~June 28, 2021~

I walked upstairs and knocked on Ralph's door. He mumbled angrily as I pushed the door open. Darkness surrounded everything as my nose scrunched.

"Oh, goodness!" I coughed. "Geez, what died in here?"

"Oh, shut up." He scoffed. "What do you want?"

"Mom wanted me to tell you that you need to clean your room," I explained as I pulled the curtains open.

He grumbled in annoyance. "Ugh, I don't wanna."

"Well, you have to." I shrugged my shoulders. "Unless you wanna deal with angry Mom, and we both know we don't want that."

"That's true..." He muttered.

I slapped a pair of his jeans at him. "Now, get to work."

He huffed angrily but didn't protest. I then trudged downstairs and was about to flop on the couch until someone knocked at the front door.

I opened it up and saw Phillips standing there with his hands stuffed in his front pockets. He looked up at me and immediately smiled.

"Hey."

I just stared at him with my arms crossed tightly over my chest. He nodded slowly.

"Alright, I guess you're not real talkative right away, huh?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm talkative. I just don't like you." I smiled sarcastically.

His eyes rolled. "Whatever. Let's go."

My head shook. "No."

"Let's go." His voice was stern.

"I said no. I don't wanna go on a date with you."

His face twisted into anger. "Let's go!"

He then grabbed my arm and yanked me outside, a shriek of fear escaping my mouth.

"Don't touch me, psycho!" I shouted.

He just gripped onto my arm harder and pulled me wherever he wanted. I looked across at Benny's house and saw him looking at me through his curtains. Once we made eye contact, he quickly shut his curtains and I saw his silhouette walk away.

Phillips kept a tight grip on my arm as if I was about to get taken away by someone.

"Could you let me go?" I muttered while trying to pull my arm out of his grip.

"No, because then you're gonna run away."

"I'm not gonna run away."

His shoulders shrugged while he yanked me by his side. "Too bad."

He stuck to me like glue. Please make this stop.

••••

My head rested in my hands as I blinked my eyes awake. Phillips was just going on and on about his stupid baseball team. I just sighed quietly while nodding slowly at his words.

"And then stupid Joshua runs to first base when he's not supposed to! Isn't that bullshit?!" He grumbled loudly.

"Mhm, yeah...that sucks," I muttered, not knowing how to respond to that.

He banged his fists on the table while sighing loudly. This kid has got a temper on him...

"Anyways, " He started. "How are things going with Benny and his lame team?"

"Fine, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders. "They're nice people."

He scoffed lightly. "Mhm, super nice."

"Okay, you don't even know them that well, so don't even." I spat.

"Bitch..." He whispered.

I slammed my hands on the table while standing up. "Just because I called you out for something doesn't mean I'm a bitch, alright? You're the real bitch here for thinking that forcing me on a date would make me like you. Well, news flash, it didn't! Now leave me and my friends alone, asshole!" I shouted before storming out of the restaurant.

My blood boiled from that kid. He was so selfish and rude. I can't believe Benny made that stupid bet. I hate boys sometimes.

"Natalie, wait!" Phillips's voice cracked behind me.

I continued storming away while I heard him running behind me. His hand gripped onto my arm and he aggressively whipped me towards him.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I screamed while yanking my arm away from him.

"I-I'm sorry for calling you a bitch." He breathed. "I didn't mean it."

"I don't care. Leave me alone."

"No, Natalie, please." He begged. "Please give me a second chance. I like you a lot!"

"Oh, my gosh!" I scoffed. "When are you gonna get it through your thick skull?! I don't like you and I will never like you!"

He gasped lightly at my words, opened his mouth to speak, but immediately snapped it back shut. I groaned angrily before stomping away again.

••••

My phone buzzed on my nightstand. I picked it up and saw it was a text from Benny. I thought I blocked him.

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆
"𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡?"

𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲
"𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒? 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢."

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆
"𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑚 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑡. 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠."

𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲
"𝑌𝑒𝑎ℎ, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑'𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡."

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆
"𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦."

𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲
"𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑚 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛-𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛. 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆
"𝑌𝑒𝑎ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝑆𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤."

I clicked my phone off before letting out a long sigh. Boys, man. They're something else.

I got myself ready for bed and slipped under my covers. I just stared at my ceiling and observed the glowing stars that had been there since I was five. I smiled softly before closing my eyes.

••••

author's note:
hi, guyssss! okay, yes, I know that I've been gone for a while and I'm very sorry. I've been dealing with some stuff and I've been trying to take some time for me and my mental health. I'll try to update more often, I promise! but I've just been listening to Olivia Rodrigo's new "SOUR" album and ugh it's so gooddddd. oh, and my birthday is in two days! (June 11th). and, question: when do y'all get out of school? I got out on June 3rd! anyways, have a great day, luvs💕
~Olivia🧸🤍

{6/9/21}