Chap. 3 : Bad Day
I was late for school!! NO!! THE HORROR!! I had Chemistry with my seniors for the first period. SENIORS. And not just any class of seniors, but Ivanov's class. Argh, why do they always place the subjects I took with the upper classmen –not really though- in HIS class?? Anyway, as I busted into the classroom, everyone looked at me. I swore I saw a glint of taunt in his eyes. I told myself to focus on the teacher. Focus… Focus… Deep breath…
" I'm sorry I'm late," I apologized.
" Yes, indeed you are." The teacher checked his watch as his eyes widened, before turning back normal, " Very late as a matter a fact." He looked at me. I smiled sheepishly. " I'll let you off this time, Ms. Olenska."
I bowed before walking towards my seat. I sat down, only to notice Ivanov sniggering with glee. I gritted my teeth before taking out my textbooks, sending him a glare. I should really leave a will soon, I'll die of high blood pressure if this goes on.
-
Class ended soon. I probably felt so because I was late for half an hour. Note to self, never party until late night again. As I walked out of the class, I bumped my rotten enemy. He grinned. I frowned. We both went separate ways.
-
Maxine offered to drive me home and treat me to lunch, which was very sweet of her. We bumped into each other –why do I keep bumping into people lately??- In the locker room before the last period of school.
(Flashback)
" Hi Lizzie!" she greeted cheerfully as I smiled.
" Hello."
" Say, are you free after school?" she asked.
" Sure, what's up?"
" Nothing, how about having lunch with us later?"
" Err… okay. Sorry to trouble you guys." I apologized.
" It's okay. I'll drive you home after school." She grinned. " See you in the car park!"
(End of flashback)
I headed to the car park. I remembered Maxine's car was a dark blue convertible. As soon as I spotted my prey, I bounced over to it. Disappointment washed over my whole body when I saw what laid in front of my eyes. Asher was sitting in the front seat, Maxine was preparing to drive, Max and Mariam were at the back and finally, I came to eye contact with Tala Ivanov.
' Ahh…' I thought as I sat beside Mariam. No way was I gonna sit beside my dead-arch enemy.
-
After lunch –lunch was boring, nothing much to talk about-, Maxine drove me home, as promised. She dropped Asher home first, then Max, along with Mariam who was having a sleepover at Max's. All left was Maxine herself, me, and Ivanov. Oh gawd, the horror! Soon, she stopped at a convenience store.
" I'll go get something for a while." She smiled before getting out of the car, leaving the both of us in awkward silence.
I shifted uneasily in my position, trying to keep as far away as possible from him. I gulped. This was the first time I felt this… uncomfortable. I stole a glance at him. He was looking out of the window, his chin rested on his palm. His eyes were solemn, his face looked as if it had been carved instead of it being natural. Even though he was far away from reality, he seemed to be enjoying the silence. The beauty of the scene was indescribable. I failed miserably to suppress a smile.
" What?" He looked at me in a strange way.
I blinked. Oh my god, I actually thought something nice about him! Oh shit… Something's gonna happen today.
" Nothing," I murmured. " I saw something outside the car."
Maxine came in.
-
As soon as I got home, the phone rang. I threw my bag aside as I rushed to pick it up.
" Hi Lizzie!!" Hilary's excited voice greeted at the end of the line.
" May I inquire how the hell did you get my number?" I asked warily.
" Simple, I asked." She giggled hysterically. I sighed.
" So… what brings you calling on such a bright, fine day?"
" Oh nothing, we were thinking of crashing Max and Mariam's sleepover, and we were wondering if you would join us." Hmmm… suddenly I was wrapped into so many activities of the gang. And it was barely a week I met them.
" No thanks."
" Oh c'mon, it'll be fun!" Hilary urged.
" Who's present??" I asked.
" Err, Tyson, me, Kai, Lei, Asher, Maxine and Tala." She babbled off. She sounded a bit sly when she said Ivanov's name, but I wasn't really sure. Figures… Oh well, if that's the case…
" Sorry. I'm a bit busy tonight." I turned down the offer. My sixth sense told me to avoid the jackass as much as possible, even though the gate-crashing would be really fun.
" Oh," she sounded disappointed.
" Perhaps next time." I comforted.
" Yeah. He'll be disappointed." He sighed.
" 'He'?"
" Nothing. See you in school tomorrow." Hilary hung up before I could ask anymore questions. I cursed silently.
No one was home, and that means More. Peace. For. Me.
Yay.
-
A week since I moved to Japan. It seemed as if encounters with my damned, freaking enemy were a daily routine. There was no rest day. Every time I saw him, he'll smirk; I'll frown, and we'll walk different ways. I wonder what will happen if I smiled in response… But nah, that'll never happen. I don't greet jerks like him with smiles. Who will?
" How was yesterday?" I asked Lei as she grinned.
" Marvelous. Too bad you missed out." She sighed.
I shrugged as Ivanov walked pass me again. He seemed stress. When he saw me, he didn't grin like always, instead, he just… smiled.
I felt an urge to smile back, but I forced myself to look away and continue to walk. My steps slowed down as I came to a halt. My hands raised to cover my mouth unconsciously. I almost smiled… I actually almost smiled to someone like him! Goddamn it… I'm screwed…
-
I locked myself in my room for the rest of the day, thinking about my actions and his earlier this morning. What did it mean? I couldn't figure it out. I rested my forehead on my hands, sighing. I wanted a peaceful, simple life, not a hectic one. I just moved in and things keep happening… Let alone one month later.
" Lizzie!!" Great, mum just came home with her fantastic mood…
I rushed downstairs, only to find her drunk, again. Mum was working as a bartender nearby. It seems like she got off early today. But no matter… She'll be sleeping anyway.
" Yeah?" I sighed, supporting her as I helped her climb up the stairs. Geez, she was only 34 years old and she's tired like an old hag.
" I need rest, so don't bother me. Mark and I are going out later so cook Lily some dinner."
SLAM!
I growled silently in frustration. Lily this, Lily that… For some reasons, I felt inferior to my sister, even though I shouldn't. My grades were better than hers, I knew technical skills better than hers. Of all things that I had, Lily's only specialty was that she was much more sociable. But social skills weren't important, or so I thought. To get on with life grades and daily life skills were more important than others. Communication would just create fights and problems, like how politicians do. The first word that came into my mind was the dreadful word I hated.
Jealousy.
Yes, I was probably jealous about the inferiority complex. But then again, this was justice. Perhaps I just wanted everyone to notice me a little bit more.
-
Finally, the first day of work came. I was bubbling with excitement for the whole day. It seemed so long since I stepped into a shop and served customers. Thinking of it just made me more excited.
After school, I went –practically bounced- to the café as promised. Penelope handed me a pair of jeans and a white shirt with the shop's logo on it.
" Here's your uniform. I think it suits your size. And your rollerblades are in a box beside the counter. Have fun!" she grinned.
No wonder she asked could I skate during our little interview…
-
I was enjoying this more and more as the time passed. Even though balancing on the skates were quite hard since it's been a long time since I touched my skates –they've probably been thrown away-, I still managed. At the end of the day, Penelope gave me an approving smile as I went home happily.
-
The aching of my legs' muscles woke me up. I groaned as I massaged them, muttering curses under my breath. It had been a long time since I did such excessive exercise. I sighed. Life seemed so easy, but in fact, it just wasn't so. My feet were cramped and aching for the entire, freaking day. I tried walking normally but sadly, it didn't work out as smoothly as I thought it would be.
-
In school, we had another unexpected transfer student. Well, two actually. One of them was in our class. His name was Kenny, I think… Anyway, he sat beside me, which was unusual as he was short. He had brown hair with his bangs covering his eyes. His round glasses reflected the sunlight that shone from the windows. Interesting…
" H-Hello." He smiled nervously.
My lips twitched into a smile.
" Hi."
And we never muttered any single word to each other for the rest of the day.
-
Another stupid thing happened today… I met the new girl called 'Denise' during Chemistry. Surprisingly, she was in Kai's class. My jaw dropped slightly when I saw her as I turned in the classroom with her. She was tall, tanned, slim and had C-cup boobs –and a large ass I assume-, the ideal lady for every man's dream girl. She scanned the classroom before rushing towards my seat, sitting down. Immediately, she engaged into a conversation with Ivanov and Ray. I didn't see Kai anywhere near them.
Suddenly, I noticed the Russian staring at me. Beside him was an empty seat. I wondered if that was a seat for me… His head nodded so swiftly that I almost missed. Hurriedly, I scrambled there.
" Thanks." I sighed.
" Sorry about your seat." He mumbled.
" Oh, it's okay. Wait, you TALK!!" Kai sighed.
" Duh." I forgot, Lei doesn't date mutes.
" Why didn't you sit with them??" I asked curiously, ignoring his last comment.
" Don't like it."
" You're a racist??"
" No." He shot me a weird look. " I can't sleep if sit there. It's too noisy."
I suppressed a chuckle. " You're weird."
" You're worse."
" Whatever." I shrugged.
" Hn."
As I glanced towards the merry group, for some reason, I felt sad. I hope it was because I didn't get to sit beside the window…
-
I felt gloomy for the rest of the day. In work, it was worse. Way worse than I thought it would be. Penelope kept eyeing me whenever I sighed. I tensed up and continued doing my job. Damn it, was my expression that obvious??
" Seems like someone's having a bad day…" She suddenly appeared my back that made me jump with shock.
CRASH!!
The cup of coffee I was holding fell onto the ground as everyone looked at me.
" Hehe… It's nothing… Sorry for the disturbance." I apologized as I took a cloth to clean up.
" Oh my… These cups were expensive you know…" She sighed. The only thing I could do was curse silently as I cleaned up. Jesus…
-
I flopped onto the couch as I heaved a loud sigh. Stupid freaking day…
" Lizzie!! I'm going out now!! Make sure Lily gets dinner !!" There it was again.. Mum's damned yelling and shouting… I'm starting to think I'm more of a babysitter for Lily than a daughter for Libby Anderson. Now scratch that…
SLAM! The door closed.
" Fine…" I replied to no one but myself.
-
The door buzzed as I came out of the bathroom after a relaxing bath. I glanced at the clock hung up high on the wall. Right on time.
" Pizza Delivery!" the guy outside yelled as I opened the door. " It'll be twenty bucks, miss."
" Right…" I handed him a note before closing the door.
My mini pizza with extra cheese? Check.
Lily's regular pizza with extra pickles –ewwww-? Not check.
…
Nah, just kidding.
" LILY YOU FATASS-ED BITCH!! COME DOWN AND GET YOUR OWN PIZZA!!"
