The Destined Queen

Chapter 31

" Emerson, I want you to do something for me. " I said. He jerked his chin for me to go on. " I want you to do something with Isaac. That prick hurt my best friend. " I said, gripping the edge of the bench tightly. "What did he do? " He asked. " He is marrying some other girl. " I informed. " What? But he looked like a nice guy. " Emerson frowned. " I thought so, too. Vut It turned out to be wrong. So, Are you going to help me? " I asked. " Yes. Of course. I can scare him with magic. " He gave me a wicked smile. " Good. "

*Rose*

Gustin wanted to talk to me. I don't know for what. But Winter said that I am going to be fine. I trust her. Now, Gustin is looking around my room. " You can sit down, you know. " I said and pointed to a chair. He nodded and brought the chair closer to my bed. He motioned for me to sit and he sat, too. " What do you want to talk about? " I asked. " What is bothering you? " He asked. " Everything is fine now. I am fine. " I said, quietly. He nodded slowly. " I am sorry for whatever I did that made you hate me, Rose. " He said, his head lowered. " I don't hate you, Gustin. " I said. I don't know why he thinks I hate him. " Then, why don't you talk to me? I won't eat you. " He said. Those words somehow sent chills down my spine. " Umm. I am scared of you. " I whispered the last part. " Why? " " I saw you fighting one day. " I said. " What? " He asked softly. I nodded. " I saw you fighting with three boys and threatening to... To kill them. " I clutched my hand tightly, which were on my lap. " Where? " He asked, his eyes calculating, his brows scrunched. " Behind the school building. You were threatening... I think they were seniors. " " Ohhh. Those three idiots. They were bullying a girl, Rose. Do you remember Peris? " I nodded. " Yes. She used to sit behind Winter. " I said. " Yes. Those boys used to bully her. You know how shy and quiet she is. So, they used to take away her money and humiliate her. When I found a hand print on her cheek, My temper got the best of me. I asked her who did this and after pressuring her to tell me, she spilled everything. Thank Lord, they didn't touch her elsewhere. I would have surely killed them, behind the school building. " Gustin said, rage filling his eyes. " But we didn't see any handprint on her face. " I searched my brain for the memory but nothing. " Because she used make up to hide it. I saw the handprint on her when she was running to the girl's washroom. I stopped her in the way and asked her about it. " " Why did she tell you? " " I told you I pressurized her. " " Why did you bothered to ask? " I asked. " Because Peris was my friend. And all the others, too. We grew up together. I don't want anyone to bother my friends. I am sorry for scaring you. But what we're you doing there? I chose that place because no one goes there. " "I went there because Winter and I were strolling there in the recess, and her watch fell on the ground. She didn't notice it at the time and when we reached the classroom, she was panicing. I was sure she lost it in that ground, behind the school building. So, I went there to find the watch. " " And saw me threatening them. " Gustin shook his head. " I should have asked you. I misunderstood. I am sorry. " I alologized. " You couldn't have asked. I was a playboy. " He chuckled. " Yeah." I smiled. " So, Will you be my friend, now, Rose? " He asked, forwarding his hand. " Only if you promise to take me somewhere now. Because Winter and I were going out. You interrupted us. " I crossed my hands and smiled a bit. " Okay. Fair enough. " He said, forwarsing his hand some more. I giggled and shook his hand. " Friends. " I said. " Friends. " He smiled. " But don't ask me now about what happened. I don't want to talk about it. " I said. " Okay. Later. " He said. " Where do you want to go? " He asked. I gave him a devilish smile. He raised his brow.

" I didn't know you are this evil. " Gustin said. We were standing outside the gates of our high school. " I miss school. That's all. " I shrugged. Gustin shook his head, but his lips twitched a bit. " Come on. I'm going to push you up the wall."He said, and kept his palm over the other and jerked his chin. I put one of my leg on his hands, and pushed up the wall. " I am here. Don't worry. " Gustin said. " I'm not scared, Gustin. " I grinned and successfully jumped on the other side of the wall. " Are you okay? " Gustin shouted from the other side. " Yes. Come on. " I shouted back. In seconds, he jumped over the wall. And grinned. " Impressive. " I sang. He chuckled and started walking. " Come on. " He said. I followed him. " Where will you take me, My Knight? " I asked, chuckling. " Let me just call someone. He has the keys to the inside of the school. " " Why do we need keys? I have a hairpin. " I said and walked faster. It took some time but I did it. " Wow. You can pick locks, too. Impressive. " He said, nodding his head in approval. " I have been stealing cakes from the fridge that my mom always kept locked because I got tooth ache after eating so many sweets. " I smiled proudly. " You're unbelievable. " He said, shaking his head and the corner of his lips turned slightly upward. " I'm going to take that as a compliment. " I said and skipped inside the school. I heard him chuckle under his breath. I wish he was here with me. The thought slowed me down, and my smile faded. Gustin appeared beside me, and nudged me. " You can share with me anytime. " He sang, and walked forward, hands in pockets, eyes at the front. " I'm fine. " I murmured. I felt him shrug. " Let's go to the canteen first. " He said. I followed him to our cafeteria. The chairs were upside down on the tables. The cafeteria was so silent but it was the same. " What do you want to eat, Miss? " I turned in the direction fr where Gustin's voice came, I was stunned. I don't know how in the world he wore that apron and that cap over his head so fast, bit he did. A spatula was in his hands, and grinned at me. He was already in the kitchen. " What are you doing there? " I asked, walking towards him. " I am going to cook something. Especially for you. " He gave me his charming smile. " Hmm. I want chicken nuggets and chicken tenders. But do you have the ingredients? " I asked. " Yes. Our school has a refrigerator. Don't you remember? " " What? " I snapped. " Yeah." " I thought they gave us fresh food. " I said. " Not everyday. Though, they tried to do that a lot. " He said. " How do you know? " " I used to have a good relationship with the cooks. " He shrugged. " Ohh. " " Sit down, Miss. Your food will be ready within seconds. " He said, and started working.

I can't believe this. Gustin cooked me chicken nuggets and chicken tenders and some tomato sauce. " Is it fresh? The tomato sauce? " I asked. " Nope. You can eat it or throw it. It was in the fridge. " He shrugged. I decided to eat it. It was amazing. " It's delicious. " I said. He bowed, smiling. I ate the food, and shared it with Gustin. Then we went to our old classroom. I missed everything. For a while now. We walled through the whole school bulding. Winter and mine's lockers. Gustin laughed at his locker. Some Kid sticked wrestler stickers on it. We went to the gymnasium and had a basketball match. I won. But I'm sure Gustin let me win. When we were done, we walked outside. In the park, we sat on the swings. Gustin on my left. We sat there silently. "You owe me a gift, Gustin. " I said. " What gift? " " My birthday went by and you didn't give me anything. Now that we're friends, you owe me a gift. " I said. " Okay. What do you want? " He asked. " Hmm.. Let me think. " I tapped on my chin with my forefinger. " Can you bake? " I asked. " Yes. I can. " He said, surprising me. " Then I want chocolate cake with chocolate chips and extra chocolate syrup. " I demanded. " Okay. What is my deadline? " He asked. " Hmm. Tomorrow? " I asked. " Cool. " He said. And we sat there in silence, again.

It felt so natural to sit with him like this. I felt comfortable. I don't know how did I opened up so fast with him but I did. Maybe because I have always seen him. As he said, we literally grew up together. We were so accustomed with each other's habits, laughs, smiles and sadness, too. " Do you remember that day? We were in kindergarten. " He said. " What day?" My brows scrunched. " The day when you saved my life. " He said. I frowned more. " How? " " I accidentally threw paint at Miss. Nimble's face. Her face was covered in black paint. She didn't see me but you did. And to save me from Miss. Nimble's wrath, you apologized to her. She punished you. Ordered you to do squats. But you still didn't say my name. " Gustin said. " Ohhh. How can I forget that day. But it went out of my mind for a while. And let me ask you, What were you doing when I was getting punished? " I asked, crossing my hands. " Sitting. " He scratched the back of his head. I hummed. " I'm sorry. I was scared of Miss. Nimble. I was a scaredy cat back then. " He apologized. " It's okay. I did it to save you, after all. But now you owe me something big. " I said, chuckling. " I'm at your service, Your Majesty. " He said, lowering his head a bit. " Good. You should take me some place. You know. " I said, swinging. " You will go with me? To some place? " He asked me, word by word. " Yes. Why not? We'll take Winter and Ashten, too. " I smiled. " Oh. Yeah. Sure. " He said. " Great. " I said. Then silence. " Thank you, Gustin. For doing this with me. I owe you one, too. " " You don't owe me anything, Rose. Just be my friend. " He said, looking right at me. " Now you are putting me to shame. " I said, pouting. He chuckled under his breath. " I didn't mean to. " He said. I smiled at him. " Do you want to go back? " I asked. " If you want to, then let's. " He said. I stopped the swing and got up, dusting my pants. "Let's go, then. " I said. We walked back home. The road was so silent. The night so quiet. " Isaac is marrying another girl. " I said, at last. "I'm.... I'm sorry. "He apologized. " What are you apologizing for? I was wrong. I thought he liked me for real. But who will like me? I'm just a freak. " I murmured, my head lowered. I felt Gustin stop first and then felt his hand stopping me by gripping my elbow. He turned me towards him. " You are not a freak. You are beautiful, talented, a skilled baker, an amazing friend and a magnificent person. If he doesn't see it, he is a fool. " He said, looking straight at my eyes. I couldn't believe that Gustin is complimenting me. " Don't pity me and don't try to console me, Gustin. I know the truth. " I said. " What you know is wrong. Don't you remember boys falling on their knees for you? Ashten had to keep them away from you. " He said. " Yeah. But they were all bad. I thought Isaac was a nice guy. " I said. " You deserve a great guy, Rose. You deserve an amazing guy. You deserve happiness. You deserve everything beautiful. And don't let anyone bring your spirit down or tell you otherwise." He said. His words traveled to my heart and bloomed into butterflies. " Thank you. " I whispered. " You don't have to thank me. I am telling the truth. " He said. " No one said these things to me except Winter and Ashten. And I didn't believe them because they are friends. " I said. " Well, Believe me. Because I don't lie and I don't take pity on people. I tell the truth." He said. I nodded, smiling. Tears already welled up in my eyes. " I'm glad that you are my friend, Gus. " I said. He shook his head. " I am grateful to have YOU as my friend. So, Thank you. " He said, smiling. I smiled back.