Redemption
Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed on the previous chapter. It's so nice to see that everyone likes the change in the tone of this story. I can tell you now that there will be a few more fun chapters like this, but it'll soon be going back into the drama of it all, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Well, it'll still be pretty flirty and please keep the reviews coming!
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, I allowed myself enough time to pick out some nice clothes and take some time to do my make-up and hair. If I wanted to continue winning the game that I had going on with Dimitri, I would need to make sure that I dressed the part…I would have to make sure that I looked good enough to break someone's heart. Perhaps heels weren't the best way to go about it, but I'd always heard that beauty was pain.
"Are you sure this is wise?" Lissa asked as she turned over in bed with her eyes clamped shut tightly. Who would have thought that I would be switching placed with Lissa? Maybe I shouldn't have opened the curtains when it was this bright.
"No, I know it's not wise at all, but I don't particularly care" I laughed. It was probably rather selfish of me, but oh well. I'd done enough of protecting everyone else. It was time to look out for myself for a change. "When you're at this age, nothing you do is wise. It's just a bit of fun" fun. The word sounded foreign coming from my lips. It had been so long that I had experienced it, but it felt good. Hell, better than just good. "Why don't you make a bit of an effort for Christian?"
Suddenly, it seemed that she wasn't so tired anymore. She sat up abruptly in bed and stared straight at me. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked before clambering out of bed and joining me at the mirror.
"It means that I think you like Christian and I also think that there's a strong chance that he likes you back" I laughed. She glared playfully at me, but the blush that rose to her cheeks showed me that I was probably right.
"I don't like him in that way" She denied as she busied herself with picking out some clothes for the day. "And there is no way in hell that he likes me in that way. Besides, we've only known each other for a couple of days."
"A couple of days are all you need" I sighed, thinking back to when I first met Dimitri. When I first looked at him, I believed that he was the biggest dick in the world and then I realised that he actually was…but that didn't stop him from being sweet at times and being wise…and it sure as hell didn't stop me from being attracted to him.
"Whatever you say, Rose" She muttered. She had never really been the kind of girl to talk about her feelings to me or anyone else. She always thought that she could deal with whatever she was feeling on her own and if she ever did decide to tell someone how she was feeling, she would always feel guilty about it afterwards and believe that she was a burden to everyone. "So, what are you getting up to with Josh?"
"Ah, not much" I grinned as my mind went straight back to the game that I was playing with Dimitri. I couldn't wait to continue where I left off. It was clear to me that he was getting irritated by the way I was acting. It was just a shame that I was physically sickened by Josh. He may be a hot guy, but he is one of the most perverted people I have ever met.
"Rose, you scare me sometimes" Lissa chuckled as we left the bedroom and downstairs to collect our bags and make our way to school. For the first time in my entire life, I was excited to go.
"I have that effect on most people" I agreed as we walked up the pavement in the direction of school. "It's just a bit of fun. It won't take long for Dimitri to tell me that he wants me back"
"But, it was you who told him that you just wanted to be just friends with him" Lissa reminded, a look of confusion sweeping over her face.
"That's true" I agreed. Most people would believe that I didn't have the right to start fooling around once more with Dimitri, but I just couldn't keep myself away from him not matter how much I told myself that it just wasn't fair. "But I made a mistake. Everyone makes a mistake at some point in their lives. I'm trying to make up for it now"
"This is going to end up in heartbreak" Lissa voiced as she shot me a look of warning. It seemed that she had just voiced my worst fear. I didn't want to fuck this up again. Hell, I'd done that enough times already.
"It won't if I go the right way about it" I assured both for Lissa and myself. Perhaps if I kept saying that, it would be true. Lissa didn't look very convinced, but thankfully, she chose to ignore that feeling and just let me get on with it. She had known me for years. She knew that if she tried to talk me out of doing something, it only made me more likely to go ahead and do it anyway.
"Whatever you say, Rose" She sighed. Hmm, she'd said that a lot this morning.
By the time we arrived at school, my heart was thumping violently and my palms were sweating as though I had limbs made of fountains. Oh goodness, this was so not attractive.
"Hey, sugar" A rough voice said from behind me as Josh slipped into the seat beside me. It took every ounce of my strength to refrain from shuddering at his closeness, but I managed it.
"Hi, Josh" I greeted, flashing him a complete fake smile. "How are ya today?" Oh god, this did not suit me one bit. I was always so laid back and careless. What on earth was with me when I was around this prick of a guy?
"Ya know" Was all he replied with a shrug. All brawn and no brain, I see. As the conversation wore on, it seemed that he was incapable of stringing together a proper sentence. All he could talk about was wrestling or how hot he thought he was.
"So, how was training yesterday?" I asked, even though I didn't care one bit about his wrestling antics. Wasn't most of wrestling fake, anyway?
"Same old" He answered, his voice droning on. "Did suplex" Well, here's me thinking it was he did a suplex…but apparently not. Josh knows all about grammar.
"Oh, that must have been so fun" I cheered, faking excitement, trying my hardest not to laugh at Lissa rolling her eyes. "And it must have been so hard to do"
"Not really" He retorted. Wow! He made it so hard to have a conversation.
As soon as Dimitri sat down, relief swept over me. Perhaps I could actually have a mature conversation for once.
"Hey guys" He sighed as he took the seat opposite Josh and eyes him suspiciously.
"Oh hey, Dimitri" I greeted smiling warmly at him before turning my attentions back to Josh. "You've just missed Josh telling us all about how he did a suplex yesterday. Isn't that great?"
"Suplex?" Dimitri questioned. "Isn't that like a beginner move? What did you just learn how to do a side walk slam too? Dude, everybody can do that" The look on Josh's face made me almost lose the plot. Goodness, he looked hilarious. It seemed as though Dimitri had managed to beat Josh at his own game.
"What's it to ya?" Josh grunted.
"What are you? A caveman?" Dimitri asked, fixing him with a hard glare. "Learn how to enunciate, moron. God, what the hell do you see in him, Roza" The familiar nickname sent a pang of longing hurtling straight through my entire body. Why couldn't we just admit that we felt something for each other and move on from these stupid games?
"Play nice, Dimitri" I muttered under my breath, shooting him a threatening stare. Ha, he actually believed that I cared about Josh. It looks like my plan is working out then. Reluctantly, he nodded. What!? He wasn't supposed to do that! He was supposed to fight for me and call Josh all the names under the sun. He was supposed to fucking fight! Oh…so he was making me believe that he didn't care. Surely, that had to be what he was doing. Well, the guy was smart…I'd give him that.
Dimitri's point of view
Seeing Rose even sit anywhere near that fool Josh made me want to throw up. The scene before me looked dreadful. She shouldn't be all over him and congratulating him on all of these different wrestling moves that a monkey could do. She's so much more sophisticated than that.
She should be sitting next to me and we should be talking about where we going to go on our next date and we should be living life as though it's our last day…we shouldn't be doing this.
"Hey, you guys coming out to the arcade again tomorrow?" Lissa asked, finally pulling out of her conversation with Christian.
"Yeah, I've got nothing better to do with my Saturday" I joked before turning to face Rose, actually quite looking forward to hearing what her answer would be. I couldn't tell if she was going to tear herself away from her new toy.
"Yeah, I'll go" She answered before looking at Josh. "Hey, do you want to come to the arcade tomorrow?"
"The arcade?" He asked as though he wasn't familiar with the word. Can this guy be any more stupid? "Isn't that where kids go?" You are a kid, you nimrod. Well, you act like one. "Sure, it'll be fun"
Oh goodie. The prick gets to go. What had I signed myself up for? It hit me then. This could be the perfect opportunity to win the game. This could be the moment where I prove to Josh that's he's an eejit and also win Rose's heart in the process. If I played my cards right, this could all go down incredibly well.
All I had to do was keep pretending to Rose that I didn't care about what she did with Josh and then I'd manage to make him look like a fool at the arcade and she'd fall mindlessly in love with me. Well, something along those lines anyway. Knowing how it goes with us, it'll get screwed up along the way. Hell, it always does.
"You're planning something" Lissa whispered to me once Rose had went back to drooling over Josh. There was no way I could stop the grin from rising to my face.
"When am I not planning something, Lissa?" I joked, flashing her a bright smile. This game was more fun than it looked.
"Fair point" She sighed, looking sick of my childish games with Rose. Oh well, it seemed as though I could win this one and I intended to act on it.
"Don't worry, Lissa" I mumbled. "This will all end soon enough" This really was war.
Again, another flirty chapter as you all seemed to enjoy the previous one and you guys deserve it for all this reviewing and reading you're doing! :D Anyway, I just want to say thank you to anyone who reviewed on the last chapter and I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much. I'm going to try and get in another quick update before I go back to school and start my exams XD