Chapter 23

|| Savannah's POV ||

Sounds of utensils clattering, buzzers from microwaves, everything surrounding this cafeteria. I sighed exasperatingly, knowing that I had picked the wrong place to practice my reading habit. At least, there weren't any noisy girls to watch over me. Ever since I was known as Ares's girlfriend, everyone began to give me extra attention. I didn't quite enjoy it. Even while dating Finn, it wasn't something major like this day.

Why? Was I fake-dating some alien?

I laughed at the thought but soon, my stomach was tightening into a knot. Images from last night began to replay inside my brain and I bet that my face had turned red like a strawberry. I was immersed in my imagination when some annoying bitch decided to make a fake cough.

Instinctively, I snapped out of my thoughts, glaring at the way from where I just heard them gasping. Furrowing, I saw a few of those basketball shippers watching somewhere else. Though I wasn't the girl who liked to gossip I couldn't help but follow their eyes suddenly.

I wish I couldn't!

It was Finn and Kelly clinging onto each other. Even though Kelly was whining, smiling at him, I could feel his eyes on me.

Hypocrite!

Rolling my eyes, I tore my eyes off them, dropping them back over my storybook. It was much better to read the contents rather than watch their show-off. A few girls exclaimed, sugar-coating and trying to fall on their good side,

" Wow! Finn is selected by JK for this team."

" Look at Ares! He has been kicked out ruthlessly! Eww!"

It was clear that they wanted to hear all those harsh comments about Ares. Oh please! I wasn't even his real girlfriend. It was best to put deaf ears to their comments especially when Kelly and Finn were hanging around.

Kelly's excited voice echoed out with a grin,

" Very obvious! Just wait and see how Finn will kick out JK from the top club list."

The crowd chirped and Kelly burst into a massive grin, leaning down to plant a kiss on Finn's cheeks. His expression defined that he didn't like to be touchy in front of everyone but the boyfriend does what a girlfriend wants. I was sure that Kelly liked to claim him as her boyfriend in front of the public more than actually treating him like a boyfriend.

Kelly informed with a flustered face after kissing Finn,

" I am going to join my class, babe."

Babe! The fuck!

Finn never allowed me to call him 'babe' when we were dating actually. He found it childish and I obeyed without making a single complaint. I was so done with their melodrama.

Letting out an exhausted breath, I stood upright to go back to my class. But a shadow stopped me, towering over my height. I let out a small gasp of surprise when I saw, it was none other than Finn who had a stern look on his face.

Why was he so pissed off?

He spoke smiling fake at me,

" I hope, my joining JK wouldn't affect Ares or you!"

I exhaled heavily, slightly annoyed. Since when did Finn start acting like a hot-tempered teen? Trust me, in my eyes, he was the most impressive and mature man that I had ever met.

I folded my arms, giving him a lazy glare,

" What do you exactly expect, Finn? It isn't like Ares didn't get a single team. Why so noisy?"

Finn smirked and I swear, I just wanted to punch his rat face. He chuckled making fun of my attitude,

" Yeah, but you didn't seem like that."

Now, it was time for me to become speechless. I got the fact that Finn didn't want anything but to see me getting pissed off over their useless comments. But I wasn't going to give him, the satisfaction of watching me, getting pissed off.

I folded my arms, giving Finn a hard stare,

" What do you want me to do? Cry over this little shit?"

His eyes narrowed, annoyed by the fact that he didn't have his power over me anymore. If It was in the past, I would have agreed with everything that Finn told me. But now my eyes were more clear, I could identify between jerk and decent man.

" What is going on here?", Kelly's voice pulled his attention back behind. Her brows were slightly crooked as she judged the proximity between us.

Oh fuck! I wasn't seducing your cheater boyfriend!

She didn't seem pleased with our talking moment. I defined it as her insecurity since her feature grew tense in a snap of a moment. Before Finn could give any response, I replied rolling my eyes,

" Nothing, your pussy boyfriend just wanted to play a jealous game here which I am not interested in at all."

Finn whipped his head back at me, anger bubbling from his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when Kelly decided to show off her touchy game again. She strode beside him, running her hand over his left arm to reply to me with mockery,

" It's all right, babe. She is too pissed off as her so-called boyfriend lost the best team. No need to spare your breath at her."

Her hand run all over his forearms as if they were one step ahead to hover on each other. Finn calmed down and joined his bitchy girlfriend,

" You are right, Kelly. I just wanted to know how they are doing. Look at her! She is already so pathetic."

Their teasing had gone a little too far. They were behaving nothing less than teenagers from school days. Despite my reluctance over this topic, I parted my mouth to give them a sharp reply but the news coming from TV took all my attention.

" Ares Thatcher, how do you want to explain the decision of being removed from JK's player list? "

The entire cafeteria had been paying attention to the news. I saw Ares, standing in front of PK club. It was his first day of joining the team but fuck, but he looked hot in those black shorts. Possibly, he was heading for a practice session when this annoying interviewer interrupted him.

It was a tall, short-haired woman, sticking like glue to him. His expression didn't seem okay with all those questions, sorting around him.

" What are you thinking about Finn Hansley joining JK this year?"

No one wants to hear bad compliments about themselves. But it was the harsh reality. If you are going high, you need to have the mentality of falling lower. Losing and winning are just two opposite sides of a coin.

This fucking reporters! They were pressuring him with their vulgar questions too much!

Ares took a while to regain his calm composure. Within a second, he broke into a massive smile, dazzling everyone with his hot dimples. Secretly, I stole a glimpse of Finn's expression whose earlier contentment had gone now.

How badly he wanted to see Ares being dragged down?

Ares's professional tone echoed around the cafeteria, earning my attention back on the TV,

" For me, the game is a game. It doesn't matter if I am playing in JK or PK. I wanted to give my best at my performance. But, indeed, I didn't expect this outcome. There was someone to tell me yesterday that I was worthy of everything."

His eyes connected to the screen and for a moment, I stopped breathing as if he was watching me through the TV.

Was he referring to me? But I didn't do anything!

It was not only me who was in hallucination. I could feel those secret, envious glares from girls. Sportsmen like them always avoided these types of questions to avoid rumors. But speaking something like this in front of the TV was a big move from Ares for real. He was looking so cool.

" Is it someone special, Mr. Thacher? Would you like to tell her something special?"

The female reporter excitedly questioned more, using a deep voice to excite the audience over the screen. I held my breath tightly into my stomach when I saw Ares smirking. That malicious smirk that he gave me last night when he finger fucked me.

Oh boy! Why was I imagining things again?

The camera zoomed at Ares who didn't stop smirking. Soon his lips parted as he spoke casually without sounding too dramatic,

" Thank you for staying with me last night."

He stopped there and a moment of disappointment gripped my heart. He had other girls by his side last night too. Maybe, I was just having delusional thoughts to think that he was referring to our timing together.

As I dropped my eyes on my feet absentmindedly, his voice added again, stressing one word,

" Princess.."

I shot my head up in a shot, widening my eyes in disbelief. Although the entire world didn't know whom he refer actually, I knew that it was me. He was the only one who called me 'Princess' even though I told him to stop calling me that.

The crowd burst into a ma mysterious whisper they didn't get their expectations fulfilled. They all wanted to hear a name. Subconsciously, a smile grew from the corner of my lips. Even Finn never dared to honor me so openly.

Maybe, Ares wasn't as bad as I thought to be!

Coming out of my thinking zone, I glanced around and saw Kelly's face twisted in discomfort. Was she feeling bad that Finn had never praised her on TV?

I didn't know what was going on in her little head but it was my payback time. Unfolding my arms with a smile, I walked over to Finn slowly and gave my final response before leaving the noisy crowd,

" He is a player, Finn. No matter where he goes, he will do his best and eventually make everyone regret their decision. It's harder for you now, Finn. Biting my skin wouldn't give you a trophy."