• [ d i s t o r t i o n o f d i s a s t e r ] •

♥ louisa ♥

THERE IS ONLY one thing in the world that you can give too much of without the capability to ask for it back. An invisible gift you can carefully hand to someone else in hope that they'll look after it when in reality, you don't know whether they will.

A piece of your self.

The true you beneath those social pressures.

What people don't realise is that sometimes, the true you isn't exactly a gift that should be treasured but a horrible abstraction that should be hidden deep down. Something too ugly for a beautiful world like our own. Something that was once a gift but transfigured into a complex distortion of disaster, confusion and mistakes.

This deceiving part of us seems to resurface when you feel vulnerable or broken and in that moment it can manipulate you until it feels completely right to show this 'self' to another person. The only issue is that majority of people tend to regret it as soon as they wake up the next morning.

I had been feeling that exact emotion for the past couple days. I rolled in bed, my pillow pressed against my head in a pathetic attempt to mute the wretched alarm. Regardless of what ringtone I chose, mornings like these were the worst; mornings where I felt like I'd just been a fucking punch bag. I winced as I accidentally leant on a bruise and quickly sat up.

It had been three days since I last stood foot in Forteux Academy and I was dreading going back today. Most of the past days had been spent praying that Gabriel hadn't exposed me to the whole damn school. I kept reassuring myself that if he had, I would have known about it by now.

After a quick shower, I covered my bruises, deliberately wearing a long sleeve turtleneck dress, before driving to Forteux in my red Bugatti Veyron.

After parking the car, I walked into the main reception tapping my ID card and taking in the familiar oak-lined buildings, accessorised with gold-coated decorations.

An Asian girl with high cheekbones and a slim face, who was a member of my business class, rushed away from her group of friends towards me. "You weren't in the last lesson Louisa, but I took an extra set of notes for you so you wouldn't have to copy them out. Here."

I blinked at her, wondering how ridiculously long that must have taken. I wasn't going to deny them though. Less Business coursework for me. I nodded at her, taking them from her hand yet she pulled the notes away at the last minute.

"But in return, I can sit with you and the elite at lunch? And come to two- wait for three- no four! of your parties?" Her dark eyes flashed courageously as she asked me, hoping to use this opportunity to climb up the social levels. How could I forget that everyone was desperate to claw to the top, unaware of how lifeless it was up here?

A hollow laugh slipped out of my mouth as I rolled my eyes. Giving her a sickly sweet smile, I shoved her hand away. "Keep the notes, sweetheart. I could barely read that pathetic excuse of handwriting anyway."

She shrank back slightly, embarrassed as her friends mocked her. "And next time, think twice before you ask stupid questions. It's a waste of my time and yours."

I began stalking away until I heard her nasally voice mumble something in the background. "If you can let a newbie like Gabriel Reid sit with you, why can't I do that? You're just threatened that someone else is going to steal Logan away."

Be my fucking guest.

I kept my face stoic yet I was aware her conclusions were perfectly logical. The fact remained that I was too scared to make any sudden change that could trigger his memory again. Deciding to walk away and act as if I'd never heard her, I retraced what had happened a couple of days ago.

Gabriel finding me had been an absolute mockery of fate. The stars seemed to find it utterly hilarious to make him of all people sit on the same bus as me.

I sat down in my English class, groaning at the exact voice I was thinking of. "Lou, is that you?"

"Gabe, is that you?" I said, sarcastically whilst flipping open my folder. The scowl forming on his full pinkish lips gave away that he still hated it.

I'd forgotten that I was partnered with him for English.

When his eyes glazed over me, I felt exposed despite the numerous layers of clothing I wore. I knew he was searching for any of the bruises he'd seen at the weekend and he wasn't being very subtle about it. I raised an eyebrow when his eyes lingered on my chest for longer than necessary.

I hated how his eyes had softened considerably by the time he met my eyes again. I was a Queen here. I didn't need anything as stupid as sympathy.

My jaw tensed as I waited for Mr Holland to shut up. His mouth was like a yo-yo and never seemed to stop moving; he was either going on about Shakespeare or messing about with that 15-year-old.

I tapped my manicured nails on the table as I brushed my hair away from my shoulders. Gabriel's grey eyes had been boring into the side of my face throughout the entirety of Mr Holland's lecture and I took this opportunity to stare him down until he smirked and looked away.

Only a second had passed until Gabriel started talking again.

"How are you?" He rested his tired face on the palms of his hand, watching me carefully. The sculpted contours of his face seemed to be even sharper today as if he hadn't slept for a few days.

"Never been better. You?" I said, curtly.

"Not this again." From the corner of my eye, I saw him drag a veined hand down his face. "I thought we'd passed the 'I'm not okay but I'm going to say I am anyway' stage," Gabriel said, raising his voice in a ridiculous nasally pitch in a mocking attempt to mimic mine.

I shot him an annoyed look, still frustrated at myself for pathetically crying in front of him. This was beyond embarrassing. "I'm genuinely fine," I said.

All I got in response was an eye roll.

He leant towards me causing me to freeze up. I felt his minty breath by my ear, causing a shiver to slowly creep up my back. From the corner of my eye, I noticed his unnecessarily long eyelashes brush against each other. He began to whisper into my ear incomprehensibly as the familiar scent of his cologne engulfed me.

I quickly pushed me away before I fell into a pitiful of those memories again. "What are you doing? Get away from me." My voice sounded more alarmed than I intended it to me, yet if Gabriel noticed, he didn't seem to show it.

"So did you go to a doctor that day or was that another one of your pretty lies?" He continued, this time much louder.

My face dropped as I looked around to make sure nobody else was listening. "Are you crazy? We are not talking about that right now. Or ever," I hushed aggressively worried that somebody else could have overheard.

He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt as he tutted at me, "That's why I whispered the first time, genius." It was reminiscent of what I'd called him when I gave him a lift weeks ago. "But someone was too scared that they're not going to be able to resist the charm of Gabriel Reid if they were a mere metre away from him."

I let out an enraged breath, "Don't patronise-"

"I'm being serious, Louisa. This is serious. Whatever that was is serious," he said, gesturing at me as a lump formed in my throat. I felt a huge shift in mood, making me a million times more uncomfortable.

Gabriel didn't have the right to know about that. That was between Logan and me, and I hated myself for allowing him to see me when I was at my most vulnerable.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the same girl who'd bitched about me earlier. She was glaring daggers at me but quickly looked away when I gazed in her direction. She seemed way too intrigued with my conversation with Gabriel for my liking.

I'd have to tell the girls to sort her out.

"This is not the time," I hissed lowly at Gabriel. He seemed too at ease with me. My dark eyes locked with his cloudy orbs. "What you saw that night doesn't change anything between us. As far as you know, that day never happened. That wasn't me and you don't know anything about me or the rest of us."

"Actually, I do kn-"

"No, you don't." I interrupted, fiercely. My subconscious warned me of how harsh I was being yet I couldn't control myself. "You know nothing-"

He rested his head on his sharp jawline. "Louisa, you really didn't look good. Just tell me what happened." A flicker of concern and dare I say sympathy flashed in his eyes.

I leant towards him so my face was inches from his starling him a little, snapping.

"I'm only going to say this once more, Gabriel so I suggest you listen carefully. What happens in my life is my business and has got absolutely nothing to do with you," I said bitterly, pronouncing each syllable harshly. "In case you didn't notice, people respect me around here and I'd appreciate it if you respected me enough to know that I'd take care of myself. In other words, just back off."

"Gee, I'm so intimidated. Will the spoilt little Louisa Darling tattle to her Daddy?" He lifted his arched eyebrow suggestively as I fought back a blush. I'd worked with influential models before and Gabriel would have topped them all.

This is not the fucking time, Louisa. Get a grip.

"You're more stupid than you let on if you think that's all the heiress of a multi-million-pound company can do, Gabriel."

I deliberately flickered my eyes to the girl next to us Harry Knightley, who was flicking through almost naked pictures of a high Lexi from the party and laughing. Gabriel followed my gaze before locking eyes with me again. His eyebrows raised slowly in understanding. "Is that a threat?"

"Think of it as you may."

He laughed although I could have sworn I saw a flicker of fear or worry in his eye for a moment. He tapped his fingers gently in a little dance over the back on my hand which rested on the table, deadly silent for a couple of moment.

When he looked up again his eyes seemed to sparkle in a challenge before he leant towards me. "Well. If anything Louisa, that seems to have made me all the more determined to find what the hell's going on in your elite little circle."

Ahhh and it continues... Louisa and Gabriel's relationship is going to get a lot more wild now! Don't worry, you'll soon find out how the other characters are doing after that dramatic night. Updates will be getting more consistent (fingers crossed) as I have a lot more time! Much love!
KiwiAndKoalas x

♥ 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! ♥