~Subsequent Afterthoughts~

Dolores walked out of the library with her chest heaving in anger. The feeling of the growing dislike she had for the black eyed boy called Simeon coiled up like a strangling creeper plant and was beginning to make a lump in her chest. Dolores wanted above nothing else to send him unconscious after he went ahead to be the busy body no one asked him to.

A thought came to her in the midst of her rage. 'Why don't you check it out before you get mad? It might not be the book he was talking about.'

For sheer benefit of the doubt, she opened the book to the first few pages if the characters were the same he had spoken of but discovered to her dismay that the same characters were the ones into play. He indeed had read the book.

She shook an angry fist in the direction of the library where she just emerged from ignoring the looks she was getting from the students passing around her. "Curse you, Simeon. Curse you!"

With that, she turned and continued on her way to the class. It was not up to a minute when she settled in her seat when Simeon strolled in. He stopped by the door with his gaze sweeping over the sea of faces in the crowd as if searching for someone. His eyebrows jumped to his hairline when his eyes met with Dolores' glaring ones.

He sent a friendly wave in her direction, earning himself an exaggerated eyeroll from her as she jerked the book open and forced her eyes upon the it trying to ignore that he was in fact already heading her way.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw him lower himself next to her on the vacant space meant for Adelina. With a great deal of self restraint, she forced herself not to snap at him as he leaned against the desk with his curious gaze trained on the side of her face.

After a while of bottling up anger which was starting to show in form of white flashes of hot anger, she sighed exasperatedly. "What do you want from me, Simeon? I don't have intentions of ever being your friend. Period."

His eyebrows seemed to pull together in a sad manner and Dolores regretted he harsh tone but she wasn't about to apologize for it anyway.

"You don't have to just yet, you can bide your time. I'm content with you not chasing me off whenever I come around." The smile on his face was as contagious as the flu.

"If only I have knowledge of the thoughts in that enormous head of yours, maybe I will consider being friends with you." She forced her eyes back to the book splayed open on the desk.

"I mean no harm, sincerely." He leaned back into his seat, stretching his long legs as he did so.

After suspiciously staring at him like he was going to pull out a prank from within the sleeves of the maroon sweater on his lean frame, she resumed to delving through the inked words on the pages before her and he didn't worry her further.

A few minutes after she had gained back concentration, the book was forcefully yanked out of her sight. Her head whipped up so fast that Simeon wondered how her neck didn't snap in the process. Right in front of her desk stood Carlos with a spiteful leer at her.

The scenario reminded Dolores of the incident that birthed the irreparable damage done to her twelfth reading glasses. She almost stuttered in a bid to rein in her shock and finally getting a hold of herself, she stretched her hands for the book.

Carlos pulled back from her as if she could contaminate him. "What do you need it for?"

Dolores wanted to slam her head head against her desk to dim out the sight of the bully. He was either extremely stupid or blind to the fact that she was busy reading before his stupid self yanked it right out of her grip. It was even obvious he wasn't a reader as he tossed the book around with a corner of his lips raised in disgust and complete disinterest.

So far, her day was not going so well as she thought it would manage to, with Adelina not being by her side. First, it had been Simeon trying to soil her mood by giving her spoilers to the book she had picked. Now, it was Carlos acting like a jerk by grabbing the book she was about to read despite the fact the it had been ruined for her. She fought to urge to bury her head on her desk and bawl her eyes out like she used to when she was younger but she held back from such embarassment.

"She says to hand the book over, Carlos." A voice boomed from the doorway and Dolores turned her head to the direction of the door to see Nicolas taking long, purposeful strides to where they sat. "I wouldn't want to repeat what she said."

Even though it was the least face she agreed to see, she was glad someone was in her defense. Throughout the period before now, Nicolas appeared laid-back giving her lingering stares. Not like a creep but like one who wanted to get her attention; something he was awarded a thousand times as she couldn't stop herself from accidentally meeting his eyes and drowning in their mysterious depths.

"Come on, guys. We shouldn't be fighting over the damn book." Simeon was on his feet already trying to ease the rising tension between the fuming duo.

Carlos scoffed, giving Nicolas a look drenched in derision. "What would you do if I don't."

Nicolas stepped up to Carlos, stretching his body to his full height in an intimidating stance. He was a few inches taller but Carlos was a bit muscular than he was which seemed to give him an edge over Nicolas if they were to enter a brawl.

'A brawl?'

Dolores widened her eyes when she realized it could lead to a fight between them if she didn't stop it. It didn't help that their voices had gotten the attention of more than half the class and the doorway was flooded with interested spectators whose eyes danced with intrigue and expectancy. Someone even dared to bet on who the bloodied loser would be.

By now, Carlos' goons had moved to stand right behind him, none of them possessing the moral sense of judgement to put an end to the quarrel brewing enmity between the former friends.

Dolores shot out of her seat without thinking, standing in front of Nicolas to shove him away from Carlos but didn't realize early enough what was headed for him. The fisted blow which Carlos intended for his ex friend, struck the muscle on her back, knocking the wind out of her system and sent her spiralling into Nicolas without warning.

Before she could land head first to the ground, he held her in a firm grip. Her breath came out in short, erratic gasps at the crippling pain that shot through her. She wasn't having an asthmatic fit but the world before her eyes was showing in flickering lights.

"You jerk! What have you done?" Nicolas managed to strain out despite containing his anger, sending him a murderous look.

His eyes narrowed down in confusion, all thoughts of breaking his nose discarded as he took notice of Carlos shaking like a leaf in the wind. It was a rare sight because he knew him to be one never to visibly show his fears despite how scared he could be at that moment.

Carlos oblivious to the looks from people around him, remained frozen in place, his face ashen at the realization of what he had just done. For a blinking moment, he seemed like a little kid about to shrink in fear from someone but as quick as the speed of a moving train, that meek expression was fast replaced by one of scorn.

The crowd initially at the entrance of the class began to disperse as a teacher walked in just then, followed immediately by Simeon. Loud chimes rang in Dolores' ear as he and Nicolas gathered by her side to usher her out of the scene and to the school clinic. The last thing she heard before she was taken away was the teacher ordering Carlos into the principal's office. The last thing she saw was the rest of the gang scattering away at the mention of the principal's office, an action they ought to have done which would have prevented her from being the object of aggression.

Dolores vowed with bitter regret, as she limped with an aching back to the clinic, never to interfere whenever there was a quarrel happening between them. They could tear each other up as much as they wanted but she wasn't going to bat an eyelid in their direction.

~~~{•}~~~

What do you guys think about this chapter?
I feel like there's a poor execution and I'm about to die from embarassment even before I click 'publish'.
Any thoughts on the characters: Carlos, Nicolas and Simeon?

Please give it a vote if you liked this chapter.
~~Tequila~~