The Archer

PROLOGUE

Prologue:

“Pst! Cher!”

In the dark-shaded afternoon of September 2011, I looked around when someone called my name. My forehead immediately turned into a deep frown when I saw Jester standing beside the mahogany tree right in front of my cousin’s house.

“What?” I asked, irritated by his sudden appearance. I really hate this man since I was fifteen. You know, he kept on talking to me even though I had already told him not to. He just couldn’t understand what I was trying to avoid. What am I expecting? He is just an uneducated man, after all.

With his customary annoying smile, he ran towards me from the tree. Jester took out a velvet box from his pocket. It also has silver linings on its edges, making it look opulent. “This is for you.” He took his eyes off me as if they weren’t gaping at me just a moment ago.

I sighed, then crossed my arms. “What do you really need from me?” I asked, seriously, my eyes watching his every move.

“Y-You know that I like you for so long, right, Cher? Please, give me a chance. I’ll be a good boyfriend, please, Cher!” he pleaded, looking like a desperate human being underneath the cruel summer’s rays.

He tried to reach for my hand, only for me to move away with disgust on my face. “Oh, c’mon, Jester! You know I have a boyfriend, and you still keep on pushing yourself to me?! Seriously, where is your f*****g decency?!” I beamed, unintentionally humiliating him in front of the girl he has been chasing for three years. Every word that came out from my mouth was like knives stabbing every inch of his confidence until all he could do was just cry.

“Please, C-Cher…” he pleaded, already stuttering while calling my name.

Harsh, loud breath escaped from my silence. I looked up at the sky, matching my grey eyes with the clouds. One more flinch of it, and it would be the darkest camouflage in this world. I swallowed my vile tyranny before looking back at him. “If I said no, it means no, Jester. This is the last time I will see your face.” I breathe. He couldn’t do anything but just let me walk away from him.

One more time, he’d come near me, and I would never hesitate to knock him out. For Pete’s sake! It’s been almost three years, and he knows that I have a boyfriend right now. Why does he keep on pushing himself to me? Does he think that I am going to like him back?. Hell, no!

Why is it so hard for people to understand the things you don’t like? Why do they keep on pushing themselves to the people who don’t like them? They know they are just going to hurt but they still didn’t stop. Some say it is for the thrill of adventure, but for me,  you are just going to sink yourself into a pool of mud and no one would ever reach and pull your hand. They are just going to watch you drown in your own decisions. That’s life, honey. Stop expecting people to help you when you just push yourself to them.

***

“They’re just going to stab that girl when she is not around,” Joanne mumbled beside me as she put strawberry lipstick on her bee-stung lips.

I took out my hairbrush then nodded, not responding to her words. She was referring to that old school girl with a bitchy group of girls who just went out of the bathroom. I don’t know why she is hanging out with those girls when they are known as the number one troublemakers in our school.

I shrugged it all off.

Joanne left me in the bathroom after retouching her face. After almost ten minutes of standing outside one of the cubicles of the bathroom, my boyfriend named Drew went inside with a smile on his face. He removed his hood before planting a kiss on my lips.

“Hey, babe, ” he greeted, flashing his perfect set of white teeth. I replied with just a slight moan in between our steamy kisses. His arms automatically wrapped around my waist, making me produce a flirtatious giggle. I pulled him inside before anyone could see us making out right in the school’s public community bathroom.

My hands pushed him away from me a little when multiple giggles filled the white shining tiled bathroom. I heard them talking about me and my boyfriend that made us even more quiet. I almost stop breathing ‘cause I feel like they will hear even our breath!

“Did you see him?” one of the girls in their senior high school asked her friends.

“Who?” the other girl asked. I heard a kissing sound outside, probably done putting on her lip gloss.

The girl who asked groaned dramatically. “Drew! The basketball player from the Engineering Department!” Her voice echoed inside the room. “How I wish I could be Madeleine Cher! She has it all! Wealth, beauty, body, brain, and boyfriend! 3Bs plus one!” She whined like a child.

I saw the smirk that carved into Drew’s face after hearing those compliments. I jokingly rolled my eyes at him then continued to be silent until those girls already left.

I was the first one who went out of the cubicle to check if there were any more people anymore. I wiped the sweat forming on my forehead using the back of my hand after checking the whole place.

Drew followed me outside. “See? You got a real hot boyfriend, Cher! Even the girls from lower year kept on complimenting your boyfriend! You’re too lucky to have me!” he boasted.

I opened my bag to get the compact powder. With my rolling eyes, I turned to him then leaned against the sink. “They also complimented me, may I inform you ‘cause it seems like you didn’t hear what they’ve said about me, ” I fired back.

“Of course I heard it! I’m lucky to have you too, Madeleine Cher Vaudeville.” He smiled calmly.

This is my life. This is the path I chose. It’s kinda wrong but it is making me happy. They always compliment me because of my wealth. My mother is a flight attendant of marine transportation while my father is a local and international lawyer. My father’s side was known to be the most trusted lawyer, politician, and activist of all time since my grandparents’ generation.

I would lie if I say money can’t buy happiness because, since childhood, I have tasted wealth and freedom. I could get whatever I wanted by just pointing at it. A lot of them are saying that I am too spoiled but the majority of them are trying to make friends with me because of our wealth. Welcome to the life of Madeleine Cher Vaudeville.