Pulling Me Into Him

Chapter 2: Rain and Cheers

Althea POV

“You look like you saw a ghost? Chill out man” he said, as I was stunned by his sudden presence.

“Well, I never thought you’d come since your girlfriend won’t allow you to do so if she is not around.” Well, I already knew he was here, yet I still get surprised every time he appears.

“Are you feeling lonely since your big brother can come to play with you anymore?” He started tickling, which nearly made me laugh.

“Stop it! I’m fine. I’m starting to get the hang of it and I was just having a good time with my classmates before you came.” I managed to snap myself out of his reach. But he suddenly laughed.

“What’s funny?” I asked

“I’m sorry, it’s just funny to watch you being so untouchable and trying to maintain your composure around me” he said while giggling his a** off, and it made me embarrassed to say the least. I can’t believe his making a fool out of me, but for some reason, it made me happy. It just proves how much he knows me and he can tell if I’m acting or not. So, I decided to look away, giving the impression that I was annoyed, because I was worried that I might blush right in front of him. Sensing awkwardness, I slowly walked away from him but was stopped when he grabbed my hand. Suddenly, ‘Mr. Pres’, who was the host for tonight’s event, started to speak,

“Good evening, once again, my fellow graduates. To end our celebration tonight, may I request everyone to stand near the stage and fill their glasses as we have our final toast to celebrate our graduation.” I tried to divert my attention from him and started looking for my glass when;

“Why are you always a pain in the a**” he glared me in the eyes as he raised my chin and held my waist. The audience screamed and counted in unison, “Three!!!! Two!!! One!!!”

“Cheers!!!” Everyone screamed and raised their glasses as he kissed me passionately under the sound of the beats, the wind, the rain and cheers.

I was just stunned by what happened. I couldn't even react despite being harassed like that. I mean, at this point, can I still even consider what happened as an harass or a blessing in disguise…? Wait, what am I even thinking? I was trying to get over him, but why does my heart keep pounding nonstop? Okay, calm down, I bet this is one of their schemes, probably a prank or a dare perhaps? Should I just slap him? But that might hurt him a lot, ugh! Put it together Althea! Regardless, I guess nobody saw us when that happened, right? But if we keep staying in this position, it won't be long for the others to see us.

"I'm... sorry..." I said that as I pushed him away, gently of course. But wait, what the he** am I apologizing for? Suddenly, a light flashed that came from the opposite direction of the crowd as a man slowly approached us. No doubt, it was the fu***ng playboy, Keith.

"Oh my, that was quite a scene you two showed me. I never thought you would be interested in this type of activity, Ezekiel, but this will make an interesting headline, 'The man of the hour, Mr. Kingsley, embraces a..." he looked at me for a second

"…a random woman secretly behind his girlfriend’s back’, that’s quite a good headline for a scandal and it would create a lot of interesting feedback, wouldn't it?" he said mischievously as he slurped from his drink that was dripping on the floor. I guess he didn’t see us do the ‘thing’, but we are not in a good position, to say the least. Also, did he just call me 'random'?

"And why should we not? She’s like a sister to me and we were just playing around", Zeke replied, and it made me look at him. His eyes were fierce like a lion protecting his meal, I mean, a child.

“Really? Playing around a corner while the others were having a lovely toast. That surely didn’t look suspicious at all.” he answered sarcastically.

"What about you? Where’d you come from? Let me guess, you missed the toast since you were having a fun time with your girl in the bathroom, I assume. That would make sense why you came from that direction. Oh, by the way, you forgot to hide the kiss mark on your neck" Zeke said as he snapped a photo just in time to take a picture of him.

“I’m pretty sure you know that s****l activities are strictly prohibited in school or any venue under the school’s authority. Be careful, having a violation when you have just graduated would be pretty bad, wouldn’t it?” They stared eye to eye and I felt a fight might break out at any moment when;

"Oh, there you are Althea." Out of nowhere, Miss Anne intervened.

"I was looking around for you, our class will have a class picture and you two should come along as well. I bet your classmates are looking for you guys too." she ordered, as the two guys complied surprisingly. Well, if Ms. Anne didn't show up, things might have gone completely out of hand and it would be the worst case possible for both of us.

The night goes on like nothing happened as I manage to act my way through. We took the class picture, said our final goodbyes and went our separate ways. I didn't hear a fight broke out so I bet those two were behaved for the night. I tried to look for Zeke but my dad showed to pick me up, driving and bragging around his 90s style car.

"So, how did it go? You didn't sneak up with a boy behind our back, did you?" he asked as he stopped and opened the door of the car.

"It was fun, we had a great time, but no, I don't know any guy that I can play around with yet" I replied and looked away, knowing what, happened tonight.

"Yet?!" he frantically asked as we drove away.

It was summer and I haven't seen nor heard anything about Zeke ever since that accident. To my surprise, the photo that the id**t took wasn't posted nor talked about in any of our social media pages and groups. Every day, I drop myself in bed as the memory I had that night keeps looping in my head. How am I supposed to get over this guy after what happened? Every now and then, I started thinking about different scenarios of a happy relationship with him, like what the f***. This is giving me too much hope and it stops me from ever moving on.

I hugged my pillow when my phone rang and it made me excited somehow. It turns out, it was just a random message from our group chat, which I have never interacted with. I mean, I had a great time with them last night, but I can’t stop worrying about Zeke. I suddenly realized that I was prioritizing that guy again even though I swore that I would finally leave him alone. I grabbed my pillow and started pushing it in my face out of disappointment. You know, sometimes I wish I could talk to someone at these moments in my life. Family aside, I don't really have anyone I could trust, nor someone who I am comfortable to share with. I guess that was one of my biggest mistakes that I truly regret. If only I knew how important it was back then, to value my time with the people around me more than my studies or even to Zeke, maybe... just maybe, I would have had a group or even just a friend to listen and talk to right now.

I made it sound like it’s the end, but I’m still an upcoming high school freshman. I believe that’s one of the things I will change when the time comes. Not knowing what to do, I decided to forget about everything and focus on my application for my dream university. Well, it is every student's dream to study at the most prestigious university in the country, White Horse University. Home to some of the rich, talented and famous students, which is why it is branded as the only school in town with the potential to be the number one in the world. If I were to hunt for new guys in college, then this is the best place I could ever ask for. However, applying for such a school will definitely not be a piece of cake. So, I invested nearly all of my summer time studying, researching and planning for this year's application process. Thanks to this, I managed to pass the requirements and interview processes in a flash. The only thing left is the final entrance examination which will be held on this very day.

For me, I had to take the exam in the university's guest building outside their campus. I can't believe I'm so close, that only a fence gate stands between me and those ‘holy’ grounds. I was so hyped as I rushed to the entrance with a smile, confident that I could make it. This time, however, I came in 46 mins early, so I was asked to sit and wait for the others to arrive. Out of a million applicants, only a hundred made it to take the entrance examination. I must be one of the students out there to be the best and got chosen here. Little did I know, I happened to speak out loud all the words that I’ve thought were just in my head ever since I sat down.

“Best? You sure are naive to think like that, little girl”, it was a voice that came from a guy at the opposite side of my seat. I was pretty sure he was asleep but I guess he managed to catch every little thing I spout out up to this point. He rose up and appeared to be an applicant just like me. For a second, I thought he was an old man sleeping while waiting for his child.

“You really thought you were special just because you got this far in the application? Well, I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t the only way to get into the university.” he said while rubbing his eyes. I guess he was asleep after all.

“Most students here don’t even need to take this examination. Rich people can always bargain to let their children through if they ever fail, while famous and well-known students from each school will receive a direct invite from the university. The same applies for students with top tier talents. This hell of an application is just for students like us who are trying so hard to be part of them. And you still think you're one of the best? What a child you turned out to be” he said as he sat back down and held his head back out of disappointment.

“Shut up! I didn’t come here to be a part of them nor to be like one. I don’t know who you are, but I came here not to prove anything to anyone else but myself”, I said angrily, as I stood in my seat. I can’t believe I screamed at a guy I didn’t even know, a total stranger. I could see in his face that he was irritated by what I had just said. Luckily, he just sat there and shoved it off.

“Tsk, do what you want to do and think what you want to think, but I will bet on my life that entering this school will be the most miserable year of your life.” coincidentally, the lightning roars outside, a huge storm is about to come.