Chapter 17.
As I entered the class everything felt different, and I felt like a total stranger in my own class; with the community I used to spend my study time with. The class was noisy as usual but something was different. I couldn't tell what but I was sure that some of them were staring at me—not that I care, but the air was different.
I still couldn't tell why didn't I have them to be my friends. Why didn't I have many friends— or at least some people that I could refer to or have a gossip or two whenever I wanted? How exactly did I spend my life here after I was forced to be in this school? Maybe Mom was right. Maybe I should transfer to the East Wing. They might actually accept me of who I am rather than treating me like a complete crap. It's not that I wanted to be in some clique or something but…you knew what I mean!
What was I thinking…?
"Keane, I really love your N&S dress that night!" exclaimed someone in front of me.
"What?" I asked while looking up at the small group of girls in front of me; my classmates.
"Was it especially made for you? Coz we never saw it in the magazine or in the net. And you just can't imagine the responses that some Fireflies girls gave about your dress! The dress is so gorgeous that it was voted as one of 5-Dress-You-Must-Wear-Before-You-Die list!" another girl asked excitedly.
"I don't know. My brother gave it to me so I just wear it."
They squealed excitedly.
Ok, this was new. They never actually spoke to me in that friendly tone— at least not that I knew.
"Was the dress really special?" I asked unenthusiastically.
"It's N&S, Beryl. N&S! And no one ever saw that dress before!"
And N&S is my brother's boutique. Was I the only one who was lost here?
"So…?" I asked uncertainly.
"You really are ignorant, aren't you? His brand is among the hottest one around, and whatever type of design he came out with will become the latest trend!"
"And some of them are so chic and up–to-date that you could only dream of having them in your closet!"
"Talking about Senior Shin, he was so charming that night! I wish I have a brother like him!"
"A brother? I wish I can have a boyfriend like him!"
"You're so lucky to have a brother that have a boutique and gives you his private collection. I'm so jealous of you!"
Didn't they hate me for hanging out with The Masquerade before?
I cleared my throat. Other people in the class started to hover around my desk. Now how should I talk with them? I didn't know how to talk to other people other than my family, Opal and Evan! If knight in shining armor really exist, now was the right time to show up and save me from this crowd.
"You called?" greeted a very manly voice.
I looked out at the window, seeing a hot guy with a heavy garment of a knight waved in a manly way. His black, shining hair seemed so soft as the spring breeze blew and his one thousand million watt smile made the girls swooned instantly. But his supposedly flawless image was cracked as he was sweating profusely.
"Where's your horse?" I asked.
"The security guard didn't let me bring it in. So I ran," he answered with a wink sent to…I didn't want to know.
"Will you run away with me?" a girl asked hopefully.
"Only when my princess gives her permission."
He looked at me with that dashing smile, while the girls looked at me hopefully.
Ok, this kind of imagination should stop. You knew what? Don't come with a shining amour—it would attract more crowds. I was so not comfortable when it comes to crowd!
"So…" I started again.
What usually friends like them talking about? Food? Global warming? That Bieber boy? How to save the penguins and polar bears in the north pole (or is it in the South Pole?)? The Masquerade? Or about our discipline teacher's wig? And how should I say it?
"And thanks to your idea about violin performance on the Spring Festival, our class won the third prize!"
Weird. Why suddenly everyone in the class become my friend after ignoring me for weeks? What did I do? Or was it just another nightmare?
"But that one was Opal's idea, not mine."
The class became silent. And where's the teacher anyway? Weren't we supposed to have a class now?
"Did I do something with the guys again?"
"Well…" one of them started.
"We were always like this. But…"
"When we found out about your identity, things started to be different."
"We're not sure how to talk with you anymore."
"Then why now?" I asked coldly.
"Jasper said that he's sad that we've been cold to you…so—"
"Wait, wait!" I interrupted. "When did the kid tell you?"
"In his blog, of course!"
And as fast it started, it ended just like that. The topic was changed so fast whenever things like Jasper, Fireflies, Mr Carter the hot literature teacher, or the school top scorers came out of their mouths. So in the end, they didn't tell me the reason for their sudden friendliness towards me. After what they did to me, it still didn't feel right to me with them talking this friendly. In the midst of the crowd, I noticed Opal was talking with someone from the other class. Who was it anyway? She noticed me looking at her and we stared at each other for few seconds before both of us looked away. This dramatic act was beginning to annoy me.
"By the way, don't you think the two really suit with each other?" another new topic was brought up.
"Oh you mean the King and Queen of the night? Of course they suit each other! They're just engaged, remember?"
"No way! I thought that's just rumor! That's why Senior Parker volunteered to help the East Wing for the ball!"
"But that's her job, you idiot."
And the whole class stared at her.
"Anyway, that's rich family affair. You need to have a greater power to go against your parents' wish."
"Yeah, but what about love huh? Can you live with someone you don't love for the rest of your life?"
You're sixteen and you talked about love…? Weren't we supposed to think about the exam or something? But Mr Carter was an exceptional. It was love at a first sight. He's too hot to be ignored!
"Who cares? His family is rich, that's for sure. Imagine how many dresses we can buy!"
"Someone saw them kissing that night!"
"Shut up!"
"But it was quite dark that time. Maybe they thought people wouldn't seem them?"
The others interrupted the two, talking about the mentioned couple. Do they really have to talk about it in front of me? Where was the teacher again?
"But Jadeite didn't go against the marriage. So maybe he actually likes her?" another one interfered.
"Jadeite?" I blurted rather louder than I intended to.
"Don't you know he's engaged?"
I didn't answer her, "With whom?"
"Senior Parker."
I was very sure that I never knew that name before. "Who?"
They looked at each other again, and one of them took out her hand phone, showing me the picture of the King and Queen of the night.
Jadeite and the lady in red.
Amethyst Parker.
~oOo~
The day couldn't get any worse than the fact that I had to team up with someone in the class for our mini assignment. As Opal and I was having our cold war, no one seemed to notice that I didn't have a partner for this assignment. And now that everyone was busy chatting with their partners, I was once again the invisible girl who didn't have many friends. Oh yea, did I mention that I was still in shock with what I learned about Jadeite's engagement?
"Hey, can I team up with you?" the class president asked.
Poor guy. No matter how many times he told me his name, I tend to forget it in the end.
"Yea," I replied. "If you think I'm smart enough to be in your group."
It looked like he was trying to make sense of my words and pretended like I didn't say anything. "You're weird."
"I know."
We did our work in silence and all I desperately needed was something to get my mind off from the things that pissing me off. I wasn't even sure which one was annoying; not talking with Opal, or the fact that Jadeite was engaged. So far the classroom task worked, but it didn't last for long. The teacher accidentally knocked over her books and notes on her desk, making them fall to the floor with a loud thud. The papers scattered beside her desk.
Newspapers cuttings.
Internet articles.
Pictures of roads in the town.
Pictures of cars.
Names of people who I didn't know.
Biodata and pictures of students from Alexandrite.
I felt sick.
"How does she bring those heavy papers to her cla— hey, are you ok?" the class president said before he looked at me.
I wasn't sure about it myself.
"I have to go," was the only thing I said before I dashed outside of the classroom.
My hand frantically searched for my phone; dialing my brother's number while my legs took me to the East Wing. But the former celebrity was out of reach, and he wasn't in his office. Having a fight with the school's clerks wouldn't help either, but I was at loss and I didn't know what to do. Getting a help from Dad wasn't an option.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe—
Hell, this wasn't helping at all!
During my epic battle with my inner self, bulletins and pictures about the Spring Festival ball which were pasted around the school hallway caught my attention. I saw my picture with Shin dancing that night. Who cared how sucks I was in dancing when it was obvious that girls were jealous at me because of my brother? But my face turned to stone as I saw the picture of the King and Queen of the night.
So he's someone else's fiancé now.
Fiancé— a creature which I thought was a myth; especially for someone who's around my age. Guessed it still applied in this era.
Opening the door of the music room, I sat beside the piano in the music room and did nothing but to stare at the music instrument. I touched the key, but stopped as I know I was never good with piano. That was Shin's talent. Staring at the violin which my brother put in the same room, I stared at the initials on it. Ok, so he learned it when he tried to flirt with that girlfriend of his. But in general, he was always better in part where I failed. He was always better than me. He even decided to be an actor when he was seven. What about me? I was sixteen, and I still couldn't decide on what to do after I graduated.
I didn't think I could give myself a try in this state of mind. I kept it back in its case and locked the cupboard. There's no used of touching the thing that I couldn't play anyway. I tried to call my brother again but the result was still the same. Damn, where was he anyway? Narnia?
What was I doing here? Wasting my time playing a school girl and what? Being too arrogant when my classmates tried to make friend with me again? What's the use of going to school now? It defied the main purpose of me agreeing to go the back to the school when I couldn't remember much about this place for the past two years. Yet I hated being alone at home. At least in this so called prestigious yet superficial school—being in this alien, yet familiar place didn't feel that…bad.
Being alone here didn't feel much of being…well…alone.
My phone rang, almost caused me to fall from the chair out of shock.
"Oh you're awake!" exclaimed a cheery voice from the phone.
"It's ten, Evan. What do you expect?"
The guitarist laughed.
"Why are you calling me? I thought you're not coming back until next weekend?"
"We won't. It's just that I'm quite bored right now. What, can't I call my best friend?"
"I thought you're Shin's best friend?"
"Yeah, I forget. And I used to be his sister's best friend too before she decided I'm not worth to become her best friend."
Silence.
"So why are you using Aden's phone?"
"What do you mean Senior Aden's phone? This is Nate's phone."
I stared at my phone, seeing the same number which called me this morning. So this number belonged to the guys' manager? Why would Aden use his manager's phone to call me?
"What happened to your phone? And why are you whispering?"
I heard him cleared his throat, "We're not allowed to use our phones here. And I don't want the guys to know that I secretly begged Nate to let me use his phone."
"Are you the only one who called me today?"
"Yeah, we only had a short break this morning. So we didn't really have time to do anything else. Why, did anyone call you?"
Did this mean that Aden secretly called me too? What's with the secrecy?
"No one."
"Ok, I'm tired with this conversation. All you did is asking me questions, and gave a short reply whenever I asked. I'm sulking, Beryl. Good—"
"Don't end the call!" I blurted unintentionally. I could feel heat on my cheeks.
"Of course," he replied after a short pause. "Are you doing fine?"
"Yep."
"How's Shin?"
Crap, I forgotten about those papers again! I'd better write it down somewhere. Speaking of it…
"I found documents and pictures in Shin's room. I don't know the details, but I'm sure that they're related to my accident. Mom doesn't seem like she knows anything about this, and I can't contact him at all. He's not in his in office and nobody seems to know his whereabouts. I want to know what those papers are for, and I hate it when he tries to hide important things like this from me!"
"Beryl—"
"Why would he hide such a thing from me? It's related to me, right? If it's important then he should at least let me know—"
"Beryl, listen to me!"
I rested my head on my arm, feeling totally drained, "…I'm scared, Evan…"
"…I know," he replied silently. "Maybe he forgets to tell you. You know how forgetful he can be when he's busy. And regarding his disappearance, he did tell me that he's going somewhere rural for a business trip. It could be that there's no signal there."
I remained silent.
"I'll try to contact him after this and let you know that you're looking for him, ok?"
I didn't respond.
"Beryl you better say yes or I'm going to tell the guys about your evil tooth fairy to the guys."
Please, did he think that he could blackmail me with some childish story?
"Or do you prefer the story about your lunch was stolen by the next door's cat?"
"I said yes, idiot."
He laughed. Why didn't he become mad at me like Opal? Speaking of Opal, I was reminded about our fight. Did I really scare the guys about what happened on the ball night? Did I really cause them to be worried about me?
I should at least say sorry for making him worry when he's obviously too busy with his other life as a celebrity.
"Hey Evan?"
"Yep?"
"I'm…" I started.
Everything should come to an end, right? I should apologize for making him worried.
"I got C for my History test," I blurted instead.
There was silence for few seconds, "You know, you should be really grateful that I'm hundred miles away from you right now."
"…why?"
"'Cause I would have slapped you with Mr Wighead's wig on your face."
It was my turn to be silenced for a while. "Why do you have to choose Mr. Wighead when we have quite a number of hot male teachers in this school? What about Mr. Heath? Or Mr. Carter? Or—"
"Or we can just forget all about it and back to our actual topic?"
"Ok, that sounds fair enough to me."
I heard him sighed before he continued. "It's just History, Beryl. Cheer up. You can't even remember your own history and now you expect yourself to remember the History of the world? For a boring subject like that, getting a B is already a miracle."
"You can't score on History too, aren't you?"
"Shut up, Beryl."
I laughed bitterly before I finally made my confession. "I had a fight with Opal."
"Who started it?" he asked after giving a sigh, which only meant that he suspected me to be the cause.
A long silence before I started, "You see…there was a black cat when I was talking with her, and suddenly the cat slapped Opal. And she accused me for not trying to help her with the cat—"
"Did the cat say you actually read too much manga that you failed to at least making up story with an acceptable storyline?"
"No." I just rubbed that poor imaginative thinking from spending my time with Mom last night.
"Right. Why don't you just say sorry? It doesn't cost you a thing."
I didn't say anything. I just stared at the piano and remembered the day when I met Evan three weeks ago.
"I want to hear you play the piano again," I changed the subject.
"After you sign a peace treaty with Opal."
"Then again, I don't want to hear you play it."
I heard the other members of The Masquerade called him. I wonder if Jadeite was there too.
"I have to go Beryl. Just say sorry, ok? See you this weekend!"
"Is he really engaged?"
"...what?"
I ended the call. Damn, what was I thinking? I looked at the piano intensely, wishing it was Evan and I could wrestle him. I hated it when I could feel that he was right. Maybe I should say sorry to Opal. This fight was meaningless. And what's with asking Evan about Jadeite's engagement? Why would I care? He might be doing it because of his parents, yet he might not. It just felt very wrong. I mean, then why he visited me during my stay in the hospital? Why did he was being selfless and helped me to remember when he could actually be focusing on his debut— or his fiancée?
Why did he give me an empty hope?
Looking at the rain outside the window, I wished could stop myself from crying.
I wish that the rain would stop.
-End of Chapter 17-
Review...please?