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2254 Words
Alice
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. It was my involuntary, instinctive, reflex reaction whenever his name was mentioned, which unfortunately happened a lot. Effy could not stop herself, Josh has been living rent-free in her head for years, he was all she could think about, all she could talk about.
It was rather irritating, listening to the continuous documentary of his life, as if he were a celebrity. The latest news of who he was seen with, the cheating rumours, the drama that came part and parcel of being the most popular person. Not just in primary or secondary school, but it seemed the entire university campus, hell, this entire part of town was under his spell. He has everyone eating out of the palm of his hands, holding onto his every word, as if he were god.
“Pfft. He would make a terrible god”. She whispered silently. The little voice that plagued my every waking moment, my every dream. This voice was a part of me, but she was not me. She was a parasite, living through me.
I must have been missing some important information about him, as everyone swarmed to be his minions, as if he was some kind of king, or dictator. “Better.”she whispered.
One thing was for certain, regardless of who he was, or who ever he thought he was, I wasn’t following him like everyone else, I was not going to become a sheep, a follower. Another person to pander to his already over-inflated ego.
As much as I hated to admit it, I lost a modicum of respect for Effy
, when I learned of her crush, I felt a touch of disappointment towards her, as day by day she turned more into a Josh-groupie and less of the friend I once knew.
He had been her crush for what has felt like forever, intensifying further when she discovered he would be attending the same uni as us. “Can’t be that much of a somebody if he is going to a local uni, not abroad or Cambridge or Oxford” the voice piped up. I smirked, sometimes we were on the same page.
“He broke up with Sienna!” She squealed in a childish whisper. Scared of being overheard by the other students from our university; Valkyrie’s Hall, as the bus slowly began to fill up.
I smiled at her, pitying the way she would always hope that she would become his girlfriend after he broke up from whomever his latest victim was. Always clinging onto the hope, pushing herself into his sights, trying her hardest to get him to notice her. However she was always coming away disappointed, disheartened vowing he wasn’t worth her time, yet within a few days she was obsessed with him again.
Truth be told, I was surprised he hadn’t taken advantage of the fact she openly and humiliatingly offered herself to him. She really was quite gorgeous, far better looking than any of his latest conquests.
“Perhaps he is intimidated by the overly pretty ones” she quipped, and to an extent I agreed, it was either that or he went for the girls who were nobodies in his eyes. Those girls he saw as beneath his social status, who would rely on him, revel in their newly found popularity, too scared of the consequences to fall from his grace than question him or his actions. Those he could use to further boost his egocentric disposition, whilst still be able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he pleased.
Josh was two years older than us, although in the same level as us at university due to his extension of his “gap-year”. His reluctance to give up enjoying the delights of the world, to soak in Sun’s rays and breathe easy in the tranquility of peace.
His favourite quote, one that formed his usual spiel he would spout to any pond who was willing to listen to his drivel: “Work is an unavoidable part of life, to some it can bring meaning, be an ambitious drive in their lives, however for the many we become slaves to the big corporations who would rather pay peanuts then respect its employees”
It was no coincidence that he donned this devil-may-care attitude, flouted as many rules as possible snd lived exclusively up to the bad-boy reputation that preceded him. He had that charismatic charm that allowed him to get away with anything and everything by everyone; as all the girls loved him, forgiving his every sin whereas all the guys wanted to be him, wanted to mimic his fast and carefree lifestyle.
He was the epitome of physical prowess; an athlete, always working out at the university’s gym, lifting weights and constantly showing off his Latest achievements. He knew how to wear the crown of popularity, and despite my better judgement, I knew that he worse it well.
I didn’t want to crush my friend’s dreams, but they weren’t even on the same planet when it came to relationships. Despite her attractiveness, she had never been in a serious relationship. I knew that she was still a virgin, had only gone as far as a slight drunken fumble, she had always held the same view as me, our virtue was to be saved for the right person, someone who would value it.
It pained me to know that thought that Josh would be that person, naive to believe that he cared about such things. I knew different, I knew he would eat her alive if anything was to happen with him, I also knew that she would deeply regret it, later on in life.
They were two polar opposites, who would never work. Effy being a shy, timid girl, who always played by the rules, too scared to say the wrong thing, do do anything that could offend anyone.
Unlike Josh who strives to cause as much offence as possible, loving to humiliate anyone if given the opportunity and the arsenal to do so. He p hated authority and saw rules as challenges, only created so that he could break them. One by one.
I despised every part of him, every fibre of his being repulsed me, we had never spoken, and I planned to keep it that way. I tried to control it, tried not to reveal the full extent of it to Effy, but it proved difficult when my hatred was fuelled even further because of her unabated love for every part of him, unconditional and inexplainable.
“Effy-“ I sighed, getting to my feet as the bus drew to a stop outside the university campus. The vast buildings to the left of us towered several stories high, people in their hundreds were spilling into the main entrance already.
I looked at her, her eyes showed the determination of a hunter tracking down its prey, it was then that I had no choice but to admit defeat, accepting the fact that deep down I knew that no matter how many times I told her, how many times I would warn her, she would never listen. Her rose-coloured glasses as thick as beer bottles, seeing only what she wanted to see. “Effy, you shouldn’t worship him, and the ground he walks on…he isn’t God” I told her, my last ditch attempt to engage her to even listen to me.
She shrugged and looked over her shoulder, “he may not be God, but I will make him mine.” She winked. “One day.”
***
POV - Unknown:
Fuelled by hate.
Desiring to destroy.
Striving to be all powerful.
I had adopted the ancient Videshan mantra; to create fights between my enemies, to divide them.
My aim to distract my enemies from attacking me, deflect their attention to their own quarrels amongst themselves. These conflicts between themselves weakening them so that they stood no chance against me,
The oldest tactic of war: divide and conquer.
I hadn’t always been this way, hadn’t always been so overcome with this deep loathing for the world. The people, the cruel twists and turns of life, of this predetermined fate had changed me. Had made this way. I had no control over it, I just had to embrace the darkness, accept who I have now become.
Humans have always been the same, since the beginning of time. Driven by the deadly sins; pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. All premeditated to be self-destructive, inflicting pain and suffering on others and ultimately the cause of their own demise.
Ever since Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, humankind was destined to fail. I should have seen it then as I see it now.
They all need to be destroyed.
The slate needs to be wiped clean, a fresh start in a desolate land.
Back to the drawing board, coming up with bigger and better ideas.
How could I change things? To make the necessary improvements it so desperately needs? To create an Earth 2.0
How could I make a world free from evil? Free from suffering? Free from pain?
When the pain, the suffering, the evil, was all that I know?
***
Josh
I couldn’t pinpoint what it was about her, why she intrigued me so.
There was something about her, something that compelled me to her.
A certain je me sais quoi about her that truly fascinated me.
It wasn’t necessarily her looks; quite plain, quite average, quite unforgettable really. There was something else about her, almost indescribable, for there were no words that could do it justice.
You could say she had an elegance about her, a power, an aura. One that shone brilliantly like s beacon, even though it was invisible to the naked eye. The warmth she radiated was like an open fire, a fire that matched the colour of the tangle of curls on her head.
I liked the fact that she wasn’t like any of the others, also appealed to me. She paid no interest to who I was, who my family were, ignorant to the influence that I held because of it.
Perhaps she truly didn’t know, after all she may have been born here, she may have lived here her entire life, but my family legacy ran much further than just my father. Our name could get us into trouble, just as easily as getting us out of it.
Perhaps she did know that I was the youngest son of Charles Morgan, of The Morgan Industries. My father was a hard bastard, a cruel father, and was ‘t one to be easily impressed by anything, but he garnered respect from his success. He had taken a small family business he had inherited from his father and transformed it into a multi-billion pound empire.
I had been watching her, from the driver’s seat of my car, as she got off of the bus with her irritating friend, her head down holding onto the straps of her heavy-looking backpack. Her shoulders hunched, as she battled the weather to get through the main entrance with rest of them. There was nothing really about her appearance that stood out, other than that bright shock of hair, and her piercing green eyes.
Her body language was defensive, reserved, almost as if she were angry as she marched through the crowd, I was losing sight of her as she weaved in and out of people, only being able to follow the fiery curls on her head amongst the monotonous sea of brown and blonde heads.
This term I had vowed to make an effort to get to know her, to try and convince her of my charm, but we were already nearing the end of term, and she hadn’t engaged in my attempts of conversation with her, hand’s even glanced my way despite the fact that she knew I was staring at her in one of our classes together.
She infuriated me, with her lack of enthusiasm to es t to know me. Everybody wanted to know me, to become friends with me. Hell girls were backstabbing their best friends if they thought they had an opportunity to be draped on my arm, but not her.
As frustrating as she was, it was also quite refreshing. I had been so used to everyone being overly friendly, offering themselves up as easy targets of my lust, that her cold shoulder, her disregard for my existence, her complete lack of willingness to want to know me was new territory for me.
For once in my life I was the one who was making all of the effort, whose attention was one-sided. I had been going out of my way to engage her, to involve her in my life, in my social circle, but to no avail. Every time she would rebuff my advances.
She had become my next challenge, snd it was t going to be easy. She was someone whom I had to chase, whom I needed to make more of an effort to get to know.
I needed to, especially if I had my sights on her, and only her.
I was going to take her, I was going to make her mine.
But I needed to take baby steps first.
I was going to ask her to be my date for the Winter Solstice Soirée at the end of the month.
***
- Writer
