Safe And Sound
Thank you very much for all of the wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
An ounce of emotion is equal to a tonne of facts – John Junor
Chapter Seven
Monday September 10th 2012, 7:30 am, my flat.
When I woke up on Monday, I had only two things on my mind:
1) What I would do when I saw Mason.
2) What I would do when I saw Dimitri.
I had ended on rather awkward terms with both of them on Friday night. It made it worse that I hadn't spoken to either of them since then. Hell, I didn't even know if Mason could remember what happened. He seemed very drunk to me. Well, I assumed he could remember. After all, he remembered saying that I was pretty and he was out of his mind with alcohol that night.
Everything was different when it came to Dimitri. He probably wouldn't even realise that what he did made things awkward for me. If he had kissed anyone normal then it would be fine. As it stands, I'm not normal. I overthink everything. Every time I see him now, I'll only be able to think about that brief touch. I know it's pathetic, but it's the truth at least. How was I supposed to get a good grade on my stupid souvenir project now?
Mason hadn't texted me since Friday. That only managed to add to my bundle of nerves. It's not like I could go to Lissa with these troubles. She could report it straight back to Andre who would be on me like a tonne of bricks for messing with his little sister's innocent head. I couldn't go to Christian because he would tell Lissa and then the aforementioned scenario would surely occur. I couldn't go to Mia because well…she's Mia. She's got a big mouth and she'd probably report back to Mason now that they had just made up. If I told Eddie, he would definitely tell Mason.
Well, there was only one thing for it. I would have to go to Adrian. He didn't seem like he was really tied to anyone here. If I asked him not to tell anyone everything that I was going to tell him, I would bet my life that he would respect my wishes. On the other hand, he may not care one bit about what I'm saying to him and just send me away. If that happens, I'll just have to confide in my Mum…although I don't think she'd really appreciate the fact that I'm having awkward encounters with my teacher.
"You sure know how to screw everything up, Rose" I muttered to myself as I sat up in bed and ran a hand through my matted hair. I guess it's time to face another day at that place.
Monday September 10th 2012, 9:00 am, in Form.
So far, I hadn't seen Mason which must be a good sign, right? Oh, unless he's avoiding me because he can remember exactly what happened on Friday. What if he never wants to talk to me again? It had taken so long to get him to talk to me again. I don't want to go through all of that again just because he kissed me. This is exactly why all boys suck.
At least Dimitri hadn't said anything about what happened. As soon as I entered that door, it was exactly like I was any usual student. There was nothing different about me. Put it this way, I would be surprised if he was believing that Friday hadn't even happened. It was as though he was trying to act professional in the work place.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Lissa asked once she sat down. She was smiling as usual, her attire was completely immaculate. It was as though she had received the best night of sleep in the world. Is it just me who can't deal with waking up at seven every morning? God, I don't know how the others actually survive. Judging by the look on her face, she clearly had a good one.
"Why do you ask?" I questioned. Really smooth, Rose. Why don't you just scream at the top of your lungs that you behaved like a complete slut on Friday. I'm sure that would really grab their attention. "I mean, why do you ask about me? Come on, your life is way more interesting than mine. Let's hear about what you did over the weekend."
"Rose, are you sure you're okay?" Lissa asked, raising her eyebrows at me in that way that told me that she knew that I was feeding her some absolute rubbish. Damn, she was getting to know me. I was hoping that that wouldn't happen to us.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I lied with a shrug of the shoulders. Yep Lissa, this is just any normal day. Please just believe me. "I'm just tired, you know me."
"No, I don't know you" Lissa sighed with a hint of frustration. Oh no, I had never seen her not being calm. Had I been annoying her since she met me? "Look, we've all been trying to include you in everything that we're doing, but it's like you don't want to get close to us. You're so stuck in your old life with Mason."
"So, you want me to open up to you more?" I asked, ensuring that I had this whole situation completely mapped out. Well, I didn't want to go making any mistakes now did I?
"Yeah, if it's not too much trouble" Lissa smiled. Oh, does she really think I'm going to start telling her some pathetic stories about when I was kid? Does she think that's what I'm going to open up about?
"Don't say I didn't warn you" I muttered. This wasn't going to be a good idea. I'd only been here a week and I was almost revealing everything that I had tried to hide for so long. "I spoke to your brother on Friday."
"You spoke to Andre?" Lissa asked, her face already morphing into a smile. She thought a lot of her brother. That much was clear right from the beginning of this conversation. Could I really ruin her perfect vision of her brother just because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? That sure as hell wouldn't be the right thing to do. If I wanted to make friends here, I'd have to stop being so selfish.
"Yeah, I did" I smiled. "He's a real nice guy. I spoke to him a few times when he was in high school. Why didn't you tell me he was your brother? He's such a sweetheart."
"Aw, well that's Andre for you" She explained, that sickening smile never leaving. "Well, I never thought you'd get the chance to meet him. Oh, you're the perfect friend for him. We should all do something together! Andre would love it."
"Oh yeah, that's a great idea" I lied. If it kept Lissa from finding out the truth then I would be able to sit through a meal or something similar with Andre for a couple of hours. "We'll have to do that some time."
"I'll tell him about it tonight" She grinned. "Oh, I'm sure he'll love the idea." What the hell was I getting myself into!?
Monday September 10th 2012, 11:00 am, Break time.
"Are you avoiding me or something?" I interrogated once I finally managed to catch up with Mason. This wasn't really the kind of the approach that I was hoping for, but I was willing to try anything at this time to get him to talk to me.
I could tell straight away that he was uncomfortable with talking to me. I guess he definitely could remember what happened that night. Was he annoyed at me for pushing him away? I had no clue how to get any more answered without outright confronting him about it. Even so, the idea didn't sound too appealing.
"I haven't been avoiding you" He answered. I knew then that he was perfectly intent on just leaving it like that. Well, I wasn't. He was going to have it out with me right now or so help me I would never speak to him again.
"You're lying" I noted, crossing my arms over my chest in an aggressive manner. No more of this defensive crap I had been using since I came back here. "Look, if this is about Friday…"
"What makes you think it would be about Friday?" He interrupted with a hard glare. Well, that answered my question. It was definitely about Friday if he was going to think it was acceptable to talk to me like that.
"It's obvious isn't it?" I questioned. Was he really going to keep trying to avoid the question like a child? "Look, I'm sorry that I pushed you away. I know this must be hard for you…"
"Not everything is about you, Rose" He snapped, before spinning on his heel and stalking away as though the conversation with me had disgusted him. For a moment, I stood alone with a stunned expression marked clearly on my face. Did that just happen? I could barely believe it myself and I had actually been there.
"Do you want to talk?" An unfamiliar voice asked. When I turned, I found Adrian standing behind me with a small smile on his face that lit up his eyes like Christmas. At that moment, I was surprised he didn't have a flock of girls behind him. After all, he was a very charming and good-looking man.
"I thought you'd never ask" I mumbled as he led me away to a more private part of the courtyard.
"I heard about what happened on Friday" He sighed as though this had been an argument that had been going on for weeks that he was getting rather sick of right now. Perhaps Mason had been chewing his ear off about it.
"Did Mason tell you?" I asked, his expression answering my question immediately. "What version of the story did he give you."
"He kissed you. You pushed him away. It hurt his feelings" Adrian answered simply with a shrug. I guess he's never really involved with these kinds of things. Something told me he wasn't much of a committed man.
"Oh, I guess he gave you the right version of the story then" I said awkwardly, already feeling guilty for accusing him of lying. Perhaps I was just making this more dramatic than it really was.
"Yeah." Adrian commented. He was a man of few words…yet that simple word was enough to open the floodgates and had me spilling almost everything. Well, everything apart from the reason as to why I was back here and what had stopped me in the first place.
"I just don't know what's happening to me right now" I complained. "I've just started coming back to school. It's been a long time since I was in an environment like this. Come on, I need to walk before I can run. You understand me, right? Mason's more like a big brother to me and now he's getting angry at me just because I don't feel the same way as him. That's completely unfair! I can't force myself to like him in that way. Even if I did think that we could have a chance together, I couldn't go ahead with it because I like Dimitri and I know exactly what you're going to say! He's a teacher and he's too old for me and it will never happen. I know that, but I'm a teenage girl. Everyone is thinking the exact same thing about him as I am. I just don't want to hurt Mason. Apparently that doesn't matter, though because he's already hurt because I rejected him. I just can't win!"
"Woah, Rose" Adrian laughed as I took heavy breaths to calm myself down. "You're rambling at me now."
"Sorry, it's just such a stressful situation" I grumbled. "You should have heard the things that Andre was saying to me."
"Andre Dragomir?" He asked.
"The one and only" I spat with venom. Why was I letting myself get so bothered by what he thinks of me? Surely it shouldn't matter that he thinks I'm going to ruin his sister. "He told me that I can't mix with Lissa too much in case I taint her. That was pretty much the gist of it anyway."
"He did not!?" Adrian gasped in shock. At that moment, I finally felt like maybe I wasn't just overthinking everything. Maybe it's true that I'm just getting victimised by pretty much everyone. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration.
"Oh, he did" I mumbled, tangling my fingers with each other as I felt tears prick my eyes. Don't you dare cry over someone like Andre Dragomir, Rose! "Am I really that much of a screw up?"
"Rose, you're not a screw up at all" Adrian whispered, pulling me straight into a hug before I even had a chance to push him away. As soon as I was engulfed in his arms, I found that I didn't want to reject him. One hug from Adrian felt like enough to calm me down completely. "You're a beautiful girl who has so much potential. So what if you made one mistake with Mason? He'll get over it eventually…and if he doesn't? He's not worth your time. Oh, and you would so have a chance with Dimitri if he wasn't a teacher."
I let out a snort. Seriously. It was a full on snort. Possibly the most unattractive thing a girl could do in a situation like this and I did it. And I didn't even care because I don't think Adrian cared either way. At least he had managed to make me feel better.
"You're amazing, Adrian" I chuckled as the bell rang to tell us to get to our next lessons.
"I know I am" He agreed with a wink as I stepped out of his arms. "I'll see you later, Rose."
Monday September 10th, 12:30 pm, Maths.
It felt like it had been ages since I was last in this room. Well, so much had happened since I was last here. Was my life always going to be so full of drama? I could sincerely say that I hoped it wouldn't.
"What's the deal with you and Mason?" Mia asked finally. I had been waiting for this. As soon as she sat down when she first came in, I could tell that there was something wrong with her. She wasn't acting how she usually did with me. Hell, she wasn't even acting fun and that was saying something when it was with her. Was she annoyed at me too for what happened? Did Mason tell her?
"I don't know what you're talking about" I lied. Oh, I knew only too well what she was talking about.
"Oh come off it, Rose" She snapped. Yes, Mason had definitely told her what had happened and she was definitely annoyed at me for it. "Mason came round to mine on Saturday. He had a very interesting story to tell me about a bar and some rejection on your part."
"Well, what was I supposed to do Mia?" I asked. She was being so stupid! Would she rather that I let it go further and then hurt him even more when it got more serious?
She had no answer to my question. Perhaps she was finally beginning to see sense. Or maybe she was realising that she had no comeback for what I had said and she was just too ashamed to admit it.
"Why don't you date him?" I questioned. "After all, it's clear that you love him so much." Thank God that the bell rang at that moment. I may have had my stroke of good comebacks, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to last very long. She looked like she had a lot of things on her mind that she wanted to voice with me. I didn't want to stick around to hear them. So, naturally I snatched my bag up and hurried out of the room.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" She called after me, but I was too far gone to take any notice of it. Well, I was on a roll today with losing friends. Perhaps Andre was right…I do attract trouble everywhere I go.
Monday September 10th 2012, 1:10 pm, lunch time.
Lunch couldn't come fast enough. That was definitely not an exaggeration either. As awkward as I may find being in Dimitri's company at the moment, I would take it over another argument with Mason.
"What's the matter with you?" Dimitri asked as soon as I stormed into his room and slammed the door behind me. I didn't realise how angry I felt until that moment. I felt ready to bring a roof down.
"I got into an argument with Mason and Mia's taken his side" I grumbled as I thumped down into my side like a huffy teenager. In my defence, I am a huffy teenager.
"Is this about the whole kissing thing?" He asked. Well done, Dimitri. It's not like there's anything else stupid I've done lately.
"Yeah, it is" I answered sadly. "He practically called me selfish!"
"Look, Rose" Dimitri began. "If he's not willing to settle for just being your friend then fuck him. Don't tell anyone I said that."
Perhaps Dimitri had a point. After all, that made two people who had said the exact same thing to me. Oh, this was turning out to be a very eventful Monday.
Thank you everyone for reading this chapter. It really means a lot! Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter!
Baby You're My Immortal
