A Beautiful, Terrible Love by Lucky 97 (books for 9th graders txt) 📖

of us. I wondered if the "office" was the size of a janitor's closet.
I wasn't far off the mark.
The office was basically a card table, two chairs, and a computer mashed into a room the size of a matchbox. The walls, made out of cheap wood, had several cracks along the sides, and was vandalized in several places by bored and rather mischievous students. However, the secretary was a beauty, with dark red hair, ruby red lips, a youthful face and figure, and sparkling green eyes similar to my own. I looked at Eve, and decided to give her a taste of her own medicine. It's not like I didn't have charm, right?
"Hey." I cracked my million-dollar smile, my eyebrows raising a quarter of an inch, my eyes shining. I had practiced it a billion times in the mirror, so it came to be natural for me, and it sure was helpful, especially now.
The lady swiveled around in her rickety, old, wheeled chair, a look of disgust on her porcelain face. She seemed bothered by our presence, like we weren't supposed to be here. However, she caught sight of me, and gasped.
"What in the name of-" she exclaimed, her face twisted in confusion, then suddenly alive, her voice turning bright and cheerful. "Hey, Dex. I am one of your biggest fans!"
I never knew a girl could be so bipolar.
"I appreciate that you love my music." I told her gently. Most girls, when they said I was their idol, fainted or cried when I told them I had no idea what their names were. Somehow, I didn't think it would be a good idea to ask for hers. She seemed like the...
The pretty lady whipped her hair back seductively, and quickly brought a cute pout to her lips, her eyes bright and cheerful, almost like a little puppy.
...Desperate type.
"I never knew a secretary could be so breathtakingly beautiful." I winked at her. Actually, that was kind of a lie, but there was no WAY I was going to tell her about that former supermodel secretary in New York City.
She laughed, like the chiming of sleigh bells, soft and delicately. "Why, thank you."
Eve rolled her eyes just a little, her countenance adjusting the slightest bit, her mouth tightening. I fought the urge to laugh as I continued flirting with the secretary. Eve was affected alright... and it was downright hilarious.
Finally, Eve couldn't take it anymore. After about ten minutes of our exchange, she hiked out of the room, disgust emanating from her, suggesting that maybe, just maybe, I had gone a bit too far.
"Sorry." I apologized to the lady, which, by the way, was putty in my hands. I smirked at my obvious charm, my charisma that just could not be ignored.
Eve just happened to be the exception.
Eve really wasn't widely different from the rest of my teenage fans. She wasn't too interested, but many of my fans feigned disinterest, just like what they saw in movies and read in books. For all I know, she could really be a crazed fan who was also a good actress...
But I guess it seemed to me that that could not be true. Eve's personality, no matter how good of an actress she was, could not be hidden. The girl who spiked my interest like a spark igniting a wildfire could not be a facade.
For if that dreadful thought was true, then I wouldn't trust the world anymore.
I thought of Eve's smile, her delicate lips tempting, her eyes shining with its brightness. Her cheeks apple red from embarrassment, her hair making me want to run my fingers through it... her whole demeanor inviting and completely innocent. She didn't have the tiniest streak of impurity in her whole being, and I think that's what made her so incredibly special.
She was like a perfect little lamb, without a blemish, that could easily be led to the slaughter. I wondered how many people she had been tricked by, how many people had been only been her friend for her looks. The guys were rather superficial, here and really everywhere else, looking for the girls that were gorgeous and also gave them what they wanted, and not the ones who could really make them happy and were not necessarily beautiful.
I'm a prime example of that. I've dated all the actresses and supermodels, and I can tell you this; they have no morals whatsoever. Most of them throw themselves at me, and the few that don't do so because they're conceited and have a colossal ego that would never let them be so desperate. Actresses and supermodels aren't really beautiful bimbos, just spoiled rotten teenagers, and adults that ACT like teenagers, that may be geniuses.
For you have to be smart to make it big time.
I felt kind of dirty after mingling with those stars. Although I didn't do anything with them, I was "polluted" by their bad language, attire, and attitudes. They introduced me to a world I had never know, from the very beginning of my teenage years to the current date.
At first, it was interesting.
I drank just a little, took a few puffs, let the forbidden words so commonly spoken escape my lips. Why not? It wasn't like my parents could stop me. My father was dead, and my mom very well knew that I could cut her off my money when I turned eighteen.
But I was smart enough to know the things I was doing was dead wrong.
That was what separated me from them.
Eve, I felt, has never had one of those times. Where you are swallowed by the peer pressure, compelled to do wrong, temptations pulling you like a magnet... where the whole world seems like their joining you. Like there's not one speck of good to be found.
I had finally found my speck of good, and I wasn't letting go anytime soon.
I was incredibly worried, though, about Peter. No matter how handsome he was, danger lurked within his depths, his want clearly shown... for Eve. She was his prey, his delicacy, the jewel of his feast, his fantasy. He did not seem at all like a good person, and I was afraid Eve didn't see that.
For I understood the difference between wanting a person... and loving one.
I exited the office that gave me side-splitting laughter, only to bump into Eve. She gave a short gasp of exclamation as she collided into my form, losing her footing, falling into my grasp. I placed my hand around her tiny waist, giving her the support she desperately needed before she fell flat on her face. Eve looked at me, thankfulness in her kind expression, and a strange, unfamiliar, warmth flooded into me. It was an alien feeling, alerting my body, making me stand up straighter, my brain confused.
I realized that it was a sense of need. Eve NEEDED me just then. And I was there for her. I know, I know. Not really a knight-worthy act. In fact, I was the one that caused the collision. However, Eve didn't seem to care.
"Thank you." She backed away from me a little, I realizing that I held her for way too long. Her smile was in full force, her pleasure evident. Then, the smile quickly evanesced, my high spirits disappearing with it, and a frown came into view.
"What were you DOING in there?" She asked angrily.
I stretched a little, my arms reaching above my head, giving off a careless impression.
"What did it look like?"
Eve scowled. "I can't believe you would do that to our secretary. You are so selfish! You don't think about anyone else's feelings other than yours. Can you imagine how she feels right now? She actually thinks you're interested in her, when in truth you're just toying with her emotions, leading her on. She will only get hurt more..." A small tear ran down her cheek, and she quickly looked away from me, embarrassment from such an outburst showing in her blushing cheeks.
She called me selfish.
Am I really that self-absorbed? I suppose that was a little cruel, but I can't be HONEST and face the possibility of losing my fans. What would that do to my popularity, the things I've worked so hard for?
"They want it, Eve." I dropped my hands, a serious expression showing. I hadn't given it much thought, but it seemed like the logical thing to me. "They want me to acknowledge them, to give them attention. It's not like they have serious crushes or anything. It's all for fun."
The next expression she shot me was supposed to be void of emotion, but I could see the pain in her eyes. "No. You're wrong."
She immediately turned, after taking my schedule, walking down the hallway, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. I followed, wondering about her expression, her look of complete agony and affliction as I spoke. She seemed completely unguarded then, vulnerable, the emotions entering her plain for anyone to see. I couldn't help but feel... like I did something wrong. How was I selfish? How can I hurt someone by speaking a few nice words?
"You're in all my classes." A barely audible whisper reached my ears. I smiled.
"Yeah. I arranged it so you'll never be able to escape me."
She laughed a little, and slowed down so I could catch up to her, letting us walk side by side. Silence was taut between us, each of us holding back the things we wanted to say. Why were things always so difficult with Eve? It was a challenge to even be her good friend, and if I wanted to be something more... it was almost impossible. The strange thing was that other people didn't seem to have this problem.
She spoke first.
"I'm sorry for calling you selfish."
"I'm sorry for being selfish," I apologized also, tension temporarily relieved.
"I..." She started to say something, then abruptly came to a halt.
"What?" I probed.
"Nothing." She shook her head. We walked together to our first class, the silence between us now comfortable. I, however, was agonizing over her unsaid words.
For some reason, I thought they would've been the words that changed everything.

Eve opened the doors to my new classroom, and I nearly choked in shock.
The classroom was U-G-L-Y.
With dirtied floors and cracked ceilings, I worried that the roof would fall in, not to mention the walls with hair thin cracks and pencil marks along the side. The kids, uh, my CLASSMATES, didn't even seem like they cared about clothing, baggy T-shirts being the most common thing I saw. The desks weren't connected to the chairs, and made of that dreadful plastic.
I realized my mouth was wide open, and everyone was staring at it in confusion. I snapped my jaw back into place, sending the students a stunning smile.
"This is Dex," Eve needlessly introduced. Many of the students in there had seen me earlier, and the gossip probably spread like wildfire.
They didn't say a single word, just... stared. And stared. And stared.
"Um, hey guys," I said, rather awkwardly.
"Hel-ll-lo Dex," stuttered the teacher, a young, youthful lady with voluminous blond hair and a skinny form. How can this whole school have such beautiful people in it? I asked myself, noting that nearly all the administrators and faculty had looks above average. "I'm Miss Reyes."
... And they're mostly single.
Eve walked in, bombarded by the-inappropriate-gaze of the guys and the jealous looks from the girls. When she was here, her swagger that appealed to me so much disappeared, instead taking meager steps, not wanting to attract attention. I wanted to scream at her, YOU WILL BE NOTICED NO MATTER