The Bully's Hated Mate
The Bully’s Hated Mate – Chapter 32

LUCIUS’ POV:

Sun rays streaming in through our half-open window forced me to jolt awake much earlier than I would originally have loved to.

The previous night had been long, and I was not yet fully rested.

I stretched my body to full length on the bed and rubbed the sleep off my eyes.

Cassia was sleeping soundly beside m,e from the way her breaths came out in consistent, short puffs, I could tell that she would not be waking up any time soon.

I took a minute or two to admire how the light from the sun rested on her face like it was gracing her peaceful sleeping face. But my admiration did not last for very long.

Memories of the night before came flooding into my mind and I cringed hard. Why did I tell her about my mother’s lullaby and sing for her?

Why was I so into my feelings and let my guard down in front of her? My vulnerability disgusted me, and I felt the urge to puke.

Sitting up on the bed, I threw the blanket that we shared aside and watched the ceiling.

A lot of things were not making sense recently. From the s*x and then, taking her to visit my father’s house. Or maybe, the s*x had led to a chain reaction of various other unfortunate incidents.

In any case, this had to stop before things got out of hand.

We were roommates, but we did not have to be more than that.

But even as I thought that, my eyes involuntarily traveled to her sleeping form beside me and I realized my plan would leave me feeling very hurt.

Maybe I had developed some form of affinity for her, even though it was something I was reluctant to admit. Still, If I didn’t try, I would never know.

I got out of bed and picked the books I would be needing for school today.

To my greatest consternation, we had History in the second period. If only I could get through that boring class without dozing my a*s off.

Cassia was still sleeping away without a care in the world but I did not wake her. She would be late for school, but what business of mine was that?

I made it to class a good ten minutes before the first period. Way to go, Lucius.

There were only a handful of people in the classroom, which suited me best. I was in an awful mood and the last thing I wanted was to walk in on a crowd of busybodies minding my business. I knew that the kids were saying all sorts of things about me– I shouldn’t have pushed Ariadne, Why the hell was I protecting Cassia anyway? Was it really true that I marked her? It was a default setting for the kids in this school not to mind their own damn business.

“What the hell, Lucius? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

I looked up to see a tall kid with auburn hair staring at me with mouth agape. He knew me, of course, but I couldn’t remember his name. Eric? Eren?

Whatever his name was, why was he acting friendly? His behavior irritated me and I could not replace it in me to pretend to be nice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, my voice coming out louder than I intended it to be. A dozen heads turned in our direction.

Eric/Eren visibly flinched and drew back apologetically. “I was just asking because I was surprised. You never–”

I held up my hand to stop him and cut in sharply. “May I give you some advice? Why don’t you replace a seat and prepare for the class if you have the time to be surprised?”

He nodded and hugged the backpack which was carried to the front.

“I’ll be on my way then,” he said but I barely heard him. The only thing I wanted to do was engage in a wrestling match to release all this pent-up energy and anger but I knew that I couldn’t even do that.

Why did Cassia have to make me this way? I hated the way she looked at me. I hated the way her eyes shone like she could see into my soul, I hated the way it felt like she knew what I was thinking and feeling. I hated the way I felt when she looked at me that way.

I sighed and pressed a finger to my forehead to smoothen out the creases that formed between my brows. I had decided to distance myself from her, so why did this still feel like pure torment?

“Lucius”

I knew that voice. It was Ariadne and honestly, she was the last person I wanted to speak to at the moment. I gave a long, frustrated sound and frowned up at her.

“What?” I asked roughly.

She ignored my tone and made to take the seat beside me but I was much faster. I lifted my bag from my desk and placed it on the seat so that she stopped half crouching and turned her fiery eyes on me.

“What are you doing?” She spat out lividly.

“The seat is taken,” I said.

She straightened up and crossed her arms over he chest.

“By Cassia?” She asked looking murderous. It was a good thing that Cassia was nowhere near her.

“Get lost Ariadne” I replied, making it clear that whatever twisted conversation this was, it was over.

She huffed and puffed fiercely for a while before stomping off. Good riddance.

Finally, the maths teacher, harried and ten minutes late, rushed into the classroom with his textbook in one hand and his tie in the other.

Cassia was still nowhere to be found.

Cassia walked in twenty minutes into the class, shot me a glare, and found a seat between two boys who looked like they could die of happiness any time now. No surprise there, she was attractive and any guy would fall for that. It just wasn’t my concern but somehow, I still felt pissed. And then, I felt angry for being pissed.

This was distracting. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken a seat that brought her into my direct line of sight. But how could I have known that when I arrived before her?

“So that’s it for today. Your assignments can be found on pages fifty-four and fifty-six” the teacher said and took off his thick glasses.

“You mean the whole of pages fifty-four and fifty-six?” Summer asked from her seat at the front. Her exasperated tone seemed to mirror the thought of every other student in the room. The teacher fixed her with a stern look and confirmed that yes, we were to complete everything on the said pages.

“And I need you to submit it at my office first thing tomorrow” he added before walking out amidst murmurs and cries from almost everybody in the class.

The noise died down just almost as immediately as it started because the history teacher walked in just then with his textbook in hand and a pile of other papers heaped on top. He dismissed the greetings of the class with an impatient wave of his hand and proceeded to give the most boring lecture to ever exist in the history of education.

I caught Cassia trying hard to suppress a yawn by pressing her hand to her mouth and my lips curled up at the sides before I caught myself. I shouldn’t even be staring at her.

I shouldn’t be irritated that the guy on the left side of her is whispering something in her ear and that they are both laughing. I shouldn’t be noticing that the blonde guy two seats behind her has been unabashedly ogling her since she entered the class. I shouldn’t be noticing a couple of other boys shooting dreamy gazes at her. I shouldn’t be staring at her myself. The urge to punch the hell out of my desk and walk away from her is excessive but I hold it in and instead, I ball up my fists and count the many seconds left until school is over and I can finally breathe air different from the one she breathes.

“I’m sure your English teacher informed you of the camping trip coming up this semester”

Shouts of “Yes” and “Of course” broke out from the class in answer to the teacher’s question. Who would have thought that so many people were paying attention?

The teacher gave a self-satisfied nod and retrieved the pile of papers from his atop his desk.

“I have your names here and the names of the students you’ve been paired up with. I expect full cooperation and teamwork between each one of you and your partners. And in case you want to have other ideas, remember that there are grades attached to this trip. Therefore, I expect that you’ll be on your best behavior” he said.

A few students g*****d while some others cheered. He ignored the mixed reactions and started to read out the names.

“Ariadne and Silva” he called out.

Internally, I heaved a sigh of relief. If Ariadne was paired with Silva now, then it meant he was not going the same route with the English teacher which meant, I wouldn’t have to partner with Cassia.

“Cassia and Lucius”

I paused and stared at him with my mouth, wide open. What sort of sick joke was this?

Involuntarily, my head snapped towards Cassia. She did not look the least bit bothered by our partnership. But I was stewing in anger and I had to do something.

The class officially ended some five minutes later and I grabbed my bag and followed the teacher to his office.

“Yes, Lucius. How may I help you?” He asked settling behind his desk and putting his textbook away in the drawer.

“Pair me with someone else. I can’t work with Cassia” I said.

He c****d his brows at me. I was bursting at the seams and the anger I felt had seeped into my voice. “It’s been decided and you can’t change it. You’ll have to put up with it”

“I can’t. I don’t want to. I won’t!” I yelled loud enough for anyone passing by to hear.

I could see that the teacher was getting irritated but I didn’t care.

“You have to! Remember what the alpha king said? You have to walk together and–”

Before he could complete his sentence, I jacked him up with the speed of light and pressed him against the wall.

“I don’t care about that. You have to–”

“What the hell are you doing?”

I turned to see Cassia standing behind the open door looking aghast. She rushed towards me and pushed my hand off the teacher’s collar.

“What is wrong with you?” She yelled, turning to look at me after helping our teacher back to his chair.

“And why the hell are you following me?” I fired back.

“What?” She asked incredulously. Her face tells me that she can’t believe what she’s hearing. “I only came to ask the teacher something. Why do you think I have to follow you?”

I ignored her rhetoric and lunged for the teacher again but she gets in the way and grabbed my fist.

“Lucius, you’ve got to calm down, okay?” She said and moved in closer to me, staring straight into my eyes. “Look at me. Look at me, Lucius. You have to stop this”

Her persuasive tone and her earnest eyes made my heart beat faster which only managed to set me off further.

I pulled out of her touch. “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do and what not to do?” I spat out.

She looked horrified at my action and words. “Lucius” she whispered.

“Do you think you mean a lot to me now that I’ve marked you? Do you actually believe that because we shared some moments together you are someone important now?”

I moved even closer to her for effect. Now, that I’ve started I replace it difficult to stop. I’m hurting myself as I hurt her but this is the only way I know how to release the frustration and anger I feel at myself for feeling the way I feel around her.

“Stop following me around like Mary’s lamb and for the duration of this trip, you must stay at least five meters away from me at all times” I warned.

She looked too stunned to speak and I turned away and stormed out.

The last look I caught on her face as I walked away was a deep hurt I had never seen on her before and for some reason, my heart knotted in pain.