Trouble, Trouble, Trouble

 

“I hate you brat.” (she did not say ‘brat’ FYI, she said a meaner version of it)

She uttered the words as if it didn’t contain venom, frowning as she stared down at me. I should feel afraid, unease even, but strangely I didn’t. I was more amused with the fact that my life was slowly becoming the plot in The Glory. A schoolmate, harboring deep feelings of hatred, gonna do unspeakable things to me, huh? I was not wondering about the probability, I’ve heard of numerous bullying cases happened throughout Malaysia. But, why? I looked back at her, increasingly growing more curious of this unexpected attack. At 7.30 in the morning nonetheless. Can’t a girl just try to finish her Biology homework in peace?

“Um.. what did I do?”

“You know what you did.” Her eyeballs bulged, as in disbelief that I had the audacity to ask her that. Wow. What the heck did I do to her that pissed her off this much? 

“Obviously I didn’t, hence the question…” She leaned forward, hands on the edge of the stone table and stared straight at me. I reluctantly closed the notebook in front of me. God forbid if her spittle rain down on my painstakingly printed and colored Biology notes. I sat back and readied myself to listen. Her skin, glistening with what I assumed mercury-laden cream made it easy for me to stare at her. She was pretty. Very, actually.

Still, I honestly didn’t know her that much. I think all I remember about her was her name; Adila. She was in another class, I think maybe 4 Rose or 4 Jasmine. We were in different circle; I was surrounded by music-loving, technology-obsessed geeks, while she was with her friends who were... how do I put this lightly? Perhaps ‘boys-obsessed, attention-seeking, rule-breaking’ were enough adjectives to describe her clique. Adila was the queen, the nucleus of the group, and as I came to the realization, the more I wondered why was she here picking fights with me. I wasn’t the queen of any group, I was just a student who fell asleep last night scrolling TikTok and didn’t have the energy to wake up at 4am to finish her homework.

“I saw you with Hazry yesterday. What were you doing with him? He JUST transferred here; I know for a fact you have nothing to do with him!” As soon as she blurted the words, I sighed and reflected on myself. I was not so bright after all. What’s the use of all the detective and investigation TV series binge-watching sessions if my logical reasoning was so blunt?  I should have guessed earlier that the issue would be about a boy.

“He talked to me because he wanted to join our sing-along event next week. You know… because Taylor Swift just released her version of the Speak Now album, and apparently our country is not on her list? And we’re too broke to go to her concert in Singapore or Indonesia.  So….”

“Ugh… are you saying that he’s a fan?” Her brows furrowed and it was like I can visually see her balancing the scales; merits for Hazry: good-looking, glorious hair, deep voice and the demerit : being a Swiftie. Well it was just one thing, but I know for a fact that Adila preferred masculine, athletic dude(s).  And being a fan of a mainstream pop singer was a siren going “MAJOR ALERT : NOT MASCULINE”, well at least for her I guess.

“He was so excited to be there. And he told me he had some of her limited merchandise, so I guess he’s quite a big fan, even compared to me.” I grinned as my mind wandered back to yesterday evening, of how his eyes basically shone as I told him the details about the sing-along, and that yes, he could come if he wanted to. It was Adila’s turn to sigh, and her shoulder slumped. I guess that’s the deal breaker for her despite his strikingly handsome face. There’s no more anger burning in her eyes, and she even looked sheepish as she talked again.

“Um.. sorry that I attacked you so suddenly. I’ll go now.” And off she went. Well, despite her reputation, at least she had the decency to apologize. Alright, so this was where my story arc strayed from The Glory, I was not gonna get bullied by a fellow schoolmate. I could continue being just a normal girl in a normal world. Huzzah!

But at that moment, I realized I had a bigger battle to fight.

To not get enchanted by the spell of his dreamy obsidian eyes.

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