~A Villain and a Saviour~

Dolores and Adelina stepped out of homeroom along with other students after an announcement the principal thought to share with the rest of the student body. It was a windy Wednesday mid-afternoon and so far, there had not been any disturbance from the guys as usual. It was not like she was expecting a bobby trap out of the blues but the suspense she got as a result of them keeping a low profile made her look behind her in apprehension every five minutes.

Two days ago, Carlos decided she was extremely pretty and had gone ahead to ask her out on a date to prom. It was so blatant she almost puked on the new sparkling white sneakers he had on that morning. The first thought that came to mind was if he had slammed his head so hard against something and had a concussion or maybe a mild memory loss.

The Carlos she knew, for reasons best known to him, abhorred the very sight of her and almost made it a point of duty to torment her very life since the time they met. To him, she would forever be the ugly duckling who would never get a date to the prom or meet her prince charming.

As they crossed the threshold of their class to their seats, Dolores thought about it the more. The more she pondered upon it, the more everything seemed to make a whole lot of sense. Carlos might have been the reason she had no date for the three proms her school held in the past. Almost all the guys seemed to pale in horror the moment she asked any of them, so she stopped trying altogether.

"A penny for your thoughts." Someone's shoulder bumped into hers lightly.

She blinked, turning to gaze into Adelina's beautifully sun tanned face. "I was just thinking about Carlos."

"Don't tell me you're beginning to regret calling him an ugly looking hamster and that you're reconsidering his offer." Her eyes were carefully observing her best friend.

Dolores faked a gag. "Ew, no." She lolled her head back with a laugh. "What a disgusting idea! I meant what I said. But if it was some other person--"

"Like who? Nicolas?" Adelina's eyes were twinkling with hidden amusement and her lips twitched with withheld laughter.

Dolores gasped in horror. "Of all people, him? For the love of chocolates, no! Why do you think I'd accept Nicolas if he asked?"

"Because," Adelina paused for dramatic effect, causing her best friend to roll her eyes far into her head. "Because I've seen the way you look at him sometimes in a wistful manner. Almost like you wish he could act differently towards you." When Dolores opened her mouth in defence, she raised up her hand. "There's no need to explain. I understand how you feel and I don't judge you for it. It's not your fault he's nothing but an idiot who can't see beyond his own self."

Maybe Lina was right, maybe she wasn't, but it still didn't change the fact that Nicolas was who he was.

"But... He's a cute one, I gotta admit." She admitted ruefully to her friend.

"Thanks for your support and encouragement." She added in a sarcastic tone.

"Nicolas and Dolores sitting in a tree, K-I-S--"

"That's enough." She said with a tone of finality as she spoke.

Not in this world, not now, not ever, would she agree to somebody as proud, as arrogant, as annoying, as pestering, as... as broodingly handsome, as oh so sexy--

Her eyes widened from the realization of her train of thoughts and she felt her cheeks heat up in sheer embarassment. She spared a quick glance at Adelina whose head was buried in an open textbook before her. She wondered how her friend would react if she caught wind of the abominable thoughts she was having.

Steeling herself, she steered her thoughts away from the direction it was going. Bringing out her textbook for arithmetics, she reached into her open bag for a calculator and a jotter which she used in solving equations. Out of nowhere, a hand lifted the textbook from the desk. When she raised her head to give a good tongue-lashing, she paused as she realized it was none other than their topic of discussion.

Nicolas.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?"

She opened her mouth in reply when the bell rang out loud, signalling that free period was over.

"Ugh! I didn't even get to read enough." She said aloud to herself. "You heard it. Play time's over. Whatever you want to say, I'm sure it can wait till after school, right?" Her eyebrows were lifted in a questioning manner.

Nicolas shoved his enclosed fists deep into the front pockets of the plaid pants he wore, which Dolores had to admit looked good on him. "I'll see you later, I guess." He dropped her textbook, grabbed his bag behind her and walked out.

Adelina slapped her arm. "What was that about? Why was his voice suddenly so civil? For one, Nicolas has never been civil with you. So why the change?"

"Ow! I have no idea too. We were both watching the same thing." She rubbed her arm which stung where she was struck.

On Adelina's part, questions were swimming in her head unanswered. It was startling but it brought him to a better light in her mind that there was a chance for him to be a better person than the meanie he was being to everyone. For all she knew, that might not even be his true personality.

"Close your gaping mouth, goofy. You look like a dead toad, plus, we'd be late if you sat a while longer." She hoisted her bag over her shoulder, still waiting for Adelina who at that time chose to start packing her books. When she was done, she slapped Dolores on the same spot in retaliation for being called a "dead toad".

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Today was an unfortunate one for Dolores as she had to pair with the last person she wanted to for chemistry practical.

Carlos.

When the teacher asked them to sit together, her friend spared her an apologetic look as she stood for him to sit. While class was going on, she was busy internally throwing every insult in the book and conjuring up every spell she recalled from watching The Wizards of Oz and the Harry Potter movie, upon Carlos.

Bleed from your nose. Let it be an emergency, something, anything to be out of my sight, She swore inwardly.

When she came to, everyone was staring at her. Including the teacher. She looked at Lina who shook her head in pity for her. Her eyes met the man standing in front of the classroom. Carlos snorted beside her, trying in vain to hide his laughter.

She ignored him. "I'm sorry. I just got sidetracked. What was it you said again?"

Luckily for her, he wasn't a strict person so he repeated his question. When she replied correctly, he asked that everyone showed him an example with their partner.
It was a piece of cake for Dolores as she focused her entire attention to do the task at hand.

"I love how dedicated you are to this assignment. I'm assured of at least a B in this subject, thanks to you." Carlos' had to say and distract her.

She gave an annoyed huff. "You're leaning too close and I can smell your minty breath. I'm trying to focus here so lean back a bit, bro."

With his pride and ego bruised, he glared hard at the side of her face while she went to work mixing the chemicals alone.

Carefully doing the assigned task, she turned to her textbook but realized she hadn't taken it out of her bag yet. Securing her brown colored hair behind her ears, she leaned down to check into her bag for the textbook. She needed to confirm if her mixtures were right before adding the final ingredient. Mr Sebastian's came to mind again.

Remember students, that any wrong item added and the whole place could go up in smoke which could harm our lungs. Let's be extra careful as we work, alright?

The last and final ingredient to be added was a drop of chlorophenol. An extra drop that fell in by mistake or carelessness could result in everyone watching her wheeze to death. With extra care, she put in a tiny drop of chlorophenol as instructed.

It started to foam which was a normal reaction then became still. She clapped her hands in happiness when smoke poured out of the glass suddenly, killing every trace of excitement that had risen in her earlier.

"Dear Lord, what have you done Huerta? Everyone out, quickly. I hope there's no asthmatic patient in here. I just hope." He was alarmed as he ordered the students outside.

Carlos, who was standing by, gave a knowing smile before covering his nose and running out as well.

I followed the instructions word for word, she thought.

As she made to leave, the fire alarm rang out throwing her into a shock. She stood rooted to a spot as images of an ambulance, flashed before her eyes. The shrill sound of the fire siren echoing in her ears reminded her of the incident that happened that day.

She rubbed a hand over her chest,  wheezing violently as her lungs constricted. With teary gaze, she groped around for the inhaler in her bag and when she found it, she put it to her mouth. Her hands could not stop trembling hence, the inhaler fell off and bounced elsewhere.

Soon, she was gasping wildly as darkness seemed to cave in around her. The sound of Adelina's worried voice drowned out that of the other students.

A hand cradled her head, placing something in her mouth. She almost fainted in relief when she discovered it was her inhaler. She drew in air greedily through her mouth like one starved for it. One deep breath after another, then she fell into a deep slumber in the arms of her saviour.

~~~{•}~~~

I'm slowly getting used to this book and I'm loving it already. I just wish y'all would see what's in store.
About the asthmatic scene, well, I'm not exactly a science student but if something just doesn't sound right to you, feel free to notify me...we could run this together...lol.
Apart from that, I want to know what you guys think in general.

~~Tequila~~