Chapter 21

OLIVER

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Two days later.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Casey asked, grabbing his books for sociology before slamming his locker shut and giving me a deadpan stare. He had been trying to grill me for information because, as with any observant person could tell-heck even a blind person could- I was going through it. I just experienced not 1, but 2 panic attacks. I’ve never had one in my entire life. I’d never imagined I’d get one. To think that Lionel had affected me to a subconscious level.

And on top of that, I just kissed one of my best friend’s brother. And not just any brother, a legendary trackstar in our school.

I didn’t know how much what Lionel did had affected me until I went to Rockwater mall. Or what he could have done. Was I being dramatic? He didn’t actually penetrate me or anything. Heck, even our clothes had still been on. It couldn’t be that serious. But I couldn’t get rid of his touch, disgusting touch, on my skin. I could still feel his breath on my cheeks.

I hated it. I hadn’t crossed paths with him in school since then. Part of me was deathly afraid of how I would react if I saw him. Would I be scared to death? Or would I go on a beserker’s rage and do something that would warrant a suspension?

“No,” I said to Casey before turning and heading to class.
Casey grabbed my shoulders. “If you feel ready, you know I’m always here.” He gave me a small hug before we started walking to class.

However, all I could also think about was Jude.
Jude….i couldn’t believe i had kissed him. K.I.S.S.E.D.

A momentary slide of passion is what I would call it. In the span of my panic attack, Ihad hugged his chest and told him only his kiss could wipe away my troubles.

Scratch that. A momentary slide of an unearthly possession. And the worst part about all this… he was an excellent kisser.

Then Rick caught us. When he had guided me home, he didn’t ask any question though his eyes danced with a certainty that something had transpired between Jude and I when he caught us. Had he seen us kiss? The last thing I needed was for Rick to know I was involved with his brother.

His hot, dark chocolate meal of a brother, a rabid part of my mind echoed, making me mentally scream.

Speaking of possession, the image of my hand reaching towards his pants was sending me into psychosis. What was I thinking? Was I that sexually deprived?

But that wasn’t even the worst part of all this. The worst part was the confusion. Confusion, because Jude had wanted to stop all that shenanigans with the kiss after learning my panic attack was a conclusion of what transpired between Lionel and I.

And as much as I found the kiss absolutely disgusting, revolting, and downright hot, that I had kissed a person I disliked-and I liked it -…. what perplexed me to the ends of the earth was how Jude’s eyes looked so unbelievably gorgeous when they were laced with concern. When his body trembled with overprotectiveness, he glowed like the sun.
Part of me wondered why he was behaving like this towards me of all people. What was happening? Jude calling me names and ignoring my entire existence most of the time, I could tolerate. In fact, I would welcome it at this point. Jude being concerned and being uncharacteristically protective of me…. I felt like I was learning a secret alien language. It was one of those events that, if it were to happen, would implode our reality into a blackhole of utter nonsense.

Another part-one that I was ashamed of- reveled entirely that he was being rather overprotective because my brain thought my insane delusions of my many years of wishing for a mafia or bodyguard boyfriend-a by product of reading too many insane books-were being fulfilled.

Maybe he could also be my overprotective werewolf boyfriend-

Next to me, Casey let out an ear-splitting squeal right as we were entering class, causing lots of guys to stare at us.

Casey ignored them while I tried to ignore them. I sat down at my desk, covering my face more with my hoodie.

Casey squealed again next to me, prompting more looks. I wanted to disappear under my desk. Maybe if I pretend I don’t know him…

“Ollie, look.” He shoved his phone in front of me, smiling like a fool.

I scanned his phone. It was a flurry of text messages between him and JJ. I tried making out all they were saying, but he retracted his phone as fast as he had shoved it, though I had got the main gist of it. “You’re going with JJ to Velvet Underground?”

It was this expensive, majestic club in town. Casey always had an obsession with clubs, especially Velvet Underground, because it was inclusive. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was invited as long as you were not underage.

Casey nodded vigorously. “I talked with JJ and he finally agreed to go with me.” He shrieked.

Ok, now the whole class was staring at us. Before I could respond, our sociology teacher, Mr Damocles, entered. He was dressed in a casual outfit; muted green shirt and brown khakis. His black hair was slathered in an egregious slime of gel.

“Hello, students,” he started, setting his books down before glancing at us, “Class is about to begin. Before that, I have an announcement to make. As you all know, I am the deputy head of the sports department and, in the next two weeks, we will be having our yearly sports apprenticeship programme.”

There was a lot of murmuring, with most of the class looking completely bewildered by this. However, the sportsmen were not surprised by this news. Their expressions were calm, almost smug. I thought I heard one whispering to his friend that he couldn’t wait to torture the rest of us non sportsmen, which left me utterly confused.

“Settle down,” Mr Damocles said, “I know you guys are freshmen, so for your sake, I’ll explain. This program is held every year, in preparation for the annual Regional sports competition, which will be held in October. As you know, Hillsburry Campus is famous for leading the race in the sphere of sports. The programme entails enrolling a huge populace of campus students into our various sports for, uh, support. Coaches and regular sportsmen will be guiding students on how to be proficient in sports. This will include immense field practice. ” He cleared his throat almost nervously, as if the next words would be very tasteless, “In other words, everyone here will be participating.”

There was a collective groan. Tons of murmuring and grumbling ensued. The entire atmosphere was beginning to boil with frustration.

“Is it mandatory?” A girl in purple frames asked.

“This is completely unfair,” another guy said.

“Shouldn’t we have a say in all this?”

The whole class erupted in ferocious arguments. Mr Damocles sighed, “Calm down.”

The class ignored him.

I looked at Casey, but he was busy looking at his phone like he didn’t care.

As I thought about what Mr Damocles had said, I suddenly remembered that Rick was a sportsman. I needed furher clarification on this nonsense and how to not do it. I could already picture myself worn out before I even began training. Doesn’t this school know I have bananas for legs?

You know who else is a sportsman?

Jude was a school trackstar. How was he thinking about all this? Of course, this wouldn’t be new for him as he was a sophomore, so he most likely had participated in this…

Stop thinking bout him, I thought.

The class had still not calmed down.

Mr Damocles finally banged his fist on the desk. “I said CALM DOWN!”

The whole class suddenly fell silent.

He muttered something under his breath, probably about why he was a lecturer in the first place, and said, “Now that you’ve calmed down, I would like to answer that no, this is not mandatory.”

Everyone sighed.

“However,” he added, “Entering this programme will guarantee you additional credit in your overall grades. Think of it as extra classes but in the field. In addition, each student will be assigned to a freshman, sophomore or Junior sportsman. Someone who has experience. I can guarantee you that this will provide nothing but the best experience for your credentials out there when you’re hunting for a job, per se.”

The class seemed partially placated, but it was obvious this was a cheap ploy by the school to encourage students to attend.

Mr Damocles held out a sheet of paper and pushed it forward on his desk. “This is the registration form. For any students interested, you can write your name as it’s being passed around the class. With no further questions, I would like to begin this class.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a guy in baggy rusty clothes burst in. He was panting hard, his blond hair disheveled but I could still recognise him.

Mr Damocles’s expression turned sour. “Noah. Right on time as usual.” He gestured to his seat which was adjacent to mine. “Have a seat. I’m sure your classmates will be happy to fill you in on what has been said.”

Noah muttered a quick apology before bumbling forward. There was a lot of desks being hit and sorrys coming out from Noah’s mouth before he finally sat next to me. He glanced at me before offering a huge smile. “Hey, Oliver. Long time. You good?”

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To anyone reading this, hope you enjoyed. Vote and comment. I’d really appreciate.(＾∀＾)