Chapter 39
I hope you all enjoyed the kiss in the last chapter.. after 38 chapters it finally happened :P And thank you for all the comments and votes too! Without further ado, here's the next chapter!
------------------
"You’re so going to win this election, babe," Carter said, ripping open the wrapper of a ‘Vote Courtney’ candy bar and taking a big bite. "These things are delicious."
"Hey, don’t eat that!" Courtney said, slapping his arm gently and pouting. "That’s supposed to bribe someone to vote for me."
"Well, you’ve got my vote," Carter said, winking, as his hand slapped Courtney’s butt playfully.
She giggled stupidly, swiping his hand away and pecking him on the lips instead. "Come on, you’ve got to help me hand these out. We don’t have much time before class, and there’s only a few more days until the election."
As the pair of them pushed open the glass doors of the school entrance and walked into the main hallway, Courtney immediately got to work on thrusting candy bars at every person that passed. "Vote for me!" she chorused, flashing a signature smile at each one of them.
She had handed out about five bars when her heart dropped and she stopped suddenly in her tracks, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock as she stared at the bright walls of the hallway.
"Hey, what’s up..." Carter said, his voice trailing off as he bumped into Courtney’s back. He glanced at his girlfriend, studying her shocked expression, before transferring his eyes to her line of sight.
"No..." was the only word that escaped Courtney’s lips. Her eyes were still fixed on the poster on the wall, and she showed no signs of movement. Her body was numbed with shock and dread, which was beginning to be replaced by hatred for the individual responsible.
"No!" she repeated, a little louder this time. She lurched forward towards the poster, reaching her hands up and tearing at the corners. The poster had only been attached with a staple, so it was relatively easy to take town, and a large tear appeared through the middle of the poster as the two pieces fell limply to the floor.
She stood back, a feeling of relaxation beginning to wash over her as the photo of her face lay distorted from the tear. But this was short lived as when her eyes flickered to the next wall, she was greeted by her grinning brace-filled eighth grade face. Above the photo, were the huge words saying ‘Don’t vote Courtney’. And everywhere she looked, the same image was smiling down at her.
Her head was spinning, and as her eyes flicked desperately from one wall to another, hoping to see just one bare space, she grew increasingly despairing.
"Help me take them down!" she squealed to Carter, leaping at the walls and clawing at the posters with her manicured nails. Usually, she would’ve been concerned about breaking a nail or chipping the varnish, but in her current state of desperation, her mind was completely focused on the goal of preventing anyone from seeing that picture.
"You got it, babe."
As she desperately tugged at the fifth poster on the wall, she heard a cackling laugh behind her. "Good luck with that. There are way too many posters for you to take down, and anyway..." Alyssa smiled, stepping forward. "Everyone’s already seen them."
"You..." Courtney said, stepping away from the wall and approaching Alyssa.
"What?" Alyssa asked innocently, a smile playing on her lips. "I’m only reminding Serenity Falls of the real Courtney Powell, behind all of that slutty make-up. And who would want that as their president, hmm?" She nodded towards a poster.
"That photo was taken years ago!" Courtney protested, narrowing her eyes. "Are you really going to play it this way, Alyssa?"
"I’ll do whatever it takes to win," she answered coolly, lifting her hand closer to her face and inspecting her nail. "And if that means bringing you down, then so be it."
"Well good luck with that," Courtney said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let me tell you something. Serenity Falls is sick of you and your stupid little spoilt attitude. Just because your dad’s rich doesn’t mean you automatically control everybody."
"You were quite happy to hang around with me when I wanted," Alyssa pointed out, her voice still confident. "So don’t try and kid yourself. It’s only because no one likes you anymore that you’re making out you hate me. Maybe if you hadn’t been such a skank in the first place, you would be better off."
"Carter’s much happier with me, anyway," Courtney said, now clinging onto one of the only things that she had over Alyssa that she knew would irritate her. "And I don’t blame him. Who could be happy when they were with a pathetic little skank like you?"
"Oh, don’t flatter yourself, babe," Alyssa laughed. "He’ll be onto another bimbo soon. Just prepare yourself to walk in on them having sex in the broom closet. Trust me, it’ll happen."
"Uh, excuse me?" Carter had appeared at Courtney’s side now, his eyes narrowed at his ex-girlfriend.
"Oh, how lovely of you to join us," Alyssa said sarcastically, tossing her blonde curls behind her shoulders. "Protecting your little girlfriend, are you? How noble."
"Just get out of here, Alyssa," he said, his voice threatening. "What you’ve done here is just downright immature. You think people are going to vote for you now?"
"Oh, and defacing all of my posters was the height of maturity, wasn’t it, Carter?" She smiled smugly as she watched the both of them struggle to think of a response. "You’re going to lose this election, Courtney, and then we’ll see who’s laughing."
She shot a confident look at the pair of them, before turning on her heel and stalking off down the hallway, glossy hair bouncing on her shoulders.
Courtney turned to Carter and narrowed her eyes. "We have to take her down. And we have to think of something that’s going to completely destroy her and her stupid little campaign. But first... help me take down these posters," she added quickly, before returning to the job of ripping down all evidence of that hideous photo of herself.
***
"I’m home!" Alyssa called to no one in particular as she stepped inside her house. Rain was pouring outside and the interchangeable spring weather was starting to get on her nerves – just this morning it had been glorious sunshine, and now the sky was covered by a gloomy stretch of grey cloud.
She tossed her umbrella onto the stand by the door, sending small droplets of rainwater flying onto the cold marble floor that stretched for the entire length of the entrance hall.
Her heels tapping on the ground, she strode into the kitchen like she always did, expecting to be greeted by only the housekeeper Ruby or any other members of her staff, but this was not the case.
"Alyssa!" said a voice. A familiar voice, and yet not one she had heard recently. And she could not help but notice that it sounded almost stiff and formal.
"Dad?" she said, frowning in disbelief. She stood there for a moment, looking at the figure who was dressed in a dull grey suit and sensible black shoes. His usually blonde hair was tinged with grey and he looked older than she had remembered. Maybe it was the stress from the business that had aged him, but Alyssa was sure that the market had been looking good lately – he had told her that the last time he had spoken to her on the phone. It was probably that Alyssa had not seen him in person for months now, and that was the reason why he appeared to have changed such a great deal.
Next to him stood Tiffani, who looked smug in a lacy black Dolce & Gabbana dress, her arm linked in Mr Taylor’s. She had her other arm placed firmly on her hip and she looked down her nose as she inspected Alyssa’s appearance.
"What are you doing here?" Alyssa asked, placing her tiny leather school bag on the counter.
"Thanks for the welcoming," her father said sarcastically, his face firm. Then he softened, outstretching his arms and gesturing for Alyssa to hug him.
She did so, but it was extremely awkward and his grey suit felt scratchy and unpleasant against her skin. She broke away quickly, stepping backwards and putting a somewhat fake smile on her face.
"How was your business trip?" she asked, her sweet smile a demonstration of the ‘perfect daughter’ act which she so often used when he was around. After all, she did not want to spend what precious little time she had with him arguing, and plus, if aggravated too much, it was not unlikely that he would punish her by cancelling her credit cards – a punishment Alyssa would rather die than endure.
"It was okay," he answered, shrugging as if it was nothing important – which was unusual, as he usually never missed an opportunity to boast about his business successes. "But the real reason I’m here is the news."
"What news?" Alyssa frowned, tilting her head slightly.
Her father smiled knowingly, putting an arm round Tiffani’s shoulders and smiling down at her. "It’s Tiffani’s news, really."
Alyssa rolled her eyes at the mention of that name. She glanced at her, an irritated look upon her face as she watched Tiffani grin up at her father in a way that made her want to vomit. She was still such a suck-up, despite the fact that they were married. "You can tell her, Richard," Tiffani cooed.
"Babe, it’s your news, isn’t it? You should be the one to tell it," her father said back, in an equally sickly voice.
"But it’s both of ours," Tiffani said, the smile never leaving her face.
"Um, hello?" Alyssa said suddenly, causing them both to look at her sharply. She rolled her eyes. "Can you just hurry up and tell me?"
Her father glanced at his wife for approval and then looked at her again, a smile playing on his lips. "Well..." he said. "Tiffani’s pregnant."
If Alyssa had been drinking at that moment, she would’ve spit it out in shock. Tiffani – pregnant? She couldn’t think of anything worse. Her face was a pure picture of astonishment, with the definite hint of terror.
"See, I told you she’d be pleased," said her father, looking down at Tiffani again, who was grinning up at him stupidly, in a way that brought the image of a clingy little puppy to Alyssa’s mind. "You’re excited, aren’t you, Alyssa? A little one in the family."
"Are you kidding me?" were the only words that Alyssa could manage to get out of her mouth. Thoughts were racing through her mind at the speed of light. Tiffani and a baby. The two things just didn’t go together in a sentence, let alone real life.
"No, we’re not kidding," Tiffani said smugly, placing her hands protectively over her stomach, although she just looked stick-thin as always and there was no hint of a bump. "Our little baby."
Mr Taylor smiled back at her and placed his free hand over her stomach too, as if there was a bulge there already. "You’re going to be a great mom, Tiff."
"Tiffani? A great mom? Are you kidding me, Dad? You know she can barely look after a plant, let alone a baby! She’ll be too busy going shopping with her friends to take care of a kid!"
"Alyssa," her father said, his face suddenly firm. "I know this is a shock to you, but you must try to be happy for us, yes? This is a great thing – for everyone."
"It’s not great for me," Alyssa said, narrowing her eyes spitefully. "You’re just going to piss right off on some business trip so you don’t have to deal with it, and Tiffani will thrust the thing at a nanny as soon as possible. And then it’ll be me who has to put up with the sound of a crying baby twenty four hours a day!"
"Alyssa," Mr Taylor warned, shooting a stern look at his daughter.
"You know it’s true, Dad!" she shouted, slamming her hands down on the counter forcefully. "You can deny it all you like, but everyone knows it’s true!"
"Go to your room!" Mr Taylor shouted suddenly, his voice echoing round the bare marble kitchen. He paused for a second, studying the expression on Alyssa’s face as she stood there, unsure of how to react. He did not usually shout at his daughter, and this was evident in the atmosphere of the room.
Alyssa’s eyes glinted as they threatened to spill over with tears. She blinked furiously, determined not to let her father – and Tiffani – see her upset. ‘Gladly,’ she shot back, her voice full of spite.
But as she stormed out of the room and pounded up the cream carpeted stairs, she was unable to stop the salty tears from streaming down her make-up covered face.
------------------
:O What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know! I love reading them :-) Until next time...
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top