Chapter I

Rianna’s POV

“Honestly, the professor’s a madman!” one of my close friends Charlotte Mackenzie complained as we walked through Hollen Academy. I sighed and prepared myself. This could take awhile. Charlotte never fails to make a long discussion, especially for the things she feels strongly for.

“Come on, Charlotte, it was just a pop quiz,” I answered, tugging at my backpack gently. I examined my dirty now black-less nails. Hey, it doesn’t hurt having fun with black nail polish every once in awhile.

“Yes, but if I fail this quiz, my grades are going to drop!” Charlotte grumbled, slinging her body bag over her shoulder. She flipped her dark blonde locks away from her face and turned to stare at me. “But for you it’s an effortless shot.”

“Oh, come off it,” I snapped, tucking strands of my dark brown hair behind my ear. “It’s just a quiz, grades don’t matter to me.” Truly, it doesn’t. If I get high grades, go me. If I don’t… Well, I panic when I fail. But I’m satisfied when I pass. “Besides, you know you’re the smarter one from the both of us.”

“Hey Rianna, wait up!” another one of my close friends, Sarah Kirke, called out, rushing up to us. She panted slightly as her strawberry blonde hair flew about wildly. Sarah was famous for her long and straight hair, and of course, her extremely good sports skills.

“What’s up?” I questioned. Usually I don’t see Sarah harassed. I’ve known her since we were in diapers; that must say something about how well we know each other, right? She shot me a look, her dark green eyes all fuzzed up.

“I saw Andrew awhile ago,” she admitted softly. Oh no. Andrew Holton’s Sarah’s ex-crush. He liked her too, for awhile, and he was actually courting her then, until he just said he didn’t care much about her like he used to. Sarah wasn’t the type to be affected by stuff like that… But sometimes when she isn’t in the mood it hurts her.

“Having a bad day?” Charlotte soothed. This was one thing Charlotte’s actually good for. She’s the crying-shoulder type. She never fails to hug anyone else anyway. “What happened exactly?”

“Well, my day sucked. First, I was late for Homeroom. Then there was a pop quiz in Math. Then there was that test in History, which I blew. And then I see him with my ex-best friend! How complicated is this?!”

No wonder she looked so frazzled. I turned to look at Charlotte, who just gave me a concerned look. We turned to Sarah. Poor girl. Sometimes life is just so unfair to good people. “Hey guys,” a voice said. We looked around and saw the rest that filled our little group.

There was Andrea Carlton. She was the most responsible among all of us. She has this schedule thing that has all these different colours and stuff. It scares me sometimes, but she’s a good friend nonetheless.

Then there was Nicole Harris. She was the funniest among all of us. No one ever mistakes her laugh. She’s one of those people who love partying, but never got around to do the bad stuff in the party. Except for her birthday. The wine incident rocked.

Lastly, there was my best friend in the whole world, who knew me inside out. Rebecca Lawson was the greatest advice-giver in the whole world, and she still kept some secrets of her own. Sometimes she’s such a mystery, yet sometimes she’s an open book. Yup, weird.

Charlotte started comforting Sarah and soon they were off into their own worlds, talking about anything that popped into their minds. Nicole and Andrea soon did the same thing and soon the two pairs were walking down the halls chatting animatedly.

I cocked my head up to meet my best friend’s eyes. We both gave each other a small smile, reminiscing slightly about Amelia Crawford, our best friend. She passed away last year and only memories remained in our minds. “Miss her too?” she said softly as we walked too, her arm slung around my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around her waist as we continued.

“You have no idea.”

“Dude, she’s gorgeous,” my best friend Vincent Hunter said, glancing sideways at the head cheerleader of our school. I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my dark brown-blond locks. Vincent was one of those types who love searching even if he has a girlfriend, who currently is Elise Versailles, I think.

“Get over it, Vince,” I answered, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. “You’ve got Elise, and she’s got the head of the football team. It’s obvious anyway. So get over your sad-ass fantasies.”

I don’t intend to be mean but it’s the only way to get to Vince’s head. Vince isn’t really the stick-to-a-girl type. He never was. He’d change girlfriends every two to three weeks. He’s my brother and all, but… I don’t know; we click like… yin and yang. Total opposites.

“Aw, man, don’t ruin my fun.” Vince grinned and cocked his head sideways at me. “As if you didn’t search when you had Rianna anyway.”

I flinched at her name. Rianna Porter… God, I love Rianna Porter. Rianna was my first girlfriend; we lasted for 2 years… I don’t know what came over me then, but when it neared our 2 year anniversary, I… I thought I saw something in Skye Willis. Total mistake.

I ended up making out with her on the day of our anniversary. I was supposed to have dinner afterwards with Rianna, but I was too busy with Skye to remember the time. I arrived really late in the restaurant and Rianna was just waiting outside, staring at me as I walked to her. My tie was all messed up, my hair was ruffled… I was a mess.

FLASHBACK

“Where were you?” Rianna questioned, tilting her head towards me with a bewildered look in her sweet eyes. My heart did a flip-flop. Damn, I love her so much, but… what did I just do…?

“I had something to do,” I replied shortly, trying to fix my tie. She sighed and came up to me, gently removing my tie from my iron grip. She started fixing it and loosened it up a bit before straightening my polo.

“Yeah, Char and Becca told me,” she said, her voice ringing in my ears. I loved her voice more than anything… She gave me a small smile, melting my insides to mush. What is wrong with me? I love Rianna. Then… Why’d I do that?

“They did?”

“Yeah, Skye Willis really makes people busy, right?” Rianna let go of my tie and slowly wiped something off my cheek. Oh, fuck. Lipstick. She looked up and met my eyes, her own brimming with tears.

“Rianna, I—”

“Can explain?” She smiled wryly. “It’s okay, Paul, I understand, honestly. We’ve never made out in our relationship. I guess you felt the lack or something. Well, it’s okay now. You’re single again.”

“W-What?” I stammered. My head was spinning. Rianna merely smiled at me and wiped her tears away. Some teardrops had begun to form too, only they were in my eyes. “Ri…”

She laughed. “Sweetie, only my boyfriend can call me that.” She handed me the bracelet I gave her for our first-year anniversary and turned to walk away, taking my heart with her…

END OF FLASHBACK

“Hey, Paul, snap out of it,” Vince said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. “I’m sorry; I totally forgot you didn’t like bringing that up.”

I sighed and smiled. “It’s alright, I guess… Maybe I should get over her by now.”

Just as we turned around, my insides went cold. Charlotte and Sarah walked past me, their eyes staring at me icily. Right after, Nicole and Andrea glared at me before striding forward again. Lastly, Rebecca soon hugged Rianna tight, refusing to look at me. Soon, Rianna pulled away and looked sideways, meeting my eyes. She gave me a small smile before walking away with Rebecca.

“Damn, sent by the devil himself,” Vince said with a shake of his head. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I totally blew it.

“Why do you put up with that bastard?” Charlotte hissed as we walked into the Art room. I shrugged and sat down at the back, pulling out my sketchbook, two pencils and an eraser. “He’s nasty. Honestly, if I were you, I’d have beaten him into a bloody pulp.”

“I’m used to it,” I answered as Rebecca sat down on Charlotte’s other side. “Besides, Paul is an ordinary guy. He’s not bothering any of us anyway. I don’t see why we all can just… get along.”

“That’s because he broke your heart and everyone knows it,” Rebecca retorted, peering at me with her dark eyes. I bit my lip and shot my two friends a look.

“You guys, leave him alone, okay? He’s just fine with Vince and all his… female friends,” I managed to say before facing forward, seeing the teacher come in with his large briefcase and canvases.

“That’s because you don’t see the looks he gives you,” Charlotte muttered under her breath. I heaved a heavy sigh before massaging my temples. This was gonna be harder than it looks. Mr. Cartwright looked at the all of us.

“I’m arranging your seats.”

Oh, shit.

He slowly fixed us all one by one. I wasn’t surrounded by friends; they were all separated into different places. I stayed in my seat and prayed that no one strange would sit beside me. Oh, please, Mr. Cartwright.

“Paul Markwell, beside Ms. Porter.” Holy crap. I buried my head in my hands, glaring down at my sketchpad. Soon, I felt his presence beside me.

“Ri,” he said softly, using his nickname for me. I sighed and tried to fight the lump in my throat. I merely nodded and opened up my sketchpad. Oh fuck. Wrong one. Paul peered over and saw all my sketches when we were together. “What the… Is that me?”

“Leave it,” I suddenly said sharply, slamming my sketchbook closed. I jammed it in my bag and got another one. I remembered the date this time and it was five months after we broke up. The drawings were pretty decent this time.

“Ri—”

“Only my boyfriend can call me that.”