do to her?
She turned to leave as if nothing happened, but I wasn't going to let her get away with this.
"You just threatened me to stay away from Lucas Greyson!" I said as loud as I could. "I should expect behaviour like this from a fucking foster kid!"
That stopped her.
I watched her slump her shoulders and turn around to face me.
"Lucas Greyson will choose this foster kid over you every single time, Lauren." She sneered and everyone gasped in shock.
I parted my lips to speak, but nothing came out.
Lucas Greyson will choose this foster kid over you every single time, Lauren. Lucas Greyson will choose this foster kid over you every single time, Lauren.
Those words kept ringing in my ears.
She's wrong. I know she's wrong ... but what if she's right?
The crowd grew larger and the murmurs were growing louder.
Someone started pushing people away trying to reach me and Charlotte.
Lucas.
He hardly had to touch anyone. Everyone made way for him without him uttering a word.
Out of the crowd emerged a tall man with a body sculpted from marble, wearing long grey pants, a crisp clean buttoned up white shirt and a navy blue blazer. His dark blonde hair was in a side-part haircut, cut clean on the sides and thick blonde waves slicked back at the top with one curly strand of hair even falling down, hanging on the side of his eye.
"What's going on?" He looked at me and then at Charlotte.
His voice was cold and calm and his eyes were so much colder than the tone of his voice. His eyes weren't the eyes of someone who genuinely wanted to know what was going on. He was looking at me like he would kill me if I even thought of hurting his precious friend.
"Nothing." Charlotte looked up at him and put a hand on his chest. "Let's go to class. The bell just rang."
Cold dark green eyes looked at me and my friends. There was no need for him to say anything. His eyes alone held enough anger and unspoken threats for everyone to understand that this matter was settled.
Lucas Greyson to the rescue.
He looked her over in the middle of the crowd, put his hand on her neck and then he kissed her forehead. Right in the middle of the crowd. Right infront of everyone ... he kissed her forehead.
He was reminding everyone that messing with Charlotte Ericsson means messing with him, and no one is stupid enough to mess with him.
The crowd dispersed in taunting murmurs directed at me while the two best friends walked away.
Between the scattering students, I saw Charlotte handing a pink letter to Lucas, but he didn't even open it. He tore it in half and threw the crumpled pink paper in a bin.
"She pushed me!" I threw my books on the floor. "You guys saw that, right? She threatened me to stay away from Lucas and then pushed me. My dad will fucking kill her! She's dead!"
"Lauren", Angelique looked at Kyle and then at me, "she didn't even touch you. I think you're just shaken up. Let's skip class. I'm craving caviar and cream fraiche. My treat."
Her arm was already locked in mine and she and Kyle were walking me to who knows where.
I couldn't lift my head.
This is the worst day of my life.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Milk was suddenly spilled on my white socks and black school shoes.
Who the hell is going around carrying milk?
A girl with dark brown skin and long silky black hair was suddenly on the floor picking up a small milk cart and wiping away spilled milk with a bunch of serviettes.
Angelique got more milk spilled on her, but some of it still landed on me.
"I'm running late and I'm the world's biggest clutz!" The girl inspected our uniform, looking for any damage on it.
"You did that on purpose." Tears continued streaming down my face. "You think just because you saw Charlotte shove me against a locker that you can throw your drink on me? Well, you picked the wrong person!" I screamed at her. "You're going to fucking pay for this! You're all going to pay for this!"