Precarious

Chapter 22

"Uh, it's fine," I muttered. "Don't worry, Gavin. I was never angry at you. Uh, it's all good, there's no need to apologize."

"I'm still sorry for what I said to you in the past. I know that apologizing for it won't change what I said, but I hope that I can do something in the future to make up for it."

"Gavin, it's fine. Sure, you were a jerk, but you're not a bad person, and I trust that you're not going to repeat what you said to me in the past."

What were you thinking? You shouldn't trust him, look what he did to you. He's only trying to get your trust before betraying you. If he really cared about you, he wouldn't have been such a jerk in the beginning. You can't trust anyone. People only make an effort to talk to you because they want something. Did you really think someone would want to be your friend? You're delusional, Sierra, a voice ran through my head. Dammit, what was I thinking? Why did I forgive Gavin so easily? I mean, sure, he stood up for me many times and made an effort to sit with me, but it didn't excuse what he said to me in the beginning. It's because no one ever apologized to you before, Sierra. Don't be so pathetic that when you receive your first apology, you immediately forgive the person apologizing. Don't let your guard down. It just shows how weak you are, the voice continued to ring in my head.

"Thanks, Sierra," Gavin replied, while I simply shrugged and continued to maintain my poker face. "So what do you wanna order?"

"I'll just have a salad. I'm not that hungry anyways."

"Are you sure about that? The routine you performed earlier must've required a lot of energy. Do you at least want a side dish?"

"No, it's fine. Besides, I ate a lot during lunch today."

"I've never seen you in the lunch line before, so how is that possible?" he asked, looking suspiciously at me. Well, it looked like I was going to have to lie again. I didn't like lying, but it had to be done.

"I bring lunch. Besides, it's not like I have a lunch account at school or a method of paying for it."

"You didn't know that the lunch was already paid for in the tuition?"

"I thought only boarding schools had lunch expenses covered in the tuition. At my old school, you had to pay for the lunches there. And I overheard this one girl saying that her cousin went to private school, but the students there still had to pay for their lunches."

"Well, the lunch expenses at our school are covered in the tuition, so if you want to get lunch, feel free to. However, the snacks and second-helpings aren't free."

"Well thanks for the information, Gavin," I said nonchalantly.

Soon, a waitress came to take our orders. Dinner was going well until Gavin excused himself to the bathroom. Ashley must've noticed, because I saw her walking towards my table. I didn't know how she even knew that I was alone since her table was a few feet away, and there were a lot of people at the restaurant.

"Sierra, why don't you come with me outside?" she asked, with a sinister look on her face.

"No thanks. Last time I checked, you're not my mother or my legal guardian," I replied monotonously.

"Don't act smart with me. If you don't come out with me, I'm going to tell Stefano to get rid of you and put you in the orphanage."

"Well, considering that I never had a family in the first place, I don't care."

"That's pathetic," Ashley laughed, before dragging me out of the restaurant, then putting me in the front seat of her car. The noise in the restaurant was loud, and there were so many people there, that no one knew we left. I wouldn't be surprised if my brothers thought I decided to go exploring and turned a blind eye to the possibility of Ashley taking me somewhere. "And let me guess, you're still hurt over your mother never saying she loved you? How does it feel to know that you're a mistake, Sierra? No one will ever care for you, and you may as well get used to that."