ONE MONTH WITH THE DEVIL

Chapter 8

The door of my room creaked open. I closed my eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. Pretending to sleep was the only thing I could do to avoid going to school. Talking to my mother about it was useless.

"Won't you go to school today? It's almost 8 a.m.," my mother's voice echoed in my head.

I didn't respond, still pretending to sleep. She should leave my room. I didn't want anyone bothering me this morning.

"Lara, get up now. I know you're not asleep. It's pretty obvious," she snapped at me.

I shrugged and opened my eyes.

"What?" I yawned lazily, frowning.

"You're late for school, girl. Go and take a bath; you need to go to school," she instructed.

"I don't want to go to school," I muttered under my breath.

She folded her arms over her chest, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Why?"

My jaw dropped. I thought I had said it quietly, but she heard me. Well, it's better that way. It's good she heard what I said anyway. I don't want to go to school.

My eyelids drooped.

"I'm tired. I think I'm sick. I don't want to go anywhere," I lied, avoiding eye contact.

Mom walked further into my room, her brows still furrowed. She came closer to my bed and patted my shoulder gently.

"What's wrong, sweetie? You've never talked about skipping school before today. Did someone bully you at school or something?" Mom bombarded me with questions.

I shrugged.

"No one bullied me. I'm just tired," I said calmly.

"Look at me," her voice turned cold, and I quickly obeyed.

"What about your boyfriend?" she asked.

My heart skipped a beat when she blurted out the question I had been dreading. I knew she would ask, but I didn't expect it so soon. Just hearing Victor's name made my heart ache. Is this how it feels to have your heart broken? The relationship between Victor and me wasn't real, but it felt like a real breakup. I had fallen in love with him deeply.

"I'm waiting for your answer, young lady," Mom's voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

I forced a smile, looking into her eyes.

"He's fine. And, I think I'm okay now. I'm going to school."

"Okay. But if you're really tired, you can stay home. I don't have a problem with that. I was just surprised you didn't want to go to school," Mom rambled. She is Dr. Elena Voss, always worried because she works hard as a kid doctor.

"It's okay, Mom. I really want to go to school now," I insisted.

The corners of her mouth curled upwards.

"That's my baby girl. Bye, sweetie, I'm going to work."

"Bye, Mom," I waved at her and watched as she left my room.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I was sure she had gone downstairs. I wasn't really interested in going to school, but I had to tell Mom that so she wouldn't worry about me.

Poor Mom thought something was wrong with me when I told her I didn't feel like going to school. It's not fair to get her worried, especially with her work. Of course, Mom was surprised because I'm Lara Voss. The quiet girl who loves books. The girl who would never miss school for anything. Good grades, free school, college that was my one plan.

My phone beeped on the bedside table. I checked the notification.

I had seven text messages from Maya and one from Xander. Damn, I really overslept. This is so unusual.

Well, I shouldn't be so surprised. I slept around 1 a.m. last night. I was stalking Victor on f*******: and i********:. I ended up getting hurt and cried my eyes out after seeing videos of him making out with random girls. I was so stupid, honestly.

I clicked on the message from Xander.

Won't you show up at school? Are you okay?

Xander and I have become pretty close these days. He's a nice person, I must say. Sometimes, he makes me forget about Victor when we're at school. Two boys love one girl now, just like my trope list.

Then, I moved to Maya's messages.

You must show up at school, b***h. I'm already here. I don't understand why you're letting Victor affect you.

You really need to get over that guy. I thought you hated when girls lose themselves because of a guy. It's not like that asshole is more handsome than Tyler.

I chuckled at her last sentence. It was obvious she was exaggerating. Victor was more handsome than Tyler and all the boys in Evergreen High. Dude is a handsome devil. Rich boy loves poor school girl, but now it hurts.

I blinked rapidly as tears welled up in my eyes while rereading Maya's last message.

I finally squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears I'd been holding back for days fall.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

You can do it, Lara Voss. I really need to get over him and pretend like he never existed in my life at all.

I'm sure I can do that. I believe in myself. It's easy if I'm determined. I just have to go back to being the old Lara Voss the one who really cared about her mother, her education, and her best friend.

I guess I'll have to tell my mother that I broke up with Victor later, or else she'll keep asking about him.

I sent a text to Maya that I'd be at school in a few minutes.

I got out of bed. It's time to prepare for school. I can't just lose all my dreams of becoming a surgeon because I fell for a guy who doesn't give a damn about me.

By the time I reached school, it was already the second period. The class I had now was English. I didn't want to think about it after all I had promised to forget about him entirely. But still, both of us had English class together.

What if he shows up in class today?

I don't think he's going to do that. He hasn't been coming to class since he resumed school after that incident with his dad, Richard.

I took a deep breath and entered the class. To get rid of the feelings I had for Victor, I had to get rid of every thought of him, so I shouldn't be thinking about him.

"Why are you late, Ms. Voss?" Mr. Carter asked, glaring at me with his eagle eyes. Mr. Carter teaches English at Evergreen High.

"I woke up late. I'm sorry," I muttered, picking my words carefully.

"Sorry for yourself. Don't let this happen again. You can have your seat," he snapped.

I bowed my head a little.

"Thank you, sir."

I glanced around the class, looking for an empty seat. The class was packed to the brim. I wondered why everyone decided to attend English class on the day I was late.

"You're disturbing my class, Lara. Just sit down beside Victor," Mr. Carter's voice rang out.

My eyes widened when I heard that name. Victor? He's in this class? What the heck!

My eyes roamed around the class until they landed on him. He wasn't aware of my intense gaze; he was chatting with Vanessa Vale sitting beside him. He was obviously flirting with her; the girl's cheeks had already turned pink. Vanessa thinks Victor should be hers. She is jealous now.

My hands tightened into fists. I was jealous and confused at the same time.

Jealous because he was flirting with a girl in class, which was so unreasonable.

Confused because I didn't want to sit beside him.

I didn't know what to do. There was an empty seat beside him; I think that's the only empty seat in the class.

Mr. Carter threw me a deadly glare.

"Kindly have your seat, young lady," he snapped.

I nodded.

"Yes, sir."

I slowly walked to the seat. My chest rose and fell rapidly. I didn't understand why I was feeling this way. Maybe it was because I was going to sit close to him after a long time. I had really missed the scent of his cologne.

He was still engrossed in his conversation with the girl beside him. I felt a pull in my chest. I couldn't deny that I was really jealous right now. And I was disappointed in myself for that. I thought I had agreed to get over him.

I swallowed hard and finally took my seat beside him.

He sensed someone beside him. He turned, and his eyes met mine. My palms grew sweaty as he stared intensely at me.

"What are you doing sitting beside me?" The words came out suddenly, his voice deep and low.

I raised an eyebrow as his words finally registered in my head. Why would he ask me that? Does he think this class is his personal space?

"This isn't your house. It's a school," I blurted out.

His eyes narrowed. "Who taught you how to talk back? Xander?"

A line appeared between my brows.

"Look, I'm here to study. I'm not here to discuss anything with you. And I had no choice but to sit here since there was no other empty seat."

His eyes pierced into mine, devoid of any expression. "Xander has really taught you a lot of things."

Not again. After ignoring me for so long, he finally speaks to me today, and all he does is bring up Xander. What the heck is wrong with him? I think Victor has lost it. Boy gets jealous, fights this is the trope.

I threaded a finger through my hair.

"Why do you keep dragging Xander into our conversation?" I snapped at him in a high pitched voice, clearly losing my cool.