Twenty one

Katherine Thrones

I was feeling positive and sure I would be able to corner the bad boy Alex to where I wanted him and then I would break his heart and teach him a lesson to never mess with girls in his whole life.

Katie squealed in happiness, “Oh! Yes, yes! Katherine, yes! I’ve been waiting for you to say these very words and agree to get Alexander where it hurts! I’m so happy.” Katie beamed at me with a wide grin. She was more excited about this than I was.

“Yes, I will properly agree to date him just to teach him a lesson,” I stated and Katie’s smile curved into a sly smirk.

“Just to teach him a lesson right? Don’t fall in love with him, Katherine.” Katie warned and I shook my head in naught. Never. Nope. Not Happening. First of all, my mother would kill me and whatever boy I fall in love with and secondly, Alexander is not even the type of boy I’d envision myself falling in love with. He’s not my type and not worth taking the risk of disobeying my mother.

This is just to teach him a lesson. Yes, I’m only accepting to date him so that I can do to him what he has done to others.

Nevertheless, my mother must never find out about this. If she finds out I’m dating anyone and not focusing on my studies, it would be truly disastrous. Especially when she gets to know that it is the exact same guy that she saw me kissing in front of my apartment. It’s even scary to think of what she would do to me.

So step one is to date Alexander and break his heart. Step two is to make sure my mother never finds out. Step three is to make sure Alexander and my plan don’t distract me from my studies and that I can still maintain the best and top grades.

Easy. I can do this.

“Hell no, Katie. You know me so well, you know I can never fall in love with Alex. He’s an asshole and a jerk, he’s unserious and bad at school. I can’t fall in love with such a person.” I expressed explicitly just how much I hated Alex’s character. It’s repulsive to a girl like me and I’m only putting up with it because of the plan.

“Well, you better not. If you fall in love with him, you’ll loose focus and he’d play you just like he always does with girls. You’d loose and you’d be humiliated by him, his friends, and that bitch Samantha.” Katie reasoned logically, stating matter–of–factly the repercussions of falling for the bad boy.

“I won’t Katie, I assure you.”

“But come to think of it Katherine, do you think Alexander is really in love with you? Like, really loves you?” Katie asked a million dollar question. I leaned my back against the sink and thought, it does seem like he’s in love with me. He wants to become a better person and boost his grades for me. There’s a possibility of him being genuine, but at the same time, this is Alexander Walters we’re talking about here. He’s unpredictable and you can never know it all with him.

“Well, he doesn’t let me be at all. He moved next door, he’s willing to upgrade his grades just for me, he wants us to date at all costs and he kissed me. It’s leaning towards the idea that he might be in love with me, but it’s Alex and he’s never straightforward.” I reasoned and Katie nodded in agreement.

“True, true. That's exactly how it started with us. I thought there was something he felt for me and that maybe we could become a couple, but after the break, he just ghosted me. It may be a pretense, just to lure you into his bad boy trap. But at the same time, it might actually be different with you.”

I scoffed, “No it’s not.” I wouldn’t want to give him the benefit of doubt. A leopard never changes its spots and he might just be doing this so he’d have the chance to brag about playing with two best friends.

A medal to add to his collection.

“Well, let’s see how it goes Kat,” Katie said and just then, my alarm began to ring which meant it was time for me to have an in–school study session at the library.

I brought out the phone from my back pocket and stopped the alarm, “I need to head to the library now Katie, I’ll see you later.” I bade.

“Sure, I have an extra class now anyways, thanks to my mum and dad. We'll see later.” She said and both of us stepped out of the bathroom, separating in opposite directions.

-:-

My classes for the day were over and it was time to head back to my apartment. Katie still had classes today which meant I won’t be getting a ride home from her, I was reluctant to ask for dad’s driver to take me home in my new car. My last option was to take the bus but I decided that I could have Alex drop me home, we’re neighbors anyways and it would give me the avenue to accept his proposal.

I stepped out of the building and made my way to the parking lot and searched for Alexander’s car. I spotted it and also saw him by the vehicle, opening the driver’s side so he could get in and drive out.

Great timing! I had thought to myself with a smile on my face while still assuring myself that it was a game I was playing and it wasn't something serious

I walked to where he was parked, “Hi.” I greeted and he turned around to face me, with surprise and confusion on his face. Few hours ago, I was running and hiding from him and now I was willingly walking up to him to speak with him. It’s puzzling even to me.

“Hi, Katherine. How was your day?” Alexander smiled and asked concernedly.

“It was great. I was wondering if maybe I could hitch a ride with you back home?” I inquired, I was feeling a bit uneasy and nervous speaking to him. I don’t know why I felt this way.

“Sure. Hop in.” He said and opened the driver’s seat, getting in. I walked around and went to the front passenger’s seat and got in.

“Fucking Nathan.” He muttered a cuss as he tossed out an empty can of soda underneath his seat. Must’ve been left there by Nathan.

He adjusted the rear mirror then started the ignition of the vehicle and began to drive out of the school, then we hit the road. There was silence between us, only the music from the speakers and Alexander humming along to the beat as he focused on the road. He hasn’t said a word to me ever since and I was hoping he would so that it could kickstart our conversation. I had no idea what to say to him at first.

I clutched my bag closer to my chest.

It was now or never. “I will date you.” I divulged, almost inaudibly and the loud music wasn’t helping matters either.

Alexander paused his humming and turned down the music, turning to face me with arched brows. We were at a traffic stop.

“What did you say?”

“I said I will date you,” I said a bit louder and firmer before however, still unable to look him in the eyes.

“Hmm.” He drawled, hitting on the acceleration as the lights turned green. Silence followed afterwards and I wondered if I had said anything wrong. Wasn’t he supposed to be happy or jubilating that I agreed? Why is he silent? I started to regret my decision to agree to date him and blame myself for making the mistake.

No, not myself. I blame Katie. She made me do this so I blame her, it’s all her fault.

After a good dive minutes of silence, he finally spoke. “So what made you finally want to agree to my proposal, Katherine? And I want the honest truth.”

I was speechless.