I hope this makes up for my long absence. By the way, I'm delighted with every single one of you that has never abandoned me despite the few odds here and there. You're the best.

~Lonely night - Fifth Harmony~
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'Heart throb'

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"No!" I yelled in horror. Shawn's face twisted like he was going to laugh and then flipped back to being serious again.

"No? You must." He started leaning towards me with his lips parted slightly. He seemed to be relaxed about the whole thing while me on the other side was almost getting a stroke from his close proximity. So I did the only smart thing I thought of (which wasn't so smart anyways), I gave Shawn a hard shove which sent him straight to the floor.

***

"Ugh!" I grunted when I walked right into someone. I wouldn't have minded colliding into the person  but the next minute, I had landed on the hard marbled floor like a discarded banana peel.

I rubbed my aching bum. "Couldn't you at least..." My words got stuck in my throat when I stole an upward glance at the mountain before me, no, not a mountain, a very handsome Greek God, the one and only Levi Array, the heartthrob  of the entire school. Here he was in front of me staring down at my sprawled out figure with amusement in his eyes colored like a chocolate.

Levi had short hair colored black like ebony, with a peculiar sheen. I wondered what he applied to make his strands that shiny. His looks could make any living model jealous, his healthy body, the graceful pose, his clear, beautiful face, his clothes and even his shoes.

No wonder his name was on every student's lips, from the geeks to the jocks and to the slutty cheerleaders, no offense though.

His lips parted so I tuned out my thoughts to hear what he was about to say. "Could you at least get out of my way?"

I blinked and then my normal feisty self returned as I returned to a standing position. "Excuse me?"

The Greek god appeared unaffected by my anger, he just regarded me like I was an ant.

I opened my mouth again despite the little crowd huddled together in collective curiousity. "You came walking right into me and I fell to the..."

My speech was halted by him placing a finger on my lips. I gasped at the impact of the sheer contact. "Shh... I was only kidding." I sighed in relief when he moved a little away from me. "I'm sorry about earlier too..."

After his apology, he offered a little smile and walked past me not minding the crowd that had created a path for him to pass. I rolled my eyes at the girls that lustfully reached out to touch him.

"There's nothing to see here!" I yelled at the people staring at me like I was a queer object. After they received my bitter words in shock, they dispersed in different directions, much to my pleasure.

What just happened? I asked silently as I composed myself to take my body to class. Then I slammed into another wall, no, another human, my freaking best friend.

"God, no." I groaned but I was thankful that I didn't land on the floor again.

"Why were you talking to him?" Shawn demanded, his face devoid of friendliness. I quirked a brow while looking at him like he lost his mind.

"What do you mean by that? Am I forbidden to talk to anybody I like?" I asked glancing down at my wristwatch. I still have five minutes to make it to class. I noted.

Shawn adjusted his schoolbag on his shoulder. "Not just anyone, him."

I knew exactly who he's referring to.

"What's wrong with him?" I wrapped  him with finger quotes.

Shawn ran a finger through his hair, something he did when he was getting riled up. "Don't you see, Levi spells trouble, he gives off an evil aura." He spelled out.

Now, it was my turn to get mad. "Seriously? Are you a magician or something?"

"I don't want you talking to him." Shawn spoke like I was his property.

I placed a hand on my waist and walked closer to Shawn. "Shawn, I'm not your toy, neither am I your girlfriend, so I can do whatever the f*ck I want."

He cringed and so did I. I had just broken my third rule of not swearing and the fact that I did further annoyed me. I could have just walked away there and then, but I needed to clear things up with Shawn, it didn't matter if we became enemies.

"You just want to have sex with him right? That's what this..." He gestured with his hands. "...is all about huh?"

It felt like I had just been slapped a thousand times across my face. How could Shawn say something like that?

"How could you say a thing like that?"

Shawn didn't regret his words instead he uttered his next words with an acidic tone. "You're just like them, slutty."

I slapped my best friend, a very thunderous slap was what I gave him. His hand flew to touch his left cheek and his jaw fell open in disbelief.

"Go screw yourself." I spoke with resent, and then afraid that I might cry before him, I hurried to my next class. Fortunately, we weren't having a class together till tomorrow. I'd be able to face him then.

When I sat in my chair, I couldn't focus on  Mr. Sam's words, all that occupied me were the words 'slutty' and my tears. I didn't hear when my name was called until my seat mate, Rachael, tapped me gently.

"Huh?" I looked at her in confusion.

"Miss Ross, can you tell me what was the last thing I said?" My teacher requested. All my classmates turned to look at me expectantly. Well, like always, they knew I'd answer the question like any other day, since it's Math, but today, no.

"I don't remember anything, unfortunately. Excuse me..."

I pulled myself out of the class and ran towards the female bathroom with the last energy I possessed.

What a messy day today is.

~••••~

I barricaded my room door as soon as I got home refusing to open up to either my dad or my mother when they came back from work. I really appreciate their genuine concern for my well-being, but the need to wallow in  my thoughts overshadowed my senses. Even when it was time for my favorite TV show, I didn't attempt opening my door even a little.

Huddled on the floor with my knees up to my chest, I bawled my eyes out till I was certain I'd look like a zombie tomorrow, but that was the least of my worries.

My thoughts revolved around the fight I got in with Shawn, well, he started it. He couldn't just expect me to stop talking to a certain stranger like he owned me, and to crown it all, he called me slutty,  me,  Hazel, slutty?

At that point, fresh tears leaked out from my eyes and I wiped them away with a soft cloth.

All my life, I've tried to avoid people as much as I could because I didn't want to get insulted. Although a few people whispered hurtful things about me at school, I didn't mind so long as they didn't come up to my face.

Cowards. I gritted my teeth.

But my own best friend of eight years had the audacity...

"Hazel, you're getting me really worried, are you OK?" My Mom asked from the front of my door.

I glanced in the direction of the door. "Go away mom, I want to be alone." I requested and dug my nails into the soft cloth enclosed in my right hand.

"You've been there for hours now, sweetheart, just open the door and tell me what's wrong." My mom pleaded.

It was futile locking the door against my mom, she'd never leave and if she chooses, a spare key is always available for her to use. And since I don't want her intruding on my privacy without my permission, I might as well open the door while she's asking nicely.

Rising up, I staggered a bit as my muscles were cramped from sitting in a place for too long. I couldn't feel my feet but I managed to hobble towards the door and with a single twist, I  allowed my mom in.

She looked severely worried as her eyes fell on me. I guess my disheveled hair (I pull at my hair whenever I'm in a bad mood) and my red eyes were enough to do the job.

Without uttering a word, I walked with much ease back to my former spot while mom trailed behind me probably arranging suitable things to say.

"You know, you can talk to me." Mom spoke when we had settled down, me on the floor like I loved and she on the edge of my bed.

"I don't feel like it, mom." I grumbled.

Mom watched me with a pointed look on her face. "What?" I asked.

"You're seriously not going to tell me?" She asked in a deliberately slow voice, with a peculiar glow in her eyes.

Now what was she planning on doing?

Instead of answering, my lips pressed shut.

"Hmm... I might as well send out all your embarrassing pictures to Shawn, I know how much he's been asking for them." Mom spoke with mischief in her eyes.

My eyes shone. "No mom, please don't, I'll tell you whatever you need to know." I pleaded, almost laughing at my desperation.

Mom said she wasn't going to carry out her threat but I still had to tell her everything that happened and like my best friend, she listened till my speech ended.

"Well, that was pretty intense." Mom rubbed her forehead like she was trying to figure something out.

I pulled up my knees to my chest. "Yes mom."

"Has he contacted you yet?"

I shook my head. The fact that Shawn hasn't even made a move at apologizing aggravated me more when I think about it. He would probably be somewhere shoving his tongue down Brianna's throat. Surprising how he ended up with her.

Mom opened her mouth again and spoke a lot of words to me and before she left my room, she managed to talk some sense into my head, something about waiting to hear Shawn's part of the story which I wasn't ready to. For now.

After she departed, my phone rang from the corner where I flung it in annoyance. I reached out to it and then climbed onto my bed after connecting the call.

"Hello." I lay face up on my bed.

"Hello Hazel." Charlie's voice swam into my ears earning a smile from me.

"Charlie? How did you get my number?"

"Shawn gave me."

I frowned. Shawn knew how much I hated him giving my number to strangers. Well, Charlie wasn't really a stranger, he seemed like a nice guy. And Shawn and I weren't on speaking terms so rules had to be broken in a way.

"Okay?"

"I was wondering if we could meet up tomorrow after school to discuss our project." Charlie suggested making my eyes widen as I remembered that five days has gone into the deadline given for the completion of the project.

"Sure, no problem. How about the others?"

"They'd be there too." He replied.

"Thanks for calling, I'll save your number."

A little silence and he hung up. Smiling again, I stored Charlie's number and proceeded to move to my study table when my phone rang again. With a groan, I accepted the call.

"Who?" I demanded with less enthusiasm.

A soft chuckle greeted my ear. " Who knew you could be a snob?" A very recognizable voice taunted me making me choke slightly.

"Levi?"

"Your one and only." He replied.

Arrogant much?

"Did you steal my number or something?" I pulled out the chair in front of my study table and sat in it.

"I have my ways. You know every one loves me."

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a jerk."

"What did you say? I didn't quite hear you."

I scoffed, faintly angry at my interrupted study hour. "I said nothing, now get off my phone. I need to read."

Levi laughed smoothly and I noted how melodious the sound was. "Look who we have here, Miss nerdy nerd."

A scowl appeared on my face, masking my amusement. "Go away, Levi." I disconnected the call and abandoned my phone somewhere behind me on the floor. The device buzzed again and I sighed, turning to peer down at it. Jerk was calling back. I ignored him and flipped open my English textbook.

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Who hates the fact that Hazel and Shawn are not on talking terms?

Do you think Shawn went too far or Hazel took every thing he said personally?

What do you think about our new character, Levi? Feel free to imagine him as anyone you have in mind.