I know The Devil

Chapter 013| Awe and Fear

~ I’m so powerful

I don’t need batteries to play

I’m so confident

Yeah, I’m unstoppable today.

Sia – Unstoppable

I wore one of my infamous hoodies. It was a grey hoodie with a white hood and on its back was a picture of a skull wearing both a cap and a wink.

For the record, it wasn’t a hand-me-down from Rob. Drumrolls, but from his best friend, Chucks. So I graduated from wearing my brother’s clothes to his best friend’s. Still, a hand-me-down technically. Okay, you all are free to hiss now.

My black Chucks which were uncomfortably tight made me walk a kind of way I want to believe was badass. So in my head with my faded black jeans trouser, black hoodie, and black Chucks, I was doing the legendary walk where I was the lead female star in an action movie that was about planning heists. And for the first time, I didn’t curse under my breath that Evans high school was the only private school that didn’t wear uniforms because some over-grown babies had cried to their parents who were on the board and poof! We all can dress like Hollywood wannabes. I was grateful that they did actually because although I was trying hard to oversell the baddie picture, it’d have been almost impossible in a white shirt tucked into grey impossibly short skirts and fishnets.

The day was beautiful, perfect in my head until I arrived in class and tried to pretend like the hush I needed to start getting used to whenever I entered a class, didn’t bother me.

Formerly, nobody noticed whenever I entered a class and when a person acknowledges my presence it was to drop a spiteful comment or give me a disdainful glare. But now? I could see something in their eyes other than indifference. Few were in awe, which was ridiculous but Law Tyler could do that to anyone, most were plain scared and although the disdain remained, they were trying hard to downplay it. Nobody wanted to get into Law Tyler’s bad books. Good choice and not a surprise too.

But these two categories didn’t bother me. What bothered me were those who stared at me in both awe, fear, jealousy and smug grins. The awe was simply because they were trying to decipher what made a hot mess like me (Hot in this context doesn’t mean baddie. Like a hot hot girl but hot Asin she is a sore sight for the eyes. Weird dressing, looks and even name check!), manage to get Law Tyler’s attention. Something they have been trying to do for years and honestly when they find that out I needed to know too. Fear sprouts out with the same reason as the rest of the others and jealousy because, Law Tyler had been seen with me more times than all of them put together and if I do say so myself, it was a wide berth. But now, my concern was the smug grin, something smart was cooking. Not really genius-smart because whatever was in-between these girls’ ears were certainly not brains, probably cheesecake but they had money. Lots of it were available to be spent on nonsensical squandering. So the big question was? What could money not afford?

I gulped. Yes, I did the maths too. I was fucked.

“Can you help me with your pen?” A deep unfamiliar masculine voice asked. Unfamiliar because well I had only one friend. Had being the key word.

Now, this rarely happens. It only happened once with Gloria; who in her defence was oblivious (and then why she talked to me a day after that and more days later till yesterday was simply because she was crazy) and new students who were not yet shown the rope of who to talk to.

So imagine my surprise when I looked up to warn the new kid that if he didn’t stop communicating with me, he’d need more than just a pen but a pack of Kleenex and a transfer letter, and my breath was sucked away when I met cobalt blue eyes and a kind smile.

Firstly Tristan didn’t need a fucking pen. He could buy a frickin Biro company if that was what he was into now and why was he looking and smiling at me kindly? Sure he had never bullied me but he had watched his friends go at it.

Deciding that he just might be one of those guys who have bad eyesight but wear contact lenses because it was cooler, I turned to the board wondering why our Physics teacher wasn’t here yet.

He tapped me and I looked around to make sure nobody was seeing that yet another hot guy was trying to talk to me. There was only so much trouble, a girl could ask for in barely a week and nobody in this classroom looked like they would be considering the contact theory.

Some people are believed to be immune to some things example bad eyesight. Tristan was “some people”. The only child of a hotel conglomerate heiress who bore him out of wedlock and was now married to the senator, who was childless. Rumours had it that he was impotent, else why would he marry such a standoffish woman like Mrs Greene who already had a son she adored?

Now one thing about rumours is that though they weren’t all true, they had some elements of truth in them and the only information I was able to sieve out that was concrete from the hush theories is that Tristan is heir to one of the biggest hotels in the country and all the dirty lumps of money that came from whatever politicians do. So here we have it. A student council President and a debate president so his brains were not grains, blue eyes, red lips, a nose that Rob would call straight, scoff and tell me a real man’s nose needed to be crooked. Hard pass anyway especially when the crooks come from street fights. He kept a blonde bun, spoke 18 languages and didn’t have a girlfriend so interested eyes were on him. I didn’t want them on me too just because nobody believed he lost his contacts!

“Prudence, you know I’m still waiting for that pen.” He looked amused as my head whipped so quickly to his side. Okay, the lens story only applied to vision. Why the heck was he calling my name? How did he even know my name? My life is falling apart!

“I don’t know if you really want a pen or just trouble but trust me. I’m a good girl and the skull hoodie? It is a sham,” I whisper yelled then added, “It isn’t even mine.”

His lips were curved into an unbelievable smile even as I watch him with wide eyes as he stood up and casually made his way towards my row.

Okay maybe he wanted to use the toilet, I reasoned since it was just behind me but he turned towards my corner and was now walking towards me.

Okay calm down Prudence, maybe he really needs a pen and for some reason couldn’t ask his friends or perhaps he knew it was only you in this class who just might be interested in the concept of education and not pretending like you understand your teachers. But he didn’t take any of the five pens on my desk. What! The librarian gives pens freely and in case you didn’t notice, I love free stuff. A lot!

But I didn’t love when another A-list student was sitting next to me. Recipe for disaster.

“What are you doing?”

“Why are you whispering?” He widened his eyes, smirking even as he also hush whispered.

Oh.. why was I whispering? He really asked that? My head whipped to his side even as I narrow my gaze at him, “Did anybody put you up to this? Paid you? Now I know this is the part where I promise to pay you double but let’s cut to the chase. You and I know that is a dollop of lies so please.. just let me off the hook this once and you’ll never see me here again. Wait you’ll because I school here and really need to go to college, to get a degree and you know to be cool. Just ditch whoever paid you money, tell them I’d a contagious disease and you couldn’t afford to get close to me.” I didn’t bother to think of how hard Tristan was trying hard not to laugh, no I didn’t. This might be some joke to him and if he considered this funny in any way that’s a plus right?

“I don’t want money.”

“I thought as much because you are filthy wealthy and I don’t have money.”

“The pen was just an excuse.”

“Also correct but you are too modest to add that you could afford to give everyone in this town pens if you wanted but I doubt anyone in Todos Santos would have a need for a pen since it is one of the richest towns in California.” Even those in my neighbourhood wouldn’t love the offer but they won’t verbally tell you this like the cultured, way too rich old-money nurtured people over here. They would show you.

He flashed me his dimples, “God you are better than all the freaks mom hires as comedians altogether.”

I chuckled so loudly. The sound hurt my ears.

He shook his head at me and then looked at me like he was just seeing me for the first time. Okay, wrong…

“You’re so cool.”

“You have never been more incorrect in your assumptions.”

The door slammed shut and I squealed almost jumping out of my seat wondering if someone was coming to get me and considered it necessary to pull the door off its hinges. It was Law Tyler and he didn’t look delightful and what more he was walking towards my row and I didn’t even bother with the baseless assumptions of thinking he was going to use the washroom.

Author’s note:

Okay, so I’m going to be doing something I haven’t done before. Recommend a song. I totally played Sia’s unstoppable in my head when I wrote the first few paragraphs of Prudence’s imaginary powerwalk. Hearing the song might just help you connect.

Love and light