Even If You Hate Me <3

chapter 1

ADELINE'S POV

There are two kinds of bad situations I've ever had to face in my entire life.

One, failing my maths exam when I was in 7th grade and two, breaking my knee in a basketball game that I wasn't even playing.

And now, add one more to that. The third, and probably the worst for someone like me. I was standing in front of a huge wall that was supposed to act as a barrier between me and my freedom. I'm nauseated, about to pass out any minute because of the building emotions. There's no use in even pretending the last 15 minutes didn't happen.

So, I tried seeking freedom. Fleeing was better than facing, just like I was self-taught.

As I struggled up the wall, praying to not get it taken away as the flexibility two years of surfing gave me finally worked its magic. I was up on the ledge, the bag loosely hung from my shoulder. I looked down, my eyes widening and my mind closing in on how high up I was. I feel my legs wobble, about to give out as I tried bringing my mind back to concentrating on my trembling bones.

If this was what being rebellious felt like, I sure didn't want it.

"Adeline Portman, didn't think you were about to start a revolution right here," the voice came from somewhere around me, familiar and infuriating that took my mind away for a moment. The catch was, the voice had come from outside the school boundary and not inside which gave me a dismembered sense of relief.

"What?" I asked out loud, trying to locate the voice. But I didn't have to try too hard because the source of the voice seemed to be dawning closer.

"Never imagined this place can qualify as a suicide spot," he spoke again and sure enough, it was him. The worst of the worst, so incredibly enraging that it made me get goosebumps. But the strangest part being I didn't even know why he caused that effect on me.

Trevor James Garcia. Everything that I hated in a person, combined. There couldn't be a thing we see eye to eye on, partly because his head is so up his ass that it's just obnoxious to breathe the same air as him. And I tend to get away with a lot of things I openly say about him, hoping it would reach him while knowing he feels the same throbbing hatred.

Just maybe he's too cool to let it bother him as much as I do.

"I might just go that extra mile now that I've seen you," I snap at him, for no reason, dreading his presence. My knees still hold on to the last string of hope that I might survive as I try to squat on the ledge to get a hold of it. I couldn't believe I was doing something that embarrassing, that too in front of my worst nemesis.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Trevor back away from the wall and take a run-up. He landed two steps on the wall and grabbed the ledge, pulling himself up on the top of the wall and placing himself right beside me, who was still trying to squat without falling. I looked at him and he was already looking at me with a mocking grin, clearly enjoying it like it was a yearbook moment.

"Need.. help?" He held out his hand and raised his eyebrows towards me and I scoffed immediately, swatting his hand away.

"You wish," I said, firmly. Or so I thought because the shakiness in my voice just made me sound like a wuss. I finally squatted and adjusted myself till my legs dangled and I was sitting on the ledge like he was, right beside him. I took a deep breath but I got distracted instantly as I felt a stinging gaze on my skin. I turned and my eyes immediately found Trevor's, who looked pleased maybe because he enjoyed how pissed I looked sitting next to him, trying to gather courage.

"You surprise me, Addy," he said, smiling gently, in his low soft voice that I had never heard before. My breath almost hitched in my throat, he had never called me by my nickname before. I could even bet I was hearing things, the last half an hour had been enough to damage any functioning brain cells in my mind.

"And you irritate me, please leave," I said, snapping at him just out of shock. He only smiled.

"You really do hate me, don't you?" He spoke after a moment, his grin was fading with a soft clench forming in his jaw. And it flipped the moment my eyes locked with mine, as if pausing briefly, as if it was a double take. I couldn't say a word, not sure if he expected an answer because I hated admitting to it. "Then it'll be a little difficult."

Even if he wasn't, it felt like he was sitting ridiculously close to me. His words didn't make sense, his eyes gave out nothing but he still spoke the most he has ever said to me.

"Everything is difficult when you're around," I said, my words almost a whisper. Almost like I'm telling him something normal.

Suddenly, Trevor backed away and climbed down the wall effortlessly, like he had wings. Then he looked back up and I tried to find the pitiful look on his face towards me but he was still grinning.

"I'm here to make it easier for you, Addy," he shot a subtle wink at me that made me choke on air. I've known him for 2 years and I had never dreamed of a day when he would be calling me Addy. And now I could never get used to him calling me that way. "To help you make your decision."

"What decision?"

Trevor moved away for a few seconds before bringing in a few tall crates from a nearby ditch outside the school boundaries. He placed it in a way that was right below my feet that I could reach with a short jump but before I could do so, I stopped and waited for him to finish.

"You either break some bones or you have a smooth landing, the choice remains yours," he said, like he wasn't talking about climbing down at all. I kept sitting on the ledge for a moment, taking in every word and letting it simmer.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" I ask him with an attitude that I wasn't going to take his shit without a thought in mind. I would cross my hands against my chest to enhance the tone but that would look dumb with my trembling limbs.

"You still don't get it, do you?" He said after a very specific sigh. He looked a little disappointed.

"No, I don't-"

"Whatever," he shrugged. He glanced up one more time intending to say more, something that could potentially piss me off. "So.. heard that you finally broke up with that lousy bastard. That's..."

"That's what?" I frowned, more irritated at the fact that I couldn't even come up with a comeback. Brian, however, was a lousy bastard. I would know, I dated him for 3 years...

That came to an end today.

"That's... amusing," he said, letting a smirk slip on his face that tried hinting at a specific point that I was probably too dense to catch up to. "I'll be off then."

But I had questions. Trevor James Garcia was the kind of guy who would break rules just to face the consequences. I could tell he wasn't bunking or escaping like her, he was just entering school almost 2 hours late.

But if he didn't step inside school yet, how the hell did he know what had happened in the cafeteria with me?

Suddenly, curiosity got the best of me and that made me jump down straight on the crates and then right down on the ground. Completely safe, no broken bones. Before I could be surprised at myself, I rushed to Trevor almost like I was going to yell at him but he didn't react, only his smile got wider.

He had been smiling a lot, it was suspicious. Why was he in a good mood?

"How did you know that-", I started but he had other plans.

"Safe landing it is, then," he chuckled. It felt like I froze in a millisecond, like there was no way I could move. My eyes were wide and set down on his sneakers, my mind scrambling.

And then when I looked at him, he said in a voice that was baffling enough to leave me stuck with the confusion he brought me. I needed distraction but not.. this kind.

"You can look out for more," Trevor murmured right before he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked away, never looking back.