The awakener (bxb)✔

TA 23

Chapter 16

Casey's POV

I dragged my feet on the grass of Aqua Town Park as I scanned the park for a sign of Matt. It was after school. I had agreed to meet him there like he'd asked.

I was sort of disappointed Riley hadn't come to school. I knew he wouldn't – he was still recovering – yet I'd hoped to see him. I'd hoped to not be as clueless as I was by then. He didn't call either. We hadn't talked since the kiss.

Mandy and I had. I felt like a giant...prick when she gushed about Riley. I couldn't wait to get as far away from her as possible.

I managed to switch my mind off both Riley and Mandy and focus on Matt. I thought up a few curses when I did not see a sign of him at the park. To think he had accused me of always thinking the worst of him! I looked around once again. For some reason, my mind conjured an image of Riley at the park, sitting with some man. I frowned, why the hell was I keen on torturing myself?

I did not see Matt appear next to me.

"Stop drooling", he whispered in my ear.

"I'm not drooling!" I hissed.

"If you want to catch his attention, you are going to have to do more than that. I doubt he can even see you", Matt said.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked.

"Riley", he said quietly, dragging me to a seat nearby.

I dug him in the ribs, realizing that my mind had not conjured the image of Riley up, Matt could see him too. When we were seated on the stiff benches, I turned to him.

"I don't want to catch Riley's attention. By the way, you are late", I said.

"My gate remote had a problem", he said.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head simultaneously. "The proposition", I reminded him impatiently.

Matt scratched his head, and gave me a closed-lip smile. "Before that, you have to admit something first", he said.

I frowned. "What?"

"How you feel about Riley", he said confidently.

This was not happening!

Was this really happening? How in the hell did Matt know my secret?

I fake laughed out loud. When I could not laugh anymore, I said, "Riley is my friend".

"But you want to be more than a friend to him", he said slowly.

"That is preposterous!" I said, my voice sounding higher than I intended.

"Is it?" he asked stupidly.

"Yes! Just tell me about your bloody proposal!" I exclaimed.

"You are getting angry", he stated calmly.

"Because Matt, you are wasting my time!" I shouted.

I had not meant to get angry, but I could not help myself. If Matt knew about how I felt about Riley, it meant a lot of people did too. I knew Riley would never tell Matt, so that meant Matt had figured it out for himself. If Matt could figure it out, a lot of people could too. Did Mandy know?

"Okay look. I thought we could work together, but if you are not willing to admit it, my proposal will simply not work", he said.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, calmly.

"Well, seeing as your friend has what I want and your other friend has what you claim you do not want, but clearly you do, I thought we could work together to make sure we got what we want", he said, all mysteriously.

I rested my hand on the bench arm and looked at it for several seconds.

"Okay, say I did want what you think I want, what would be your way forward?" I asked finally. I had no idea why I was asking.

"Simple, we start dating", he said.

My jaw dropped. "What?"

"Not dating-dating, you know, fake-dating. Trust me, I have been in this game for long, jealousy works miracles", he said smirking.

I looked at him looking all self-satisfied. I felt sorry for him. He was a player, when he did not get what he wanted, he simply moved on. It seemed that was not the case at the moment. Mandy had stolen his heart. He was hopelessly in love with her. I mean, he was considering fake-dating me, me of all people. Girls threw themselves at his feet all the time. He could get some hot guy or girl to fake-date him. That could be disastrous though. No one ever wanted something fake with Matt. I was the safe option.

"So?" he interrupted my thoughts.

I shook my head.

"...Why not? We don't have to do anything huge, just a few kisses, nicknames, hugging..." he said.

I shook my head again. He looked at the sky, at me and then forward. He turned to me after a few minutes.

"He's looking at you", he said.

"What? Who?" I asked.

"Riley", he said.

I looked at where I had seen Riley earlier. My face was turned roughly. Before I could say anything, Matt's lips swooped down on my own. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I froze. Matt's lips moved on mine skillfully. I was forced to part them. A part of me kissed him back. When he finally removed his lips from mine, my body started working. My immediate thought was to hit him senseless. I decided against it.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" I screamed at him.

"I helped you out", he said.

"Helped me... with what?" I asked.

"I helped you with Riley. Now, you might not think so, but trust me", he said.

I couldn't help myself any longer. I balled my hand into a fist. Matt realized what I was thinking, and put his hand over my hand.

"Tut, tut sweetheart, if you punch me, you are definitely going to scare him away", he said.

I removed my hand underneath his hastily.

"Riley is not a wimp like you", I accused.

"I'm sure he doesn't want a boyfriend who will punch him. Anyway, you are supposed to slap, not punch. You are too adorable for that", he said.

"He wouldn't give me a reason to. Why the hell did you kiss me?" I asked.

He stood up and blew me a kiss.

"I helped you out Stone. Be grateful, because I don't dream of doing it again. Think about what I said", he said walking away.

I had a lot more curses than I had when I had realized he was late earlier and even then, I did not get to utter them. I sighed and looked at the trees nearby. My eyes went from the trees to Riley. My heart skipped a beat when I realized he was looking at me. I had to be crazy. He was so far away from me to see where his eyes were looking. He couldn't possibly be looking at me. Gosh, he probably had no idea I was there. I looked at a pigeon that had landed on the place Matt had vacated. I stood up timidly, trying not to scare the pigeon. I walked away, trying not to look back at Riley.

There he was and I was walking away from him. Before that kiss, I wouldn't have thought twice about joining him whether he liked it or not. I was scared to do that now. The air around us would be awkward. I couldn't bear to hear him say what happened between us was a mistake. I wasn't ready for that.

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