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purplekiwis · 4 years ago

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III - Mouthful of Pride (You’ve got a problem holding your tongue, and a strong hate for flavored syrup)

Listen to the Damaged Goods Spotify Playlist: Here

Series Masterlist: Here

Genre: Enemies to Lovers | College AU

Warnings: Smut, Cursing, Alcohol & Drug Use, Borderline Abusive Behavior

Wordcount: 6.5K

It was your first weekend away from home. And for the first time in your life you were actually upset that you didn’t have any school work to do. Because at least then you would’ve had something to distract you from the fact that you were alone. Well, alone for the day because Ameena was out to visit, according to her, one of the most remarkable silverware factories in the world with some of her classmates in order to scoop (mind the pun) some inside information for an essay they were working on.

The point is that you were bored to death.

As you refreshed Instagram for the tenth time in a row, a picture of Madison popped up in your feed. You instinctively double tapped it and kept scrolling down, but found yourself going back to take a look at her profile, something you hadn’t done in a quite while. You had been meaning to text her ever since you’d run into her at school the other day and she’d told you whenever you’re free, you should totally come hang out with me and the girls.

You had a feeling she’d only invited you to be polite, so you brushed off the topic to save her some slack... But the truth was that you missed her.

You missed the times you spent talking boys in your bedroom when she stayed over, the mornings she broke into your house and forced you to cycle with her to Bentrood Lake for a swim and the others when you swayed her into baking pancakes at 3am after a night out in the village, with the promise that you wouldn't tell on her night’s messy hookups…

But most of all, you missed having someone that you could tell everything to, while simultaneously having someone you never needed to tell anything to because she could read you like an open book.

You also hated seeing her gushing around with her new cool friends, even though you were completely aware that it was selfish of you to expect her reach out when you hadn’t made any efforts to reignite your friendship yourself… So you did, you texted her.

[You: Hi Maddie 🤗, how are you?]

[Maddie: Hi! 💖 I’m good, how are you? how was first week?]

[You: I’m good. It was alright, I’m a bit sore but I guess that’s on me for never sticking to my workout plans. WYD?]

[Maddie: Haha, you’ve always been a lazy ass.]

[Maddie: Me and the girls were heading out to get some icecream. Wanna join?🍦😋]

[You: thanks but I don’t want to butt in on you and your friends 😔]

[Maddie: Don’t be silly 🤨]

[Maddie: It will be fun!! and the icecream is bomb!]

You dropped your phone on your stomach and looked up at the ceiling as you contemplated her offer. Going out with a bunch of popular girls you didn’t know wasn’t exactly how you’d planned to rekindle your friendship with your long lost best friend, since that was definitely a little out of your comfort zone… but fuck, you really could do with some icecream right now.

[You: Is it better than those mango swirlies from Sugar Plum’s?]

[Maddie: You and I both know nothing could ever compare to Sugar Plum’s, but I swear they’re good! And they have those yogurt things you like.]

[You: Froyos??? 😱😱😱]

[Maddie: Yeah, those! 🤮🤮]

[You: Alright I’ll go, but only because you made me crave some. 🙄]

[Maddie: Yayyyy! 🤗 The place is called Golden Sea. It’s on the boardwalk by the lighthouse. We’re already at the beach but we can come pick you up if you’d like.]

[You: I’m fine. 😅 Just send me the location and I’ll meet you there.]

You pulled off your leggings and t-shirt and stuffed yourself inside a pair of annoyingly tight jeans and a flowey summer blouse. You thought about putting on makeup, but ended up deciding that it wasn’t worth the effort just to go get icecream. So you just brushed your hair, applied some moisturizer and in under ten minutes were out the door.

You regretted it though. As soon as you walked inside the shop and saw the group of girls you came to hang out with.

They were all in their bikini tops and high-waisted shorts that emphasized their tanned, perfectly waxed legs. Their nails looked freshly manicured and their hair was wavy and pretty from the sea water. You were about to make a quick U-Turn and go back to your dorm to change into something more appropriate when Madison spotted you and waved at you.

And if it wasn't bad enough that you were about to meet Madison and her mermaid friends looking like a whole different type of sea creature, as you made your way inside you noticed a couple of familiar faces sitting at one of the tables to your right.

Walking past their table you mumbled a shy “Hi” and waved your hand at Everlee, that was already looking at you with a big smile on her face and waving enthusiastically. You saw Harry looking up to check on who she was waving to, but as soon as his eyes laid on you he looked the other way and carried on talking with the boy sitting across from him. How fucking rude. After you placed your order, you went to sit at the table that one of Madison’s friends had picked... And unfortunately the seat that they had left for you was the one that bounded you to directly face Harry and Everlee.

But before you could even begin to appreaciate their couple chemistry, Madison pulled your attention back to your own table. “Where do you even know her from?” She pried, seeming genuinly intrigued and perhaps even a little resentful about your familiarity with Everlee that she was only now finding out about.

“Who?” You asked, finding it hard to focus on her question while there was a much more interesting scene unfolding in front of you. “Oh! Right…” You said, finally snapping out of it. “She walked me home the other night after the party.”

“She walked you?” Madison squinted. “Why? I thought she wasn’t in The Commission…”

“She’s not. But she was with her boyfriend.”

“You mean Harry?”

“Yeah… isn’t he her boyfriend?” You regretted asking that question as soon as you felt Madison’s intriguing gaze. You could tell she was suspicious that your question held a little more than just curiosity, so you quickly brushed off the topic. “Do you guys know her? She seems pretty cool.”

“Oh no honey, she’s not cool… We don’t like her.” One of the girls, Bailey, promptly informed, picking up the lone cherry on top of her icecream and bitterly placing it between her teeth.

“Oh, you don’t? Why not?”

“Because she’s a whore.” Bailey spat. Her malice filled eyes drifting towards their table before she carried on. “She has practically fucked every guy in school. Not the mention the ones from outside school… She spreads herself for literally anyone.”

“Hum, okay…” You shook your head, bewildered. “But like... that’s kind of her business, isn’t it? It’s not really our place to judge what she does with her body.” You proposed, taking the first spoon to your mouth as you tried to reason with her.

“I think it’s everyone’s business when she walks around dressed like that. No wonder she has such good grades... I bet she really does blow the teachers away, if you know what I mean.” Bailey implied, making an innapropriate gesture that made the whole table laugh, but left you with a far worst impression of her than the one you had of the bubbly girl sipping on a strawberry milkshake just a few feet from you.

“I find that a bit… mean to say.” Bailey sighed loudly, annoyed at your political correctness. “Just forget it! I wasn’t expecting you to get it, at least not until...” She stopped abruptly and her eyes fell on the chocolate icecream that she had yet to eat a spoon out of. You peeked at her face expecting her to look sad, but all there was to see was hatred. “Nevermind.”

“She messed around with a guy you liked, didn’t she?” "Yes! How did you know?" She lifted her head to look at you, seeming genuinely shocked by your question. You wondered if she was really that oblivious to the fact that her face was a dead giveaway of what was going on in her mind or if she was really that good at faking stupid.

"Because you’re acting bitter.”

“Well, you would too if your 8 month boyfriend dumped you for an easy-fuck.”

“Maybe...” You interposed. “but I think I would be more upset at the boy than at her. After all, he was the one that chose to leave… Unless she was your friend, then that’s fucked up.”

“My friend?” She scoffed. “Please… I would never relate to people of such low-level.” “Look, I get it. You don’t like her. And you have all the right not to. However, I still don’t see how calling her a whore could make things any better…” “Let’s see how you feel about that once it happens to you.” “Sorry to break it up to you but I don’t think I’ll ever change my views on empowering women because of some guy.” What started out as a casual discussion was slowly turning into a heated one and you were starting to lose your cool at the constant sexist remarks. Luckily, Madison noticed the way you were clenching your fists over the table before Bailey did, so she lightly kicked your foot and widened her eyes at you in a silent plead to zip it. “Girls, don’t mind her! She’s always been a very opinionated chick, haven’t you Y/N?” She jokingly asked, in a tone that was definitely too cheerful to be genuine. You answered her with a poorly disguised fake smile. “Is that a bad thing?” You spat back and took a spoonful of Froyo to your mouth. Hoping it's coolness would help calm your hot-temper.

“Only if the rest of your opinions are as wrong as the one you just shared.” One of the other girls intervened, clearly butt-hurt by the way you’d called out her friend. You remained silent, realizing there was no point in picking a fight with another girl you were definitely not interested in hanging out with again. Besides, the Froyo was actually amazing and you’d much rather be eating it than running your mouth to stupid people.

As you did, absentmindedly your gaze shifted away from the girls and fell on the group sitting at the next table again. A silent gasp left your body, when your eyes landed on what you could only describe as one of the most horrifying things you’d ever seen in your life. You wondered how you hadn’t noticed it before... Since judging by it’s appearance it had to have been sitting there for the past ten minutes… and yet, it’s sugary, unnaturally colored glory remained practically unfazed.

You watched attentively as a gooey droplet slid down the edge of the cup and hit the table top, leaving behind a waxy looking trail. Your face scrunched up when the unmistakeable smell reached your nostrils. You could practically taste it on your tongue, something that made your throat involuntarily clench. You’d obviously seen it before and to be frank, it had never really bothered you… In fact, there was only one particular detail about the whole thing that was making it horribly disconcerting… It was the fact that it was poured on top of a pile of orangey clouds of deliciousness and carefully cut pieces of kiwi, strawberry and mango!

You cought yourself on the verge of throwing a look of disgust at the employer standing behind the counter, because there was no way that serving that to a costumer didn’t break, at least, five of the Food Safety Regulations. But you managed to control yourself… After all, it wasn’t even that poor woman’s fault… He’d asked for it himself! And that, you decided, was the nastiest aspect about the whole situation.

Your eyes drifted back up to Harry’s face, so you could silently judge him once he ate another mouthful of the frozen gunk. However your actions were taken aback by the fact that he was staring back at you.

As your eyes met his defiant ones, he raised an eyebrow at you inquisitively. S.O.S. Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission! You shamefully drifted your gaze back to your own Froyo, that during that short time span had somehow morphed into puddle of yogurt and chocolate syrup with a couple of floating raspberries peeking at the surface. “You want to get a picture or something?” You felt withdrawn by his question, even though you had already been half-expecting it from the moment you realized he’d been aware of your mindless oggling. “I wasn’t looking at you.”

“Really?” He exaggeratedly glanced behind him, already knowing that there would be no one sitting there. “Is there a ghost behind me or what?”

“I was just staring at your dessert to be honest.” “I’ll happily get you one if it means you’ll stop staring at me like a creep.” “Your poor taste in toppings is kinda hard to overpass, you know?” You sneered at the cup. “I mean... Mint flavored syrup on top of an Orange Froyo? It’s obscene!” “I’m the one eating it, so why do you care?” “I don’t.” You picked up your spoon and rechanneled your energy into crumbling apart the soggy raspberries left in your cup. Willing to let go of the ridiculous argument you were now having with the mint syrup loving phychopath sitting just a few feet away.

“You’re not even gonna say sorry?” He challenged again once he realized you were done speaking.

“The only thing I’m sorry for are your low-quality taste buds.” You mumbled to yourself, loud enough for him to hear you. “You know,” He rested his elbows over the tabletop, leaning forward. “You should seriously consider getting laid more often to fix that pissy attitude of yours.” “Uau! You’re one to talk, aren’t you?” You spat at him, but Madison broke you out of your rage fueld trance by kicking you under the table, a lot harder than last time. “Ow!” You complained, turning your attention back to her. “What was that for?”

“What’s the matter with you today? Chill out!” She hissed, so that they couldn’t make up what she was saying. “He’s your superior. you can’t talk to him like that!”

You scoffed at her observation. “Come on now, you can’t be serious… I’m not going to suck up to whatever just because. Not to mention that last time I checked we were at an icecream shop, not at a Praxis event, so he’s not my superior anything.”

“If you’re got going to apologize, the least you could do is suck it up!” Madison chastised. “Acting all frivolous is only gonna get you on his bad side and you’re going to regret it when they start coming for you! Besides you’re making us look bad by being here sitting with you.” “Oh! So you’re embarassed of me now? Is that what this is about?” “Well, you’re being irrational and acting stupid.” “You know what? You’re right! I shouldn’t have come... I don’t want to embarass you in front of your friends.” You got up from your seat and stormed out of the shop. When you walked past Harry’s table he made eye contact with you and obnoxiously licked a stripe up his spoon, but you paid him no mind. You were too far in your head about what Madison had said to waste another minute with an uncivilized braggart with poor taste.

You were already starting to feel the tears pricking at your eyes when you heard rushed footsteps behind you and a voice you knew all too well calling your name, you ignored it and quickned your pace, but it wasn’t long until you felt a hand reach of your shoulder. “Go back to your friends Madison! I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Stop it Y/N, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” You stopped walking and pivoted on your foot, so you were facing her. “I think you did.” You said, quickly turning back around and continuing your walk. You heard shuffling behind you, making you aware that she was still following you.

“Come on, you know me! It just came out because I was mad, you know I didn’t mean it.” You stopped walking, realizing that she wasn’t going to give up until you talked to her. Something you were glad for, because you’d have been ever madder if she didn’t come after you, and she knew that as well. “Do I? I mean what the hell Madison? You’re calling girls ‘whore’ now and shaming people for their clothes? Quite hypocritical coming from the girl that used to be so proud of her ever-growing fuck list.”

“Thing’s have changed Y/N.” She whispered down. “I don’t do that anymore.” “So? It doesn’t mean that you have the right to shame other people just because they have different ways of living their lives.” She sighed deeply before she spoke. “Look, I know you don’t get it but things are different here, okay? I did what I had to do in order to fit in and get inside that goddamn sorority. Do you think the girls don’t sleep around just as much as Lee does? Of course they do! It’s not about that. People move in groups here, if they decide they don’t like someone, then you don’t get to like them either. Trust me, you don’t want to be the odd one out Y/N.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” “It means- by all means, get yourself inside a good group, get a good mentor and don’t fuck it up just because you’re stubborn.” “And what exactly represents a ‘good group’ Madison? A Sorority?” You scoffed. “Please…”

“I know Sororities may be shit, but if there’s one thing they take seriously is sisterhood and that’s a big deal for me… You’ll find out that loyalty is something you don’t find easily around here, but these girls? They’ll do anything for eachother.” “Like what? Bully eachother’s enemies while enjoying some icecream on a sunny afternoon? Cause so far that’s all I’ve seen them do.” “You’re being condescending and judging too soon.” “Am I? I think I’ve seen enough.” She shook her head and sighed again. “You really haven’t changed, have you?” You simply shrugged, not really sure what she meant by that. “Okay look, I’m going to be honest with you… When I invited you today I was actually planning on warming you up to the girls.” Your jaw dropped. “So that perhaps you could, you know… join the Sorority one day.”

Your bewildered expression was enough of an answer for her, and you didn’t fail to notice the way her head dropped to avoid showcasing her dissapointment as she carried on with her speech. “I don’t think it was a very good start but I'm willing to talk them into giving you another chance. I mean, if you’d like that… I would really like to have you there.”

“No offence but I would rather die than join a Sorority.” You said with full honesty. There was no point in trying to sugarcoat the truth from Madison anyway.

She nodded her head. “I was already expecting you to say that.” She chuckled, but there was a certain sadness in her expression. “But I guess it was worth the try anyway...”

“So I don’t get to be friends with you unless I join?” It was a silly question that you knew the answer to, but you wanted to hear her say it out loud.

“You’ll always be my best friend Y/N. Nothing could ever change that… And you don’t have to worry okay? I get it. I love my sisters but I also know that they can be Regina George level bitches sometimes.” You couldn’t help to break a smile at the seriousness she uttered that sentence with and she laughed along with you.

“You’ll aways be my best friend too.” You confessed, reaching out your hand to pick at the washed-out rainbow bracelet on her wrist. Similar to the one you carried in your own. It was childish and you knew it, but it made you happy to know that she was still holding on to it like you were. “But on all seriousness Y/N...” She held your hand and started playing with your fingers, a stress relieving habit she’d developed many years ago and you’d always let her do it, even when your fingers started to get numb “Whatever you do, don’t miss the events, go to parties, meet people… The more familiar you are with the people around you the better. But keep in mind that not everyone that smiles at you is your friend. Don’t trust everything you see.”

“Why does everyone keep acting like there’s something shady going on?”

“Well, because-” She stopped talking abruptly at the sound of girls squealing close by. You found yourself unconsciously winced at the noise, while Madison remained as serene as ever. You almost felt sorry for the fact that she had somehow grown so familiar with their pitchy squeals that they didn’t even bother her anymore.

“Hey Madison!” Bailey called from the other side of the road, waving her car keys and signaling the small yellow fiat parked near the entrance of the icecream shop. “We’re going to the mall. Are you still coming or what?”

You could tell Madison was conflicted when you noticed her shifty stares between you and the girls. As you predicted, she ended up settling for them. “Um… I have to go but we’ll talk soon, okay? I promise.” She mumbled apologetically. “Remember what I said, okay? And if you happen to have a change of heart about the other thing…”

“Don’t get your hopes up. I won’t change my mind.” “Fucking hell! I’d almost forgotten how stubborn you are!”

“Um… Maddie… I’m not trying to rush you or anything but I think your friends are about to take off without you. They look pretty pissed.” “Oh please! They wouldn’t dare…” She said convincedly, as one of the girls tapped on a non-existent watch on her wrist to urge her to hurry up. “But you’re right, I guess I should probably get going.” She concurred, leaning in just so that she could hug you goodbye. “I’ll see you soon.”

As she left, you stood still for a moment. Observing the way her light blonde hair flew around as she jumpy walked across the boardwalk on her way to the car, where her friends awaited her arrival with impatience written all over their faces. “Oh and by the way…” She yelled, swaying her body so that she could face you one last time before she reached the car. “I’m pretty sure he’s single.”

You immediately felt your face heat under her knowing gaze, something that didn’t go unnoticed by her. “That- that’s not… I don’t…” Your stuttering only led her on more, laughing and winking at you as she climbed in the backseat of the car with a mischievous grin on her face. You turned around sheepishly, cursing at yourself for ever thinking that it was a good thing that she knew you better than you knew yourself.

It was only the second week and rituals were already starting to feel like hell. Especially once you started to picture all the school work you weren’t doing in order to be there, pilling up on your desk.

And if it wasn't bad enough that three days a week your routine now included hours and hours of learning and practicing senseless musical numbers and dance routines thoughout the night to prepare for the annual parade, lately people seemed particularly eager to gossip and share their opinions on the members of the Commission during the breaks. What lead to where you were now. Sat with your ass on the concrete at 10PM on a Monday with a borrowed cheap cigarette locked in between your lips, listening to four of your classmates praise the looks of one of the most irritating boys you’d ever met.

“Francesca said he was totally giving her the eyes last night. I heard she made a bet with someone that she would have gotten in his pants by the end of the semester.”

“Do you reckon? I heard he gets around quite a bit but I would be surprised if he was into her. She doesn’t seem like his type.” “How do you even know what is type is?” “I don’t. But guys like him always have a type… and I don’t think she’s his type.” “You’re only saying that because you’d rather you were his type.” “Damn right I would.”

They broke into a fit of laughter, but you were too far in your head thinking about all the productive things you’d rather be doing to even bother to pretend you were in the same page they were. And don’t get me wrong, you never considered yourself to be one of those overly organized productive people. To be honest, you were quite the procrastinator yourself. But this was a total waste of your time, and even you could see that.

“What about you Y/N? You’ve been so quiet... Why don’t you share with the class what you think of Sir Harry?” Sophia asked, lightly kicking your foot to get your attention.

“Because I don’t have anything nice to say.” You said, taking another drag on the cigarette that honestly tasted like shit and was making you feel lightheaded.

“What do you mean?”

“I think he has his head stuck up into his own ass.” You promptly answered, making them shift all of their attention to you.

“Oh?” They unwittingly harmonized. “Why do you say that?”

“He’s rude, he’s conceited and he obviously thinks he’s better than everyone else.”

They got quiet for a moment, exchanging looks of bewilderment in between them. “But don’t you think he’s hot though?” Vanessa asked, and you took the cue to eye him. He was sat across the field, engaged in a bubbly conversation with the other members of the Commission. It was weird seeing him smile and have fun with his friends, he didn’t even look like the person that you grew to despise. The boy you were staring at looked nice and approachable... you even dare to say he looked… cute?!

But you weren’t about to admit that to a group of horny college girls that you barely knew. “I think he needs a trim. His ends are split.”

It didn’t take longer than week for you to finally come to realize what the reason for the sudden urge to blab around was. It turned out that it had all been purposefully incited by a couple of moles that had been pretending to be freshmen so they could collect all the dirty laundry going around between the new students, especially the one regarding their opinions on the members of the Commission. And as you can probably imagine they weren’t exactly the most civil, respectful and appreciative opinions... So yes, you were all punished for it. And it was awful. By the time the sun was setting on the horizon, you had lost complete sense of time. You had no idea if you had been doing your punishment for two hours or thirty minutes. All you knew was that any time you tried to do another push-up, your arms started to tremble uncontrollably and you ended up collapsing at all force against the concrete. It wasn’t painful at first... But each time your body met the ground, it caved in a little more and the scratches on you skin burned a little deeper. It took a particularly hard fall for you to finally give into your exhaustion. You knew you could’ve given up or let yourself have a break like some of your colleagues had already done, but the persistence of a particular pair of green eyes on your figure was what was stopping you from doing it. The last thing you wanted was for him to see you break. You let your head fall along with your body and shut down your eyes, taking comfort in the warm and grainy nature of the surface beneath you. You knew it was bound to mark the plushy skin of your face, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care, not when you were on the verge of passing out right then and there. But then you saw a glimpse of a shadow above you. Lazily, you opened one of your eyes to peek at whatever it was that was disturbing your peacefulness... When you spotted a certain familiar pair of black leather boots in front of your face, you immediately lifted up your head, looking up at the snotty demon towering over you. “Get up.” Harry’s tone was sharp and commanding, but instead of complying right away, you just stared at him with defiant eyes. Showcasing your displeasure at the fact that he had the audacity of bothering you while you were in such an ungrateful condition already. “It’s an order.” He pressured. You snorted. Due to the deadness of your legs, one of your knees faltered as you slowly got back on your feet. Causing you to momentarily lose your balance. “Don’t touch me!” You grumbled hastily, noticing the way his arms twitched hesitantly to catch you if you fell. As if you’d ever rely on him for support... might as well just dive face first on the concrete already! “I wasn’t going to.” Harry counterclaimed, crossing his arms in front of his chest instead. “So…” He started smugly. “Is there any other grooming advice you would like to share?” He asked provocatively, but you chose to remain quiet and focus the little strenght you had left on trying to keep your body up. When faced with your silence he leaned closer and spoke again. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Not so brave when I can hear you, are ya?” You knew that for the sake of your exhausted body it would’ve been wiser to just shut up for once, and had it been somebody else in his place, that would’ve been exactly what you would’ve done... but Harry, for some reason, had an outstanding way of getting on your nerves that made it impossible for you not to contest his prodding. “Actually, now that you mention it. I would also like to suggest an anti-grease shampoo.” “What?” The way he gasped at your audacity was enough to make worthy any consequences that may come from your snappy retort. And you had to look down and roll your lips inwords to supress the urge to laugh in his face. From the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of movement and for a brief second, you thought that he was leaving. You realized you should’ve known better when you felt him, quite literally, breathing down your neck. “Say that again, I fucking dare you.” He defied, barely above a whisper. You hated the way his voice was giving you goosebumps all over your body. “I said…” You started, but he cut you off immediately. “Shut the fuck up!” He shouted in your ear, making you squirm and drawing everyone’s attention to the both of you. He glanced back, realizing that everyone was unapolagetically staring out of pure curiosity. “Keep your eyes to yourselves!” He shouted at them, and his voice held so much power that you could almost swear you saw the trees trembling at the sound of it. “Knees to the floor, now!” They all promptly obeyed, and you felt obligated to as well, not because you were scared of Harry’s temperamental tantrum, but because you felt terrible that he was punishing everyone because of something you said. “You really are unbelievably selfish aren’t you?” Harry questioned. You realized his body was facing you again when you spotted his knees in front of your face. You watched them bend down as he crouched to be face to face with you again. “You know your colleagues are drained as shit and yet you feel just fine that they’re about to get punished for something you did. Giving them the works just because you can’t be bothered to keep your mouth shut. You’re a fucking embarassment of a person.” You couldn’t fight the tear that rolled down your face as soon as he got up and walked to the front row so that he could face the mass of bodies kneeled on the ground. “Just so you know… I was actually about to desmiss you, but little miss thingy over there decided to fuck it up so now you’re all gonna pay for it.” He said, walking back and forth between rows as he spoke “I’m actually not really feeling push-ups today… seems a bit tame for the occasion. How do we feel about burpees guys?” He asked to the present veterans and crows that looked absolutely thrilled about the whole situation. “Yeah? How about we start with 100?” Some people cheered and others tried to provoke him into raising the number, but he chose to ignore them. You were mortified at the unfair treatment that he was giving to your colleages. And your uneasiness didn’t get overlooked by him, matter of fact, you could tell that he was aware that he had just found your Achilles heel, and he was more than happy to jab in it. What he wasn’t counting with was how reckless and bullheaded you could actually be. “Stop it okay? I’ll take the punishment! I’ll take all of it!” You shouted at him, before he could finish his countdown. He looked back at you, with glint of amusement in his eyes and two fingers still in the air. “Excuse me? Did you say something?” “What I said to you, it was personal.” You blabbered. “It’s not their fault! They shouldn’t pay for it.” Words just kept pouring out of your mouth incenssantly as you spoke.“I’ll take the punishment in their place! All of it.” He clicked his tongue and shruged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Should’ve thought about that before opening your mouth, shouldn’t you?” “Wait, wait, wait…” Declan interrupted, approaching Harry and patting him on the back. “H, I think this could turn out to be fun.” “Fun?” He scoffed, with a look of utter disgust. “Are you mental? There are about 100 freshman here...” “And what? You think that honey-bunch over there can’t deal with 10 000 burpees by herself?” Wait... 10 000?! Maybe you should’ve done the maths on this before you spoke. You rolled your eyes at the use of the objectionable pet name. “What does everyone think?” Declan asked to the older students present. Some of them shrugged and other cheered along. “Now that’s something I’d really like to see for myself...” “That’s too much for one person.” Harry said, sparing you a disguised glance. “Besides they’re a team, all for one has always been our motto. There’s no reason to start changing it now...” “Why does it have to be all for one and not one for all? You asked, recklessly stepping in on their conversation. “No one asked for your opinion. Shut it.” You opened your mouth to retort but Harry cut you off straight away. “I said stay out of it Y/N. This is none of your business.” Your mind was racing a mile a minute. Did he just call you by name? How did he even know your name? Did he ask around? Has he been talking about you? Has he been hate stalking you on his free times? SO MANY QUESTIONS AND SO LITTLE ANSWERS!!! “Aw, look at him… getting all defensive...” Declan cooed mockingy. “Guys, if I didn’t know any better, I would say our H has a soft spot for the freshman.” Everyone laughed. Except Harry who was blushing redder than a tomato… and you were right there with him, looking away from the scene to avoid drawing anyone’s attention to your dangerously heated cheeks. “If there’s one thing I’m defending it’s the values of the Praxis. Remember? The ones you tend to forget when they become too inconvinent for your liking.” Harry talked back at Declan. You couldn’t not notice the way he was carving his own nails on the flesh of his palm. The anger in his face reminiscing you back to the night he walked you home. “Oh... he’s getting feisty now.” Declan teased further, and Harry yanked his arm away. You could tell the redness on his face was more than just flushing now, he was starting to get seriously irritated at Declan’s provocations, possibly one sly remark away from punching him in the face. “She’s the one who suggested it, what wrong could it do? You don’t have to be so uptight all the time man. Chill out!” He said, grabbing onto his mate’s shoulders and shaking him playfully. That did little to nothing to ease him. “She’s just acting up. She doesn’t mean it.” Harry stated. And you felt everyone’s eyes landing on you... right as you were awkwardly shifting your bodyweight from one leg to the other. “Freshman,” Declan called, rushing in your direction and resting his arm over your shoulders like he’d previously done to Harry. “Tell us, in all honesty, did you really mean what you said or were you just acting up?” You weren’t oblivious to the way Harry was sternly looking at you, but you chose to ignore him and keep true to your word, even though there might be a small truth to his statement. Not that you would ever admit to that anyway. “I meant everything I said.” “See… She meant it!” Declan simpered, letting go of you and walking back to his original position next to Harry, who was frantically chewing on his gum and staring at you with a very unpleased expression on his face. “Alright. Let’s vote it out, then.” Harry decided at last. “Who’s in favor of punishment for all?” Part of the group raised their hands, him included. He swiftly counted all the hands and carried on. You had a feeling that he had forgotten to count with himself, but it wasn’t like it was going to make much difference anyway... “And who’s in favor of the individual punishment?” He asked, and the majority of the group raised their hand. “Great then.” He ludicrously said, turning back to the freshmen. “I suppose you’re all dismissed then.” As the freshmen left, so did most of the crows and veterans that had been assisting the rituals, some of them offering you pitiful looks as they passed you by. There were only about forty people left waiting to see what was about to happen. Ameena volunteered to stay behind and keep you company, but you assured her that you were fine and that she should go home. As you were standing there by yourself, you noticed Harry collecting his belongings. Was he… Going somewhere?! He put his sunglasses on and began shuffling around on his backpack, picking up what you assumed to be his car keys. When he noticed you standing there like an idiot, he chuckled lightly. “Tomorrow, after the night rehersal.” Some people sitting in the balcony booed at him, clearly upset that they had stayed behind for nothing. He shushed them and carried on walking to his car, opening the back door and throwing his stuff over the seats before he sat down on the driver’s seat. You were frowning at him, waiting for some sort of explanation, at least. He didn’t give you one, so you gave up and started walking to the dorms. To your surprise, as he drove past you, he slowed and rolled his window down. “You should be thanking me, you know? You’re weak; were probably going to pass out right away if I’d let you do it now.” He briefly justified his choice. Before you could come up with a good retort he had already hit the pedal and driven away. God I hope he crashes… presumptuous dickhead! Chapter IV

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