Chapter 11: You Sound Like A Stalker

One way or another.

I'm gonna find you.

I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha.

- One Way Or Another, Mandy Moore

"I hope he trips over the incense," Veronica muttered, glaring at Lance the whole time.

"Me too," I said. "It would deflate his gigantic ego a little."

If looks could kill, Lance's head would've exploded minutes ago. Unfortunately, Veronica's glares did nothing but boost Lance's ego. In his twisted mind, it only strengthened his belief that he was one hot piece of ass. If I could sum Lance up in a single word, I'd probably use ambiguous. By ambiguous I mean you can't decide whether he's more lecherous or more conceited.

I craned my neck to get an even better look. Even if Lance was a bigger jackass than Jace, he looked angelic as he walked towards the altar, the incense swaying between his hands. I could hear the wistful sighs as the girls near me practically swooned over the disgusting sight of him. Also hearing the sighs, Veronica's lips pulled back into a snarl. If she hated Jace, then she loathed Lance.

I completely understood her sentiments, but I had other things in mind. I looked up at the ceiling, asking myself how the hell a huge fornicator like Lance became an altar boy. Seeing him up there next to the priest looking oh so innocent was just wrong. Murals of saints in various positions stared back at me. Not one of them answered my question.

"Why, God, why?" Veronica couldn't stop herself anymore. She asked the very question that was running through my mind moments ago.

I was about to answer when something hit the back of my head.

"Shit," I hissed. My hand flew up to massage my neck.

"Quiet, girls." Mrs. Valdez suddenly showed up on the end of our pew and shushed us.

Welcome to the typical Catholic school experience, rosaries and masses every first Friday of the month. We were at the school's chapel, complete with a domed ceiling and mosaics of saints on the windows in shades of red, blue, green, and yellow.

I looked down on the floor and saw what hit me. It was a crumpled piece of paper. I sighed, knowing full well where it came from. I turned around to look for Raffy who was seated a few rows behind us. Our eyes met for a second. Then, he looked away and pretended he didn't see me.

"What's his problem?" I opened the piece of paper and read what Raffy had written. Turn left, seventh pew.

"Let me see," Veronica whispered, reading the message.

"Who's in the seventh pew?"

"I have no idea."

"Should I look?"

"It might be one of Raffy's stupid pranks."

Veronica had a point. How could I know if some guy was waiting back there ready to moon me? What was so interesting in the seventh pew anyway? I debated with myself for a couple of seconds, but my curiosity won in the end. We were in a chapel after all. It wasn't like I was going to see something x-rated. So, I finally turned around and looked.

And immediately regretted my decision.

I saw Jace staring back at me. In a pew full of boys in white button-down shirts and navy blue slacks, he still stood out. Hell, that face of his stood out in the entire school. With one hand in the pocket of his slacks, he ran the other through his hair. Still looking at me, a smirk formed on his lips. I didn’t know why but a single thought burst into my head. Jace is hot.

Holy shit. I just called the spawn of Satan hot. What the hell was happening to me? Hot? Of all the words in the English language, I had to choose hot? What happened to my vocabulary? Moreover, what happened to me? Why did I start thinking Jace was hot all of a sudden? This couldn’t be happening. Shit, shit, shit.

I shot him a glare and turned around to face the altar once more. I tried to listen to what the priest was saying, but I couldn’t concentrate. There were too many thoughts running around my head, mostly about Jace and his supposed hotness. As I breathed in and out, I tried to clear my head and really listen.

“That's why Raffy asked you to turn around,” Veronica broke the silence, utter disbelief in her voice. "Because Jace was staring at you."

“No, he was staring at the back of my head,” I said. “He could’ve been staring at anyone.”

“No, Gabby, Jace was staring at you.”

I snorted, pretending it was nothing. Was it possible? Was Satan Incarnate really staring at me? The thought was too surreal for me to even try to comprehend it. Why would he even do that? Aside from him imagining my head bursting into flames, I couldn’t think of any other reason.

“Can you two keep your voices down?” Amy Revilla pushed her glasses up her nose. She sniffled while looking straight ahead, her arms crossed over her chest.

Amy had the misfortune of being assigned to sit next to Veronica and me during every mass. Since we were arranged in alphabetical order, she had no other choice. Amy, a sniveling girl who somewhat resembled Dobby from Harry Potter, loved listening to the priest’s sermons, especially the ones where he says God will strike down the sinners.

Veronica and I looked at each other, but we looked away again because we were about to burst out laughing.

“I‘m going to grow a goatee,” Raffy announced. He leaned back on his chair and waited for our reaction.

“I think you just said the most Gs in a single sentence.” Veronica shoved a spoonful of rice into her mouth.

“Why do you want to grow a goatee?” I imitated Raffy’s smug little announcement.

We were eating lunch at a secluded table in the back of the canteen. Conversation streamed from one table to another, as varying scents of food floated around. At a table for four, Raffy sat in front of me while Veronica was on my right.

“I think it’ll make me look like the coffee-shop-in-Paris type,” Raffy said, scratching his chin.

“More like brothel-in-Paris type,” Veronica said with a giggle.

“I think she means a goatee will make you look gay,” I clarified. For a second or so, Raffy looked crestfallen so I tried to cheer him up. “What happened to your orange wayfarers?”

“My Dad stepped on them.” Raffy pushed his plate away. “They’re broken now.”

“Why don’t you buy new ones?”

"Don't give him any ideas," Veronica said. "He'll--" She stopped in midsentence and her eyes widened. "What do you want?"

I turned around to look, hoping it wasn't Jace. Instead of his usual smirk, I saw Isabella in all her long-haired glory. She looked as radiant as ever, and our drab school uniform didn't take away a single bit of her beauty. The girl screamed innocence and sex at the same time, and I didn't know how that was possible.

Before I could stop myself, my hand flew up to massage my forehead. When were these people going to leave me alone? They just up showed up all of a sudden, both uninvited and unannounced.

"What are you doing here?" I clutched my fork tighter before I stabbed her with it.

"We need to talk," Isabella said. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at me.

"No, we don't."

As if she was running out of patience, Isabella sighed. "Yes, we do, about Saturday night."

"What happened on Saturday night?" Veronica asked, ignoring Isabella.

"So, you haven't told them? Should I?" Isabella raised an eyebrow at me.

"Told us what?" Raffy said, leaning forward on his elbows.

At that moment, I wished Isabella and her pretty face would just evaporate. I didn't tell my friends what happened on Saturday night for a reason. What good would it do? It wouldn't change a thing.

I stood up, ignoring my friends' questions, and looked at Isabella. Giving her what she wanted like everybody else hurt. It was tearing at my pride. Everybody else lined up in droves just to please her. I didn't want to be classified as one of them. "Fine, let's talk."

Isabella didn't say anything. She turned around and started walking towards the door. As I followed her, I could feel questioning eyes on the two of us. People were wondering what we were doing together. I was Jace's ex-girlfriend while she was rumored to be the present one.

We walked through the doors and into the bright sunlight. I thought Isabella would stop there but I was wrong. She kept on walking and I realized we were heading for the girls' bathroom.

When we stepped inside, all the stalls were empty. Dirty footprints littered the white tiles. The doors of the four stalls hung wide open, and the mirror across them reflected our faces, Isabella's hesitant and mine untrusting.

"What do you want, Isabella?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. If she was planning something again, I was going to be prepared for it. I wasn't going to let her catch me unaware ever again.

"About Saturday night, Gab." Isabella stared at me, wondering if she should go on. She pursed her lips and sighed. "I didn't invite you to be mean. I just--"

"No, you were very nice actually," I cut in. "I really enjoyed being talked about behind my back."

She was apologizing in her own way, but I wasn't buying it. I knew her better this time. She wouldn't hesitate to do everything all over again with the blink of an eye. That, I realized, was the real Isabella, a cunning and incredibly two-faced bitch.

"Oh, come on, Gabby." A smiled formed on Isabella's perfect lips. "Don't tell me you've never talked about me behind my back? We all do it. The only difference is you caught me."

"What kind of twisted universe are you from?"

"Very funny," Isabella said, still smiling. Her eyes examined me from head to foot, an appraising look on her face. Finally, her gaze settled on my face again, and her smiled widened. "So, are we friends again?"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" I stepped closer to her until I could almost see her pores. For someone with such a perfect face, she had huge pores. At least, I could console myself with the fact that Isabella's pores were bigger than mine. God, I was pathetic.

"Okay, then, let me get straight to the point." Isabella raised her eyebrows at me. "Are you after Jace, too?"

"Again, what kind of twisted universe are you from?" I said, unable to believe she was really serious. "I don't want Jace. You can go to Timbuktu with him for all I care."

I headed for the door. I'd had enough of Isabella and her stupid lies. I just wanted her to leave me and my friends alone. Was that so hard to do? It seemed like she made it her mission in life to piss me off every damn day.

"You don't know how great Jace is, do you?"

I stopped with one foot out the door. Did I hear her right? I turned around to face Isabella again. She was staring straight ahead, like she just learned something important. "What did you say?"

"You have no idea how amazing he is." Isabella leaned against the sink, and shook her head. Her smile was gone.

"You know, you're starting to sound like a stalker," I said, trying to stop my voice from trembling.

The truth was Isabella didn't have to remind me. I knew exactly how amazing Jace was. When we were still together, he used to insert little notes between the pages of my textbooks. I used to look forward to doing my homework because of that. He wrote stupid stuff on the notes like 'I'll punch the guy who calls you pretty because you're not. You're beautiful' or 'We really need to pick our song'. Little things that made me smile and want to be with him every single minute of the day.

But I also knew the other side of Jace, the unforgiving and callous one, the one who broke my heart and made me burst randomly into tears for months. I knew that side of him better.

"Say what you want, but, as far as I'm concerned, Gabby, you're my biggest competition," Isabella said.

I stepped back into the girls' bathroom, locking the door behind me. I didn't want anyone to hear what we were talking about, especially one of Jace's friends. "Don't you get it? There is no competition." I pointed at Isabella's reflection in the mirror. "You're the most beautiful girl in school. You can have any guy you want."

"What if the guy I want wants you?"

"Seriously?"

"The most beautiful girl in school, huh?" Isabella said with a laugh. She motioned to my reflection, tilting her head to get a better look. "You're Jace's first love, Gabby. I don't think he'll ever get over you."

"That was a long time ago."

Isabella stared at me, making sure I was telling the truth. "If you want him, I won't hold it against you. It might make things more challenging."

"You're crazy."

"I'm not. I just want Jace."

"Well, then, you can have him."

"Oh, really?" Isabella narrowed her eyes at me. All pretense of coolness and friendship was gone. She was serious this time. "Maybe you should ask yourself why you got drunk last Saturday."

Before I could answer, Isabella reached for the doorknob and walked out of the bathroom. I was left frozen in place. A lot of questions raced through my head, but I didn't want answers for a single one of them. Things would be too complicated if I dug into the past. Jace and I were over. As in kaput. Isabella had to realize that sooner or later.

I was not her biggest competition. I wasn't even her competition at all. If she wanted to make a fool of herself over Jace, then she could knock herself out. Whatever happened between the two of them was none of my business.

I braced myself on the sink, as I stared at my reflection. There were purple bags under my eyes, and my face was paler than usual. I was exhausted from everything that happened lately like my brother's engagement, Jace, the wedding planner from hell, Jace, Isabella's stupid plans, and Jace again. All my problems seemed to lead back to him.

"Marcus is getting married soon," I told my reflection. "Then, this will all be over."

I plastered a huge smile on my face, wanting to be optimistic. I soon realized that I looked insane, so I stopped smiling. My problems were either going to go away or resolve themselves soon. My life wasn't going to be this complicated forever. One of these days, all my headaches were going to disappear, and maybe I could even find a nice, normal boyfriend.

Oh, God, I was wishing for the impossible.

I splashed some water on my face, and decided not be a big, fat chicken. Things were already starting to look up, because neither Jace or Isabella were around. I fixed my uniform and tried to straighten my hair. When I deemed myself presentable enough, I walked out of the bathroom.

"Gabby."

"Damn it," I muttered, recognizing that voice.

I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Lance Ordonez, Jace's best friend and Satan's other spawn. As he leaned against the wall across the door of the girls' bathroom, I wondered how someone who looked so angelic could be so evil. With sleepy eyes that most girls called sexy, a patrician nose, and luscious red lips, Lance could steal from old ladies in church and no one would ever notice. His face was that deceiving.

If I didn't know that Lance spread nasty rumors about our supposed one-night stand, I'd think he was an innocent teenage boy who hadn't even heard of the word orgasm. Luckily, I knew a lot of things.

"Surprised?" Lance stood up straight, and placed his hands in the pockets of his slacks. A frown marred his forehead. "You don't seem pleased to see me."

"Get away from me."

"Why?"

"People might think I did sleep with you."

Lance clucked his tongue and chuckled, looking at me the whole time. "You still haven't gotten over those rumors?"

"Is it Asshole Day or what?"

I couldn't take it anymore. Why couldn't these people just leave me alone? First Jace, then Isabella, and now Lance? After more than a year, did they all suddenly feel the urge to bug the hell out of me?

"Testy, aren't we?" Lance muttered. He tilted his head in a way that reminded me of Isabella. "I just wanted to tell you something."

"Go on, please do tell. You know I live for every word that comes out of your mouth," I said, running a hand through my hair in frustration.

Lance grinned, his eyes boring into my face. He shrugged as if in resignation and said, "I changed my mind."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not telling you anymore. I changed my mind."

I watched as he walked away, unable to say anything. I was too shocked and too pissed off for words. Things just kept on going from bad to worse. Now, it seemed like Lance had something up his sleeve too, and I had no idea what it was.

Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews, guys. I really appreciate it. Please let me know what you think of Lance. I still haven't figured him out yet. Thanks again!