Falling For The Playboy

EVA

“Stay away from him, Eva. ” She fingered the curly hairs on my forehead, her hand sliding down to tap my cheek lightly. “I swear, I’m not trying to be an overprotective, pain-in-the-ass elder sister, I’m just telling you what Abi would be too kind to and let’s not talk about how people making you a laughing stock would really ruin my reputation. ” She said the last part in a weak attempt at humor.

I forced a smile, seeing our car drive into the compound just then. Abi saw it too because she straightened, prepared to leave.

“You see those girls over there? ” Laura motioned to a group of students standing just outside the Arts building. “They know what they’re getting themselves into when they decide to get involved with guys like Axel. They know the thrill is only momentary. But people like us, we don’t. That’s why we get hurt. ” Her eyes glittered. “I don’t want to see you hurt, Eva. ”

I nodded, my throat closed tight. And with that parting speech, Laura hopped into her car and was pulling out of the school before I could blink.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

As we got into the car, I fought the urge to turn around and check if he was still there. I won the tiny but significant battle and it filled me with a good feeling, even if it was only momentary.

“Laura’s right, you know. ” Abi said quietly as the car went into motion. “Staying away from Axel would prevent you from going through many things that you wouldn’t wish to go through. ”

I nodded again, curling slightly into myself and hugging my bag to my front. For some reason, I couldn’t find my voice.

I read about love in romance books. They were actually my favorite books to read -which made it pretty ironic that I couldn’t bear to hear the topic whenever it was brought up. Why was I comfortable reading about it in books but not when it was mentioned?

Probably because reading it was one thing and experiencing it in real life was another. When I read about the feelings associated with love, it intrigued me. That a single four-lettered word could make someone experience a myriad of emotions both good and bad was an utter mystery.

Sometimes I read about how the male protagonist broke the female protagonist’s heart and how utterly ruined the female would be until the male, after some feat, realized that he had made a terrible mistake and would go after her and try to mend things. I was always pissed on the female’s behalf. Why did the female have to go through suffering before the male realized that he needed her in his life?

And I wasn’t so stupid as to believe that how it happened in books was how it happened in real life. I had doubts that a guy would, after leaving a girl, all of a sudden realize that she was the one for him and after apologizing, they would live happily ever after.

I read books simply for the pleasure of escaping my reality. It transported me into another dimension, different from this one, where I could be anything and anyone. That was what books were -escapes. Which was why I would not believe everything I read from them, because the authors too, I was sure, had been trying to escape when they decided to write too.

Just because books spoke of heart-wrenchingly epic romantic tales didn’t mean I would ever experience it. They were called tales for a reason.

Laura was right. I was getting in too deep. The line between friendship and something else must have started to blur in my head and I needed to put a stop to whatever this was before it broke me, because Axel undoubtedly would.

Like how I felt everyday when I saw the girls sitting at his table with his friends. A different one everyday as if they were clothes he changed. The sadness that constantly ate at me when I saw how open and uninhibited he was with them and then the anger that suffused me when I thought about how he was going to come to me at the end of the day and act like everything was okay.

How betrayed I had felt just now when he hadn’t seemed to see anything wrong with the girl that had bundled herself on his lap, ruining our conversation. And to think that I had wanted to apologize for the previous day.

How long was it until that little hurt blossomed into something else? Something much bigger?

But then I thought about the genuine look of confusion on his face as he had tried to explain to me and I wondered. What if Laura didn’t know him? What if he wasn’t a player? What if he was just misunderstood?

Of course he is. And the girl on her knees before him at the boutique restroom had just been selling goods to him.

My eyes slid closed as I leaned my head back on the car seat. A headache was starting to form from all the thinking I was doing.

The events of the past few days all seemed like a distant memory now. From the party to Omar’s sudden appearance to Axel offering his support all through and then to our time at the eatery.

An image of his honest eyes as he talked about his athletics flashed into my mind. Could I really say goodbye to this friendship? He had befriended me when no one else at Ivacy High would and despite me being a loner, I found his presence welcoming.

But it didn’t matter if I could or not.

I needed to stay away from Axel.