Tethered

Chapter 10:

*Elizabeth POV*

Searching for Rome was like searching for a needle in a field filled with hay. It was nearly impossible because I had searched for him everywhere! There wasn't a single place that yelled 'I'm still untouched!' I had even made a quick visit to the boys' washroom earning a few startled stares. It was the weirdest thing I had ever done.

But, still I hadn't got him. I just wanted to mend this thing up and clear all the misunderstandings before it became a bigger issue which I was cent percent sure that it would. I needed to apologize to him and as soon as possible. It was already getting late as the day light disappeared from behind the windows. And my patience with getting thin making me more and more irritated with the endless search that I just wanted to frigging yell at a random person but that wasn't something that I should be doing, at the moment. I think that I should drop by his house and accomplish my mission but I felt even more irritated when I realized that I didn't even know where he lived!

Walking lethargically around the last block of the campus, I heard something that halted me.

"whoo ho ho, Rome! Dude, you okay?" I think that was Noah's voice echoing through the corridor and that didn't take me less than a second to take off in the direction of his voice.

"geez, dude! You were touched and KISSED by a Babe! Freaking ELIZABETH MARSHALLS, to be precise! I envy you so much," Noah's chuckle floated through the air. Slight hint of jealousy was evident in his tone.

A sense of pride flushed through me. Getting kissed by me was really a sense of honor for the guys around here. Soon Rome and Noah came into view.

"do I look like I'm pleased?" Rome hissed through his teeth as he stepped closer to Noah, intimidating him.

"y-you, you aren't?" Noah stuttered quite baffled.

"I didn't want a slut to touch me let alone kiss me," Rome raged out.

Who the hell did he call as slut?

"excuse me! You are the one hanging out with 'The Plastics' and have guts to call me a slut? I'm a dream of many boys and you should consider yourself lucky that I kissed you BY MISTAKE!" I fumed.

"you are nothing but a nightmare to me since the day you walked into my life, you are nothing but a disgusting, b***h of a slut who just wants to get laid. Why isn't anyone else ready to get STDs from you? Or have you bet with your friends that you will sleep with every single boy in this school?" he mocked the last two statements making tears weld up in my eyes. Was that what he thought about me? Was that how he saw me? That I was some f****d up slut who wanted nothing but d***s?

"how dare you?" I gritted through my teeth as tears rolled down my cheek. I had grabbed him by his collar, catching him off guard and was shaking the hell out of him, or at least trying to shake but he didn't even budge.

"how dare you accuse me of those lies?" I yelled in his face. He wasn't expecting such a reaction from me because he stood frigid like a pole in North pole, he quickly recovered as he tore my hands off his shirt and pushed me away.

"I don't have to accuse when everybody knows!" he spat.

"for Pete's sake! I'm still a virgin! And my dating history has been empty since last two years and you call me a slut? Well that's ironic. Shame on your vulgar judgmental thinking! If someone is popular and pretty that doesn't always mean that they are sluts!" I screamed as more tears streamed down. He was shocked I could tell that.

"I don't know why I kissed you, okay? It was mostly because Sheena manipulated me-" he cut me off and said, "I don't give a damn f**k about what happened with you but get one thing straight. I never wanted you or will I ever want you, so stay AWAY FROM ME! I'm here for someone else which can never be you! Not even in a billion years," his words froze me. I felt as if a part of me died inside. Guilt consumed me entirely and shame grazed my features. A heavy feeling settled in my chest, it felt as if nothing was left in me.

He was never meant for me and here I hoped the opposite. Deep in my heart, I still wanted him but never agreed with my inner voice. I felt my heart break down into million pieces as if it was made up of glass that shattered on the floor.

He never wanted me. Not even for a second.

"But... I-" he cut me off again as he sneered in annoyance, "why don't you just go and die somewhere else and leave me alone! I don't want to see you again!" His words hit me like a punch. As if the ground below my feet had slipped away, I stumbled back until my back hit the locker as he walked away. Tears flowed endlessly while I slided down to sit on my knees unable to stand any longer.

"I-uh... I- um... I'll leave you now, I think.. Er... Yeah, I'll leave you alone. I don't think you want me to see this," Noah carefully spoke before he ran in the other direction. I didn't even realize that he was right there witnessing the whole scene. I cried harder than I had ever cried. Why me? What wrong had I done to deserve his hatred? The sleeve of my shirt had been wet by wiping the tears but it had just been the start of a river, a whole river was yet to flow.

It was definitely the worst year of my entire life, after all and he was the reason for my whole life to flip upside down. And he was the reason for every single tear from my eyes. Why did I always end up before him? Why couldn't I let him go? And why had his rejection made me feel like my soul was dying inside? Oh, why why why couldn't I just let him be and move on? Why did I get jealous upon seeing him with someone else? Why couldn't he behave normally with me for once? Why did this feel like I was dying? Why couldn't stop crying over him? And why him out of everyone?

There were lots of why's with no answers and I guess, I would never ever going to get them too...