9 Love Bites

10:00 am. The same day

Click*Click*Click*Click.

Flashes of cameras directed toward a boy with a curly hair. He danced to a pop music as he gracefully threw bottles in the air and caught them midway without lapses. He stunned the crowd as he created mixtures of liquor in front of the judges. The crowd was amazed not only with his looks but also with his skillful and perfect performance. His outgoing personality complimented his act very well.

Ziggy is good in bartending— that's an understatement. He is great at it!

I was in the crowd taking pictures of him, whilst looking on with pride. Catching my proud stare, he winked at me in return. I smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

As soon as I was satisfied with the pictures I captured, I went to search for coach. I realized after few minutes of searching that he wasn't here. Maybe he went to check on Huzey. He is in another building for the sculpting contest. Since the boys contest are scheduled at the same time, he had to check them alternately.

"From what school is this one? He seems to be a professional and his pretty face is beyond words you can describe!"

"Foolish! Can't you recognize him? He's the famous Ziggorio Montreal, the youngest of the Montreal siblings."

"Are you saying that this one is from Rivendell Academy? He is the Montreal who is rumored to be solving differential equations at the age of four, right? Well then, it's not a surprise that he got admitted to Rivendell Academy!"

"This competition is indeed full of famous personalities. I even heard Darryl Lagdameo is here and he even ate in the university canteen on the first night of the competition."

"True. The news said that he even kissed his girlfriend in front of everyone."

"Girlfriend? You mean his childhood friend Miss Collet?"

"No, it's another girl. News says that the girl is from a small school and that she is ill-mannered. Sources even revealed that the girl seduced Mr. Lagdameo in their quarters that night!"

"How daring is that girl! Social climber! Let's see how the Lagdameo elders deal with her. Also, I shipped Mr. Lagdameo with Miss Collet. They are much suited for each other!"

Heck!

I intended to ignore their conversations yet I couldn't help getting mad. I raised my brows while listening to them. Before my annoyance exploded I decided to leave. I thought of going to check on on Huzey and take some pictures of him rather listening to that kind of gossip.

I walked to the exit and headed out to Huzey's competition area. I passed to a vast hallway covered by glass windows. From there I could see myself. I wore a simple shirt and blue jeans and a camera was hanging on my neck. Since the canteen incident, I did not wear my uniform anymore. I intentionally wore my glasses and left out my contact lenses. I also avoided putting my hair on bun, which had always my regular hair style. I just let my long hair hang around my shoulders freely. By changing my look, I was hoping no one would recognize me as the girl the beast kissed in the canteen. For the last couple of days, so far this idea had been so effective.

I smiled to myself and continue walking till I reached Annex 2 which was the building where Huzey was competing. There were a couple of different competitions held in this building so I wasn't surprise to see a number of people at the entrance.

As I was about to enter the building I heard some commotion, a beautiful Mexican girl appeared from the entrance. I knew her. She was the girl in the canteen, the one that the beast likes. She appeared to be running away from something.

"Collet wait—!"

My calm heart started beating rapidly when I heard the voice. It was the beast. Was he chasing her?

The girl halted a few meters in front of me. From where I was, I saw tears were falling from her eyes which she wiped out immediately. As soon as she realized that the beast was chasing her, she turned to him and ran to his arms. She buried her face in his chest and embraced him tightly.

I frowned instantly and give them a murderous look. What were they doing?

Much to my dismay, I saw him hugged her back. His hazel eyes were full of complicated emotions I couldn't comprehend. My annoyance turned into something cold.

Dug-dug-dug-dug-dug.

My heart was starting to beat weirdly the moment he hugged her back lovingly right in front of me. This heartbeat was different from my previous heartbeats. At the time, it was like little needles mercilessly pinching my heart. It ached so much to the point I was losing all emotions and all the warmth in me was slowly freezing, vanishing away.

Together with the pain, I felt warm tears slowly creeping out of my eyes. Whatever was happening within me, I didn't really understand. I had never experience this strangeness for the past sixteen years of my life. What was this? Was this what they called heartache?

The girl let go of his embrace. I was wishing fervently that everything would just stop right now. To my frustration it didn't. The girl started caressing his face. A minute later, she cupped his face with her two hands gently and slowly pulled him to her. She was about to give him a kiss! No way!

"I love you…" I heard her say without hesitation.

With eyes burning with desire, they were lost in each other's warmth. They did not even care about the crowd that had gathered eagerly waiting for the biggest kissing scene of their lives. Before their lips touch each other, I bent my head and hurriedly walk past them.

I wanted to run but I was afraid of attracting their attention, so I tried my best to act as normal as I possibly could. My heart felt like it was breaking into thousands of pieces with every step I took.

I don't want to see that scene.

I don't want to see Darryl's first real kiss with someone who just told him "I love you."

I don't want to witness how passionately they kiss.

I don't want to witness the happy ending of their love story!

My tears started falling without me noticing. A painful feeling was taking over me making me regret what I had seen. I deeply wished I was somewhere else, somewhere I could freely cry. My knees were trembling causing me to walk awkwardly. I cursed as I thought about how even a menial job like walking was so hard for me at this point. Yet still, I tried my best to take one step at a time to quickly get away from the view that broke my heart.

Good thing I didn't put my hair in bun today. I took off my glasses, afraid the tears will fill them and blur my sight. I kept my head lowered letting my hair cover my face so people won't notice the glistening droplets from my eyes.By any chance someone might notice and ask me what's wrong or why I was crying; I would not be able to answer. In all honesty, I don't really know or understand where the tears and pain were stemming from.

Wasn't he somebody I just met couple of days ago? Why would somebody so insignificant cause my heart to ache and shatter to pieces? It was like a massive tornado of emotions was taking all of my sanity away.

I heard people talking, their giggles and "ohhs" were like a huge slap to my face. I guessed they were overjoyed with the scenery they were watching. This would probably be a huge topic in forum and chat rooms, I thought to myself. The debut of Collet and Darryl's romance! A better headline than the one that happened in the canteen few days ago. Sooner, everybody will forget about the girl with a strange uniform and will celebrate the best couple – the beast and the girl he likes.

I used all my strength to drag myself away. Away from beautiful scenery that I refused to look at. Today I learned heartache even before I learned how to love. What a fate!

Beast, why did my heart ache so much like this? With all the silly things we argued over, today I acknowledged my defeat. Today, you won and left me nothing but confusion and broken pieces of my heart. Happy now?

"Hey, you!" I heard him call. His voice froze all the feelings that were gushing over me. In an instant, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.

I snapped back from reality! Even though the word "YOU" could mean anyone, I knew he was referring to me.

The couple was already few meters behind me when I heard him call out. I didn't acknowledge it and instead ran towards the entrance of the building. Of course I can't let him see me crying. How was I supposed to explain to him that I was crying because I saw him hugging another girl?

I run as fast as but it was too late. Ahh, he caught me!

Just then I felt his warm hands on my waist pulling me until my back landed on his chest. Did he just hug me from behind? Even if I didn't see the face of the person who did it, I knew it was the beast. My body reacted, giving me different yet familiar emotions I always felt whenever I was near him. It was definitely him! But what was he doing?

He rested his side of face on my shoulders and whispered into my ears. "You, I'm sorry you had to see that." He let go of a deep sigh and continued "I almost didn't recognize you".

His voice was like a powerful wind piercing through the night skies. The warmth of his embrace was easing all the pain that was slowly killing my heart earlier.

Dug-dug-dug-dug-dug.

"You looked so beautiful today Xhemin Lae". That was the last word he said that made my heart skipped. It was now in a total mess! It just died few minutes ago and now it's alive again!

He knew my name.

He knew my name.

HE KNEW MY NAME!

I screamed in inwardly over and over again. It was overwhelming! However, I started to feel uncomfortable with what he was doing. Why was he so fond of doing this in front of so many people? Though this was the second time we were intimate in front of a crowd, this still made me uneasy. This man was killing me with romance! The crowd now began to whisper amongst one another under their breaths.

"Dee..!" I heard the girl called him. She was obviously mad. Dee?

I instinctively held his hands that were embracing my waist to make sure he will not let go. I was afraid that the affection he was showing me would cease the moment he heard her voice. Why was she still here anyway? I suddenly forgot about her. She was ruining our wonderful moment!

The moment he felt my hands, he tightened his hug. I smiled knowing he didn't want to let me go. I made myself comfortable and savour his warm embrace, taking in every bit of his masculinity against my back. In this short time I became so greedy with the beast's embrace I didn't want to mind the other girl who was desperately calling him.

"Dee!" That girl called again when she realized we were ignoring her. She was too noisy! Aisssssh!

I let go of his hands and turned to face him. I wanted to see the face that I missed these past few days. His gorgeous hazel eyes welcomed me. He gazed at my face before him and his eyes were filled with gentleness and curiosity. A smile appeared on his handsome visage. I suddenly felt his hands on my cheeks wiping my tears.

Heck! I forgot to wipe my tears!

I blushed over the thought that he noticed I was crying over the sight of them. If he was going to ask me why I cried, I don't have an answer. I still have my pride. I panicked knowing he would surely asked me right at the moment. So I thought of something to avoid him from questioning me.

"Go to her. I have to go and see Huzey." I turned back immediately and was planning to walk as fast as I could.

"Your Huzey again? Yeah how could I forget..." I heard him mumbled before I went on my away. Was he mad? Why did he sound mad?

I started walking away but I felt uneasiness in my heart. It was like he was mad about something. Or was he jealous? F*ck, I can't stand it! I can't leave him that way!

My uneasiness wanted me to run back to him and take all his jealousy away. I really couldn't stand this. I halted and turned to look at him.

He was there standing on the same spot. As soon as I met his gaze he looked away. By that, I just confirmed his jealousy. I walked back to him, which surprised him.

I touched the hem of his polo and whispered in his ears. "I need to take pictures of him for my docu. Don't think of anything else, alright?"

"Alright." He responded still a bit stunned.

I glanced at Collet who was watching us with fury. Her face was red with madness that could kill. Her gaze amounted to a hell of fire, enough to burned both of us down to ashes.

"And by the way..." I tightened my grip over his polo and intentionally choked him a little. "Don't make her touch you that way again or I'll give you more love bites!"

I turned my back and walk away in an instant with smiles all over my face.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on me. Heck! What were we both doing? Was it another act like the one we made at the canteen? Or was it something real this time?

Questions started erupting in my mind one by one. I put my hands on my head helplessly.

Sh*t! This encounter was giving me a headache!