Love and Hate (8 page)

“Don’t worry you’ll get use to
it.” Ella says.

I’m surprised I’m not use to it
already.

We start heading towards the
steps where a group of kids are standing. There are a group of hot girls staring
at me like they want to jump me and guys glaring at me with disapproval.

“Hey, Donovan.”  Dina comes out
of nowhere and pulls me into a hug.

                        “Hey,
Dina.”

Dina looks different. She got
hotter. She has short black hair and wow! Her boobs got bigger.

                        “You
didn’t call me back last night.” She whines to Ella.

“I was busy. Hello, my brother
just got back.”

“True, but Once Upon A Time was
on and I needed to call and rant about it.” I think Dina is talking about a TV
show. “So, Donovan, did you know your sister is Queen B around here?”

“I’m not shocked by any of this.”
 I’m really not. Ella has always been the girl at school who was not to be
messed with.

Ella punches me in the shoulder.
It kind of hurts too. When did she get so strong?

“So, are you ready to attend high
school hell?” Dina says as she looks around at everyone who is still gawking at
us like a bunch of sheep.  

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”  I sigh
out an answer.

“You sure you don’t want me to
show you to your first class?” Ella asks.

“No, I’m cool. I’ll see you
later.”

I start walking inside the school
and I notice it’s very big. It’s probably bigger than my school back in Manhattan.
But the good thing about this place is that we don’t have to wear any uniforms.

No one is staring at me now. It’s
probably because I’m not with Ella which is why I didn’t want her to show me
around. I just don’t like the staring because it’s annoying and it makes me
want to punch people in the face. Besides, I’m trying to keep my anger in
check.

But in all honesty my anger has
surprisingly gone down. Ever since that night I have felt nothing. I don’t even
know how to explain it. It’s not anger, sadness, or depression. It’s pain. It’s
a numbness of pain. A pain that I have become so tolerable of that it’s a part
of me. Therefore, it’s nothing to me anymore.

“Yo! D!” I turn around to see
familiar faces. It’s Emile and Jason.   They run through the crowd, towards me.

“Man it’s been awhile.” Emile says.

I shake up with the guys and
actually hug them. I missed Emile’s midget ass and scrawny cousin of mine,
Jason.

“I know. It’s good to see you
guys.”

“How you been doing?” Jason asks.

“I’m cool; I’m just trying to get
use to things, you know?”

                        “You
look different.” Emile says.

“That’s what everybody says.
Listen, I have to go to class.”

“Nobody goes to first period
early.” Jason says.

“Yeah, but I promised my mom I
would start the semester right.”

“Alright man, find us if you need
anything.” Emile says.

I start back on my journey to
find my classroom. After passing three more rooms, I finally get to room 130.
Here we go.

I walk right in to see only three
people in class. Thank God. I don’t want to be the center of attention.

I glance at the clock over the
white erase board and see there’s three minutes left until class starts. I see
a girl with glasses sitting up straight in the front row with a line of four
pencils on her desk. You can tell she’s ready to learn. I eye the desk at the
very back. I walk over towards it and sit down.

I’m sitting between two people
already. The guy on my left smells straight like weed; I wish I smoked
something to mellow out my nerves. This girl on my left seems to feel like me,
tired. She has her head on the desk with her arms folded, covering up her face.
She has pretty hair. It’s the first thing I notice. Even a guy can tell when a
girl puts too many product in her hair. It looks hard and gross. But this girl,
her hair is long and looks soft and flowing. I guess that’s the word I’m
looking for. It brings the creep out in me and makes me want to touch it.  I
can smell her perfume too. Its smells like, well something I don’t know, but
it’s nice.

Kids are starting to walk in now
along with the teacher. He looks scruffy and tired. His eyes are blood shot. Wow,
he looks crazy. He has on a brown corduroy jacket and a green bow tie. He looks
like a dork, a complete weirdo.

I feel the girl next to me sit up
while I continue watching our teacher fumble with his papers. He barely can
stand from what I’m seeing. Is he drunk?

 I hear the girl next to me yawn.
Its kind a cute if that is even possible… How does a yawn sound cute?    

“God, I hate this place.” I hear
her quietly say, but loud enough for me to hear.

 I laugh to myself and turn
around wondering what she looks like.

Holy shit.

                                                 
 Chapter

4

“The Hazards of Fate”

Claudia

You ever get the feeling your
being watched?

Well, I just got that feeling. So
I turn to my right to see who was watching me and it is probably the best thing
I have ever done. A simple thing. It’s funny how simple things we do can lead
to something extraordinary.

It’s him, the guy from Naomi’s
party. It’s the guy that left the most desirable impression on me.  I can’t believe
this. If this was a movie a love song would have come on once our eyes met. Or
screw a love song; it would be one of those movie love themes that play on
Oscar films like the Notebook or Meet Joe Black.

 I try to refrain from smiling,
but I can’t. It’s like as soon as I turned around and saw him that fire in me
suddenly grew again. Like a light bulb was turned on or something. I can’t help
but to feel warm when I look at him. He slowly smiles at me in return. That
same broad smile he gave me the first time we saw each other. His eyes are a
bright blue and they completely consume me. They consume me so much that I feel
sad when he blinks. I guess he’s blinking a lot right now because he’s as
shocked as I am right now. He’s here at my school. He’s here sitting right next
to me. Is it possible to feel this overjoyed over someone you barely know?

“Alright, you know the drill.
Clear your desks except for a pencil. We are going to have a quiz to see if you
know anything from two weeks ago. If you’re new, hopefully your last school taught
you something.” I hear Mr. Dugan, but I can’t take my eyes off the boy next to
me.

Okay, Claudia, stop drooling. Remember
this guy didn’t call.  But am I crazy for not caring about that right now? I
just care that he’s here, smiling at me.

We both snap out of it as soon as
Mr. Dugan gives us our quizzes. I want to hurry up with this quiz so I can
leave and talk to the guy of my dreams.

During our quiz, we keep sneaking
quick glances at each other. I’m blushing so hard right now I feel like I’m
going to burst.

With only ten minutes left I
finish the last question and grab my stuff and head up front. I pass the quiz
to Mr. Dugan and glance back to see my guy not too far behind. I walk out to
the hallway and lean up against the lockers.

 I’m so nervous. What am I going
to say? It’s been a year. A whole freaking year! It really feels longer than
that.

I hear the classroom door next to
me open and close. I continue staring down at the floor while he slowly walks
in front of me. A pair of black combat boots step into my view. I look up to
see the same blue eyes, staring at me with that same intense gaze they did that
night. All I want to do right now is kiss him. God what is this? Everything I’m
feeling now is the same as when I first met him. The spark is still there.

Okay, say something. Claudia, say
something.

“Hi.” Thank God he said something
first.

                        “Hey.”
I say nervously

We continue standing silent probably
for the next thirty seconds.

“Look, I am so sorry I never
called. A lot happened that night and I lost my phone” Yes! I was right, he did
lose his phone. “And it killed me, It killed me because as crazy as it is, I
lost you, and...”

“I thought about you every day.”
The words just come out of my mouth. “That’s crazy isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not because I thought
about you every day too. There was so many bad stuff going on and the good
things I thought about… included you. I thought about you all the time.” I sigh
at relief.

He walks closer to me and drops
his bag on the floor. He places his hands on my waist. My heart jumps at the
feel of his touch. He looks the same, but also different. His hair is cut and
his arms are a little bigger like he’s been working out.

 I realize I’m not breathing
because when he rests his forehead against mine, I instantly exhale a long
breath. I place my hands on his forearms and close my eyes. I can feel his
muscles through his coat.

This feels nice. It feels
wonderful. We feel good together. I finally get a second chance. I get a chance
to maybe get something I never knew I longed for in my life until now.

“Now can I know your name?” He
asks softly.

I laugh at him and open my eyes
to see his baby blues. Yes of course he can. I’ve been waiting for what seems
like forever.

“It’s Claudia. My name is Claudia
Stonem.” I say proudly.

My nerves kick in when his bright
smile begins to falter like I just ruined his day. He removes his hands from me
and steps a back like I’m the plague or something. What’s wrong? Why does his
face look like someone just died.

“Your name is Claudia Stonem?” He
asks as if he can’t believe it.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” The bell
rings. In an instant everyone walks out into the hallway.

Why is it bad that my name is
Claudia Stonem? Why is he acting like this?

“What the hell are you doing?” I
know that voice. It’s Ella Pierce, the pain in my ass.

I turn around to see her staring
at me with her usual look like I did something to her. I really don’t have time
for this.

“What do you want?” I rudely ask.
I’m usually the bigger person here, but now is not the time.

“No, the real question is what
are you doing with my brother?”  WHAT?! “Donovan, what are you doing?”

I follow her questionable stare
back towards him. His face is completely blank.  No, this can’t be. He can’t be
her brother. He can’t be him. Not him.  Please, let this be a nightmare.

He is Donovan Pierce, the son of
Roman Pierce.

Donovan

Claudia Stonem, the girl of my
dreams, is the daughter of the man trying to destroy my father. How could this
happen? Why is it happening?

“Donovan?” My sister gains my
attention back. She’s wondering why I’m standing here talking to her, the
daughter of one of New York’s top assistant U.S. attorney’s.

The same man I have hated ever
since he and the cops charged in our home in Manhattan when I was younger and
arrested my father during a family dinner. After watching him give my father a
smug look that day, I knew he was the enemy, and I would forever hate him.

“Donovan” I snap out of my memory
to see my sister staring at me angrily, waiting for my answer.

“Nothing.” Before I could gather
the words to say, Claudia says it already. “We bumped into each other. That’s
all.”

“Well, next time watch where
you’re going.” My sister says in a very bitchy way.

“Yeah, of course.” I can see it
in her eyes. She is as hurt and shocked as I am right now. She picks up her bag
and starts walking off in the opposite direction.

“Are you okay?” Ella asks.

“Yeah” I lie. “I’m fine.”

I grab my bag and start walking.
I don’t even know where I’m walking to. I just know that I feel like I got my
heart pushed back in and ripped out again, and it’s only been first period.

Claudia

Why is this happening to me? Why
does the first day of school have to be like this? I didn’t want any drama this
year, none. Then things go from probably the best day ever to the worst. The
guy I had an amazing night with is freaking Roman Pierce’s son! I thought they
said he was out of town that night. I thought he said his father was a defense
attorney. I thought a lot of damn things.  What is this?!

“Claudia!” I finally stop speed
walking to see Jade following behind me. “What was that? Why were you talking
to Donovan Pierce?”

“You saw that?” What all did she
see?

“Yeah, I actually saw more than
his sister. You two were looking at each other like crazy.”

Oh Shit.

I quickly pull Jade into the
first empty classroom I see. I lock the door and turn to face her.

“It’s him” I confess.

“What?” She asks looking
confused.

“The guy, Jade! The guy I met
that night at Naomi’s party, the guy I kissed.” I take a deep breath before I
utter his name. A name I wish I could forget. “It’s Donovan Pierce.” Then
again, I don’t wish that all.

Jade’s mouth quickly drops at my
confession. Her eyes widen at me in utter disbelief.

“Holy Shit! You freaking made out
with Donovan Pierce?!”

“Would you not shout?” God the
whole world probably heard her by now.

“Oh, my God, Claudia, he’s Roman
Pierce’s son.”

“Obviously I know that now!”

“Well, are you sure he didn’t
know who you were?”

“No, of course not.” Did he?

“How do you know that? He could
have planned that all along. He’s a Pierce. All they do is scheme and kill or
whatever.” She doesn’t even know him, she can’t say that.

“He’s not like that.” I’m
defending him? Why am I defending him?

I don’t know why I’m so irritated
by what she said. I don’t think Donovan would do that. Oh God I can’t believe
I’m already personally referring to him by his name!

“Claudia, are you serious right
now? You don’t know him. He is Donovan Pierce, son of the most notorious mob
boss, not to mention the man your father hates. Also let’s not forget that his
sister slept with your now ex-boyfriend.”

“Rub it in why don’t you, Jade” I
mean really she just had to go there.

“I’m just saying, he is trouble
and the best thing for you to do is to just chill and forget it ever happened.”

I close my eyes and sigh. “I
know. You’re right.”

“Good, now let’s breathe in and
out.” She sucks in a huge breath then lets it out. I do exactly what she does
to calm my nerves. “Now, let’s go to the class.”

We walk out the empty classroom
to see everyone heading to class. Its second period and Jade and I have the
same class together.

As we are walking to class I
can’t get Donovan out of my head. My heart keeps feeling sad and I hate it. I
hate this feeling. I really just want to go somewhere and cry. What if Jade is
right? What if he knew all along who I was? The only difference is that the guy
I met didn’t seem that way. I know that’s naïve to say about someone I barely
know, but I really felt like I could see him, like I could see his heart by the
way he looked at me and talked to me. I don’t know. All I know is this day
can’t get any worst.

“Ms. Stonem and Ms. Dawson, glad
you could join us.” I look up to see Mrs. Hairston standing by our classroom
door.

We smile and enter into the
classroom. At first sight I see Eric. Sitting two seats behind him is Ella. I’m
pissed! I forgot that I have class with my douchebag ex-boyfriend and Ella
Pierce. This is advance American literature and seniors and juniors can take it
together. Damn this school. I look at Jade who looks like she forgot too. She
leads us towards the back past my ex and sworn enemy. I sit down and let out a
huge sigh. This day still can’t get any worse.

“Okay, class. How is the first
day back going so far?” Mrs. Hairston says. I love her, she’s really cool. She
actually makes American Literature interesting. “Did we get all the Christmas
shopping, along with teen angst, sex, and drinking out the way during break?”

Everybody laughs at Mrs. Hairston
free spirit and laidback attitude.  “Okay this semester we will be…”

Mrs. Hairston is interrupted by
someone walking in late.

Shit. It’s Donovan Pierce. He
looks at everybody in the class and sees me. The same look he got when he found
out who I was is still on his face. The pain is still there.

“You are?” Mrs. Hairston asks
him.

“Donovan. Donovan Pierce.” He
says calmly. You can tell he’s not too proud to say his name right now,
especially if he’s feeling the same way I’m feeling.

“Well, Mr. Pierce, lovely to have
you. You may take a seat.” She says to him.

He walks to the first desk on the
far right.

I watch him only for a minute. I
watch the way he slouches. The way the sun shines on his beautiful golden hair
and skin. God, what am I doing? Cut it out, Claudia. He is the son of the man
your father plans to put in prison. Like Jade said, you have to forget about
it. Forget about him.

Nevertheless, it was still
official, this day sucked

Donovan

Well it’s official. My life
sucks.

I found out her name and it’s a
name that is not even allowed to be said in this house. She is a Stonem.

How could this happen? Why did
this shit happen? I finally find her and I lose her...again. I’m glad Ella left
it alone and didn’t nag me for the rest of the day.