Chapter Twelve - Horoscope Approved

I had this enigmatic connection with libraries. I wasn't a bibliophile; honestly, I couldn't remember the last time I'd picked up a book that wasn't meant for academics, yet I loved being in a library.

Maybe it was the different colours. Or the calm.

"Shit!" Meera cried out loud, causing several heads to snap up from their peaceful reading to look at her.

Cheryl and I turned at the same time to find her standing near the shelves, staring at the pool of books she'd just dropped near her feet, slowly lifting her gaze to the pissed off librarian who glared at her from across the room.

We quickly jumped to our feet to help with the mess and started gathering the books in our arms.

"Thanks, guys!" Meera muttered. "She almost blasted me with her laser vision."

"What are you even doing with all those books?" an annoyed voice asked from the table behind us. I turned to the source and felt a speck of irritation at the sight of her. It was Ashley. She was holding a book in her hands, which she had lowered to frown at us.

"Um reading?" Meera raised a brow.

"Really?" She chuckled. "You read? Either of you read? That's new."

Maybe it was a cheerleader thing or a popular person thing to be so unnecessarily rude to everyone.

"Yeah at least we started at some point," I said with a forced smile. "Anyway, is that a picture book you're holding?"

She pressed her lips together and shut the book, glaring at me. "They're called comics, Rebekah."

"Yeah no. I can see the cover, Ashley."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and shoved the book in her backpack, zipped it close and got up to leave but her eyes caught something at the entrance of the library and lit up.

I turned my head and froze when I saw Sean walking in with Chad.

My head first dive behind the bookshelf couldn't be any faster. There was no thought behind that action. I just took a dive like an aimless dolphin.

Meera shot me a hopeless look and shook her head, exchanging a glance with Cheryl and they both looked so done with me. I facepalmed myself. Now why the hell did I do that when the ice between me and Sean had broken already? Or was it? That hadn't been a proper conversation. He had only complimented my voice and my t-shirt. And he had cheered for me against Rebecca.

Shit! I was an idiot.

But now, I knew that I couldn't just walk out because all eyes would be on me and I was in no way prepared for that with Sean yet.

Carefully ducking behind the giant shelf, I took a peek through the gaps between the books, thankful for my lower vantage point.

"Hey," Sean said probably to Ashley and my heart fluttered at his voice.

Once he was close enough to be in my view, Ashley threw her arms around him and to my annoyance, planted a kiss on his cheek. "Hey, babe."

My heart was burning.

"Meera. Cheryl," Chad said as a greeting to my friends while looking around. "I thought I saw Becks here when I walked in. Where did she go?"

My eyes widened and I desperately looked around for something. I quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf and hid my face behind it.

"I don't know." Meera let out a nervous chuckle, scooting a little to her right to block me as best as she could from their view. "She's kind of crazy about these books. Must have disappeared somewhere in these shelves. No point looking for her now."

"Well, tell her that was really cool with Rebecca Morgan. The way she accepted the challenge so fearlessly." Once again, he looked around and right before his eyes could fall on the narrow slit I was watching them through, I buried my face in the book.

"I agree."

My jaw dropped and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp. That was Sean. I couldn't help but watch him again, as risky as it was with Chad's searching eyes.

"Wait." Ashley frowned at Sean. "You know her?"

"Are you kidding?" Chad scoffed. "Who doesn't know her? Did you not hear her on the stage the other day?"

"I did and it wasn't even that special. No offense..." she paused to throw a look around just in case I was listening. "...but we're always hyping people unnecessarily at this school."

"Yeah. That explains you being the head cheerleader," Meera clapped back and I had to kill the urge to jump out of my hiding and hug the shit out of her. Ashley's mouth fell open in surprise.

Chad, on the other hand, let out a laugh and nodded at Meera. "That was a good one."

A little taken aback, Ashley masked her embarrassment with annoyance and narrowed her eyes. "What did you just—"

"Anyway," Sean cut in, throwing Chad a subtle warning look, not like he was defending Ashley but like he was somehow saving Chad from her tantrums as he asked her as a distraction, "you wanted to see me?"

It barely took her a fraction of a second to turn her head to Sean and morph her glare into a sweet smile for him as her bright mood returned and she lifted herself on her tip toes to lock her arms around his neck. "Of course I wanted to see you, babe. We haven't talked in the last twenty four hours."

"Yeah..." He started to wriggle himself free as politely as possible and she reluctantly let go. "Yesterday I was caught up in homework all afternoon and at night, I went out clubbing with the guys."

"On a school night, baby? We talked about—"

"And then I hooked up with someone. So..." He shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't text."

I almost burst out laughing. No kidding. My laugh was seconds away from leaving my lips but I held it back. But Chad did not. His lips broke into a wide grin directed straight at Ashley as if rubbing it in and once he looked at Meera, a laugh escaped his mouth which he lamely concealed with a cough. I couldn't see the faces of my friends but I could bet they were laughing on the inside too.

Ashley cleared her throat, throwing a look of betrayal at Sean and turning her head away as she said in a cold voice, "I'll see you later."

"Sure."

And with that, she made a beeline for the exit.

I felt kind of sad for her.

And there was only a small part of me that was amused over Ashley's disappointment. Because the other part of me felt just what she did in that moment—jealousy.

But at least now I knew that things weren't serious between him and Ashley. I could still pursue him.

I really had to do something other than cowering away if I wanted a chance with him.

*****

"What did Matt say about the training?" Cheryl asked while mindlessly pricking her mashed potatoes with her fork, leaving a trail of tiny dots all over it.

Even though that conversation with Matt had happened less than twenty hours ago, I'd had to control the urge to karate chop him at least seventy times since then every time I recalled it.

"I call him an immoral asshole for a reason."

"He refused?" She was surprised. Well, I couldn't blame her. She didn't know him after all.

"You have no idea," I spoke through gritted teeth. "You should've seen him. God! He's so arrogant, so full of himself. Just the thought of him makes me wanna stab someone."

"I can talk to him for you if you want, Becks," Mack said, quietly collecting all the forks on our table and hiding them inside his jacket. We eyed him weirdly. Just being careful, he mouthed.

"And what? Beg him to train me? No thanks. I'm good. I can learn music by myself."

"That's right, girl!" Meera nodded proudly. "You don't need him. What's YouTube for anyway?"

I pointed finger guns at her. "See? That's a plan."

"Can we have our forks back now?" she asked Mack, to which he cut a glance at me and whispered, "she still looks pissed."

I glared.

"Loosen up, Becks." He chuckled, handing out our forks to us one by one. We started eating in silence but it wasn't until Meera spoke up after finishing her food that I realized my bestie had actually started planning my music training.

"Let's begin right away," she said, taking me by surprise.

"What?" I blinked. "Right now?"

"Yes. It's your lucky day. It's our lucky day. Us Aquarians are gonna seize it."

"Huh?"

"I read our horoscope." She rolled her eyes. "It's a good day to start something new."

"Okay then." I scratched my head, a little unsure. But when I saw her enthusiasm as she jumped out of her seat and swung her backpack across her shoulders, I realized we were actually doing it right then.

"Let's go find an empty classroom." Cheryl rubbed her hands in excitement.

"I don't know." Mack pouted at her. "I thought we could make out in the bathroom, babe."

She batted her lashes at him and blew him an air kiss. "Keep dreaming, Macky. Come on now, Becks."

"Okay. Let's go." Still hesitant, I hadn't started walking until Meera had grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards the classrooms.

"Can we please start with an Ariana Grande song? I love her!" she said excitedly, pulling her phone out. "You wanna do karaoke?"

"No. I need to know where I stand without the background. You guys be honest with me, okay?"

"You got it." Mack nodded and sat on the front seat attentively, throwing his arm over Cher's shoulder, saying something in her ear to which she grinned and shook her head at him.

I closed my eyes with an inhale and opened them, exhaled and started singing the song.

"Heaven sent you to me..."

Once again, my friends' faces lit up with wonder just like they did during the assembly. When I began enjoying the song and snapping my fingers for the beats, they smiled like proud parents and I grinned when Meera started mouthing the lyrics with me and broke into dance moves.

"...never need no no one else, babe, 'cause I'll be switching—"

A laugh made me stop abruptly and our heads snapped towards the doorway. Rebecca walked in with a snobbish smirk, followed by her number one minion/best friend June.

"Poor Becks. It's more like," she hit a pause and in the very next moment, started singing.

"I'll be switching the positions for you..."

And my jaw dropped 'cause damn! She sounded like a freaking professional. No background, just her original voice right there. It was too good to be real and I hated admitting that, even to myself.

A few students in the vicinity of classroom must have heard her as they filled the room-no, crowded the room. I couldn't spot one empty desk anymore as people had climbed on them instead of just settling in the chair. Maybe they just wanted a prime view of the drama.

And it wasn't until Rebecca winked at someone, did I realize that Matt was standing in the doorway.

"Perfect, perfect, you're too good to be true..." she sang.

A little smirk curled across my enemy's lips before his eyes fell on me and lit up at my misery as he crossed his arms arrogantly.

Great! Weren't these two just perfect for each other? I had a hundred problems in my life and there'd be two less without these two.

Rebecca seductively cut her eyes at him like she was taking him for a hot and heavy make-out session in a classroom after this. Probably just like he did with that cheerleader. I wondered if Rebecca knew about that. Maybe not. I suddenly had the urge to show her the picture I had clicked just to wipe that annoying little smirk off her face.

Then I found myself cringing at the images that had formed in my head-flashes of two people I hated the most going at it. I looked away and once Rebecca was done, she bowed down to the little audience clapping for her, sucking up all that praise.

Her perky eyes fell on me. "Thought I'd give you a little glimpse of what you're up against."

"Thanks, but next time, save it for someone who asks." I kept a straight face.

"You're welcome." She shrugged, pleased with herself as she retraced her steps and while walking out, stopped in front of Matt and leaned up to his face expectantly but he remained still, then he said something inaudible, to which she pulled away reluctantly and left. It looked like he was blowing her off. Not surprising.

Then my enemy's head turned to me, his haughty eyes moving across my face smugly and I had expected nothing less from him. I knew he was going to gloat and that's exactly what he was doing. Rebecca singing an entire verse to rub it in my face hadn't bothered me as much as watching my enemy gloat had.

I could almost hear him mocking me with 'poor Becks' when he gave a small shake of his head with fake sympathy. So, when I said 'fuck off' in my head and glowered at him, I hoped he'd heard it. Maybe he did. Because his lips curled into an infuriating little smirk and he bid me adieu by throwing a two-finger wave before finally walking away, leaving me standing there fuming.

The students started clearing out and, in that moment, I realized I was going to lose the challenge. I knew it. What hurt even more was the fact that I could spend six weeks, hell even six months, preparing for it and my voice still wasn't going to be anything like Rebecca's.

I was too busy wallowing in self-pity when I noticed someone in the crowd. It was Sean. He saw it all. Shit!

This time, he didn't look at me with his beautiful, encouraging smile before walking away. He just left like one would leave the theatre after a mediocre movie. This was bad. I turned around to my friends, their expressions slightly dropped, mirroring my mood.

"I can't win this, can I?"

"You can!" Meera argued, probably after convincing herself first. "There's nothing you can't do if you put your heart into it, remember?"

I was feeling very dejected. "You heard her. She's too good."

"So what?" Mack scoffed. "Were you not there when everyone was cheering for you against her? You're good, Becks."

"Maybe everyone just hates her and it had nothing to do about me being good."

"She hasn't even started training yet and imposter syndrome has already kicked in." Meera shook her head. "You. Were. Good. What's it gonna take for you to believe that? Do you really think we'd lie to you just to make you feel better? We don't do that. Not us. You know that."

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

"Hey," Mack walked up to me. "Let me talk to Matt."

I grunted in response. That name.

"You just saw him, didn't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, but..." he trailed off, having nothing to argue with.

"No."

"But, Becks. He is your best shot."

"As much as I hate admitting it, yes he is," I stared into space. Desperate times always birthed the best ideas, or at least good enough ideas to get one out of their desperate situation. Suddenly, a little idea was forming in my head. "You're right, Mack. But I'll convince him."

"Excuse me?" Meera raised a brow. "You? Convincing him? How?"

Fear always came with a breaking point. It can only scare you up to a certain degree. After that, you either break down completely or you become numb and do the craziest thing to beat that fear. I was scared of losing the challenge and my pride until my two main nemeses had pushed me to that breaking point. Now I didn't care if I won or lost because in some way, I had already accepted defeat. And that made me fearless.

My idea was crazy but thanks to those two fiends, I had lost my inhibitions.

A little smirk formed on my lips as I grabbed the juice box from my backpack. I'd wanted crackers but the stupid vending machine had given me a juice box.

Maybe it was the universe.

"You're scaring me, Becks."

"I think the universe just planted an amazing idea in my head."