CHAPTER FOUR : THE PHONE
1623 Words
*TWILIGHT POV
When I stepped into school the next day, Aiden didn’t come with me. My name was already everywhere.
“There she is.”
I heard it before I saw them. A cluster of girls near the gate. Phones up. Eyes on me.
“I heard her name is Twilight. Year one. Mass Communication major.”
“Aiden has never defended someone like that.
“Talk more, against his best friend.”
“She’s not fit for my Aiden. I hate her already.”
The whispers kept coming, crawling over my skin like insects. People pointed. People stared.
I kept my face down and kept walking. One foot in front of the other. Don’t run.
“Here, take this.”
A voice came from behind me. I turned. A girl was holding out a strange thing. Two round, black pads connected by a band, with a long wire dangling down.
“What’s that?” I asked, frowning at it. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Oh! These?” she laughed, holding them up to her ears. “They’re headphones. I connected them to my phone. They play music. It helps block out all the noise.”
She gestured at the crowd around us with her free hand. “See? People won’t get to you as much.”
I blinked. Headphones. The word was new, but the idea made sense. I reached out slowly and took them. The pads were soft and still warm from her hands.
“Why are you giving me these? Who are you?”
“My bad,” she said, tucking ginger hair behind her ear and smiling so her dimple showed. “I’m Tracy. Same major as you. I like you. I want to be your friend.”
“Friend?” I repeated, testing the word. I never had any friend back in Frostveil.
“Yeah.” She shifted on her feet, suddenly shy. “But if you don’t want to answer now, I can give you time to think about it.”
“No. No, no.” I shook my head quickly. “I want to be your friend.”
Her whole face lit up. “Okay. Let’s go. We’re running late.” She waited until she’d carefully placed the headphones over my ears.
The world went quiet. Music filled my head, soft, far away. And just like that, the whispers and stares faded.
For the first time since I got here, I could breathe.
After class, she took me to the cafeteria in the afternoon. The smell hit me first. Bread. Meat. Something sweet.
Tracy ordered food for both of us and found us a table near the window.
Before we could sit, another girl dropped into the seat across from us. She dressed like a boy. Short hair. Oversized hoodie. She dragged Tracy’s tray toward herself with a grumpy look.
“Tracy, you came here alone without me,” she complained.
“I called, but it wasn’t going through,” Tracy said, holding up her phone. “Go order what you want. Stop acting petty.” She pulled the tray back.
The girl turned to me then, sizing me up. “Oh. She's the new popular girl.”
“Good afternoon,” I said quietly.
“Oh please,” she laughed, pressing a hand to her chest dramatically. “Not every girl gets popular on her first day. I’m a fan.”
Tracy cleared her throat. “Umm, Twilight, this is my best friend, Trinidad. Trinidad, this is Twilight.”
She shot Trinidad a look. “And she can be very sarcastic sometimes.”
“C’mon, don’t hurt my feelings,” Trinidad said, wiping invisible tears from her eyes. Then she leaned forward. “But you can’t deny the fact that she ate. Your name is all over social media. Aiden’s fans are dragging you already.” She said referring to me.
She turned her phone around and showed me the screen. Photos. Videos. Comments. Thousands of them. My face, half-hidden behind Aiden’s arm.
“Girl, at this point you need guards so his toxic fans don’t attack you,” Trinidad added.
I blinked. Three times. I took a sip of water to give my hands something to do.
“Is it that serious?” My voice came out smaller than I wanted. “Why would they attack me?”
“Aiden is a big name in this city,” Trinidad said, leaning back in her chair. “The city’s heartthrob. And he just defended you against his own best friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just be careful. Avoid Chelsea and her minions as much as you can. She’s always overly possessive. Always all over him.”
I was about to answer when the air in the cafeteria shifted.
Five girls walked in together. Same colors. Black and red. Different styles.
Four of them wore crop tops and short skirts. The one in the middle wore bum shorts so short they showed the curve of her ass cheeks, with knee-high boots.
The entire room went quiet. Then the whispers started again.
“You look so pretty today, Tasha.”
“Tania, please look at me.”
“Have you seen Zendaya’s new hair?”
“Katherine keeps getting hotter. Who’s her BBL doctor?”
“Is Giselle’s lips real? I would die to kiss them.”
They strolled to an empty table like they owned the place.
“Who is she?” I asked, not meaning to say it out loud.
Tracy sighed. “That’s Tasha and her minions. She’s rivals with Chelsea. When they clash, it always ends badly.” She glanced at them, then back at me. “She’s the only one who can stand up to Chelsea’s bitcheness. Well, apart from her best friend. Aiden.”
She picked at her rice. “She’s Computer Science. Second year. Chelsea is the same major as us. Second year too.”
I nodded and went back to my food. Trinidad stood to go order hers.I swallowed the loom in my throat. Too many names. Too many enemies. Too many eyes.
Later that evening, I was sitting with Summer in the parlor, watching the big glass thing. The TV.
She was explaining a show about people falling in love when the front door opened.
Aiden came in. He looked tired. His hair was messy. He loosened his tie as he walked past us.
“Twilight,” he said, not stopping. “Come to my room. I want to give you something.”
Then he was already heading up the stairs.
My stomach flipped. I followed him.
This was the first time I’d entered his room. It was twice the size of mine. Dark walls. A big bed. A desk covered in papers and a guitar in the corner. He was standing in front of the mirror, taking off his wristwatch.
“Good evening,” I said from the doorway.
He didn’t turn around. “Over there,” he said, nodding at the bed. “Take it.”
There was a small white box sitting on the duvet.
I crossed the room slowly and picked it up. My hands were shaking a little. I opened it.
Inside was a phone.
“You got me a phone?” I whispered.
“I figured you don’t have one,” he said with a shrug, finally turning to face me. “And you need one. To call me. To call Summer. To call anyone.”
He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Patted the spot beside him.
“Sit. Let me show you some basic things.”
I sat. Very close. Close enough to smell his cologne. He took the phone and his fingers brushed mine as he took it. He didn’t pull away.
“Okay, so this is how you unlock it,” he said, his voice low. He showed me contacts. Messages. The camera.
“Don’t post anything yet,” he added, half-joking. “The internet will eat you alive.”
I nodded, but my mind was elsewhere.
“Umm... I want to ask you something.”
“Sure,” he said. He was still holding the phone, but he looked at me instead.
“Someone in school called you the city’s heartthrob. What does that mean?”
He let out a short laugh and dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay. I’m a singer and guitarist. I have a lot of fans who... like me. A lot.”
“You sing?” The words came out before I could stop them. “No wonder your voice sounds so angelic.”
His head tilted. “Wow. Someone loves my voice. Is it that sweet?” He was teasing. A small smile tugged at his mouth.
“No! I… didn’t mean it that way,” I stammered. My face went red. I covered it with both hands, mortified.
He gently reached out and pulled my hands down. His fingers were warm against my wrists.
“You look cute when you blush,” he said softly.
I blinked, gazing at him.
He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His knuckles grazed my cheek.
“You have rare blue eyes,” he murmured. “I’ve never seen eyes like that before.”
His voice dropped. It sent shivers down my spine.
He shifted closer. His hand came up to cup my face. His thumb brushed under my eye, slow.
“You look really cute, though,” he whispered.
The warmth of his hand did something to me. Something I couldn’t name. My heart was pounding. The room felt smaller.
Then slowly, he leaned in.
My eyes snapped shut.
- Writer
