Kapittel 17

Vanessa

"What was that? You didn't tell me you were acquainted with her," Georgia stated, pulling me away from my reverie.

"What was what? Acquainted with who?" I asked. I hadn't processed what she'd said. I was too awestruck by the belle and grace Madison held while walking away with her shiny, bronze legs. It was like she was carrying a certain air around her that'd change everything when present.

"Madison Blackwell? She's a big shot here, much like how her family is." She raised a brow at me. Wait, what? She was Friso's fuck buddy? Then that pretty much summed up everything. No wonder she warned me about the devil sticking around. She was guarded about me doing something with her man! But why did she help me?

"It's pretty known that she's Friso's fuck buddy. Did Friso send her to help you?" my friend continued to ask, which almost immediately altered my brain chemistry. Oh, that was it.

I bit my lower as my blood started to curdle. Did he think I was weak? Did he expect me to thank him, and what, run to him for more help? Or was it outside his knowledge that his sua sponte actions were what encouraged the others to throw eggs and rotten tomatoes at me? No, Friso wouldn't be stupid not to know that. Surely, this was part of his master plan to make me vulnerable, and what would happen... No. I shouldn't let him wear me down. Never.

"I don't know. But one thing's for sure..." I trailed off, trying to appease my anger with the plan I had in mind, kicking my conscience off my chest. "Friso's getting it today."

"Getting what?" Georgia asked, her brow raising higher.

"Oh, nothing." I shook my head, I looked down at her hands and saw that she was holding her shimmering pompoms. "Hey, you're bringing your pompoms. You out for practice after school?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Don't change the subject, wolf cut."

"What? I'm really up to nothing," I said, looking away to avoid her skeptical gaze. I couldn't shrug off the prickly, confining feeling given by her cognac orbs, and started to walk to class.

"Huh..." she kept her skeptical gaze at me but carried on, following me.

Opening the door to the classroom, I looked from left to right. Everything was still silent enough a tumbleweed rolling was the only missing prop to accentuate how isolated the place was. There wasn't any sign of anyone coming to the classroom yet as well. Good. I walked inside the room on tiptoes. I needed to put it there before anyone could enter.

As soon as I arrived at my usual desk, I placed my bag on the chair. Unzipping the fabric-made portable storage, I opened it wide and took out the thing that I had been hiding for days long. Lifting the glass jar from the bag, I observed the verdure, six-legged creature cricketing in the minute space. The little grasshopper was munching on the leaves and flowers I provided to it.

"Hey there," I greeted the small critter with a smile, tapping the glass with a smile on my face. It turned to me, and its wings and hind leg rubbed together to make that thing I remember to be called stridulation. A small shrill, creaky noise echoed. "Be good, okay?" I said, twisting the cap and slipping a hand inside the jar.

I wheezed. To be honest, I was quite nervous that it would jump off and escape. I needed this plan to succeed. Thankfully, it was either the odds were in my favor or the grasshopper also had what I had in mind that it crawled on my palm. I carefully took my hand out and kneeled at the desk beside mine, the very desk that Friso used to be close to me. As per his excuse so he could share books with me, he would use his poor acting skills and pretend that he didn't have his book stored in either his sports bag or under his desk. That was where this little thing's job would start. But even if he wouldn't stick his hand in, the grasshopper would still end up getting on his hand. Chaos would follow then.

I took one deep breath, releasing everything through my mouth. Tension remained in my lungs and it felt difficult to breathe. My heart was thumping fastidiously like I had taken more than 10 espresso shots in less than a minute. My shivering fingertips felt numb and more gelid than ice as I hovered my hand with the other to prevent yet I was sweating like I was hot and out in the open of the hottest summer. At the same time, I could feel my blood coursing through all over me.

I sent my hand towards the book tray, my arms wobbling like they were weak. I gulped, pushing the saliva accumulated between my tongue and the roof of my mouth down to my throat. I was nervous but excited at the same time. Fuck. I was never a stranger to the adrenaline rush, but this one felt extreme like I was having one for the first time.

Gosh, get over it, Vanessa. Just put the grasshopper in there and it's all good! I tried to calm myself down but it only made my fingers shudder even more. Fuck.

Finally, my hand got into the tray. "Whew," I let out a sigh of relief. Now, all I had to do was slowly open my hand, and place the insect down carefully. I did like what I had in mind, repeating it over a million times inside my head. As soon as I felt that I placed it down, I immediately retracted my hand like I had touched something hot.

"That was scary," I murmured to myself, wiping the sweat off my head with a sleeve.

"Left me a gift?" a voice asked and a warm breath fanned over my neck. I gasped in surprise, the hairs on my skin stood. I instantaneously turned on my back and saw Friso looking at me with a large smirk on his face. "Hey," the devil greeted me with his signature smirk plastered on his arrogant, sweat-induced face. His facade... I wanted to break it. That sardonic smirk in most particular.

"Didn't know you were thoughtful enough to give me a thank-you gift," he said, his smile growing wider. Looks like he was referring to sending Madison as a backup. As if I'd be grateful about him sending me his cronies to back me up when I could handle myself, and of all people, he sent me his fuck buddy. I didn't know if he was really into helping me or making me more trouble. But my gut feeling said it was most likely the latter.

Like what I always did, I paid no heed to his presence. I rolled my eyes at him, got on my feet, patted my skirt, and walked to my seat. Sensing that he had his eyes stuck on me, I acted all grumpy and irritated as I set my butt down on the steel chair, whilst internally laughing, excited about what was bound to happen. I couldn't wait to see him embarrassed, it'd be a nice payoff for all that he had done to me.

I slowly began to collect my supplies for learning while stealing glances at him, especially at his hands that were tapping the desk. I was silently praying that the critter wouldn't get out yet as I wanted him publicly embarrassed. I observed his chiseled face. My eyes carefully brushed from his messy, somewhat wet hair that seemed to have been saturated by his sweat. The strands glistened beautifully against the golden morning sun along his sweaty, lustrous forehead. His face was framed by his thick eyebrows that seemed to be regularly groomed, stretching to his temples, giving him a bedazzling impression. It also accentuated his eyes that held his ashen orbs and exceedingly long lashes. Ogling him down to his strong nose, I observed how strong and chiseled his cheeks and jaw were. His lips too, even though it was annoying seeing how they would stretch into the smirk I hated so much, I couldn't deny that it was attractive as well, especially with how soft they looked. Though Friso's face wasn't seamlessly perfect with the existence of a bump on his cheek and chin, alas, it didn't affect his overall appearance. It was only an antagonizing proof that the guy who owned that face was human.

God was very much unfair to give this demon spawn a carefully sculpted face. It was obvious that his face was fearfully and wonderfully made, unfortunately, his personality was spoiled rotten that it didn't do any form of justice to his angel-like face and glorious figure. I guess it couldn't be helped since the devil, who was once God's favorite angel, was also the most beautiful creature.

It wasn't hard to miss seeing that he was perspiring from his head down to his neck. We were sitting near the open window, and the breeze welcomed itself inside, whiffing the smell of the clean-cut grass, organic matter, and a combination of axe body spray and sweat over to my direction. It was obvious that he was from soccer practice. I heard that they do early morning practices.

"Hey, I'm gonna catch a cold if you continue stripping me with your eyes like that," I heard him say with a certain cockiness in his voice, his eyes staring at me like a parent catching his child red-handed.

"Sure, in your dreams," I retorted, rolling my eyes at him. I saw his mouth was about to open for a response but just in time, our classmates started walking in and sitting in their seats. I turned my head fully in the opposite direction, feigning to ignore his abominable presence.

I saw that most of my classmates were minding their own business, but there were still others who secured their gaze on me. I recalled back then that all of them always had their eyes glaring holes at me like a pack of wolves finding waiting for their prey to make the wrong move before hounding over. Every move I made was strictly scrutinized. Fortunately, they were only bystanders and I only had to deal with a few people. Lana and Friso were one of the few examples.

"Hey." My shoulders shuddered when someone poked my back. I looked behind me and saw Haley giving me a small smile. I forgot that we were classmates in some classes too.

"Hi," I greeted her with a small wave as she went ahead to her seat. From the corner of my eye, I saw Friso glaring in my direction. Was it directed to me or to Haley? As if it mattered. Though a small part of my brain wondered what it could possibly be he be having against Haley if ever the glare was for her.

"Good day, everyone," Mr. Singh suddenly entered and we did our usual mundane greeting.

Class proceeded like any other usual school. I took out my pen excitedly, tapping my forefinger on the tip. The instructor was still recalling the events from the past lesson, it'd take a bit more time before he'd ask us to take out our books. The spring air was warm as if it was summer, passing through the open windows that showed a full display of the football team practicing on the greenery. Time seemed to flow at a turtle's pace as the sun's rays hit on my sleeves softly. What seemed to be the finishing touch to perfect the atmosphere was Mr. Singh's voice of rich octave. It was smoother than shea butter. It added to my zeal to listen to him discuss the previous topics coherently. That's a former college professor for you, I guess. Everything seemed uneventful like any of my typical days that I would sigh over. But that wasn't going to be like this for long.

Despite being situated in optimum conditions and a suitable learning environment, I was frantically excited that the tips of my fingers remained cold when I wasn't high on adrenaline rush anymore. I looked up to see that clock ticking at its usual pace, but I wanted it to move faster. I wanted time to move faster, turn that turtle into a rabbit real quick. What was taking it so long?

"All right. Start taking your textbooks, everyone, and flip to..." Finally!

I hastily took out my book from underneath, all prim and proper like usu–

"Fuck!" a thunderous roar echoed in the classroom all loud and alarming. What was only missing was thick, grey clouds, strong, cold winds, and flashes of lightning to call it an incoming disaster. Joy sparked in my veins as my blood boiled in ecstasy. I turned to my side. Lo and behold, the devil incarnate stood from his seat with such force that his chair fell off with a loud bang!

"What's the matter?" his outburst caught the entire class' attention. Everyone had their eyes on him though he didn't seem to notice it since he was panicking, waving his arm vehemently. "Get it off of me!" he shouted loudly. The grasshopper was peacefully resting on his shoulder.

"Get what off?" one classmate asked, scoffing. He was obviously confused by Friso suddenly acting up. The others were laughing at him for overreacting. He was tall and had a strong frame, seeing him afraid and overreacting was a scene to behold.

"The insect!" he retorted, glaring at the latter. "Get it off!" he continued to wave his hands and patting on himself, even turning his pockets inside out. I knew he had a crippling fear of insects the likes of cockroaches and grasshoppers since he thought they were disgusting and weird. I tended to tease about it to him back then too.

"What do you mean insect, it's on your shoulder," I stated, faintly giggling. I was struggling to not laugh out loud and roll on the floor like a bale of hay.

He looked over his shoulder, and they came in eye-to-eye. "Ah!" he shrieked and flicked it off his shoulder. Immediately, the green creature hopped on top of Haley's head, who was busy putting on some powder on her face.

We all stared at her in unison. The others silently got on their feet, slowly creeping in her direction. I remained in my seat, observing my classmates who seemed to have the same thing in mind: to catch it.

It took Haley a matter of moments before realizing that everyone was surrounding her. The grasshopper too was on its way to action, crawling above her head towards her face.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around, obviously anxious by the sudden attention. At the same time, the little arthropod fell and landed on her nose. Slowly, she looked down at her nose.

"Oh... Oh. My. God. It's on my face! It's on my face!" she took her turn to shriek and freaked out. She slapped her nose, causing it to jump to Erik who effortlessly flicked it off his arm, leading it to hop on Edgar who was fast asleep.

Once again, everyone went clandestine on their steps, careful not to let it get away.

"Okay now, slowly... slowly..." it was Mr. Singh who guided them as they took their steps closer. I could feel that everyone's breaths were synchronized. Amanda's hands were close enough to capture the grasshopper, but it hopped away and landed back on Friso's head.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted and pulled his hair. With that, I gave up, finally laughing out loud. It was a sight for sore eyes to see him pulling his hair and tapping himself all over like a fool when the grasshopper wasn't even there. It already went to his desk after he had screamed.

The critter continued to hop from one place to another, freaking everyone out. Pencils and pens were thrown, papers were flying in the air, screeches were airing out the window, some went berserk, and others were screaming to calm down when they themselves were agitated as well. Meanwhile, the instructor was telling everyone to settle down. A ruckus was made. Ultimately, it arrived at the hands of ​​Synth, who offered her palms to it.

"What was that?" the instructor mumbled wiping his forehead, appearing exhausted like he just survived a cross-country race. It was either the grasshopper scared him too or he was stressed by the disturbance.

"It's just a grasshopper, Mr. Singh," she said, covering it with her two hands. "I'll take care of it."

"Good. Now, fix yourselves." He sighed in relief. At his command, my classmates started to fix what was disorganized, picking up the things that were scattered. Only I and a few others who weren't too surprised by the critter's presence remained on our spot. A traumatized Haley remained cringing on her seat as well, while Friso was leaning by the windows, conspicuously still afraid.

"Also, let's refrain from the violent outbursts next time, Friso. All right?" he pointed the marker at Friso before turning on his back. A few of us laughed, and others whispered. Surely, they were surprised to see their cool campus king acting like that. "Now, let's continue." The class discussion then continued like nothing happened.

I proceeded to act like I had no involvement in the situation, jotting down notes, and highlighting important terms. But there was something different. Friso, thankfully, wasn't coming close beside me. He remained on his spot. Unfortunately, he was glaring daggers at me and it sent a shiver down my spine. Oh, he knew.

Not intimidated by his menacing scowl, I took my cue to smirk. I turned in his direction, looked him straight in the eye, and curved my lips on one side for that half-crooked smile. A hot bolt flickered between us. But I knew I had the stronger voltage.

Ah, that fel—

My thoughts were immediately broken off when I felt small, hard things raining all over my head. Right on the shiny, tiled floor rolled a capless chalk container, along with countless chalks and a used eraser filled with stain. Of course, the laughter that'd render you embarrassed was never absent.

I stood on my spot, processing what just happened. I was walking to my next class, opened the door, something fell above my head, and a pack of chalk and used erasers were on the ground. It was a prank.

Humiliated and irate, I looked at a particular chair the further back. There he was, all smiling, carefree with his feet on the desk and his hands clasped behind his head. Friso then pulled out one hand and pointed two fingers at me, resembling a finger gun, motioning them like he was some cowboy who fired shots.

My teeth ground when he blew the tips of his fingers and winked. "Bingo," he mouthed. I guessed he realized this meant war. That marked the start of our little shenanigans against each other.

_

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