R.I.P.

A couple of weeks later, we were greeted by a mountain of chocolates that overflowed from Craige's locker when he opened it. Homemade, store-bought and store-bought pretending to be homemade chocolates: name it and it'll be there on the pile that came pouring out of his locker.

Yes.

It's 'that' time of the year.

It's that day when the boys get their popularity evaluation through the number of chocolates that they receive by the end of the day.

There are very few people like Craige, who have their lockers overflowing with chocolates and other kinds of goods which gives them the status same to that of an honor student.

And there are many of those who don't receive anything and are more than happy to receive the 'extra love' from these honor students.

And there are also these people.

"WAH! I got one!" Jake exclaimed when he opened his locker.

Arthur also slowly opened his locker, trying to act cool and unexcited. And when he finally opened it and also found a chocolate inside, he grinned. But his smile immediately disappeared from his face when our eyes met and I grinned at him.

He took out his phone and texted me.

[Art: Was it you?]

[Zee: Yup. I thought that you would be sulky if you don't receive anything. I was right.]

[Art: BS]

He slammed his locker door and opened the box of store-bought chocolate before angrily eating them one after another.

I smiled. 'Bullshit? I knew that you love that brand.'

"Oh my gosh!" Mia exclaimed as she entered the classroom and saw the mess that Craige's locker did. She toed over the pile of chocolates and peeked at Craige who looked like he's having a mental breakdown at the moment. "You need help?"

Craige shook his head and started picking up the chocolates from the floor. "No, it's okay."

"Really?" Mia perked up and dumped a pink sparkly box on his hand. "Then take this one too. From your #1 fan."

"T-thanks." Craige reluctantly accepted it and his eyes wandered to the book that Mia was carrying. "That..."

His reaction made me curious so I strained my neck to see what it was and my eyes rounded in surprise when I also recognized the cover. 'Shit!'

Mia looked at the book then beamed at him. "Can I get your signature?"

"Signature?"

Mia bobbed her head up and down. "Can I?"

"S-sure." Craige nervously looked at the magazine as she excitedly unwrapped it. He scanned the room and our eyes met.

'What do I do?' he mouthed.

I cautiously looked around to see if anyone noticed him and I just discreetly made a cross with my fingers.

He turned to Mia with an awkward smile. "But I don't have a pen right now. Let's do it later."

'That's right! Do it later! Like 10 years later!'

"Here!" Mia shoved the magazine towards him with a newly bought marker.

I slapped my hand on my forehead.

He chuckled as he scribbled his signature on the cover page. "Haha… You came prepared."

I'm hoping that she'd keep this magazine unopened until graduation.

But I knew that it was an impossible request in the first place.

As soon as Mia sat down on her seat, she did what I dreaded. 'It's over. My ordinary high school life is over.'

"WHO THE HECK IS THIS BEYATCH?" Mia exclaimed angrily which caught me by surprise.

Trixie looked at the page of the book that Mia was looking at and frowned. "Who is she? It's my first time seeing her."

Katherine also looked at the book then she snickered while giving me a side glimpse. "She is pretty though."

I also gathered my little courage to look at the book so that I won't seem suspicious for not having interest. And of all the pages in the book, she just happened to be looking at the one where that 'beyatch' was grabbing Craige's necktie while he had his arms around her waist. They were looking at each other affectionately. "Mhmm."

"Like hell she is!" Mia slammed her hand on the page and drilled her finger on the beyatch's face. "How dare you lay your hands on our precious Craige?! I will find you. And I will debone all 206 bones from your flirty body!"

*hic*

The three of them looked at me.

'Shi--'

*hic*

I saw Katherine holding back her laughter while Mia who was just glaring at the magazine turned to me with the same gaze.

"Are you okay?" Trixie asked.

I nodded. "I jus--*hic*-- water."

Katherine took my water bottle and gave it to me. From my peripheral view, I saw Craige looking my way as if ready to jump in anytime to rescue me if I asked him to. But I was no Sleeping Beauty, I took my time drinking before turning back to Mia. "That beyatch. I know where to find her."

Mia's eyes grew big. "That's right! You're acquainted with this photographer, right? Can you ask him who she is?" Then she added in a whisper, "Also ask him if Craige is involved with her in any way."

"No way! They're not like that!" I accidentally raised my voice from shock.

Trixie eyed me suspiciously. "How do you know that? Are you friends with her?"

"Nope." I took a large gulp but the lump on my throat wouldn't go down. "I'm not friends with her. The thing is..."

"Hold up. Wait a minute. Stop it!" Mia was raising her hand while boring her eyes on the microscopic letters at the bottom of the page. Then her head snapped up to look at me and back at the girl in the photo. "It can't be…"

"What is it?" Trixie asked curiously and took the magazine from her to also look at the names written below.

[Red Is Passion Collection by Rolf Siemens]

[Photographer: Joey Stephen Walker]

[Model: Craige]

[Model: Z Haile]

"Z HAILE! No way right?!" Mia stood up from her chair and grabbed me by the shoulder. "Is that you?!"

"Ha. Ha. Ha… That beyatch is me." I shrugged at her and smiled uneasily. "Surprise."

Katherine giggled, Mia's jaw dropped and Trixie turned towards Craige with a faint scowl on her face. Craige just blinked at her then turned back around.

"SURPRISE?! DON'T YOU SURPRISE SURPRISE ME ZEANNE HAILE AND EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON!" Mia nearly ruined not only my eardrums but everyone else's as well as she shoved the magazine in my face.

I took it and flipped through the pages.

"What's going on guys? Why are you fighting?" Percy, who was quietly eavesdropping on our conversation, took the magazine from me and looked at it with Vina and Ameera. Even Jake and Arthur also came to join the commotion. Then they all turned to me, looking doubtful.

It was Jake who finally asked. "This is you? Seriously?"

Percy put her hand on her gaping mouth as she stared at the photo. "Wow."

I knew that the changes done to me for the pictorial was drastic and I really loved it, but hearing these things and seeing their reactions like this somehow made me feel a little disappointed. "Do I really look that different?"

It was Kathering who answered. "Of course you do. You looked a lot prettier because you combed your hair."

"I do comb my hair!" I pouted at her.

She nodded and smoothly combed my hair with her hand. "In the morning."

I could not argue with that which made the others chuckle except Mia who was still glaring at me and Arthur who was just quietly studying me.

'How should I explain this? What did she want to hear from me? Do I have to tell everything from the beginning? Is there a way to get out of this peacefully without telling them everything? Why am I even thinking about this? Since when did I start thinking critically like Katherine?'

Thinking had never been my forte.

I've always been the 'do now, think later' kind of person.

But I guess, having so many things to hide made me like this.

I became careful with what I say and do, in fear that I might reveal something more than I should.

Resorted to lying many times, even for the smallest things.

Because I didn't want them to see the person that I have become.

The person that I have subconsciously grown to hate.

'It's suffocating.'

'And I'm so tired of pretending to be someone that I no longer am.'

I heaved a sigh and erasing the smile on my face, I gave them a serious look. "I took pictures. Because I'm planning to go into acting. I needed it for exposure in the industry."

Silence.

I didn't dare look at the other girls' reaction and just focused my attention on Mia. She looked surprised at first but her entire body relaxed as she pouted and gave me a hug. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?! That's amazing!"

Over her shoulder, Vina was also smiling at me. "That's really a nice surprise."

Mia let me go and smiled down at me. "If this was before that audition, I would have thought that this was all just a joke. Zeanne Haile? Our shy Zeanne? Acting? But we've seen how good you are. You can definitely do this. We will support you all the way!"

"It's still unbelievable though." Jake muttered.

I turned just in time to see Vina and Percy nod their heads as they continue to stare at the magazine that Ameera was holding. And Ameera on the other hand started frowning. She looked like she wanted to ask me something but held herself back.

Then Arthur came really close to my face with an annoying grin. "I didn't know that you were that pretty to be honest. You should really comb your hair more than once a day."

Later that afternoon, when I thought that all the hassle was finally over, I received an invitation to the school garden.

And like I've said before, it would be just one of the two things:

1 Confession

2 Confrontation

But considering the gender of the sender, it's most definitely not the first option.

'It just couldn't be.'

'But it's Valentine's Day.'

'Could it be?'