T A Y L O R' S P. O. V.

Friday, February 1st, 2014

"So, what do you think of the plan?" Bella whispered to me as she flicked through her biology notes, snorting and giggling when she came across the "human reproduction" section. I shrugged in response. In all honesty, I didn't hear a single word Bella had said to me. Whoops.

I was too busy ogling Darko from across the room, admiring from afar the cute little things he does when he thinks nobody's watching him study. He sat there, absentmindedly nibbling on the tip of his pen as he read and took down notes from his laptop, occasionally asking Lyra for help. The little smiles he would do once he figured out an answer, or the tiny giggles he spoke when Lyra told him one of her party tales drove me freaking wild.

I'm surprised Darko & Lyra hadn't hooked up yet, but I'm euphoric that he doesn't see her in that way. They got close during one of her earlier parties when he was a drunken mess one night, and she helped keep him safe & away from the other cheerleaders. Ever since then, people have been shipping them together. "Darko & Lyra, the match made in Heaven!" I hear his teammates say teasingly to him on occasions. Bleh. I don't think Darko even knows what shipping means.

Lyra is my friend. Darko is my secret crush. I can't do anything about my burning jealousy without exposing myself - so I'm sitting here, mentally weeping because of them behind my thick black-rimmed glasses.

Bella, realizing I was ignoring her, followed my gaze and figured out who I was focusing more on. She saw the pain in my eyes when she saw them laugh about something.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" she whispered as she joined me in my stare. I nodded, and she rolled her eyes.

"Jealousy is a bitch to deal with; I've learned my way of dealing with it, you've just gotta find your own way without outing yourself."

Bella's jealous over something? Jealous of what?

"Anyway," Bella began, snapping me out of my gaze, "You want a recap of the plan?"

I shrugged. "Fine, but be quiet, or you'll trigger Mr. Fisher."

Bella had snorted before she leaned in close. "Okay, so, Lyra's party is when shit's gonna go DOWN. My plan, put short, is just to get drunk. You need to get at least tipsy; otherwise, my plan isn't going to work - it's foolproof. Once you're drunk, and he's sufficiently drunk," she nodded her head towards Darko, "I'll work my magic."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's the thing, Bella. How can I know this will work? He's straighter than a flagpole, and both of us getting tipsy ain't gonna change that? Not to mention I hate the idea of getting drunk? Did you forget I have an alcoholic mother?"

She pulled off another eye roll. This time, it was accompanied by a groan.

"I know you're gonna be uncomfortable about this plan, with your mummy issues and your skepticism," she said in an annoyed tone, "but I know what I need to do to make him reveal his 'undying gay romantic feelings for you' if they even exist. You've just got to trust me."

I sighed. Bella has been there for me almost as often as Darko has been. During my first year of high school, my lunch money was always snatched from me from this group of bullies. Darko didn't know about it, and I didn't want to tell him because he'd probably get beaten to a pulp. They did it every day for four months straight. The only reason it stopped?

Bella came along.

During my victim phase, Bella was dating one of my tormentors. She saw what they were doing, promptly dumped the douche, and blackmailed the entire group. She's been my 'protector' of sorts since then since she's always able to find dirt on people and use it against them.

I have no choice. I trust Bella wholeheartedly - whatever she was planning I just had to trust her. She knows what's best for me.

"I trust you," I said to Bella, which made her face light up, "Just don't do anything dumb, okay? I don't want this to blow up in the future."

Bella smirked, "Now, any other problems that are going to worry you?"

I placed my hand on my chin and stroked it, "How will I know if I'm drunk? Like, I've never been drunk before. This is all new territory for me."

Bella smirked, "you'll know when you're drunk, trust me, and if you can't handle being drunk I'll make sure Lyra lets Darko know, okay?"

I smiled. The idea of getting drunk and allowing Darko to help me when my head is stuffed up is making me excited about the party. Don't get me wrong, drinking is bad and I shouldn't be doing it, but it's just for one night. It's necessary for Bella's plan. I have to step out of my comfort zone.

Bella smiled toothily before thundering "Now, nerd, get back to work before Fisher dissects you!"

I had grimaced before I shook my head. "Ew. You and Darko seem to have a habit of giving me weird nicknames. Nerd? You know I'm not that smart..."

Bella shrugged. "You wear nerdy glasses - therefore your nickname is 'nerd.' It's just the natural order of things," she said before sighing, "anyway, I gotta finish this chapter before Mr. Fish-head throws me over a cliff."

Uhm, rude? My glasses aren't nerdy. They're fashionable. Learn the difference, Bella.

I turned my focus away from Bella and directed my attention back to the most beautiful thing in the room, but I felt my stomach drop when I looked.

Unusually, he was staring straight back at me, his eyes flickering back between Bella and I. Normally, I'd flinch back and pretend I wasn't looking at him, but something was off. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he had this pissed off face expression. Furrowed brows, upturned mouth, murder in his eyes. He has never gone that shade of red before...

Oh no.

He couldn't have heard the plan. The people behind us couldn't even hear us speaking, so there's no way that Darko could have heard it. Something else was riling him up, something about Bella and me talking.

Was he... jealous?

Realizing I was looking at him, he quickly darted his gaze back to his laptop. His face grew even pinker as he pretended like I just hadn't caught him staring. He quickly looked up and nonchalantly covered his face with his hand as he noticed I was still staring. He attempted to talk to Lyra, but she had her headphones in her ears, and she was furiously typing away on her iPhone.

Was he... embarrassed? Why would he be embarrassed if I caught him staring?

D A R K O' S P.O.V

Oh fuck. Taylor just caught me staring at him.

All of Biology I've been making goo-goo eyes at him while he's been talking to Bella. I have no idea what on earth they've been whispering about, but it's pissing me off. Taylor is mine. MINE. Bella can fuck off. Stop talking to MY man.

And, how dare she call him a stupid nickname? I'm the only one that gives them to Taylor. Can she not? Find your own quirk, you blonde git. Stop stealing my stuff.

Taylor just had to be the observant person he is, and he had to look up to see what I was up to, just at the moment I was starting to become enveloped in my burning jealousy.

Why didn't I flinch back when he locked eyes with mine? Why did I do the dumbest thing and attempt to hide my face after I got caught the second time? Ugh, Darko, why do you do this to yourself?

"Wow, you look like shit," Lyra said, unplugging her headphones, "Oh wait, that's just how you usually look. My bad."

I smirked. "Well, at least I look better than you and your twelve different faces of makeup combined."

Lyra scoffed before facing me, a pretentious grin forming on her face as she flicked her hair. "Don't play the insult game with me, Sports boy. At least, not to the person hosting the next big party. One click of a finger and you're uninvited."

I sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tense, that's all."

Lyra sighed too. "Yeah, whatever. I'm sorry too I guess, my boyfriend won't fucking text me back, and it's putting me on edge too. Like, he was just online a minute ago, and he hasn't responded to my text that I sent thirty seconds ago. Do I mean nothing to him?"

Containing my laughter, I looked away from Lyra and refocused on my laptop. While Lyra and I are friends, she can be one of the most annoying people on this earth, and not to mention clingy. Typically, I would have hooked up with her by now, for the sake of keeping my identity a secret, but it would backfire horribly. She'd become clingy, she probably wouldn't stop messaging me, and she'd play those mind games girls play where they're pissed off and you have to Rubix-cube yourself into figuring out why they're angry. She's that kind of girl. No wonder her boyfriend is ignoring her.

I am not gonna tangle myself into the web of Lyra Anderson. So, instead of being her boyfriend or her worst enemy, I took the friendly approach and now people won't stop 'shipping' us together, whatever the hell that means. Maybe Taylor knows what it means; note to self, ask Taylor later on.

I looked up from my laptop and glanced at Taylor again. He was giggling at something with Bella again, rocking his head back. Why does he have to be so cute for? Stupid Taylor being so damn adorable, messing up my concentration. Why was his smile so eye catching? Why was his laugh like music to my ears?

Biology sucks. Taylor sucks. I wish I were straight so I could get over my feelings. Nothing hurts more than falling for someone who would never want to be with you.

Not to mention, that stupid secret has been eating me out since lunch.

"Hey Darkie," Lyra said, snapping me out of my over-thinking thoughts, "don't forget to ask your parents that you're going, okay? I don't need another angry mum complaining about their son at my doorstep a day after the party."

I side-glanced her and laughed. "Okay, first of all, it's Darko. Darkie sounds awful on soo many levels," I said, which made her giggle. "And secondly, yeah sure. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Sweet. Make sure to tell Tay-Bæ to RSVP too."

Tay-bæ? Oh god, that's so cringy. Taylor would probably fling himself off of a cliff if someone called him that to his face. Lyra gives out the worst names, and that's coming from me; the king of bad nicknames.

"Yeah, sure, I'll let him know."