'Til The Day You Fall

V: Wet

I followed after Aunt Mylene without looking back.  Honestly, I feel more disappointed than angry.  Man, they can accuse me of murder, but not rape.  And I just hope that she knows that I'm not that kind of person.

 When we got inside her office, female students refused to leave her with me, but it was Aunt Mylene, who forced them to come out and left us inside the office to maybe talk to them especially those who took pictures and videos not to spread it.  I know her, while she loves us dearly,  the image of the school is also important to her.

 I took a quick look at Cantaloupe to see her calm face and when I saw her ruined clothes, I didn't hesitate to take off my jacket. After all, I was still wearing a shirt.

 "Here." I offered while extending my hand to her, the jacket on my hand. 

She stared at it before raising an eyebrow at me.  "Why should I wear your clothes?"

 Because I can almost see all of you and I hate it. I almost told her, but I stopped myself.

 "Just do it if you don't want to come out here again looking like that. Besides, aren't you getting cold?" I asked and shook my head, remembering what she did.  "The next time you want to retaliate, don't do it again. That was stupid of you."

 She rolled her eyes at me, but accepted my jacket nonetheless.

 I stared at her with a blank face.  "You know who I hate most? Those people who pretend to be someone they aren't. And do you know what I hate more? Those people who accuse me of something I will never do."

She did not answer and instead averted her eyes.  Before the tension filled the office, Auntie entered again and sat down quietly.

 "Okay. Now, Explain to me what happened." she started while looking between us. 

 "Ma'am, I'm sorry. The truth is that I just retaliated against him for what he did to me. He's the reason why I was accused of vandalizing."

 "Is this true, Kilton Algarotti?" she asked sternly, leaving no room for me to lie or whatever. 

 I couldn't help but gulp. Full name means trouble.

 "Yes, Auntie. I'm sorry."

 She massaged her temple and leaned back. "What are you, five? Both of you, listen to me. If this incident happens again, I will punish both of you and I promise you will not like it."

 "Yes, ma'am."

 "Understood."

 "And I want you both to clean the pool before you go. All right, you can get out and please, don't take my warning easily. You know what I can do, Kilton."

 I raised my hand in promise to her.  Of course I know what she's capable of.  I still remember the time I accidentally broke her favorite plant when I was thirteen.  She hanged me upside down like a freaking chandelier for an hour. I cringed at the memory as I stepped outside with Cantaloupe following me.  There were no more students as we exited and we quietly walked to the pool.

 You know how big the School's pool is?  Picture the basketball court,  but a lot bigger than that.  Yep, it'll be a pain in the ass to clean. When we got there we quietly started cleaning with no words shared between us. She is on the left side and I am on the right side.  Thankfully, the pool was not that dirty and only a few leaves and insects were there. Someone left a bra and a boxer, but all is good. 

 I looked at Cantaloupe to see her struggling because of the length of what she's holding and because of her petite figure. 

I snorted,  but covered it with a cough when she glared at me.  "Be careful not to fall. Even though I can't swim yet, I can't save you."  I said which is a lie of course. "You know, I'm just curious. Why do you hate me so much?" Was my curious question while cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I just don't like the tension and silence. And besides, we honestly haven't talked yet.

 "I don't. I hate your guts." she responded without stuttering. 

I pursued my lip at that.  "What do you hate about me?"

 "Are you really asking that?" she asked in disbelief,  as if she couldn't believe what she heard.  "You're arrogant, you're a jerk, you think everyone's head over heels with you."

 "Ouch." I said out loud before laughing.  "So, how do I settle this? How do we get along?"

 "When you're no longer arrogant." she answered and smirked at me.

 I shook my head at that. "We can still be friends, you know?" I offered out of the blue and was a little taken aback. Friends? 

 "Who says I want you to be my friend, anyway?"

 "Hey, I'm trying here." She did not answer and instead moved to the other side. "Look, I'm sorry for what I've done before. I admit that I was a bit of an asshole."

 She barks out a laugh at what she heard.  "A bit. Pft."

 "I'm trying here, Cantaloupe." I deadpanned with a serious look on my face. 

 "Lou." she hissed. 

 "Cantaloupe?" 

 "Lou!" she repeated and stomped. 

 "Okay," I shrugged and shifted position as well.  "Cantaloupe."

 She groaned making me laugh. Her annoyed face is really cute.  Her face was red and she was biting her lip so hard.  Man, she just doesn't know the effect she has on me.

 "You know, you're cute, just don't be rude."

 "I don't need your opinion. Why don't you just do something so we can finish? I want to go home."

 I pursued my lip at what she said.  Who is to blame for why we are cleaning the pool today? I asked in my head before snorting. I looked at my watch and was shocked to see that it was close to six.

 F*** me sideways, we have dinner at seven.

 I looked at Cantaloupe and cursed when I saw her tripped on something before falling in the pool.

 "S***!" I cursed and wasted no more time and immediately dived closer to her.  If you'll look at it, she fell into the deepest part. 

 When I got close, I immediately grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up.  She gasped for air and coughed a few times.

 "I got you, Fruity."  I stroked her wet hair and removed it from her face.  "You're safe."

 She coughed a few times as I swam to the side.  I lifted her and made sure she's alright.

 "Are you okay?"  I asked her as I fixed her skirt to make sure her thighs were not exposed.

 She nodded and for a moment, we just kinda stared at each other. Her looking down at me and me looking up at her. Eyes both wet and heavy. 

 The light of the sunset is shining on her face and all I can say is... damn, she's beautiful. If only she's as sweet as she looks.

 "Kilton?" 

 I cleared my throat and quit staring at Cantaloupe to turn to my brother.  "Milt, hey." I hurled myself up and started squeezing my now wet clothes.  "What are you doing here?"

 "I heard what happened. I know you and I don't believe what they are accusing you of and I did confirm it to Aunt Mylene. And she told me you both are here so here I am."

 "Thanks, lil bro." I smiled at my brother and I turned to look at Cantaloupe and saw her hugging herself.  "I don't think we can get any towels at this time. I have spare clothes and I have an unused towel in my car. Milt, can you please get it for her?"  I offered and turned to my brother who was just looking at us.

 "Sure, brother."  he turned to walk but stopped.  "We need to leave too. Mommy and Daddy are already on their way."

 "Got it."

 I watched him walk away before taking off my shirt and squeezing it.

 "T-thank you."

 I barely heard it so I pretended that I did not hear it.  "What was that?" I asked nonchalantly before draining my ears from the water. 

 "I know you heard me."

 "You're welcome." I said and smiled at her.  "Why don't you take a shower in the girl's bathroom and I'll just hand you the towel there? You might get sick of that."

 She suddenly frowned at me.  "Why are you suddenly being kind?"

 "When was I ever mean to you? And nothing, just a little act of kindness and being a gentleman. Don't let it fool you." I responded with a shrug. 

 I gotta say that I admire this girl or maybe I was just used to girls staring or drooling over my body? Cantaloupe didn't even take a glimpse of my body and I can't say that I am not offended because I am.

 "Here you go, Miss."  Milton handed the towel to Cantaloupe and my spare shirt and shorts,  but the latter refused.

 "A towel is fine. Our house is close to here. I'll just take a shower when I get home right away. All right, I'll go first."  she told us while hugging my blue towel and left hastily and we could do nothing but look at her until she was out of our sight.

 "Why don't we drive her home?"  Milton asked as he handed me a towel.  I first dried my arms and body before my hair.

 "I don't know her much, but she will definitely stand up in a fight. That girl has a strong personality. And besides, we will be late. I'll just change for a while, get in the car first."

 "Hurry up, Brother."

 "Yeah, yeah. Start the car, squirt."  I ordered him and ran to the shower room and quickly got dressed.

 At exactly seven Milton and I are about to enter the restaurant.  It didn't take us a minute to find our parents in the VIP room. 

 I kissed my Mom's cheek and nodded my head in greeting to Dad. Milton and I were both bilingual. English and Italian are the first tongues of Dad's half older brother Uncle Francis. Grandma Francheska was the first to marry her Italian husband who was also the former leader of the Algarotti Mafia and Uncle Francis was the result, but unfortunately,  she had a heart attack at the age of thirty and a few years later, she fell in love again with the eldest brother of her late husband Grandpa Gustav and they were blessed with two children.

 "I heard you're giving your Aunt Mylene a headache, Kilton."  Dad said as we ate.

 "It's just a little problem, Dad."

 "You're not young anymore, Kilton. You'll be graduating in a year and after a year of training you'll be my replacement. Act your age, Son. I don't want to hear that you've done anything to disappoint me and our family." Dad said sternly without a hint of humor in his voice. 

 "Yes, Dad."

 A WEEK LATER, the rumor about me harassing a girl finally died down. That’s how it really is, people forget something when more hot news takes over.

 And strangely, I never saw Cantaloupe again. Not that I'm making an effort to see her anyway.  I'm done playing with her. I no longer care what she does or what happens to her as long as she stays out of my way. 

 Well, not until that Monday afternoon when while I was stuck in traffic,  I saw her slowly walking into the dark alley.  What is she doing there?  Didn't she know that place is dangerous?

 Who the f*** cares? Not me.

 So why the hell am I standing here in front of the said place?  I sighed and went into the dark and filthy alley.  Why is that woman still stuck here?

 I saw her peeking out and hiding behind a drum full of garbage.  "What are you doing?"

 She jumped and stared at me in shock before I was prompted to be quiet and pulled me to crouch next to her.  "Don't be noisy if you still want to live."

 I frowned and looked past her head to see some guys ganging up on someone.  I saw him holding a gun and pointed at the man who looked stunned and terrified of his life.

 "What's going on?"  I whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

 She slapped me on the arm.  "Don't whisper to me."  she whisper-yelled at me with a glare and turned back to the scene.

 Why am I hiding like a coward?  I can easily beat those guys. I need some exercise anyway. I stood up and cracked my knuckles.

 "Hey! What are you doing? Are you crazy?"  she asked nervously at me before standing up as well, but when she stood up, she knocked down the trash she's using to hide herself. 

 "Oh, no! Run!"  Cantaloupe shouted before picking random piles of garbage and throwing it at the two before yanking me.