To her relief, lunch came sooner than expected on Monday and quite frankly, she was happy to be anywhere but the double PASS lesson she took part in. As per usual, Lani was immersed in a conversation with Stephanie and Brynlee, two of her 'friends' that she mainly tolerated to prevent herself from looking lonely. The topic of conversation had somehow landed on Lani and Lachlan laying on the road together at Stephanie's party once again. "At least her parents don't think I've fucked someone Stephanie has been friends with for ten years" Brynlee laughed at Lani's obvious annoyance at that statement. "Would you shut up about that already, I DIDN'T fuck Lachlan, I am actually very invested in his and Stephanie 's ACTUAL relationship" Lani rebutted."Don't drag me into this" Stephanie added with a slight chuckle. "It's not my fault Lani fucked your boyfriend in the middle of the street." Before Lani could argue Stephanie shot Brynlee a disapproving look before wailing "HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND". Suddenly, Lani got an overwhelming sensation that she was being watched so her attention rapidly drifted from the topic at hand to the three guys walking past where they sat. They happened to be the same three guys that were at Coffeelicious the day before, including Apollo. The memories of last night hit her like a tidal wave that knocked her harshly into the ocean, not allowing for an escape, as if she was drowning. His two friends were whispering to each other with grimaces marking their bratty faces that all year nines seemed to have developed whilst Apollo looked her directly in the eyes. The emotion he was emitting was difficult to deduct but Lani could tell it was similar to anger or spite. The intensity of his glare made her want to shrivel up into a little ball, becoming so small that it was invisible to the naked eye. 'What could I have done to deserve that look?' she thought as he broke the eye contact and sped up his pace. Dwelling on it wouldn't matter now so she returned to the conversation she had been a part of just to find that the topic had already changed. "What the hell was that," Brynlee said, her eyebrows raised suggestively, looking at Lani."What do you mean?" "What do you mean what do I mean? The way Apollo just looked at you obviously, dumbass" Lani cheeks threatened to flush red but she tried to stop so she wouldn't be bullied. She hesitated before replying, trying to figure out how to properly word the sentence without exposing something "I have no idea but it's really weird". "That was a lie" Stephanie was now looking at her as intensely as Brynlee. "No, it wasn't. How the hell would I know why he keeps looking at me" the ease with which this blatant falsehood was spoken was alarming. "It has to do with whatever you were freaking out about on Tuesday, doesn't it?" Brynlee pushed, not wanting to let this subject go. She didn't know what made her keep the events since last Tuesday to herself other than forgetting how to speak the day it happened. She mulled over disclosing everything they had missed out on for a moment then concluded that she would share but leave out the new fascination she had with him as her ego and state of denial got the better of her. Once she told them, their reaction was what she had predicted, a mass of freaking out and yelling. "Would you two shut the fuck up before someone hears you""HE LIKES YOU" Brynlee ignored her request. "I will slit your throat then pull out your internal organs bare-handed and laugh as I watch you take the final breaths of your pitiful life." the threat slipped off of Lani's tongue as if it was second nature, with the amount she threatened people, it essentially was. "It does seem like he has feelings for you." Stephanie contributed, not putting further thought into what she assumed was an empty threat. "I can remove the organs from two people at once, it will just be more fun for me". The conversation went on for the rest of lunch as they both harassed her for every agonizing detail and to her surprise, she was happy to escape to double Geography for once in her life as it meant she could get an hour and forty minutes of peace. Recess proved itself to be no different from lunch, making her regret the sudden inclination she got to tell them nearly everything earlier but there was no taking it back now. Unfortunately, she had to catch the bus because she was at her mum's house but she blocked them out in the bus line with the music blasting from her earphones. It was boys week so when the central Nowra bus was called she lined up behind the guys waiting patiently for them to file in and find a seat. Surprisingly, she found a seat, which she presumed to be the last available one near the back, left of the bus. Catherine was away sick so she had no one to sit next to but it didn't bother her much as it meant she wouldn't be forced through further questioning. She looked out the window to see Apollo and one of his friends running out of the gates towards a bus but she couldn't tell which one until he got closer. On any normal occasion, Apollo nearly missing his bus and having to jog to it so it wouldn't leave without him would have amused her, alas, this was not a normal occasion. Both he and his friend were headed straight for the Central Nowra bus, causing her to curse under her breath. He scrambled his way onto the bus, apologising to the driver then continuing down the aisle, inching closer and closer to the back where she was seated by the second. "Can I sit here?" Apollo's deep, honey-like voice aimed down at her. Refraining from looking up at him, she replied "sure"."Thanks" his tone was icy as if she was inconveniencing him by approving for him to be seated next to her. Despite the growing sensation to acknowledge his rudeness, she didn't move her eyes from the window, keeping her mouth sealed shut."Did you enjoy it?" he spoke randomly after a few awkward minutes of silence but his question left her puzzled."What?" she replied still refusing to look at him. "Did you enjoy fucking Lachlan?" she couldn't refrain from bursting out into hysterics. The way he said it was so irritated and the question itself caught her off guard. Was this the reason he gave her such a sour look at lunchtime? Had he overheard the conversation? Without context, it would have seemed as though they were being serious. She finally looked at him with the confused expression that she had worn only moments ago now visible on his face. "You overheard our conversation at lunch?" she managed to mutter as she tried to compose herself."That wasn't an answer to my question" he had started to hide his confusion and act unfazed by her reaction but it was widely unsuccessful. Instead of answering Lani tilted her head down and glared at him in a way that insinuated she wouldn't answer his question until he answered hers."Yes." he mumbled under his breath as if he started to feel guilty for what he did."Considering we didn't fuck, no I didn't 'enjoy' it" her tone came across as mocking which wasn't entirely intentional but she wasn't regretful as it caused a small flicker to appear in his eyes before he finally broke eye contact by looking down at his lap and exhaling with a chuckle. The spitefulness from lunch that was oozing from him had almost completely dissipated allowing the tension to ease. Seeing him in what she assumed to be a state of embarrassment dismantled the intimidating, unbreakable front that he'd put up until this moment. A familiar sensation rose to her cheeks creating a warmth, she knew all too well that her face had become red and hoped that he wouldn't look up to see her nearly as flustered as he was. To her luck, his head remained down which she realised after observing more attentively, was because his cheeks shared a red tint, just like hers. "You didn't?" He continued, stabling his voice."Far from it, the whole thing is an inside joke, I hate it. I was only alone with him for a few minutes to try and convince him to admit that he likes one of my friends." she didn't feel that he needed to know the entire story so she refrained from sharing the minor details. His only response was to laugh and bring his head upwards again to look at her but Lani could tell that the confidence he has had thus far dwindled. This was comforting in a way as his persona was less dominating. She started to study his features, she had been uncomfortably close to him in the past but this was the first real chance she got to look at him, face to face, for longer than a few seconds. Apollo's eyes refused to meet hers as they scanned in her direction giving her time to notice how his skin was lustrous, accommodating a golden luminesce that was evenly spread across his entire face. His hair reminded her of an expensive satin that was gently draped across him, never falling incorrectly around his chiselled jaw. As she got lost in sharp yet elegant features a thought dawned upon her, why the hell did Apollo care if she'd fucked someone let alone enjoyed it?
"Why did you want to know?" his only reply to her inquiry was to give her a knowing smirk that sent shivers down her spine, his cockiness had returned. Before she could press for an answer the bus pulled to her stop and she was forced to get up and leave.
