Archer Woods.
Those two words had once been my source of sunshine, but now they only made my blood boil.
That boy was good at everything. He was great in academics, was captain of the boys' football team and also played tennis. He was an amazing photographer, and not to mention, was hugely popular among the rest of the kids, for his nature and...of course, his looks.
He was easy on the eyes, and was quite friendly (to everyone except me) which made him the most desirable boy in class. I kid you not, there was an actual poll among the girls.
So naturally, I should've known he would be selected Head Boy. He was responsible, the students and teachers loved him, and he was great at almost everything. What's not to love, right?
Well, I'd beg to disagree.
I first spoke to Archer around two years ago, in our common Spanish lesson. We were all required to take up at least one foreign language class, and we'd both chosen Spanish. One day in class, something had made me speak to him, and the experience wasn't pleasant. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
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Ms Ramos smiled. "So who wants to translate these words for me? Archer, tú quéres?"
Archer grinned. "SÃ, Señora."
He looked at the board confidently and began to translate the words written on it.
"So, yo tengo una manzana means I have an apple. El museo está cerrado means the museum is closed. Yo leo mucho pero no escribo means I listen a lot but don't--"
"Wrong."
I blurted it out before I could stop myself. The entire class looked at me with eyebrows raised--I was questioning The Archer Woods after all.
Archer himself looked at me. "Excuse me? Disculpé?"
I shook my head. "Yo leo means I read, not listen. And escuchar means to listen, while escribir is to write."
Ms Ramos smiled broadly at me and said, "muy bien, Vivian!" while Archer simply rolled his eyes at me and muttered, "of course you'd know, Ms Smarty-pants."
I turned around in my seat. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He smirked. "I think you know."
I started fuming. He was implying I was a nerd. Maybe I got good grades, but so did he, and above all, I wasn't only interested in studies! I did a lot of things besides that, and the entire school knew. I was quite popular if I say so myself, and not a social outcast who only studied, studied, and studied. He was acting like he was much better and cooler than me.
Cúlo.
The rest of the class was spent with Archer chatting and laughing with his friends, sometimes looking over at me and laughing even more. None of my close friends had taken Spanish, and I didn't want to sit beside people who'd only suck up to me for popularity. So I was basically alone, being the laughing stock of the 'cool' guys.
I had to do something.
So as the lesson ended and we all got up to move to our next class, I passed by Archer and his gang, who were still sitting and laughing. As I walked past Archer, I stopped at his desk and leaned in close to his face. I looked him dead in the eye.
"Hablo mierda de ti en español. Try figuring that out, genius."
As I walked out with my head up, one of Archer's friends, who'd probably figured out what I'd said, let out a low whistle. "Burn, mate!"
°
After that, Archer hadn't once said anything rude to me, and one day, he approached me in the dinner hall and asked if we could be friends. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. He said he'd underestimated me on that day and had realised I wasn't someone to be messed with. So he wanted to be my friend instead.
Brilliant logic, I know.
Anyway, I ignored him because obviously I wasn't going to give him what he wanted, like everybody else. But day after day after day, his persistence became hard to ignore, and somewhere down the line, we did become friends. Strangely enough, fast forward a few months, and we were best friends. I don't know how that happened either.
We'd share everything with each other, our responsibilities, burdens, studies, family life, secrets, gossips, opinions, jokes... Everything. We realised we were actually quite similar, and thus became inseparable, and for that, I had to face the wrath of jealous teenage girls, but I didn't care. As long as I got to spend time with Archer.
Just as naturally as we'd become best friends, we started dating. Even I'll admit, we had some insane chemistry. It was pretty darn good, and it made our relationship even better. We would fight and compete with each other all the time, but it was healthy. It made us perform even better, and our fights almost always ended in angry kisses.
My favourite moment of the day was always sitting with Archer under the big oak tree in the school garden, sharing our lunch, and listening to music together. Sometimes I'd lay my head on his shoulder, and his hand would instinctively wrap itself around me. I sort of liked that.
We were the 'It Couple' of Bloomwood Prep, really.
Until we were not.
It happened so suddenly, all in a day. And it was over in a few minutes. One misunderstanding, and it was all finished. We screamed at each other, forgetting about all our tender moments, our heart to hearts, our kisses. Forgetting about how it used to be. That fight for sure didn't end in a kiss.
I'd rather not talk about what it ended in.
°
We broke up last year, and ever since then, there had been nothing but animosity between us. Our friends, who'd begun to merge and hang out with each other because of us, remained friends, but us? We were now sworn enemies, rivals, competitors... Whatever you choose to call it. I hated him for how and why things had ended, and his feelings were mutual. And we both made sure the other knew that.
So selecting both of us as Head Girl and Head Boy?
A colossal mistake.
I tried convincing Mr Richards to change the Head Boy, but it turns out Archer had already tried the same for me when he'd been called. And in both cases it didn't work. Headmaster wanted us to work together and develop harmony and friendship. He wanted us to be role models and forget about our hatred.
So easy for him to say.
I huffed and puffed all the way to the common room, where Angie and Kate were waiting for me.
"Viv! What took you so long? What did Mr Richards say?"
"Please don't tell me you've done something wrong."
I laughed a little on seeing their urgency. "No, girls, no. In fact, Headmaster just said I've been selected as the Head Girl for next term! But don't tell anyone just yet, it will be announced formally next week."
They stared at me for a good five seconds before erupting.
"What?!"
"Oh my god!!"
They engulfed me in a giant bear hug, crushing me and destroying my eardrums with all the squealing.
"Ca-an't...b-breathe..."
Finally they let me go on hearing my strangled cries, and started bombarding me with all kinds of questions. I answered each one patiently, until Kate asked, "Who's the Head Boy?"
I groaned.
Their eyes widened.
"Please don't tell me..."
"Is he who I'm thinking he is??"
I could only nod. They gasped.
"Viv! What will you do?" Angie asked.
I shook my head. "God, if only I knew. That boy will be the death of me, or maybe I'll kill him one day. Very soon. Such good news just had to be ruined by him!"
Kate hugged me. "Don't worry, Viv, it'll be alright. You both will cooperate, I'm sure."
I closed my eyes as I rested my head on her shoulder. The problem was, I myself wasn't so sure.
°
a/n: how did you like the first chapter? i'm really excited for what's to come next, cuz i have soo much planned!
note: 'hablo mierda de ti en español' means 'i talk shit about you in spanish'.