Chapter 55: The Bet *Tug-Of-War

I watched The Vow yesterday. It was amazing and heart-warming :) Oh, and the MV of Safe and Sound was one of a kind. TS ♥

The song is Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. Banner by SkinnyLizzy. Here's a little treat for you. I made this last year (02-14-11)

Today is Valentine's Day

People are either lonely or gay

"I love you" are the words they say

But if it's not from the heart, there'll be karma to pay

Yay! I have an entry pass to the LIV5 concert! :D *A Rocket To The Moon, The Ready Set, The Summer Set, A+ Dropouts, Forever the Sickest Kids* I’m so excited to see them! Esp. ARTTM :))

ENJOY! :)

Chapter 47 Part 1 *Tug-Of-War*

~Sophia

"Skye."

I can feel the blood draining from my face. I feel cold all of a sudden, like a strong wind rushes to my face. How can I even utter a curse? I swore a year ago that I won’t ever, ever, say his name. Now I broke a promise to myself.

My worst nightmare is happening in front of me, while I’m awestruck to do anything about it. Every part of me screams that the enemy is here to get me. I’m doomed.

I stand up from my chair as soon as I can control the muscles of my body. I’m about to walk away unnoticed but of course, faith is not in my favor. So when I’m about to sidestepped him, he blocked my path. He’s not even contented with that because the next thing I know, I’m in his arms, wrapped in his embrace.

Tears are stinging at the back of my eyes as his hands rest on my waist. Oh, he’s still the same as before. And now I’m about to fall back in his trap for the second time.

At that, my subconscious takes me back to what happened a year ago. The last day I saw him.

“Images burn in the back of my mind - you kissing her and doing God knows what with her! Don’t you know how much that hurts me?”  A lump is stuck in my throat, making it hard for me to breathe, but still, I continue. “You know what hurts more? You didn’t care about me, about my feelings, about us. You are a selfish bastard! You even did it in the school where all the students watched your little parade!”

Skye seems at a loss of words because of my outburst. Poor me, trusting willingly. I should have known. I should have known. Why? Why does it always have to be me? Why does it have to end like this?

Happiness will come, but when it departs, it will leave you nothing to hold on to- an anchor that will help you to survive this kind of nightmare.

He’s my first love. I gave my first kiss to him. I told him everything about me. And now here he is, crushing my hopes and dreams. He changed my life and now I’m lost. Lost in the little fantasy I created for both of us.

Life, unfortunately, doesn’t care about what we want. Fairy tales are not true. They were never real.

This will be the last time I will fall in love. My heart will be frozen and no one can make the cold go away. I’d rather be alone than to feel this heartache again.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, looking at me pleadingly.

“No, you’re not,” I cut him off, “Because if you are, you wouldn’t do that in the first place.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

“You made me a pawn in your sick twisted game!” I want to slap him. Hurt him more than he hurt me. But I can’t. Because I don’t want to touch him and be near him again.

He drops to his knees, begging me to forgive him. How dare he? As if I’ll give my sympathy to him.

“Get out!” I yell. “Get out of here! I don’t ever want to see you again!”

This doesn’t get a reaction from him. He’s still on his knees, sobbing. I’m about to feel sorry for him, but then I remember, he’s an actor. As much as I want to say I hate him, I can’t. Because no matter what he did, my stupid heart still belongs to him.

“That. . . that was a mistake,” he says, tears falling from his eyes. “I never intended to hurt you.”

“But you did,” I whisper, my anger subsiding. I feel so tired. All I want to do is cry myself to sleep while crawled into a tiny ball. And hopefully, to forget this happened.

Skye, I now evict you from my heart.

“Pie.”

Draky?

That brings me back to my senses. It’s like a light switched on my body.

I just realize that he’s standing in front of us, throwing daggers at Skye’s way.

I inwardly flinch as his name registers in my mind. Stupid name! I wriggle out of him, pushing him away from me. But he’s stronger than me. The harder I push, the harder he tightens his hold on me.

“What is going on here?” Draky asks.

“I’m hugging my girl friend,” Skye says smoothly.

“I’m not your girl friend,” I snap. It’s my first time to speak ever since I laid my eyes on him. I’m relieved it didn’t shake.

“Babe, you forgot something,” he says, tucking a loose hair behind my ear. I cringe at his touch. My mind is flashing back memories of what happened between us. “We didn’t break up.”

“Yes we did,” I mutter, “Let me go.”

“Didn’t you miss me?” he asks, giving me his puppy eyes look.

“No,” I hiss.

"I made an effort to ask people where you are. I'm so happy to finally see you. A year of waiting is worth it just to have a glimpse of you."

“I said let me go!”

Drake closes the gap between us and gets me away from Skye. No matter how much I needed his presence - his strong arms that can comfort me, his words so soothing, calming my nerves, I don’t like him to interfere here.

Skye, on the other hand, grabs my other arm. So I am in between them. They both pull me towards them, as if they’re playing a tug-of- war, while I’m the rope.

“Stop it,” I say furiously, shaking Skye’s hands off me.

Draky puts his arms on my shoulder protectively. Looking around me, I notice that the other customers are not paying attention to us, of which I am grateful. I don’t need more people learning about my life.

“Who are you?” Skye asks, narrowing his eyes at Draky while crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m her boy friend,” Drake states. I open my mouth to contradict him but he cuts me off. “And you need to back off!”

Skye smirks, knowing something is going on between Draky and me. “Are you sure you’re together?”

“It’s not your business,” Drake snaps.

I squirm away from him uncomfortably, but he holds my hand and gives it a squeeze.

Skye ignores him and looks at me instead. His brown eyes stare at me like he can see right through my soul. Suddenly, I’m captivated in his hypnotizing gaze.

“Pie,” Draky murmurs in my ears.

Fortunately, he is here to guide me against Skye. If not for him, I might but lulled again on Skye’s charms. He has a way of turning tables.

“I’ve waited for months to talk to you again,” Skye says, taking a step towards us. “I missed you; for the past year, it’s you all I can think about.”

“Yeah, right,” I retort.

“Soph,” he says pleadingly. “I know you still love me. I can see it in your eyes and the way you look at me. You know you want me.”

“You’re wrong,” I whisper. “I did love you in the past, but not anymore.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes you are,” he states stubbornly.

“I already love someone else.” Sort of.

“Who do you love then?” he demands, glaring at Drake.

“It’s none of your business,” I mutter. Suddenly, I feel exhausted. All the energy depleted from my body. “Drake,” I say softly, “I want to go home now.”

He nods and unwrap his arms around me. But he still holds my hand, our fingers entwining in their own accord. We’re about to walk away when Skye’s voice stops us.

“Where are you going?”

“None of your business,” Drake says, his body shaking.

If we’re not going any sooner, these two will punch each other on the face.

“Draky,” I murmur, tugging at his hand.

“Afraid to fight me?” Skye asks cockily, a smirk forming on his face.

“Don’t fall for his bait,” I say. “He’s not worth it.”

“I know,” Draky mutters. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll come back and get you,” Skye threatens. But he’s not looking at me while he said it. Instead, he was glaring at Draky, as if provoking him.

“Whatever,” I mutter, turning my back on him.

Draky and I walk to his car without saying anything. He opens the passenger door and waits for me to come in. But before I do, I turn back one last time to see Skye watching us, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. I slide in quickly before he catches me staring at him.

Draky soon starts the engine of his car. His knuckles are so white, his hold on the steering wheel is so tight, as if his life depends on it. I wonder if he realizes that he’s passed the speed limit. Even though he’s mad, he still remember to wear his seatbelt.

“I know it’s not my business,” he says in a strain voice, not tearing his gaze away from the windshield, “But I want to know who he was in your life.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, forcing the sobs to stay where they are because they are starting to come out.

“He was my ex boyfriend,” I whisper.

“I figured that out,” he mutters, glancing at me briefly. “By the way, are you okay?” He sighs. “Of course you’re not okay. Why am I even asking,” he says to himself.

“I’ll be.” If I say it, I have to believe in it. I’m going to be okay.

“Don’t be afraid of him,” he says, narrowing his eyes, as if Skye is in front of him.

“I’m not—“

“Don’t let him ruin what we have,” he says softly.

Is he threatened with Skye? Does he think it’s a competition between them?

“Drake—“

“Please?” he says, looking at me longingly. There’s real sadness in his eyes. And behind that, the anger he has for Skye. How can he hate him if he doesn’t even know him? “I can’t bare the thought of you being with him. He’s not a good person.”

“I know.” I’m stupid for trusting him. Why do I always fall for the wrong person?

“I’m here if you want to talk,” he says after a minute. “You can count on me.”

“Thank you,” I reply gratefully.

Involuntarily, I lean towards him, resting my body against his side. Surprised, his right foot lands on the brake pedal which makes the car stop from moving.

“Sorry,” I begin, “I didn’t—“

He takes his seatbelt off and turns to me. Startled by our closeness, I start to lean back on the passenger door but he stops me.

“Pie. . . I . . .” He pulls me towards him and wraps his arms around my waist.

“Drak—"

“Let me hug you for a minute okay?” he murmurs.

Needing comfort, I put my hand on his neck and close the little distance between us. He tightens his hold on me and buries his face on my hair.

I think I like Drake Swift.

Who am I kidding? I’m starting to fall, which is stupid because that’s never been my plan from the very start. But for what it’s worth, we can’t start a relationship based on lies. Well, it all started with a deal. A bet I don’t know. Everything is complicated, and I can’t accept that. I think the time is coming up for the revelation. Besides, who want a relationship? Why did I even think about it in the first place? As soon as I graduate from high school, I’ll move far away from here.

The story we have is coming to an end. A good ending or not, I don’t know. First, we need to settle everything and find answers to our unanswered questions. It may not be now, but soon.

Very soon.