His Unwanted Bride

Chapter 5

Krystal

“How fun.” I said to myself sarcastically. My school life is now worse than it was yesterday, thanks to my teachers. Throughout the whole class, all I heard was teachers praising James and me for being in the same class.

“I don’t care about praise. Can people stop praising others without the other party's consent?” I asked myself. I wonder why they just say whatever they want, not knowing that it is already uncomfortable.

Although, it is not their fault that my classmates and other students think of me as a fraud even though I am not. My teachers knew the truth but they did not know the fact that I was being talked about by the students.

“Hi Krystal.” The girl whom I heard talking about me during the first class.

“Hello.” I replied to her without showing signs that I wanted to talk with her. I don’t want to be plastic like her.

Classes in the morning are finished and it is time to eat lunch now. But when I was trying to get out of my seat, those two people who were talking about me were now in front of me with their fake smiles.

“Are you going to eat your lunch too?” The girl with a ponytail asked.

“Of course, it is lunch time.” I said to myself as I looked at her. I am not the kind of person who is into fasting. And lunch is a very important meal for me. I can’t afford not to eat my lunch in the afternoon.

“I am.” I replied with a soft voice and stood up on my seat.

“Really?” The girl with so much red lipstick said with a smile. Her teeth have lipstick on too.

“Aren’t lipsticks for lips?” I asked myself. She added a lot that she did not even recognize that her teeth had lipstick too.

I don’t disagree with the fact that people wear makeup and whatever, but we should properly dress and wear the right make-up whenever we are at school.

I don’t wear make-up, not because I look good already, but it is because I am content with the way I am. Simplicity is beauty and I think I look beautiful without make-up, so I don’t wear any. But if they want to wear them because they think they look better. They can do it but not overdo it like this girl in front of me did.

“Yeah.” I replied and was about to go, but the girl with a ponytail grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?” I asked her. The thing is, I really do not like people touching me. I don’t even go to places that are crowded because I hate being touched.

Note that she and I are not close. I don’t even know her name because I did not take note of their names when they were introducing themselves.

“Uhm… I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go and eat together with us.” She said.

“Look at her with her fakery.” I said to myself. Wasn’t she saying bad things about me?

“No thanks.” I replied to her and walked out before I said more to them.

“Hey… why?” She said as she grabbed my arm again. This is the second time and she was already lucky enough that when she did it in the first place, I did not say anything, but now I can’t take it anymore. What if she continues to do it to me occasionally? I won’t like that.

“Your hand.” I said to her as I looked at her hand wrapped in my arm.

“What?” She asked me.

“I said get your hand off me.” I know that she can understand what I meant with my first reaction.

“Oh, sorry.” She replied and let go of my arm.

“I don’t like eating with others and… I hate people touching me, so please don’t do it again the next time we talk with each other. All you can do is simply ask me straight. Besides, my answer will still be no, no matter what you want me to do with you and others. You can start telling others about this.” I said to her with a straight face and walked out of our classroom.

I did not wait for their reply and, as always, I think they are saying that I am not a well-mannered person.

“Curse them because I don’t freaking care even a bit.” I said to myself and continued, and I finally reached the outside of our classroom.

“Whaa! Now this is what we call fresh air. Away from pollution.” I said to myself. I was actually referring to those girls in my class who talked with me a moment ago.

“How can people talk at another person’s back and befriend them as if they were not backstabbing at her or him?” I asked myself curiously.

They could literally become an actress without trying hard if they are that good. Everyone who has been approaching me to befriend me has been like that ever since. If I was a dumb egg, I could have been swayed by their fakery, but piss them off because I am not a dumb egg.

I am so glad that I learned the direction of the places at school yesterday because now I feel at ease going to the cafeteria.

“So many people,” I said to myself as soon as I reached the first cafeteria. I have to go to the other cafeteria because I don’t want to be part of all those people buying their lunch.

I walked again to go to the other cafeteria and, thankfully, I found it with fewer people.

“Vegetable salad please.” I said as I ordered the food that I wanted to eat. I feel like I want to eat vegetable salad now. I actually want to eat rice, but I have to lose my rice and switch to vegetable salad for the meantime.

“One vegetable salad?” The person in charge of their stall asked.

“No, three.” I replied to her.

“What?” She surprisingly asked. I think she thinks that I was joking but I wasn’t.

“I said three.” I said to her the number of orders I wanted again.

“Wow! Are these from your other friends too? You should have made them come here, not that they asked you to buy food for them.” She said with a soft voice. I can sense that she is feeling worried about me, but she does not have to.

“No one asked me to buy it for them. Those three vegetable salads are for me only. Besides, I don’t think people can easily ask me to do things for them. No one dared to do that to me.” I said to her to stop thinking that I was being bullied by others by making me buy food for them.

If someone did that to me, I would make them immediately feel sorry the time they opened their mouth saying things like that.

“Oh, sorry. I misunderstood you. You eat a lot, huh?” She asked as she continued to put in the third vegetable.

“I do.” I replied to her.

“Here. Be healthy and continue to have that strong personality of yours.” She said with a smile as she gave me my three orders of vegetable salad.

“Thanks.” I replied to her with a soft smile and took the vegetable salad from her hands and started to walk away.

There are no spaces inside the cafeteria where I can eat peacefully, even though there are actually places where are no students eating at the table, I still can't eat there because there are students around.

I walked to the place where I know others don’t really go to eat. It is the gymnasium. I can go there and eat peacefully.

“Nice.” I said as I sat on one of the bleachers.

Then I positioned myself well on the bleacher I was sitting on and started eating my lunch. As always, there is an hour lunch break that we have for lunch.

I was already eating peacefully when I noticed someone coming inside.

“Krystal?” He said my name.

I hate the fact that he calls my name so easily. I can’t even call his name well. I did not reply to him and continued eating, thinking that it would stop him and going, but he did the opposite. He went straight in front of me.

Although he is under the bleacher I am sitting, he is still facing me.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

“I wanted to look here to see if someone was doing something in here,” he replied.

“Like what to be exact?” I asked him.

“Guys who hide here to smoke.” He replied honestly.

“Good for you.” I replied to him and continued eating.

“Aren’t you asking why I am doing it?” He asked.

“I don’t care. And I know what your reply will be. It is because you are a student council member, right? So go around and check and then go already.” I said to him.

“Okay.” He replied to me and roamed around the gymnasium. Him being so responsible is giving me chills.

After a minute, I finished eating all the food I had and I stood up and walked towards the exit so I could go to my classroom.

“Hey, where are you going?” He asked loudly because we were far from each other. I can hear his voice vividly because of the closed area we are in.

“Class.” I replied shortly and continued to walk.

“Was he thinking that I would walk with him?” I asked myself.

“As if. I can sense that many girls like him, so if he gets caught with me in this closed area, he will be in a lot of trouble. Some might think that he is over my money. And I don’t want to do it to a responsible, good person like him,” I said to myself.

“Ouch!” A familiar voice said.

I turned to see the person on my left who bumped into me.

"Who is this person to say 'ouch' when, obviously, I was the victim?" I said to myself as I looked at the person.