A/N: Wow! I'm overwhelmed with the behind-the-scenes response this story has got! Thank you to everyone who put this on alert/favourites, the emails telling me this make my day! SPECIAL thank you to the lovely reviewers!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Absolutely nothing. Zero. Except for unrecognizable characters but apart from that...nothing!
I stared at my weary reflection in the wardrobe mirror; Sleep deprived and puffy-eyed as a result of an uneasy sleep with a cocktail of bizarre dreams such as Kira wearing a hideous wedding dress and Aiden ending every conversation with "here's johnny!". It didn't even surprise me in the slightest if I was foreseeing the future.
I glimpsed at my timetable taped onto the mirror and groaned loudly when I saw geometry first period. I huffed irritably and grabbed my belongings before heading down to class.
Stumbling through the door I noticed Kira and Paulina already seated in the front row gossiping about someone as usual.
"Hey Adele," Kira's patronizing voice rang throughout the room,"Saved you a seat." I glared at her as she sat perfectly poised with an annoying smile plastered across her plastic features.
"Sure you did." I mumbled and reluctantly took my place next to her. As I sat down I knew I was in for an hour of judgemental looks and obnoxious tips on how to solve every equation. This was the same every geometry class; Jenna chose not to take the subject this semester so left me alone. With Snider. And to a lesser extent Paulina who I actually found extremely easy to ignore. Kira made it harder for me to pretend she didn't exist since I received a mouth-full of her hair every five minutes as she roughly leaned past me to check my work.
"God Adele," She would snap bitterly,"I explained this last night, do you even listen to me?!" To which I would give no response and happily stay silent as she fussed about but eventually corrected my work. It worked both ways really since it allowed Kira the chance to rub her intelligence in my face while I knew I could hand in a guaranteed A+ to Mrs Makall. I eased my conscience by telling myself that this course was only for extra credit so didn't need my full attention but I knew I was giving myself the benefit of the doubt. I suck at geometry so out of pure desperation take all the help I can get.
"Miss Mizzati, the Provost wants to see you in his office. Class is almost over so take your things with you." Mrs Makall's throaty voice drawled as all eyes fell on me. The woman never wasted any time getting rid of me. There was actually another 45 minutes of the 2 hour geometry class but I was more than happy to oblige. I frowned at the awkward silence that had swept over the room and nodded before making my way towards the exit, swiftly handing in my work. The low murmuring of students began once again as I stepped outside the classroom. I sighed calmly but my relief was short lived when I noticed Garwin waltzing over to me. I went to turn around and walk the other way but reminded myself of the location of the Provost's office.
"Not now." I said hurriedly as I went to walk straight past him.
Reid grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him,"Let's take a walk." He flashed me a charming smile and I stared at him, suspicion mounting quickly. When I narrowed my eyes at him he smirked casually.
I pursed my lips disapprovingly,"Fake notes from Higgins aren't very nice." I said lazily as I hitched my bag further over my shoulder, the movement causing Reid to let go of my wrist.
He shrugged, saying "I felt like talking now."
"Couldn't wait till lunch?" I asked stubbornly. I didn't even want to know what he was doing out of class.
"Feel free to endure another hour of geometry." He said serenely as he gestured towards Makall's class. I exhaled impatiently and began walking in a vague direction that would eventually lead to my dorm room somehow.
"There's also the plus of not being seen talking together in public, I suppose." I murmured more to myself than to the irritating blonde by my side.
"Still a no then?" Reid cut in suddenly, our little chat from last night flooding back to me.
"It's a...maybe." I replied briskly as I stepped into the private courtyard, my mind still on the fact that I was technically ditching class.
"One step closer then aren't we?" He said smirking arrogantly. I "hmm'd" absentmindedly and thought back to last night when I had been hellbent on tracking Garwin down and bombarding him with questions about this little scheme of his. Sleeping on it, however uneasy that sleep was, had seemingly reminded me that meddling in my best friend's love-life was less than appealing. Even if Aiden was an absolute bastard.
"Let's go this way." Reid's voice brought me out of my reverie as he turned sharply and headed in the direction of the boys dorm. I resisted for a few moments, lingering on the spot before realizing that any longer and I would probably be seen. He looked over his shoulder briefly and kept walking.
"We'll take the back route." He continued lightly, my urge to resist getting stronger with every word. However, the sound of a door closing and the low grumble of male voices on the other side of the courtyard propelled me towards Reid who shot me a sideways glance, a small smile playing on his lips.
We walked in silence for about five minutes before the boys dorm building loomed over us. From the side of course. True to his word Reid had taken me on the pleasant trip through the "back route" which basically just involved extra potholes and a lot of mud.
"Thanks for that." I mumbled as I studied the state of my shoes. Reid waved dismissively as he led me round another corner.
"A bit of warning never goes astray." I snapped under my breath as I regained my balance after stumbling on my third pothole. I gasped loudly when I felt as if I had hit a brick wall only to realise it was my guide's back a few blurry seconds later.
"What the fu-" My voice came to a dead stop as Reid stepped aside. About a hundred metres in front of us a couple were making out up against the wall. My first reaction was to laugh as I hid around the corner and snuck in a few glances but instead I found myself frowning when I saw a pair of horrible black rimmed glasses. A second later these glasses were thrown aside by an elegant hand as the make-out session heated up. I glared at Reid and he just smirked back at me all smug with himself.
"Christ sakes get over yourself!" I hissed through gritted teeth, my frustration aimed more at what was infront of me than Reid.
My throat felt dry as I turned my attention back to the couple. I tried reasoning with myself. It wasn't impossible that someone else owned a pair of those disgusting spectacles. It was just extremely worrying that another human being found them fashionable. It also wasn't impossible that Jenna was now a brunette.
Skipping class.
And five inches taller.
I felt my jaw clench as I turned around to face Reid who was leaning up against the wall lazily.
"I knew it." I mumbled to myself as I tried to ignore Garwin's impatient expression at my revelation.
"Bit slow off the mark, aren't we?" He said harshly as I shot him an icy glare. A futile effort on my behalf; it was water off a ducks back when it came to Reid Garwin. I drowned in my thoughts as he led me off in the opposite direction back towards the main school. I didn't even care if we were seen at this point.
"That," he continued lightly jerking his thumb behind him,"is old news." This simple statement made my stomach twist uncomfortably. How long had this been going on?! Long enough for Reid to know where and when to take me to witness it that's for sure. My blood was literally beyond boiling point by now.
"Jenna will be crushed..." I trailed off quietly as we reached the main steps.
"She's better off without that asshole." Reid countered quickly and I glanced at him surprised.
"Sounds like you actually care." I sniped back and he smirked.
"I care. Just not for who you're suggesting." He drawled lazily.
"For your boyfriend, yeah I get it." I said swiftly my mind still focused on Jenna's future reaction. I didn't even know when that reaction would be. If I told her she would think I was lying. I didn't want her to get hurt but she had to know about this! Eventually. I felt like I had no out in this situation. The best friend should tell the best friend about her cheating boyfriend. But the latter best friend wouldn't believe the former because of the hatred she had for the boyfriend...
I shook my head as I felt a migraine coming on. I frowned when I realised that my only way out might be Reid's "favour". I should have smothered myself with the pillow when I had the chance.
"You know, it really doesn't take you long to revert back to being a bitch." Reid's annoying voice broke my train of thought.
"Would you shut up?! I'm trying to think..." I said as I made my way up the steps while he stayed behind. I realised an agreement had been reached indirectly. One that would irritate the absolute crap out of me but I found myself voluntarily going along with anyway. Surely Garwin of all people wouldn't spend too much time thinking about anyone other than himself so how intricate could his scheming be?!
Humiliate Aiden. Make Jenna happy. That wasn't too hard. I tried to convince myself that the bits in between weren't important.
"We'll talk later," Reid said swiftly as he walked away,"In private of course, your highness." He said shortly obviously noticing me stop dead in my tracks at the thought of us seen talking together in public. One has to keep up appearances. Our animosity towards each other wasn't exactly unknown to the rest of the student body.
I sighed and looked back before entering the front hall. Even the way he walked annoyed the hell out of me. All arrogant and swaggerish. Ugh!
Co-operating with Reid Garwin; that would be the hard part.
I spent the lunch hour in the courtyard hunched over a table with my head in my hands, trying to drown out the horrible sound that was Aiden. Every time he spoke I felt like punching him in the face. Instead I settled with curling my fist into a ball and squeezing hard for a few moments before letting go. It seemed to do the trick.
"What's wrong with your hand?" Aaron piped up as I kept my head down.
"Hockey injury." I mumbled and could feel Jenna's quizzical look on the back of my head. There was a rustling silence for a bit before Aiden spoke again.
"Babe, I'm going to head back to the dorms for a while." He said as he gave Jenna a quick kiss on the cheek. If only she knew where those disgusting lips had been a few hours ago!
"Well, I'm finished here so I'll join you." Jenna said sweetly as she made a move to get up and leave.
"No, no," Aiden cut in, pushing her back into her seat a bit too roughly,"You stay with Adele. I'm sure she could use the company." I lifted my head then and glared at him before glancing at Jenna who was looking at me questioningly. This was awkward...
"Yeah," I started a little too abruptly,"Don't leave me with them." I half-teased while gesturing to Aaron in particular because he was annoying me the most at that moment. Jenna gave a brief smile and seemed satisfied enough with my request. My gaze followed Aiden as he left and headed in the direction of the boy's dorm. My hatred for the boy skyrocketed to new heights.
"I'm gonna get a soda, you want one?" Jenna asked and I shook my head unenthusiastically. I watched her make her way towards the vending machine and became slightly more interested when I noticed her and Tyler Simms bump into eachother carelessly. What was even more interesting was the fact that only brisk apologies were exchanged; no quaint, shy "oh my god are you okay" from him and absolutely no concern from her. I pressed my lips into a thin line impatiently and waited until Tyler had settled in his seat on the other side of the courtyard.
I made my way towards him, ignoring the curious glances from Aaron and the others. Reid wasn't with him so talking in public wasn't even a concern. Caleb was though but he was busy with Sarah.
"Hey." I said simply as I slid in beside Tyler who gave me a surprised look.
"Hey...Adele. How you doing?" He stuttered rather awkwardly. So softly spoken. Not like Aiden. Or Reid for that matter
I exchanged quick hello's with Caleb and Sarah who were cordial enough to just accept the fact that I was randomly at their table for the first time since ever.
"So Ty, been up to much lately?" I asked politely, deciding to start off with a bit of small talk first.
"Just school I guess," he replied shooting a nervous glance at Caleb and Sarah who were getting up to leave,"How about you?"
I shrugged indifferently,"School stuff. Hockey, trying to eliminate Aiden from existence, you know the usual." I said smoothly hoping to get a reaction out of the last said hobby of mine. I frowned when all I received was a quiet chuckle. No blush, no...expected reaction. I looked up quickly when I saw Reid heading towards us in my peripheral vision.
"See you later." I said as I hurriedly removed myself from the table.
"Yeah...see you around." I heard Tyler's faded voice in the background. I walked towards Reid, smiling serenely. At the same time we both slowed down and lingered on the spot.
"Starting without me?" He asked curiously.
"You failed to mention the fact your boyfriend seems to have no idea of Jenna's existence." I said through gritted teeth as I kept the fake smile on my features. Reid spoke in the same way except of course, true to form, his was more of a smirk.
"Ty's good at hiding his feelings." He said as I made a "psssh" sound through my teeth.
"Right," I replied sarcastically,"If your telling the truth and Tyler does like Jenna then I think he's out of luck. She doesn't even acknowledge him."
"Well that's where you come in." He said patronizingly,"If you just do what I say then-"
"No thanks," I interrupted quickly,"If you want this to work then we have to do it my way." I said stubbornly refusing to inflate his ego more if that was even possible. He smirked and raised his eyebrow at me.
I sighed impatiently,"Look, this isn't a competition. We're on the same side here. No games." I said becoming slightly angered by the fact that I sounded as though I was trying to convince myself at the same time.
"And it'll stay that way if you stop being so stubborn." He said lightly ignoring my rising temper. We were openly arguing now, quietly but still enough to earn some curious stares. I folded my arms and stared at him before he leaned into me.
"I could do this easily without you." Reid said and chuckled quietly when I let out a frustrated groan.
"Why don't you then?!" I snapped irritably, my anger in full swing now. He clapped his hands together and gave a lazy grin before walking away.
"Where would be the fun in that?" He yelled without turning back as he strode towards the table where a confused Tyler sat alone.
A/N: Ooo la la let the games begin! Review..?! I would love to know what you guys think! Merry Christmas everyone!