𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐗

Hope Ashford

I get up when my alarm goes off. I look over at the time, nine-thirty am. I quickly get dressed and do my hair. I'm meeting up with Adrian in a few hours.

Last night, I didn't speak to anyone after Adrian walked out the front door. Well, yeah I slapped Nicolas after I got my phone back but I didn't really speak to him. Then I locked myself in my room. I'm so glad I snuck into my dad's office to get Adrian's number that one time.

As soon as I open my door to walk out, Nina storms inside. What the fuck!? "It's your fault! You got Adrian fired! I get it! You're just angry that he ended up wanting me instead of you!" I laugh. I laugh at that last sentence. I'm tired of letting her mouth spit out bullshit.

"Funny because last night his mouth was exploring mine and not yours." Her face goes pale. She looks like she might even cry, right on the spot.

"You're lying!" Nina yells.

"Why do you think he got fired, Nina?" I cross my arms and scoff. "You were always the one throwing yourself at him. I'm sorry he didn't want you—"

I land on the ground. She just fucking shoved me. I get up and slap her face with every ounce of anger in my body. I've let everything slide but she just shoved me. The slap isn't even because of Adrian, it's because she had the guts to lay a finger on me. Has she lost her mind? She grabs a fistful of my hair and starts tugging really hard. I do the same as I try to kick her off of me but she just tugs harder. "Let go of my hair!" I scream at her. Nina gets pulled off of me.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Jeremy yells at Nina. She looks at me with hatred and anger. Her eyes are red. She's crying. I don't feel bad, she started everything. None of this would've happened if she didn't storm into my room without permission and if she wouldn't have shoved me. "I'm so sorry ma'am," Jeremy apologizes.

"Don't apologize, Jeremy," I look over at Nina who isn't looking at me. "I think it should be someone else who owes me an apology." Nina looks up at me and shakes her head no.

"Nina, just apologize please," Jeremy mutters angrily. She sighs angrily and looks down at her shoes.

"I'm sorry," she says without looking up at me. That's how I know the apology isn't sincere, but I don't care. I just want her out of my sight so I can get ready again to go see Adrian. I gesture for them to leave, so Jeremy walks her out and he apologizes to me once again for what happened. I was already ready but now my hair is ruined because of Nina.

I brush my hair and fix it before making a pillow body to put under my covers. I leave my room and rush to the kitchen. Luckily, Katherine is the only one there. "Katherine, do you know where my parents are?" I ask.

"Your dad had to make a last-minute trip to a different city and your mom had to go to the agency," Katherine says. I furrow my brows in pure confusion. Did my mom even tell him about yesterday's incident? I thank her for telling me and I walk out using the back door. It's weird how my mom didn't tell people to not let me go out by myself.

I walk out the gate like it's nothing. No one stops me. I check the time on my phone, it's ten-thirty already. I'm gonna be early but that's fine. I take my time so I don't get there too early. I don't want to seem too desperate to see Adrian, even though I am. Sometimes I hate the effect he has on me, but not so much. I hated it because he once rejected me, but now it's different. He kissed me.

I make it to the park, he's sitting on a bench. He got here before me. I'm suddenly getting nervous. What if he rejects me yet again. What if he tells me that our kiss was a mistake and that we shouldn't see each other again? There are so many ways that this could go wrong, but it also could go right.

Shit, he looked up at me. Okay, I either walk towards him or I turn around and walk away. Welp, he's already standing up, walking towards me. I stand there, paralyzed. "Hi," Adrian says.

"Hey," I manage to say back.

"There's a lot of people here," Adrian puts his hands in his pockets. "Do you wanna walk while we have this conversation?" I nod my head in response. We start walking in complete silence for a couple of minutes until Adrian breaks the silence by asking, "Did you talk to your parents?"

"My dad's on a business trip," I explain. "I haven't talked to anyone other than you, Katherine, Jeremy, and well Nina, since that night." Adrian and I get to a spot where there are many trees. No one else is here.
He grabs my shoulders and turns my entire body to face him.

"You really weren't lying when you brought me here?" Adrian asks. I smile and shake my head no. He cups my face and says, "I need to hear you say it. Because once I'm sure you're not lying, you're never getting rid of me. Ever." I sigh in relief.

"I love you, Adrian."

His lips crash against mine. I missed his mouth. This time, the kiss feels different. It's so much better than the last. It's passionate. He places his hand behind my neck to deepen the kiss. I didn't know a kiss from a certain person can make you feel so much. I thought this only happened in movies and books. This is real. His hands lower to my waist, and my hands are tangled with his hair. I smile into the kiss. This... is all I'll ever need.

We finally pull away from the kiss and he just holds me tightly. "I love you, Hope." I can't help but smile like an idiot when he says that. That's the first time I've heard him say that. I want to hear it over and over again.

I pull away and stare at him. "I'm still kind of mad at you for rejecting me," I joke.

Adrian laughs and shakes his head. "I have lots of kisses to give you to make up for it." He pecks my lips many many times, leading to another kiss, and another, and another until our lips feel numb.