Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Aires POV

The earth shook beneath my feet and I staggered, no, it wasn't the earth that was shaking, it was my earth, my stomach churned painfully and I felt like throwing up, the image of Henry and Daisy kissing and giggling kept replaying in my head, I felt betrayed by the both of them, Henry was my friend and he knows how I feel about Daisy, yet, he chose to stab me, my heart was broken into million pieces, screaming in pain, I punched the wall and heard Celine screamed for me to stop it but I ignored her, punching it harder, I felt my arm vibrate, I welcomed the pain that shot up, why does it seem like no one loves me, first, my real parents gave up on me when I was just a baby, they left me to fend for myself, and then, my foster father has never shown me love, and now, the girl I am in love with is with my best friend, why? I punched the wall once more and was about to repeat the process when Celine suddenly grabbed my hand,

"Stop it Aires, you're bleeding already, don't do this to yourself"

My legs grew weak and I fell on my knees, panting, I wished I hadn't fallen in love, I wish I hadn't met her in the first place, I should have ignored her, how can I undo this hurt, why does it hurt so much? Celine knelt beside me on the floor and wrapped her arms around me in a comforting gesture,

"I am here for you" she whispered and I regretted not choosing her over Daisy, I would not have been going through this right now if I had chosen her, I felt a lone tear slide from the corner of my eyes,

"How could she do this? I was planning on confessing my love to her"

"I tried to warn you Aires, but you wouldn't listen, Daisy isn't who you think she is, she's a two-timer but I won't blame you, if I do not know her better, I would have also believed the image if innocence that she always portray"

"I'm so hurt, I am very good at handling pain but this is beyond me, it hurts so much"

I knew that I was almost baring myself to Celine, the icy facade I always put up is now in the shambles, I blame Daisy for this, she has reduced me to a whining child, no, I have to man up,

"I know it hurts... let's see, why don't you use me to get over her" she suggested and I raised my head to stare at her,

"Yeah Aires, you must not let her know that you were about to confess your love for her, it might give her such an edge over you, make her believe that I am now your girlfriend"

I frowned at her suggestion, "But you know that you can't be my girlfriend, although, she betrayed me, I can't..."

"Shhh...I am not asking you to make me your girlfriend for real, you can just make her believe that I am your girlfriend but between the both of us, it will be our little secret that we are not dating"

"So, how am I going to pull that off?"

"You've promised your guest an important announcement, why don't you announce to them that I am your girlfriend, the news will spread quickly to Daisy and her lover, but, between the both of us, we'll remain good friends that we were"

I thought for a moment, Celine's idea seems cool to me, besides, we won't be dating in reality but no one has to know that, she will be my fake girlfriend and I will show Daisy that what she did has no effect on me, but, I will make sure that I teach both of them a very bitter lesson, She and Henry will pay for their betrayal,

"So...are you game?" Celine asked, staring at me,

I nodded, "I'm game"

"Now, let's get you cleaned up and we'll go back to the party like nothing ever happened "

She turned to leave and I drew her back, "thank you"

She smiled, "if you really want to thank me, then give me a hug and put a smile on that face"

Forcing a smile, I hugged her in gratitude,

"What's going on here?" Jasmine asked and I broke the hug and turned to face her,

"Finally, you're here, what took you so long? Where's mum?" I asked, glancing behind her,

"I came alone but mum is on her way" She answered, staring from Celine to me,

"Well then, won't you wish me happy birthday?"

She smiled, "of cause I will but...what was that between you and Celine?"

I rolled my eyes at her inquisitiveness, "since you won't let it be, permit me to introduce to you, my girlfriend "

Her eyes widened in shock as I wrapped my arms around Celine, "what...?"

"You heard me, I'm gonna make it formal in front of everyone right now, come on, let's go in"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"No Jasmine, I am in my right senses" I replied before going in and left her gawking at me.

She had thought that the girl I want to announce as my girlfriend was Daisy, how can I tell her of the stunt that Daisy had pulled and that she wasn't who she seemed to be, henceforth, I and Daisy are now sworn enemies and for the remaining term that I have to spend in Greenville, I will make her life a living hell.

Daisy's POV

I had taken a gulp from the cocktail and felt a burning sensation down my throat, without thinking, I took more to quench that sensation, and all of a sudden, my body felt hot all over, I gazed around in search of Aires but couldn't see him anywhere, besides I wouldn't like him to see me this way, perhaps, a bit of fresh air outside will do the magic, staggering outside, I would have fallen but a hand quickly caught me, what was wrong with me, I hadn't even taken full glass and I'm already feeling so tipsy and weak to my toes, was this how it works or was it just me?

"What's wrong with you?"

I managed to shrug, "I don't know, perhaps I'm drunk?"

"Aires won't like this, come and sit in my car for a moment and let it pass"

My heart had pricked at the mention of Aires not liking it, with his support I sat in his car and he sat in the driver's seat,

"Here, why don't you this up, it will sober you up in no time"

He placed a glass on my lips and I drank from it, I imagined my mum's reaction if she ever sees me in this state, she would rain thunder and brimstone on me, I giggled as I thought about her reaction, I yawned,

"I feel so sleepy" I murmured,

my voice was slurred, why wasn't I sobering up? Instead, I was feeling so strange, my mates are in there, drinking and dancing, and none of them is feeling terrible like me, why can't I just be like them? Aires will be so disappointed in me already, I made to move but my body would not listen to me,

"I want to go inside" I managed to murmur and I felt Henry's hit breath on my cheeks,

"Not in this state" he whispered into my ears, "let me take you to a quiet place, where you'll feel better in no time"

I wanted to protest but I was already too weak and sleepy to do so, I saw him start the car and that was the last thing I remembered, I suddenly fell asleep or rather, lost consciousness.

[Author's POV]

Lorna paced as she dialed Daisy's number for the umpteenth time but she didn't answer, she hasn't answered any of her calls either and Lorna wondered if she was okay, she just wanted to know how Daisy was coping over there,

"She's probably enjoying herself, there's nothing for you to worry about" she murmured to herself but that didn't stop the feeling of strange premonition that washed over her when she thought of her daughter,

"Are you alright?" Jeremy asked coming inside and hugging her from behind,

"I'm fine, just worried about Daisy, she is not picking up her calls"

"She's probably having a good time, you worry too much, allow her to be"

Lorna almost believed Jeremy but she still can't shake that feeling off her, she mustered a smile,

"Perhaps I should call Celine" she mumbled as she dialed Celine's number Celine picked on the fourth ring,

"Celine, how's Daisy? Why isn't she answering her calls?"

"Oh, she's off with some guy to God knows where, goodness knows what they're up to at this moment "

Lorna blanched at the news, "What did you say? You let her go?"

"I'm not her babysitter for crying out loud" was the reply and then, Lorna heard the dialed tone, Celine hung up on her, her heart thudded furiously, she imagined Daisy with an unknown guy somewhere and the guy trying to do kinds of stuff with her, she shook the thoughts out from her head,

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked, concerned about how pale his wife suddenly looked,

"I'm going to look for Daisy, she's not at the party anymore"

"I'll come with you"

"No, please, you just came back from work, get some rest" placing a kiss on his cheeks, she grabbed the car keys and left.

She was so focused on her thoughts and was beside herself with worry, she took a wrong left turn and saw the headlights of another car a second too late, she screamed and stepped on the break but it was too late, her scream came just before everything went black.

*

*

Celine dropped Lorna's phone call and smiled, she had played her game really well and everything had gone smoothly for her, she has been able to get Daisy in a very massive trouble with her mother, she'll keep putting such distance between mother and daughter and she'll keep doing so, not until they packed out of her house or better still, Lorna should divorce her father until that day comes, neither Daisy nor her mother would have peace.