Chapter Nine: The Deal

It was very surprising for me to see Daniel walk in the classroom for Journalism period, that day in school. He looked around, apparently to spot any known face & broke into a smile when he spotted me.

"May I?" he asked politely, referring to the empty seat next to me.

"Yeah sure!" I said, greeting him, "You are in Arts class, right?"

"I was in Arts class." he replied, plopping down on the seat, "I proved to myself completely that I can get worse & worst in painting. The professor recommended me to take Journo, so here I am!"

I chuckled at that. Just then the teacher Mrs Flores walked in. After explaining & giving us notes on a particular topic, she touched upon our next assignment.

"So we will henceforth be doing some practical work. For your next project, you have to interview your friends or other students who have excelled in a particular subject or sport. You can even interview professors if you want. So frame interesting questions, try & get interesting answers. You can even shoot a video of the interview if you want. Be as creative as you can."

"Whoa! That sounds cool!" I heard Daniel exclaim. There were similar murmurs in the class. 

Mrs Flores spoke again, "If any of you have decided whom you will interview, you can submit the names."

A girl raised her hand, "Drake Spencer about Football." she said out loud.

"No! I will be interviewing Drake about Mathematics!!!" another girl protested from the back of the class.

"Never! I will take his interview!!" a third girl affirmed.

And soon enough, almost every girl (except me, ofcourse) joined the catfight over interviewing Drake. Mrs Flores was so shocked at the hullaballoo that she couldn't react for a couple of seconds. Jeez!

"That's crazy man!" Daniel exclaimed, amused.

I sat back & enjoyed the catfight which was entertaining for anyone who would watch. I already decided to interview Mark about Computer Science.

"Stop it girls!!!!" Mrs Flores screeched loudly & earned a pin-drop silence in return, "This is a classroom. You are expected to maintain discipline." 

The teacher said sternly. She looked very angry & irritated by all this chaos. Can't blame her really.

"Andrea Wilson." Mrs Flores suddenly fixed her gaze upon me.

"Yes Professor." I replied, startled.

"You're interviewing Drake Spencer, that's final." she said decisively.

I'm sure my eyebrows disappeared out of shock hearing that. I also heard shocking exclaims from the girls who were arguing. 

"But Professor, I don't want to interview him!" I said in defense, terribly blown by the unexpected turn of events.

"That's exactly the reason why I want you to interview him. You seem sensible." the teacher said.

"But I don't----"

"No arguments. Ms Wilson." she interrupted me.

I slumped back into my seat. I better not stretch this further as Mrs Flores could blow up any second.  I spent the next couple of moments cursing my fate. This is called inviting troubles without doing anything wrong. Sigh!

And yeah, those girls were staring at me with pure hatred. God help the world.

"Hey! I'm sure it won't be that bad. Drake will co-operate." Daniel assured me after the class.

"You very well know my equation with Drake. Even then you're saying that." I said, sulking.

"Well...ah! Positivity should always be welcome." he said lightly.

I sighed, "I think you're right."

**

I didn't know where exactly to find Drake. I don't know how things are gonna work out with him. My project is at stake this time & he is sure to take advantage of this fact. I spotted the same spectacled guy who was doing Drake's Physics detention the other day, passing the corridor.

"Excuse me," I called out to him. He turned at my direction.

"Uh..have you seen Drake anywhere?" I asked him.

"I think he just went to the Computer lab." he replied.

I thanked him. I was about to leave when he called out from behind.

"Hey listen!" he walked upto me & then spoke again, "Actually, that day, Drake didn't force me to do his detention work. He had helped me a great deal to sort out a problem, I wanted to return the kindness by doing the journal work for him."

O...kay?I seriously don't know how to react to this. The guy seemed to speak the truth. He walked away, leaving me to have second thoughts about my opinion of Drake.

**

The corridor leading to the computer lab seemed so deserted as if no one had been there since ages. When I pushed open the door of the lab, I saw Drake at a computer, his face scrunched up in deep serious concentration as he stared at the screen, occasionally using the keyboard. He was alone in the entire lab.

"Ermm....Drake?" I called out unsurely.

He looked up sharply at me as if he didn't appreciate being even slightly disturbed. He rose to his feet & started advancing towards me, his sharp eyes penetrating into me. I couldn't think of what to say or do. My legs started walking backwards in reflex as he inched closer to me. And then, I suddenly felt the hard wall behind me. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head & leaned closer to my face, trapping me between him & the wall...

"What are you doing here? You broke my focus." he accused, staring hard into my eyes, his looks & voice was so intimidating & kind of....well....sexy.

"I...I..." I fumbled, realizing I couldn't even blink my eyes. With great difficulty, I tore my gaze away from him.

"I need to interview you about football. Its for my Journo project."I said.

"I see. Is the project very important for you?." I heard him whisper in a velvety voice.

"I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't. That's common sense."

I saw his lips curl into a smirk through the corner of my eye.

"As much as I want to, I can't be nice to you. So I will help you on one condition."

"What condition?" I looked at him, curiously.

"You wash my car. I have an interview with you. Its a deal." he said, smirking.

"What rubbish!!!" I was shocked to my roots, "Are you nuts??"

"What did you think? You will come her running & I will be extremely delighted to help you?" he asked mockingly.

"I will never wash your car!!! So stop dreaming about it!!" I retorted.

"I have nothing to lose if you don't do what I say. Simple." he said calmly.

Arggg!!!!

"I will complain about you!!" I threatened him.

"So you're a crybaby after all?" he taunted.

I glared at him, "Fine!!! You've got yourself the deal."

"Good to know that. Should I tell you the way to the janitor's closet or will you figure it out on your own?" he asked, smirking as he stepped away from me.

I gave him my best death glare & prepared to walk out. I heard him saying from behind,

"Make sure you wash the car properly. I've got a hot date tonight."

I stormed out of there. I was right!!! He is a modern age devil!!! Ugh!

***

Drake had parked his car in a place where no one usually comes. Its good because it would be embarrassing for me if someone happens to see me wash a car. I filled the bucket with water & mixed car soap water, put on my gloves & started cleaning the car. God knows how much time it will take to do all this. I literally felt like setting the car on fire as payback but I kept my devilish ideas aside as I needed my project done. Sigh!

I was doing the windows when---

"Andy??? What the hell are you doing?" I heard Laura's alarmed voice from behind.

I turned to see her & Soph standing with expressions of shock on their face.

"Ermm..." I stared at them foolishly. I knew I was looking absolutely an idiot with my dress & hair in a mess.

I sighed, telling them the entire story.

"Told you. Don't mess with Drake. This is what happens." Sophia said, sighing.

"I hate Drake even more now!!!" I whined.

"But hey! Why are you doing this alone when even we can help!" Laura said.

"Absolutely!" Sophia said.

"Never!" I protested, "Why would you two wash car? Trust me, I am fine!"

"Yeah right." Soph said, ignoring me & turning to Laura, "Lets get extra gloves & buckets."

They sprinted away & were back soon with extra things. They put on the gloves & began to clean the car with me. I tried to tell them I can manage on my own but they didn't listen. But things do get less boring & less difficult when you have your friends!

"God! I'm not liking it this way! We need to spice up stuff!" Soph exclaimed after a while.

Laura & I gave her what-do-you-mean looks.

Soph shook her head & sprinted away. Laura & I were wondering what she was up to. Soph came back with a portable CD player.

"Where did you get this?" I asked surprised.

"I borrowed it from the security people." Soph replied, "Lets play One Direction songs." she said, taking out music CD's from her bag.

"You carry One Direction CDs in your school bag?" Laura asked amused.

"Yep!" she replied, inserting the CD into the player & that's it!

It feels like we've been livin' in fast forward

Another moment passing by

(Up up up all night)

The party's ending but it's now or never

Nobody's going home tonight

(Up up up all night)

The song seemed to lift our minds & we actually began to enjoy ourselves in the tedious work that we were doing. We played 'Kiss You', 'Best Song Ever' & many other 1D songs. We washed the car, giggled, danced, sprayed water on each other & even made soap bubbles. Never knew washing a car could be so much fun! Before we knew it, the car was spic & span. Yay!

"I didn't want you to have fun while washing my car."

All the laughter & merriment stopped the moment that voice fell onto our ears. Soph turned off the CD player seeing Drake,

"I didn't want you to have helping hands Nosey." he said to me, referring to my friends.

"That's not fair!! You wanted to get your car washed. You've got that. It is none of your concerns how I did it." I retorted.

He smiled slyly at that.

"Would you mind to leave cause I have to discuss the second part of the deal with Nosey." he said to Laura & Soph.

Second part of the deal???What the hell is he talking about?

I gave I-will-be-alright look to my friends. They nodded & left. Drake & I were alone. He walked upto me. I already was standing against the car. He rested his hand on the top of his car & leaned closer to me again. A smirk formed at the edges of his lips. I looked straight into his eyes & spoke with razor sharpness,

"Now what do you want??"

His fingers moved upto my face & he removed the foam from one of my curls.

"Well...ah, since you've worked so hard on my car, I rather take you out tonight." he said huskily.

THAT was a BIG jolt for me!! 

"Never!! Never!!!" I refused violently.

"No interview for you then." he said calmly.

"That's not fair!!" I snapped, feeling my anger rise every passing moment.

"I didn't say I would make it fair either!" he smirked.

Argg!!!

"What will you do if Mark comes to know about this?"

"Oh its your responsibility to see to it that he is not aware of this." he said, "See you tonight then."

Drake stepped back & walked away smirking while I glared at his retreating form.

Damn it!!!!!I've never gone out with a guy till date & now I am going out with a guy I hate the most!!! How ironic can life get??? 

~*~*~*~~*

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