Chapter Nine

Nathan did not look at all pleased to be my project partner. In fact, he looked so distraught by the idea that it would not be ridiculous to presume that I had told him he had five days to live.

 My arm was still wrapped around his shoulder, but he hadn't made a move to take it off yet. Do you know what I call that? I call that progress.

Nathan took a deep breath in and out before setting his hate-filled eyes on mine. 

Yikes, he was definitely not a happy camper.

I soon realized wrapping my arm around his shoulder had put me about a hair's width away from him - making every little detail of his face frighteningly clear. The temptation to journey my eyes down to his sexy-sharp jawline was ever so pressing, but I didn't want him to catch me looking.

What? I'm sorry, the man may be a dickhead, but that didn't diminish the fact that he was hot. The devil was once an angel, after all.

He narrowed his eyes and dropped his gaze down to my arm and then back up to my eyes. 

"Get your arm off of me!" he hissed, his warm breath fanning over my face.

"Well, someone's moody," I whistled as I flopped my arm off of him. "Also, somebody might need to learn to be a little less spitty," I joked as I pretended to wipe my face as though he had actually spat on me. 

Nathan's angry gaze shifted to mine once more before he rolled his eyes.

Soon enough, the sound of rustling paper echoed around the hall, and I watched as students started to rise from their seats – indicating the lesson was over.

 Nathan let out an audible sigh of relief and wasted no time before rising to his feet. He was clearly eager to escape the theatre, or well me...

"Hey, wait," I said before he could take a step to leave. 

He stopped and took a deep breath in and out again before slowly opening his eyes again. 

"I know I'm going to regret this, but what?" he snapped.

"You're coming with me to my flat," I said bluntly.

He tilted his head and observed me the same way you might look at someone who had severely damaged their head. 

"Erm...no. I'm pretty, sure, I'm not," he said simply and slowly.

Shoving the rest of my stuff into my bag, I rose to my feet. "Erm...yeah, you are. I don't like to procrastinate, and I want to get this project started today," I said as I pushed my way past him to get to the isle.

When I heard no movement behind me, I let out a frustrated sigh and turned back round to face him. 

"Come on, what are you waiting for? A handwritten invitation?" I laughed. 

Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Erm...no, Sophie. I'm waiting for you to propose your question as a question instead of a demand. I could already have plans," he scoffed.

I raised an eyebrow. "What plans? Banging some random chick?" I snickered. 

He took an intimidating step closer to me. "What, so it's a sin to have sex now? I thought you'd be all for it, misses: I like to sing about putting dicks into my mouth," he snickered as he shot me a pointed look.

My cheeks flushed as I thought back to him catching me singing that awful song. I quickly cleared my throat and focused back on the question in hand. 

"No, it's not a sin to have sex; it's just disgusting when you do it," I said with a sweet little smile.

 He crossed his arms and stared at me for a long time as though he was having visions of repeatedly stabbing me or something. 

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So...are you going to keep staring at me like a weirdo...because it's kinda making me uncomfortable," I said, letting out a light chuckle. 

"Yeah, that's the point," he scoffed before purposely elbowing his way past me to get out of the row.

I put a hand on his elbow to still him. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked in confusion. 

He spun around to face me with a prominent scowl on his face. "To your stupid flat, you idiot. Hurry up and show me the way before I change my mind," he spat. 

Despite how rude he was, a wide happy smile stretched over my face at my small victory. "Aww, little Natalie's warming up to me that didn't take nearly as much convincing as I thought," I sang teasingly as I giddily skipped my way past him. 

"The only thing I'm warming up to is the idea of throwing you into a ditch and leaving you there," he called out from behind me.

I shook my head at his dramatics. 

"Also, I'm only coming because I want to get this project done as quickly as humanely possible," he grumbled. 

I shot him a glance over my shoulder as I opened the door. "Hmm, sure," I hummed unconvincingly.

After a short fifteen-minute walk, consisting of a little, okay fine a lot of back-and-forth snide comments, we finally arrived at my flat complex and were climbing the stairs.

Humming a happy little tune to myself, I took the stairs two at a time, leaving Nathan in the dust some steps behind me. When I got to the next landing, I let out an exasperated sigh before turning back around. 

Nathan took his dear sweet motherfucking time and trailed miserably up the stairs at a snail pace, with his hands dug deep into his pockets.

"Hurry, your lazy ass, what's taking you so long?" I teased.

Nathan's eyes narrowed into tinier slits than I thought possible. "Excuse me for not being able to bounce up six flights of stairs like a fucking kangaroo. Not all of us work at the gym, you know," he spat out bitterly.

I let out a light chuckle. "Well, maybe you would be a little better if you hadn't run out of my boxing lesson," I retaliated sassily. 

"And besides, don't pretend you're not fit; you don't get a stomach as hard as yours by slouching around on the couch, do you?" I scoffed.

 A small smirk slowly crept onto his face, and he started to shake his head at me. "I knew it! You were totally touching me up on purpose, to cop a feel of my abs," he bragged.

I stilled, realizing my mistake. I stood up straighter in an attempt to pull together my scattered confidence. 

"Natalie, don't flatter yourself. I was merely assessing you, so I knew how to adapt my teaching for your level of fitness," I explained matter-of-factly.

 He stopped at the step below mine. "My level of fitness?" he mused. "You should have known by one glance that I was top tier," he remarked with an arrogant smirk.

I tilted my head and faked a look of confusion. "Tell me, is it painful to have a head as big as yours wedged up your own arse, or do you get used to it?" I asked while blinking back at him curiously. 

He rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny," he spat sarcastically as he walked past me.

"I know it was funny; that's why I said it," I snickered as I followed behind him. 

As I was about to take another step, Nathan's foot caught a broken piece of the staircase, and he stacked. "Fuck," he swore as he steadied himself on the railing.

"That's karma for being mean to me," I called out childishly.

He threw me a dirty look over his shoulder. "It's this cheap fucking staircase. Why haven't you asked the landlord to repair this stupid shit? This whole place is worryingly unkempt."

Looking around at the peeled away wallpaper, and the remnants of shattered glass bottles on the floors, I let out a wince. "Yeah...you've got a point," I murmured.

"But there's no point asking them to fix it - They won't. They can't even be bothered to install fire alarms in this stupid place even though we've asked several times," I snorted.

As soon as the words left my mouth, Nathan halted in his tracks. He swerved around to face me with eyes blazing with anger.

 "What the actual hell! What happens if there's a fire? Is that even legal?" he yelled, his voice audibly shaking with rage.

His eyes flickered frantically over my face, and he swallowed. "You could...you could...," he trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with finishing the sentence.

"Yeah, I know. You can say it. I'll probably burn to death in my sleep," I chuckled even though I found little to no humor in the situation.

"Why don't you install one yourself then?" he suggested. 

I shook my head with a bitter laugh. "We can't; we're not allowed to make any permanent holes in the walls or ceilings without permission from our landlord. They're the only ones allowed to install things," I explained plainly.

"T-then why don't you move apartments?" he asked, his voice slightly softer this time. 

"I can't. Brandon, and I can't afford anywhere better, so we've got to take what we can get," I shrugged honestly. 

After some moments of silence with those eyes of his piercing down onto me, I cleared my throat awkwardly and continued my path up the stairs. He didn't say anything else and slowly continued to walk behind me in silence.

"Ah, here we are, my floor, number seven," I smiled as I diverted off the staircase and started to head down the corridor.

Nathan's footsteps suddenly stopped. "What the actual fuck?" he spat.

 I turned around to face him. "What?" I asked in confusion. 

He threw me a hate-filled glare before pointing a finger angrily over to the elevator on his right. "Would you kindly like to explain to me why I hiked up seven flights of stairs when you have a fucking elevator?" he snapped.

I let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. "Yeah...about that, I kind of have a fear of tight spaces.... so elevators aren't really my thing...," I murmured.

He let out a growl of frustration. "And you couldn't have taken the stairs by yourself and let me go up in the elevator and wait for you!" he huffed.

I chuckled. "Well...yeah...I could have...but where's the fun in that. It's way more fun to watch you suffer," I explained with an evil wink before turning around and skipping my way over to my door. 

"Sophie, have I ever mentioned before how much I hate you?" Nathan called out from behind me. 

Turning around, I leaned my back against the door and observed him with a smile. "Aww, Natalie, you have such a beautiful way of showing affection, don't you," I cooed. 

The frown on his face only grew harsher as he made his way closer to me. Finally, he came to a stop in front of my face.

 "Why are you leaning against the door like an idiot; let me in then," he snapped impatiently.

"I'll let you in when you tell me the magic word," I chuckled. 

Nathan let out a long-frustrated groan as though he was downright tired of dealing with me. 

"Are you sure you're nineteen years old and not five or something?" he grumbled.

 I clutched a hand dramatically over my heart. "Aww, you know my age too; you truly have been stalking me. I'm touched," I smiled.

He gave me a blank look. "It was just a guess, don't get a big head. Now hurry up and let me into your stupid cheap apartment!" 

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared up at him. "I'll let you in when you tell me the password," I stated firmly. 

"Sophie Wright is a bitch?" he suggested confidently without even missing a beat.

 "Nope, not even close, guess again," I laughed.

"Fine, Sophie Wright is an annoying Bitch?" he guessed.

"No, that was even worse," I laughed. "I'll give you a hint; it's a compliment towards me. It begins with an S, Sophie Wright is S..," I trailed off, leaving him space to finish for me. 

He smirked. "Stupid? Stubborn? Sick in the head?" he suggested, all out in one breath.

 I frowned. "It was sexy, you idiot! But whatever, I'll let you in. It's not your fault you're stupid," I mumbled with a sigh as I fished out my keys from my pocket.

Once I had the door unlocked, I swung it open with an overly enthusiastic push. "Natalie, welcome to the home of the great Sophie Wright."  

-----------------

Author's note: 

I hope you enjoyed the Chapter. And lol reading this back, I remembered just why I love Sophie so much XD

Next update: Wednesday (6-8 PM - UK time) 

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top